Newsletter Archives

• Should you trust that tech info?

  Posted on June 10, 2024 at 02:43 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Microsoft’s lack of guidance introduces risk.

  Getting help with technology has always been a bit difficult. Lately, it’s becoming a bit dangerous.

  Once upon a time, vendor support was more obvious and easier to find, and it provided more documentation. I’d argue that Apple still has the best consumer support for its products. But when it comes to business support, neither Microsoft nor Apple provides its customers with appropriate, high-quality, and affordable support.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.24.0, 2024-06-10).

  Patch Watch KB5034441, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, SMB Signing, Support, updates, V

• Patch Apple, defer Windows

  Posted on May 20, 2024 at 02:42 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Apple often seems to get its foot in the door first, and last week’s patch release was no different.

  One day before Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday, Apple released its security and feature updates. (Just as I advise for Microsoft, ensure your backups are up to date on any platform that receives updates.)

  For Apple, go into Settings and search for Backup. Given the capacities of phones these days, I recommend backing up to Apple’s cloud and purchasing an iCloud+ subscription to obtain enough capacity. You’ll thank me for it later.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.21.0, 2024-05-20).

  Patch Watch CVE-2023-24932, CVE-2024-30040, KB5025885, KB5034441, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Windows Lock Screen, WUShowHide

• Microsoft is not fixing its mess

  Posted on May 3, 2024 at 03:00 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 21.18.1 • 2024-05-03

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Microsoft has now made it official. It does not plan to fix the mess it made with KB5034441.

  As you may recall, I was not pleased with how Microsoft handled this vulnerability. It took a sledgehammer to a problem that should have been handled with a precision tool. Instead of explaining the risks and letting business patchers make their own deployment calls, it shoved out an update that to this day is blocked on my sister’s Windows 10 PC due to the lack of sufficient space in the recovery partition.

  Read the full Plus Alert (21.18.1, 2024-05-03).

  AskWoody Plus Alert Alerts, Anywhere Access, BitLocker, Copilot, Edge, KB5034441, NTLM, Patch Lady Posts, VPN, WinRE

• MS-DEFCON 4: Safe — for now

  Posted on April 23, 2024 at 02:45 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 21.17.1 • 2024-04-23

  

  By Susan Bradley

  The April updates have been relatively quiet, with some exceptions.

  That’s why I’m lowering the MS-DEFCON level to 4. Most of my concerns lie not with this month’s patches but rather with the timing of future mandates.

  In addition, Microsoft finally acknowledged an “oopsie” with Edge.

  Anyone can read the full MS-DEFCON Alert (21.17.1, 2024-04-23).

  AskWoody Plus Alert, MS-DEFCON Alerts, BitLocker, CVE-2023-24932, Edge, KB5014754, KB5025885, KB5034441, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 4, Secure Boot, Suggestions

• A deluge of vulnerabilities for April

  Posted on April 15, 2024 at 02:42 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  It’s raining CVEs.

  There are definitely going to be two groups of patchers this month. One will say, “Issues? What issues? My computer updated without issues.”

  The other group will complain about needing a BitLocker recovery key, or that their updates took a long time, or that they were offered a confusing SQL update for a database they didn’t realize they had on their home PC. I’m certainly part of this group — my Windows 10 PC at home took a long time to come back up.

  Let me remind you of some of my standard recommendations, even if you decide to sit on the sidelines and just watch the fun.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.16.0, 2024-04-15).

  Patch Watch Antitrust, BitLocker, BlackLotus, KB5025885, KB5034441, Moment Updates, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Privacy, Secure Boot, UCPD

• Server updates fail to download

  Posted on March 18, 2024 at 02:42 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  The March updates for Windows opened the month on a bumpy road.

  The most significant bump relates to the update for Windows Server, demonstrating that it’s not just client PCs that have problems. Fortunately, the problem seems to have been fixed quickly.

  KB5035849 is the culprit.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.12.0, 2024-03-18).

  Patch Watch Backup, CVE-2024-21407, Hyper-V, iCloud, iPhone, KB5034441, KB5035845, KB5035849, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Windows Server

• When is a system beyond repair?

  Posted on March 11, 2024 at 02:41 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  I’m giving up. I hate giving up.

  It annoys me, but I’m giving up on repairing operating systems. Why? Because we’ve reached the point where an operating system can become so damaged that not only can we not fully identify the cause, but also the system cannot be repaired with the tools provided for that purpose.

  There’s a reason I’m in this state of mind.

  The other day, someone in the forums asked me to start a section of Patch Watch to track those updates that did this kind of damage to the extent that the system became unbootable. But here’s the thing: no update is designed to make systems unbootable.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.11.0, 2024-03-11).

  Patch Watch Device Manager, DISM, KB5001716, KB5034441, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Registry cleaners, SFC, System File Checker, VMWare, vSphere

• MS-DEFCON 2: Slow the rush to Copilot

  Posted on March 7, 2024 at 02:45 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 21.10.1 • 2024-03-07

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Because of the ongoing rollout of Copilot enhancements, I recommend deferring or pausing updates.

  That’s why I’m raising the MS-DEFCON level to 2.

  I continue to test and evaluate all updates on my test PCs and will provide my analysis and recommendations as soon possible. Meanwhile, defer. And while you’re doing that, those of you in North America should prepare to lose an hour of sleep this weekend.

  Anyone can read the full MS-DEFCON Alert (21.10.1, 2024-03-07).

  AskWoody Plus Alert, MS-DEFCON Alerts, Copilot, Extended Security Updates, KB5022913, KB5032038, KB5034440, KB5034441, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 2, Patch Lady Posts, Windows 10 ESU
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