What exactly does KB2952664 do?

Reading into the file names, it looks like this is an inventory applet to determine potential compatibility issues.  The question is, "To what?"  Coming out a couple of days before the Windows 10 roll out, I can assume that is the relation.  It keeps auto-approving in our "Workstation" WSUS, instead of letting me choose when/if to let it through.  So far, the servers (luckily set to not automatically approve) are not getting this.  A free upgrade from Server 2008 R2 would eventually be cool, but most of us will be ready for a full server refresh by then.  I am getting user complaints of the IE compatibility list getting deleted several times in the last couple of months, right after an MS update is pushed.  I also have three Win7x64 PCs that suddenly started Blue Screen crashes asking for a System Repair, in the newest one, twice.  A lot of time wasted checking them out and running a restore point & SFC /ScanNow to find various SYS files corrupt and replaced.  There isn't much between them that is common, besides running Win7x64.  I am not sure if there is a correlation with these updates that seem to be preparing us for July 29, but it sure is coincidental.

I just installed KB2952664 for the 17th time; it appeared in Windows Update.

--Barry Finkel

After looking at the updates that arrived on Tuesday July 14, my old "friend" KB2952664 was back in my queue (I have Windows Update set for "Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them").

I hid it yet again.

I feel that it's unethical for Microsoft to re-categorize an update previously marked as "hidden" and place it back into the customer's queue ... without asking permission and without informing the customer.

It appears that we cannot trust Microsoft to understand that "no" means NO.

The same happened to me on many of our computers  (i.e. those configured with Windows Update on automatic)

I finally managed to get rid of KB2952664 across our network by listing and then removing packages for all the different versions of KB2952664, using PowerShell (as administrator)

> Get-HotFix -id KB2952664

This will show you if KB2952664 is installed or not on this machine.

> dism /online /get-packages | findstr KB2952664

This will list all the package versions on the machine involved (I lost count of how many versions there are).

> dism /online /remove-package /PackageName:Package_for_KB2952664~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.1.0.12

This will remove only version 6.1.0.12.   For other versions change the version number and repeat the command.

Good luck!

langware,

I feel your pain. I have "uninstalled" KB2952664 five times and it keeps re-installing (even when I am disconnected from any network), so it appears MS leaves the files in some hidden location that keeps regurgitating them at reboot.

I have successfully hidden:

KB3035583    Published 27 Mar 2014

KB2990214    Published 06 Apr 2015

KB3068708    Published 02 Jun 2015

but they keep reappearing and have escalated from "Recommended" to "Important" presumably to terrorize me into installing them - fat chance that.

I have reconfigured all of the servers and workstations that I manage to "Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them" because I simply cannot bring myself to trust Microsoft any more. I have significantly increased my workload, but I feel I have little choice given all of the evidence that has slowly come to light concerning these updates.

I was part of a BETA test of Windows 10 and after two weeks I tried to uninstall it from my computer. The fact that I needed to have a Microsoft account just to logon to the OS and couldn't even play Solitaire without visiting the Microsoft store sent my paranoia meter right off the scale. I think someone at MS has been spending way too much time with the Apple fanboys.

I said I tried to uninstall it because I couldn't. The damned thing wouldn't let me. I finally booted the drive in a Linux shell and ripped the damnable thing out by the roots. I had it set up in dual boot mode so I could switch back and forth between Win 7 Pro and Win 10 and my Win 7 stills works like a champ (after editing the boot.ini). Hell will look like Winterfell before Windows 10 ever gets near any of my computers. Big Brother is alive and well and his name its Microsoft.

The saddest part is that I have been a Microsoft booster for nearly 25 years, installing their systems, maintaining same, recommending MS products, and, yes, even reporting piracy when I stumbled upon it. So this heavy-handed treatment of people who have trusted MS for so many years truly saddens me.

Former MS Disciple

Maryland, USA