If you installed last week's Microsoft security patches (either manually or through Microsoft Update's Automatic Updates) or were thinking of installing them, read on--especially if you own any HP products. Over at the Internet Explorer message boards on Microsoft's site, users are reporting crippling problems with IE and other applications after installing the updates. (One poster says that 200 systems in a school district are acting up.)
As usual with reports of glitches, it's hard to know whether problems are widespread or not--but those who are having problems really seem to be having problems.
In one of the discussion threads, Microsoft's Stephen Hui says that in most cases, these troubles are a result of interaction between one of the updates and some HP software that comes bundled with printers, cameras, scanners, and other products. He provides two fixes (scroll down on this page to see them), but neither is ideal--one involves tweaking the registry, and the other involves killing an HP process in Task Manager after IE or another application has locked up on you.
You'd hope that Microsoft might come out with a fix to its fix so that nobody has to wade into the registry or fiddle with the Task Manager post-lockup. No details yet on whether it will, but we'll keep checking. We'll also have a more detailed story up on this whole issue shortly; I'll link to it once it's up.
Snafus like this point out the big issue with Automatic Updates: The fixes that get installed sometimes cause new troubles. For years, that made me paranoid--especially after Windows XP SP1 did horrible things to my notebook--and so I installed patches one by one (or not at all in some cases). It's also why PC World remains cautious about recommending that everyone who uses Windows use Automatic Updates and accept every patch in every scenario. (Microsoft is not. of course, the only company whose fixes have been known to break things--it's just the one whose fixes are more critical to the largest number of PC users.)
Maybe Microsoft patches should come with a pharmaceutical-like cautionary message: "WARNING: Automatic Updates should be taken with caution. Rare but serious side effects may occur. including but not limited to browser lockups, shutdown glitches, application misbehavior, and security leaks. People with important deadlines in the immediate future should not take Automatic Updates...."
Recently, by the way, I've overcome my paranoia about the Automatic Updates cure being worse than the disease. I now let Windows patch itself, and nothing awful has happened as a result, as far as I can tell. But stories like this give me pause.
So do you use Automatic Updates? And if you've installed last week's patches, did the process go smoothly?
(Thanks to reader Charles Schroeder for tipping us off to this issue.)
yes it let me do it dont have validation
no problem found had security problem
I use to let it do it. Until one update on my ATI Graphic card driver crashed my system. After that which took me 2 days to figure out what hosed my system. First thing. BACKUP. I'm lucky I had just used ghost to make an image before this happen. Proceed with caution on Automatic Updates. I always do it manually.
Yes; indeed it happened to me, but only now I realized Why,! after reading the aforementioned article.
After trying to fix it, I found out Task Manager acting acting crazy,,! and hanging up, and so most of the applications,and the whole thing was a mess,, also, I'd sent several reports to Microsoft in that concern, but luckily my son managed to fix it at last .
You do not have to have HP products to be stung by the April 2006 updates from Microsoft. I have a two year old Falcon Northwest Intel P4 EE 3.4 processor and 2GB ram. OS is Win XP Pro. This is a home machine on an ADSL connection and Earthlink is my ISP. I have used their SpamBlocker add-in to screen out spam and synchronize my Outlook (or OE) address book. Since the updates I get runtime errors and after carefully uninstalling SpamBlocker and editing my registry, reinstallation of the SpamBlocker add-in fails to work, and crashes the email clients. Another major problem is that when trying to purchase something on line. The form lines run together, and it is impossible to enter info. This form rendering situation was found on several sites; I had to close IE and open Firefox to complete my purchases. BTW I have my computer set for auto update, but usually download manually myself every second Tuesday from the Microsoft Update website. I am just an average computer user, I hope others do not experience these problems.
I review and install -- and am presently up to date. I have two HP printers. I have had a few glitches with the Laserject 1320 for the last few weeks:vspecifically, refusal to print from Internet Explorer. I fixed this by reverting. Has anyone had a problem with a Canon scanner?
I use automatic update and since the update my computer will act up when I am typing into the address bar. I have to type into word and paste the address. When I type something in it the cursor will not move along it will sometimes jump back or go forward making my words read jumbles.
I have the problem after getting the update via Automatic Updates. I am just an ordinary computer user, probably much less tech savvy than the people who usually frequent these blogs and discussion rooms. So, my computer is darn near useless and I probably can't fix it. There must be millions like me, since HP has millions of installed products. This problem is going to be huge. Right now you are hearing from the techies (and me, the exception), who are usually the first to identify a problem. Wait until 10 million ordinary folks who don't know from registries realize they have a problem! I use Microsoft because it is reliable and ubiquitous. If I have to learn about computers to the level of registries I may as well start with linux.
My computer seems no different than before I installed the patches. I even have HP software! Must be another issue interacting with the others...
I have always used the Automatic Update and to date have not had any related problems. I do how ever have a outstanding issue with the software for my two HP printers. I have never been able to install the Full package. If I try to install the complete software bundle the printing problems are endless so I only install the minimum level. I have spent several hours online with HP's tech support till they give up and pass me on to another techie.
So maybe it's not Microsoft's fault for a change!
I can no longer open Word documents from Word but have to do so via the My Documents folder. It has to be a result of the update, as I've made no changes or done anything else since installing it. Any help would be welcome!
I have the autoupdate function set to notify me of updates, but not to download or install them until I say so. I usually give it about a week or so (to see if any problems like THIS come up), then go ahead and install the updates manually.
No automatic. Always update.microsoft.com.
Auto-download, manual install. Everything is working fine on the three PCs I regularly use with HP software.
But, this proves that people should thank Microsoft for when their patches seem to delay (WMF anyone?) It means they're testing out their updates to see if it breaks anything before pushing it out. Can you imagine the insanity if they didn't test their patches? There would be far, far worse problems than not being able to use a printing company's software.
It also shows that any updated software (OS included) should be tested before applying it full-blown to a production environment. Otherwise, you end up like the guy with 200 computers that aren't correctly functioning. Test everything first. Even better, get an Update Server, and then push them out from there after you have confirmed that the updates are ok.
After automatic updates on 4/17 nothing happens when I hit enter or go after typing a web address into the address line. My ISP provider is Cinti Bell and they said it was happening to XP users after a MS upddate. I can get to a site by using My Favorites or doing a search and clicking on a web address.
Auto, and no problems here.
Have HP or MSFT commented on this problem? Have they put something out to fix it yet?
Thanks.
Automatic update caused serious interfernce with IE based dictation software on my Toshiba laptop.
always install updates manually,so far so good, no problem with the dell laptop
I've been automatic for about 4 years now, I can only remember one time I had a problem, with an application I was developing, but it wasn't a big issue.
I have an HP laptop, running IE7 Beta 2, and until I read this message was not aware of anyone having any issues. Needless to say I'm not having any problems at all.
Use Microsoft automatic updates and having problems with strange pop-up messages about HP Officejet 6210 recently installed. Also Google search freezes
I just hate I.E. in general.
I just hate mircrosoft in general.
HP 7410 (networked) would not install scanner on desktop HP PC until I uninstalled the Microsoft update.
I can only navigate to sites by using favorites or links. If I enter a web address and use "enter" or "go" the system does nothing.
I've had no problems with updates to my 3 Dell's, except with printing to a networked HP 7110 from IE. It failed to work once and worked the second time, but those were from different IW pages tho both on the same website. Regular scan from HP Director worked, 48-bit scan at 1200 dpi locked up. while it worked prior to the update. I've also had the problem with having to use favorites or links instead of being able to paste in a URL and hoitting enter. I generally use Firefox. Now if only the update site would stop working to really get Bill's Boys interested.
I returned a PC I recently bought last week as on the second day it started freezing and randomly rebooting. Picked up a different brand the other day and now it is doing the same thing. The only parts they had in common was an Audigy 4 sound card, and XP. Could it be the sound card or the newest bugging patch from Microsoft?
I have a Dell 8200 running Win2000. After downloading the updates, I rebooted and the computer took over 30 minutes to boot-up. When it finally did start, I opened Task Manager and could see that the CPU was hitting 100% every so often. I couldn't see any processes that were using a lot of resources, so I'm not sure what's hitting the CPU so hard. I've rebooted several times, and each time I get an extremely long boot-up time. I don't have an HP printer, but I do have Kerio Personal Firewall, which is mentioned in the MS KB article. I'm going to try disabling or uninstalling Kerio to see if that fixes the problem. If not, I'll have to uninstall the patch. Thanks Microsoft!!
yes...smooth update, on my Sony Vaio laptop, on my desktop and on the HP dc7100 desktop at work...no lockups. All are also using Windows XP ServPk 2; and IE7 preview 2.
Microsoft cannot do sth to harm its customer. This posts a serious economic loss to Microsoft customers. Bill Gates has to apologize or get kicked out of Microsoft.
Auto. Both computers at home and the three I use at work are working smoothly. Usually the automatic updates work fine, and when I've had some sort of problem it's either been minor, easily fixed, or fixed with another update within days.
Yes, I use automatic updates, but only because I hate Windows "genuine advantage program," and so can't use the manual version of Windows Update. And I've set up Windows to notify me before it so much as downloads the updates.
My XP machine is fine (but then again, I don't use explorer {evil grin}). My venerable Windows 98 machine, however, is not; upon boot-up, I get two identical error pop-ups telling me that "calender is not properly installed," and that I should "try re-installing IE to fix the problem." So much for the patch. I didn't even know IE had a calender.
By the way, the patching process is definately NOT a requirement for a secure PC. I administer a 2000 machine that has been unpatched since SP4 (its missing something like 60 "critical updates") - and it has never gotten so much as a small virus, much less spyware or adware. I assume that's because I use a good firewall (zonealarm), and mozilla/firefox. IE is nothing but holes.
Auto. Always have the AU service on for our customers, and I keep my home machines current. I must confess, however, that my primary computer is a Mac. Even so, any user worth his salt should stay on top of securuty issues no matter his OS.
This security patch crippled my computer!
I had my computer set to automatically install Windows updates and when it installed this patch my computer was unusable. I had heard about a MS update problem but I didn't think this applied to me since the only HP software I have ever had installed was the XP provided driver for a DJ 930C. The problem got progressively worse to the point where if I launched any program my computer would lock up. I was able to find the offending process in task manager. After researching the .exe I uninstalled the update and my computer is back to normal.
The security patch has screwed up all sorts of things on my computer. Internet explorer is just about useless. Also problems opening files for microsoft office. Wasted way too much time trying to fix theses problems without realizing the problem was coused by an automatic security patch update. I will not tuse the automatic feature anymore and probably will wait a week or so to see if anyone is having problems before attemting to install any updates in the future.
This could be why Outlook hangs and my computer hangs on shutdown which didn't start until recently...
I use automatic updates, and after the last update, I could no longer access my e-mail on Comcast, my work URL through VPN, or my college online classroom. But, hey! I still get online sudoku. grrrrrrrr
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918165
Just in case some of you are still looking for the fix - that link did it for me last week.
Symtoms my user had were similar to many mentioned above - could not open documents from within Office Apps (had to open by double clicking on the file) - and could not type in URLs without the http:// in front.
My HP Officejet 6210 has been affected also. When using the SW Update component through the HP Director, I get an Internet Explorer Script Error.
Sure wish MS would let users uninstall these patches...
Nothing affected so far (I don't use IE, so on that part, nothing to say), except..... all my messages and address book (Outlook Express; maybe I should change that, too) disappeared... so my advice is to seriously consider, previous to any automatic update, backing up EVERYTHING on the computer...
I too am an amatuer computer user. I have been using automatic updates and have had no problems. However, within the last set of updates put on my laptop have resulted in a strange situation. A critical flash security update came in the group but every time I try to install it I get a message saying the install was unsuccessful. I have tried downloading and installing the macromedia flash program but still no luck and I cannot get rid of the yellow shield on my task bar.
Nice color variation. Really well done webpage. I think i'll visit it later! ;)
I am disabling auto update. The 06/16/06 updates screwed up my Canon scanner somehow. The scanner doesn't show up in Scanners & Cameras section of the control panel. It does show up in the Device Manager, but tells me Windows has stopped it because of an error. The troubleshooter tells me to uninstall it and reinstall it. That would be fine, except Windows never actually uninstalls it.
When I open my scanning software and try to scan something, it gives me a TWAIN error and says it appears the device isn't connected. (And yes, I have checked the connection repeatedly. It is hooked up.)
Microsoft has no help online for this issue. I'm going to uninstall the updates and see if I can fix this...
Here because I just just used XP autoupdate (20/7/06/...guess that's latest) had no prob before but now my computer starts to boot then hangs! Anyway I can get in and remove this update ...HELP !!!!! not a techie