Newsletter Archives

• MS pulls buggy KB 3161608 Windows Update speed-up patch

  Posted on July 22, 2016 at 08:57 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Replaces it with KB 3172605, KB 3172614… and sticks it to Intel.

  If you’re struggling with slow Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 Update speeds, take a look at this article. I end up recommending that you ditch Microsoft’s “solution” entirely and use the approach listed on wu.krelay.de to fix the slowdowns.

  The German solution works for Win 7 and Vista. I have no idea how to fix the problem in Win 8.1 — or if Win 8.1 people are experiencing significant slowdowns.

  But it’ll be fun to watch Microsoft and Intel getting into a real expectorating match.

  InfoWorld Woody on Windows

  Windows Patches/Security KB 3161608, KB 3172605, KB 3172614, Slow Windows update

• Win7 scan speedup patch KB 3161608 breaks Intel Bluetooth

  Posted on July 13, 2016 at 14:36 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  This from BillC:

  Here is a link in the Intel communities for the June rollup KB3161608 breaking Intel Bluetooth.  It is confirmed by Intel.  The fix it to remove the KB until the Intel fix happens.

  I have not found a single piece specifying of which update in the KB rollup is the true culprit.  The Intel® Wireless-N 7260 adapter was my specific hardware affected.

  I removed the update and have not noticed any decrease in WU speed.

  https://communities.intel.com/thread/104414

   

  Windows Patches/Security Intel Bluetooth, KB 3161608

• OK to install KB 3161608?

  Posted on July 13, 2016 at 13:18 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Great questions from Q:

  I just wanted to verify that it is okay to DL & install the KB3161608 from the “Optional List”. I would think that I should be able to DL & install the KB3161608 from the “Optional List” however there are so many messages about this update that after a while it makes me dizzy because each person has his/her own opinion.

  Also may I ask exactly what does a “manual install” mean?  Not being computer literate makes a lot of the acronyms and other terminology impossible for me to fully understand.

  At this point, the only reason to installl KB 3161608 is if you want to speed up the Win7 Windows Update scan for updates. Most people don’t need to do that – so I say wait until you need to scan for updates.

  “Manual install” means you download a patch and run it. Most of the time, you use Windows Update to get your patches, but sometimes it’s better to do things manually.

  I’m painfully aware of the fact that I tend to get too technical for most people. I just imagine a car mechanic explaining how I should fix my timing belt – or a doctor stepping me through a prefrontal lobotomy.

  Windows Patches/Security KB 3161608

• How to get your Win7 updates in less than glacial time

  Posted on July 2, 2016 at 15:31 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Good question from Q:

  I was thinking about the instructions relating to the Updates.    I see that we are told to select
  “Check for updates but  let me choose whether to  download and install them”.

  My experience this morning was that after about 1 1/4 hour, it finally showed the updates.
  I had only selected the IE cumulative update.  When it was finally downloaded, and installed
  (with a restart), I then selected one of the smaller updates.   It reverted to the same menu showing
  that it was downloading (with no progress reflected)….    This took about 1 1/2 hours before it
  reflected that it was beginning to DL & install.

  I’m beginning to wonder if this will be occurring for every single update (??).   It doesn’t make sense,
  however after an update FINALLY gets downloaded and installed and another one is selected it
  goes through the same extremely protracted process.   The size of the update does not seem to be
  relevant.

  What would occur if the “choice” was “download”, but let me decide when to install??  I just
  can’t understand the reason that this would change…… OR do you recommend that we should
  select more than one update so that more can be installed at a time?   I’ve always installed only
  one update at a time in the event that there was a problem with the update.    Never have had
  this problem EVER before, and I’m just searching for answers.    It just doesn’t make sense.

  Nope, it doesn’t make sense.

  Unless you want to spend hours and hours going through updates, it’s very important that you follow the instructions here exactly:

  If you haven’t yet followed this month’s trick for speeding up Windows Update scans, you should first install KB  3161647, which involves installing the update rollup KB 3161608 and seven other patches you probably don’t want. Details in my InfoWorld article.

  That article will tell you about checking for KB 3020369, then downloading and installing KB 3161608. It’s messy, it’s manual – and it’s the only way I know to avoid hours of waiting. One little tip that I didn’t include in the article: Disconnect from the internet after you download the KB 3161608 patch, but before you double-click on the MSU file.

  If you choose “download,” Windows will install the downloaded updates the next time you reboot your computer. No, there’s no reason to install individual updates. Just check what you want, uncheck the rest, and let it fire.

  Windows Patches/Security KB 3161608, KB 3161647, Windows 7 update slow

• An official fix for slow Windows 7 update scan times

  Posted on June 21, 2016 at 14:43 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Looks like it’s working. This month, anyway. Or maybe it’s just the latest whack-a-mole monthly mess-up.

  InfoWorld Woody on Windows.

   

  Got this note from EP (thanks, EP!):

  The KB3161647 WU client patch is included as part of the KB3161608 June 2016 update rollup
  and the KB3161647 patch is not available as an individual update.  So it looks like Win7
  users will have to download & install the KB3161608 update rollup instead.

  Guess what?  I installed the KB3161608 update rollup and temporarily uninstalled the
  KB3161664 win32k.sys security update, rebooted and did a WU scan.  It took a lot less
  time displaying a list of available updates; about as effective as installing the latest
  win32k.sys update.  Therefore the WU fix from KB3161608 worked.

  Too bad Microsoft did not make an updated Windows Update Client patch for Windows
  Vista SP2 as Vista is on life support until April 2017.  So Vista users will have to keep on
  installing newer win32k.sys fixes to improve WU search/scan times but at least Win7
  users have a more permanent solution.

  Windows Patches/Security KB 3161608, KB3161647, Windows 7 slow updates