What the heck is going on with Microsoft? After terrible feedback on its intentional omission of its iconic start button on Windows 8, Microsoft snivels and releases a start button on Windows 8.1. Kind of like saying “let them eat cake!”
But, who was the idiot at Microsoft who decided that when you click the start button on Windows 8, you don’t get a start menu, you get the START SCREEN! The very thing most people using a mouse and keyboard hate the most about Windows 8.
The only use the new start button on Windows 8.1 has is when you right click you get several items like Control Panel, Computer, Shut Down and Shut Down options, and more things like that — but your programs, nope.
We’ve always recommended leaving Automatic Updates on and set to automatically download updates and install them. We can no longer recommend that setting. Instead we recommend you change your update settings to “Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them”. After just having my work computer fried by a bad Windows Update, I’m getting quite cynical. Does anyone at Microsoft know what they’re doing.
Yikes…I’m off on a rant. Let me calm down. Whew!
OK, now for the story on the new botched Windows Updates. Please do follow the link at the end of the article and read the entire story. You’ll be shaking your head too, I’m betting!
From InfoWorld…
“Two Black Tuesday patches — MS 13-052 and MS 13-057 — and last month’s nonsecurity patch KB 2821895 cause a variety of problems.
Microsoft’s patching problems have hit a new low, with three botched patches now in desperate need of attention. MS 13-052 is supposed to plug security holes in .Net Framework and Silverlight, but it has problems getting along with Configuration Manager 2012 and ConfigMgr 2007), as well as with plug-ins running under Microsoft CRM 2011. MS 13-057 causes black bands to appear at the top of Windows Media videos, and it still hasn’t been fixed — although Microsoft has finally acknowledged the problem. The KB 2821895 Windows 8/Windows RT patch causes false System File Checker reports and hangs; Microsoft acknowledges the problem in its KB article, but the patch is still available.
Somebody please tell me who is in charge?…”
After reading this I went to Control Panel to change my download settings as you recommended and took a peek to see if any of these nasty little malformed updates had been installed. Woe is me – I found that KB2803821 had been installed on the 12th of the month – on my husband’s as well as my computer. Since neither one of us uses the media player much I hadn’t noticed any problem but that still doesn’t mean I won’t in the future.
So my question is, how can I un-install an installed update? Do I need to roll back to a previous version? And since I see there are Microsoft.Net updates as well as Microsoft Essentials updates installed, won’t rolling back mean those are wiped clean as well? Normally I don’t pay much attention to these Microsoft mess-ups but three within so many weeks is making me very uneasy.
Thanks for helping us all out in so many ways for so many years.
-Leslie
I think you can uninstall them one at a time but lets wait on Cloud eight to hear what they have to say about that. I would not want to cause any one any problems. I do know that uninstall comes up with a right click when you have the window open for updates. This is very troubling because we users of windows depend on them to make sure the patches are at least do no harm.
I too went in and unchecked the box for automatic updates. I received a notice that there is 1 important update for my computer but I’m nervous about installing any of them at this point. Please let me know if this one is safe….. KB890830. The optional updates are: KB2574819, 2592687,2709981.
I really will appreciate you advice.
Safe is relative — each bad KB does not affect everyone the same way…best to google each KB and learn more about it — and read the deleterious effects (if any) of each. Microsoft, at some point, will fix these errant KBs — so do be sure to get the most updated info, it may well be that MS has fixed most of them by now. T\
KB2840628-V2 Is even worse. So no, nothing fixed.
Well the security part is high, because nothing runs without crashing that depends on it.