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Microsoft .NET Patch May Make PCs Go "Haywire"
yuna49 writes "Various people are reporting that the MS07-040 patch for .NET released on Tuesday can cause a variety of seemingly unrelated problems. According to the SANS Internet Storm Center 'the reports we got so far seem not to lead to any specific thing that happens in many cases, just various things going haywire.' Some commentators on The Register's report of this story indicate that the patch failed to install at all, while others report things like the mouse suddenly failing to work or long periods of hard drive thrashing. In some cases a hard reboot seems to fix the problem, but other reports suggest that a reinstallation of the .NET framework itself is required. The problems may be related to the MSCORSVW.EXE process which recompiles all the .NET assemblies when the patch is downloaded. While the recompilations are supposed to run as a background task, in some instances the recompilation will drive the processor to 100% usage."
Same here. I imagine this story has inspired many a resounding "d'oh!"
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
Well, I can't admit to seeing any issues here, not that it denies the existence of them elsewhere.
I'm quite surprised that this doesn't happen more often, actually. The last time I remember a problem with a Windows Update that made the news was sometime towards the end of last year. Someone can correct me, though, if they feel the need.
"It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him." - Tolkien
And this is why I sit on patches for at least a couple of weeks.
"Declined"
Don't Tread on Me
When this 100% cpu utilization was happening I called up Process Explorer http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/util ities/ProcessExplorer.mspx
in some instances the recompilation will drive the processor to 100% usage
No, kidding ? You mean the background task don't deliberately leave CPU cycles for the sake of increasing idle time ? Amazing.
This kind of summary don't push me hard to RTFA.
I installed this on my Windows 2000 box yesterday and I haven't seen any problems so far. *shrug* Maybe it's just a Win XP thing.
others report things like the mouse suddenly failing to work or long periods of hard drive thrashing. In some cases a hard reboot seems to fix the problem, but other reports suggest that a reinstallation of the .NET framework itself is required
;)
Wait; so, random failures, hard drive thrashing, rebooting and/or reinstalling works? Isn't that the normal user experience in Windows anyhow?
DUPE!
Returned Peace Corps IT Volunteer
For a minute there, it sounded like Microsoft had moved to Gentoo for their package management... ;)
Disclaimer: I use and like Gentoo, for all its misgivings, so no flames please!
Moderation Total: -1 Troll, +3 Goat
While the recompilations are supposed to run as a background task, in some instances the recompilation will drive the processor to 100% usage.
Sounds like Microsoft are Secretly Monopolizing the CPU Without Being Root
They'd better not have nicked my code or they're in trouble. It's GPL 3 I'll have you know...
Summation 2
A background task that's taking 100% cpu is perfectly fine, so long as it is a background task and is running on a below normal priority.
I frequently make processes that run at 100% CPU run as a background task.
thank God the internet isn't a human right.
Wed morning? The day before was patch tuesday. Why is your company installing patches on production servers they day they come out?
You should have a test machine set up and run ALL new patches on it for at least a few days to make sure they don't hork anything up before rolling them out to production machines.
Mine's been trying to install the same patch on shutdown for about 3 days now... is it related? How can I find out what its trying to install? Should I just install Gentoo again!?!
Come on... We all know the routine here on M$ boxes... Reboot it a couple times until we realize it is shot... Stick in the repair cd so that it can finish the job of killing it... Then wax the whole thing and reinstall... Explain to the user that all their data is gone and when they get that "deer caught in headlights" look, tell them they should have backed up to their data... Hm... Missing anything here??
Just a typical day in windows land...
Should I just install Gentoo again!?!
Didn't read the rest of your note, but yes.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
1) Retry
2) Restart
3) Reboot
4) Reconfigure
5) Repatch
6) Reinstall (app)
7) Reformat
8) Rebuild (os + app)
9) Retry (everything from 1-8)
10) Relinquish/Reassign/Reject (project/task)
11) Resign
12) Resume/Resumé
On the other hand, a broken partition table due to a random hardware error (or any other bug causing a write there) would probably not be detected until the next reboot anyway.
Friday 13th, anyone?
How anyone would install an MS patch without first performing some exocism and have a Voodoo priest sacrifice a chicken is beyond me anyway. I have been doing this for years now and so far, no incompatibilities.
Ok, using Ubuntu and Gentoo might have something to do with it, too, but I'm fairly confident of my chicken patching technique.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
You know things are getting bad when even supposedly technical types start to use this kind of language. In a few years we can expect to see serious techie-to-techie channels postings saying things like "The CPU went kerblooie" and "The disk became discombobulated" and "Don't apply this patch if you're not a real computer genius..."
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
If your processor is going to be recompiling stuff constantly anyway, you might aswell use Gentoo ;).
If you follow the update KB article, you'll find MS has already found issues with the update.
.NET 2.0, reinstall .NET 2.0 and try to update again. Sounds kind of cyclical to me.
See:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928365/
Which leads to:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923100/
and
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/934711/
and
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923101/
and
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/934793/
and
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931846/
923100 says if you get hosed doing the update, uninstall
machinator omnis sine licentia
I'm another victim, I think. On Wednesday I noticed that several of my applications that use the .NET framework stopped working, such as avi.net, paint.net and Audacity. Then, when I tried to update iTunes I got a message about the .NET installations being "incomplete".
.NET framwork(s) and finally had to uninstall/reinstall all the .NET stuff. I had to reboot several times during the process. Then it really got weird.
I tried reinstalling the apps, which didn't work, then I tried to "repair" the
I've been thinking that MS would come up with something that would make XP less useful - some sort of bug or new type of unpatchable vulnerability to force Windows users to adopt Vista. Maybe this is the beginning of the end of XP.
You are welcome on my lawn.
This seems stupid. If you're going to suggest Linux, at least tell him to install it.
Upon installing patches on wednesday in vista, my system BSOD'd. I was happy to see the familiar screen in vista. It brought back so many memories.
MidnightBSD: The BSD for Everyone
Possibly this is all part of a drive to get people with no technical experience to buy new computers. If you apply patches, Microsoft has control over how fast your computer runs.
For example, Problems with an important Windows component, svchost.exe, can consume up to 100% of CPU time.
On one computer with which I am familiar, the RPC service takes 30%-70% of the CPU time.
I'm not saying Microsoft managers deliberately slow computers. I'm saying that maybe they are not particularly intense about fixing bugs that slow computers.
I'm not the only person who thinks that may be an issue. See this quote from the parent comment: "I've been thinking that MS would come up with something that would make XP less useful - some sort of bug or new type of unpatchable vulnerability to force Windows users to adopt Vista. Maybe this is the beginning of the end of XP."
For a lot of us, using Microsoft software has the feeling of partnering with an enemy.
The person who wrote the parent comment could fix the problem himself. Most people, maybe 99% of Windows XP users, could not. Most people who find that there computer is running very slow will buy another computer. The New York Times article Corrupted PC's Find New Home makes that point.
Not if he installs this patch.
My refridgerator has been leaking and not catching water in the drip pan ... is it related? How can I find out what its doing? Should I just install Gentoo again!?!