Newsletter Archives

• MS-DEFCON 3: Install all patches except one, KB 2840149

  Posted on May 3, 2013 at 12:12 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  I’ve been waiting, hoping that we’d get some sort of definitive word on whether the patch for the botched patch last month is working. So far, I’ve heard mixed results, with some people posting on this forum saying the new patch, KB  2840149, is causing problems. I DON’T recommend that you install the patch-of-a-patch KB 2840149.

  You shouldn’t be offered the earlier patch, KB 2823324, which proved so problematic. If you didn’t take my advice and installed that patch (in particular, if you had Automatic Update turned on around April 11), Microsoft sill recommends that you remove it. Use Control Panel’s Add or Remove Programs.

  There are also known problems with MS13-036/KB 2808735, but they’re obscure, and it’s highly unlikely you’ll hit them.

  So I’m straddling the middle, moving to MS-DEFCON 3. Patch reliability is unclear, but widespread attacks make patching prudent. Go ahead and patch, but watch out for potential problems. In particular, avoid installing KB 2840149.

  Let’s hope Microsoft has better luck with the May crop of Black Tuesday patches.

  P.S. If you have Windows 7, don’t install Internet Explorer 10 yet. Give it a while to sink in.

  P.P.S. From the comments:

  @Jack, @Ken –

  I should’ve been more explicit. Yes, please do install KB2670838. That KB article is now up to version 7.0. In theory, if the patch encounters a system that it’ll nuke, the installer will tell you that it didn’t install the patch. If that happens to you, take a look at the KB article and see if there’s a new video driver which doesn’t have compatibility problems. I haven’t heard of any problems with the patch for about a month.

  Windows Patches/Security KB 2670838, KB 2808735, KB 2823324, KB 2840149, March 2013 Black Tuesday

• 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

• Microsoft releases repair disk for botched KB 2823324 patch

  Posted on April 19, 2013 at 06:40 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  I’ve never heard of MS doing anything like this.

  Primarily of interest to those who use Portuguese languages 32-bit Windows 7, and had Automatic Updates turned on last week.

  InfoWorld Tech Watch.

  Windows Patches/Security KB 2823324, Repair disk

• Yet another botched Automatic Update patch

  Posted on April 11, 2013 at 10:16 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  MS13-036/KB 2823324 is reportedly causing blue screens on Win7 machines.

  So far the problem’s widely reported in Brazil, and at least one other credible sighting has occurred in South Africa and one in UK – but it isn’t clear if they were running the Brazilian version of Windows.

  Apparently the patch corrupts ntfs.sys. One fix that’s been floated is to copy ntfs.sys from a good machine (same version of Windows) to a bluescreened machine.

  There’s a reason why I tell you folks to wait before you install the Black Tuesday patches, eh? Automatic Update is for chumps.

  UPDATE: More details at InfoWorld Tech Watch.

  Windows Patches/Security KB 2823324, MS13-036