When did it become OK to Release Windows Updates without Any Documentation?

Perhaps most folks just install updates blindly, without checking what they are first. That doesn't make that (some would say) irresponsible act okay for others, who'd like to check to see why an update has been released before installing it.

Today I'm greeted by the need to put in two updates.

One, KB3035034, is a security update for Adobe Flash Player, and I've gone ahead and put that one in as it does have documentation:  https://support.microsoft.com/kb/3035034

The second, labeled Optional, is a WD SES Device update, presumably because Western Digital has released a new version - though I don't know why; my backup drives have always worked perfectly on the old driver developed in the time of Windows 7.

I clicked the More information link to try to find out why a new driver has been released.  Zzzzt.   No information online:

Microsoft:  Please make sure the paperwork is done every time.  People do care about this stuff.

 

January 28th, 2015 4:22pm

MS Update Catalog description also does not work:

http://catalog.update.microsoft.com/v7/site/ScopedViewInline.aspx?updateid=704d66e4-a027-4a1d-8df4-ef933237bc6d


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January 28th, 2015 7:21pm

That link gives the version number and date, which shows it's a new release by Western Digital.  Thanks.

-Noel

January 29th, 2015 5:49pm

Related to this I am being reoffered a June rollup with no clue why.  Supposedly I have the November cumulative rollup.  So why on earth would I still need a June rollup?  I think I will need to dig into the WindowsUpdate.log to try to see what the detection logic found.  Is there an easier way to do this?

C.f.
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1-windows_update/kb2962409-june-rollup-offered-again-while-november/0d7caab1-fb08-4cc9-b8ed-8baef331c2e3

Note that it's not a security patch so MBSA is no help.

Bring back the DLL HELP DATABASE!

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January 29th, 2015 7:08pm

I probably can't advise you much on the technical front, since you probably know more about Windows Update than I do, but didn't Microsoft rescind some updates in the summer/fall of last year? Maybe you're finally getting one of those? That being said, I installed 'em all back then and I'm not being offered such a thing now.

I normally delay some when Updates first come out, to hear the rumbling from others if something's going to go wrong, but I never put off updates indefinitely, not even optional ones.  So far (knocking on wood) this hasn't proven a bad strategy.  I figure at Microsoft they probably keep their machines completely updated, and it's probably best to be like them...

-Noel

January 30th, 2015 7:36am

Related to this I am being reoffered a June rollup with no clue why.  Supposedly I have the November cumulative rollup.  So why on earth would I still need a June rollup? 

I find it's useful to understand the MSFT definition of "cumulative" vs. "rollup" - they are not at all the same concept in MSFT.

MSFT defines "rollup" as a collection of various updates, and not necessarily "cumulative of, nor inclusive of all preceding updates".

In my own interpretation of the decidedly confusing MSFT language use, "cumulative" is very similar to the old quite-well-understood "Service Pack" - but "rollup" is not like that.

So, the "November rollup" is not inclusive of the update packages found in the "June rollup".
(there is a blog describing this twisted language, somewhere in MSFT-web-land)
EDIT (found it..): http://blogs.technet.com/b/askpfeplat/archive/2013/05/13/update-rollups-for-windows-server-2012-and-windows-8-explained.aspx
& http://blogs.msdn.com/b/muaddib/archive/2014/02/03/list-of-rollup-updates-for-windows-8-8-1-amp-windows-server-2012-2012-r2.aspx

If you check this http://support.microsoft.com/kb/3028013 (I have the master/parent article 894199 bookmarked), it shows that KB2962409 was originally released via MU, and then subject to a revision, which might explain your scenario:

<snip>

Tuesday, August 12, 2014
This is a summary of the new and changed content to be released on Tuesday, August 12, 2014.

Update for Windows 8.1, Windows RT 8.1, and Windows Server 2012 R2 (KB2962409)

Metadata has changed.
Binaries have not changed.
This update does not have to be reinstalled.
For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2962409

<snip>
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
This is a summary of the new and changed content to be released on Tuesday, June 10, 2014.


Update for Windows 8.1, Windows RT 8.1, and Windows Server 2012 R2 (KB2962409)

 Locale: All
 Deployment: Optional/Automatic Updates, WSUS, and Catalog
 Classification: Updates, Non-Security
 Supersedes: KB2923768 on Windows RT 8.1
KB2965065 on Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2


 Target platforms: Windows 8.1, Windows RT* 8.1, and Windows Server 2012 R2
 Approximate file sizes: Windows 8.1/Windows Server 2012 R2 x64 update: ~ 50692KB
Windows 8.1 update: ~ 26419KB
Windows RT 8.1 update: ~ 24621KB


 Description:
 Install this update to resolve issues in Windows. For a complete listing of the issues that are included in this update, see the associated Microsoft Knowledge Base article for more information. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2962409

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January 30th, 2015 1:51pm

That link gives the version number and date, which shows it's a new release by Western Digital.

And that's all the information that WD gave to MSFT, when WD submitted the updated device driver for distribution via MU/WU.

I agree it's dumb of MSFT to give us a useless "More information" link, but only the device driver vendor can say what has changed, and why.

[It does annoy me that software vendors, and also hardware vendors, make it hard to know what an update/hotfix/revision does fix, or introduce. A particularly painful description is "Description: Install this update to resolve issues in Windows."

Duh.]

January 30th, 2015 2:03pm

That link gives the version number and date, which shows it's a new release by Western Digital.  T

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January 30th, 2015 7:26pm

I figured as much, Tripredacus, based on your description.

At least someone follows up sooner or later and posts something, but the data (however terse) needs to be available WHEN the updates are released.  I hate to say it, but this smells of there being quality procedures lacking (or failing to be followed) at Microsoft.  Perhaps the guy or gal who always did it right before was laid off or reassigned.

And I agree, Don, the info really does need to say "why", and that involves manufacturers doing better.  Of course it's easier to not say anything (not mentioning one's errors is something Marketing never objects to), and Engineers are traditionally allergic to documentation, but...  Documentation is simply necessary in a professional sense.

-Noel

January 30th, 2015 7:44pm

So, the "November rollup" is not inclusive of the update packages found in the "June rollup".

So I shouldn't be calling it "November cumulative rollup".  Then what is KB3000850 and why is it showing up where KB2919355 used to be at the top of View Windows Update History as "Most recent cumulative update"?   (Win-w V U Enter gets it for me.)

Ah.  Your list for WSUS describes that only as "New non-security content" (in November).  Then that might explain WU's apparent ambivalence to it.  And remember MBSA thinks I am all up to date (in terms of Microsoft Update checking).

E.g., when I look at my WindowsUpdate.log, it looks like WU can't decide which is really the latest "cumulative" level.  See my last post in my "Discussion" or use this Powershell pipeline to see if you have the same quirk.  I haven't tried to see if there is any logical reason for it yet.  I suspect I may have to start tracing with ProcMon to supplement what the log is showing.

PS C:\windows> Get-Content "WindowsUpdate.log" | Select-String "best cumulat"  | Select -Last 5

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January 30th, 2015 7:45pm

Microsoft has replied to a question on the WD SES driver update, quoted in part below, at http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1-windows_update/western-digital-technologies-other-hardware-wd-ses/cd8a234e-4522-4e20-acf2-b925e68c063b .

"Western Digital My Passport/My Book hard drives require a special communications channel (SCSI) between the PC and the hard drive to enable certain features such as password protection, LED control, and access to the drives label if applicable. "

So this update may affect *password protection*, among other things. Without more complete information, one might question its effect on security.

February 10th, 2015 5:44pm

For what it's worth I've been running that WD update for a while now.  I've copied terabytes already, with zero problems, as I do full backups every night.

-Noel

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February 11th, 2015 8:19am

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