More about the October change in Windows Update policy

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There’s a new post over on sevenforums.com that sheds some light on what is meant by the cumulative or rollup updates beginning in October for Win 7/8.1 users.

We’ve discussed that change before in an earlier thread. In retrospect it seems the details were already out there if you followed links to deeper links from lumpy95’s first post in that thread, but to be honest I missed some of the nuances that have been summarized a bit better in the new sevenforums post.

I think we all understood the individual updates were going away and would be replaced by a single cumulative update. What I now understand more clearly is there will be two versions of the updates released each Patch Tuesday–one with security-only updates, and a “monthly rollup” of security plus non-security updates.

The security-only updates are not rollups, they are an accumulation of only that one month’s security fixes. So bringing a system up to date may still involve installing multiple updates, one for each month. Also, they are not available via Windows Update, but only from WSUS via manual download from the Windows Update Catalog or (I presume) programs like WSUS Offline Update (which I’ve discussed previously).

Granted, we still can’t pick and choose which individual updates we want, but at least this gives us another option to the all-or-nothing monthly rollups.

The monthly rollups include non-security fixes as well as security fixes. They are also rollups–meaning each is cumulative from October (for security fixes, or September for non-security fixes) forward.

It’s important to note Windows Update will only offer the monthly rollup. Regardless of whether you set Windows Update to automatic or “let-me-choose”, that will be your only choice. So if you want only the security fixes, don’t use Windows Update.

At least that’s how I interpret what’s going on. If someone who is more plugged in to Microsoft sees it differently, please correct me.

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dg1261 – Thanks for this.

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Anybody wonder if this is going to be a mess like the Windows 10 cumulative updates which you have no control over? Maybe it’s safer to not update Windows 7 and 8 if you are careful where you go. I think I’ll wait a bit and see how much of a problem it create for the unsuspecting.
Joe

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I’ll be doing an image backup before each update

What a pain – every other bit of technology I use is getting easier to manage . . . Windows is a sad exception.

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I think I’ll wait a bit and see how much of a problem it create for the unsuspecting.

In other words, the MS Beta testers.

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

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Maybe it’s safer to not update Windows 7 and 8 if you are careful where you go. I think I’ll wait a bit and see how much of a problem it create for the unsuspecting.

I don’t think a decision to stop updating altogether is as outrageous as it may sound. I still use XP on another machine, which of course hasn’t been updated in years. I braced myself for the armageddon everyone was predicting … and I’m still waiting. It’s still chugging along just fine.

As for waiting a bit before installing updates, that’s long been my strategy anyway. Even in the XP era my habit was to install only security updates and pass on all the rest, so the new “monthly rollups” would not be an option I’d even consider. That means Windows Update will stay turned off on all my systems becasue you can’t get security-only updates through WU.

For several years now, my routine has been to wait 1-3 months to see if updates are really safe before installing them. That won’t change. Even with the new security-only updates, I won’t even be looking at them until they’ve been out for at least a month or more.

What remains to be seen is what Microsoft will do if there are problems with one of the individual updates in a security-only package. Do they pull the whole package? That seems unlikely. Do they fix it and reissue the whole package? I can only hope. Or do they let it go and try to mitigate the problem in a subsequent month’s package? Yuk.

We’ll have to wait and see. If the track record on Win10 is any indication, I’m not optimistic.

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Personally, I have always waited to see what repercussions there were from W7 security updates. I have had “Never Check for Updates” clicked on my W7 machines for as long as I have had them ( same with XP ). Patchwatch has been a good indicator for quite some time for trouble updates ( Thanks Susan ).
IMHO W7 updates are going to have the same problem that W10 updates have, 1 bad KB in the bunch and it could be a minimum of 1 month for a fix so you have to uninstall the whole month’s worth and hope for a reissued patch. The next hope is that it doesn’t break your OS altogether, hence the renewed advice of a backup. I normally make a clone HDD just before WU, and have for many years now.
Happy Updating to all.

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

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Personally, I have always waited to see what repercussions there were from W7 security updates. I have had “Never Check for Updates” clicked on my W7 machines for as long as I have had them ( same with XP ). Patchwatch has been a good indicator for quite some time for trouble updates ( Thanks Susan ).
IMHO W7 updates are going to have the same problem that W10 updates have, 1 bad KB in the bunch and it could be a minimum of 1 month for a fix so you have to uninstall the whole month’s worth and hope for a reissued patch. The next hope is that it doesn’t break your OS altogether, hence the renewed advice of a backup. I normally make a clone HDD just before WU, and have for many years now.
Happy Updating to all.

Plus you also hope that it isn’t automatically included unfixed in the next month’s cumulative roll-up. There’s a real concern that if you have even a single issue with one month’s update that will now mean you will never again be able to install any roll-up updates for fear of re-introducing it.

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For anyone interested, here is Woody’s advice:
How to prepare for the Windows 7/8.1 ‘patchocalypse’
http://www.infoworld.com/article/3128983/microsoft-windows/how-to-prepare-for-the-windows-781-patchocalypse.html

Microsoft is changing the way it patches Windows 7 and 8.1. Here’s what we know — and what to do to keep having Windows your way

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

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For anyone interested, here is Woody’s advice:
How to prepare for the Windows 7/8.1 ‘patchocalypse’
http://www.infoworld.com/article/3128983/microsoft-windows/how-to-prepare-for-the-windows-781-patchocalypse.html

Thanks for that. It pretty much confirms my take on the situation. (I’m firmly in Woody’s “Group B”.)

I’ve experienced the same problems Woody mentions when trying to go directly to the Windows Update Catalog, but I’ve rarely needed to do so … and I still may not need to. I’m curious to see what WSUS Offline Update will find and download. If it continues to work, I won’t need to deal with the WUC.

The sevenforums post states the security-only update will get its own KB number and be posted to WSUS with a “Security Update” classification, which suggests to me that WSUS Offline Update will find it and pick it up. If that’s the case, I won’t need to change my standard routine at all. (I routinely run WSUS Offline Update about once a quarter.)

I’ll wait and see.

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The security-only updates are not rollups, they are an accumulation of only that one month’s security fixes. So bringing a system up to date may still involve installing multiple updates, one for each month. Also, they are not available via Windows Update, but only from WSUS via manual download from the Windows Update Catalog or (I presume) programs like WSUS Offline Update (which I’ve discussed previously).
[…]
The monthly rollups include non-security fixes as well as security fixes. They are also rollups–meaning each is cumulative from October (for security fixes, or September for non-security fixes) forward.

The sevenforums post states the security-only update will get its own KB number and be posted to WSUS with a “Security Update” classification, which suggests to me that WSUS Offline Update will find it and pick it up. If that’s the case, I won’t need to change my standard routine at all. (I routinely run WSUS Offline Update about once a quarter.)

We’re now two months into the new update strategy, so I’ll circle back and close the loop on this:

WSUS Offline Update does not download the security-only updates. It only downloads (and installs) the monthly rollups.

I tested in a VM after the Oct patch Tuesday and again after the Nov patch Tuesday. Both results were consistent–the cumulative monthly rollups of security plus non-security updates were installed. I tested using WSUS Offline Update 10.8, the latest version available (which, BTW, hasn’t been updated since Microsoft’s new update strategy began in October).

So if I want only the monthly security updates, it looks like WSUS Offline isn’t going to be the answer. I’ll have to manually download the security-only updates from the Microsoft Catalog.

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For anyone interested, here is Woody’s advice:
How to prepare for the Windows 7/8.1 ‘patchocalypse’
http://www.infoworld.com/article/3128983/microsoft-windows/how-to-prepare-for-the-windows-781-patchocalypse.html

I’m in group “B” — I plan on waiting till the end of the month, to see what happened with the Beta Testers, that is, those who immediately installed the monthly security roll-up. If the Beta Testers had no issues of any consequence with that month’s security patch, I will then install it.

Hopefully the new “patchocalypse” that we are now going to be stuck with will motivate people to do a backup before installing the patch.

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

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I’m in group “B” — I plan on waiting till the end of the month, to see what happened with the Beta Testers, that is, those who immediately installed the monthly security roll-up. If the Beta Testers had no issues of any consequence with that month’s security patch, I will then install it.

Hopefully the new “patchocalypse” that we are now going to be stuck with will motivate people to do a backup before installing the patch.

That might be the case with most (not all) of those who visit sites like this one, but that probably only accounts for considerably less than 1% of PC users. IT professionals will have their own test system, and most domestic users don’t have the time, knowledge, or inclination to run backups and many don’t have stuff they don’t want to lose other than the actual stability of the machine itself. In my own case, for example, I run two home computers with all semi-important (nothing’s essential) stuff stored on both machines which are updated several days apart to ensure there is no problem with the first machine before the second one is updated, and with all my game saves held either server-side or via Steam etc on the cloud. My hunch would be that 90% of users don’t do backups beyond just the odd thing like photos or key documents, I don’t know anyone personally who does, and most of those probably run updates on the automatic setting.

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That might be the case with most (not all) of those who visit sites like this one, but that probably only accounts for considerably less than 1% of PC users. IT professionals will have their own test system, and most domestic users don’t have the time, knowledge, or inclination to run backups and many don’t have stuff they don’t want to lose other than the actual stability of the machine itself. In my own case, for example, I run two home computers with all semi-important (nothing’s essential) stuff stored on both machines which are updated several days apart to ensure there is no problem with the first machine before the second one is updated, and with all my game saves held either server-side or via Steam etc on the cloud. My hunch would be that 90% of users don’t do backups beyond just the odd thing like photos or key documents, I don’t know anyone personally who does, and most of those probably run updates on the automatic setting.

I think the number is closer to 99%. Most people don’t have a clue about the need to do backups; and most people don’t have the awareness to avoid pitfalls which necessitate doing a restore from backup.

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

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I think the number is closer to 99%. Most people don’t have a clue about the need to do backups; and most people don’t have the awareness to avoid pitfalls which necessitate doing a restore from backup.

I wouldn’t disagree with the percentage, although I don’t think it’s based simply on people not knowing about the need to do backups, rather it’s down to their lack of time, knowledge and inclination as I mentioned. They might also claim, of course, that as the overwhelming majority of computers aren’t broken by the updates every month the need for backups is over-stated ;)! It’s a bit like any form of insurance, it’s handy to have if things do go wrong but most of us will never actually turn out to need it.

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I always back up my two Win7 computers before ANY major updates or additions, especially prior to any Windows Update. In addition, I wait for Susan’s posts regarding Windows Updates on Windows Secrets before installing them, and I always do one computer and check it out there before doing the second so that, if there is any problem, I don’t have to restore two backups.

Why people won’t do backups is beyond me. Are they too cheap to buy an external backup drive? Do they not want to take the time for a backup to run before doing an update? (I always run mine before my bike ride or before going out for whatever, so they’re done when I get back.) Or do they just want to do something NOW when it pops up, and not have to wait and remember to do it later?

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Why people won’t do backups is beyond me.

Most people don’t have a safe deposit box or even a fireproof box for valuables and yet it’s an inexpensive way of safeguarding things. Why not? Are they stupid or cheap or what? It’s because it’s not something they really think they need, if they think of it at all.

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I always back up my two Win7 computers before ANY major updates or additions, especially prior to any Windows Update. In addition, I wait for Susan’s posts regarding Windows Updates on Windows Secrets before installing them, and I always do one computer and check it out there before doing the second so that, if there is any problem, I don’t have to restore two backups.

Why people won’t do backups is beyond me. Are they too cheap to buy an external backup drive? Do they not want to take the time for a backup to run before doing an update? (I always run mine before my bike ride or before going out for whatever, so they’re done when I get back.) Or do they just want to do something NOW when it pops up, and not have to wait and remember to do it later?

Are you just backing up the system files? A lot of users don’t have partitioned disks and with the size of modern drives a full backup is quite an undertaking surely. However, you’re only referring I imagine to one form of backup and most users have some form of backup in all but name.

I don’t do backups in the sense you mean. My drives are not partitioned, I’m retired with no business element to my computing therefore, and my two home computers don’t have any data that needs to be kept, all documents however unimportant are installed on both machines so if one goes pear-shaped the other provides the backup. My games are all saved on Steam or Galaxy in the case of single-player games, or server-side in the case of MMOs. I always wait for both Susan Bradley and Woody Leonhard to advise on updating, as well as reading other forums, and my secondary machine is updated first and tested over a couple of days before I consider updating the main one. Backups are themselves not fail-safe. There is literally nothing on my machines I am worried about losing if they fail, so the only problem that can arise in the case of a seriously bricked machine is the need to do a fresh format and/or OS repair/reinstall. While I hope that won’t be necessary, it is actually quite useful from time to time to have a fresh start as all computers otherwise slow down over time as they get more and more cluttered! So backups are very important for some users, but less important for others.

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Hi everyone!

I use StorageCraft ShadowProtect for Desktop https://www.storagecraft.com/products/shadowprotect to back up incrementally every 6 hours; early Monday mornings are full backups of my 2 hard drives. I’m very careful to be able to undo/reverse any damage Windows Update does to my Win 7 Pro system. However, in the past couple of months I’ve had Outlook get thrashed, my video card driver keeps crashing and recovering, some of my Firefox addons have caused odd things to happen, and I keep losing some setting that tells Windows my networked printer is online — my Windows thinks it’s offline; my usual remedy of powering everything down, draining the power on the PC, rebooting — well, lucky me, it no longer resolves my printer problem. Currently I have to send an e-mail to my husband sitting 4 feet from me, and he prints my documents. At one point I somehow “lost” not only the Windows Update capability, but the update logs that indicated what fixes I had been installing since 2012. After searching dozens and dozens of web sites explaining how to fix “Windows Update,” I worked on that problem for an entire week. I’m finally fed up with all of the tweaks, anti-this-program, anti-that-program, updates, rollbacks, reboots, system restores, boot-from-CD and restore entire C: drive using ShadowProtect … you know what I mean about the endless fiddling when running Windows. And thank goodness for ShadowProtect and the ability to boot from their CD and recover files and/or entire disks. I’ve been forced to do it many times.

I have a brand new shiny high end iMac that I’ve been working on to get all of my programs installed. I don’t need an iMac — my Dell Optiplex 990 is a zippy 64-bit multiprocessor PC, 2 256GB SSDs, 16GB memory, a zillion ports to attach devices, separate video card, lovely 24″ monitor, back-lit gaming keyboard, 4TB external hard drive for my backups. Oh, I do love my Dell.

But I finally reached the point of realizing I’m spending waaaay too much time debugging fixes, patches, updates, etc. and it really isn’t worth it to me. I already have a MacBook Air, so I’m familiar with some niceties that I may lack on the iMac. But if I search long enough, I can generally find equivalent programs that were built for the Mac (I will especially miss MailWasher Pro and UBitMenu for Word). Too bad the iMac didn’t come with more USB 3 ports, but the trade-off is worth my sanity.

Will I miss Windows? NO. Will I miss my Dell? Yes. Will I forestall a heart attack from aggravation caused by endless Windows/Firefox/Microsoft problems? Likely.

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Hi everyone!

I use StorageCraft ShadowProtect for Desktop https://www.storagecraft.com/products/shadowprotect to back up incrementally every 6 hours; early Monday mornings are full backups of my 2 hard drives. I’m very careful to be able to undo/reverse any damage Windows Update does to my Win 7 Pro system. However, in the past couple of months I’ve had Outlook get thrashed, my video card driver keeps crashing and recovering, some of my Firefox addons have caused odd things to happen, and I keep losing some setting that tells Windows my networked printer is online — my Windows thinks it’s offline; my usual remedy of powering everything down, draining the power on the PC, rebooting — well, lucky me, it no longer resolves my printer problem. Currently I have to send an e-mail to my husband sitting 4 feet from me, and he prints my documents. At one point I somehow “lost” not only the Windows Update capability, but the update logs that indicated what fixes I had been installing since 2012. After searching dozens and dozens of web sites explaining how to fix “Windows Update,” I worked on that problem for an entire week. I’m finally fed up with all of the tweaks, anti-this-program, anti-that-program, updates, rollbacks, reboots, system restores, boot-from-CD and restore entire C: drive using ShadowProtect … you know what I mean about the endless fiddling when running Windows. And thank goodness for ShadowProtect and the ability to boot from their CD and recover files and/or entire disks. I’ve been forced to do it many times.

I have a brand new shiny high end iMac that I’ve been working on to get all of my programs installed. I don’t need an iMac — my Dell Optiplex 990 is a zippy 64-bit multiprocessor PC, 2 256GB SSDs, 16GB memory, a zillion ports to attach devices, separate video card, lovely 24″ monitor, back-lit gaming keyboard, 4TB external hard drive for my backups. Oh, I do love my Dell.

But I finally reached the point of realizing I’m spending waaaay too much time debugging fixes, patches, updates, etc. and it really isn’t worth it to me. I already have a MacBook Air, so I’m familiar with some niceties that I may lack on the iMac. But if I search long enough, I can generally find equivalent programs that were built for the Mac (I will especially miss MailWasher Pro and UBitMenu for Word). Too bad the iMac didn’t come with more USB 3 ports, but the trade-off is worth my sanity.

Will I miss Windows? NO. Will I miss my Dell? Yes. Will I forestall a heart attack from aggravation caused by endless Windows/Firefox/Microsoft problems? Likely.

Well I guess you won’t need Windows Secrets anymore – congratulations!

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Awww, thanks. I can’t abandon the beloved Windows Secrets! I’ll be lurking around …

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Hi everyone!

I use StorageCraft ShadowProtect for Desktop https://www.storagecraft.com/products/shadowprotect to back up incrementally every 6 hours; early Monday mornings are full backups of my 2 hard drives. I’m very careful to be able to undo/reverse any damage Windows Update does to my Win 7 Pro system. However, in the past couple of months I’ve had Outlook get thrashed, my video card driver keeps crashing and recovering, some of my Firefox addons have caused odd things to happen, and I keep losing some setting that tells Windows my networked printer is online — my Windows thinks it’s offline; my usual remedy of powering everything down, draining the power on the PC, rebooting — well, lucky me, it no longer resolves my printer problem. Currently I have to send an e-mail to my husband sitting 4 feet from me, and he prints my documents. At one point I somehow “lost” not only the Windows Update capability, but the update logs that indicated what fixes I had been installing since 2012. After searching dozens and dozens of web sites explaining how to fix “Windows Update,” I worked on that problem for an entire week. I’m finally fed up with all of the tweaks, anti-this-program, anti-that-program, updates, rollbacks, reboots, system restores, boot-from-CD and restore entire C: drive using ShadowProtect … you know what I mean about the endless fiddling when running Windows. And thank goodness for ShadowProtect and the ability to boot from their CD and recover files and/or entire disks. I’ve been forced to do it many times.

I have a brand new shiny high end iMac that I’ve been working on to get all of my programs installed. I don’t need an iMac — my Dell Optiplex 990 is a zippy 64-bit multiprocessor PC, 2 256GB SSDs, 16GB memory, a zillion ports to attach devices, separate video card, lovely 24″ monitor, back-lit gaming keyboard, 4TB external hard drive for my backups. Oh, I do love my Dell.

But I finally reached the point of realizing I’m spending waaaay too much time debugging fixes, patches, updates, etc. and it really isn’t worth it to me. I already have a MacBook Air, so I’m familiar with some niceties that I may lack on the iMac. But if I search long enough, I can generally find equivalent programs that were built for the Mac (I will especially miss MailWasher Pro and UBitMenu for Word). Too bad the iMac didn’t come with more USB 3 ports, but the trade-off is worth my sanity.

Will I miss Windows? NO. Will I miss my Dell? Yes. Will I forestall a heart attack from aggravation caused by endless Windows/Firefox/Microsoft problems? Likely.

I still have Windows 98 Second Edition computers (setting idle) and a couple of Windows XP machines (which I still use because of 10-year-old software). But all of my previously Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 computers (both Home and Pro) have been upgraded to Windows 10 (for many months now). The experience has been relatively painless and I’ve allowed each one to update regularly without trying to avoid any Microsoft Updates.
So, I guess I managed to side-step the kinds of problems you’ve had.

My only tribulations occurred when I installed Windows 10 Home on a system running Vista (I had to buy a newer video card), and when I left a Windows 10 Pro machine setting for two months without even turning it on. In that particular instance I soon tired of waiting for Build 14393.447 to arrive and “manually” downloaded and installed the update. Other than those two incidents I’ve had no problems about which to complain.

Image or Clone often! Backup, backup, backup, backup......
- - - - -
Home Built: Windows 10 Home 64-bit, AMD Athlon II X3 435 CPU, 16GB RAM, ASUSTeK M4A89GTD-PRO/USB3 (AM3) motherboard, 512GB SanDisk SSD, 3 TB WD HDD, 1024MB ATI AMD RADEON HD 6450 video, ASUS VE278 (1920x1080) display, ATAPI iHAS224 Optical Drive, integrated Realtek HD Audio

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If I hadn’t had my MBA since 2010 and learned how easy it is to deal with OS X (including an OS upgrade), I would never have thought I’d be a Mac person. I also still have two Win 7 Pro systems to deal with — a 32-bit laptop plus The Hub’s Dell Optiplex, 64 bit. The concept still seems to elude him that quite often, individual hiccups in Windows can be resolved by the old off-on-reboot. I have yet to see that in my humble MBA. The most I’ve had to do, maybe 3-4 times in six years, is a “force quit” in some program.

I help people from my church with their PC problems. I’ve run into several Win 10 systems. The interface is quite lovely, but I know how much work it is to do a Windows upgrade and I decided to pass.

Come to think of it, my boatload of pesky problems began in earnest about two or so months ago. Hmmmm, out of control Windows Updates?
:confused:

Cheers!

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At this point, I am going to do what I have been doing – move forward with caution.

I’ve been fortunate, that I have not had a problem with Win7 updates for a couple years now. I have Win7 updates set to only run on command and I do this at the end of the month. Prior to doing an update, I make an image, so even if something goes wrong, I’m covered.

My “plan” is to continue to follow the same practice. If a point in time comes where something bad happens, I can restore and then re-evaluate. If the problem gets fixed, then I can resume doing updates. If it doesn’t get fixed to my satisfaction, then I can probably stop doing updates – which for me does not really entail much risk.

On principal, I’m not pleased with the whole notion of cumulative updates, but I expect that for the immediate future I can live with them. My Win7 computer is old but functional and it’s only used for what little business I currently still do.

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I’ll have to manually download the security-only updates from the Microsoft Catalog.

That’s what I have been doing and waiting for Susan B & Woody to ok things before applying. I have the latest Security Only roll-up already downloaded ( KB 3197867 ) but waiting.

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

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That’s what I have been doing and waiting for Susan B & Woody to ok things before applying. I have the latest Security Only roll-up already downloaded ( KB 3197867 ) but waiting.

That’s what I was hoping to avoid, though. The beauty of WSUS Offline Update is (was) that it would, in one fell swoop, download updates for all Windows versions I might encounter on customers’ systems. (For example, on a 32GB flash drive I have a cache of all critical updates for all Windows versions from 2000 through 8.1, 32-bit and 64-bit.)

Going forward, it looks like I’ll need to manually download four files for each month–the security-only updates for Win 7 and 8.1, 32-bit and 64-bit. And when needed, I’ll have to manually install them because WSUS Offline won’t.

Sigh. Oh, well. Not the end of the world (yet), but more work than it used to be.

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Since I have 2 machines to update I have Win Update set to “Notify …but let me choose…” This month Win Update has not notified me about the Nov patch or the Office compatibility patch. It still shows only the Oct security and quality patch. Seems now that if you don’t let win update download and install automatically, you are on your own to identify the latest security patch. Luckily this month there is a Nov Security bulletin to find what it is. But some say the bulletins will not survive in the future. I did have win update search for updates but it just ran and ran and ran and…….. until I killed its process. Thank you MS. You treat your customers so wonderfully.

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Since I have 2 machines to update I have Win Update set to “Notify …but let me choose…” This month Win Update has not notified me about the Nov patch or the Office compatibility patch. It still shows only the Oct security and quality patch. Seems now that if you don’t let win update download and install automatically, you are on your own to identify the latest security patch. Luckily this month there is a Nov Security bulletin to find what it is. But some say the bulletins will not survive in the future. I did have win update search for updates but it just ran and ran and ran and…….. until I killed its process. Thank you MS. You treat your customers so wonderfully.

You should have been notified of the November combined security and non-security patch under Windows Update. My machines are set to “Notify but let me choose when to download and install” and I have been offered KB3197868 and the usual MSRT on both my Win7 x64 machines. If you want the security-only patch that is not offered through Windows Update but has to be sought out on the Windows Update Catalog.

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Never did get offered 7868 or MSRT. Downloaded 7867 and MSRT and installed “manually”.

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Never did get offered 7868 or MSRT. Downloaded 7867 and MSRT and installed “manually”.

I just checked this afternoon and was offered KB 3197868 and the MSRT on my W7 x64 so I just installed the MSRT since I have downloaded the Sec. only Update and am waiting for word on whether there are any problems with it.
NOTE: It took 3 trys before WU finally looked for updates, got errors on the 2 trys at first.

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

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It seems that the older I get the more cynical and suspicious I get of other peoples motives.
Is it just me, or do others get the impression that MS is trying to make older versions of Windows such a pain to use and keep current, that most will eventually give in and upgrade to W10? Maybe the free upgrade didn’t get the intended number of converts so now they are out to forcibly cause us so much stress that we will fall into step? Though I understand that W10 upgrades are to be (or maybe already are) handled in the same all or nothing way.
I think MS run a serious risk of pushing more converts over to Apple if they are not real careful. And probably once converted 90+% of folks will stay there.
I really hope someone at MS is reading all this upgrade grief and paying attention.
Many of us like to manage our own destiny and affairs; not have it managed for us by some gigantic faceless moneymongering entity.

rstew

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It seems that the older I get the more cynical and suspicious I get of other peoples motives.
Is it just me, or do others get the impression that MS is trying to make older versions of Windows such a pain to use and keep current, that most will eventually give in and upgrade to W10? Maybe the free upgrade didn’t get the intended number of converts so now they are out to forcibly cause us so much stress that we will fall into step?

In my opinion, there’s a high possibility that this is the case.

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

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Actually from monitoring sites like “NetMarketShare” ( http://www.netmarketshare.com/ ) I really doubt M$ will lose their dominance, at least in the near future.

Reality is that M$ Windows has more than 90% market share, w/ the remainder divided up mostly between Mac and Linux.

And Windows 7 remains the most popular Windows version for now w/ about twice the share of Windows 10.

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I’ve owned several Windows computers since 2000 – 2000 Pro, Millenium, XP, Windows 7 and 10. Over these years I read about a lot of problems relating to MS Updating, but I can’t remember ever having a problem relating to MS updates. What’s wrong with me? :mellow: Am I the only one?

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What’s wrong with me?

How long have you got? Sorry, just kidding…

Forums like WSL tend to exist to help people who are having problems. I’ve yet to stumble across a forum about ‘I’m not having any problems…’

Like you, I haven’t had any problems with Windows Updates (so far), but it’s becoming more difficult to type with fingers crossed.

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Me either but I usually delay a month and let the riff-raff take the brunt of the assault. :rolleyes:

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

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Ever a glutton for punishment I drink the Kool-Aid as soon as it’s offered. Even so, I’ve yet to have any significant difficulty (perhaps that’s because I rarely install new software — usually I only update existing installed programs).

Image or Clone often! Backup, backup, backup, backup......
- - - - -
Home Built: Windows 10 Home 64-bit, AMD Athlon II X3 435 CPU, 16GB RAM, ASUSTeK M4A89GTD-PRO/USB3 (AM3) motherboard, 512GB SanDisk SSD, 3 TB WD HDD, 1024MB ATI AMD RADEON HD 6450 video, ASUS VE278 (1920x1080) display, ATAPI iHAS224 Optical Drive, integrated Realtek HD Audio

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Why people won’t do backups is beyond me. Are they too cheap to buy an external backup drive?

Unfortunately there are a lot of people out there that don’t have a clue what a backup or external HDD are. The lucky ones are the ones that stumble into forums such as WS to read and learn.
I have family members and friends that, even though told about backups, still don’t do it because they are not savvy enough or too lazy or cheap to set something up. Then you get the “Help Me” call from long distance.
Seems to be a never ending way of life for some and it is what it is. :rolleyes:

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

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WOW!

Being a home user just a bit above novice, I’m now totally confused on “Windows Update”.

I guess this comes from watching over the years how things have changed from simple systems to more user involvement where I now have to be able to ferret out answers to things that ought to be straight forward.

I never signed up to be a Geek and do not understand this new wave of user involvement and confusion.

Take my most recent exploit using “Windows Update”.

I do a weekly full backup of my system doing both an image and a data drive backup.

I then go to Windows Update to see what new updates are offered and may need to be downloaded and installed.

However, with the latest foray into updatedom, I was offered:

“November, 2016 Preview of Monthly Quality Rollup for Windows 7 for x64-based Systems (KB3197869) Download size: 137.6 MB Update type: Optional”

and

“November, 2016 Preview of Quality Rollup for .NET Framework 3.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1 on Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 for x64 (KB3196686)

Download size: 68.5 MB Update type: Optional”

Can any explain what a “Preview” is and how this differs from everything that has been discussed in this thread so far.

I see everything from using WU to something called Windows Update Catalog and other stuff to make sure I get the right updates and don’t screw my system up.

Any help is definitely appreciated as I’m totally confused and afraid to do anything as far as updates are concerned.

Thanks in advance.

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Can any explain what a “Preview” is and how this differs from everything that has been discussed in this thread so far.

Preview patches are something new within the last month, and are only intended for programmers and system administrators for early testing; that’s why they’re optional:

Users should avoid Microsoft’s newly released preview Windows patches
Microsoft’s new monthly patching cadence include ‘previews’ that are not for general consumption,
http://www.infoworld.com/article/3142197/microsoft-windows/users-should-avoid-microsofts-just-released-preview-windows-patches.html

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