The Hot Blog : KB Feedback

How to know whether a fix can be applied to Vista or Server 2008

Content Team — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 08:11:00 GMT

Hi Everyone, Since several comments is left to ask how to know whether a fix can be applied to Windows Vista or Server 2008, a blog is post here to help finding identify information about that. For Windows XP Professional x64 XP or Windows Server 2003,...(read more)

Post Schedule in the weblogs - update

Content Team — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:22:00 GMT

Hi Everyone, According to some of your feedbacks, we notice that it's hard to distinguish the Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 hot-fix KB articles, because Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 share the same core code. And you know, many Windows...(read more)

Feedback on Hot-Fix KB articles' comments

Chris Mu — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:27:00 GMT

Hi Everyone,

These days we reviewed the readers' comments on most Windows Client/Server and SQL server related hot-fix KB articles. We noticed that most users' concerns are focus on following two points:

1. For Hot-fix itself:

· Do not know how to download the hot-fix;

In fact, there is an easy way to get the fix from Microsoft. Tony had posted a blog to explain this method. You can refer the post:

http://blogs.technet.com/hot/archive/2008/01/03/hotfix-online-submission-a-easy-way-to-get-the-fix-from-microsoft.aspx

· Cannot apply to the system because of the OS version;

The OS version may be a headache for normal readers. Here I had post a blog to introduce how to determine whether the system is a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows. You can see details here:

http://blogs.technet.com/hot/archive/2008/01/28/methods-to-determine-whether-the-system-is-a-32-bit-or-64-bit-version-of-windows.aspx

· After apply the fix, it does not work or does not resolve the issue or new issue occurs;

This may be caused by various reasons. Frankly speaking, a hot-fix is intend to resolve a specific issue, so please be careful and ensure that the issue you are encountering is described in this article, and then apply the hot-fix.

2. For KB articles:

· The symptom section is not very clear, need example and exact error code although the scenario is describe clearly;

Sure, we will continue to improve the KB articles' quality to make the issues mentioned in the articles are more clear/correct/accurate. Thanks for the comments.

I believe, your comments can help us improve the KB articles quality and make the hot-fix more valuable. We are very glad to hear from you.

Regards,

Content Team

Content and post Schedule in the weblogs - update

Chris Mu — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:09:00 GMT

Hi Everyone,

I feel sorry that we had not posted on this weblog since February 25th. From the comments I received, I know that many of you care about the weblog and expect to see the weblog go live again. To be honest, I'm much appreciated on your comments/supports and I want to say: Thank You Very Much!

We really want to provide better and consistent information, so we have been discussed a way to share the information better. After some days' re-organization and process optimization, now, we are coming back. Here, I'd like to share the updated posting schedule and the future content with you.

1. We will categorize and post the list for newly published hot-fix related KB articles by week. Therefore, you can check what hot-fixes had released in the past 7 days for the specific Microsoft products per the schedule.

Below are the details:

· Monday: Windows Client Products, such as Windows XP, Windows Vista, Internet Explorer 6/7 and so on;

· Tuesday: Windows Server Products, such as Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, SMS, MOM and so on;

· Wednesday: Internet or Developer related Products, such as IIS, HIS, BizTalk Server, Visual Studio, Windows CE and so on.

· Thursday: Messaging related Products: Exchange Server 2003, Exchange Server 2007 and son on;

· Friday: SQL Server Products: SQL Server 2000, SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008 and son on;

2. We are working on the KB articles for hot-issues that are impacting many users all over the world. We do think this blog is a good place to share the hot-issues that we have found from incidents, as most of the readers here have IT background. So, we plan to post the information and hopefully you can catch the hot-issues and proactively find out the resolution for the potential issues you may encounter;

3. We also plan to use this place to share our findings from the feedback on the Hot-fix KB articles, as this will be beneficial for users to understand a broad view and the underneath information. We also want to get your voice as well to make the KB articles to be more helpful.

We will start posting Windows Client related hot-fix KB articles from next Monday. Hope it can benefit you.

Regards,

Content Team

Methods to determine whether the system is a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows

Chris Mu — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 08:16:00 GMT

Hi Buddies,

I reviewed and studied some feedback for the hot-fix related KB articles from the end user recently. I noticed that there are some users who cannot identify whether he/she is using a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows. Then,... Yes, it is an issue for them since the 64-bit hardware becomes popular gradually. Therefore, in order that the hotfix released can benefit more end users, not only IT professionals, but also normal computer users, I'd like to introduce the System Information tool in this blog.

Some of you may have used this tool. Just type msinfo32.exe (in previous Windows version, you can also enter Winmsd.exe) in the Run box. Then you will get the System Information box. Then in System Summary, review the value for System Type item:

· For 32-bit editions of Windows, the value is x86-based PC;

· For 64-bit editions of Windows, the value is x64-based PC;

Also, the System Information tool collects other system information, such as devices that are installed in your computer, device drivers loaded in your computer, and provides a menu for displaying the associated system topics. You can use the tool to diagnose computer issues. For example, if you are having display issues, you can use the tool to determine what display adapter is installed on your computer and view the status of its drivers.

For further use of this tool, there is a KB article that explains the command-line switch together with this tool. I hope this can help you.

Best,
Cristy Mu
I will be very glad to hear your voice:-)

*This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.*

Something New when Uninstalling Drivers and Devices on Windows Vista

Chris Mu — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 08:56:00 GMT

Hi Buddies,

I'm very glad to meet you every Monday. Today, I'd like to share a background story about a KB article that describes an interesting behavior in Windows Vista that is different with previous OS. Maybe it is not the most important or highest impacted issue that occurs in Windows Vista, but I think it will impact some of you when you are troubleshooting for your friends/family... OK, let's go through this issue.

This issue is about re-installing network adapter in Windows Vista. The KB article for this issue will be KB945399 and published in a few days. The issue can be reproduced in many computer models and you will encounter it when you uninstall a network adapter device using Device Manager. You may have to troubleshoot whether the network adapter driver installed is right to troubleshoot the OS network issue. Therefore, after uninstalling the adapter, you may try to install another driver for the device ... Everything works fine in Windows XP/Server 2003 and so on. However, when you try to do the same action in Windows Vista, the popular OS nowadays, you will see soon after the uninstall process completes, PnP detects the network adapter as a new device and automatically installs the device and drivers. Instead, in Windows XP, only after you click to scan hardware changes, will the PnP detect the network adapter and install the driver.

When I study and reproduce this behavior, I'm also surprised by what I have seen. Yes, it does. Windows Vista will automatically re-install the network adapter driver as if Vista prevents you from uninstalling the driver. Then, when I went through the work flow of install/uninstall the network adapter driver, I noticed that In Vista RTM, Vista re-enumerates the "removal relations" of the uninstalled device. During re-enumeration if the resource-assignment changes, the system re-enumerates the entire tree and the uninstalled device is treated as a new-device-arrival and gets installed again...

I don't know whether this difference will be good to the normal user, but I think it will confuse technical guys a little, especially when they do not know this behavior. So what shall we do? Disable the device and uninstall the device, or remove related INF files? Everything seems to show that this behavior changes the results and confuses us. Now the good news, a fix will be released through KB945399 in a few days and it will be merged into Vista SP1. :-)

By the way, there is another document for "Uninstalling Drivers and Devices on Windows Vista", please take it as your reference.
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/driver/install/Uninstall.mspx

Best,
Cristy Mu
I will be very glad to hear your voice:-)

*This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.*

Hotfix Online Submission - A easy way to get the fix from Microsoft

Chris Mu — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 05:20:00 GMT

Currently, you may get a Microsoft hotfix easier via the Hotfix Online Submission process. Instead of contacting Microsoft Support via email or telephone and going through the verification steps, you may simply submit a request on the web when you read a hotfix KB.

For example, in KB842801, there is the following description:

"To resolve this problem, submit a request to Microsoft Online Customer Services to obtain the hotfix. To submit an online request to obtain the hotfix, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=6294451"

This is the standard description in most hotfix KBs to enable you to perform the online submission. After you enter the necessary field on the "Hotfix Request Web Submission Form" and click "Submit request" button (Note: you need not provide the KB ID as you have to click the above link in a KB article), you should see:

"Your request was successfully submitted to Microsoft. A Microsoft Professional will respond to you via e-mail within 8 business hours."

Thenwait a few hours to get a download link via email.

From my point of view, the hotfix online submission provides an easy way to those users who have no Microsoft Support Service in hand. The user may get the hotfix much easily now. However, without the careful assistance from Microsoft Support Professionals, it is very possible that a user misunderstands the symptom and applies a wrong resolution (hotfix). We got feedback from customers about the Hotfix Online Submission; More than 20% of comments indicate that fixes do not resolve their problems. Even the hotfix KBs provide the necessary information about the symptoms, however, there may be different causes/resolutions for the same direct symptom which need further troubleshooting. My suggestion is: be careful when applying a hotfix to the problem you are facing and contact Microsoft Support if you feel confusing.

-Tony

Something about Hotfix

Chris Mu — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 05:53:00 GMT

Microsoft hotfix is a service provided by Microsoft to fix product problems or change the product behavior. To get a hotfix, you may contact your Microsoft contact or get it from web (Hotfix KB, download center, Windows Update, office Update, Service Packs , etc).

A hotfix is available when a bug is identified and fixed. The common process is as following:

A hotfix may take several days to months from the problem being identified to a bug. It depends on the different products and different business impacts.

Not every problem will be fixed. In certain conditions, the product team triage may reject a bug. For example, if the problem has limited impacts to seldom customers, or the changes may cause other potential risks, the bug will be rejected.

As a service, there are different phases for the hotfix, based on the Microsoft Support Lifecycle:

10 years of support (5 years Mainstream Support and 5 years Extended Support) at the supported service pack level for Business and Developer products
5 years Mainstream Support at the supported service pack level for Consumer/Hardware/Multimedia products and Microsoft Dynamics (formerly Microsoft Business Solutions) products
3 years of Mainstream Support for products that are annually released (e.g., Money, Encarta, Picture It!, and Streets & Trips)

In Mainstream Support, you can get a free hotfix. In Extended Support, Extended Hotfix Support Agreements (EHSA) are designed to provide opportunities to extend non-security hotfix requests through the end of the Extended Support Phase. Security hotfixes are available free of charge during this phase.

Answers for current feedback - content and post schedule in the blogs

Chris Mu — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:48:00 GMT

Hi,

I'm very glad to get so many comments on the blog in only 3 days. I read all the comments carefully and I'm encouraged by every one of you. I will go ahead to update our blogs according to your great suggestions. Below, I list what we will do next:

1. As Basem suggested, I will categorize the hot-fixes into the more specific cat as below:

Windows Client Product: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Internet Explorer 6/7, others;
Windows Server Product: Windows Server 2000, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, SMS, MOM, others;
Exchange Server Product: Exchange Server 2003, Exchange Server 2007;
SQL Server Product: SQL Server 2000, SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008;
Internet Product: IIS, HIS, BizTalk Server, others;
Visual Studio Product: To be determined.

2. Due to the limitation of current blogs platform, grouping the hot-fix KB articles will be by the title of every post. I hope in the near feature, we can have better categorization. Below is the post schedule:

Every Monday, we post the list of published hot-fix related KB articles for Windows Client products in the past 7 days;
Every Tuesday, we post the list of published hot-fix related KB articles for Windows Server products in the past 7 days;
Every Wednesday, we post the list of published hot-fix related KB articles for Internet and Developer related products in the past 7 days;
Every Thursday, we post the list of published hot-fix related KB articles for Exchange Server products in the past 7 days;
Every Friday, we post the list of published hot-fix related KB articles for SQL Server products in the past 7 days;

3. Other Content:

Every KB article has its own Background Story, so does hot-fix KB article. We will be glad to share the background stories with you in our blogs. We will pick out the special KB articles and introduce them to you;
Our team also handles some Hot Issues, and we will share them through KB articles. However, not all the stories can be shown in the KB articles. Therefore, we will share them with you through this channel.

We plan to kick off the schedule and plan from next Monday. Hope it can benefit you more.

Best,
Cristy
I will be very glad to hear your voice:-)

Welcome to Microsoft Hot Fix and Hot Issue Center

Chris Mu — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 02:40:00 GMT

Thank you for checking the Hot blog.

Our team, the content team, handles all the hot-fix related knowleadge base articles for almost all Microsoft products, such as Windows XP/Server 2003/Vista/Server 2008, Exchange Server, SQL Server, Visual Studio, HIS, IIS, Biztalk Server ... etc. At the same time, our team is also generating knowledge base articles for hot issues occur recently.

Our blog is intended to provide a window where users can know what is hot for Microsoft product recently. We'll update the blog periodically and hope it can help you.

For more support information, we encourage you to visit http://support.microsoft.com

Best,
Microsoft Content Team