Microsoft re-re-re…-releases KB 4023057, the “Update to Win10 1507, 1511, 1607, 1703, 1709, and 1803 for update reliability”

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I last talked about it on Nov. 19: KB 4023057 has been updated, with a lengthy KB article and very little substance that I can discern. This update in
[See the full post at: Microsoft re-re-re…-releases KB 4023057, the “Update to Win10 1507, 1511, 1607, 1703, 1709, and 1803 for update reliability”]

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Fred, abbodi86, Great Lake Bunyip, Elly

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woody wrote:

… the only explanation that makes sense to me: … This patch may be harmless, …

If you want to well and truly hide it — which isn’t easy — follow @PKCano’s directions.

Who needs reliability anyway? Much better to block it and whine about “instability”.

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woody

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HA! You have a point there….

But tell me… you won’t be upgrading to 1903 as soon as it’s available, will you?

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Of course!

I’m on Release Preview ring, so should have 1903 in a few days.

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woody

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b wrote:

Who needs reliability anyway? Much better to block it and whine about “instability”.

KB 4023057 has nothing to do with reliability nor with stability. It has only to do with letting Microsoft push Windows 10 feature updates.

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rc primak

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I updated the day after we went to defcon 4 and before doing so , I ran wushowhide and sure enough it was there. I hid it and the update went okay. I believe, and I may be wrong, that this update does no good if you’re looking to not upgrade to the next version of Windows. I suspect it installs files needed for the next upgrade and phones home with the message that ” I’m ready, hit me with it”.

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rc primak

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anonymous wrote:

I updated the day after we went to defcon 4 and before doing so , I ran wushowhide and sure enough it was there. I hid it and the update went okay. I believe, and I may be wrong, that this update does no good if you’re looking to not upgrade to the next version of Windows. I suspect it installs files needed for the next upgrade and phones home with the message that ” I’m ready, hit me with it”.

No, that’s not quite right.  All this component does is keep Windows Update healthy.

It replaces a bunch of manual techniques people used to need to do when things went wrong with Windows Update on their machine, such as resetting a corrupted Windows Update database, deleting registry entries or backup files that are getting in the way, and temporarily compressing files to free up disk space for updates.  If you’ve never had to fight any of these issues manually on a machine, lucky you.

I can’t overstate how helpful the compression thing is when you’ve got the OS crammed onto a small SSD.  There are lots of highly-compressable files hanging around on our file systems.

Note that this is for -all- Windows Updates, including Defender, .NET and drivers.  It’s not just for feature updates.

This component also ships with Windows, but it gets updated independently of the rest of the updates in order to ensure that Windows Update has the best chance of succeeding, regardless of  how many security updates you’re missing.

 

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rc primak, Great Lake Bunyip, NetDef, woody, b

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I was surprised that it isn’t advertised for 1809. Any idea why?

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woody wrote:

I was surprised that it isn’t advertised for 1809. Any idea why?

Windows is supposed to be a work in progress, continually improving. Maybe the improvement or fix that this patch addresses is already in 1809, and they are merely bringing previous versions of Windows 10 up to date on that one fix.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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I believe KB 4023057 resets settings to Microsoft defaults (Scheduled tasks, Services, etc) to facilitate UPGRADE. At the moment, there is no upgrade for v1809, so there is no current need to install it in that version.

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rc primak, abbodi86

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Yes KB4023057 is for facilitating upgrading Windows 10 to new versions as he described, its other primary purpose is also to prevent tampering with windows update.

This statement does need verification:

Note that this is for -all- Windows Updates, including Defender, .NET and drivers. It’s not just for feature updates.

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rc primak

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Probably deferred for a week or two like other 1809 updates in the last months.

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Warrenrumak writes:

No, that’s not quite right.  All this component does is keep Windows Update healthy.

This sounds quite positive if correct.

Could you please tell us where you obtained your information? As no one else seems to have been able to find out what specifically this KB contains.

Thanks

Windows 10 Pro x64 v22H2 and Windows 7 Pro SP1 x64 (RIP)

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rc primak, dononline

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I just got it again yesterday. I just let it update but it’s irritating that it requires a reboot every time.

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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I have installed KB 4023057 on my 1803 7 times ! never required re-boot.
I usually uninstalled the current KB 4023057 (it is an application, not under updates) and than installed the new KB 4023057.

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The last few times it has installed on my 1803, it required a restart. Maybe I’m just special

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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Question for PKCano or Woody ?  So, based on the reply #349320, I was under the impression that we do not install this and to hide it. What is the recommended path for this. Do we install or not install ?

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My interpretation is that you can install it if you want to UPGRADE to the next (or later) version.
I have completely avoided installing it on all the versions I have had (all are Pro and able to defer updates) and had no problems with UPDATING the CUs each month when I wanted to do the updating. To be honest, I have never had a problem with UPGRADING when I chose either, by backing off the deferrals and changing SAC to SACT, even leaving the other settings changed that I have manipulated.

So my personal assessment is, that it is not necessary for either operation.

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Thank You…that was my understanding also and since I don’t was to upgrade every 6 months, I will continue to hide it. I have not had any problems with updating so far and I’ve been hiding it all along.

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KB4023057 is not a patch. It is a program and it ultimately gets listed in Programs and Features.  This is why it can’t be blocked effectively with the same techniques used to block other monthly updates. It can be uninstalled like a normal program.

The purpose of KB4023057 likely addresses the possibility of insufficient storage when installing the next Feature upgrade.  This can be confirmed by running Disk Cleanup as Administrator after KB4023057 is installed and observing the additional line items with check boxes.  They include Compress OS, delete all Restore Points, etc.

The Feature upgrade installer probably runs Disk Cleanup with the additional boxes checked when it needs more storage, especially for the Windows.old folder on PCs with 32-64GB of flash storage. What will happen on a PC with larger storage that is filled up with videos, photos, etc. is an interesting question.

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rc primak, abbodi86, Great Lake Bunyip

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This might explain why it keeps popping up. If it is a “repair” program, MS might like it to be run regularly much like with the Malware Removal Tool which pops up each month.

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From the current MS KB article:

“This update is not intended for use in enterprise environments.”

Thus the reason you don’t see this on WSUS.  My suspicion (untested) is that this KB might break WSUS dependent workstations until they do a GPUpdate.  Not a big deal.

For home users, or small office users, there appear to be some fixes in this KB to help mitigate corrupt update store issues.  Or if you need such, there is always the FixIt tool from MS, which appears to do the same thing on demand.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/10164/fix-windows-update-errors

Note that this fixit also breaks WSUS temporarily – until the fixed workstation re-syncs with group policy.

Not sure why all the fear around this KB . . .  it’s a regular update to portions of the WU Service Stack, that’s it.

 

~ Group "Weekend" ~

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rc primak

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“Not sure why all the fear around this KB . . .  it’s a regular update to portions of the WU Service Stack, that’s it”

No it isn’t. It’s a program (not an update) that does a number of changes to Windows Update and the rest of the PC in order to ensure feature updates are installed. It will be pushed onto your PC every month as long as you are not running the most recent feature version of Win10 and KB4023057 is not installed. It is not part of Windows. It’s a potentially unwanted program Microsoft plops on your PC when you are not running the version of Win10 they want you to be running.

Here is what it does:

(Source: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4023057/update-to-windows-10-versions-1507-1511-1607-1703-1709-and-1803-for-up )

– It might change your power settings so your PC stays awake longer in order to install updates. Yeah, cool.

– It might change your network settings. Some people have had problems with network connectivity because of this.

– It might compress your files in the users folder. Note that Microsoft doesn’t offer to delete their telemetry or all the trash they scatter around the drive in ProgramData, AppData and so on.

– It might nag you about too-low drive space cause Windows 10 needs to nag more, right?

– It might run Disk Cleanup, which will actually clean up much of the garbage Windows scatters around. Cleaning out windows update’s leftovers potentially takes hours though.

– KB4023057 installs a service or two (can’t remember anymore, I reverted to Windows 8.1 due to disgust at 10’s behavior and I have never felt better!), that monitor and periodically reset windows update’s settings to what Microsoft wants them to be. There are tasks added in task scheduler and various other things that re-enable parts of KB4023057 so that you can’t just stop it executing. You can, however, uninstall it in Programs and Features. But windows will just reinstall it, lol! There is a way to block installation using permissions. This is what I did when I still had 10.

– “This update is not intended for use in enterprise environments.” That’s because businesses would immediately freak out at what this thing does.

– It will reenable and modify settings in the registry to make Windows Update do stuff Microsoft wants it to do again. What the owner of the PC wants is of no importance to Microsoft.

————–

Some people do not want feature updates (or any update at all, for that matter) installed on Microsoft’s schedule. When I was using 10, I did not want feature updates. They generally add stuff I don’t want at the cost of about half a day. No thanks. Now that I’m using 8.1 again, I install the security-only updates manually about a month late–pretty much when Woody says it’s time. Let the cannon fodder auto-updaters eat it. I’ll wait until it’s safe.

I have a pretty decent PC that’s about 3-4 years old, and the feature updates for Windows 10 would always take around an hour to install (on an SSD) and then not work properly after. This would force me to install it myself manually. A clean installation always takes a few hours–install the OS, install programs, set all the settings MS scattered around, and on and on. Basically, half a day wasted to install and tune to a tolerable form something I didn’t want in the first place. To get the PC truly back to its fighting form would take weeks of adjusting little settings here and there.

I even made a couple batch files to speed up the tuning phase, but Microsoft keeps changing some of the settings every version. This is by design, of course–They’re doing the Facebook trick of adding new privacy invasions all the time which are on by default. Pretty sure no one wants Microsoft sending samples of what we type (passwords? emails to loved ones? financial information?) for “analysis” to “make windows better.” Yeah OK.

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rc primak, dononline, abbodi86

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Here’s a perspective for you to consider.

Unlike most updates – this one is dead easy to remove and it’s not pushed via WSUS. And frankly it’s easy to block if you are a super-user (which if you are reading this you likely are!)

Why might that be?

Because it allows IT admins and knowledgeable people that want more control to exercise that control.  You don’t need this update if you are 99% of the people that read this blog.

But we are a tiny minority of super users.  In the rest of the world people run into problems with Windows Update caused by malware, glitches in the system, poor maintenance, poor computing habits, you name it.  This update is for them – to help keep their machines usable and to keep their machines updated (not just feature updates.)

~ Group "Weekend" ~

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Does uninstalling 4023057 remove the Update Assistant and associated directory as well as the tasks in task scheduler? If not it’s not really uninstalled is it?

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KB4023057 does not install the UA, nor uninstall it

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rc primak

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https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/another-complaint-about-kb-4023057/#post-163295

Wow, it’s been more than a year already.

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CADesertRat wrote:

The last few times it has installed on my 1803, it required a restart. Maybe I’m just special

Maybe it did because you haven’t removed the current installed version before installing the new version..

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A while agoo, I followed the instructions of PCKano to hide these not-asked-for-updates, Though now Microsoft choosed to wakeup my laptop, installed this “update” and restarted instead of closed it down. So it drained my battery. (*ANGRY*)

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Count me as a person who wished he could block this update. For some reason, after it installs on my kid’s computer, the wireless adapter stops working. It says it is enabled, but it cannot find any networks to connect to. I uninstall it and reboot the computer, and everything is working fine…until windows downloads it again. I am on the latest version of drivers, and it still does not work. In fact, once the computer is updated, I pretty much lose the ability to do anything with the network adapter. Something is going wrong with the services stack that handles wireless networking, and so services cannot start/stop correctly in order to even troubleshoot. (Running the troubleshooter, windows is unable to reset the networking services.)

So, I do wish it were possible to disable this. If it were needed for some future update, why not wait until that future update is ready? It is only a 1 MB download, and could have easily been packaged with those updates.

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There is a way to avoid KB4023057. Instructions are in AKB2000013.

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Had this as well. For some while, I would lose my connection to the wifi router. No amount of resetting the adapter, restarting PC etc. would make it re-connect. Only solution was to power cycle the router.
I then became aware that this was happening after a Windows update.
Last night it demanded to do a restart without the usual “Windows is updating” stuff. Checked update history and KB 4023057 was the only update installed. Sure enough it had been installed every month since the last upgrade wiped out the installed updates history as usual, including 18 failed attempts in Feb!
Surprise, surprise the wifi which was working before the update was not after. Cycle router, back in business and off searching we go.
Lots of suggestions as to what the “app” does do, might do and a few reports of wifi problems, but locking up the wifi doing a bit of clean up seems a bit much!
Cleverer people than I might suspect why that is. Luckily the router is easily reachable!

SurfacePro4, Win10 Pro 1803 17134.648, SAC 155/30 days deferred

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Alex5723 wrote:

b wrote:

Who needs reliability anyway? Much better to block it and whine about “instability”.

KB 4023057 has nothing to do with reliability nor with stability. It has only to do with letting Microsoft push Windows 10 feature updates.

Do you have some documentation please, or referral links?
thank you

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https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4023057/update-to-windows-10-versions-1507-1511-1607-1703-1709-1803-and-1809-f

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PKCano

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