Avoid Windows Live Mail 2012 patch KB 3093594 -- it freezes Windows
Avoid Windows Live Mail 2012 patch KB 3093594 -- it
freezes Windows
Microsoft's latest distribution technique smells a lot
like malware
InfoWorld | Dec 14, 2015
Friday afternoon I started hearing about a mysterious
message from Microsoft that warned Windows Live Mail users their systems wouldn't
work "in a few weeks." They were exhorted to download and install a
patch -- there's a link to KB 3093594 -- or upgrade to Windows 10 and use the
new Universal Mail app (which is almost universally panned).
The sign-up message looks exactly like malware. The patch
crashes many systems in many different ways, with the Calendar app taking
particular credit. It's a mess, and you should avoid it.
Here's the message, supposedly from Microsoft, that
people started receiving Friday:
Important information about your email service
Dear user,
In a few weeks, we will be making some changes to our
email services that might impact your @outlook.com, @hotmail, @live, or @msn
email account. Those changes will prevent your email from being delivered to
the Windows Live Mail 2012 application you use.
In order to continue using Windows Live Mail 2012 to send
and receive email for your account, you need to install the latest update
published here.
If you use Windows Live Mail 2012 on Windows 8, Windows
8.1 or Windows 10, we recommend that you switch to the built in Mail app in
Windows to stay connected and get the latest feature updates on Windows 8,
Windows 8.1, and Windows 10.
Windows Live Essentials 2009 and 2011 are not supported
anymore, and you will need to update to Windows 8/8.1 or Windows 10 and use the
Mail app, or use www.outlook.com. To learn more about the Mail app, please
click here.
We also recommend all Windows Live Mail users on Windows
7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 to upgrade to Windows 10 and use the built in
Mail application to stay connected and get the latest feature updates.
We suggest saving this email so you can refer to it
later.
Thanks for your understanding and continued use.
Sincerely,
The Outlook team
Although it looks like a phishing message, the message
is, in fact, from Microsoft. For years, those of us who support Windows
customers have admonished people to never click a link in an email message that
says it will install a Windows update. "Microsoft would never send you an
email with a link to a patch," the saying went -- until Friday anyway.
Now, I guess the general advice is "If it looks like the mail came from
Microsoft, sure, install whatever they say."
I wonder how long it'll take until we see copycat
messages, apparently from Microsoft, pointing to websites that look exactly
like Microsoft's download site, serving up malware. The Microsoftie who came up
with this harebrained approach should be flogged.
There's another sleight of hand involved. (Or, golly, was
it merely an oversight?) Many people read this phrase "If you use Windows
Live Mail 2012 on Windows 8, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10, we recommend that you
switch to the built in Mail app in Windows" as saying, "If you use
WLM on Win 8, 8.1, or 10, you need to install this patch." In fact, that
isn't what Microsoft's message says. If you're currently using Windows Live
Mail on Windows 10 and you install this patch, Live Mail stops working. Boom!
No warning during the installation. It's good-bye WLM. You can only get it back
by uninstalling the updated version and re-installing the old version.
If you read the message a little bit closer -- or check
out the hidden System Requirements on the download site -- you'll see that
Microsoft specifically says the patch is for Win 7, 8, and 8.1 only. Does the
installer check to make sure you're running one of the required versions of
Windows? No. Of course not.
MessengerGeek Jonathan Kay has a detailed description of
what's happening on his blog:
Although not officially mentioned in the message, Windows
Live Mail 2012 uses the DeltaSync protocol to send and receive email for
Outlook.com/Hotmail accounts, so it can be assumed that they are discontinuing
this protocol. Prior to DeltaSync's
creation, Outlook Express used WebDAV, which itself was shut down in 2009.
With the patch linked in the email, KB3093594, Microsoft
seems to have elected to continue to support Live Mail 2012 by replacing the
DeltaSync protocol with Exchange ActiveSync.
However… the Exchange ActiveSync support is extremely
rudimentary and fixes none of the existing issues with mail notifications.
There's ongoing advice on a Tenforums thread about the
idiosyncrasies of this patch. In particular, poster jyusa recommends that you
wait an hour or more after installing the patch before it'll start working.
"Just close WLM when it crashes." Comforting thought, that.
One of many Microsoft Answer Forum threads complaining
about the patch includes a nugget of information from Ron Sommer, Microsoft MVP
and Community Moderator. He says:
Login to your outlook.com account using a browser. Does
it say Outlook.com or Outlook Mail (Preview)? KB3093594 should only be
installed if you have an outlook.com account that has been upgraded to Outlook
Mail (Preview).
If you have more than one outlook.com account, you will
have to decide if you want the accounts that have not been upgraded to Outlook
Mail (Preview) to work or do you want the accounts that have been upgraded to
work.
No Outlook Mail (Preview) accounts = do not install
KB3093594.
An account has upgraded to Outlook Mail (Preview) =
install KB3093594.
That seems to be the best advice around.
For those of us who remember Windows Live Mail's
triumphant announcement at the time Windows 7 hit the stands -- it replaced the
much-maligned Windows Mail in Vista -- this is a sorry state of affairs. Once
touted as the ultimate free email client, seven years later, WLM's been put out
to pasture, being used as a tool to push Windows 10 upgrades.
Thanks for this helpful blog about Outlook mail and I’m lucky to find out this blog because I always need this kind of blog. For any technical support call 0800-090-3220 or visit the website Outlook Contact Number UK
ReplyDelete