A new patching year

PATCH WATCH

By Susan Bradley

Tomorrow, as usual, Microsoft will release the January patches.

Today, as usual, I’m recommending that you not install the patches right away. If you’ve been dealing with and following patching as long as I have, you’ll know that it takes about a week or so for problems to bubble up.

Side effects are somewhat sporadic — some see them, some don’t. Those who see none sometimes move along to the next vulnerability. Lately, however, Microsoft has been taking a long-term look at vulnerabilities thus and taking several months to implement changes. 2024 looks to be no different, with many long-term issues needing resolution.

This week’s edition of Patch Watch focuses specifically on business patching and what we may see in the coming months. For consumers, you probably will not have the same side effects or concerns as business patchers.

Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.02.0, 2024-01-08).

Before you start work on a misbehaving thing

Today I was fighting a vintage-lit Christmas tree that I finally gave up and will tackle trying to fix it next year when I take it out from storage. Either it will get a string replaced or if I’m really adventurous I’ll change the string to LEDs. I had all the necessary parts: Replacement light bulbs. A bulb tester. But what finally made me give up for the year was a part of a string – mind you not the entire string – that when I changed the fuse bulb to make it turn on, the portion of the string was much brighter than the rest of the tree. Clearly there is some other problem that I haven’t gotten to the root of yet. If I leave the fuse bulb in, that portion of the string will blow, burning out all of the bulbs in that section. Needless to say my patience for the project was over. Enough for the day, I marked the offending string, put it in the tree bag and went on to other projects, like putting the rest of the boxes away and baking a Galette des rois.

It reminds me of working with computers that are misbehaving. Make sure you have the necessary spare parts before a project even if you are merely investigating something with your computer. Before you start, do you have a backup? Preferably before the issue started occurring. Do you have another “thing” that you can use to search for solutions? This “thing” can be another computer, a tablet, and in a pinch a phone. If you think the issue is related to the hard drive, do you have a spare SSD drive? If worst case scenario occurs, do you have the original cdroms to reinstall your applications, or these days, do you know the usernames and logins to log into a site and download them again?  Can you get to the Internet on an alternative thing to download a copy of Windows, or do you already have it on a flash drive to reinstall should you need to take that action.

Do you have your passwords written down or documented, or in a password manager program so that you can easily log into a site or a place even if you don’t have your main computer working?

Bottom line, plan ahead and have the necessary “tools” to deal with the issue. But don’t forget one more thing  — if you get really frustrated — walk away. Set it aside and come back to again tomorrow. You will have a clearer mind to deal with the frustrations, and might find the exact reason your Computer, or in my case – my Light string – is deciding to misbehave. Often with technology, a good night sleep and a clear head is the best thing you can do for yourself and for the tech you are trying to fix.

MS-DEFCON 2: Preparing for the new year

By Susan Bradley

It’s time to prepare for the upcoming patching month, and that means it’s time for MS-DEFCON level 2.

If you’re groggy from holiday reveling, here are my reminders: back up your system, install all the December updates, and confirm that your system is operating smoothly.

Then defer updates, using whichever method you’re comfortable with — Registry keys, Windows Settings, or BlockAPatch.

Anyone can read the full MS-DEFCON Alert (21.01.1, 2024-01-04).

January 2024 Office non-Security updates have been released

The January 2024 Office non-Security updates have been released Tuesday, January 2, 2024. They are not included in the DEFCON-4 approval for the December 2023 patches. Unless you have a specific need to install them, you should wait until Susan Bradley (Patch Lady) approves them and any problems have been reported.

Remember, Susan’s patching sequence and recommendations are based on a business environment that has IT support and may have time constraints on the updating process. Consumer patching should be more cautious due to limited technical and mechanical resources. The latter is the reason for the AskWoody DEFCON system.

Office 2016
Update for Microsoft OneNote 2016 (KB5002500)

There were no January updates for Office 2013.

On April 10, 2018, Office 2013 reached End of Mainstream Support. Extended Support ended for Office 2013 on April 11, 2023.
Office 2016 also reached  End of Mainstream Support on October 13, 2020. EOS for Office 2016 is October 14, 2025.

Updates are for the .msi version (perpetual). Office 365 and C2R are not included.

Security updates for all supported versions of Microsoft Office are released on the second Tuesday of the month (Patch Tuesday).

Happy New Year!

EDITORIAL

By Will Fastie

To begin 2024, we bring you our best advice about keeping your PC spit-polished and ready for another year of hard work.

The article “Let your PC start the new year right!” has been a staple around here for years. The tradition is now in the capable hands of our resident hardware expert, Ben Myers, after a long run from Fred Langa.

The core of the article will remain the same, with abundant references to the classic and detailed PC-maintenance how-tos originally published in Windows Secrets — and now available in our newsletter archives.

Did we miss anything? Got ideas about what we should include next time around? As always, we listen to the forums carefully.

Speaking of the archives, we know that they have not been as accessible as they should be. During the second half of 2023, we worked on under-the-cover repairs and enhancements to our system, with the goal of improving our on-site search capability. This, as it turns out, was a much bigger project than first anticipated.

I had hoped to offer this as a New Year’s gift to all our members, but as the busy end of the publishing year approached, the project slowed. We will be resuming this work in earnest this month and hope to make a formal announcement of the new capabilities by the end of the first quarter — sooner, if possible.

Our very best wishes for a peaceful, productive, and prosperous 2024.

Read the bonus Plus Newsletter (21.01.0, 2024-01-01).

Let your PC start the new year right!

BEN’S WORKSHOP

By Ben Myers

Taking the time now to service your Windows PC thoroughly can pay off big time in the coming year.

Happy New Year! Whether you’re planning to move to Windows 11 or continue with Windows 10, here is what you can do to make sure that your PC starts the year right.

Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.01.0, 2024-01-01).

MS-DEFCON 4: A quiet December

By Susan Bradley

I’m hoping that the relatively well-behaved December updates are a good omen for the upcoming patching year.

Given that December was quiet and many Microsoft employees are taking a holiday break, applying updates now is likely to be safe. Accordingly, I’m lowering the MS-DEFCON level to 4.

Anyone can read the full MS-DEFCON Alert (20.52.1, 2023-12-27).

My 2023 rear-view mirror and 2024 crystal ball

MICROSOFT 365

By Peter Deegan

Let’s first check the 2023 rear-view mirror to see what good, and not-so-good, things happened with Microsoft 365.

I’ll look at just some of the changes, perhaps not the most-hyped-but-possibly-overlooked ones in the never-ending road that is Microsoft marketing. Then I’ll peer over the steering wheel to see what will or might happen in 2024.

Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.52.0, 2023-12-26).
This story also appears in our public Newsletter.