MS Admits Latest Patch Tuesday Can Cripple PCs

It appears Microsoft's August Patch Tuesday, which began rolling out last week, didn't quite go according to plan. In fact, the firm was recently forced to pull several updates after reports indicated that some users were experiencing severe system errors.

This month's Patch Tuesday security updates addressed a total of 37 vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer, and Microsoft Office. Within days, it became apparent there was a problem; users reported that after the updates were downloaded and installed, they received the infamous Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), which effectively caused the system to stop responding. Others reported that their system would boot into an infinite BSOD loop, rendering Windows completely unusable.

Bad Patches Cause Blue Screen of Death

It's now known that the 'bad' patch was KB 2982791, which was part of the MS14-045 security bulletin. This particular update was marked "important", Microsoft's second-highest security rating.

However, it also appears there were at least three other bad patches, including KB 2970228 -- a non-security update applied to Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 systems. The other two problem patches, KB 2975719 and KB 2975331 were both applied to Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012.

Microsoft acknowledged the problem on Saturday. "[W]e are aware of some issues related to the recent updates and we are working on a fix," the company said in a statement. (Source: zdnet.com)

Microsoft Recommends Users Uninstall Problem Patches

Microsoft is recommending users uninstall the patches and has updated their Knowledge Base article # KB 2982791 to help users through the long and somewhat complicated process. "Microsoft is investigating behavior in which systems may crash with a 0x50 Stop error message ... This condition may be persistent and may prevent the system from starting correctly," the page reads. (Source: microsoft.com)

Microsoft's user forum makes mention of a temporary fix, whereby users boot from a DVD or USB in order to delete the font cache, which will then help to prevent the system from crashing. This is only a workaround if the updates have already been installed, and if your system is repeatedly crashing and you can't boot into a stable Windows environment in order to properly remove the patches as suggested in KB 2982791.

Experts, like InfoWorld's Woody Leonhard, believe the problem shows that Microsoft needs to implement a "Patch Monday" program that allows volunteers to help identify potential issues before security updates are made available to a wider audience through the Patch Tuesday release.

"Microsoft should invite anybody and everybody to participate in a voluntary day of testing for new patches before they're released through Windows Update," Leonhard says. "This is yet another example of a bad patch ... that could've been caught with enough outside testing." (Source: infoworld.com)

What's Your Opinion?

Have you encountered any Blue Screens of Death caused by last week's Microsoft security updates? Have you ever had any issues in the past with Microsoft's updates? Do you agree that Microsoft needs to do more testing before releasing its Patch Tuesday updates? If so, would you participate in a Patch Monday program?