PC patches end this year with a bang

[Tracey Capen]

PATCH WATCH PC patches end this year with a bang By Susan Bradley One measure of our success battling malware is the number of patches we're asked to install each month.By that benchmark, we're surely losing. The patch count for December is a record for the year, with fixes for Internet Explorer, zero-day bugs, and DLL preloading threats. This might be end-of-year house cleaning, as most of the patches are not critical. The full text of this column is posted at WindowsSecrets.com/2010/12/16/07 (opens in a new window/tab). Columnists typically cannot reply to comments here, but do incorporate the best tips into future columns.

[Timmer]

Last night my Win7 machine running Outlook 2007 was automatically updated and the SPA settings were changed (enabled) which blocked access to my internet provider (Comcast). Once I figured out why I wasn't receiving any email, I fixed the problem.

Tim Bowman
Burien, WA

[SusanBradley]

Yahoo Toolbar added to the fun of Patch Tuesday as well:

Microsoft Support has received information from customers who are experiencing problems with Internet Explorer (IE) if they have an older version of the Yahoo tool bar installed. Error messages include: "Internet Explorer has encounter a problem and needs to close," or "page cannot displayed". Yahoo is aware of the issue and working to address. They asked us to make customers aware of the following statement:

"Yahoo is aware of the reported issues with older versions of the Yahoo! Toolbar and we apologize to those who have been affected. To quickly remedy this issue, please uninstall the Yahoo! Toolbar and restart your browser. The latest, optimized version of the Yahoo! Toolbar is not affected by this issue and is available for download at toolbar.yahoo.com. "

Customers can uninstall the tool bar by going to the Control Panel and using the Uninstall Programs feature.

[djchinn]

I have been having an annoying problem. From 10/13/10 forward I have been receiving an automatic update for Microsoft XML Core Services 6.0 SP2 (KB973686). What do I have to do to eliminate getting this automatic update daily. It also shows up in my update icon in my toolbar.
I running a Dell Dimension 5100, Windows XP SP2.

[chuckwrite1]

Prior to receiving Windows Secrets with the recommendation to hold off on the Outlook update KB2412171, I had installed the group of updates. My immediate problem, in addition to the Outlook slowdown reported by many users, was that Outlook would no longer send mail. After a review of the comments on the Microsoft Office Forums, I restored my system to its setup prior to the update. The Outlook e-mail worked fine for a few hours, so I installed the updates without KB2412171. Outlook continued to work fine the rest of the day.

Then, the next day, Outlook was running fine, but it again would not send e-mails. The problematic KB2412171 was not installed (I don't use Automatic Updates.) I again restored my system to its setup prior to this update cycle, and Outlook is working fine again.

My system and my ISP are very reliable, and the ISP told me they've had no other calls about outgoing e-mail problems.

While most of the comments and replies point to KB2412171 being the culprit, I suspect it might go deeper than that and may also involve one of the other updates.

I'm willing to do more troubleshooting if asked.

[bryash]

I had already installed this update and noticed the slowdown of Outlook but didn't know the reason until I read Susan Bradley's article yesterday. I immediately uninstalled it using Windows and immediately Outlook performed properly again (and still continues to do so. I checked and found that Windows Update now offered me the update again. Fine. That was yesterday. I checked with Windows update again today and the patch was no longer offered. I then went to Microsoft's KB article and it wasn't there. Has Microsoft pulled the update?

[SusanBradley]

Yup they pulled the update.

Regarding the XML update issue you may need to totally remove all XML in add/remove and then reinstall.

===============
Thread Title Outlook 2007 after 12/14/10 Patch Is Slow
Started by: mesns

Reply:

Hey Folks,

Please see here for a post on this forum that answers this issue. There are actually three things that this update affected:

* Poor performance when switching folders
* Send/receive errors (especially on Comcast and AOL accounts, but perhaps others too)
* The Archive feature is completely removed from Outlook 2007 (even in the UI)

So, while some of you are seeing performance improvements by tweaking or removing add-ins, the problem goes a little deeper than that. My recommendation is to remove the KB2412171 update from Add/Remove. When Microsoft creates a new hotfix to address the original issue, it will be offered again, as usual.
Bob Cooley, Supportability Program Manager Microsoft Corporation

[SusanBradley]

I've not seen anyone else report issues. I'd call 1-866-pcsafety. You can install these updates one at a time and test between each one.

Prior to receiving Windows Secrets with the recommendation to hold off on the Outlook update KB2412171, I had installed the group of updates. My immediate problem, in addition to the Outlook slowdown reported by many users, was that Outlook would no longer send mail. After a review of the comments on the Microsoft Office Forums, I restored my system to its setup prior to the update. The Outlook e-mail worked fine for a few hours, so I installed the updates without KB2412171. Outlook continued to work fine the rest of the day.

Then, the next day, Outlook was running fine, but it again would not send e-mails. The problematic KB2412171 was not installed (I don't use Automatic Updates.) I again restored my system to its setup prior to this update cycle, and Outlook is working fine again.

My system and my ISP are very reliable, and the ISP told me they've had no other calls about outgoing e-mail problems.

While most of the comments and replies point to KB2412171 being the culprit, I suspect it might go deeper than that and may also involve one of the other updates.

I'm willing to do more troubleshooting if asked.

[Fred S]

Hi Sue,

I sent this note to your other forum but it belongs here - I think?
-----------------------------------------
"I have been talking with other Win 7 users who report the loss of their built in Camera Card (SD/MMC/Compact Flash/etc) after installing the updates.

Are you aware of this and if so, what update causes the problem? Can it be uninstalled to restore the Card reader?

On my Win7 desktop, I opened up the case, disconnected the card reader, re-booted, then shut down, re-connected the reader, and the devices appeared in Device manager and Win Explorer.

Now I see my laptop has also lost the card reader. There is no easy way to disconnect that reader - so I need to remove the update that caused this.

Please advise as soon as you can and thank you very much. I'm a regular in Windows Secrets NL.

Fred
------------------------------
I didn't think of the updates until I read this on a forum - it does make sense, however, as it has just happened and the updates were earlier this week. Please look into this and let us know what is going on.

Thanks, again, Fred

[Timmer]

I removed the offending Update #2412171 on both an XP and a Win7 machine. On my WIN7 machine upon reboot, I was prompted to archive my OUTLOOK items which I did.

Thanks to all who have shared in this thread.

[miflsr]

We have 2 computers, One running XP pro and one running XP home. Both computers are using Outlook Express (not "Outlook")for client email, one from embarqmail.com (Centurylink) and one from Gmail. In each of our Outlook Express mail programs we were getting an error message about how our mail servers were not being found and we should make sure our server names were entered correctly etc. I allow automatic updates from Microsoft because I don't feel knowledgeable enough to sort them out. What can I do now that the patch is messing things up for us?

[DonaldJ]

Just wanted to note how valuable WS newsletter is even to us "less than savvy than the rest of you" ... I simply let win update do its thing and after the most recent update I noticed how quirky Outlook 2007 had become. I was frustrated at how slow it was responding and encountering errors on send/receive. Then as I read through my recent WS newsletter there was Susan Bradley's article "Put a hold on this 2007 Outlook patch" and sending me to "MS Support article 2412171" ... it all became clear and I promptly uninstalled the update. My Outlook 2007 is again running as it should. Thank you Susan ... thank you WS newsletter ... you just removed a ton of frustration!

[Timmer]

We have 2 computers, One running XP pro and one running XP home. Both computers are using Outlook Express (not "Outlook")for client email, one from embarqmail.com (Centurylink) and one from Gmail. In each of our Outlook Express mail programs we were getting an error message about how our mail servers were not being found and we should make sure our server names were entered correctly etc. I allow automatic updates from Microsoft because I don't feel knowledgeable enough to sort them out. What can I do now that the patch is messing things up for us?

Elsie, what I ended up doing was going to the properties of my email client (Outlook) and unchecking the SPA (Secure Password Authorization) box. That restored my access to my email service (Comcast in this case). I also went to the Control Panel and uninstalled update #2412171.

Tim Bowman
Burien, WA

[Twinkie]

I never install any patch or update until I see what Susan Bradley says about it. It has saved me a lot of misery (according to what ohters have gone through).

Thank you Susan Bradley

Loyal Reader, Twinkie

[DonH.]

I am once again being told to install this critical update. I recently uninstalled the original and have noticed a considerable performance boost. Particularly when moving from folder to folder. It looks like this is a revised patch that is supposed to address many of the issues with the first. It has a release date of January 11.
My question: is this patch now safe to install or is it still not ready for prime time?