Microsoft quietly emits patch to undo its earlier patch that broke Windows 10 networking Microsoft has sneaked out a patch to get Windows 10 PCs back online after an earlier update broke networking for people's computers around the globe. Since the end of last week, systems in the UK, US, Europe and beyond have automatically installed software from Microsoft, via Windows Update, that broke DHCP. That means some …
Couldn't agree more, this is worst half-assed fix description ever.
I've been supporting my elderly father with his windows 10 machine (actually a nice bit of kit, large keyboard for his slightly less agile fingers and a lovely bright clear screen but jesus what a god awful OS) for 18 months now and it's been a total shitefest. As someone who is significantly housebound, Skype is great for him to stay in touch yet 4 times I've now had to remote access the machine to fix it due to whatever the fuck microsoft is doing to a once stable platform. Another update screwed the video driver which was a PITA to fix cause it messed with the remote desktop view too... but in about 3h I got him to execute the right sequence to patch the driver. There was the browser patch that cleared all his cookies... cheers for that, luckilly I kept a text file laying around with everything in it, but still he has to remember and re-type everything. Now this crap. How the fuck am I supposed to remotely fix his machine when it won't connect to the internet??? Sure I'll see him on boxing day when I fly up to see him, but still, now he'll miss seeing the grandkids on Christmas day and his social isolation will be compounded. Either that or I have to pay one of the crappy service places a stupid sum to do microsofts bidding.
Seriously, fuck you microsoft if this is what you do to your customers.
Can you create a live USB of Linux Mint or ZorinOS to try on his equipment? I put Zorin on a neighbours desktop several years ago and other than making sure he's kept up with updates, very easy to do, It's really easy to use.
Can you create a live USB of Linux Mint or ZorinOS to try on his equipment?
Whilst this is a good idea, it doesn't go far enough.
From all the available evidence this is an issue with Windows messing up it's runtime configuration. In these instance's the challenge is getting Windows to reset and start up correctly. I mean how do you achieve the same effect as using "ipconfig /release" and "ipconfig /renew" on a running Windows box from a Live USB?
Given where David Black is coming from, the Live USB needs to be able to control the running of the host OS (treat host OS installed on HDD as a VM?) and provide him with remote maintenance access, also wholly independent of the host OS...
You misunderstand - the Zorin install is to replace WIn10 entirely, not just to get access for patching it. Well, that was my reading of it, the theory being that it doesn't get massively shafted every month in the name of "progress".
Presumably he took your advice in the purchase?
So why does he have a Windows machine?
Every IT person I know (myself included) makes sure every family member or friend that they support for free has a Mac. (Or failing that a PC with Linux mint).
My parents have an old white macbook, after about 10 years it's just getting to the point where they will be thinking of replacing it, I would have expected them to go through 3 or 4 cheap PCs or maybe a couple of decent ones in that time.
Also having worked in IT for 20 years, my colleagues and I hate anything Apple in a business environment. The original poster is probably correct in saying he may of had 4 or 5 PC's during the ownership of the older Mac but he would of been able to afford them as Apple prices are ridiculous. They cannot these days be fixed or upgraded outside of the Apple store, which by the way, everything has to go back to!! Every tried getting an appointment urgently?
I'm not saying Windows is perfect....far from it. But for me, the cheaper equipment costs, the ability to maintain and upgrade "in -house" beats the "shiny-shiny" factor hands down.
Mac's may work well for a home/single user but networked in a mixed OS environment, they are about as much use as t*ts on a nun!
Mac's may work well for a home/single user but networked in a mixed OS environment, they are about as much use as t*ts on a nun!
I beg to differ. I've worked in quite a few places that use Windows and Macs. It just takes a bit of work and learning to integrate the two. If you can't manage that then you really, really don't belong in IT.
Having worked in IT for 20 years I know no one outside of work with a MAC
That's not working in IT for 20 years - that's repeating one year for 20 years..
I bet you've never used linux, BSD or Solaris either. Must be sad and lonely to be so inexperienced.
"Having worked in IT for 20 years I know no one outside of work with a MAC, in our IT department we have 8 of us all HATE anything Apple with a passion"
And do you have a reason for that?
Or is it like football rivalry? You have to HATE the others.. Just because..
A modern mac is a Unix machine with a very slick UI. Much more thought though than any other Unix machine so far, including the Linux ones. But you pay for the privilege, which is why I only run an older Mac Mini. But macOS runs much faster on the ageing Core 2 Duo than Windows does on the equivalent platform -and sadly most Linux distros are bloated and nothing like I remember Linux used to be.
If you don't want to have to pick a Linux distro, and just want something that just works, I'd say go for a Mac.
My parents have an old white macbook, after about 10 years it's just getting to the point where they will be thinking of replacing it,
If your parents are in their 80's then enjoy the fun and games of upgrading them :)
People in this age group, whilst not unable to learn do prefer to use stuff and methods they are familiar with - hence why when migrating from Windows to Linux say, it is helpful to provide them with a desktop and application suite that provide a similar UI to whichever version of Windows and applications they've been using.
The problem with not using Skype is that everyone you want to talk to does use Skype.
If the grandkids say, Grandma why don't you use Skype, then you get your ears bent because the PC you set up for her doesn't use Skype.
It's also the case that abominations like flash on websites (which of course should be outlawed) exist and are easier to deal with in Windows.
If I knew my mother would only do things which worked on Linux I'd have setup her PC using Linux. My bother and I both work in Linux and would find it much easier. But she also gets very useful help from grand kids, and they don't work with Linux.
Windows is what most people use because it is what most people use.
I wish it wasn't, I wish there was something much simpler that just worked.
Facetime is not the answer unless all the people you talk to are also Apple users. As my mother knew 70 or more years ago, when your house is the only one in the village with a telephone you can't use it to talk to anyone else in the village.
"...Sure I'll see him on boxing day when I fly up to see him, but still, now he'll miss seeing the grandkids on Christmas day and his social isolation will be compounded. Either that or I have to pay one of the crappy service places a stupid sum to do microsofts bidding.
Seriously, fuck you microsoft if this is what you do to your customers."
I am sorry that this happened to your father and this is the downside of poor testing and quality control of updates (and indeed Win 10 itself) by Microsoft.
My constructive suggestion is to look at installing Linux (no cost), using Chrome OS on a Chromebook (modest cost) or getting a 2015 Macbook Pro (high cost and not the 2016 version).
"I've been supporting my elderly father with his windows 10 machine"
"with his windows 10 machine"
"windows 10"
What did you expect? Windows 10 to not Auto Update?
This is like you wanted a can of worms, but you also wanted the worms to stay in the can when opened.
Seriously, unless you want this to happen again and again, you really should change some settings or use another OS (windows 7/8, linux, macOS, windows 10 enterprise).
"And just HOW, precisely, would I get the fix on a computer that can't go online to get the fix?"
Boot off a USB stick containing a live Linux distribution[1], connect to wifi[2], and then download the fix file and save it to a second USB stick. Reboot, copy and patch.
[1] Canonical will sell you a USB stick with Ubuntu on it for a fiver. There are many others, including Tails.
[2] OK, perhaps a cable into the router if the computer does not have wifi or has a proprietary driver that isn't widely available on Linux yet - fairly rare.
Coat: mine's the one with the bootable USB drive with Debian non-free live on it AND a netgear USB wifi adaptor that does not require any firmware.
Boot off a USB stick containing a live Linux distribution[1], connect to wifi[2], and then download the fix file and save it to a second USB stick. Reboot, copy and patch.
Better yet.. 1 Boot Live USB, 2 connect Wifi/LAN, 3 click on that nice "Install" icon and 4 (10 minutes later) have a nice secure OS that'll save you time, money and follicles.
It's not clear which Windows Update patch caused the cockup, as Microsoft is deliberately vague about the contents of each upgrade on its website, and the Redmond giant refused to say which download was the culprit.
If you are in need of platform security to protect, say, business confidentiality or customer details, would you really feel comfortable with what oozes out of Redmond, especially now they've gone extra opaque "to protect the customers themselves" (I corrected their marketing with what reality there)? You have no clue what's going to happen next - every single update could take down if not your company (because you're forced to commit extra resources to thoroughly test each patch without even knowing what you're testing for), then your customers, and guess who they'll blame?
That said, those who didn't notice the wake-up call called Vista many years ago and then the reasons that gave Windows 10 the nick name "Slurp" probably deserve what they get. It's not like they haven't had enough warning by now..
Thing is it's getting worse with the cumulative patching adopted by Microsoft. I know in the NHS it's caused problems with various clinical systems so CCGs/Trusts/Boards are forced to either run a few months behind security patch wise and hope someone else spots the problem, run ludicrously expensive testing of clinical systems in-house and maybe run a month behind or patch and cross their fingers.
At least with previous updates we could remove the offending patch, now MS are less likely to tell us which it was and even if they did we'd have to remove the entire cumulative patch instead.
How many wake up calls were there?
Mine was:
Install Linux, copy /home from old disk, copy a few config files backups from /home/backup to /. New Linux machine complete with a tested recovery procedure in under an hour. Never needed to do a full restore.
Install Windows 95. [Install driver, reboot]x5. Do not install two drivers in a row without rebooting. Failure to comply will require re-installing Windows 95. With practice, I got this down to 11 hours + time required to install software (just games, I did not trust Windows with valuable data).
A more modern example would be Microsoft repeatedly screaming that the value of Windows 10 to users was £0. They phrased that statement as: "Do not click the x to avoid a secret upregrade to 10 when you are not watching."
Just goes to show the initial windoze installation process is borked. It misses the step at the end :
"Now install a linux dual-boot partition so that you still have access to the internet to find out why your windoze system won't do what it should"
This is supposing you have some really good reason to be using Windoze to start with, like gaming or perhaps gaming?
I've actually been thinking of running the WIndows 10 that most probably will come free with my next laptop whether I want it or not, as a VM under the Ubuntu (yes, with Unity; I am the one person, apparently, who actually likes it) Linux that I am definitely going to install on it, just for a laugh and carry-on.
I mean, if they are going to make me pay for it, I might as well see if I can make some sort of use of it, right? A virtual machine that can be restored from a pristine image at any time and with strictly limited access to hardware sounds like a fairly safe environment for running Windows software, after all .....
Actually, the emergency Linux boot partition is only the penultimate step. The ultimate step is to then ask yourself "why the fuck am I booting into Windows when I could boot into Linux instead - something which works and doesn't cost me money?" Which is the reason you'll never see the installation process adopt your suggestion.
"Now install a linux dual-boot partition so that you still have access to the internet to find out why your windoze system won't do what it should"
Funny how I received twice as many downvotes as upvotes (10/5) when I mentioned this in another topic.
http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/1/2016/12/14/reschedule_holiday_party_its_patch_tuesday/#c_3054097
The only difference is, of course, that my Windows 7 doesn't have Internet access. Ever.
I'm guessing the MS fanboys must have been out in force earlier... getting their trolling out of the way before this month's Patch Tuesday offerings bork their machines... again. Especially if they're using the abomination known as Windows 10.
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Don't think it was the Reg or the BBC .... my VirginMedia broadband status says
" We are aware that some customers using windows PCs are having issues getting online following a Microsoft Windows 10 update. We are in contact with Microsoft about this issue and will provide further updates as soon as possible.
Our engineer is working to fix the problem."
So ... looks like VM deployed their engineer to address this and I can only assume that he fixed it!
So I turned my wifes PC off and on again after staring at it for the requisite amount of time and realising it wasn't going to fix itself and all the things I'd just tried hadn't worked.
Fine after a first reboot.
Couple of days later same thing on my own machine. My machine is a bit more annoying as it's a floor down from the router so not as easy to keep an eye on whether connectivity has returned or not. Again, after checking all the cables were fine I just ended up rebooting and was fine.
The previous article to this says that rebooting doesn't always work but my experience from this was that it did the trick on those two machines.
As for "how am I meant to patch this when I can't get online?" - this is no different to those times when your network card driver would go kaput and you'd need to download a new / updated one. The good old days were just as bad and it hasn't always been Microsoft's fault.
"As for "how am I meant to patch this when I can't get online?" - this is no different to those times when your network card driver would go kaput and you'd need to download a new / updated one. "
in the good old days I'd just rollback the previous update... Or failing that hunt down a recovery floppy/bootable CD/USB stick with Linux on it. Thankfully this still works today. :)
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