Windows XP Users Will Not Receive The Internet Explorer Bug Fix

Tech security firm FireEye recently identified a significant security flaw in the Internet Explorer browser application. According to them, this problem affects all Internet Explorer versions from IE 6 to IE 11. This means all the Windows OS users from Windows XP to Windows 8 are at risk.

What are these Microsoft problems reported by FireEye?

From reports published by FireEye, it is clear that there is some kind of technical bug affecting these Internet Explorer versions. Tech experts at FireEye are of the opinion that hackers can very easily take advantage of these flaws and take control of a user’s system.

This they might do in the following manner. The hacker will launch a website online that contains the necessary malicious coding. A link to this website will be then sent to the unsuspecting user. When the user clicks on this link from the Internet Explorer, the malicious code will make use of the flaw in the Internet Explorer browser and infect system files.

The hacker can then gain easy access to the user’s system and steal important financial information. So, clearly, this Internet Explorer technical bug is a system security risk.

Microsoft to release a solution for fixing the IE technical bug

Microsoft has been paying attention to these reports published by FireEye and has been working on a solution to rectify these Microsoft problems. Windows OS users will soon be provided with a patch file that will fix this problem in the Internet Explorer browser.

However, XP users will be left out from this list. Microsoft stopped supporting Windows XP on April 8, 2014. They feel that the thirteen year-old operating system is completely outdated, and that as such it is not practical to provide any more tech support to an obsolete product.

But XP users still amount to about 25% of the total Windows OS market, second only to the popular Windows 7. This translates to hundreds of millions of users around the world. Microsoft’s decision not to provide a fix for this IE bug will affect all these users.

If Microsoft is not going to fix these IE problems in Windows XP, then these Windows XP users will have to switch to some other browser applications like Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. For more information about the IE technical bug, visit the Microsoft support website online.

Microsoft’s Update Declines Quality Of Display

Microsoft has lately acknowledged that they have rewritten four of its security updates that they issued three days before after reports from customers on never ending demands to install these updates, even though they are installed.

These flawed updates were the latest in a disturbing trend of quality issues in the security and stability updates of Microsoft. It is believed that the repeated installation request was caused by a non-security update of Microsoft, as well as buggy fixes that were released in August and April. These fixes blocked access to server-based email mailboxes and caused Microsoft problems in the Windows 7 computers.

Andrew Storms, who is the director of DevOps at San Francisco-based cloud-oriented security vendor CloudPassage explained the situation as “Worrisome.” He was replying to a question about this troublesome trend in an interview that was conducted via instant messaging on Friday.

As per Microsoft, they have already fixed the four updates that were demanding the customers to install the updates over and over again. Microsoft said in an Office engineering blog, “"We have received reports of updates being offered for installation multiple times, or certain cases where updates were not offered via Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) or System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM).” “We have investigated the issue, established the cause, and we have released new updates that will cease the unnecessary re-targeting of the updates or the correct offering of these updates,” they added.

Microsoft engineers have identified four of last Tuesday’s 13 security updates as problematic and flawed. This includes one for SharePoint Server, one that caused issues in Office 2007 and Office 2010, another that affected Office 2013 and a fourth that affected Excel 2003 and Excel 2007.

Another non-security update that was meant for PowerPoint 2010 also showed the same behavior. In addition, after Microsoft has issued the September’s slate of security updates, many customers reported repeated install issues in Microsoft support forums.

One of the customers who called himself as Choisington complained, “I've spent more than 3 hours chatting with MS Answer desk with people who were unable to comprehend this simple issue. I am so fed up with Microsoft, their ability to totally take over a machine's ability to function”. You can understand how much frustrated the customers are due to this issue from the comment.

Let us hope that Microsoft will get rid of these Microsoft problems soon and will take care not to release such flawed updates in the future.

How To Fix Windows Update Problems

One of the best ways to keep your computer working perfect is by keeping it updated. By default, the Windows Update runs automatically, downloads the latest patches, and installs them to your computer. When the Windows Update stops updating automatically, important updates and patches will not get installed in your computer. This can cause your computer to run slow and may result in crashes and freezes. 

Another problem is that your computer will be very much susceptible to security breaches. Many Microsoft problems can lead to these issues. Some of the ways to get rid of these Microsoft problems and to fix the Windows Update issues are discussed below.

Instructions to Fix Windows Update Issues

• Turn off the Automatic Updates feature and update Windows manually. Navigate to the Windows Update site and scan your PC for the updates. If you are successful in installing the updates manually, the automatic updates issue will also be resolved. You may turn on the Automatic Update feature now.
• If this step does not work and the update issue is not fixed, try re registering the Windows Installer program. To do this, click on Start, go to Run, type in msiexec /unreg in the Run windows and hit Enter. After that, go to Start again, select Run and type msiexec /regserver, and press the Enter key.
• The Windows installer of your PC will now be re-registered. This will fix the Windows Installer and associated updates.
• If the issue is still there, try downloading software designed to fix Windows Update issues like Fix WU Utility v1.0, which is a free software. Run the program and follow the on screen instructions to fix the issues with Windows Update.
• If the issue is still not fixed, you can visit the Microsoft Updates Solution Center and search for the particular problem that you are facing. The Microsoft Updates Solution Center gives answers to all the Windows Update issues. There are also user forums to solve issues related to Windows update.

These are the simple techniques to solve the Windows Update problems. If you are unable to understand any of the above steps or if you are not clear with the steps, you can contact Microsoft help and support team to fix the issue. The technician can connect to your computer remotely with your permission and fix the issue for you.