Microsoft Forces Shutdown of Autopatcher

kaufmanmoore writes "Posts on Neowin and Autopatcher's site announce Microsoft has forced the closure of the Autopatcher download section. Details are scarce as to the exact reason for the take down after over 4 years of availability, but an official from Microsoft legal says that it has nothing to do with Windows Genuine Advantage. Goodbye to another useful tool that helped sysadmins apply Microsoft's numerous patches."

Comments

One down, X to go.

[c0l0]

Whilst skimming over the About-Section of the page, this tool's description reminded me of heise's "offline update" ( http://www.heise-security.co.uk/articles/80682 ). It's an alternative tool, allowing the download of selected Microsoft Windows update packs for later, offline (re-)use. Nice to have - if you're still on Windows, that is. Wonder if/when it's gonna be shot down as well.

Re:One down, X to go.

[Anonymous Coward]

since autopatcher was mainly used on new installs.

Can you please back this up? The sheer fact that they released "full releases" & patches to bring a full release back up-to-date suggests people used it PERIODICALLY (e.g. for updates, rather than new installs). Many admins I know put it on a USB stick & kept it up-to-date for BOTH new installs & updates.Loads of similar tools (like WindizUpdate and many others) and tools like MS' WSUS (free too) to do the job anyways.No--these require a stable, fast network too. AutoPatcher could be used REGARDLESS of network status, restrictions, etc.

Re:One down, X to go.

[Lt.Hawkins]

offline update is terrific; its basically a script that wgets the patches directly from Microsoft, and can work incrementally after each patch tuesday. it'll create an ISO for you, or just have it store the patches in a directory with an auto-installer.

I even customized it (its source is available) to download an unlisted windows language.

Re:One down, X to go.

[mrbcs]

This works for the last release: http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=autop atcher+mirrors&btnG=Search&meta=/

I like this one better though:CT Update http://www.vulnerabilityassessment.co.uk/ctupdate. htm/

Are they making the arguement that.....

[8127972]

... this is some sort of DMCA violation? That's bizarre because Microsoft has known about them for some time and according to their site, they didn't care:

"Q: Is AutoPatcher legal?
A: Yes, Antonis Kaladis (our project manager) once spoke to a Microsoft employee and apparently they know about us but don't care what we do! The AutoPatcher project has been going strong since 2003 and never had a sniff of trouble from Microsoft."

From http://www.autopatcher.com/faq/

Torrent links here for August ...

[trolltalk.com]

http://autopatcher.m2ys4u.co.uk/mystats.php

http://autopatcher.m2ys4u.co.uk/torrents/AutoPatch er_DirectX_Aug07_x86_ENU_Addon.exe.torrent
http://autopatcher.m2ys4u.co.uk/torrents/AutoPatch er_Extras_Jul07_x86_ENU_Addon.exe.torrent\
http://autopatcher.m2ys4u.co.uk/torrents/AutoPatch er_Office02_Aug07_ENU_Core.exe.torrent
http://autopatcher.m2ys4u.co.uk/torrents/AutoPatch er_Office03_Aug07_ENU_Core.exe.torrent
http://autopatcher.m2ys4u.co.uk/torrents/AutoPatch er_Office07_Aug07_ENU_Core.exe.torrent
http://autopatcher.m2ys4u.co.uk/torrents/AutoPatch er_OfficePack_Aug07_ENU_Addon.exe.torrent
http://autopatcher.m2ys4u.co.uk/torrents/AutoPatch er_Win2K3_Aug07_x86_ENU_Core.exe.torrent
http://autopatcher.m2ys4u.co.uk/torrents/AutoPatch er_Win2K_Aug07_ENU_Core.exe.torrent
http://autopatcher.m2ys4u.co.uk/torrents/AutoPatch er_WinVista_Jul07_Core.exe.torrent
http://autopatcher.m2ys4u.co.uk/torrents/AutoPatch er_WinX64_Jul07_x64_ENU_Core.exe.torrent
http://autopatcher.m2ys4u.co.uk/torrents/AutoPatch er_WinXP_Aug07_x86_ENU_Core.exe.torrent
http://autopatcher.m2ys4u.co.uk/torrents/AutoPatch er_WinXP_MCE2005_May07_x86_ENU_Addon.exe.torrent
http://autopatcher.m2ys4u.co.uk/torrents/AutoPatch er_WinXP_WMP10_May07_x86_ENU_Addon.exe.torrent

Found via google cache :-)

It was good, but

[Toreo asesino]

Patches can be slipstreamed anyway, and for the mother of all 'off-line patching systems' there's Windows Server Update Services.

That said, the overall rhetoric of this move still isn't nice. AutoPatcher was at the very least, a handy tool for people that didn't know about the above methods, and to leave it 4 years in the game before sending in the lawyers isn't a nice way of treating the user community. A shame if you ask me.

Re:Are the patch installers still available?

[Anonymous Coward]

http://autopatcher.m2ys4u.co.uk/mystats.php

Windizupdate

[witte]

You can find windows updates thru http://windizupdate.62nds.com/
I hardly use IE, and this updates through Firefox.
Which is of course very neat. *cough*firefox fan*cough*

From Neowin

[Anonymous Coward]

I had a call from Microsoft Legal this morning and they have told me that we are no longer allowed to endorse AutoPatcher on Neowin.

Microsoft will only allow updates to be downloaded from its own servers.

AutoPatcher started in 2003 and has been redistributed in some of the worlds best computer magazine cover CD/DVD's. I have no explanation for why Microsoft allowed it to continue unchecked for 4 years before making this decision.

I asked the representative if Windows Genuine Advantage had anything to do with it and he categorically told me this was not the case, he added that Windows Update for pre-Vista versions of Windows can now be accessed using Firefox and that the concern at Microsoft had more to do with the possible malicious code that could be redistributed with certified Microsoft updates.

We have no grounds to challenge the decision by Microsoft.

I'd like to thank the whole AutoPatcher team for their continued work, unfortunately none of the team is online, but they have been contacted via the AutoPatcher.com website by Microsoft Legal.

The AutoPatcher forums on Neowin have been disabled for guests and members.

Update: A Microsoft representative has told Neowin that he is looking into the matter and will try to get some answers. More to follow.

It seems like a reasonable request.

Re:Are the patch installers still available?

[shitzu]

http://www.heise-security.co.uk/articles/80682 The script downloads the patches from MS site and you can then burn it to cd or copy to usb or network. And apply them all at once. Works like charm.

Still many useful tools

[ThanatosMinor]

I have found that a combination of Heise Security's ctupdate and nLite can be used to create a very nice custom Windows installation CD that not only includes any updates you choose to include, but you can also specify a large number of custom registry settings that will be set when you install.
Is very nice

Contact MS here

[Darthmalt]

Via the Autopatcher torrent page Be polite

Captcha = Bypass
thought it appropriate

What about the DVD ISO on MS's download page?

[Arctech]

I haven't heard of this before, (just found it, actually), but would this be a reasonable facsimile?
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=913086&SD=tech

Re:What about the DVD ISO on MS's download page?

[planckscale]

It looks like, for example, the latest August 2007 2GB .iso release contains 10 updates with support for XP (x64), Server 2003 (x64/Itanium), windows 2000 and Vista (x64) in all languages. It would take a lot of downloading of every .iso release to get every patch released since SP2...

Re:Morons.

[William-Ely]

I used it a lot as a PC tech. Microsoft might not realize that some people use dial-up still and downloading large updates isn't really practical. With Autopatcher all I had to do was pop in a CD or a thumb drive and get down to business patching up Windows. At least then I could be sure that when I left my clients computer fully patched up no matter what their connection was like. Way to go MS.

/em Pours out a '40 for the departed Autopatcher ; ;

Re:Should have bought and funded it instead

[LurkerXXX]

Why fund it? They already make and give out WSUS for free.

Just grab the script from MS that does it for you.

[JediJorgie]

MSDN's Version:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-US/library/aa387102. aspx

My modified version that forces cscript.exe and adds an /auto switch:
http://b0n.us/WUA_SearchDownloadInstall.vbs

It usually takes 3 times with reboots in between to get all the patches.

It will use your WSUS settings and get the patches from a local server if you have one.

Yes, they are VBS, don't run them without reading them and understanding them!

jorgie

SP3

[Enderandrew]

I have a copy of the Windows XP SP3 pre-beta. If you really look, you can find it is as well. It is very official, and stable for a beta. However unlike SP1 and SP2 it doesn't offer anything new. It is merely a collection of 900 fixes. Oddly enough, even though IE7 is considered a critical update, it isn't in SP3. So when I made my latest slipstreamed install CD, I still had to add WMP11 and IE7 seperately to the disc. I'm wondering if SP3 will add new functionality after pre-beta status. For instance, I heard the native CD-burning in XP will be upgraded to DVD burning like Vista.

Re:Understatement of the Month.

[pallmall1]

Not even close. I hate Windows as much as the next guy, but the simple fact is that Linux is not appropriate to 80+% of people's usage.

The modern distributions of linux beat windows (any flavor) hands-down. It's easier to install a kubuntu system from a DVD/CD than it is to install any version of windows. Kubuntu is also easier to update, more secure, and more reliable than windows. It also works better with most users existing peripherals (cellphones/PDAs, printers, etc) than Vista does. It's also easier to switch from XP to a kde-based linux distribution than it is to switch from XP to Vista.

Things have changed, and you should really get updated yourself.

Re:How 'bout getting that in writing next time?

[afidel]

You don't even need to call anymore, just go to this form and you can get the non regression tested hotfixes by email! Include platform because they will want it even if there is only one applicable fix in the KB article.

Re:Should have bought and funded it instead

[Technician]

They can make using their products downright miserable

Tell me about it.

My wife bought a new Vista laptop for her Masters classes. A simple request was to transfer some files and documents to and from our network SMB fileserver (A stand alone product).

They changed the default authentication protocol. It can't log in to any server using a password unless you either upgrade the server or downgrade Vists (not recommended by Microsoft) The server is an embedded Linux appliance (SimpleTech SimpleShare NAS).

The next simple task was to connect to my LAN printers. They hang on the LAN using the well established IPP interface with an address of IPP://192.168.1.101/lp1 and IPP://192.168.1.102/lp1. It took 4 hours and lots of Google searches to find out how to enter a non-IIS printserver address into Vista.

To make it easy, you leave off the IPP:// and put in the IP address and leave off the /lp1. On another page, you change from raw to LPT and put in the port name of lp1. Simple but not intuitive. To make matters even easier, noplace in Vista does it refer to it as Internet Printing Protocol. They just call it Network Printing. Very intuitive and user friendly.

Ubunto was much simpler to connect to these Windows printers. (an HP laserjet and HP inkjet) on garden variety stand alone hardware Print servers using IPP. (Hawking Technology Print servers)

Why would Microsoft make it much harder on Vista Home to connect to a home network and printers? It makes no sense to me.

It's almost like they designed it to be easier to use Ubuntu at home. It is much easier to use Ubuntu at home than Vista. Vista kept interrupting for a Java Update, Sound system Update, AV update and reregistration, and a few other things got in the way of setting up LAN settings and configuring 2 printers. Ubuntu was much better in that also. A single small notification popped up letting me know there were updates available. The small notification did not cover my applications in Ubuntu or force a reboot to close the notification.