Windows security patches - safe?

Today I downloaded several Windows security patches from Microsoft. I have not yet installed them. Reason: in a few instances in the past, I have had my computer clobbered by patches. I do NOT want that to happen again. My computer is running great & I want to keep it that way.

QUESTION: Is there any website whereat I can read about the experiences of actual users as to which (if any) of these patches could cause a computer problem?

 

You could wait a week or two after the release of the patches then check the MS updates site again using the "Custom" option. By then, any bugs that may have been present in the initial updates should be fixed. That's what I do.

 

Nothing like a good image for insurance too......

 

I go here for general information about the patches.
http://www.askwoody.com/

 

Yup this is where making an image comes in real handy, although the built in windows restore works just fine for recovering from bad updates.

 

If there is a bad update usually you see a lot of posts on other forums with with headings like "Windows Update *****ed my computer! ", lol.

I haven't experienced a bad update but it may be because I turn the computers off when I am at work and by the time I get home in the evening they have either pulled the bad update or fixed it.

A few years ago I was really glad I do this because at the time I was using Trend Micro which issued an update that screwed a lot of people's computers. By the time I got home they had removed it.

 

I usually watch AskWoody as well for a clue as to what is going on with the patches. I like to wait for others to serve as the guinea pigs and then I patch when I feel comfortable that the patches will do good and not harm to my systems.

 

me too. Usually there is no immediate need to patch unless there is an exploit in the wild and even then you would have to be looking for trouble. I also wouldn't recommend that everyone take this approach as I have a relative that manages to find trouble all the time and they are probably safer with auto-updates on.

 

I have downloaded every patch ever bought out by MS and never to my knowledge had a problem.
Really havent the inclination to sift through them!

So there- all you other users

 

Who needs patches beyond SP2?

Theres plenty enough security vendors to more than make up for issues and much better at it then patch-silly Microsoft.

I not had a problem either even without Ugh! Patches. IMO they only further GUM up XP more than it already is.

 

Well actually thats a good point !!

 

The problem with the thinking that you don't need MS patches past sp2 is a bit flawed. Not all patches that MS releases are something third party vendors can do anything about as they are actual windows coding patches (additions or changes in Windows coding) those are going to have to come from MS only.

 

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r20302723-Microsoft-Security-Bulletins-for-April-8-2008

I always check here on Patch days.

 

Thats good to know
Was hoping just SP2 might be enough.

 

Hello,
I usually wait at least 1-2 weeks before updating - I let everyone else solve the problems. And then, I sometimes test on a scapegoat machine and never update without imaging first.
Mrk

 

I'm experiencing some explorer.exe problems after today's updates. Opening Network Locations takes a lot of time.
When I 'explore' my HD everything works fine though.

 

I just always use latest SP3 release (5508 atm). No other patches to me.

 

Hello,
At our workplace, it's a mess. The network drives are practically dead and inaccessible... Windows updates, ye right.
Mrk

 

After installing WinXPproSP2 completely off-line + phone activation, I updated it one time with the file "WindowsXP-KB835935-SP2-ENU.exe", mainly because of a bug in Windows Explorer, which was fixed after that.
I don't use Windows Update anymore. I replace WinXPproSP2 with a clean one during each reboot.

 

My experience is that they are about 99% safe.
But that 1% of 'puter killers can ruin a whole week.

Sometimes I have been pretty lax; installing them as soon as they come out, without imaging the disk first. But I think I will revert to berng more careful.

I definitely don't do "automatic". I at least look at them before deciding to install.

 

Hello.

I have issues to report -
TotalUninstall broken, does not work after applying latest patches. According to logs, there is a collision with kernel - why would this happen with TU is beyond me. Of course, reinstallation of TU did not help a bit. Also, one of my hardware monitors using WMI services (a history graph of HDD activity) does not work.
The same is happening on Vista (SP1) and XP (SP2), on several machines, home/work.
As I never had any problems with MS Updates, I'm really pissed now and I'm heading straight to the dark side to get me a full blown Office 2007 Enterprise ISO. Not that I really need it, I just want to even the score with MS...
BTW, If anyone running TotalUninstall can confirm this, I would be grateful.

 

Ive only had one issue with a hotfix (so far) and it was a minor problem anyways.

Currently I use RyanVM's Update Pack and it works well.

 

Yesterday when I installed the updates (offered to me on my Vista with SP1) , after reboot the computer was extrememly slow on start-up and during work , even after second reboot . I did System Restore and reversed the patches installation . Re-run updates check and reinstalled the updates . Although now it is much better at start-up , computer is acting slowly since yesterday's updates . I am thinking of another system restore but was wondering if you also noticed such behaviour - on Vista ... because you posted about XP. On my XP SP2 computers I notice no problems after the updates , nothing abnormal all the day

 

updates worked fine on windows vista.
one update keeps failing to install on my old pc running windows xp service pack 2.

 

99.9 % of Windows XP users.

You've installed SP2 after installing SP2