Windows update KB3004394 issues

Question

Windows update KB3004394  causes the following issues on my Windows 7 x64 Ultimate system:

All MMC functions (Event Viewer, etc.) now require Administrator action, although in an Administrator account.

Windows Defender service will not start

The Windows Defender Service Terminated with the following error

%%-2147023113

Removing it  returns the system to normal.

Anyone else experience this?

Answer 1

Thanks for your comments, and for the link to the Oracle bug track. I note that one of the affected VB users was able to retain KB3004394 and still use VB by installing a later version ...

... the root cause analysis of this error indicated forced removal was necessary.

... the lack of a security catalog and the resulting inability to validate software signatures ... was simply untenable. 

If removal was necessary for all users, one or other of the KB articles should have said so in no uncertain terms. I managed to use my W7 machine as normal for a month with KB3004394 installed. The only problem I had was with that wretched WU that I didn't need. The fact that it considered itself more important than the five security updates it blocked is almost unbelievable.

I'm appallled at the lack of communication and explanation from Microsoft ... 

... a trend towards less openness, and further erosion of public confidence in MS patches.

I think we can all agree on this.

Answer 2

So now this episode is over until the next time. I find it exceedingly uncomfortable that the WU system is used like a weapon to beat me into submission. Even though it was obvious to me that I did not need KB3024777, WU was determined to shove it down my throat. It's like the worst kind of socialist policy we used to see here in England - 'if not everyone can have it, then no-one shall have it'. That's not a pretty badge for MSFT to be wearing.

jFiredog,

I submit that as knowledgeable as you may be in your MVP field, the root cause analysis of this error indicated forced removal was necessary.  I agree that it was forced.  I'm appallled at the lack of communication and explanation from Microsoft Security Response Center / Microsoft Update / Trucstworthy Computing groups. 

I have not experienced English socialism, but I do not see this as a "not everyone can have it, then no-one shall have it." situation.  If the VirtualBox bug tracking threadis to be believed, and I was able to duplicate their results, then the lack of a security catalog and the resulting inability to validate software signatures, with attendant impacts on whitelisting and system integrity features was simply untenable.  That would warrant the forced removal of kb3004394. 

For me, more info from MS would releive the bitter taste that the last 5 cycles of updates have left.  Staff replacements in MSRC, the loss of the Bulletins webcast and public Advance Notification Service demonstrate a trend towards less openness, and further erosion of public confidence in MS patches.

Respectfully,

Tom S.

Answer 3

Can you explain why I shouldn't just accept this situation and wait for the new version to be released?

OK, I've had to throw in the towel, and it's not a pleasant feeling.

• I didn't uninstall KB3004394.
• KB3024777 was downloaded and insisted on being installed at least once a day for a month. It could not be hidden, and it sat on my 'shut down' button waiting to catch me unawares.
• I had no problems that I could relate to having KB3004394 installed. Microsoft Update offered a new version of Silverlight, which installed successfully; definition updates for MSE have been automatically downloading and installing as usual.
• When January's Patch Tuesday came around, I waited 48 hours to see whether WU would offer this month's patches. Nothing happened.

I checked repeatedly for updates; only one was offered, KB3024777. I unhid the one update I hadn't installed in the past (KB2547666), then checked for updates again. Even that one unhidden one was not offered - still only KB3024777.

It was quite clear that the WU system was not going to allow me to patch my machine until KB3024777 had been installed, even though all it does is uninstall another update that I presumably ought to have and that was not causing any problems.

• I grasped the nettle and uninstalled KB3004394. After a reboot, four security updates for W7 were offered along with the old KB2547666 I had unhidden earlier. No sign of the previously so insistent KB3024777.
• Another reboot, and another batch of updates. These were all installed successfully.
• Yet another reboot, and the January MRT turned up at last. I let it run and rebooted again.

So now this episode is over until the next time. I find it exceedingly uncomfortable that the WU system is used like a weapon to beat me into submission. Even though it was obvious to me that I did not need KB3024777, WU was determined to shove it down my throat. It's like the worst kind of socialist policy we used to see here in England - 'if not everyone can have it, then no-one shall have it'. That's not a pretty badge for MSFT to be wearing.

Answer 4

I have been having the same problems.   I run a recording studio and can't have my computer running unreliably.  

What galls me the most is this is not the first time MS has screwed up my computer with faulty updates.   It will be the last though. 

Today I replaced my PC and all my programs with an apple system.  I recommend everyone else do the same until MS can get it's poop together.  

This may be a hardcore reaction, but when the company won't even acknowledge it's mistakes,  it's time to move on. 

Can't see the company keeping market share with this kind of conduct.

Cheers and good riddance!

Answer 5

Meanwhile I found KB3004394 in update-history and eliminated it.

My Pc is running again and - updating!