Newsletter Archives

• MS-DEFCON 3: Should you patch? It depends.

  Posted on October 24, 2023 at 02:45 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 20.43.1 • 2023-10-24

  

  By Susan Bradley

  The October updates have been either mildly annoying or downright hostile.

  Stop the presses: I’m urging caution by lowering the MS-DEFCON level to 3.

  A big reason for this is that many folks are experiencing multiple reboots after patches are applied. We normally expect one reboot — one reboot only — when we patch. In theory, all updates should download the parts they need, install the updates, and then reboot. Only when all are installed and the system is ready should it reboot.

  But not this month. Some of us received three updates, each of which triggered a reboot.

  Anyone can read the full MS-DEFCON Alert (20.43.1, 2023-10-24).

  AskWoody Plus Alert, MS-DEFCON Alerts, KB5001716, KB5031356, KB5031364, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 3, Patch Lady Posts

• Copilot is here, sort of

  Posted on October 16, 2023 at 02:45 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 20.42 • 2023-10-16

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  The October security updates include Copilot.

  As I have alerted you before, if you have Windows 11 22H2 and live in North America or certain South American and Asian countries, Microsoft will be “dribbling” the “Chat for the operating system” update.

  Never fear — you can disable this “feature.” I didn’t say remove or block, but rather disable.

  In the European Union (EU), Copilot for Windows will probably be installed — but you won’t have the shortcut to it enabled, due to some EU digital rules. Expect Microsoft to make the changes necessary to bring it into compliance, at which point it will be enabled.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.42.0, 2023-10-16).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Patch Watch CVE-2023-36563, CVE-2023-44487, KB5031361, KB5031362, KB5031364, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Windows Copilot