What exactly does KB2952664 do?

I think they reached a new low.

The June security updates BROKE the capability for outlook to properly index.  I have all my computers now not updating the index except when outlook starts, so I have to keep restarting it to get new messages indexed.

Is there a fix?  YES.  The June roll-up, meaning ALL their updates, likely all their telemetry.  SO you can survive with only security updates, but that will break things and you will be forced to take everything to get back to where you were.

Does anyone know of any alternative, and am I correct that this will enable all their telemetry and anything else they want to throw in?

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/msoffice\_outlook-mso\_other/after-windows-june-2017-update-outlook-2010-search/58e27598-ab59-4cc0-b8cb-8a5a5dd62eee

See the following issue#5, referenced above:

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Outlook-known-issues-in-the-June-2017-security-updates-3f6dbffd-8505-492d-b19f-b3b89369ed9b?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US&fromAR=1

If this was truly an accident, AND they didn't intend to take advantage of it, I think they'd issue a fix outside of that whole rollup, which from what I understand has everything in it.  However, I cannot live with the search index not working -- I use that a lot both at home and at work.

I don't think Microsoft will ever stop snooping on Windows 7 users, and trying to convince/coerce those users to move to Windows 10.

I think acceptance of Windows 10 has been far lower that Microsoft predicted (or needs ... to make their Software as a Service business model work for them). So they will continue their efforts. Based on their behavior towards customers (over the last several years) I have lost all trust in them.

Here are some resources I have found useful in trying to rid my Windows 7 systems from Microsoft's snooping.

Ask Woody

ghacks

No matter how many times Microsoft reissues KB2952664, I will never install it. I have my Windows Update settings on "Never" and only change that (to "let me choose")  when I want to install a particular security-only patch (then I reset back to "Never"). In the terminology of the Ask Woody site, I am in Group B.

Hasn't this go on long enough?

They did enough damage to their reputation with all the trickery to get people to downgrade to Win10; they've also made it basically impossible to avoid it by 2020 (next year or late this year for the newest processors).

Can't they end this trickery of slipping in telemetry in with other updates?  As is, I now only accept security upgrades unless I really really need something, becuase of all this nonsense.  Almost none of their updates says what it is (most "resolve issues" without saying what).  I don't have time to open each one to see what it does, and besides, when I did, they don't say much, and certainly wouldn't say "we added something to spy on you behind your back").  As is, I think they snuck on something back in the tricked Win10 downgrade days, claiming to be a security upgrade, but either was not that at all, or it included a little "bonus".

We shouldn't have to be using this thread to try to "catch" them, they should get back some degree of trust by stopping this.

I'm already thinking about Linux for my next computer.  Will I do that?  Likely not, but while I use it comfortably at work, I had NEVER considered it at home until this Win10 fiasco.

The patch installs

     \windows\system32\CompatTeRunner.exe

When I did my weekly backup of my c:-drive, I saw another ..exe in that directory:

     aitstatic.exe

and a Google search shows:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows\_10-other\_settings/application-impact-telemetry-static-analyzer/6a522831-597a-47a6-99e3-c92f96c7e0ad

and a response on that forum page has

"The Microsoft Application Impact Telemetry Agent is installed with Windows and runs as a scheduled task when Windows boots. Application Impact Telemetry Agent is designed to collect varius [sic] system information and report to Microsoft as part of Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP). CEIP collects information about how our customers use Microsoft programs and about some of the problems they encounter."

I do not know what patch installs or updates this.

If one is concerned about MS "snooping:, then one could rename those two executable files.  I do not know if doing so will cause lots of EventLog entries.

See this site for more information on KB2952664.

I have never installed KB2952664 ... it allows Microsoft to collect telemetry data.