Manual updates and other changes?

[Smirnoff]

It appears that you can no longer access Windows/Microsoft Update to
manually update XP, although automatic updates still work.

Apparently, Microsoft withdrew this option on 17th November 2014 (amidst
the usual blaze of non-existent publicity).

The workaround is to temporarily set your system date to pre-17th
November.

As I had no idea (along with most other people) that this change had
taken place, I immediately thought I had some malware. I tried a few
dates to do a system restore but it didn't work and today I noticed that
MSE didn't run its scheduled scan.

Does anybody know of any information that MS MAY have issued and if so
please provide a link?

 

[Paul in Houston TX]

It appears that you can no longer access Windows/Microsoft Update to
manually update XP, although automatic updates still work.

Apparently, Microsoft withdrew this option on 17th November 2014 (amidst
the usual blaze of non-existent publicity).

The workaround is to temporarily set your system date to pre-17th November.

As I had no idea (along with most other people) that this change had
taken place, I immediately thought I had some malware. I tried a few
dates to do a system restore but it didn't work and today I noticed that
MSE didn't run its scheduled scan.

Does anybody know of any information that MS MAY have issued and if so
please provide a link?

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security-essentials-download
This information has been made available for about a year.
It's been in the news, on multiple websites, etc.

 

[Smirnoff]

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security-essentials-download
This information has been made available for about a year.
It's been in the news, on multiple websites, etc.

Thanks for replying.

I am aware that support for XP has ended. My question came about because
I decided to check to see if there were any Optional downloads I may
have missed or might need for the future.

I have seen the info on the link you provided.

However, MS clearly states:

"Malicious Software Removal Tool will continue to be provided for
Windows XP for a limited time * through Windows Update and the Download
Center."

and

"* The Malicious Software Removal Tool and updates to Microsoft Security
Essentials will continue to be provided for Windows XP through July 14,
2015."

It does NOT state that the above could only be downloaded via automatic
updates after 17th November 2014 because manual access to
Windows/Microsoft Update would be withdrawn from that date and therefore
Optional updates would not be offered

So as soon as I started to get error messages when trying to manually
access updates my immediate reaction was that my PC had a connection
problem or was infected with malware or a virus.

I then proceeded to run lengthy checks which were obviously unnecessary.

I still can't find any reference about manual access shutting down from
17th November 2014.

 

[Smirnoff]

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security-essentials-download
This information has been made available for about a year.
It's been in the news, on multiple websites, etc.

Thanks for replying.

I am aware that support for XP has ended. My question came about because
I decided to check to see if there were any Optional downloads I may
have missed or might need for the future.

I have seen the info on the link you provided.

However, MS clearly states:

"Malicious Software Removal Tool will continue to be provided for
Windows XP for a limited time * through Windows Update and the Download
Center."

and

"* The Malicious Software Removal Tool and updates to Microsoft Security
Essentials will continue to be provided for Windows XP through July 14,
2015."

It does NOT state that the above could only be downloaded via automatic
updates after 17th November 2014 because manual access to
Windows/Microsoft Update would be withdrawn from that date and therefore
Optional updates would not be offered

So as soon as I started to get error messages when trying to manually
access updates my immediate reaction was that my PC had a connection
problem or was infected with malware or a virus.

I then proceeded to run lengthy checks which were obviously unnecessary.

I still can't find any reference about manual access shutting down from
17th November 2014.