Master Patch List as of March 12, 2024

Happy time change week and Happy Post Patch day – or rather the wait and see week.

I’ve updated the Master Patch list for the March updates.  I’ll be updating the page for any known issues or issues that we are tracking.   Windows 10 and KB5034441 which fails to install with error code 0x80070643.  STILL has not been fixed.

Consumers: At this time I only want you to install browser updates.

Businesses: You’ll want to install Exchange updates for your on premise mail servers NOW.   Make sure you read this post.

Mind you at this time I still have not given the go ahead and strongly recommend that you do not install updates at this time. But I know some of you are testing updates at this time. The full details will be in Monday’s Plus newsletter.

As always, thank you all for supporting the cause! Remember we use the “name your price” model where you can choose how much you will pay for  a membership . Plus membership gives you access and if you donate $50 or more you’ll get a special code to enable text messages sent to your phone each time the Master Patch List gets updated and when I change the MS-DEFCON level.  More details in Monday’s newsletter.  You are missing out if you don’t sign up. All content is human made with our own blood, sweat, tears, fingers and brain power and 100% AI free.  Therefore, if I’ve fat fingered any KB numbers or if you have any questions, as always post in the forums and I’ll follow up!

March Madness begins

Ready or not, here comes the March updates for Windows.

Windows 10 22H2 gets KB5035845

Known issues include:  “Copilot in Windows (in preview) is not currently supported when your taskbar is located vertically on the right or left of your screen.  To access Copilot in Windows, make sure your taskbar is positioned horizontally on the top or bottom of your screen. We are working on a resolution and will provide an update in an upcoming release.”  This also removes the backup app from domain machines.

Windows 11 23H2 and 22H2 get KB5035853.  This fixes the issue seen in earlier updates: “This update addresses a known issue that might affect the February 2024 security and preview updates. They might not install, and your device might stop responding at 96%. The error code is “0x800F0922.” The error message is, “Something did not go as planned. No need to worry – undoing changes. Please keep your computer on.””

61 CVEs – see https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/releaseNote/2024-Mar 

Exchange needs updating see – https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/exchange-team-blog/released-march-2024-exchange-server-security-updates/ba-p/4075348

If you are running Sonoma – remember 14.4 came out last week – https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT214084

Zero day blog indicates it’s a mild March – now let’s see if it is in deploying these updates. Already got an early report that KB5035849 on Server 2019 is failing to download with an 0xd000034 error.

Can repro personally:

The M1 is dead

APPLE

By Will Fastie

With no fanfare, Apple announced two new MacBooks.

The reason for the lack of fanfare is that Apple had little to say. I expected this move, and I’m not even an Apple expert.

But there is a key takeaway — there are no longer any Macs with the M1 SoC.

I’ll get to the lineup in a second, but first I want to share a lovely photo.

Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.11.0, 2024-03-11).
This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

How to get photos and videos from your phone to your PC

WINDOWS 11

By Lance Whitney

Your mobile phone may be home to thousands of photos and videos. Now’s the time to back up and sync them to your Windows computer.

I have some 12,250 photos and videos stored on my iPhone. And if something dire happened to my phone, all those photos and videos could be lost. That’s why I copy and sync them all between my phone and my Windows PC. If you’re in the same boat, there is a host of ways you can transfer and back up your precious photographic memories to your computer.

Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.11.0, 2024-03-11).

Five reasons not to use the new Outlook

MICROSOFT 365

By Peter Deegan

Outlook (new) for Windows is being over-promoted.

When Microsoft pushes this hard, you might think you must change now. I’ll give you five reasons to stay with your current Outlook, at least for now. And I’ll offer some tips for keeping your current email app, despite a pushy Microsoft.

“Outlook (new)” is the name Microsoft uses at the moment. (It’s Microsoft, so “for Windows” is assumed). For this article, in an attempt to avoid confusion, I’ll call the current Outlook for Windows “classic Outlook,” by which I mean the traditional desktop version of Outlook.

Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.11.0, 2024-03-11).

A freeware mash-up — How is your hardware holding-up?

FREEWARE SPOTLIGHT

By Deanna McElveen

A good “mash-up” (mix of two songs put together) is always a fun thing to hear.

One of my favorites is “Stayin’ Alive In The Wall” (Pink Floyd + Bee Gees mash-up by Wax Audio). But did you know that a mash-up of two freeware programs can really complement each other to get things accomplished?

Today we are going to mash together two great pieces of free software to find out how our computer hardware is doing.

Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.11.0, 2024-03-11).

When is a system beyond repair?

PATCH WATCH

By Susan Bradley

I’m giving up. I hate giving up.

It annoys me, but I’m giving up on repairing operating systems. Why? Because we’ve reached the point where an operating system can become so damaged that not only can we not fully identify the cause, but also the system cannot be repaired with the tools provided for that purpose.

There’s a reason I’m in this state of mind.

The other day, someone in the forums asked me to start a section of Patch Watch to track those updates that did this kind of damage to the extent that the system became unbootable. But here’s the thing: no update is designed to make systems unbootable.

Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.11.0, 2024-03-11).

It’s spring forward

(Better known around these parts as the week I get REALLY tired.) Tulips are blooming in the backyard, it’s starting to warm up and…. yes in North America the time clocks are changing (unless you are in Arizona and a few other places).

Keeping computers in the proper time is key to them working properly due to the fact that we rely so heavily on security certificates that have a “use by date”. Or rather they have a date range that they are valid by.   As a result, much of our software now automatically keeps track of what day it is by hooking into official time servers.

But don’t just check that your computer properly changed the time when you get up tomorrow, use the time to also check other time sensitive devices such as the batteries in your smoke alarms, batteries in safety flashlights, or any other items that you keep around in case of emergency.

What else do you check on that is time specific?