Vista Fix Packs Now on Windows Update
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Following their public availability on Microsoft's Download Center, two hotfix packs for Windows Vista that improve performance and reliability are now available as optional downloads via Windows Update. They will not, however, be delivered automatically to Vista users.
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Microsoft this week updated an administrative tool for delaying Automatic Update and Windows Update rollouts of Windows XP Service Pack 2 from four months to eight months.
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Microsoft will accelerate the rollout of Windows XP Service Pack 2 over the next month and has released the first official update for SP2 to fix a problem some users had with virtual private networks.
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The patches released Tuesday mend four software holes in Microsoft Corp Windows operating system, including one flaw that can affect machines equipped with a massive security upgrade the company released five months ago.-The Washington Post
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Windows XP users have until early next year to update business systems and applications before the operating system&#39;s Service Pack (SP) 2 is fully unleashed.
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Microsoft on Tuesday released a bevy of patches, including three critical patches for the Microsoft Windows operating system, two for Office, and a critical patch for its antivirus and anti-malware software products.
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MicrosoftÂ has quietly released an update to Windows XP to fix a potentially serious configuration problem in the firewall that ships as part of Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2).
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(InfoWorld) - The contentious stealth update that Microsoft delivered to customers this summer blocks 80 patches and fixes from installing after Windows XP is restored using its "repair" feature, researchers said Thursday. Scott Dunn, who first reported the problem in a story posted Thursday morning to the "Windows Secrets" newsletter, said that users who reinstall Windows XP with the repair option cannot retrieve the full set of updates from Windows Update (WU). The problem, he said, has been traced to the so-called "stealth update" to WU which Microsoft has acknowledged sending to users beginning in July. Two weeks ago,Â Dunn broke the story of the background updates,Â which were sent to most non-corporate Windows XP and Vista users. The updates were delivered and installed without prior notification, even when the PC's owner had told the operating system not to download or install updates without notification and permission. The revelation launched a firestorm of protest from users, which in turnÂ prompted Microsoft to defend the practiceÂ as well as say it would think about ways to clarify its update policies. "Two weeks ago we said that the silent update was harmless," said Dunn Thursday. "But now we're saying it is a problem." That problem affects any user who restores Windows XP using the setup CD's "repair" option, sometimes also called an "in-place reinstallation" because it reinstalls the operating system files without disturbing the applications and data already on the disk drive. Because repair is essentially a roll-back to XP's original state, the OS must be updated with all subsequent patches and hotfixes using WU. A system bought soon after Windows XP SP2 was released, for example, would need to download and install about three years' worth of updates. After a repair, XP defaults to the "Automatic" setting for Automatic Updates, which means WU is immediately updated to version 7.0.600.381, the version pushed to PCs by the summer's undercover upgrade, said Dunn. Seven of the DLL (dynamic link library) files that make up 7.0.600.381, however, fail to register themselves with Windows. That, in turn, keeps XP from successfully installing approximately 80 of the most recent patches and fixes. In a normal, non-repair situation, there's no indication of a glitch, since DLLs by the same name have previously been keyed into Windows' registry. "On a repaired copy of XP, however, no such registration has occurred, and failing to register the new DLLs costs Windows Update the ability to install any patches," he said Dunn pointed out workarounds, which included installing an older version of WU over the top of 7.0.600.381. "Windows Secrets" has also posted instructions for creating a batch file that registers the seven DLLs. While the registration failure and the unsuccessful patch installations aren't directly related to the fact that Microsoft didn't disclose the silent WU updates, Dunn sees it as part of a bigger, and disturbing, picture. "It's part of the whole problem with the silent update, and all part of the pattern of Microsoft's sloppiness," he said. "They're keeping us out of the loop. They're not working well with the IT community." If anyone needed proof that stealth updates are a bad idea, Microsoft's defense of the practice notwithstanding, this is it, said Dunn. "IT needs to test updates for this very reason. It's why companies like to download and test updates before they install to the rest of the network," he said. It's not clear how long WU has prevented post-repair updates, but searches through Microsoft's support newsgroups revealed questions about similar behavior as long ago as June. Responses by other users, including some with Most Valued Professional (MVP) designation -- a honorific Microsoft gives to users who make major contributions to the Windows community -- offered advice much like Dunn's. Several of them pointed users to the support document KB916259. The earliest such postings, however, preceded the silent WU update to version 7.0.600.381. When questioned about the discrepancy, Dunn acknowledged the similarities, but in an e-mail said that the two issues were different. He cited several inconsistencies, including an error message called out in the support document that doesn't appear in his test machines. In fact, Microsoft has updated WU twice since late May: the July-August silent update and a visible update rolled out in June. That update was designed to fix aÂ long-standing problem with Automatic UpdatesÂ in which the PCs' CPUs maxed out at 100 percent. Microsoft was not available for comment early Thursday morning. ComputerworldÂ is an InfoWorld affiliate.
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Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) has issued its first patch for Service Pack 2, which has been on the market for just a month and a half. The patch fixes a flaw in the VPN, or virtual private  network.
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Now you see it, now you don't Microsoft has suspended one of the pre-requisite updates for Vista service pack one (SP1), after customers complained that their PCs wouldnât boot up properly once KB937287 had been applied.â¦
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Updated browser that patches the problems is now available for download.
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Corel Corp. has released a free service pack to WordPerfect Office X3 that updates the business suite so it's compatible with Windows Vista.
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Now that Windows XP Serviced Pack 2 (SP2) is available at Windows Update for online update of both the XP Home Edition and XP Professional Edition platforms, you need to be prepared for the changes youâll see as a result of the security controls XP SP2
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Upgrading your Windows Vista operating system to the Vista Service Pack 1 Release Candidate Refresh is complex and not necessarily for all Vista users, not yet. Take an in-depth excursion into the world of Vista upgrades.
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A patch to prepare for first service pack went to users of editions that didn't need the update.
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Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) has released a Windows XP Service Pack 2 update to fix an installation problem that was caused by a third-party adware program named "T.V. Media."
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Now that Windows Vista has been unleashed onto an expecting public, a number of minor issues have cropped up in the new operating system. Microsoft has already posted a handful of hotfixes for those running into issues, although they aren't critical enough to be published on Microsoft Update.