Newsletter Archives

• Microsoft patches buggy Windows 7 patch, KB 4039884 solves the dual-monitor rendering problem – UPDATE: It’s been yanked

  Posted on August 29, 2017 at 07:15 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  It only took ’em two and a half weeks.

  Late Friday night, Microsoft released a hotfix for the dual-monitor rendering problem I described two weeks ago in Computerworld Two of this month’s Windows 7 patches cause second-screen problems.

  In short, if you installed either of the August Windows 7 security patches KB 4034664 (the monthly rollup, installed by Windows Automatic Update) or KB 4034679 (the manual security-only patch), and you have two monitors, the second monitor will start acting up. Günter Born had a full writeup, and Christian Schwarz not only nailed the problem, he wrote a “proof of concept” program demonstrating exactly what was happening and when.

  Friday night, with little fanfare, Microsoft released a hotfix for the problem. It’s KB 4039884, and it’s only available through the Microsoft Update Catalog. I only learned about it from an anonymous poster on AskWoody.

  If you’ve already installed the August patches for Win7, and you have multiple monitors, it would behoove you to download and install the hotfix.

  UPDATE: It looks like there are bugs in the bug fix. Who woulda thought? Get the latest in Computerworld Woody on Windows.

  ANOTHER UPDATE: Microsoft has pulled the patch. Without any offered reason or documentation, of course. Computerworld Woody on Windows.

  Windows Patches/Security dual monitor, KB 4034664, KB 4034679, KB 4039884

• Is there a workable solution to the Windows 8 “Start” conundrum?

  Posted on May 24, 2012 at 07:10 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  I’m not absolutely sure – and won’t know until we get RP – but I think there may be an easy way to use dual monitors, with the Metro interface almost always on one, and the legacy desktop on the other.

  What do you think?

  InfoWorld Tech Watch.

  Windows News dual monitor, Metro, Windows 8