Windows 7 (KB976902) to enable future updates.

Anonymous
2010-10-27T01:37:32+00:00

Today I saw an update on my windows 7 laptop with kb 976902.  It said that it is to allow future updates to install correctly and that after it was installed, I could not remove it.  I looked on Knowledge Base for the article about it and it comes back with no results.  I have read at some places that it is used by SP1 beta.  I do not have SP1 Beta installed on my system.

Does anybody know what this update is for?

Thank you in advance,

vader95

Windows for home | Other | Windows update

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Anonymous
2010-10-27T09:45:34+00:00

This isn't SP1 or beta software or even malware (perplexed9, use some common sense). It's an update that readies the system for when the service pack is released. This occured with the service packs for Vista too.

However this update should not have been released without proper documentation so it wouldn't surprise me if people hold off until there are notes available.

*UPDATE* - Documentation has been released - http://support.microsoft.com/KB/976902

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Anonymous
2010-10-29T13:17:02+00:00

We have publiced the corresponding KB article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/976902

KB976902 is the update to the servicing stackcomponent, same purpose with this update: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/937287

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Joshua Tu, MCSE/MCSA +Sec, MCITPPartner Online Technical Community

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  1. Anonymous
    2010-10-28T06:29:03+00:00

    Some older posts on various sites related it to installing Win7 SP1 Beta.

    KB976902 was a Prerequisite Update for Win7/Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta.

    In all likelihood, KB976902 is a Prerequisite Update for Win7/Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Release Candidate, too.

    In all likelihood, KB976902 (or a variation thereof) will be a Prerequisite Update for Win7/Windows Server 2008 R2 Final.

    ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear) ~ MS MVP (IE, Mail, Security, Windows & Update Services) since 2002 ~ Disclaimer: MS MVPs neither represent nor work for Microsoft

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-10-28T07:57:37+00:00

    It looks like the update has been pulled from Windows Update .

    I held off installing any of the Oct 26th updates in case KB976902 was put on Windows Update in error.

    It was still in the list when I re-opened the Windows Update this morning, but when I clicked "check for updates" to force it to look again, only the first three updates remain and KB976902 is gone.

    (There still isn't a KB article that I can see.)

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  3. Anonymous
    2010-10-28T08:47:28+00:00

    **Original Title:**What is Windows update 976902, aka the "Black Hole Update"?

    On Tuesday, October 26th, a Windows update listed "Important" was issued along with three other updates.  It was at least for Windows 7 x64, but probably other Win versions, too.  The update stuck out because of its description, something about being uninstallable and required for future updates, but I can't remember it all anymore.  The KB article link led to a 404, hence the name it has been given various places around the Internet: "The Black Hole Update."  I believe the size of the update was >10 and <11 MB.

    Speculation raged as to what the update did.

     

    • Some older posts on various sites related it to installing Win7 SP1 Beta.
    • The folks running a site called techarp were claiming that 976902 installed a heuristic scanner to the machine that turned on whenever the machine went idle, and searched all attached storage devices for "terrorism-related" information, then alerting "somebody" over the Internet.
    • Some posters thought Microsoft had been hacked, and the update was really some kind of malicious third-party code being sent out to infect all Windows machines.
    • But most rational people agreed that 976902 was just some WGA-style thingy.

     

    Even though my Windows copy is genuine, I opted not to install it yet, to wait until more information was available.

    That was yesterday.  Today, 976902 is gone.  It is not in my recently installed updates, it is not waiting to be installed on my taskbar like it was yesterday, it isn't waiting silently inside windows update, it isn't a hidden update.  It's gone.  And I'd like to know what it is and where it's gone to.

    Microsoft...?

    Same thing here. Yesterday it was a hidden update, today it is gone. How did Microsoft manage to reach into my system and retrieve a hidden update? Maybe its time for a better firewall. I can't wait to hear what the'Conspiracy Theorists' are going to say about this one. No more 'Magic Bullet' theories! Now it'll be the 'Magic Update' Conspiracy!

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