is KB 295 2664 safe as of Mar 30'17

Topic

New Reply

kb 295 2664 shows up as checked important update today (Mar 30).

This website warned against installing it on Mar 07 and wasn’t mentioned on Woody’s MS-DEFCON 3 downloading instructions. Need advice on install or not please. Thank you. Andre

Reply | Quote

Replies

That patch contains telemetry and compatibility.  If you are in Group B, you do not want to install it. If you are not planning to upgrade to Win10, you don’t need it. You can read about it here

https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/2952664-telemetry-in-win78-1-kb2952664-kb2977759-kb2976978-kb3150513/

If you are in Group A, the decision is up to you .

1 user thanked author for this post.

sevendisciple

Reply | Quote

I am Group A and I have had it hidden and plan on having it hidden forever.

Reply | Quote

me too. Even though I am upgrading a few old Win7 machines to Win10 in the upcoming weeks, the KB2952664 update is not necessary so I hid that one (and will keep it hidden in case WU offers it again)

Reply | Quote

I have found that KB 2952664 SHOULD NOT BE INSTALLED. It is pure telemetry oriented.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Navi

Reply | Quote

If you ever had KB2952664 installed and subsequently uninstalled it, beware that KB3150513 may also have gotten installed at some point. KB3150513 only shows up as an update if KB2952664 is installed. Both updates should be uninstalled, starting with first uninstalling KB3150513 and then uninstalling KB2952664.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Elly, Navi

Reply | Quote

Done and done. I can’t believe they have been there since August 2016.

Reply | Quote

@PKCano’s reply below is the true one.
The decision is up to you.
It is not required, but for simplicity you may consider just to install it for the sake of getting it out of the way.
It is not harmful though. It generates a tiny amount of reporting application compatibility back to Microsoft for their analytics, without identifying you or collecting personal data, at least in theory. A lot of people here would tell you that it is telemetry related, without actually understanding telemetry themselves and this is the main reason why you are told not to install it.
Hiding any patches cause more problems than it is worth it, so avoid hiding at any price, unless for very short time and for testing purpose.

Reply | Quote

If this KB 2952664 shows up, checked or unchecked, DO NOT INSTALL!!!, as it has carried telemetry for the past  18 months, as far as I can remember seeing it.

Reply | Quote

KB2952664, if installed, keeps iexplore.exe running yet hidden from the moment that you boot up your Windows 7 computer. Yep, Internet Explorer is launched in a hidden mode. I consider having Internet Explorer running to be an additional security risk which I do not want to have running all of the time.

Reply | Quote