Newsletter Archives

• Oops! Surface Pro 3 firmware and driver update causing sluggish Wi-Fi

  Posted on June 30, 2014 at 06:40 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Another botched patch – without a KB number. (Firmware updates don’t have Knowledge Base articles, just listings on a firmware update site.)

  InfoWorld Tech Watch

  Windows Patches/Security Botched patch, Firmware Update, Surface Pro 3

• Botched Windows USB driver patch KB 2862330 triggers BSOD 0x000000D1 or 0x000000CA

  Posted on November 5, 2013 at 19:54 CST by woody • Comment in the Forums

  This is the problem I warned about in the MS-DEFCON 3 update, with quite a bit of supporting detail.

  InfoWorld Tech Watch

  Windows Patches/Security Botched patch, KB 2862330, October 2013 Black Tuesday

• Another botched Windows patch: MS13-057/KB 2803821/KB 2834904

  Posted on July 13, 2013 at 13:40 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  If you’re looking at a video, and you only see half of it — the top half is completely black, but the bottom half is normal, hey, have I got a patch for you.

  Microsoft hasn’t even acknowledged the problems, much less pulled the patch or offered a workaround.

  Automatic Update strikes again. Watch the drama unfold at InfoWorld Tech Watch. [Link corrected. Mea culpa!]

  And, please, the next time an “expert” tells you to turn on Microsoft Automatic Update, point them to the growing pile of patch problems so far this year. (For patch problems last year, see my InfoWorld slideshow.) Patching Windows and Office is an impossible job. I’m amazed that the folks in the MSRC keep their sanity. But the bottom line is that, if you allow Microsoft to update your machine without watching your own back, you’re going to get stung, sooner or later.

  Windows Patches/Security black video, Botched patch, KB 2803821, KB 2834904, MS13-057

• Microsoft re-releases botched KB 2823324 as KB 2840149

  Posted on April 24, 2013 at 23:25 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  But there’s more to the story…

   

  InfoWorld Tech Watch. 

  Windows Patches/Security April 2013 Black Tuesday, Automatic Update, Botched patch, KB 2823324, KB 2840149

• The AutoRun patch, KB 967715, is a mess

  Posted on March 10, 2009 at 15:46 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Last week, I warned you about installing the KB 967715 patch – the one that’s supposed to fix the AutoRun/AutoPlay stupidities that have allowed the Conficker worm to multiply. (Remember, this is the worm that has drawn a $250,000 bounty from Microsoft – and the folks at MS can’t even plug one of its simplest infection vectors.)

  This week, Susan Bradley has analyzed the patch, and it’s a complete mess. She has posted instructions for fixing the AutoRun/AutoPlay debacle – manual instructions which you should follow after installing the KB 967715 patch, if you should be motivated to install the patch.

  For now, I continue to recommend that you avoid the KB 967715 patch like the plague it is. Remember to hold down the Shift key when you stick a USB drive (or SD card) in your computer, and you’ll be safe. That isn’t a good permanent solution, but as a temporary stopgap, it works.

  Windows Patches/Security Botched patch, KB 967715