I was reading an article at PCMag about PatchMateXP. They have had all the patches for XP on one convenient CD.

Unfortunately for PatchMateXP, this breaks a license with Microsoft and they shut themselves down before they got into legal trouble.

This got me thinking – is there a way to get MS Updates on DVD or CD?

My findings were quite interesting.

After tons of digging, I found this Microsoft Knowledge base article: 913086

At that link, Microsoft provides ISO files that contain all of the security updates by month. They update it regularly.

This works fine if you are already patched up, and just need a few months. What if you need all of the patches for Vista, XP, or 2003? That won’t really help.

I dug some more, and I came across a free utility called Offline Update. You can download it from here.

It allows you to create an ISO file with patches for a specific version of Windows. It gets around those pesky legal issues by having you download the patches to generate the ISO file.

To use it, download the package from the above website, and extract it into a folder. In the root directory you will find a program named UpdateGenerator.exe

Launch it, and you will see that it has a simple, but effective interface:

It even includes patches for Office – a nice bonus.

Select the patches you want, and click start.

A command line window will popup and it will download for hours or days, but eventually it will finish.

When it completes, you will find the completed ISO file in the folder named ISO under the root:

In my case it was the 64 bit version of 2003/XP patches.

Want to know the coolest part?

The ISO it builds is more than a collection of patches, it includes a custom program that will automatically install all of them in one shot.

Simply pop your burned DVD into the drive, and a window will show up:

Don’t be confused by the list of options, it is just giving you a choice on non-patch items included in the ISO.

If you just want the patches, simply select nothing and click start. It will only install the patches that have not been installed on your system:

That is all there is to it. The program will install all of the patches, reboot, and the system is up to date.

Now, I can burn that ISO, and give it to my friend Brett, since he lives in an Internet dead zone.

This little utility can be a huge time saver. I highly recommend it.

Microsoft will be addressing the issue discussed in Security Advisory 971778 concerning a vulnerability in DirectShow! Microsoft will be releasing...

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As expected, Microsoft was able to release an Emergency Software Pack only days after the reported hacker exploitation issue which victimized thousands of websites via the Internet Explorer. The issue was not a light one to take and though it should have been discovered immediately by Microsoft, their fast action on the matter should be commended.

We have seen a lot of security issues with the Microsoft software available in the market and none was as vital as this one. Imagine over a million users using Internet Explorer each day via their workstation and you can have an idea on how critical the issue was. And to top if all, hackers, known for taking advantage of such flaws, are sure to take advantage of the situation and make life miserable for both users and website owners.

The Internet Explorer 7 Zero Day Attacks are especially dangerous because no user interaction is required for a user’s computer to become infected. Simply visiting a compromised (but otherwise legitimate) website is all that’s needed for the exploiters to install malware and spyware into a computer via the hole in the IE software.

Source

It is wise to be alert of these patches and perhaps frequently checking the Microsoft website or perhaps being up to date with the latest tech news is important. If you haven’t applied the update yet for Internet Explorer 7, it would be wise to do so now.

Everyone gets excited when there is a new operating system or software that Microsoft unveils in the market. But while most of the software that Bill Gates has introduced seem to always have bugs in them, it is quite interesting to note why the various operating systems that they unleash are always susceptible to bugs and patches.

It is understandable that operating systems are not immediately perfect once they are offered in the market. But it makes you wonder why Microsoft is always wants to distribute software that will always have its share of problems to which they should have foreseen. The answer here lies in a business aspect meaning if you are not updating your product line, your brand and image may fade fast if you don’t have another product up for release.

Knowing technology, this should always be ongoing. If you wait too long, the continuing process of product development may stand still and millions will be lost in the process.

Also, looking at the patches and service packs that Microsoft always announces, it can be seen as a form of marketing so that they can likewise keep track of who are using their products. How? Well have you ever wondered why aside from packaged service pack CD distribution, you are directed towards their site whenever patch updates are offered.

You can just imagine the load that their servers have to accommodate with practically the whole world having a Microsoft product in their home or office. But at least they know that the number of people who have bought their product are ranging from millions to billions.

Applying the patches and service packs issues by Microsoft Operating Systems are usually seen to be solutions to improve and safeguard Windows users but apparently there are issues surrounding the type of processor that is in use. If you use an Intel based processors, chances are you will not be having much trouble installing and rebooting your system. The real problem really exists when AMD processors are being used and much of this lies in the configuration.

Apparently, to be able to adhere towards the proper specifications, some tweaks have to be done to the main processor of AMD based units to accept the new add-ons and patches offered periodically. Normally, you will have issue after applying the updated patches and this becomes a cause for consideration on whether people should install the service packs or not.

Ideally, installing these patches is a good way to be able to safeguard your computer from threats around the web. But in some cases like this AMD issue, it would be best to be open to proper installation and compatibility issues. In short, as a user you should be able to research and find proper troubleshooting tips so that you can avoid messing up your current system rather than improving it.

There are several issues that can cause a Windows XP computer to not reboot properly after installing Service Pack 3. Most of them affect relatively specific configurations, and most appear to have relatively simple work-arounds. Please: do not do anything rash. I have seen a lot of reports of people who reformat and reinstall when they run into this problem, losing all their data in the process.

Source

A silent update that Microsoft deployed widely in July and August is preventing the “repair” feature of Windows XP from completing successfully.

Ever since the Redmond company’s recent download of new support files for Windows Update, users of XP’s repair function have been unable to install the latest 80 patches from Microsoft.

Repaired installations of XP can’t be updated

The trouble occurs when users reinstall XP’s system files using the repair capability found on genuine XP CD-ROMs. (The feature is not present on “Restore CDs.”) The repair option, which is typically employed when XP for some reason becomes unbootable, rolls many aspects of XP back to a pristine state. It wipes out many updates and patches and sets Internet Explorer back to the version that originally shipped with the operating system. (more…)

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