What exactly does KB2952664 do?

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.

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.

Guys,

I have been following this thread for years and it is beating a dead horse. In fact this horse has been dead for so long it is starting to really stink. The fact is that SaaS is not going to go away.

Google started this mess with the Android OS (hate it); Adobe threw gas on the fire with "Creative Suite" (what a piece of crap that is). Apple is now doing it with their mobile platforms (poster child for SMUG) and it is only a matter of time before the iMac follows suit. In other words, "Welcome to the new normal."

Microsoft didn't start this; they are simply joining the crowd. Even one of my Linux boxes downloads beau-coup updates in a single batch so it might as well be called a roll-up.

The truth is that two-way communication is a more convenient and efficient way to maintain the ever increasingly complex software we call Operating Systems. If it weren't for the troglodytes who are still using Windows 2000 and Windows XP, "WannaCry" would have been nothing more than wasted effort on the part of the mafia scum who created it. None of the hundreds of Windows 7 and Windows 10 machines that I maintain even registered a hiccup.

And as for the "privacy" bug-a-boo that keeps resurrecting in this thread, anyone whining about Microsoft spying on them and violating their privacy, who has a Facebook account, should immediately get up from their computer, walk to the bathroom, stare long and hard into the mirror, and get a good look at a hypocritical moron.

Social Media, not your Operating System, is the real threat to privacy and individual sovereignty, but the world is drinking that kool-aid by the lake full. And people like Zuckerberg are laughing all the way to the bank.

If you really want to have ultimate control over what updates get applied to your Windows computer then take a hike over to http://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Home.aspx where you can browse every update ever released by the folks in Redmond.

If you want to narrow your selection to just Windows 7 then go to http://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=Windows%207 and you can pick and choose to your heart's delight.

Don't get me wrong, Microsoft's roll-out of Windows 10 was a royal sh*t-show on par with IBM's famous "...keep the software; everybody knows the real money is in the hardware." You would think that some of the smartest people on the planet would have devised a more intelligent marketing strategy. It just goes to show you that IQ is nothing without plain good old Common Sense.

If you really want to keep Microsoft from snooping, install a good firewall (like Untangle or pfSense), lock it down good and tight, then add Peerblock to the mix, and then you might even tick-off DHS and NSA.

Just saying.

OK, so  I went to that Win7 link you provided to see if they published the individual fix for what they broke with the security updates.  And found that they don't even list the roll-up.  The ONLY Win7 item published in June (or July to date) is .net 4.7 on June 27.

I had hoped your recommended link would be able to get me just the fix, but as I said, it wouldn't even get me the rollup that has the fix.

Oh, and I don't use facebook, twitter or other social media, thank you.

I'm affraid the MS catalog is just a joke. There are only 4 items on the list for KB2952664. :(

P.S. No Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, etc. on my computers/smartphones.