KB3013455 (MS15-010) causes font corruption

Anonymous
2015-02-10T21:06:56+00:00

February 2015 update KB3013455 causes 'Courier New' font corruption on some Windows systems, I can confirm it for Windows Server 2003 and 2008. You can verify it in Notepad. Removing the update fixes the issue.

Windows 7 and 8.1 are not affected by the update.

[removed information that 64bit may not be affected]

Windows for home | Other | Windows update

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2015-02-12T05:17:15+00:00

Yes Remove/Add Program >> View Installed Windows Updates >> I added the column to display installation date, reverse sorted and found "3013455" ((this update), then Uninstalled it.

This was common in the late 90's/early 2000's, had to remember which updates not to install that would break things. It's been solid for at least a decade, now this.

I don't really care what the fix is for. If I can't read my screen from my chair, I need to resolve it to do my job (own a web design firm).

I share the same opinion as this article "...the bottom line here is that if you want to be able to actually read the screen, you'll want to hold off installing this update until the problem is fixed."

http://windowsitpro.com/msrc/patch-tuesday-font-corruption-kb3013455

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Anonymous
2015-02-18T18:42:43+00:00

The link for all downloads is:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/search/Results.aspx?q=kb3013455&form=DLC

Choose your OS from the half dozen big options at the top and it brings you right to the download page.

Hit the big red download button and it should offer you two updates:

kb3013455   (the original that breaks fonts)

and

KB3037639  (the secondary update to fix fonts)

I installed the original, said do not reboot, and installed the second.

After reboot I appear patched and my fonts are good.

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-02-20T04:42:10+00:00

    I had the "searching" issue as well on my X64.

    Kept searching with high CPU. I had to reboot to exit the "search".

    Solution:

    1. Download & Save both updates.
    2. Install KB301345.
    3. Reboot
    4. Install KB3037639
    5. Reboot.

    People, I'm going crazy here. I had first uninstalled the corrupted patch KB3013455, so I just used Windows Update to re-install it, then rebooted my computer.

    After that, I went to the Download Center and tried to download the KB3037639 fix for Vista 32bit, but I also got the "Searching for Updates" popup displaying for several minutes and nothing happening. Had to close it with the Windows Manager. So I saved the file instead, and double-clicked on it to execute it, but got the "Searching for updates" AGAIN.

    Then I decided to follow camanokid's procedure. I uninstalled AGAIN the corrupted patch, rebooted (takes ages), went to the Download Center, downloaded the two files. But none of them work, I just get that stupid popup again and again. I let it run for more than 10 minutes and in the end all I got is an error message with the reference 0x800704c7.

    I've lost more than one hour and a half on this and I'm still stuck. I don't know what to do ! Help !

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-02-20T06:36:53+00:00

    They could be less confusing. First, it looks like the patch is just bad old KB3013455 again. Then, they mess with your head asking which of two Windows6 files you want, when I'm looking for 32 bit Vista SP2. But, it worked, finally.

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-02-20T06:53:40+00:00

    I had the "searching" issue as well on my X64.

    Kept searching with high CPU. I had to reboot to exit the "search".

    Solution:

    1. Download & Save both updates.
    2. Install KB301345.
    3. Reboot
    4. Install KB3037639
    5. Reboot.

    I, too, had the "searching" issue on X32 with KB3037639 so cancelled Standalone Updater (by rebooting).

    Then, I checked "Installed Updates" to make sure I had KB3013455 installed.  Installed Updates took around 17 minutes to find and list all 480 updates that have been applied to my OS.  I then ran Standalone Updater and waited a very similar amount of time (16.5 min.) while it said "searching for updates".  Finally, it said KB3037639 was ready to be installed, which I promptly did.  It installed, and I rebooted (again). 

    Here's what I suspect: Standalone Updater was searching the Installed Updates records, searching for its prereq: KB3013455 and would not allow KB3037639 to be applied until the prereq was found to have been applied.  Of course, KB3013455 was at the end of the list since it was the last patch I had applied.  BTW: This prereq & coreq search was a manual task that we (now retired) sysprogs did all the time on mainframe OS.  (Sure wish that process had been automated back then.)

    I surmise that Update History records are stored in a singly-linked list without an index (or a singly-linked multigraph) with several I/Os and compares required at each node to access the information for each patch.  This would account for the long "searching" times and I really don't think the similar access times between Standalone Updater and Installed Updates are coincidental.

    Ah, but now all is right in Mölln as Till Eulenspiegel has been banished.  1) I was able to apply both patches, 2) my fonts are all displaying as expected and 3) I am now safe from the vulnerabilities that prompted all this adversity in the first place, although I have to rely on the good folks at Microsoft for that assurance.

    Many thanks to all that posted, particularly B-Hornchen und A-Hornchen, and Susan Bradly.

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