Category Archives: Windows

Adobe, Flash, Internet Explorer, Microsoft, Patches and updates, Security, Windows

Patch Tuesday for July 2016

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It’s a relatively light month for Microsoft patches: only eleven this time. The updates address security issues in the usual suspects, namely Windows, Internet Explorer, Edge, Office, and the Flash code that’s embedded in IE 10, IE 11, and Edge. Six of the updates are flagged as Critical. A total of fifty vulnerabilities are addressed.

Adobe joins in the fun again this month, with updates for Flash and Reader/Acrobat. The Flash update fixes a whopping fifty-two vulnerabilities, while the Reader update fixes thirty vulnerabilities. Update: an announcement for the Flash update appeared on July 14th, despite being dated July 12th.

Update 2016Jul17: Ars Technica points out that one of the Microsoft updates addresses a critical security hole in a Windows printer driver installation mechanism that dates back to Windows 95. The vulnerability was not actually closed by the update; instead, a warning was added to the driver installation process.

Microsoft, Patches and updates, Windows 10

Windows 10 anniversary update coming August 2nd

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Microsoft is planning a big update for Windows 10 on its release anniversary. The update is planned for August 2, 2016, but that date may shift as we get closer.

The anniversary update will include the new Windows Ink, Edge browser extensions, and numerous performance and stability improvements. In other words, all the changes we’ve already seen as part of the Windows Insider program.

The update will be free to install on any computer already running Windows 10. After July 29, upgrading to Windows 10 from Windows 7 or 8.1 will no longer be free, and is expected to cost $119 USD.

Microsoft, Patches and updates, Windows 10

More Windows 10 Preview Builds

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Microsoft is pushing out new Windows 10 Preview Builds with somewhat alarming rapidity recently. Alarming, because it seems my test PC is always either downloading one of the massive updates, or installing one.

My test PC is now running Build 14379, and I haven’t noticed any changes of interest, good or bad. Let’s look at the release notes to see what’s different in the new builds.

Build 14371

A new Activation Troubleshooter helps to resolve problems encountered by users after changing hardware such as hard drives and motherboards.

This build also includes improvements to accessibility, and easier to understand Edge download displays. Some tweaks were made to a few display settings, and more display settings will now be maintained between builds.

Build 14372

According to the release notes, Build 14372 has “a handful of fixes to [improve] overall performance and reliability.”

Build 14376

Performance and reliability fixes for Windows Store, various display fixes, a fix for a specific Edge/Explorer crash, and a fix for an authentication error related to Terminal Services.

Build 14379

More display fixes and crash fixes.

Crapware, Hardware, Microsoft, Security, Things that are bad, Windows 10

Pre-installed crapware still a problem

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A recent report from Duo Security shows that pre-assembled, ready-to-run computers purchased from major vendors almost always include pre-installed software that often makes those computers much less secure. That’s in addition to being unnecessary, unstable, resource-hungry, and often serving primarily as advertising conduits.

If you purchase a pre-assembled computer, you should uninstall all unnecessary software as soon as possible after powering it up. Before even connecting it to a network. It can be difficult to identify exactly which software should be removed, but a good starting point is to remove anything that shows the manufacturer’s name as the Publisher. PC World has a helpful guide.

And now the good news, at least for some of us: Microsoft now provides a tool that allows a user with a valid license to reinstall Windows 10 from scratch at any time. Minus all the crapware that the manufacturer originally installed.

Microsoft, Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows 8.x

Microsoft now less sneaky about Windows 10 upgrades

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Now that their free Windows 10 upgrade offer is almost over, Microsoft thought this would be a good time to reduce some of the more devious tricks they’ve employed to fool users into upgrading from Windows 7 and 8.1 to Windows 10.

One incredibly annoying behaviour of at least one of the previous upgrade dialogs was that closing the dialog by clicking the ‘X’ button at the top right corner was actually interpreted by Microsoft as approval to proceed with the upgrade.

But it’s too little, too late for some users, many of whom encountered serious problems after their computers were upgraded to Windows 10 without their approval.

Techdirt has an amusing look at this issue.

Update 2016Jul04: Apparently Microsoft is making one final big push to get people to upgrade. The Verge reports on new, screen-filling upgrade prompts that are starting to appear on Windows 7 and 8.1 computers.

Edge, Microsoft, Patches and updates, Windows 10

Windows 10 Insider Preview Builds 14352, 14361, 14366, and 14367

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I was starting to wonder why my Windows 10 test computer wasn’t getting new preview builds. It was seemingly stuck on build 14342, as new build announcements paraded past in my RSS feed reader.

As much as possible, I’ve attempted to evaluate Windows 10 as a regular user, so I held off trying to fix this, assuming it would fix itself. A couple of days ago, I finally relented, and started to investigate.

Looking at All Settings > Update and Security > Windows Update, I was confronted with this message: “We couldn’t connect to the update service. We’ll try again later, or you can check now. If it still doesn’t work, make sure you’re connected to the Internet.” I clicked the Check for Updates button and initially it seemed to be working. It showed a new available build, and actually installed a minor update, but then when it started to download the new build, the message reappeared.

I found plenty of reports on the web of other people having similar difficulties, but mostly for earlier builds. None of the suggested solutions had any effect, including disabling the option Updates from more than one place, and running the Windows Update troubleshooter. The troubleshooter found nothing untoward.

I use a special DNS service for privacy reasons, so on a hunch, I switched to my ISP’s DNS and again checked for updates. Preview Build 14366 started downloading, and eventually installed.

Is Microsoft somehow preventing Windows 10 preview builds from being downloaded when certain DNS services are being used? I find that difficult to believe, but it’s certainly possible.

What’s new in builds 14352, 14361, and 14366?

Build 14352

Release announcement (May 26, 2016).

  • Cortana improvements
  • Windows Ink improvements
  • Feedback Hub now shows Microsoft’s responses
  • A load of bug fixes

Build 14361

Release announcement (June 8, 2016).

  • LastPass extension for Microsoft Edge
  • Windows Ink improvements
  • Settings – visual improvements
  • Start screen – visual improvements
  • the usual pile of bug fixes, many related to Edge

Build 14366

Release announcement (June 14, 2016).

  • Windows Store app – resource usage improvements
  • a bunch more bug fixes, including several for user interface glitches

Build 14367

Release announcement (June 16, 2016).

  • New tool to clean-install the latest Windows 10 release
  • the usual pile of bug fixes
Microsoft, Windows 8.x

Getting rid of the Windows 8.1 Charms bar

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I’ve been running Windows 8.1 on my main computer for a while now, and while I was initially dreading the goofy new touch-centric user interface, most of the time it stays out of the way.

There is one exception: the ‘Charms Bar’. There’s nothing ‘charming’ about this thing; it pops up at the most inconvenient times, usually when I’m gaming.

The Charms Bar is a toolbar and clock overlay that – by default – appears when the mouse moves to the top right or bottom right of the display. The toolbar contains links to the Devices and Settings apps, and the Start screen. I already have plenty of ways to get to those things, so the bar is pure annoyance.

Sure, if I was using a tablet, the Charms Bar would probably be useful. But I’m not. Thankfully, Microsoft provided some settings for getting rid of it. Unfortunately, the settings involved are in more than one place, and there is no setting to disable the lower right corner trigger.

To stop the Charms Bar from appearing when you move the mouse to the top right, navigate to Control Panel > Taskbar and Navigation > Navigation > Corner Navigation and disable the option When I point to the upper-right corner, show the charms.

If your computer supports mouse or touch swiping motions, you will probably need to disable those as well. To do that, navigate to Control Panel > Mouse, look for swipe-related options, and disable them.

That’s as far as you can go with built-in Windows settings. You’ll still see the Charms Bar when you move your mouse to the lower right. The best solution I’ve found so far is the freeware Charms Bar Killer from Winaero. Even this tool can’t fix the problem permanently, because the changes it makes are reversed whenever Windows (or Explorer) restarts. You can configure it to start with Windows, or just run it whenever you want to disable the Charms Bar until the next reboot.

Microsoft: frustrating people needlessly since 1975.

Adobe, Edge, Flash, Internet Explorer, Microsoft, Patches and updates, Security, Windows

Patch Tuesday for June 2016

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It’s that time again, folks. This month Microsoft has sixteen updates, which address forty-four vulnerabilities in the usual culprits: Windows, Internet Explorer, Office, and Edge. Five of the updates are flagged as Critical.

Adobe issued an alert earlier today, saying that they have identified a vulnerability in Flash that is being actively exploited. There’s no update as yet, but they expect to have one ready by June 16. I imagine that Adobe was planning to release a Flash update today to coincide with Microsoft’s updates, but this new threat messed up their timing.

Microsoft, Patches and updates, Windows 7, Windows 8.x

Relief for Windows 7 update headaches

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As if in response to my recent post about the joys of updating new Windows 7 installs, Microsoft has just announced a solution. It’s effectively Service Pack 2 for Windows 7, but Microsoft is calling it the Windows 7 SP1 convenience rollup.

The new package will install all post-SP1 updates up to April 2016. After you install Windows 7 with Service Pack 1, you need only install the April 2015 servicing stack update for Windows 7 (KB3020369), a prerequisite for the rollup, then install the rollup, then install any updates published after April 2016.

I haven’t yet tried the new rollup, but it’s difficult to imagine how it could fail to be an improvement.

Microsoft also plans to provide monthly non-security update rollups for Windows 7 and 8.1.