KB2926765 Bad May Update on Windows 7 leaves system unusable.

After doing the May Updates to my Windows 7 box I received this error after a reboot.

"Windows cannot access the specified device path or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item".

By trial and error I traced this behavior to KB2926765 in particular.
When this update was installed I could not get start-up progs. eg. avast etc to load.
Also when trying to start any other exe's I got the above warning.
I restored an image done before this bad update and all was well again.

My only hope was to hide the update so windows wouldn't try to load it again.
AS this exact same outcome had happened to me before, I knew what I was dealing with.
In the past I have also had to hide two updates for the very same behavior.
One of them was KB27981692 the other I didn't write down.

The first time this happened searches on the internet led to others who experienced the same problem after a bad update.
This time I was only able to find one instance of somebody encountering the same behavior.

By posting this I am hoping others have encountered the same problem as me.
Any comments welcome. Google searches lead me nowhere.
Lots of possible explanations for the error but none to do with a bad windows update.

Cheers!

Hi Damian,

Thanks for your reply. I have already seen the links you posted. Have done much searching the last two days.
As I said previously I can say for absolute sure the problem is KB2926765.
I installed all updates except that one, did a drive image with Macruim Reflect and then tried installing it again.
Same story. This is the third time that a windows update has produced this behavior.
Each time I have had to hide them from windows update so my system doesn't get hosed again.
Having learned this lesson twice before I now run full AV and malware scans with 5 programs and then image my drive before doing windows updates. It only takes me ten minutes to get back up and running when disaster happens.

Cheers!

Re KB2926765 update. After installing Mays updates my PC stopped recognising simple 'Compressed (zipped) Folder (.zip)' files which were already on my PC and the right click 'Extact all' option is missing as well. Have downloaded & extracted these zip files every week for past five years with no problems at all. After a process of elimination I uninstalled the KB2926765 update and Pc is working fine again. I don't won't to install new Zip extraction software on my Pc but Windows update is still asking to install KB2926765 update. Any ideas

Hi Damian, Thanks for reply, you are right i could hide the update but M.S. have it down as 'Important Security Update' not an 'Optional' The question could be will not installing the update give more problems in the future ? Have read postings on other forums about this KB2926765 update in which they think the problem is linked to 'Adobe flash player' ? also one posting thinks KB2926765 update is for Win 8.1 not Win 7. Food for thought ! Will keep the update at bay in the meantime.

dukes27 said:

After installing Mays updates my PC stopped recognising simple 'Compressed (zipped) Folder (.zip)' files

Aaargh, I have the exact same issue.. I used system restore to revert back to a save state. Will wait a couple of months, maybe it will be addressed by MS.

I believe this particular update may be responsible for other errors as well: "Windows Explorer has stopped working" on startup after update

Ranger4 said:

dukes27 said:

Hi Damian, Thanks for reply, you are right i could hide the update but M.S. have it down as 'Important Security Update' not an 'Optional' The question could be will not installing the update give more problems in the future ? Have read postings on other forums about this KB2926765 update in which they think the problem is linked to 'Adobe flash player' ? also one posting thinks KB2926765 update is for Win 8.1 not Win 7. Food for thought ! Will keep the update at bay in the meantime.

You have mentioned Adobe Flash Player in this post. In case you are not aware I received an Adobe Flash Player Update yesterday, 16 May 2014. Also received one for the Active X version on 10 April 2014. These are as follows. Maybe worth following up.
Adobe Flash Player 13 Plug in version 13.0.0.214 16 May 14.
Adobe Flash Player 13 Active X version 13.0.0.182 10 April 14.

Adobe Flash Player 13.0.0.214 is the latest version for both Plug in and Active X.
Adobe normally updates Flash Player on the 2nd Tuesday of the month (Windows Patch Tuesday).
Latest Version of Adobe Flash Player

I subscribe to all the SF "Latest version of..." threads.
It's a nice way to get informed of updates