I.T. Vibe - When A Windows Fix Causes More Problems

In the world of online updates it seems as though Microsoft have more issues than the rest of the industry put together with a number of recent fixes causing more problems than they solve. The latest batch of Windows updates has seen literally hundreds of thousands of internet users blocked from the web because they use the ZoneAlarm firewall protection system. As the ZoneAlarm system is one of the more popular on the internet, there some very unhappy surfers who now need to uninstall Windows update MS08-037 to reinstate their internet connection.

In theory the regular Windows updates were expected to be nothing special, with one of them a simple fix to stop would be hackers from rerouting themselves via malicious web pages. This bug in the system could see hackers gaining unauthorised access to PCs around the world and was in need of attention.

As the Windows update was released on Tuesday it soon became apparent that there were problems, and Microsoft quickly issued a press release for ZoneAlarm users instructing them to remove the update in question. While there is an obvious need for constant updates to resolve ongoing issues, each issue such as the ZoneAlarm episode does not do the reputation of Microsoft any good what so ever.

Comment # 1 on 11 July 2008 at 08:31 by Anonymous

Thank you so much for posting this. I use ZoneAlarm, and I was experiencing this problem. I had uninstalled the update already, but it's great to know what's going on.