Must read

[WarHorse47]

people,

Windows updates go through a serious amount of checks. None of them are 100% fool proof, but most if not all are harmless. On the condition that you keep your machines up to date and healthy. That also means that all drivers of all elements and peripherals should be kept up to date. If one of those conditions is not fulfilled, you might run into problems.

Is that Microsoft's fault? No it isn't.

Beware of scare mongering or complot theories about Mickey$oft. I don't like them as a firm, I don't like their politics, but I work with their products for a living and I know that certain communities (Linux, Mac, Android) do their utmost to keep people scared of M$ updates. You know why? Because if you don't install the updates, you'll be vulnerable to attacks. And thereby the aforementioned communities prove their points.

If you have a windows based system, you have to abide by the rules. Rule number one is to keep your system up to date. Whatever other people tell you. Period.

If any M$ update slows your system down, then most likely some other part of your rig isn't up to date. Simple as that.

This post is not about an opinion, it is about 20+ years of experience in the sector. And no, I do not get paid by Mickey$oft at all.

Johan

I agree 100%.

Anytime I notice a slowdown with my system it is due to something else running in the background or not keeping things clean such as deleting cookies or defragging the HD.

[Dimus]

I'm also not into spreading panic but if a warning comes from a person like Nick Needham then it is definitely something to check.

I have automatic updates deactivated and have not updated for some time. I only install critical updates. I just checked and one of these four updates was in the critical list, the other three in the optionals. I updated leaving it out of the list.

[Naismith]

I usually treat these unsolicited warnings with extreme caution as there are too many crazies out there. A bit of research on Ghacks.net however does reveal them to be a reliable source of information. I was wary mainly because of their name. I don't have a lot of time for conspiracy theorists but on this occasion I think MS are overreaching.
BTW I have none of these KB's on my W7 64, but then it is a one month old rebuild so possibly MS have withdrawn the KB's by now or my machine just hasn't caught up yet.

[big-mike]

I'm also not into spreading panic but if a warning comes from a person like Nick Needham then it is definitely something to check.

That`s the main reason,why i have posted this.
Nick helped me years ago with building a new rig and it ran great.
Mike

[Jafo]

people,

Windows updates go through a serious amount of checks. None of them are 100% fool proof, but most if not all are harmless. On the condition that you keep your machines up to date and healthy. That also means that all drivers of all elements and peripherals should be kept up to date. If one of those conditions is not fulfilled, you might run into problems.

Is that Microsoft's fault? No it isn't.

Beware of scare mongering or complot theories about Mickey$oft. I don't like them as a firm, I don't like their politics, but I work with their products for a living and I know that certain communities (Linux, Mac, Android) do their utmost to keep people scared of M$ updates. You know why? Because if you don't install the updates, you'll be vulnerable to attacks. And thereby the aforementioned communities prove their points.

If you have a windows based system, you have to abide by the rules. Rule number one is to keep your system up to date. Whatever other people tell you. Period.

If any M$ update slows your system down, then most likely some other part of your rig isn't up to date. Simple as that.

This post is not about an opinion, it is about 20+ years of experience in the sector. And no, I do not get paid by Mickey$oft at all.

Johan

Good old 'IT'. I prefer 'The IT Crowd'.
"Have you tried turning it off and turning it on again?" ...

'normal' Windows Updates actually BROKE my install of....wait for it....FSX ....on 2 occasions.
And what were they? They were both IE 10 and IE 11.
I stayed for quite a while after with 9 simply for that reason.
If MS cannot be trusted to guarantee PIVOTAL/Important updates to Internet Exploder won't break THEIR OWN GAME/software it is an absolutely safe bet that they cannot be trusted to guarantee actual third party software won't be broken too.

Now 20 years of experience 'should' see an IT person aware of ghacks [the site] and be able to accept the opinions of other IT professionals and not assume it is all tin-foil hat season.

If it's about 20 years vs whom-ever... my first foray into computers required punch cards in 1969....

BTW...somewhen along the line a further update/revision 'solved' my particular issues with IE 10 and IE 11...so here I am typing into 11 whilst FSX is minimized in the background.
This OS install had all 4, as did the first VM I checked [another 7 Ult 64] and since the crap-fiasco that WAS 8 and 8.1 [in spite of kernel improvements] I am sticking solidly with 7 until AFTER 10 has rolled out and actually proves itself to be worthy of updating. As yet I am not convinced via running the previews.....though hopefully at least there will be more understanding/compatibility with my 'cutting edge' hardware than is afforded by 7....

One thing that always rings true....let 'the other guy' be the guinea pig and suffer all the failings of [whatever] updates first....and make MS ASK YOU to install updates when YOU want them...not when they say you want them...

[Hdguy]

Me you ask ? I NEVER allow M$ to install anything till I check it out.... I only get Defender updates now..No system updates are usefull to me what so ever....

I suggest to those who allow automatic updates, to stop and have it offer them to you then view them carefully before installing if you are not sure what the KB does, Google the KB number and see..

[Creepy847]

Personally I don't allow the OS to update itself. I let it ask me and then I decide if its needed. I ran a quick check of my installed updates and noticed that one of these which was not critical was installed on the 19 of May. I haven't noticed any difference in this system. So with that said if I did I would check to see if there was something installed either from MS or another program running that shouldn't be there.

In all honesty after building so many systems for many years I personally cant say that Ive experienced MS money doing anything that hurt my system performance. I have experienced driver updates for things like sound, network drivers that caused issues but for the most part was easily fixed.

I did read the article that Nick wrote and it could be something that is effecting his setup. Considering the number or hardware components and software options not including who builds and maintains the systems its really amazing that we don't have more issues then we do.

That's my 2 cents..

I think there can always be alittle truth in any story whether its true or not..

Creeps..

[Moses03]

Just checked my Windows 8.1 install. Don't have any of the updates listed. Nothing to worry about then.

[rich12545]

Nick Needham at Flight1 is a super guru of computers and flight simulator. He is the author of the incredible FSX Bible. If he says there's a problem, I would bet my right nut there's a problem. He continues to help people over there with their problems and he's been doing that for years. I found all four on my win7x64 computer and removed them all. The computer ran better but FSX ran the same. I consider those updates to be malware from microsoft. This is a new low for them.

[FlameOut]

I had them on my Windows 7 P.C., I rooted them out following Nick's instructions and they are gone now!

It took me about an hour to fully read, find, reboot, search, confirm, fix, reboot, hide ......

Thanks for posting this.

[Bjoern]

I have automatic updates deactivated and have not updated for some time. I only install critical updates. I just checked and one of these four updates was in the critical list, the other three in the optionals. I updated leaving it out of the list.

Good to know, thanks for checking!

[gradyhappyg]

I had Issues with the latest round of updates as well but not the issues being talked about. Mine were with IE not allowing downloads to complete then crashing. After the usual resets and checks I uninstalled the IE update only to find myself using IE 8 Instead of IE 11. It's always something.

[Paul Domingue]

Much Ado About Nothing

This post is similar to a tragic comedy with everyone up in airs about nothing. Listen to Johan and Tom, two people whose opinion I respect. Microsoft didn't become the heavy weight company they are from poor customer relations. If they had such a bad reputation we would all have been on Macs a long time ago. Granted, Microsoft doesn't always get it right but they do fix it in the end. Listen to all of you with your Microsoft Flight Simulator and don't say I have PREPAR3D now because that is Microsoft to. I deplore people who start this kind of racket and a racket it is. I'm not talking about you Big Mike but the originator of this racket. One last thing, Please stop calling Microsoft Mickey$soft or Micro$oft, if you had invested $500 dollars in Bill Gates startup when he was in his dad's garage you would not be using the derogatory names, you'd be flying your own private aircraft.

Sincerely

Paul

[lliaghll]

Okay. Yesterday evening, I had a little icon appear on my taskbar, looked like a Windows logo. It said "Get Windows 10". Was it something to worry about? I didn't know, but I do know that I don't like unsolicited advertising on my desktop. After following instructions in the link at the beginning of this thread , I found 2 of the 4 updates listed and uninstalled them. After rebooting, the icon was gone. It still hasn't reappeared.

Thanks.

[kilo delta]

I'd all four updates on my PC....they totally trashed my install, caused my car to go on fire, killed the cat and made my wife run off with my laptop

AVOID AT ALL COSTS

[KellyB]

Much Ado About Nothing

This post is similar to a tragic comedy with everyone up in airs about nothing. Listen to Johan and Tom, two people whose opinion I respect. Microsoft didn't become the heavy weight company they are from poor customer relations. If they had such a bad reputation we would all have been on Macs a long time ago. Granted, Microsoft doesn't always get it right but they do fix it in the end. Listen to all of you with your Microsoft Flight Simulator and don't say I have PREPAR3D now because that is Microsoft to. I deplore people who start this kind of racket and a racket it is. I'm not talking about you Big Mike but the originator of this racket. One last thing, Please stop calling Microsoft Mickey$soft or Micro$oft, if you had invested $500 dollars in Bill Gates startup when he was in his dad's garage you would not be using the derogatory names, you'd be flying your own private aircraft.

Sincerely

Paul

You have a lot more respect for them than I do. The screwups called Vista and Windows 8.0 should not have happened in the first place, period. In my experience with them, I have been lied to on several occaisons, and when they were confronted with the hard evidence to support my claims, lied once again with the knee-jerk tech support response, "we've never heard of that before..."

They are an arrogant bunch, at best, and this sort of nonsense simply reinforces that.

[huub vink]

I'd all four updates on my PC....they totally trashed my install, caused my car to go on fire, killed the cat and made my wife run off with my laptop

AVOID AT ALL COSTS

There must be something wrong with my install. Although I have all four files, my wife is still at home.........

Cheers,
Huub

[henrystreet]

There must be something wrong with my install. Although I have all four files, my wife is still at home.........

Cheers,
Huub

x2

[Jafo]

This adware is to coerce people into the 'free' upgrade so they will 'have you hooked' already prior to the realization of the on-going business model that will be Win 10.

Get for free....and pay to use - forever.

You can say it's a storm in a teacup...but I'd prefer to pay for an OS once....not weekly...monthly...yearly...

[huub vink]

Jafo,

My knowledge about the deeper thoughts of Microsoft is most likely as good or bad as yours. But personally I think MS is trying to save its markets. With smartphones, tablets etc. we have become less dependent of our computers with a Microsoft OS on it. The market is changing therefore Microsoft might change its market strategy as well.

Offering a free operating system might make people using a laptop instead of turning to an android driven tablet.

Just a thought......
Huub

[Daube]

Ok, so I also had this new little icon next to the clock in the taskbar, saying "Get Windows 10", which could not be disabled.
This icon is actually displayed by the process GWX.exe in your task manager.
This process is located in c:\Windows\System32\GWX\.
I just deleted this folder (I just had to change some security-related options to be allowed to delete it).
Let's see if it comes back

[flaviossa]

Completely agree with Dumonceau and some others. I have all the KBs and no performance hit. None. The "adware" windows is just MS helping people to do a smooth update. Remember, not everybody is "IT" ready.
If the info was really true, it would be wide spread by many tech sites, forums, by now. But no, only one FS developer and some privacy guys talks about that and everybody starts to point fingers to MS.

I would say more about this... more about certain developers that likes that you stay with win7 forever. But i´ll not create the drama here.
Don´t take something for true because one guy say so, my friends. Now, every "slow down" you have, will be MS to blame and it "Adware from hell".

[scott967b]

I follow this guy's site:
http://www.askwoody.com/

reports plenty of bugged MS updates.

scott s.
.

[ejoiner]

Interesting. My FS box (Win7) does not have any of those updates currently installed. This laptop (Win 8) has only the last one KB3035583 installed. In the article he says "VERIFY EACH KB NUMBER BEFORE CONTINUING". This implies either 1) you should have all of them or none of them, and/or 2) You should not take any action unless you have all four of them installed.

Just uninstall update ending in 5583 and you're good to go. If you are unsure if you have to do this, go look at task manager and look to see if you see "GWX" in the list of running programs. This is the "Get Windows X" executable. Remove this update and you're good to go. Easy peasy.

[Jafo]

"If the info was really true, it would be wide spread by many tech sites, forums, by now. But no, only one FS developer and some privacy guys talks about that and everybody starts to point fingers to MS"

Oh that it WASN'T spread on many tech sites....but it is.
Just Google one of the KB entries.
IF it was 'only one FS developer and some privacy guys' no-one would give a toss.
But it isn't....