Newsletter Archives

• 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

• MS-DEFCON 3: A bumpy start to 2024

  Posted on January 30, 2024 at 02:45 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 21.05.1 • 2024-01-30

  

  By Susan Bradley

  The partition-sizing problem that emerged earlier this month is not yet fixed.

  Fortunately, our deep examination of this bug has revealed nothing of a dangerous nature. Therefore, I am lowering the MS-DEFCON level to 3. It’s now time to carefully install the January updates.

  We continue to monitor the problem, described in KB5034441 for Windows 10 22H2 and in KB5034440 for Windows 11. Some, but not all, Windows 10 PCs are affected. I have urged you to check your partitions for issues with installing this update. We have written extensively about the problems, and the forums have been very active (see the From the Forums article in yesterday’s newsletter).

  Anyone can read the full MS-DEFCON Alert (21.05.1, 2024-01-30).

  AskWoody Plus Alert, MS-DEFCON Alerts, InControl, KB5034234, KB5034440, KB5034441, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 3, Patch Lady Posts, Recovery Partition, WinRE, WUShowHide

• Here’s how to hide KB 4023057 – and any other Win10 updates you don’t want

  Posted on December 10, 2018 at 07:03 CST by woody • Comment in the Forums

  From @PKCano –

  I hid the updates using wushowhide, but they installed anyway.

  If you have ever experienced this, here is an explanation and a way to avoid it in the future.

  My method for hiding/avoiding KB 4023057 (and any other updates you do not want):

  Be sure your Network connections are set to metered connections each time before shutting down the computer. That way, you are on Metered connections when you boot up.

  + Boot computer with metered connections on.
  + Immediately run wushowhide. (Advanced\uncheck auto fix)
  + Hide KB 4023057 (and whatever other updates you do not want).
  + Open Services – highlight Windows Update Service, Disable, Apply, Stop the service (upper left)
  + Restart the computer (not shutdown/bootup)
  + Open Services – highlight Windows Update Service, set to Manual, Apply, DO NOT start the service. Close Services.
  + Immediately run wushowhide and verify the update(s) are hidden, then verify they are not available to be hidden.
  + Disconnect from the Internet (Use one of these methods and be SURE you have no connection: remove the Ethernet cable, disable wifi, or  disable the NIC(s))
  + Go to Settings\Update & Security\Windows Update and click  “Check for Updates.”This should give you an error or “Retry.” Close Settings.
  + Reconnect the Internet.
  +Restart the computer. This should allow Windows Update to search for updates without clicking on “Check for Updates” again and refresh the Windows Update queue.
  + Now you should be able to open Settings\Updates and Security and update without getting the hidden updates. Once you see that only the ones you want are there, turn off Metered connections and allow download.
  + Reset connections to Metered BEFORE the Restart.

  If you do not follow the above procedure, the updates you have supposedly hidden may not be cleared from the Settings\Updates and Security\Windows update queue and will thus be downloaded and installed in spite of the fact you THINK you have hidden them.

  Windows Patches/Security WUShowHide

• Is Windows 1511 Update unhiding the 1607 patch – again?

  Posted on February 2, 2017 at 19:18 CST by woody • Comment in the Forums

  I just got a report from AElMassry that Windows Update unhid the “Feature update to Windows 10, version 1607” again.

  Many people were caught unawares around January 20, when a similar unhiding took place. I talked about it then.

  Now it seems that, once again, 1511 users who have hidden the “Feature update to Windows 10, version 1607” are seeing the patch reappear. As I said two weeks ago:

  I can understand why having the 14393.447 build available could trigger hidden 1607 upgrades to become unhidden. After all, that’s what happens with earlier versions of Windows – when a new version of a patch rolls out, it’s usually automatically taken off the hidden list.

  But this is the first time I’ve seen it for Win10, and it seems disconcerting that folks who have intentionally hidden the 1607 upgrade are now getting it installed silently – on both Win10 Home and Win10 Pro machines.

  If you’re trying to block the upgrade to 1607 (Anniversary Update) by using wushowhide, watch out. Your system may be back in play.

  UPDATE: Fascinating explanation from the patchmanagement.org mailing list (which I’m not supposed to quote directly): It looks like this new version of the upgrade to 1607 is different from the one released in late January – the upgrade in late Jan was 3 GB, this one is 4 GB. That’s what would trigger another round of unhiding.

  Sure nice of Microsoft to warn us….

  Windows Patches/Security update, Windows 10 1607, WUShowHide

• On the road to Windows 10: Botched Nvidia driver tests the KB 3073930 patch blocker

  Posted on July 27, 2015 at 11:50 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  It’s not as easy as the bloggers would have you believe. Try it on real data.

  InfoWorld Tech Watch

  Windows Patches/Security NVIDIA driver, Windows 10, WUShowHide