What exactly does KB2952664 do?

Just another reason to ALL users, to save their pictures, documents and other personal stuff on extern harddisk and USB-stick!!!

MicaelNielsen,

I totally agree with you. Backing up ones data is (and always has been) a very very important task.

Given Microsoft's coercive tactics in getting customers to install Windows 10, backing up data is even more important . Operating System installations/upgrades do not always go smoothly, and ones data could be lost. Having a current backup is very important.

Microsoft's latest tactic ... As of Feb 1, 2016, these two updates were safely in my Hidden list: KB2952664 and KB3102429. After booting my computer this morning (Feb 2, 2016), these two (formerly hidden) updates appeared in my Optional list.

KB3102429 may be relatively harmless, but KB2952664 (which is the topic of this thread) in not harmless ... it is one of Microsoft's coercive updates and (if one does not want Windows 10) it should not be installed ... it should be kept hidden.

Microsoft's coercive tactics make it hard to keep track of all the KB updates that one needs to hide ... that's why I use the free utility called GWX Control Panel to keep Windows 10 off of my PC. It is described here, and can be downloaded here.

I have mentioned this before in this thread, but it seems appropriate to mention it hear again.

What is the biggest reason I don't want Win10?  The fact that you cannot pick and choose updates.  Get everything big bother <sic> microsoft says you must have, or get NO updates, not even security ones.

Do you trust them, both to not have buggy updates, and to not have ones you are not willing to take?  Obviously not.

While I used to glance at the description, and occasionally drill into the details, I generally installed almost all of them.  Now with all this subterfuge and misdirection, most updates don't say ANYTHING in title, and often not even in the details, so you have no clue what they are.  Why?  Because they're trying to trick you into "upgrading" to a platform where you will have no choice but to take everything they want you to have.

Sorry, but they are making the case to not go to Win10.

Given that they are also saying that new Intel processors will not run anything but Win10, I'm in a quandary.   I don't know that all my software (old and new) will work with other operating systems, but for the first time since I first got MS D0S in the early 90s, I'm at least thinking about my DOS/Windows commitment not being a lifetime one.  It was never even something I thought about -- I never upgraded but bought computers every 3-4 years and always got the latest microsoft operating system with it (intentionally).  I DID forego Win8 on my last one, but my intent HAD been to go Win10. The mandatory updates made me uncomfortable, and this nonsense makes me much more unwilling.

What is the biggest reason I don't want Win10?  The fact that you cannot pick and choose updates.  

In addition to the Forced Update issue, there are several other reasons why customers currently running Windows 7 or 8 might not want to install Windows 10 ... note that since I am not running Windows 10, I cannot tell if any of the following have been mitigated ...

Windows 10 Life Expectancy. Microsoft has stated that Windows 10 will be the "last version of Windows" (quote by Jerry Nixon, Developer Evangelist, at Microsoft's Ignite conference in May 2015). If that's the case, then why does Microsoft's Lifecycle Fact Sheet (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/lifecycle) show Oct 13, 2020 as the End of mainstream support for Windows 10, and why does the Fact Sheet show Oct 24, 2025 as the End of extended support? Unanswered questions include (1) If Win 10 is the last version, why does it have an expiration date? (2) Will Microsoft change/restrict the published Windows 10 expiration dates based on hardware specs (similarly to what they have done with Windows 7 and the Skylake processor ... see http://www.infoworld.com/article/3025399/microsoft-windows/microsoft-wont-support-most-skylake-pcs-without-windows-10.html)

Privacy Issues. Personal, tracking, telemetry data being collected and sent to Microsoft. Some of these can be disabled, while others cannot. Yes others are also collecting data, but that does not make it acceptable. Many discussions on this subject, here's one: http://betanews.com/2016/01/08/if-youre-fine-with-microsofts-approach-to-privacy-in-windows-10-youre-out-of-touch/

Still (and always will be) a work in progress. Examples include (1) OneDrive Regression for Windows 8.1 users. Win 10 makes you choose which OneDrive folders you see in File Explorer. Once you have made that choice, other folders are not accessible. (2) Media Center and DVD player are missing. (3) Limited number of Universal apps. (4) Apps such as Mail and Edge are not ready for prime time yet. But the most critical example is that Windows 10 will implement Microsoft's vision of Software as a Service. The services have yet to be defined, but one can guess that they (the services) will not be cheap/free, may involve monthly/yearly subscriptions, and they will always be evolving as Microsoft thinks up new ways to generate revenue ... and since the services will always be changing, Win 10 will always contain new and buggy software.

My computers will remain on Windows 7 for as long as possible ... then I'll replace them with hardware running a non-Microsoft operating system.

And when we have to reinstall or reset Windows 10, when many years have passed by, with ALL these hundreds of updates to install again... OOOHHH NOOOO!!! They will NOT be installed, because over hundred updates in one time, is ALL TOO much for the poor PC!!

Microsoft could come out with a Windows 10.1 that contains all of the cumulative updates since Win 10.0 was released. That might make reinstalling Windows 10 easier.

But ... version 10.1 might be one of the "services" that Microsoft's  customers have to pay for.

Similarly, when Windows 10.0 reaches end of life, customers might have to pay for a subscription to use Windows 10.1 .... the possibilities for Microsoft to monitize Windows 10 "services" are endless.

Like third-party anti-virus software, Microsoft's customers might have to pay an annual subscription fee to continue receiving Windows 10 support/updates.

What of quality and customer satisfaction?  These may become extinct.