Bits from Bill
Vista AutoUpdate Kills USB
If you’re a new reader to Bits from Bill you may not know how I feel about auto updates. I’ve written about it before and documented some problems.
Last week Microsoft deployed a new update and again, some problems were reported. PC Magazine reports a number of reports of USB failures that occured following the update.
“Users who installed the update, however, soon found their USB devices unresponsive, particularly mice and flash drives. Removing and re-installing the programs reportedly did not immediately solve the problem”
I often write about new security updates which are generally deployed on Tuesdays. I tell folks to set Windows Updates in the control panel to “Download updates for me, but let me choose whether to install them”. In most cases, I recommend waiting at least a week to 10 days before installing updates. That way you’ll benefit from everyone else in the world testing the changes. The only exception is when there are serious security vulnerabilities with many threats already known to be out on the net.
If you do experience a problem with a Microsoft update support is available for free at 1-866-PC-Safety.
Labels: autoupdates, pcmag, Vista
posted by Unknown | 9:03 AM
4 Comments:
Thanks for the heads up on this one. I haven't gotten any phone calls from friends yet but if I do I'll know what to do. Especially that special phone number. I can never find it when it is needed now I know I can come here and there it is.
This causes such grief. Most of my friends I set their computers to auto update because many would not understand the "download but don't install" feature. I barely can get them to periodically check that their AV is updating.
If everybody would follow this advise nobody wqould ever install a patch because all would be waiting for someone else to test it.
IMO its better to apply the security patches even in the case of the occasional hickup.
B
Recently, at work, I got an email that our Quickbooks Pro 2008 might display problems loading properly after a recent Microsoft update. It affected the .NET 2.0 portion and could be easily fixed with some tweaking and downloading. But, my gosh, one shouldn't have to tweak or download some new patch just to make an expensive piece of accounting software continue to work, should we?
Vern in Michigan.
I had this happen to me, after I ran windows update that tuesday nite. After 4 hours on the phone with HP support, their only advice was to reload Vista Ultimate.
I choose to hit the F8 upon reboot choosing the Last good Configuration. Worked like a charm. Now, if I only knew WHICH optional update did it.
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