Newsletter Archives

• Missing language pack for Win7 SP1?

  Posted on June 22, 2016 at 21:33 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  BG wrote with a really different kind of question:

  We have a Win7 machine that has never been able to accept SP1. Investigated this and discovered that Chinese language package (that we will never use!) is missing. Two files: Win8IP-Microsoft-Windows-DownlevelApisets-Shell-WinIP-Package-31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~zh~HK~7.1.7601.16592.mum and .cat

  How do we get them? Her machine did not come with physical media

  I’m stumped. Anybody out there know?

  Other Windows 7 SP1

• MS-DEFCON 4: Get caught up on all Microsoft patches, except one

  Posted on April 7, 2011 at 04:26 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Microsoft’s crop of March 2011 Black Tuesday patches has stabilized, and I recommend that you install them now.

  I note with some glee that MS08-015 and MS08-016 patch Office 2003, Office 2000, and Office XP – all of which are beyond their support lifetimes. So even if you’re still using older versions of Office, you need to get patches.

  There are two quirks you need to know about.

  If you use Excel 2003 and you have a VBA macro that refers to a Real Time Data source, the macro come up with goofy results. Details in KB 950340.

  If you use Outlook 2003 SP2, you won’t be able to see “external content” – linked images, mostly – on attached email messages. There’s a hotfix described at KB 949031.

  I still DO NOT RECOMMEND that you install Windows 7 Service Pack 1. There’s at least one weird installation error still floating around. It ain’t worth the hassle.

  So, with the exception of Windows 7 SP1, I’m moving to MS-DEFCON 4: There are isolated problems with current patches, but they are well-known and documented here. Check this site to see if you’re affected and if things look OK, go ahead and patch.

  Office Patches/Security, Windows Patches/Security KB 949031, KB 950340, March 2011 Black Tuesday, Windows 7 SP1

• Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is here

  Posted on February 23, 2011 at 03:52 CST by woody • Comment in the Forums

  But before you install it, check out the article I wrote that will appear tomorrow in Windows Secrets Newsletter.

  Bottom line: wait. If you’ve been keeping up on your patches, there’s nothing in SP1 that you need.

  Windows News Windows 7 SP1

• The mysterious KB 976902 and Win7 SP1

  Posted on January 20, 2011 at 07:56 CST by woody • Comment in the Forums

  This interesting note just in from EP:

  Hey Woody.

  About that mysterious KB976902 update for Windows 7 you mentioned a few months ago.

  It’s back.  MS released KB97902 on Jan. 11, 2011 as noted here:

  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/976902

  Much of the files in KB976902 are version 6.1.7601.17514 dated 11/20/2010.

  Hmmm, isn’t the RTM or final release of Windows 7 SP1 supposed to have a build number of 7601.17514.101119-1850?

  I think that build of SP1 has already been leaked on the web.  A bunch of Win7 users in this Windows Sevenforums.com thread have already obtained the “leaked” version of Win7 SP1:

  http://www.sevenforums.com/news/137662-microsoft-confirms-windows-7-sp1-rtm-released-oems-today.html

  Windows Patches/Security KB 976902, Windows 7 SP1

• Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is out to OEMs

  Posted on January 14, 2011 at 21:54 CST by woody • Comment in the Forums

  WinRumors is reporting that Microsoft has released Windows 7 Service Pack 1.

  I don’t see any worthwhile feature changes. WinRumors notes:

  RemoteFX is a new enhancement to RDP’s graphical remoting capabilities. The idea behind RemoteFX is to allow for a full remote experiences including multiple displays, Aero and multimedia streaming to all types of client devices including low cost thin clients. RemoteFX achieves this by using a technique known as host-based rendering. This technique allows for the final screen image to be rendered locally on the remote PC after being compressed and sent down to that remote host. The enhancements are expected to greatly improve video streaming across remote sessions which is currently one of the major drawbacks of virtualized computing.

  Which is just a long-winded way of saying that using Remote Desktop will get you fancier graphics with SP1. Not a Real Big Deal for me.

  Anyway, keep your head tucked down and wait this one out for a bit. No rush.

  Windows News Windows 7 SP1