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Topic: Windows

A hidden Patch Tuesday gem: A Windows 7 hotfix rollup

Summary: Even though Microsoft supposedly is done releasing service packs for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, the company is still doing hotfix rollups.

Mary Jo Foley

By for All About Microsoft |

Although Microsoft never officially announced that the Windows team will no longer be issuing service packs, that's widely believed to be the case. (Supposedly, the faster Windows iterations, starting with Windows Blue and Windows Server Blue, will replace service packs.)

win7

As far as we Microsoft watchers know, Windows 7 Service Pack 1 was the one and only service pack for Windows 7 that Microsoft plans to release. (And Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 was the only SP planned for Windows Server 2008 R2, as far as we know.) But just because there are no more service packs, per se, doesn't mean the Softies aren't providing the rough equivalent of what consituted a service pack.

As part of the myriad fixes and updates that Microsoft released on March 13, this month's Patch Tuesday, is the Slow Boot Slow Login (SBSL) Hotfix Rollup for Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2. This is a rollup of 90 hotfixes that were released after SP1 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. These fixes improve overall performance and system reliability of both operating systems.

Included are improvements to the Distributed File System Namespaces (DFSN) client, Folder Redirection, Offline Files and Folders, Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), SMB client and Group Policy, as detailed on the Ask Premier Field Engineering Platforms blog. The recommended steps for deploying the hotfix on both the client and Windows Server also is explained on the blog. The Knowledge Base article lists all 90 of the included hotfixes.

The direct download of the rollup is available here.

As part of this week's Patch Tuesday updates, Microsoft also rolled out firmware updates for its Surface RT and Surface Pro tablet/PC hybrids.

Topics: Windows, Microsoft, Security, Windows Server

About

Mary Jo has covered the tech industry for more than 25 years for a variety of publications and Web sites, and is a frequent guest on radio, TV and podcasts, speaking about all things Microsoft-related. She is the author of Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft plans to stay relevant in the post-Gates era (John Wiley & Sons, 2008).

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37 comments
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  • With Windows 8 FAILING you'll see

    W-7 SP2

    W-7 SP3

    W-7 SP4

    W-7SP5

    Because the Surface line will never catch on - on the desktop....end of story
    Over and Out
    Reply 6 Votes

    • Surface has NOTHING to do with desktop...

      and considering XP stopped at SP3 (and that was released many years ago), your comments sound like ignorant blathering! This article is about an important Windows 7 update, and we don't need "troll" comments here!
      randysmith@...
      Reply 11 Votes

      • randysmith@... I'm sorry you don't agree

        ignorant blathering is in the eyes of the beholder..........I guess your probably blind........If you eliminate SP...all your doing is looking for another way to charge again for another new and usless OS like W-8
        Over and Out
        Reply Vote

        • Correction..

          ...you're...
          And I've been using Windows 8 for some time now. And it works.
          TheTorment
          Reply 1 Vote

    • There won't be...

      ...even a Service Pack 2, as far as we know. I recommend to read the article before posting silly known-it-all comments.
      sevenacids
      Reply 11 Votes

    • See Comment!

      @Exit Stage Right

      You have no life! That is evident.
      lwetzel
      Reply 10 Votes

      • lwetzel what I see is "You have no life! That is evident."

        Sp cost money and extend the life of a OS.........but when your OS is so bloated it no longer pays to kjeep OS up to date on your (M$) nickel.....cut the SP and make more

        Question for you....What did M$ cut out of W-8 that if you want it ....you pay a seperate charge for?
        Over and Out
        Reply 1 Vote

        • Apple OS

          Exit Stage Right what did Apple cut out of their OS that makes people want to pay for a "Mountain Lion" upgrade from 10.8.1 to "Mountain Lion" 10.8.2?
          Cazaril
          Reply 2 Votes

          • Cazaril...people who always pay the Apple tax want to be apart

            of the Apple gang, its as simple as that................hardware is great.......software is NO better than anything else and in some cases (browser) inferior.
            Over and Out
            Reply 1 Vote

          • Actually....

            You pay to go from 10.7 to 10.8 and not 10.8.1 to 10.8.2.
            Gisabun
            Reply Vote

        • @Exit Stage Right

          You are funny. I never paid anything for SP 1, 2 or 3 of Windows XP as well as for SP 1 of Windows 7.

          It seems some one fooled you into paying money.
          spicycheeks
          Reply 1 Vote

    • Errr....

      I guess you casn't read the first paragraph. Looks like no further service packs and since Win 7 full support dies in 2 years, unlikely we would see more than one service pack even if Microsoft was releasing them for Windows 7.
      Surface ain't Windows 8.
      Gisabun
      Reply Vote

  • M$ will still issue service packs

    Only they won't call them "service packs". They don't want you to know how bad their situation really is.

    ;)
    CaviarGreen
    Reply 2 Votes

    • As Does

      Apple, Google, and all Linux flavors. They don't call them "service packs" but they all serve the same purpose. They correct flaws.
      lwetzel
      Reply 7 Votes

    • All Companies have Hot-Fixes

      Apple and Google send them out quite often.

      Just last week, League of Legends had a hot-fix.
      ForeverCookie
      Reply 3 Votes

    • Errr....

      Go back to compiling your Linux binaries.
      Gisabun
      Reply Vote

  • Enterprise Only

    This appears to be an enterprise only Windows 7 update, according to the linked blog. Given that there are no doubt many home users who will come to this article via the ZDNet newsletter link, a note here of that rather significant distinction would be useful, so that we are not misled in going after this update.
    thewhitedog
    Reply 2 Votes

    • yep. should I or shouldn't I do this?

      I am a remote employee. Part of the deal with my corporate notebook is I do my own updates. That means my notebook is NOT part of a Windows Server domain. Remotely, I access the corporate network via a VPN and often use RDP to run a PC at the corporate end, or I can map network shares to my notebook. The rare occasions I am on site, I pretty much do the same thing.

      Therefore my notebook is more your typical peer to peer Windows workgroup machine. Is there any advantage to installing this Win7 hotfix roll-up?
      Jim Johnson
      Reply Vote

  • Although directed towards the "enterprise" users,

    the hotfix rollup might be of benefit for anyone running Windows 7 SP1. Note that SP1 is a required prerequisite. There are separate downloads for Windows 7 32 bit and 64 bit (and one for Windows Server 2008 R2). The download method is not via the usual Windows Update options - the link MJF provides goes to a Microsoft download site, and the .exe downloaded expands into a .msu "stand-alone" installer (so it's the .msu file actually run). Not surprisingly, it does require a reboot. For a more detailed description of the changes, see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2775511/en-us . Thanks Mary Jo!
    randysmith@...
    Reply 4 Votes

  • So it's not part of WSUS ?

    So this update will not by default install as part of Windows update services? Why wouldn't they deploy this???
    Curt-100
    Reply 3 Votes
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