Re: Microsoft distributes free CDs in Japan to patch Windows
At 04:03 PM 8/25/2003, Andy Walden wrote:
On Mon, 25 Aug 2003, Henry Linneweh wrote:
Microsoft has a task scheduler that people should learn to use to remind them to check update to make sure their patches are current, it is located in the control panel and labled Scheduled Tasks and has an Add Scheduled Tasks icon to add update, FYI
As I read that, I wondered why it is that I haven't patched any of my windows systems if it was just as simple as reminding myself to do so. It occurred to me that I just simply don't trust Microsoft to properly patch my systems.
And that's a very wise decision. I was called in to help someone with a "slow computer" today. He's running Microsoft ME, and it's an OS that I have very little experience with. I disabled a bunch of crap in his startup folder, then I took a look at the OS itself. I ran Windows update which told us that there was a service pack with "critical updates" that we should install before doing anything else, and I foolishly decided to follow these instructions without researching first. (Oh well, live and learn!) The machine hung at 62% installed. Trying to cancel the install via the "cancel" button resulted in the cancel message warning you that if you didn't let it complete it's special cancel process and tried to restart the machine instead, you could fatally ruin the computer (I don't recall the exact message, but it was pretty emphatic that you had to let MS finish "canceling" the install). 10 minutes later, with no sign that the computer was doing anything (no disk activity) or would ever complete this cancelation, we rebooted. I had to reboot and shut down several times before it would shut down cleanly and reboot cleanly. Later I learned that this "critical update" package was mostly for installing IE6, and that there are a lot of people who have had this same problem trying to install IE6 on ME, and that it's a well known issue at many ISPs and OEMs, but of course MS still insists that there's nothing wrong and that you should still install that update. Yeah, when the devil starts building snowmen. jc
In article <6.0.0.10.0.20030827014332.0485e930@127.0.0.1>, JC Dill <nanog@vo.cnchost.com> writes
Later I learned that this "critical update" package was mostly for installing IE6, and that there are a lot of people who have had this same problem trying to install IE6 on ME
I've been installing Windows for about 15 years (back when Windows was v2.11 and Windows/386 where you could run more than one application at a time was novelty). By Windows for Workgroups, it was becoming irritating that you had a patch to apply every six months or so, and re-installing from a dozen floppies could easily take an hour. But since Windows 95, I really haven't had much of a problem with Windows installation itself, nor applying the ever more frequent patches, with one exception. As a Golden Rule, only ever use the version of IE that's one older than the current distribution (eg use IE5 at the moment). Although this is getting harder and harder to unpick from the general updates, as you describe. ps Windows ME was truly horrible when it came to memory management, and not helped by people suggesting it, plus an application, can run in 128Mb; a real triumph of hope over experience. -- Roland Perry
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JC Dill -
Roland Perry