Newsletter Archives

• Buggy KB 4039884 Win7 patch of a patch returns with no explanation

  Posted on August 30, 2017 at 14:20 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  It’s baaaaack.

  The buggy patch of a buggy patch, KB 4039884, which was pulled yesterday, suddenly re-appeared today, with a different date and a new title… and absolutely no explanation for the shennanigans.

  In theory, KB 4039884, now titled “August 30, 2017—KB4039884” fixes the multi-monitor bug introduced in this month’s Win7 security patches, KB 4034664, KB 4034679, and KB 4034670.

  Personally, I wouldn’t touch it until we hear back from the unpaid beta testers.

  Note:

  Before you install this update, you must uninstall any previous version of KB4039884. Then install KB4034664 or KB4034679 before installing this current update of KB4039884.

  Now that’s customer-friendly.

  Windows Patches/Security KB 4034664, KB 4034670, KB 4034679, KB 4039884

• 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

• This month’s Win7 patches KB 4034664, KB 4034679 causing second-screen problems

  Posted on August 14, 2017 at 12:52 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  I pointed to Günter Born’s expose on Saturday. Now we have a full description of the bug — and proof of concept code! — thanks to Christian “NineBerry” Schwartz and his Wolfsbeeren blog.

  Computerworld Woody on Windows

  Windows Patches/Security KB 4034664, KB 4034679, second screen, Windows 7

• Patch Tuesday Win7 patches KB 4034664, 4034679 causing problems with multiple screens

  Posted on August 12, 2017 at 06:50 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Günter Born has identified a persistent problem with this month’s Win7 patches, KB 4034664 (the Monthly Rollup) and KB 4034679 (the manual Security only patch). If you have a Win7 machine with two or more monitors, you need to look at his report on Born City.

  He reports bugs in the second-screen display of PDFs using PDF-Xchange Viewer. There are also reports of second-screen display problems with IrfanView, Adobe Reader.

  There are also reports of Excel losing the VBA editor icons on the second screen, and of Office 2013 garbling window titles, scrollbars, and other screen elements.

  Are you seeing any second-screen problems with this month’s Win7 patches?

  (Just a reminder: There’s a reason why we’re still at MS-DEFCON 2, and I don’t recommend you install the August patches at this point. It takes a while for problems to, uh, surface.)

  Windows Patches/Security KB 4034664, KB 4034679, PDF, second screen, Windows 7

• A progress report on Win7 “Service Pack 2”

  Posted on August 9, 2017 at 05:53 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  A year ago, Microsoft promised that it would roll all of its Windows 7 post-SP1 updates together and release them along with the monthly Win7 cumulative rollups. It’s effectively a “Service Pack 2” released in stages.

  Microsoft’s ill-fated KB 3125574, released fourteen months ago, tried but failed to bring together all of the older patches.

  I had a chance to go through the catalog entries for the past few Win7 cumulative rollups, and it looks like Microsoft’s making some progress — although the pace has stalled.

  The catalog entry for this month’s Win7 cumulative rollup, KB 4034664, says it replaces 76 updates, some of which go back years. That’s far from a slam-dunk of all post-SP1 patches, but it’s a decent start — especially if the updates work without stomping all over each other.

  If you’re curious, here’s a copy of the two latest “replaces” lists, in a spreadsheet.

  Windows Patches/Security KB 3125574, KB 4034664