Windows Update Agent 7.6.7600.256

Just got this installed automatically without any intervention, although
I have Windows Update set to warn me before downloading and installing.
I saw it coming in during boot and wondered if malware had found its way
in.

Very naughty of Microsoft to do this without any warning. They really
respect their user base, don't they?

--

Jeff

On 6/23/2012 6:00 AM, Jeff Layman wrote:
Just got this installed automatically without any intervention, although
I have Windows Update set to warn me before downloading and installing.
I saw it coming in during boot and wondered if malware had found its way
in.

Very naughty of Microsoft to do this without any warning. They really
respect their user base, don't they?


I don't see a problem here. A Windows Update and the Windows Update
Agent that controls Windows Updates are two different things. And I
wouldn't trust the user base on this either and do it without their
approval. Hell 99.9% of them don't have a clue about securing the
machine in the first place.

In article , lid
says...

Just got this installed automatically without any intervention, although
I have Windows Update set to warn me before downloading and installing.
I saw it coming in during boot and wondered if malware had found its way
in.

Very naughty of Microsoft to do this without any warning. They really
respect their user base, don't they?

This update secures the update mechanism and fixes some issues that were
exploited by the Flame virus. I'd consider it a hyper-important update.
Without it, a virus could disable Windows Update entirely.

--
If there is a no_junk in my address, please REMOVE it before replying!
All junk mail senders will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the
law!!
http://home.comcast.net/~andyross

In message , Big Steel
writes:
On 6/23/2012 6:00 AM, Jeff Layman wrote:
Just got this installed automatically without any intervention, although
I have Windows Update set to warn me before downloading and installing.
I saw it coming in during boot and wondered if malware had found its way
in.

Very naughty of Microsoft to do this without any warning. They really
respect their user base, don't they?


I don't see a problem here. A Windows Update and the Windows Update
Agent that controls Windows Updates are two different things. And I
wouldn't trust the user base on this either and do it without their
approval. Hell 99.9% of them don't have a clue about securing the
machine in the first place.

While as Andrew Rossmann says this is an important update, I think Jeff
still has a point; an update is an update, whether it's to the update
agent itself or to anything else. The update agent is still (possibly an
optional, I don't know) part of Windows, and thus any change to it is
arguably still a Windows update. (Or A Windows Update, For Those With An
Obsession With Capitalizing Everything.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

"There are a great many people in the country today who, through no fault of
their own, are sane." - Monty Python's Flying Circus

On 6/23/2012 10:16 AM, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
In message , Big Steel
writes:
On 6/23/2012 6:00 AM, Jeff Layman wrote:
Just got this installed automatically without any intervention, although
I have Windows Update set to warn me before downloading and installing.
I saw it coming in during boot and wondered if malware had found its way
in.

Very naughty of Microsoft to do this without any warning. They really
respect their user base, don't they?


I don't see a problem here. A Windows Update and the Windows Update
Agent that controls Windows Updates are two different things. And I
wouldn't trust the user base on this either and do it without their
approval. Hell 99.9% of them don't have a clue about securing the
machine in the first place.

While as Andrew Rossmann says this is an important update, I think Jeff
still has a point; an update is an update, whether it's to the update
agent itself or to anything else. The update agent is still (possibly an
optional, I don't know) part of Windows, and thus any change to it is
arguably still a Windows update. (Or A Windows Update, For Those With An
Obsession With Capitalizing Everything.)

If you gave the end-user the choice on this, they would blow it 99.9% of
the time like they do everything else.

In message , Big Steel
writes:
On 6/23/2012 10:16 AM, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
In message , Big Steel
writes:
On 6/23/2012 6:00 AM, Jeff Layman wrote:
Just got this installed automatically without any intervention, although
I have Windows Update set to warn me before downloading and installing.
I saw it coming in during boot and wondered if malware had found its way
in.

Very naughty of Microsoft to do this without any warning. They really
respect their user base, don't they?


I don't see a problem here. A Windows Update and the Windows Update
Agent that controls Windows Updates are two different things. And I
wouldn't trust the user base on this either and do it without their
approval. Hell 99.9% of them don't have a clue about securing the
machine in the first place.

While as Andrew Rossmann says this is an important update, I think Jeff
still has a point; an update is an update, whether it's to the update
agent itself or to anything else. The update agent is still (possibly an
optional, I don't know) part of Windows, and thus any change to it is
arguably still a Windows update. (Or A Windows Update, For Those With An
Obsession With Capitalizing Everything.)

If you gave the end-user the choice on this, they would blow it 99.9%
of the time like they do everything else.

Couldn't agree more. However, if you're going to imply that the option
is _there_ to turn off automatic updating, then having exceptions - no
matter what they are - is dishonest.

One wonders why the option to turn off auto-update at all survived into
Windows 7. (Well, I don't, but I'm sure many do.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Would you like to go to the moon? I'd love to have gone. You'd need a very
massive rocket to launch me, of course. But I had no chance - I was the wrong
age, the wrong nationality ... Patrick Moore, in Radio Times 3-9 February 2007.

On 23/06/2012 11:28, Big Steel wrote:
On 6/23/2012 6:00 AM, Jeff Layman wrote:
Just got this installed automatically without any intervention, although
I have Windows Update set to warn me before downloading and installing.
I saw it coming in during boot and wondered if malware had found its way
in.

Very naughty of Microsoft to do this without any warning. They really
respect their user base, don't they?


I don't see a problem here. A Windows Update and the Windows Update
Agent that controls Windows Updates are two different things. And I
wouldn't trust the user base on this either and do it without their
approval. Hell 99.9% of them don't have a clue about securing the
machine in the first place.

The point is that Microsoft should have announced this in a pop-up box
after logon. Something like "A very important security update has been
automatically downloaded and installed, even if your update setting is
to not allow automatic updating." Arguing over the semantics of whether
it is an update or not is pointless - something was downloaded and
installed which changed the OS. Whether you call that an update or not
does not matter; that it happened without warning is what matters.

Noticing the damn thing coming in when it did is worrying, as it almost
certainly was downloaded and installed before my antivirus program ran,
as it was so early on during the boot process.

--

Jeff

On 6/23/2012 1:44 PM, nothing but net wrote:
On Sat, 23 Jun 2012 16:35:01 +0100, Jeff Layman
posted:

On 23/06/2012 11:28, Big Steel wrote:
On 6/23/2012 6:00 AM, Jeff Layman wrote:
Just got this installed automatically without any intervention, although
I have Windows Update set to warn me before downloading and installing.
I saw it coming in during boot and wondered if malware had found its way
in.

Very naughty of Microsoft to do this without any warning. They really
respect their user base, don't they?


I don't see a problem here. A Windows Update and the Windows Update
Agent that controls Windows Updates are two different things. And I
wouldn't trust the user base on this either and do it without their
approval. Hell 99.9% of them don't have a clue about securing the
machine in the first place.

The point is that Microsoft should have announced this in a pop-up box
after logon. Something like "A very important security update has been
automatically downloaded and installed, even if your update setting is
to not allow automatic updating." Arguing over the semantics of whether
it is an update or not is pointless - something was downloaded and
installed which changed the OS. Whether you call that an update or not
does not matter; that it happened without warning is what matters.

Noticing the damn thing coming in when it did is worrying, as it almost
certainly was downloaded and installed before my antivirus program ran,
as it was so early on during the boot process.


You noticed it that time - just think of all the other times.

So, you should check to see if you are connected to the internet
before your security programs (firewall/AV/whatever) start. If
connected first, you need new security programs or do some
reconfiguring. That will take care of the worrying part.

That won't stop anything as far as a solicited inbound traffic request
that was requested by outbound traffic from a program running on the
machine behind the firewall that imitated the contact. That Update Agent
sent outbound traffic to see if it needed to be updated. It determined
that a new version was there, and it requested the traffic.

The last I heard the Windows Firewall is the only personal firewall
solution that can get the the connection first during the boot process
to protect the machine from unsolicited inbound traffic on connection to
a network. No other personal FW solution can do it on the MS platform.

I have Windows Update disabled. I control updates. I trust myself a
bit more than I trust that MS will do me a favor. Does that make me
part of the 99.9% or the 0.1%?

Just now restarted to see if the disable would get overridden - did
not.

Well if you have disabled it, then of course its not going to do it,
that is to check that there is a new version of the Agent. On the other
hand, I have notification only enabled with Windows Update, and I
control when the updates for other things not related to the Update Agent.


As far as the Update Agent updating itself without notification, myself
I am not concerned about it.

On 23/06/2012 18:44, nothing but net wrote:
On Sat, 23 Jun 2012 16:35:01 +0100, Jeff Layman

(snip)


Noticing the damn thing coming in when it did is worrying, as it almost
certainly was downloaded and installed before my antivirus program ran,
as it was so early on during the boot process.


You noticed it that time - just think of all the other times.

So, you should check to see if you are connected to the internet
before your security programs (firewall/AV/whatever) start. If
connected first, you need new security programs or do some
reconfiguring. That will take care of the worrying part.

I have Windows Update disabled. I control updates. I trust myself a
bit more than I trust that MS will do me a favor. Does that make me
part of the 99.9% or the 0.1%?

Just now restarted to see if the disable would get overridden - did
not.

It's a good point about not connecting to the internet and/or turning
updates off completely until the AV has started.

But at some time or other you will switch updating on to get some update
you want. Then you will get the Windows Update Agent:

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=117301"

"If Windows Update or Automatic Updates is turned on, the latest version
of the Windows Update Agent will be automatically downloaded and
installed on your computer."

--

Jeff

On 6/23/2012 2:48 PM, Jeff Layman wrote:
On 23/06/2012 18:44, nothing but net wrote:
On Sat, 23 Jun 2012 16:35:01 +0100, Jeff Layman

(snip)


Noticing the damn thing coming in when it did is worrying, as it almost
certainly was downloaded and installed before my antivirus program ran,
as it was so early on during the boot process.


You noticed it that time - just think of all the other times.

So, you should check to see if you are connected to the internet
before your security programs (firewall/AV/whatever) start. If
connected first, you need new security programs or do some
reconfiguring. That will take care of the worrying part.

I have Windows Update disabled. I control updates. I trust myself a
bit more than I trust that MS will do me a favor. Does that make me
part of the 99.9% or the 0.1%?

Just now restarted to see if the disable would get overridden - did
not.

It's a good point about not connecting to the internet and/or turning
updates off completely until the AV has started.

That is not going to stop anything, and the AV vendor writers do not
have the means to go to the O/S and request that it doesn't allow
connections until some AV starts. The only solution that the Windows O/S
is going to wait for before it allows connections on a network is the
Windows firewall.

But at some time or other you will switch updating on to get some update
you want. Then you will get the Windows Update Agent:

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=117301"

"If Windows Update or Automatic Updates is turned on, the latest version
of the Windows Update Agent will be automatically downloaded and
installed on your computer."


I would say they Windows Update Agent has to be enabled, and it's going
to check for a new version by itself and it doesn't matter what setting
is controlling the updates auto or not.

Jeff Layman wrote:
Just got this installed automatically without any intervention, although
I have Windows Update set to warn me before downloading and installing.
I saw it coming in during boot and wondered if malware had found its way
in.

Very naughty of Microsoft to do this without any warning. They really
respect their user base, don't they?

Mine required my ok to download and install the updated
download and update installer, 7.6.7600.256.
Otherwise it would not download the other, normal, updates
which also take me ok'ing each one to download and install.

On 23/06/2012 20:12, Paul in Houston TX wrote:
Jeff Layman wrote:
Just got this installed automatically without any intervention, although
I have Windows Update set to warn me before downloading and installing.
I saw it coming in during boot and wondered if malware had found its way
in.

Very naughty of Microsoft to do this without any warning. They really
respect their user base, don't they?

Mine required my ok to download and install the updated
download and update installer, 7.6.7600.256.
Otherwise it would not download the other, normal, updates
which also take me ok'ing each one to download and install.

I can only assume that normally WU tries to download updates in the
chronological order that Microsoft presents them. But in this case MS
were so concerned about malware downloading first that they stopped any
updates downloading until Windows Update Agent 7.6.7600.256 was
installed first. It's still surprising that WU asked for approval
before downloading and installing the WUA.

--

Jeff

On 6/24/2012 9:24 AM, Stan Brown wrote:

snipped

The only skills that little nym shifting clown has is racism and nym
sifting skills. But the clown can't change the nasty spots on its back
or its smell. It's a little lunatic clown that should be kept locked-up
but somehow it continues to slither out from its 4*4 padded cell.