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Windows Microsoft Security

Microsoft Releases Big 'Convenience Rollup' Update For Windows 7 159

Posted by msmash from the big-windows-update dept.
Microsoft has released a "convenience rollup" update for Windows 7 computers. The update to the nearly seven-year-old operating system brings with it a number of security fixes and patches that Microsoft labels as "recommended." Mary Jo Foley, reporting for ZDNet: The convenience rollup -- officially known as Windows 7 SP1 convenience rollup -- isn't Service Pack 2 for Windows 7, but it's the next best thing. The new Windows 7 convenience rollup is cumulative back to Service Pack 1, which Microsoft released in 2011. (Editor's note, the convenience rollup consists of all security and non-security fixes all through April 2016.) It doesn't include updates to IE 11 (which are released separately) or updates to .NET releases. But it does include core Windows fixes, security fixes and hot fixes.Microsoft says that convenience rollup package is completely optional. "Install this one update, and then you only need new updates released after April 2016."
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Microsoft Releases Big 'Convenience Rollup' Update For Windows 7 More

Microsoft Releases Big 'Convenience Rollup' Update For Windows 7

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  • Does it bundle.. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by sirber ( 891722 ) on Tuesday May 17, 2016 @02:52PM (#52129753)
    Does it bundle Windows 10 and telemetry?

    • Re:Does it bundle.. (Score:5, Funny)

      by GuB-42 ( 2483988 ) on Tuesday May 17, 2016 @03:00PM (#52129829)

      How about KB971033?

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      microsoft is attempting to pull trojan?

      • Re:Does it bundle.. (Score:5, Informative)

        by Mister Transistor ( 259842 ) on Tuesday May 17, 2016 @03:46PM (#52130163) Journal

        YES THEY ARE. After careful analysis of the KB's included in the rollup, I have found three turds in the punchbowl. They are:

        Update for Windows 7 for x64-based Systems (KB3068708) -- KB3068708 installs telemetry service, prepares for upgrade to Windows 10, CEIP Win7, Win8.1, Svr2008R2, Svr2012R2
        Update for Windows 7 for x64-based Systems (KB3075249) -- KB3075249 Adds Telemetry points to consent.exe (UAC tracking bullshit) Win7 Win8.1 RT8.1, Svr2008R2, Svr2012R2
        Update for Windows 7 for x64-based Systems (KB3080149) -- KB3080149 Timezone fixes, may add yet more telemetry, posible CEIP bullshit Win7 SP1, 8.1, Svr2008R2, Svr2012R2

        Nice try, fuckers. I believe these can be removed after the rollup is installed by the command line (Replacing the "kbxxxxxxx" with the appropriate number):

        wusa.exe /kb:3080149 /uninstall /quiet /norestart

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by yuhong ( 1378501 )

          FYI, the only important one is KB3075249, and it does say that the new version "Reduces the network connections on a Windows system that doesn't participate in the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP)."

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by yuhong ( 1378501 )

            Sorry, correct KB article number is KB3068708

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by yuhong ( 1378501 )

            Sorry, the right KB article is KB3080149. KB3068708 is the original patch, KB3080149 is the new version.

          • Re: (Score:3)

            by cfalcon ( 779563 )

            Why would there be any internet connections on one that doesn't participate?

            Anyway, this unsurprisingly has the trojan horse tracking guys that they added last year. Given that it is a roll-up of all their updates, and the tracking ones are in there, that is no surprise.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by yuhong ( 1378501 )

              I don't think it is that bad, but yes it would be interesting to compare KB3068708 vs KB3080149.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by Anonymous Coward

          So disgusting that even service packs from MS can't be trusted anymore, since they contain hidden garbage that no one except MS wants on your PC. Remember when patches were for the users' benefit? No more.

    • I'd like to know too. I only use windows for gaming at this point but I've not updated my gaming rig since they started with all the invasive pointless tracking crap.

      I'd rather just run without updates than wade through the mess of BS that is their updates to figure out what is actually going to be applied.

      • Re:Does it bundle.. (Score:5, Informative)

        by UnknownSoldier ( 67820 ) on Tuesday May 17, 2016 @03:17PM (#52129961)

        I'll 3rd that too. What _exact_ updates are and are not included?

        Courtesy of aurgathor [dslreports.com], here is a list of updates to avoid. Doe anyone have a more up-to-date list? TIA

        KB2505438 - Slow performance in applications that use the DirectWrite API on a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 = It often breaks fonts (see also KB454826)
        KB2670838 - Platform update for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 = breaks AERO functionality and gives you blurry fonts on some websites
        KB2922324 - (reportedly pulled, uninstall it anyway if already installed)
        KB2952664 - Compatibility update for upgrading Windows 7 = Windows 7 nagware patch that touts the Windows 10 upgrade
        KB2976978 - prepares system for upgrade to Windows 10
        KB2977759 - Compatibility update for Windows 7 RTM = W10 Diagnostics Compatibility telemetry
        KB2990214 - Update that enables you to upgrade from Windows 7 to a later version of Windows

        KB3014460 - affects windows 8 only
        KB3015249 - adds more damn telemetry
        KB3021917 - Update to Windows 7 SP1 for performance improvements (telemetry)
        KB3022345 - Update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry -> Replaced by KB3080149
        KB3035583 - pitches the free Windows 10 upgrade
        KB3044374 - prepares system for upgrade to Windows 10
        KB3050265 - Windows Update Client for Windows 7: June 2015 = WU service updated to accept upgrade to W10 + other fixes
        KB3068707 - Customer experience telemetry points (update appears to be nuked from microsoft.com)
        KB3068708 - Update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry
        KB3075249 - Update that adds telemetry points to consent.exe in Windows 8.1 and Windows 7
        KB3080149 - Update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry

        • Re:Does it bundle.. (Score:5, Informative)

          by Mister Transistor ( 259842 ) on Tuesday May 17, 2016 @03:24PM (#52130001) Journal

          I would add to that:

          KB3075851 prepares system for upgrade to Windows 10, Windows Update Client Update Allows Windows 10 install Win7, Svr2008r2

          New Nonsense, updated 3/10/2016 - KB3123862 "Updates capabilities to upgrade Win8.1 and Win7".

          If you have IE11 - KB3139929 and KB3146449 try to patch IE11 for Win7 and Win8 with ads for win10.

          • Ah! Thx! I see I missed a few. Again from dslreports:

            KB3050267 - prepares system for upgrade to Windows 10
            KB3065987 - makes âoeimprovementsâ to the windows update client (really just more Win10 bullshit)
            KB3065988
            KB3068707 - Customer experience telemetry points (update appears to be nuked from microsoft.com)
            KB3068708 - installs telemetry service, prepares system for upgrade to Windows 10
            KB3075249 - adds yet more telemetry
            KB3075851 - makes âoeimprovementsâ to the windows update client (rea

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

            Is there some way to pre-emptively block these updates without having to manually select them? Like a registry edit that marks them as hidden do-not-install?

            • Yes, supposedly, when you un-select them in Windows Update, then right-click and "Hide Update", refreshing the available updates to install makes them disappear.

              BUT, somehow like a painful rectal itch, it keeps coming back. I set updates to manual and check each time I go and collect them once a month or so, and fuck if there isn't one or more of them, back ready to install again. Be sure to check "optional" updates as well as "recommended" / "important", some of the "poisoned" updates appear there as wel

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by dotgain ( 630123 )
      That would be... convenient

    • Re:Does it bundle.. (Score:5, Interesting)

      by TheGratefulNet ( 143330 ) on Tuesday May 17, 2016 @05:33PM (#52130735)

      how can you know? MS has gone off the deep end, buried bad code in 'patches' and won't level with us what they do.

      a year ago, I turned off updates. I locked down my win7 installs.

      nothing is going to make me accept another MS patch. from now until windows ceases to exist, I will never install another MS patch.

      I do most of my work on linux and I very rarely use windows for network things. if I get owned, I'll restore from backups.

      MS has lied too many times; I just cannot trust them. I'll take my chances on my own, thank you very much.

      • nothing is going to make me accept another MS patch. from now until windows ceases to exist, I will never install another MS patch.

        Hey we're just checking our records here at the Friendly and Socially Responsible Computer Help Centre. Do you mind sharing with us your IP address? This will allow us to ... uah... help you.

    • I removed a series of updates that someone else posted. The next day I was called from Microsoft saying I am missing important updates. I was out of town and they didn't call back. Next week, did a couple more, then day after that saying I was missing important updates.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        It wasn't MS. It was an a$$hat scammer.

    • I wouldn't be shocked if it has code that slows Windows7 down horribly enough to make you want to upgrade (or reformat). I'd like to think I'm paranoid but my WinXP boxes always ran well until Win7 came out and started getting pushed harder, after a while every update seemed to bring worse performance.

  • I betcha! (Score:2, Insightful)

    by wkwilley2 ( 4278669 )

    How much you want to bet that GWX.exe is bundled?

    • Re:I betcha! (Score:4, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 17, 2016 @02:59PM (#52129815)

      I just checked the update catalog. It does not include KB3035583.

  • Nelson "Ha Ha" pointed at me (Score:5, Interesting)

    by OzPeter ( 195038 ) on Tuesday May 17, 2016 @02:58PM (#52129813)

    I click on the first link using Safari from my Macbook hoping to see some details. And why not? I run various MS VMs on my Macbook so I want to see whats on offer for me. Note that the link is simply "http://catalog.update.microsoft.com/v7/site/Search.aspx?q=3125574" That seems reasonable.

    The website comes back at me with:

    Thank you for visiting the Microsoft Update Catalog

    This website does not offer updates for the operating system on this computer.

    This website only provides updates for computers running Windows 2000 Sp3, Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 and later. If you prefer to use a different Windows operating system, you can obtain updates from the Microsoft Download Center.

    Thanks MS.

    • Re:Nelson "Ha Ha" pointed at me (Score:5, Informative)

      by omnichad ( 1198475 ) on Tuesday May 17, 2016 @03:03PM (#52129849) Homepage

      Chrome on Windows is almost as bad - "To use this Web site's full functionality, you must be running Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or later."

      Here's the direct download links: x86 [windowsupdate.com] x64 [windowsupdate.com]

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by bvt ( 595267 )
        2 hours my computer has been trying to install this convenience roll-up. I'm about to turn it off and revisit trying to get Windows 7 updated in a few weeks. Too bad.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by sirber ( 891722 )
      The site failed to load on "Internet Explorer 11", plugin install error. Who uses plugins in 2016?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by jrumney ( 197329 )
        Is Microsoft still using that ActiveX control to detect if your Windows license key is blacklisted before letting you download updates?

    • I'm running Windows 7 64 bit, German version.

      Tried to install the "convenience rollup" on my machine. Got the message "Dieses Update ist nicht fuer Ihren Computer geeignet" ("This update is not suitable for your computer").
      Note that I could get it only through Microsoft Update Catalog in the first place, so a user error in picking the wrong version seems pretty unlikely..

      Between this and other users' posts that warn about the rollup containing all the telemetry and GWX crap, I've deleted the useless update

  • If it weighs the same as a duck... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by omnichad ( 1198475 ) on Tuesday May 17, 2016 @03:00PM (#52129825) Homepage

    So why can't they just call it a Service Pack? Because their support policy would require them to extend mainstream support for 24 months.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by flatt ( 513465 )

      Also, traditionally Service Packs have included previously unreleased fixes/features and are fully regression tested.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Kjella ( 173770 )

      Microsoft has never released a service pack so late in their product cycle, from their perspective there's now three significant Windows versions (8, 8.1 and 10) since 7. If you've ever had to install a fresh Windows machine you'd know installing all the updates is a pain in the ass, it doesn't do them all in one go it's updates then more new updates then even more new updates. I've wanted them to either fix that or do post-service pack rollups at least as far back as Windows 2000, so at face value it'd be

      • Win10 needs betting nameing for big updates.

        They should call them windows 10 SPX or Windows 10.X and not windows 10 build XXXX.

        Windows 8/8.1 was really bad with that.

        • Microsoft is assuming everyone will always update in the future. Thus no need to worry about build number since the entire universe should be running the latest build.

    • Because it's an update rollup, not a service pack. They're calling it what it is.

  • do they have an windows 2008r2 one? New 2008r2 ISO?

  • Yeah right (Score:3)

    by mea2214 ( 935585 ) on Tuesday May 17, 2016 @03:06PM (#52129871)
    I'd rather contact that Nigerian Prince who keeps emailing me than fall for this.
  • In spite of what Mary Jo Floey says, Microsoft still appears to be totally focused on moving everyone to Windows 10. This "Convenience Rollup" looks to be little more than some pretty wrapping paper that attempts to hide Windows 10 upgrade preparations for the remaining Windows 7 PCs. It installs all the "recommended" updates, one of which appears to be Windows 10.

    • But - after all is installed - can you go back and uninstall the KB patches specific to the Win10 update (e.g., KB3035883)?

      Because if you can it just /might/ be a useful alternative to manually updating Windows7; just run the "Convenience-'We-Can't-call-it-a-Service-Pack-without-extending-the-product-lifespan'-Rollup", uninstall the ten or so Win10/telemetry patches, and you're good to go.

    • Got a source? Seems like an obvious lie if it's really true, since why install all the updates if you're just going to upgrade a machine to Win 10?

      • ... why install all the updates if you're just going to upgrade a machine to Win 10?

        Exactly. Hide the Win 10 upgrade in plain sight in the "convenience rollup" so that it is installed without a person explicitly knowing it. According to TFA, all the recommended updates are in the rollup, and the Windows 10 update is a recommended update. That's about on the same level of sleaziness as the other malware-like tricks Microsoft has been using to sneak Windows 10 on to Windows 7 PCs.

        .
        Or haven't you been paying attention these past couple of weeks?

        • That's terrible, AND a waste of disk space. The Win10 upgrade is just going to wipe everything anyway.

          • That's terrible, AND a waste of disk space. The Win10 upgrade is just going to wipe everything anyway.

            And your point is?

            .
            The goal looks to be to trick the person into upgrading to Windows 10. So far as Microsoft is concerned, I doubt if they care one iota about wasted disk space.

  • "Convenience"? (Score:3)

    by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Tuesday May 17, 2016 @03:13PM (#52129925)

    As in "convenience store"? Costs and arm and a leg and 10 times what it should, and in the end you don't get what you really need anyway?

  • Does this mean (Score:5, Insightful)

    by taustin ( 171655 ) on Tuesday May 17, 2016 @03:16PM (#52129951) Homepage Journal

    that when I reinstall Windows 7 SP 1 I won't have to wait 24 hours for automatic Windows Updates to run the first round of patches, because the list of updates is so big the manual update system chokes on it?

    Seriously, Microsoft, this should have been done a year ago for that reason alone.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by UnknownSoldier ( 67820 )

      Sadly, Microsoft doesn't want to provide a slipstreamed Windows 7 "patch". That way they can force all their malware, adware, and spam ads on you.

      Agreed that this should have been done long ago. WhyTF wasn't there a Windows 7 SP2 already?

      --
      Fuck You Microsoft and your spam upgrades.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by OzPeter ( 195038 )

        WhyTF wasn't there a Windows 7 SP2 already?

        Had the same story with XP .. lots of updates but not SP for a long time

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by slapout ( 93640 )

        Windows XP had 3 service packs
        Windows Vista had 2 service packs
        Windows 7 had 1 service pack
        Windows 8 had 0 service packs

        They can't break that record

        • Windows 8 had 0 service packs not true if you count 8.1 as one.

          Windows 10 had 1 so far but they did not call it an SP.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by taustin ( 171655 )

          Sure they can. Windows 10 will have updates that actively remove functionality. For instance, by adding more and more (and more and more and more) ads, they remove the functionality of actually being able to use the computer.

          (Plus, you left out 8.1, which was the SP for 8.)

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by slapout ( 93640 )

            So, we'll have negative updates. We can start using negative numbers:

            SP -1 : Removes abc
            SP -2 : Removes def
            SP -3 : Removes xyz

            Then MS can keep their record

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by jon3k ( 691256 )

        WhyTF wasn't there a Windows 7 SP2 already?

        Because they are required to provide support based on the release of the last service pack [microsoft.com]. If they called this a "Service Pack" they would be required to extend the End of Life date on Windows 7 which they obviously don't want to do.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dwywit ( 1109409 )

      As soon as you re-install W7 SP1, go and grab the latest WU agent-
      https://support.microsoft.com/... [microsoft.com]

      It takes away much of the pain in getting WU to even work on a fresh install. I mean ~2.3 GB of RAM just running WU?

    • One of the worst decisions MS ever made is to tie Software support to Service pack and Point releases. They would be much better off setting the lifecycle date hard to 10 years after initial release and extend it by announcements if necessary.

      All that policy does is make them call service packs anything but service packs, delay or flat out cancel them to avoid extending OS lifecycle (which is the main reason why 7 takes forever to update anymore) and confuse the hell out of Sysadmin staff trying to figure o

  • Monthly rollups are the real news, and its bad. (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 17, 2016 @03:27PM (#52130017)

    We are going to get the non-security updates force-fed to us. It is all or nothing. You don't want Windows 10, but you will get the bad practices of it anyway.

    https://blogs.technet.microsof... [microsoft.com]

    " Also today we are announcing that non-security updates for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1 (as well as Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2) will be available as a monthly rollup (fixes rolled up together into a single update). Each month, we will release a single update containing all of the non-security fixes for that month. We are making this change â" shifting to rollup updates, to improve the reliability and quality of our updates.

    These fixes will be available through Windows Update, WSUS, and SCCM as well as the Microsoft Update catalog. We hope this monthly rollup update simplifies your process of keeping Windows 7, and 8.1 up-to-date."

    Also note the part (not quoted above) where Microsoft states that updates will no longer be available from the Download Center, but only from the Microsoft Update Catalog. The Internet Explorer / Active-X only abomination.

  • Information:

            Thank you for visiting the Microsoft Update Catalog
    To use this Web site's full functionality, you must be running Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or later.
    To upgrade to the latest version of the browser, go to the Internet Explorer Downloads Website.
    If you prefer to use a different Web browser, you can get updates from the Microsoft Download Center.

    Fuck you M$!

  • That won't install any telemetry or Windows 10 related garbage? Someone should packaged those up, or at least write a script to allow people to easily download those updates.

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