Microsoft yanks buggy patch of a buggy patch, KB 4039884
Credit to Author: Woody Leonhard| Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2017 05:18:00 -0700
There’s no official confirmation, and no explanation of course, but overnight Microsoft pulled a patch that was supposed to fix the main problems in this month’s Windows 7 security updates. I talked about the repair hotfix yesterday in “Microsoft repairs buggy Win7 security patch with buggy hotfix KB 4039884.” Today, the repair hotfix isn’t available any more.
All we know for sure is that, sometime last night, the Microsoft Update Catalog entry for KB 4039884 disappeared. As of early Tuesday morning, Eastern time, the KB article is still available, and it hasn’t been modified — it still points to the Update Catalog.
In addition to the errors I reported yesterday, we’re seeing a whole crop of new problems with KB 4039884. @MrBrian on AskWoody says:
I tested KB4039884 in a Windows 7 x64 virtual machine last updated in Sept. 2016. It replaces some files with older versions … for some files KB4039884 installs GDR versions of files, replacing existing LDR versions of files. The good news is that uninstalling KB4039884 seems to undo these issues, and I recommend doing so if you already installed KB4039884. … Some of the old file versions that are installed by KB4039884 likely have security vulnerabilities that were fixed in newer versions. Thus, installing KB4039884 probably exposes your computer to fixed security issues.
An anonymous poster says:
Installing KB4039884 deleted “D3DCompiler_47.dll” from my system32 folder, causing Dell’s SupportAssist to fail. Uninstalling the update fixed the problem.
Nothing like the aroma of PCs fried in the morning.
If you’re waiting to install the August Windows 7 security patches — KB 4034664, KB 4034679, or KB 4034670 — I suggest you continue to wait.
Perhaps we’ll get a new patch today, the fourth Tuesday of the month. Maybe it’ll work. Or maybe not.
There’s a lengthy discussion that you’re welcome to join on the AskWoody Lounge.