Newsletter Archives

• MS-DEFCON 2: Kicking off the new year

  Posted on January 9, 2025 at 02:45 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 22.01.1 • 2025-01-09

  

  By Susan Bradley

  We’re less than a week away from the first round of updates for 2025, not just for Windows but for all our devices.

  Although things have been relatively quiet at the end of the year, especially because many of Microsoft’s developers take extended time off over the holidays, we’ll soon be in the thick of patching. That’s why I strongly recommend deferring updates until we have time to study and test them. Therefore, I’m raising the MS-DEFCON level to 2.

  Anyone can read the full MS-DEFCON Alert (22.01.1, 2025-01-09).

  AskWoody Plus Alert, MS-DEFCON Alerts, Center Stage, InControl, KB5014754, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 2, Patch Lady Posts, SMB Signing, Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows 11 24H2

• MS-DEFCON 2: 24H2 is around the corner

  Posted on September 5, 2024 at 02:45 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 21.36.1 • 2024-09-05

  

  By Susan Bradley

  I can always tell when fall is in the air.

  No, it’s not a decrease in temperatures — we’re still very hot here in Central California. No, it’s not that pumpkin-spice aroma around coffee shops.

  It’s the technology headlines about imminent updates from Redmond and Cupertino. Naturally, that means I’m raising the MS-DEFCON level to 2. Here are a few things you should consider.

  Anyone can read the full MS-DEFCON Alert (21.36.1, 2024-09-05).

  AskWoody Plus Alert, MS-DEFCON Alerts, Apple, CVE-2024-26248, CVE-2024-29056, InControl, KB5014754, KB5025885, KB5037754, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 2, Patch Lady Posts, RSA, TLS, Windows 11 23H2, Windows 11 24H2

• MS-DEFCON 2: May updates are right around the corner

  Posted on May 9, 2024 at 02:45 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 21.19.1 • 2024-05-09

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Patch Tuesday is only a few days away. As usual, caution is in order.

  I’ve therefore raised the MS-DEFCON level to 2. Make sure your system is backed up and you have deferred updates.

  In addition, I urge you to take stock of the other software that is installed on your system. Often, it’s this third-party software that may result in side effects.

  Anyone can read the full MS-DEFCON Alert (21.19.1, 2024-05-09).

  AskWoody Plus Alert, MS-DEFCON Alerts, Android, Android Phone, InControl, iPhone, KB5036979, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 2, NTLM, VPN

• MS-DEFCON 3: A bumpy start to 2024

  Posted on January 30, 2024 at 02:45 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 21.05.1 • 2024-01-30

  

  By Susan Bradley

  The partition-sizing problem that emerged earlier this month is not yet fixed.

  Fortunately, our deep examination of this bug has revealed nothing of a dangerous nature. Therefore, I am lowering the MS-DEFCON level to 3. It’s now time to carefully install the January updates.

  We continue to monitor the problem, described in KB5034441 for Windows 10 22H2 and in KB5034440 for Windows 11. Some, but not all, Windows 10 PCs are affected. I have urged you to check your partitions for issues with installing this update. We have written extensively about the problems, and the forums have been very active (see the From the Forums article in yesterday’s newsletter).

  Anyone can read the full MS-DEFCON Alert (21.05.1, 2024-01-30).

  AskWoody Plus Alert, MS-DEFCON Alerts, InControl, KB5034234, KB5034440, KB5034441, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 3, Patch Lady Posts, Recovery Partition, WinRE, WUShowHide

• MS-DEFCON 3: A slightly bumpy November

  Posted on November 28, 2023 at 02:45 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 20.48.1 • 2023-11-28

  

  By Susan Bradley

  For most Windows 10 and 11 users, including me, there have been no side effects as a result of November’s updates.

  Nonetheless, there appear to be a few potholes in the road. That’s enough to make me cautious — I’m lowering the MS-DEFCON level to only 3.

  One thing I did notice was updates taking more time to complete than usual — not a good sign. At the very least, it’s a good reason to take a look at the update history in Settings.

  Anyone can read the full MS-DEFCON Alert (20.48.1, 2023-11-28).

  AskWoody Plus Alert, MS-DEFCON Alerts, Dev Drive, Dev Home App, InControl, KB5032189, KB5032190, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 3, OpenAI, Patch Lady Posts, speed test, Uninstall updates, Windows Copilot

• Wrapping up July’s updates

  Posted on August 7, 2023 at 02:42 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  We’re at the dividing line. We are working on getting July’s updates installed and reviewing whether we have Windows 10 22H2 installed. Meanwhile, that window of opportunity for installing updates is closing soon.

  But that’s just the Windows side of the patching world. On the Apple side, we’ve had to deal with zero-day patches this month. Not to be left out, Android is doing last-minute beta testing on Android 14 beta 4.1.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.32.0, 2023-08-07).

  Patch Watch Apple, Cloud services, CVE-2023-32019, InControl, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, WSUS, WuMgr, Zero Day