May 2019 updates for Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 don't play nice with McAfee or Sophos software, again
It seems that the saying "history repeats itself" is true, at least when it comes to Microsoft patches. Microsoft released updates for all supported versions of Windows -- client and server -- on the May 2019 Patch Day.
We covered the updates in our monthly security updates overview for Windows. Microsoft confirmed two issue: an update might be installed twice on affected systems, and some UK government sites were not accessible in Internet Explorer 11 or Microsoft Edge.
Microsoft added gov.uk to the list of HTTP Strict Transport Security Top Level Domains, and that caused issues for government sites that did not support it.
Things looked better compared to last month. Several Enterprise-focused security products did not play nicely with last month's updates for Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, and the Server variants.
Security companies Sophos, Avast, Avira, ArcaBit and McAfee acknowledged issues with last month's updates. Machines would not boot into Windows anymore and appeared frozen or locked on startup.
Patch notes suggest that the issues are fixed. The monthly rollup patch KB4493472 for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 states that the issues with security software has been resolved and that Microsoft removed the temporary update block as a consequence.
Fast forward to May 2019. If you check the known issues of the monthly rollup patch KB4499164 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, you may have a deja vu when you go through the known issues.
A new issue, added on May 18, 2019 suggests that systems with McAfee security products installed may freeze, hang or start very slowly after update installation.
Microsoft and McAfee have identified an issue on devices with McAfee Endpoint Security (ENS) Threat Prevention 10.x or McAfee Host Intrusion Prevention (Host IPS) 8.0 or McAfee VirusScan Enterprise (VSE) 8.8 installed. It may cause the system to have slow startup or become unresponsive at restart after installing this update.
The known issue and the listed products are identical. McAfee updated its knowledge center on May 14 (the Patch Day) and May 16 (Endpoint Security), and on May 17 (VirusScan Enterprise).
McAfee reveals that all Microsoft updates released in April 2019 or later are known to cause the issues. Workarounds should work for the May 2019 updates as well.
Sophos is not listed by Microsoft but Sophos published a support article that suggests that the May 2014 updates are causing issues on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 devices after installation. (via Ask Woody)
We have had an increase in customers reporting that following on from the Microsoft Windows 14th May patches they are experiencing a hang on boot where the machines appear to get stuck on "Configuring 30%"
Both issues appear to be limited to Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 updates. It is possible that the products of other security companies are affected by the issue again as well but that has not been confirmed.
Open questions:
- Is the issue limited to Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2?
- Is the security-only update affected? Microsoft says no (McAfee), Sophos says yes for its products.
- Are all other security products unaffected by the issue?
Closing Words
The issue is limited to Enterprise security software; Home users and small businesses should not run into these issues. It is still a good idea to create backups before updates are installed, and to wait with the installation of updates until absolutely necessary (e.g. active exploit of security issues or major bug fixes).
Now You: Any bets for next month's updates?
What mental age of reader are you targeting with the first sentence? 10?
Why not write an article on how to *avoid* upgrading from W10 to W11. Analogous to those like me who avoided upgrading from 7 to 10 for as long as possible.
If your paymaster Microsoft permits it, of course.
5. Rufus
6. Ventoy
PS. I hate reading these “SEO optimized” articles.
I used Rufus to create an installer for a 6th gen intel i5 that had MBR. It upgraded using Setup. No issues except for Win 11 always prompting me to replace my local account. Still using Win 10 Pro on all my other PCs to avoid the bullying.
bit pointless to upgrade for the sake of upgrading as you never know when you’ll get locked out because ms might suddenly not provide updates to unsupported systems.
ps…. time travelling?
written. Jan 15, 2023
Updated • Jan 13, 2023
This happens when you schedule a post in WordPress and update it before setting the publication date.
Anyone willing to downgrade to this awful OS must like inflicting themselves with harm.
I have become convinced now that anybody who has no qualms with using Windows 11/10 must fit into one of the following brackets:
1) Too young to remember a time before W10 and W11 (doesn’t know better)
2) Wants to play the latest games on their PC above anything else (or deeply needs some software which already dropped W7 support)
3) Doesn’t know too much about how computers work, worried that they’d be absolutely lost and in trouble without the “”latest security””
4) Microsoft apologist that tries to justify that the latest “features” and “changes” are actually a good thing, that improve Windows
5) Uses their computer to do a bare minimum of like 3 different things, browse web, check emails, etc, so really doesn’t fuss
Obviously that doesn’t cover everyone, there’s also the category that:
6) Actually liked W7 more than 10, and held out as long as possible before switching, begrudgingly uses 10 now
Have I missed any group off this list?
You have missed in this group just about any professional user that uses business software like CAD programs or ERP Programs which are 99% of all professional users from this list.
Linux doesn’t help anyone who is not a linux kid and apple is just a fancy facebook machine.
Microsoft has removed KB5029351 update
only from windows update though
KB5029351 is still available from the ms update catalog site
1. This update is labaled as PREVIEW if it causes issues to unintelligent people, then they shouldn’t have allowed Preview updates ot install.
2. I have installed it in a 11 years old computer, and no problems at all.
3. Making a big drama over a bluescreen for an updated labeled as preview is ridiculous.
This is probably another BS internet drama where people ran programs and scripts that modified the registry until they broke Windows, just for removing stuff that they weren’t even using just for the sake of it.
Maybe people should stop playing geeks and actually either use Windows 10 or Windows 11, but don’t try to modify things just for the sake of it.
Sometimes removing or stopping things (like defender is a perfect example) only need intelligence, not scripts or 3rd party programs that might mess with windows.
Windows 11 was a pointless release, it was just created because some of the Windows team wanted to boost sales with some sort of new and improved Windows 10. Instead, Microsoft cannot support one version well let alone two.
Windows 11 is the worst ugly shame by Microsoft ever. They should release with every new W11 version a complete free version of Starallback inside just to make this sh** OS functionally again.
motherboard maker MSI has recently released a statement regarding the “unsupported processor” blue screen error for their boards using Intel 600/700 series chipsets & to avoid the KB5029351 Win11 update:
https://www.msi.com/news/detail/MSI-On–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–Error-Message-of-Windows-11-Update-KB5029351-Preview-142215
check out the following recent articles:
Neowin – Microsoft puts little blame on its Windows update after UNSUPPORTED PROCESSOR BSOD bug:
https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-puts-little-blame-on-its-windows-update-after-unsupported-processor-bsod-bug/
BleepingComputer – Microsoft blames ‘unsupported processor’ blue screens on OEM vendors:
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-blames-unsupported-processor-blue-screens-on-oem-vendors/
While there may be changes or updates to the Windows 10 Store for Business and Education in the future, it is premature to conclude that it will be discontinued based solely on rumors.
My advice, I left win 15 years ago. Now I’m a happy linux user (linuxmint) but there is Centos, Fedora, Ubuntu depending on your needs.
motherboard maker MSI has recently released new BIOS/firmware updates for their Intel 600 & 700 series motherboards to fix the “UNSUPPORTED_PROCESSOR” problem (Sept. 6):
https://www.msi.com/news/detail/Updated-BIOS-fixes-Error-Message–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–caused-BSOD-on-MSI-s-Intel-700-and-600-Series-Motherboards-142277