Newsletter Archives

• Massive batch of optional non-security Windows patches precede October changes

  Posted on September 20, 2016 at 15:22 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Say goodbye to the “Get Windows 10” campaign – and hello to the nascent new Win 7 / 8.1 patching method.

  And get a preview of the post-October patchopalypse. Coming soon to a Win7 or 8.1 machine near you.

  InfoWorld Woody on Windows

  Windows Patches/Security Get Windows 10, KB 3035583, KB 3184143

• The last gasp: KB 3035583 re-re-re…re-relea… er, re-updated

  Posted on July 20, 2016 at 09:40 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Thanks for the reports, folks. Special call-out to PKCano, who sent along screenshots.

  InfoWorld Woody on Windows

  Windows Patches/Security KB 3035583, KB 3172615, KB 3173040

• KB 3035583 re-released, and I need your help

  Posted on July 19, 2016 at 21:23 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Microsoft just re-released the notorious KB 3035583 “GWX” system installer and KB 3173040, which is the full-page Get Windows 10 nag patch.

  There’s also a new one, KB3172615, an update rollup for Windows Server 2012.

  I need your help. I’m on the road and just discovered that I don’t have access to my Windows 7 “honeypot” machines. If you’re in a position to look at these patches, I’d appreciate your observations!

  PKCano installed 3035583 and notes that “There is a caution triangle imposed over the GWX icon in the system tray. The GWX popup has a hamburger in the top left corner that opens a slide out with options. Otherwise the popup looks the same.”

  I also assume that KB 3173040 was boosted from an optional to a recommended update. (That’s what the infamous “metadata change” usually involves.)

  If you could confirm the observations and add whatever notes you might have to the comments, I’d be most grateful. I’ll roll it all together for an advisory in InfoWorld in the morning, US time.

  Thanks!

  Windows Patches/Security KB 3035583

• New Get Windows 10 nag screen arrives

  Posted on June 30, 2016 at 16:06 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Busy day.

  In the past hour, Microsoft has changed the “Get Windows 10” nag screen as well. You don’t have to install anything, there’s no approval — you have no control. If GWX is running, you get it.

  InfoWorld Woody on Windows

  

  Windows Patches/Security Get Windows 10 nag screen, KB 3035583

• Here’s why KB 3035583 (the much-maligned GWX patch) may appear twice on your machine

  Posted on May 29, 2016 at 17:51 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Fresh analysis from ch100:

  This is what all the talk about KB3035583 appearing twice is all about, in case you haven’t seen it or able to reproduce.

  If I scan against WSUS, the updates not on offer in WSUS do not appear in the list of hidden updates.

  This means there are 2 lists of hidden updates, according to the reference database against which the scan is performed, in this case Microsoft Update and WSUS.

  The updates not in WSUS are KB971033 and KB3035583.

  Currently only one version of KB2952664 is on offer, the older versions being expired, unlike KB3035583 for which the older version I am expecting to see expired soon.

  Scan against Microsoft Update – takes less than 2 minutes, all other updates installed, no Office or other Microsoft software installed

  

  Scan against WSUS – same updates hidden as above, takes less than 2 minutes to scan

  See that in WSUS there is no such thing as Recommended, Optional. It is either approved or not. However the admin can see the difference between updates although there are more classifications available than in Windows/Microsoft Update.

  

  It is always good to compare WSUS with Microsoft Update for reference and better understanding.

  Windows Patches/Security KB 3035583

• The Get Windows 10 patch, KB 3035583, is back

  Posted on May 25, 2016 at 20:32 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  I want to know what’s different about this version…

  I installed it on one of my test machines, and I don’t see any difference in the GWX notification.

  Anybody see anything new and different?

  InfoWorld Woody on Windows

  Windows Patches/Security KB 3035583

• What are the differences between KB2952664, KB3150513 and the naughty KB3035583?

  Posted on May 7, 2016 at 05:09 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  A very interesting synopsis from our very own ch100:

  What are the differences between KB2952664, KB3150513, and the naughty “Get Windows 10” patch KB3035583?

  KB2952664 (and its equivalents for other OSes and versions) is the baseline pre-requisite for all the others providing the telemetry baseline. It is mostly useful for the upgrading to Windows 10, but not only as it provides telemetry capabilities in a wider sense.

  KB3150513 is not offered unless the previous one is installed and adds further functionality in relation to making Windows 10 upgrade more reliable. It has specific functionality in relation to applications compatibility and this is why is offered as a different KB number.

  KB3035583 is purely adware/nagware, the bad guy which is neutralised by the Group Policies configured to do that or by Josh’s GWX Control Panel, or Steve Gibson’s tool, or Noel’s procedure.

  What I find relevant is that the first 2 patches are offered to medium/large businesses running Enterprise Version or Enterprise/Pro + WSUS, while the last one KB3035583 is never offered to those businesses. They are the most important customers for Microsoft’s bottom line.

  Which makes me think that, unless overly concerned about the telemetry issues, the other patches are not so damaging or annoying and may actually provide some benefit in certain instances. The larger businesses seem not to pay much attention to the telemetry issues and follow the official line from Microsoft. If anything, the communication back to Microsoft is blocked for network traffic and OS performance reasons and rarely for the content of it. The larger businesses are not typically offered an upgrade in place and are still offered KB2952664 and KB3150513 and maybe there are more to come.

  There is certainly no benefit at all in installing KB3035583 unless and only if interested in doing in-place upgrade to Windows 10.

  Even so, I upgraded long before all those patches mentioned here were released and my upgrade still completed successfully and I did it more than once. The three patches are just risk mitigation patches, not mandatory if upgrading from sources other than Windows Update, like the official ISO image. And it is actually a lot more reliable to use the ISO than Windows Update.

  Windows Patches/Security KB 2952664, KB 3035583, KB 3150513

• The KB 3035583 patch is NOT overriding Windows 10 registry settings

  Posted on May 6, 2016 at 05:46 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  There are reports all over the web that the new KB 3035583 – the detested “Get Windows 10” patch — is violating Microsoft’s terms of engagement, and blowing away the registry settings that are supposed to keep Windows 10 off your machine.

  In my experiments, that just wasn’t true. Microsoft seems to be following its own rules.

  InfoWorld Woody on Windows

  Windows Patches/Security GWX, GWX Control Panel, KB 3035583
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