Patches for lots of nasty vulnerabilities like remote code execution (think Blaster) were released today. Get them here.

Read the list of security bulletins for this month.

I would like to congratulate Microsoft's update website for being the first anything to freeze my computer since I bought it last year.

I've been downloading the 1.1MB of patches for about 20 minutes, am about 50% complete, and it is estimating < 1 minute remaining.

[quote]No Updates Were Installed

The following items failed to install. To try installing them again, click Review and install updates, and then click Install Now again.

Cumulative Security Update for Outlook Express 6 Service Pack 1 (KB837009)
Critical Update for Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 (KB831167)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB837001)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB828741)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB835732)
[/quote]
hmm, thanks, MS.. >:-(

I've noted extreme annoyances getting the updates directly from Windows Update.

Go to Windows Catalog, pick all the new updates, download them as standalone .exe's, and install them manually. Worked cleanly for me.

[quote author=Yoni link=board=1;threadid=6292;start=0#msg55055 date=1081953893]
I've noted extreme annoyances getting the updates directly from Windows Update.

Go to Windows Catalog, pick all the new updates, download them as standalone .exe's, and install them manually. Worked cleanly for me.
[/quote]

I didn't know you could get them as .exes. It would save me tons of time if I just threw them onto a cd instead of downloading them everytime I/somebody else installs windows (which is far too often, I nearly consider it a new recreation activity these days).

[quote author=iago link=board=1;threadid=6292;start=0#msg55058 date=1081955072]
[quote author=Yoni link=board=1;threadid=6292;start=0#msg55055 date=1081953893]
I've noted extreme annoyances getting the updates directly from Windows Update.

Go to Windows Catalog, pick all the new updates, download them as standalone .exe's, and install them manually. Worked cleanly for me.
[/quote]

I didn't know you could get them as .exes. It would save me tons of time if I just threw them onto a cd instead of downloading them everytime I/somebody else installs windows (which is far too often, I nearly consider it a new recreation activity these days).
[/quote]
You can slipstream them with a custom install CD.

I think you can also get a direct link to the patches from the bulletins themselves...

[quote author=Skywing link=board=1;threadid=6292;start=0#msg55215 date=1082012193]
I think you can also get a direct link to the patches from the bulletins themselves...
[/quote]

Well, I knew that, but it would take a lot of time to do it like that :/

[quote author=iago link=board=1;threadid=6292;start=0#msg55235 date=1082028686]
[quote author=Skywing link=board=1;threadid=6292;start=0#msg55215 date=1082012193]
I think you can also get a direct link to the patches from the bulletins themselves...
[/quote]

Well, I knew that, but it would take a lot of time to do it like that :/
[/quote]
Not really. There is one patch per bulletin, so it isn't that bad at all.

[quote author=Skywing link=board=1;threadid=6292;start=0#msg55276 date=1082051413]
[quote author=iago link=board=1;threadid=6292;start=0#msg55235 date=1082028686]
[quote author=Skywing link=board=1;threadid=6292;start=0#msg55215 date=1082012193]
I think you can also get a direct link to the patches from the bulletins themselves...
[/quote]

Well, I knew that, but it would take a lot of time to do it like that :/
[/quote]
Not really. There is one patch per bulletin, so it isn't that bad at all.
[/quote]

But to do it from a default windows install would involve 50 or so seperate bulletins.

[quote author=iago link=board=1;threadid=6292;start=0#msg55282 date=1082052581]
[quote author=Skywing link=board=1;threadid=6292;start=0#msg55276 date=1082051413]
[quote author=iago link=board=1;threadid=6292;start=0#msg55235 date=1082028686]
[quote author=Skywing link=board=1;threadid=6292;start=0#msg55215 date=1082012193]
I think you can also get a direct link to the patches from the bulletins themselves...
[/quote]

Well, I knew that, but it would take a lot of time to do it like that :/
[/quote]
Not really. There is one patch per bulletin, so it isn't that bad at all.
[/quote]

But to do it from a default windows install would involve 50 or so seperate bulletins.
[/quote]
No. For one, SP1 takes care of a lot of the patches. For the rest, you can download all of them at once from Windows Update like Yoni described.

There was about a week of downtime after some serious updates were posted on Windows Update.

Given the mass volume of windows users and consistent requirements for updates, I'm not surprised there are problems.

There is a button on the left called "Get help and support" -> from there, goto Windows Update troubleshooter.

That's got a decent amount of information on it.

Heads up: July 26th is Service Pack 2's release date, as per an internal announcement last week.
It's about 240+ megs at the moment.
I think that's RC1's size. The full service pack is only mere speculation, but I suspect it'll stay within 240-260 tops.

Any other questions or help required, send me a private message..I deal with this stuff every day.

There's a new update out. Kinda small.

New updates.

Service Pack 2 was released, RTM, on Friday.

Yesterday, as of 2pm, it was released publicly.

It is available at the Download Center.
It will be available today through Automatic Updates.

AU may get bottlenecked, since it's top downloads is 25,000.

They recorded over 250,000 downloads as soon as it was released, yesterday.

More and more servers are mirroring it.
Last count was 75+, worldwide.

Damnit, and all the computers I actually use are running Linux :D

http://download.microsoft.com/download/1/6/5/165b076b-aaa9-443d-84f0-73cf11fdcdf8/WindowsXP-KB835935-SP2-ENU.exe
Here's a link from microsoft if anyone wants it.