OK here we go again- MS Security Updates so?

oneeyed · 17 Oct 2014

Scottyboy99 said:

Maybe the software companies should do better in covering all their holes in beta testing.

Beta testing doesn't really cover security vulnerabilties. These are either discovered during development by various testing tools, or (the vast majority) when the software is released and tested by security researchers, or so called "white hats".

And most of these vulnerabilities take time to discover (months, or years for some)...

Microsoft is probably the company investing the most in security during development, but the OS has become so complex it is inevitable that bugs or insecure features show up. There was around 40 millions lines of code for Windows 7, I doubt it's better for 8 so you can imagine the complexity and opportunity for human errors or oversight there is.

About updates introducing new features and such, this wasn't what the OP was talking about, but specifically Security Updates. If it's not a security patch, feel free not to install it, I very much doubt any other software will break or become incompatible because of that.

LMiller7 · 17 Oct 2014

Do you think Microsoft will ever give us a month without security updates?

I hope not.

Microsoft would love to be able to do that. But the world being what it is that is not possible. They are providing these updates to you at no charge at no small expense to themselves for which they are receiving no tangible benefits, but many complaints.

No one is forcing you to accept these updates. It is completely voluntary. If at any time you do not wish to receive them you can easily arrange this for as long as you wish.

Lady Fitzgerald · 17 Oct 2014

Scottyboy99 said:

I am a bit with the OP. I wish MS would lay off the relentless updates. I always dread patch Tuesday. I know you need to be secure but I fear MS will send something down the pipe that causes carnage. I wonder if they are a little over the top. I remember certain updates in the past that caused much grief. I think hybrid gpu laptops paid heavy price for an update that was preparing machines for IE10. But I have been reasonably ok on updates though it gets me in lots of trouble with the wife each patch Tuesday for excessive time on the computer as I spend ages testing loads of stuff post updates. So I wish they would give us a break. Personally I don't like them much and I don't like changes but unfortunately it's the way it is. Apple are just as bad with constant ios and itunes updates and could argue they are worse as they break stuff all the time these days.

You're making a mountain out of a molehill. Just set Windows Updates to "Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them". Then you can pick when to actually download and install the updates after you are notified that they are there. To minimize the time impact, just start the downloads and installation at a time that is convenient for you, such as at night, while you are away from the house, whatever.

There have been less than a handful of updates that caused "carnage" the last few years and I dodged them all by waiting until Saturday to download and install them; M$ has always fixed or pulled problematic updates by then.

Layback Bear · 17 Oct 2014

For those that have problems with Windows Updates every month I suggest check your systems.
Millions upon million of people get these updates every month without problems.

Yes I know their have been a bad update now and again. It happens seldom and the mistake is corrected quickly.

Just watch Noel's posts.
When he gets really busy you will know a bad update came out that effected many.

Scottyboy99 · 18 Oct 2014

Points taken. Your right, the updates are good and show MS to be keeping on the ball. I guess I got a little bitter. It's been tiresome lately with patch Tuesday and apple launching iOS 8 and new itunes. It's a different subject but apple have totally dropped the ball with their QA testing and bugs. MS seem to be streets ahead!

Lady Fitzgerald · 18 Oct 2014

When I ran my updates a little while ago, it appeared M$ pulled one of them. When I first looked at them earlier this week, there were 18 with 17 of them preselected. When I ran them this morning, there were only 17, all of them preselected. After running the updates (I ran them while I was in the shower and putting on my face), I checked to see if there were anymore. There weren't. Curious, since I've seen no reports of problem updates this go around.

DavidE · 18 Oct 2014

According to this post patch KB2949927 did get pulled:
Advance Notification for October 14th 2014 Security Bulletin Release

Callender · 18 Oct 2014

KB2949927 Has Been Pulled | Security content from Windows IT Pro

The article mentions problems with three updates - one of them doesn't seem to be Windows 7 related.

I got that one individually - kb2949927 - it didn't download and install along with the other updates. Note the install date.

Attachment 337243

oneeyed · 18 Oct 2014

Callender said:

KB2949927 Has Been Pulled | Security content from Windows IT Pro

The article mentions problems with three updates - one of them doesn't seem to be Windows 7 related.

I got that one individually - kb2949927 - it didn't download and install along with the other updates. Note the install date.

Interesting source. I added the security section to my bookmarks, seems like a good site to quickly check if a recent update work correctly.

Lady Fitzgerald · 18 Oct 2014

DavidE said:

According to this post patch KB2949927 did get pulled:
Advance Notification for October 14th 2014 Security Bulletin Release

And that is why I wait until Saturday to download and install patches from Patch Tuesday7 (or whatever M$ is calling it now).