Newsletter Archives

• A brief history of Windows Settings

  Posted on March 10, 2025 at 02:45 CDT by Simon Bisson • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 22.10 • 2025-03-10

  WINDOWS 11

  

  By Simon Bisson

  The real story about the Windows Control Panel is a long and winding road that goes all the way back to DOS.

  Windows has always had a way of managing its settings. Right from its first version, it had a control panel that let you configure your installation. Today, it’s a collection of tools that have evolved considerably over the years from that first control panel, going from a simple applet with a handful of functions to today’s one-stop Settings shop for configuring everything Windows.

  That evolution has taken us through multiple designs and redesigns, from icon-based tools with buttons and sliders, to today’s text-first Web-like interface. It hasn’t been a smooth journey either, with Microsoft’s commitment to backward compatibility leaving you switching across different generations of Windows as you drill further down into settings dialogs.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (22.10.0, 2025-03-10).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Windows 11 AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS, Control Panel, CPL, Microsoft Management Console, MMC, Newsletters, Windows, Windows 1.0, Windows 10, Windows 10X, Windows 11, Windows 2.0, Windows 3.11, Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows XP

• January’s patching cyclone

  Posted on January 16, 2023 at 02:42 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  We’re a bit soggy and wet at the AskWoody Tech LLC Global Headquarters here in central California.

  We’ve had nearly a week of rain, and more is coming. I shouldn’t complain — severe drought has brought our state’s water supply down to historically low levels, so the water is needed and much appreciated. But when Microsoft rains down upon us at the same time, the total deluge is a bit much.

  For January, Microsoft fixed 98 security vulnerabilities, said goodbye (for the final time) to the much-beloved Windows 7, also said goodbye to the less used (but popular among its buffs) Windows 8.1, and actually released updates to Microsoft’s on-premises mail server, Exchange.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.03.0, 2023-01-16).

  Patch Watch Exchange Server, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Patch Watch, Windows 7, Windows 8

• Is this the end of the road for Windows 7?

  Posted on April 11, 2022 at 02:41 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  ON SECURITY

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Vendors start to draw the line.

  Ahh, Windows 7. I remember when you first came out. I remember when people hated — truly hated — your User Account Control (UAC) system that required administrator approval any time they wanted to do something that had been perfectly normal in Windows XP. I remember that UAC was so annoying that Apple lampooned it (more like harpooned it) in several of its famous Mac-versus-PC TV ads.

  

  I went so far as having a cartoon made, urging people to “zip up” their UAC setting rather than disabling it, because I saw both users and administrators removing the UAC prompt entirely. But that represented a lowering of security for Windows 7. I thus urged people not to disable it, despite the annoyance. I told them to zip the slider all the way to the top. Remember the slider?

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.15.0, 2022-04-11).

  On Security Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Security, Web Browsers, Windows 7

• Seven Semper Fi: Three months to go; here’s what to do.

  Posted on October 21, 2019 at 01:15 CDT by Tracey Capen • Comment in the Forums

  

  WOODY’S WINDOWS WATCH

  By Woody Leonhard

  Time’s running out! Microsoft’s still scheduled to deliver its last Windows 7 security patches on January 14, 2020.

  If you plan to continue using your Win7 machines, there’s a variety of tasks you should tackle now to minimize the chances of getting thrown under the bit bus.

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 16.38.0 (2019-10-21).

  Windows 7 AskWoody Plus Newsletter, End of Life, Migrating to Windows 10, Seven Semper Fi, Windows 7

• Office 365 ProPlus to get support on Windows 7 after January 14, 2020

  Posted on October 7, 2019 at 17:25 CDT by joep517 • Comment in the Forums

  Microsoft has decided to give Office 365 ProPlus users running Windows 7 some grace time after Windows 7 goes out of support on January 14, 2020. Office 365 ProPlus users will continue to get security updates for Office 365 ProPlus until January 2023. According to Microsoft this is to transition to a “support operating system”.

  See [url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/deployoffice/windows-7-support]Windows 7 end of support and Office 365 ProPlus[/url] for details and more information.

  Microsoft News, Office News, Security Office 365, Windows 7

• Considerations migrating from Win7 to Win10

  Posted on September 9, 2019 at 01:05 CDT by Tracey Capen • Comment in the Forums

  UPGRADING

  By Susan Bradley

  With time winding down on Windows 7 support, more than a few users of that venerable OS are looking for some upgrade clarity.

  Top-of-mind for many Win7 users is how painful it’ll be moving to Windows 10. Are in-place upgrades still legal? Does Microsoft care? Can I migrate to Win10 and keep my current setup? Is it free?

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 16.32.0 (2019-09-09).

  Upgrading AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Group Policy Editor, Migrating, upgrading, Windows 7

• Windows 7: Preparing for an uncertain future

  Posted on July 1, 2019 at 01:15 CDT by Tracey Capen • Comment in the Forums

  ON SECURITY

  By Susan Bradley

  By now every Win7 user should know that official support for the venerable OS ends next year.

  The final updates should go out on January 14, 2020 (more MS info) — at least they’ll end for those of us who don’t have deep corporate pockets to pay for extra patches.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 16.24.0 (2019-07-01).

  On Security, Windows 7 AskWoody Plus Newsletter, safety, Security, updates, Windows 7

• Microsoft releases out-of-band fixes for Win7 and Win8.1 on 6/20

  Posted on June 21, 2019 at 06:27 CDT by PKCano • Comment in the Forums

  Microsoft has released out-of-band updates for Windows 7, and Windows 8.1, and IE11 to fix errors introduced by Patch Tuesday patches.

  Update for 7 SP1 and Server 2008 R2 SP1 KB 4508772

  This update for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 includes the quality improvements from KB4503269 (released June 11, 2019), in addition to these key changes:

  • Addresses an issue that may display the error, “MMC has detected an error in a snap-in and will unload it.” when you try to expand, view, or create Custom Views in Event Viewer. Additionally, the application may stop responding or close. You may also receive the same error when using Filter Current Log in the Action menu with built-in views or logs.

  Update for Windows 8.1 and Server 2012 R2 KB 4508773

  This update for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 includes the quality improvements from KB4503290 (released June 11, 2019), in addition to these key changes:

  • Addresses an issue that may display the error, “MMC has detected an error in a snap-in and will unload it.” when you try to expand, view, or create Custom Views in Event Viewer. Additionally, the application may stop responding or close. You may also receive the same error when using Filter Current Log in the Action menu with built-in views or logs

  Cumulative Update for Internet Explorer 11 KB 4508646

  This update for Internet Explorer 11 includes the quality improvements from KB4503259, in addition to these key changes:

  • Addresses an issue that causes Internet Explorer 11 to stop working when it opens or interacts with Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) markers, including Power BI line charts with markers.

  Important: The improvements in this update are not included in the Monthly Rollups released June 11, 2019

  Please note: Like the Security Only Updates and the separate IE11 Cumulative Updates, these Patches are MS Catalog only downloads. They are not available through Windows Update.

  Windows Patches/Security IE11, June 2019 Black Tuesday, KB 4508646, KB 4508722, KB 4508773, Windows 7, Windows 8.1
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