altermatt
Premium
join:2004-01-22
White Plains, NY
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| "Update Windows"??
After checking for a few days that no one's computer blew up with the out-of-cycle MS updates, went to the MU site. Was greeted by a message that before I could run updates, I had to "update some Windows component needed for updates to run". And a button that says "Update Windows".
Now, in the past some message similar to this usually meant a WGA notification push (I do have WGA enabled, but not notifications). But somehow the wording of this seemed very suspicious; it just didn't sound quite like the messages I've seen requiring an update to the MS update software in the past. And since my computer was showing some hinky behavior in the last couple of days (multiple scans with Symantec corporate, MalwareBytes, Panda's online tool, and SuperAntiSpy all come up clean and nothing funny in HJT, TCPview or ProcExp), I just closed the window without updating.
Did anyone else get such a message with this last round of updates? It's not mentioned in the thread here announcing the updates, which made me all the more suspicious.
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The truth of a thing is the feel of it, not the think of it. -- Stanley Kubrick |
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darcilicious
Cyber Librarian
Premium
join:2001-01-02
Forest Grove, OR | Which OS?
Any reason why you're not running the local update tool instead of going to a website? |
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jefe
Premium
join:2001-05-19
Northport, NY | reply to altermatt
I got the same message, ran the component update, ran the rest of the updates, pressed on. No problems. |
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altermatt
Premium
join:2004-01-22
White Plains, NY
·Verizon Online DSL
| jefe, thanks. I was a tad paranoid here because it just sounded differently worded that past notices to update the update software, and with my computer showing some odd behavior a few times over the last few days (though all scans, etc. come up clean, and I'm super careful about security stuff), I just figured better safe than sorry.
darcilicious, I don't run Auto Updates because (see previous para) I like as much control over my computer as possible. I run MU through the great MU bat file published here ages ago; it starts AU and BITS, goes to the MU site where I can pick and choose what I want to install, and, when I close the site, shuts down AU and BITS again. Nice and clean.
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The truth of a thing is the feel of it, not the think of it. -- Stanley Kubrick |
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darcilicious
Cyber Librarian
Premium
join:2001-01-02
Forest Grove, OR
 ·Verizon FIOS
| I don't run auto updates either -- but I can still use the local Windows Update client to see what's there and select the ones I want. It would be an alternative for those times when you're feeling paranoid about the website  |
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altermatt
Premium
join:2004-01-22
White Plains, NY
·Verizon Online DSL
| That's an interesting point, but I think my (probably over-paranoid) concern was not that I was requesting the proper website (MU bat has the addy hard-coded) but that somehow I got a hijack, even though my hostfile is read-only, I'm running Open DNS, I checked the ip addy, etc. In that case, even using the local client wouldn't help, would it? In other words, both it and MU.bat are calling the right URL, but couldn't something redirect that call to another site?
I think I'm getting carried away . My real concern was that no one mentioned seeing this in the thread on the out-of-cycle updates, so I worried.
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The truth of a thing is the feel of it, not the think of it. -- Stanley Kubrick |
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MSeng
Premium,Ex-Mod 2001-08
join:2000-07-13
Ork
clubs:
·AT&T U-Verse
| I wonder if you were seeing the update to the latest version of the Windows Update Agent?
»support.microsoft.com/kb/949104
Mentioned here - »[Vista] Windows Update Agent 7.4.7600.226 - Anybody else seeing
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If things get any worse, I'll have to ask you to stop helping me. |
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altermatt
Premium
join:2004-01-22
White Plains, NY
·Verizon Online DSL
| That may be; I'm on XP, if that makes a difference.
Meanwhile, the hinkiness on the desktop (I'm on my laptop now) has gotten much worse, and if all the scans, etc. weren't totally clean, I'd suspect an infection (would be my first in decades of computing).
I'm going to post a separate question about it in the MS Help forum; when I log on as either user or admin, it acts as if I'm not me and doesn't let me open anything by clicking, but if I do a "run as" and enter the very same user credentials, it opens. Will post, didn't mean to hijack my own thread  .
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The truth of a thing is the feel of it, not the think of it. -- Stanley Kubrick |
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MomOfARocker
join:2009-06-07
Canada | reply to altermatt
I got the exact same message. I accepted the update did my other updates and all is working fine here. |
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beefy
It's A Dog's Life
join:2001-02-04
Burlington, ON
| reply to MSeng
MSeng
I received that update October 1/09. Updated with no problems.
U/I is slightly different and took a little time to get used to.
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It's as clear as mud--but, it covers the ground
Visit CanChat! |
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altermatt
Premium
join:2004-01-22
White Plains, NY
·Verizon Online DSL
| Thanks, everyone; I'll trust this, then. Maybe it will even solve the common problem of it taking forever scanning for updates when you choose "custom".
My computer's hinkiness, that made me so paranoid, turned out to be a sudden glitch in ZAP and all is well now.
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The truth of a thing is the feel of it, not the think of it. -- Stanley Kubrick |
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EGeezer
Freezin Season
Premium
join:2002-08-04
Country!
 ·Callcentric
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| Using my Microsoft update bookmark, I just now went to the site to look for updates. I got a popup asking me to run an updater program published by Microsoft Corporation. I OK'd it, Netstat shows no unusual connections, activity or alerts from my security applications.
I conclude it's legitimate.
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The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding. -- Justice Louis D. Brandeis |
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altermatt
Premium
join:2004-01-22
White Plains, NY
·Verizon Online DSL
| The icing on the cake; thanks, EGeezer, will do soon as I finish this project, which was delayed while I was troubleshooting the acting-up computer.
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The truth of a thing is the feel of it, not the think of it. -- Stanley Kubrick |
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