Newsletter Archives

• Wow! Even more Office updates!

  Posted on January 18, 2021 at 02:30 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  Wow! Even more Office updates!

  By Susan Bradley

  • Office 2010 receives more updates this month
  • Windows Defender had a zero day that silently was patched
  • Security update for Secure Boot DBX can be skipped (KB 4535680)
  • I’m giving the all-clear for Windows 10 2004

  Well … once again, we thought we’d seen the last of Office 2010. And here we are AGAIN with more updates!

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.2.0 (2021-01-18).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, KB 4535680, Office updates, Patch Lady Posts

• Windows 10 and chkdsk issues?

  Posted on December 27, 2020 at 21:00 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  By Susan Bradley

  Yikes! Say it isn’t so!

  Günter Born reports that a small number of Windows users whose systems have solid-state drives ran into serious trouble with the classic chkdsk tool after installing KB 4592438, the December cumulative update for Win10 20H2. When they kicked off chkdsk c: /f, their systems crashed with a blue screen of death. The problem appears to be limited to machines with SSDs.

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 17.51.0 (2020-12-28).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Watch, Windows 10 AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Chkdsk issues, High CPU use, Office updates, Printing problems, SolarWinds, Win7 ESU, Windows update failures

• Yet more Office 2010 updates?!

  Posted on December 13, 2020 at 21:05 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  By Susan Bradley

  Well … we thought we’d seen the last of Office 2010.

  Last month (November), I was surprised to see updates for the then newly obsolete suite. (It reached its official end of support this past October 13.) But here we are again: Microsoft has released another round of updates for Version 2010.

  Years ago, Office 2007 received a similar reprieve of additional updates for several months after its end of life. So we might see additional updates for Version 2010 in coming months.

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 17.49.0 (2020-12-14).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Office Patches/Security, Patch Watch .NET Core, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Domain servers, Office 2010, Office updates, Windows Updates

• It’s the end of the line for Office 2010

  Posted on October 18, 2020 at 21:05 CDT by Tracey Capen • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  By Susan Bradley

  Microsoft is closing the book on two business workhorses: Office 2010 and Exchange 2010.

  From a productivity-app perspective, 2010 was an excellent vintage for all Windows users from individuals to small businesses to the Enterprise. Whether it was managing email, building massive spreadsheets, or creating complex documents, Office and Exchange gave us an excellent foundation. But as of October 13, Microsoft dropped all support for both platforms.

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 17.41.0 (2020-10-19).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Office, Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Office updates, Win7 vulnerabilities, Windows Updates

• September 2020 Office non-Security Updates are now available

  Posted on September 1, 2020 at 12:38 CDT by PKCano • Comment in the Forums

  The September 2020 Office non-Security updates have been released Tuesday, September 1, 2020. They will not be included in the DEFCON approval for the August 2020 patches. Unless you have a specific need to install them, you should wait until Susan Bradley (Patch Lady) approves them and any problems have been reported.

  Remember, Susan’s patching sequence and  recommendations are based on a business environment that has IT support and may have time constraints on the updating process. Consumer patching should be more cautious due to limited technical and mechanical resources. The latter is the reason for the AskWoody DEFCON system.

  Office 2016
  Update for Microsoft Office 2016 (KB4484251)
  Update for Microsoft Office 2016 (KB4484395)
  Update for Microsoft Office 2016 (KB4484500)
  Update for Microsoft Outlook 2016 (KB4484511)
  Update for Skype for Business 2016 (KB4484501)

  Office 2013
  Update for Microsoft Visio 2013 (KB4484355)

  There were no non-security listings for Office 2007 (which is out of support) nor for Office 2010.

  Updates are for the .msi version (persistent). Office 365 and C2R are not included.

  Security updates for all supported versions of Microsoft Office are released on the second Tuesday of the month (Patch Tuesday).

  Office Patches/Security Office 2010, Office 2013, Office 2016, Office updates, September 2020 Office non-security patches

• August patching: One less thing to worry about

  Posted on August 30, 2020 at 21:10 CDT by Tracey Capen • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  By Susan Bradley

  We may have numerous events keeping us awake at night — COVID-19, fires, hurricanes, elections, and more — but August patching isn’t one of them.

  The Windows and Office updates I installed on my business and personal systems were well mannered: no printing issues, no blue screens of death, no major hiccups! It’s nice to have a break from month after month of patching issues.

  Microsoft decided that enterprises need a break, too. It’s once again pushing off Windows 10 1803’s end of life (more info). The final security updates for business editions of Version 1803 will now be released on May 11, 2021 — not November 10, 2020.

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 17.34.0 (2020-08-31).

  Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Office updates, Out-of-band patch, Preview patches, Win10 2004 upgrades, Windows Updates

• A new threat to the Windows print spooler

  Posted on August 16, 2020 at 20:05 CDT by Tracey Capen • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  By Susan Bradley

  The 2020 virtual Black Hat USA 2020 and DEF CON 28 security conferences are now history.

  These were two for the books: totally virtual conferences. Instead of masses of hackers, hacker wannabees, security researchers, and government employees gathering in hot Las Vegas, everyone was online and watching from home.

  One of the highlights of these shows is the development and unveiling of new exploits — by security researchers, not malicious hackers. Typically companies such as Microsoft scramble to patch the vulnerabilities revealed at these two conferences.

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 17.32.0 (2020-08-17).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Def Con, Office updates, Print Spooler vulnerabilities, Virtual Black Hat, Windows Updates

• August 2020 Office non-Security Updates have been released

  Posted on August 4, 2020 at 12:43 CDT by PKCano • Comment in the Forums

  The August 2020 Office non-Security updates have been released Tuesday, August 4, 2020. They are not included in the DEFCON-3 approval for the July 2020 patches. Unless you have a specific need to install them, you should wait until Susan Bradley (Patch Lady) approves them and any problems have been reported.

  Remember, Susan’s patching sequence and  recommendations are based on a business environment that has IT support and may have time constraints on the updating process. Consumer patching should be more cautious due to limited technical and mechanical resources. The latter is the reason for the AskWoody DEFCON system.

  Office 2016
  Update for Microsoft Office 2016 (KB4484418)
  Update for Microsoft Project 2016 (KB4484477)
  Update for Skype for Business 2016 (KB4484464)

  Office 2010
  Update for Microsoft Office 2010 (KB4484454)
  Update for Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 (KB4092435)

  There were no non-security listings for Office 2007 (which is out of support) nor for Office 2013.

  Updates are for the .msi version (persistent). Office 365 and C2R are not included.

  Security updates for all supported versions of Microsoft Office are released on the second Tuesday of the month (Patch Tuesday).

  Office Patches/Security August 2020 Office non-security patches, Office 2010, Office 2013, Office 2016, Office updates

• July’s Outlook Click-to-Run update lays an egg

  Posted on July 20, 2020 at 01:05 CDT by Tracey Capen • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  By Susan Bradley

  Yes, it’s a bit macabre, but I affectionately call the day after Patch Tuesday “dead-body Wednesday.”

  I coined that term because Wednesday morning is when we get to see whether our systems survived the updates installed the night before. (These are, of course, my test platforms; I would never subject my production machines to immediate/automatic updating.)

  There’s always some anticipation as to which Windows or Office component will be wounded by an update. This time around, it was Outlook’s turn to be placed on the life-support list.

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 17.28.0 (2020-07-20).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Chromium Edge, Microcode, Office Click-to-Run, Office updates, Outlook failure, Windows Updates

• July 2020 Office non-Security updates are available

  Posted on July 7, 2020 at 13:13 CDT by PKCano • Comment in the Forums

  The July 2020 Office non-Security updates have been released Tuesday, July 7, 2020. They will not be included in the DEFCON approval for the June 2020 patches. Unless you have a specific need to install them, you should wait until Susan Bradley (Patch Lady) approves them and any problems have been reported.

  Remember, Susan’s patching sequence and  recommendations are based on a business environment that has IT support and may have time constraints on the updating process. Consumer patching should be more cautious due to limited technical and mechanical resources. The latter is the reason for the AskWoody DEFCON system.

  Office 2016
  Update for Microsoft Office 2016 (KB4484439)
  Update for Microsoft Office 2016 (KB4484174)
  Update for Microsoft Excel 2016 (KB4484437)
  Update for Skype for Business 2016 (KB4484326)

  Office 2013
  Update for Microsoft Office 2013 (KB4484442)
  Update for Microsoft PowerPoint 2013 (KB4484349)

  There were no non-security listings for Office 2007 (which is out of support) nor for Office 2010.

  Updates are for the .msi version (persistent). Office 365 and C2R are not included.

  Security updates for all supported versions of Microsoft Office are released on the second Tuesday of the month (Patch Tuesday).

  Office Patches/Security July 2020 Office non-security patches, Office 2010, Office 2013, Office 2016, Office updates

• June updates crash printing

  Posted on June 29, 2020 at 01:05 CDT by Tracey Capen • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  By Susan Bradley

  In a normal monthly Windows and Office patching cycle, I almost never roll out any optional updates that Microsoft releases between Patch Tuesdays.

  It’s hard to say what’s “normal” with Windows updating, but June is atypical even by the usual patching tribulations.

  Soon after the Patch Tuesday security updates dropped (on June 9), there were reports of printing failures. The problem hit close to home; after patching my systems, I could no longer print to any of my large multifunction Ricoh printers — a huge problem for my business. As a quick workaround, I updated the printer drivers from PCL5 to PCL6.

  Subsequently, Microsoft posted optional fixes on the MS Update Catalog for Windows 10, Win8.1, and Server 2012.

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 17.25.0 (2020-06-29).

  Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Office updates, Patch failures, Patch Tuesday, Windows Updates

• June 2020 Office non-Security updates have been released

  Posted on June 2, 2020 at 13:03 CDT by PKCano • Comment in the Forums

  The June 2020 Office non-Security updates have been released Tuesday, June 2, 2020. They are not included in the DEFCON-4 approval for the May 2020 patches. Unless you have a specific need to install them, you should wait until Susan Bradley (Patch Lady) approves them and any problems have been reported.

  Remember, Susan’s patching sequence and  recommendations are based on a business environment that has IT support and may have time constraints on the updating process. Consumer patching should be more cautious due to limited technical and mechanical resources. The latter is the reason for the AskWoody DEFCON system.

  Office 2016
  Update for Microsoft Office 2016 (KB4484171)
  Update for Microsoft Office 2016 (KB4484335)
  Update for Microsoft Office 2016 (KB4484392)
  Update for Microsoft Office 2016 (KB4484394)
  Update for Microsoft OneNote 2016 (KB4484329)
  Update for Microsoft Outlook 2016 (KB4484398)

  Office 2013
  Update for Microsoft Office 2013 (KB4484356)

  Office 2010
  Update for Microsoft Office 2010 (KB4484377)

  There were no non-security listings for Office 2007 (which is out of support).

  Updates are for the .msi version (persistent). Office 365 and C2R are not included.

  Security updates for all supported versions of Microsoft Office are released on the second Tuesday of the month (Patch Tuesday).

  Office Patches/Security June 2020 Office non-security patches, Office 2010, Office 2013, Office 2016, Office updates
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