Re: XP change corrupts data, hamstrings SP3 rollout


"Jaimie Vandenbergh" <jaimie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:2hkt14hhnik6h1cuctf5rvnoqcbic7okk3@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Sun, 04 May 2008 11:26:19 GMT, "Derek"
<del.wattsnospambaby@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Bitstring <i2bo14l4eam017l09rrs3g6914uu4bsit0@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
from the wonderful person Jaimie Vandenbergh
<jaimie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> said
<snip>
As an admin, you've got to balance that off against "oh look, all my
Windows machines are vulnerable to today's most popular attack".

The thing is, it *is* broken, so it needs fixing.

Yep, but all the 'fix' will do is move the problems about &/or
introduce
some new and interesting loopholes.

I can sympathise with the POS folks not having tested the patch(es)
though - very few of them are going to have a spare Tesco supermarket
to
beta test with. (Don't you just love these overloaded acronyms, like
'POS'. 8>.).

Of course whenever you see PoS and winXP mentioned in the same
sentence, you rather expect to see the word "festering" included. :-)

ROFL succinctly put . Tho' Jamie's assertion that "Actually, patching as
soon as MS offers very rarely causes problems
maybe one bit of trouble every couple of years" doesn't ring true my
spider
sense tingles and hitting google I can't find a definative number but 3
in
the course of a week tends to work against the thought.( plus a few more
within a month)

I call'em as I see'em. I've been managing Windows installations as
part of my job since 1994, so from Windows 3.0+NetWare through 98 and
NT 3.5 through XP and 2003server. Perhaps I've been lucky, but apart
from serious blips at NT4sp6 and 2000 sp1 (both of which were caught
in the test lab) and a couple of minor problems from single patches
I've not had trouble that could be attributed to updates.

In comparison, I've had dozens of incidents of laptops and other
"outside the protected network" machines get compromised, and although
I don't have access to my records any more I remember working out in
about 2003 that 60% of those would probably not have happened if the
machines had been patched up. So I implemented autopatching on the
laptops, and incidents dropped.

Not proof (no test group, for a start) but pretty telling.

Cheers - Jaimie (who agrees with the use of 'festering' and
has now given up on Windows almost entirely)
--
"If you think C++ is not overly complicated, just what is a protected
abstract virtual base pure virtual private destructor, and when was the
last time you needed one?" - Tom Cargil, C++ Journal

I reckon you are dead right laptops are a nightmare so much more so in the
hands of 'sales executives' "hey look what I got off the interweb want it?"
thankfully I hung up my (part time) local support badge in 2002.
Coincident with our company merging with two others both
with IT support which I understand closely mirrors Dilbert strips :-) . I am
naturally cautious/suspicious in the realms of updates these days I only
have two small networks to worry about and the other chaps is pretty
stable, Only when a problem gets beyond the level where its too
onerous to put up with do I get the call .
We both work the same rule wait about a month and
see whats gone titsup with the upgrade of the rest of mankind not an
option in your position but hey its stopped my hair getting greyer.
I think my Linux days are fast approaching got the feet wet already
and it was good .
rgds Derek





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