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Microsoft ups the ante with fix-fixing patch that leaves some Windows Server 2008 machines unable to boot
The Register ^ | Feb 11, 2020 | Richard Speed

Posted on 02/11/2020 7:18:23 AM PST by dayglored

She applied the fix to fix the fix... I don't know why she did the apply. Perhaps it'll die

Like a needy ex-partner that just won't let go, Microsoft's legacy OSes continue to cling to the Windows behemoth's ankles. Windows Server 2008 and Windows 7 have once again been bashed with the borkage bat.

Users are reporting that the fix to fix the fix that broke the desktop wallpaper in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 has left systems unbootable after an apparent boot file deletion.

The fix-fixing fix (KB4539602) was unleashed at the end of last week, and some administrators have kicked off a deployment.

It has not gone well.

One Redditor remarked that 18 2008 R2 servers had fallen victim, while another reported 30 Windows 7 computers were refusing to boot after an install.

While Microsoft's support article for KB4539602 insists the company is "currently not aware of any issues that affect this update" it does suggest that users check out the prerequisites before going ahead with it.

In a nutshell, users must have the 23 September 2019 (or later) SHA-2 update installed as well as the servicing stack update from 12 March 2019 or later, before they unleash the fix. And naturally you'll need to reboot after these updates. Because, hey, everyone loves rebooting a server, right?

We asked Microsoft why the update process allowed the patch to be installed without automatically checking the documented prerequisites, but have yet to receive a response. We've also asked if a further fix will be issued or formal workaround published.

We'll update this article should the company respond.

In the meantime, if you need to install this update then please take a careful look at the support documentation and make sure those prerequisites are in place before hitting the Go button.

And maybe, just maybe, it might be time to put those old beige boxes out to pasture once and for all. Free support ended last month and Microsoft clearly would like customers to move on. ®


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet; Hobbies
KEYWORDS: microsoft; server2008; windows; windowspinglist
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This one is mainly for system administrators (like myself) who still have Windows Server 2008 machines gallumphing around in their datacenters. There are more of them than you might think....
1 posted on 02/11/2020 7:18:23 AM PST by dayglored
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To: Abby4116; afraidfortherepublic; aft_lizard; AF_Blue; AppyPappy; arnoldc1; ATOMIC_PUNK; bajabaja; ...
Windows Server 2008 fix broke the fix broke the fix ... PING!

You can find all the Windows Ping list threads with FR search: just search on keyword "windowspinglist".

2 posted on 02/11/2020 7:19:15 AM PST by dayglored ("Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government."`)
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To: dayglored
Gotta love The Register's article picture (presumably the "needy ex-partner that just won't let go"). Looks like she lives in the upper-right corner of the Hot-Crazy Matrix.

Or maybe it's the other way -- she's the one with the clingy ex-partner. Opinions?

3 posted on 02/11/2020 7:22:28 AM PST by dayglored ("Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government."`)
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To: dayglored

Par for the course with Microcrap!


4 posted on 02/11/2020 7:24:15 AM PST by Enlightened1
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To: dayglored
Or maybe it's the other way -- she's the one with the clingy ex-partner. Opinions?

I will need more photographic evidence before offering my opinion.

5 posted on 02/11/2020 7:26:26 AM PST by bankwalker (Immigration without assimilation is an invasion.)
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To: dayglored

I thought MS said they will quit updating Win7.

I’m still waiting.


6 posted on 02/11/2020 7:27:24 AM PST by VeniVidiVici (Ban Carbon Dioxide! It's twice as bad as Carbon Monoxide!!!)
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To: dayglored
We've also asked if a further fix will be issued

A more interesting question is who will be stupid enough to install it. It keeps getting worse with each irritation, er, iteration. With the next one, when you install it, your firstborn will probably clutch at his throat and keel over dead.

7 posted on 02/11/2020 7:38:30 AM PST by Still Thinking (Freedom is NOT a loophole!)
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To: VeniVidiVici

They didn’t break all the installs yet.


8 posted on 02/11/2020 7:39:11 AM PST by Still Thinking (Freedom is NOT a loophole!)
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To: dayglored

It’s just a washed up carcass on a stinky beach. No one cares about, or uses these defunct products from that has-been company anymore.


9 posted on 02/11/2020 8:04:32 AM PST by lefty-lie-spy (Stay Metal)
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To: dayglored
If it ain't broke, don't fix it, except in this case, if it ain't broke, break it. :^) The W7 Pro machines we use (and as an employee of a pretty large outfit, I've got zero to say about what we use around there) have started to run noticably slower during the past month or so.

10 posted on 02/11/2020 8:09:48 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: lefty-lie-spy
> It’s just a washed up carcass on a stinky beach. No one cares about, or uses these defunct products from that has-been company anymore.

Alas, that carcass is still in widespread use by all sorts of businesses large and small who can't afford (or are too lazy) to migrate their applications and databases to Server 2016 or 2019, because of the radical differences.

Server 2008 was the "Win7 server"; 2012 was Win8 server; 2016 was Win10 server. 2019 is Win10 server on steriods.

It's not a seamless migration. Lots of things simply don't work, and must be re-written.

"No one cares about [2008]"? Hardly. You'd be amazed and horrified.

11 posted on 02/11/2020 8:15:59 AM PST by dayglored ("Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government."`)
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To: dayglored

I have a laptop on which one Windows Update broke the Updater App, and so it stopped updating 2 years ago. How do you fix the Updater App when you need the Updater App to update updates to fix the Updater App?


12 posted on 02/11/2020 8:16:57 AM PST by I want the USA back (The media is acting full-on as the Democratic Party's press agency now: Robert Spencer)
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To: SunkenCiv
> The W7 Pro machines we use ... have started to run noticably slower during the past month or so.

You're not alone. Something's going on.

[Dayglored puts on his tinfoil hat...]

You have to wonder if some Win7 Windows Update from months ago included a "timebomb" that would start the disintegration of performance after Jan 14, 2020.

13 posted on 02/11/2020 8:18:56 AM PST by dayglored ("Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government."`)
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To: dayglored

Of course my first question (beyond “who trusts Microsoft?”) is who would apply patches to their entire farm without patch testing first?


14 posted on 02/11/2020 9:04:18 AM PST by rockrr ( Everything is different now...)
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To: dayglored
Yeah, I agree, but I was runnin' low on foil. :^) Nothin' sells like planned obsolescence.

15 posted on 02/11/2020 9:09:51 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: rockrr
> Of course my first question (beyond “who trusts Microsoft?”) is who would apply patches to their entire farm without patch testing first?

It depends. If you have 100 servers, it only makes sense to test it on a select few (non-production) first. What about if you have 5 servers and they're all production critical (yeah, that's another, different problem)?

Sure would be nice if one could trust the supplier.

16 posted on 02/11/2020 10:28:36 AM PST by dayglored ("Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government."`)
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To: dayglored

Turn off automatic updates and only install the bare minimum needed to properly run specific programs/games.


17 posted on 02/11/2020 10:38:10 AM PST by wastedyears (The left would kill every single one of us and our families if they knew they could get away with it)
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To: dayglored

Still running Win 2008 server?

Irresponsible. The owners of the system, not the admin.

Company ownership must give them an ultimatum. Upgrade to current OS (platform and application/DB) in 90 days or you’re fired.

If you’re at a publicly traded company, it should be part of their quarterly and annual public disclosure.

The company’s business operations are at risk.


18 posted on 02/11/2020 10:42:48 AM PST by Mariner (War Criminal #18)
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To: Mariner

I don’t have the statistics right at hand, but I wonder if the percentage of Server 2008 still in use is similar to the percentage of the corresponding client (Windows 7) — at around 25%.


19 posted on 02/11/2020 10:45:00 AM PST by dayglored ("Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government."`)
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To: dayglored

It has to be less on the server side.

There are a lot of private individuals on Win7 that skew those numbers.

2008 is out of support.

And it’s now, by definition, a security risk to the entire enterprise.


20 posted on 02/11/2020 10:53:58 AM PST by Mariner (War Criminal #18)
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