May 12th 2015 Windows Updates Security Bulletin Details

[groze]

In a normal update world the updates would either load at 2am or during inactivity
The issue I hate is when I want to shut down and run and there might be a update shield and so I have to wait and see if the update errors out.... causing a unwanted delay in leaving.

The only problem with a 2am update or install my computer is turned off and unplugged.

 

[ThrashZone]

Agreed I shut down every night too
10 has it's scheduled maintenance crud so it's just another annoyance to deal with
But you can alter the updating in group policy in win-10tp last I checked giving local admin the choice to take control of the when and what to download and install.

Will it work it's anyone's guess at this early stage

 

[Brds7t7]

Sounds like you have this box checked in update settings,

Correct. But it still shows "Important".
This just highlights the confusion. I previously would still go with important/recommended on an equal footing by default and maybe consider optional on merit. My strategy now is make a system image before update and do not just rely on a restore point. This must make the average PC user very frustrated and consider a MAC alternative (not me mind you).

I shut off System Restore a long time ago because I never could get it to work in Win 7. I depend on Imaging instead; it's always been reliable for me. I always make an image before and after installing updates or making any other major changes, such as installing new software or changing settings. It's cheap insurance.

I also stopped using System Restore to revert software/update changes a while ago and just use the Windows Image backup weekly instead, it's never let me down.

The only reason I keep System Restore turned on is it's handy to see which software has changed since the last system image. I can open SR and quickly see the list of what has changed, so I'll know what to update after the restore. But I keep it set to 1% so that it takes up minimal space on my HDD.

I always make an image before installing MS updates.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I manually install all my updates so knowing which ones need reupdating after an image restore isn't a problem for me. Besides, I have software—Glary Utilities and Avast free—that will tell me what software needs updating after a restore.

 

[Callender]

Keeping files after rolling back system.

I agree that updating software after rolling back to a system image backup isn't a problem at all. As for System Restore - it's disabled.

My method for comparison of personal files that might be lost when rolling back.

Mount the system image backup. Copy contents of system image backup user folder on system image backup, example: (Drive Letter)\Users\Username to another non-windows drive - on my machine I'd use Drive D.

Restore the image.

Use Copy Changed Files to copy only files that are missing or have changed from (Drive Letter)\Users\Username backup that was created on drive D to current drive (Windows Drive)\Users\Username



Sounds complicated but it isn't once you get used to it!

 

[Brds7t7]

I manually install all my updates so knowing which ones need reupdating after an image restore isn't a problem for me. Besides, I have software—Glary Utilities and Avast free—that will tell me what software needs updating after a restore.

Never used Glary, I'll have to take a look at that. As for Avast I find it only has about 10 apps I use in it's list of outdated software, so I never really use it.
Windows SR lists every bit of software that's changed.

I use a different backup system (Clone) for my D: (Data) partition. I don't include anything from that in my system image so never need to restore anything on my Data drive after restoring an image. Plus, it keeps my image sizes and times down.

 

[Computer0304]

Hmm, I guess I'm different as I don't do entire system images though as I don't have the time to. I only do a backup of my files when I change them as usually I only use the computer to surf the web. Also, I have never had a problem with System Restore yet except with a program that got reinstalled incorrectly through the restore which I fixed.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I manually install all my updates so knowing which ones need reupdating after an image restore isn't a problem for me. Besides, I have software—Glary Utilities and Avast free—that will tell me what software needs updating after a restore.

Never used Glary, I'll have to take a look at that. As for Avast I find it only has about 10 apps I use in it's list of outdated software, so I never really use it.
Windows SR lists every bit of software that's changed.

I use a different backup system (Clone) for my D: (Data) partition. I don't include anything from that in my system image so never need to restore anything on my Data drive after restoring an image. Plus, it keeps my image sizes and times down.

I used to use Secunia PSI to check for outdated programs but it became as slow as a dead turtle so I gave up on it.

 

[DavidE]

I used to use Secunia PSI to check for outdated programs but it became as slow as a dead turtle so I gave up on it.

What is slow as a dead turtle? How many minutes, hours ???

PSI is not really a program update checker.
It checks for missing security patches and out of date end of life programs.
I run it occasionally to see what it finds, runs in a matter of minutes for me, on old hardware with OS's installed years ago.

I never tried Glary, I'll have to check that out.

If you want to try the most comprehensive update checker I've found, check out SUMo.
There is a learning curve to use and understand it.
It may report more than you want to know about.
There is a SUMo portable version, so no install needed.

 

[Callender]

Ditto on SUMO if you can get the clean version.

Still using the old PSI v2.0 for a check every few weeks. Usually a scan takes a couple of minutes.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I used to use Secunia PSI to check for outdated programs but it became as slow as a dead turtle so I gave up on it.

What is slow as a dead turtle? How many minutes, hours ???

PSI is not really a program update checker.
It checks for missing security patches and out of date end of life programs.
I run it occasionally to see what it finds, runs in a matter of minutes for me, on old hardware with OS's installed years ago.

I never tried Glary, I'll have to check that out.

If you want to try the most comprehensive update checker I've found, check out SUMo.
There is a learning curve to use and understand it.
It may report more than you want to know about.
There is a SUMo portable version, so no install needed.

It was taking as long as 10-15 minutes to scan. I do have a lot of programs on my desktop machine (over 100).

 

[ThrashZone]

Yea I used Secunia too it was good for alerting but I usually just uninstalled and re-installed the out of date doo-da instead of letting Secunia do it for me because it was a slow bugger.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Yea I used Secunia too it was good for alerting but I usually just uninstalled and re-installed the out of date doo-da instead of letting Secunia do it for me because it was a slow bugger.

I did the same because it would take forever to do the updates for me.

 

[Brds7t7]

Yea I used Secunia too it was good for alerting but I usually just uninstalled and re-installed the out of date doo-da instead of letting Secunia do it for me because it was a slow bugger.

I did the same because it would take forever to do the updates for me.

I remember version 2 was a great piece of software. Then they released version 3 and I didn't like it as much, so uninstalled it. It's one of those programs I only used occasionally anyway.
I check for most software updates myself now, the only two I leave to check automatically are Java and Flash.

 

[DavidE]

I don't use PSI to do updates, i just use it to see the report.
I like PSI 2.0 much better than 3.0.
Sadly, 2.0 is not compatible with Win 8.x, so i use 3.0 with 8.1.

 

[lehnerus2000]

I create backup images prior to installing any "Patch Tuesday" Updates.
I've been doing this for 6 years (since I first got a free imaging program).

This sort of fiasco is why I don't have much confidence in MS' new plan of pushing out updates "every few seconds" for W10.
MS had better restore the ability to turn off auto-updating (once W10 is released) unless they want constant bad publicity.

If they don't, people are going to have to unplug their network cables to protect themselves.
I don't want to have to image my PC prior to plugging in the network cable everyday.

I guess my options will be, stick with W7 and/or use Linux Mint every time I want to use the Internet.

I agree. I've been reading about W10 for a while and that is one of my 2 main questions. The other one is the talk about "secure boot" locking (user possibly not allowed to unlock to BIOS/legacy to boot to utility media (tool/rescue media, etc). It should be interesting to see what happens when the W10 general release is here and we begin to receive feedback about it.

Here is Dedoimedo's take:
Windows 10, alt OS lockout? Doomsday?

 

[GEWB]

Guess what showed up in the Optional Update list on Thursday the 14th?

You guessed it - KB3035583.

"This update enables additional capabilities for Windows Update notifications when new updates are available to the user. It applies to a computer that is running Windows 8.1 or Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1)."

MS never gives up...

Regards,
GEWB

 

[phenix]

elevated mode

I am the only one using this computer. I have created an administrator and a user account.
Even if I sign on to the administrator account, it does not accept the "sfc /verifyonly" instructiion
in the DOS window. Error message is you must be in the elevated mode to use this command.
On this computer I have no way to right click on SFC and click on run as administrator.
Please help.....

 

[GEWB]

I am the only one using this computer. I have created an administrator and a user account.
Even if I sign on to the administrator account, it does not accept the "sfc /verifyonly" instructiion
in the DOS window. Error message is you must be in the elevated mode to use this command.
On this computer I have no way to right click on SFC and click on run as administrator.
Please help.....

Start > All Programs > Accessories

RIGHT click on Command Prompt.
Select and click on Run as administrator.

Enter command line per instructions.

Regards,
GEWB

 

[Scoop]

Are you running CMD in Admin mode?

Enter CMD in the Start search field box. Then right-click on the CMD icon and select "Run as Admin" from the pull-down menu.

Here are some screencaps. (just saw GEWB's post after posting this).