Everyone gets a small holiday — from patching

[Tracey Capen]

PATCH WATCH Everyone gets a small holiday — from patching By Susan Bradley Those of us in a holiday state of mind are lucky to have a light patching week. If you're feeling especially thankful — or you need a break from watching endless football — donate a little time to ensuring PCs of friends and family are up to date. The full text of this column is posted at windowssecrets.com/patch-watch/everyone-gets-a-small-holiday-from-patching/ (opens in a new window/tab). Columnists typically cannot reply to comments here, but do incorporate the best tips into future columns.

[TerryR40]

Good information in Susan Bradley's column about patches. In it, she advised about whether to skip, wait or install listed patches. My question is this: if I have already installed patches that was advised to wait on or to skip, should I uninstall those patches?
How is a non-computer-savvy guy like me to know whether to install an update that Windows is saying is "Important"? I always thought that the updates suggested / advised by Windows Update on my computer were at least "safe" to install, and probably advisable to install?

Any comments appreciated.

[bobprimak]

Thanks, Susan for the heads-up on the SkyDrive update.

I am playing around with the Windows 8 Developer Preview (in a dual-boot configuration with Windows 7 Home Premium on a powerful Toshiba Satellite core-i5 laptop) and was just about to sign up for a Windows Live ID so that I could test-drive some of the Win 8 Cloud features. Now I'll know I may need a trip to Windows Updates if anything seems not to be working. Saves one more System Reset.

There is something not working in the Lounge Replies (both Quick Reply and Advanced) when using the Win8 IE 10 browser. I cannot insert a line-space (using the Enter Key). Works just fine under IE 9 in Windows 7. (This is not surprising. Beta bugs, no doubt. ) "Fixed" the issue by using NotePad on the Win 8 DP Desktop to edit the post.

Now it's back to the Thanksgiving Dinner leftovers. Happy Holidays!

[alphaa10]

Many of us are especially appreciative for all the hard work that goes into writing what often amounts to a post-mortem on a bad Windows patch. It's one thing to boost new products, and gleefully compare feature for feature, but another to discuss dismal technical details most users would rather ignore (to their detriment). Thanks for being there, Susan.

[Medico]

There is something not working in the Lounge Replies (both Quick Reply and Advanced) when using the Win8 IE 10 browser. I cannot insert a line-space (using the Enter Key). Works just fine under IE 9 in Windows 7. (This is not surprising. Beta bugs, no doubt. ) "Fixed" the issue by using NotePad on the Win 8 DP Desktop to edit the post.

Bob, this problem has to do with the Enhanced editor versus the Standard editor. This thread in Windows8Forum covers the topic.

[ArtL7]

Many of us are especially appreciative for all the hard work that goes into writing what often amounts to a post-mortem on a bad Windows patch. It's one thing to boost new products, and gleefully compare feature for feature, but another to discuss dismal technical details most users would rather ignore (to their detriment). Thanks for being there, Susan.

Agree it's very valuable -- but since there are so many patches that she can't include in her patch watch list, how do we find more independent reviews of their safety?