Vistapocalypse

Firefox’s requirement for certain Windows 7 file versions has been known to win32 since July 2020 and the installer you mention was a real achievement, but I wonder if it might affect media software that expects only Vista file versions.

Thanks for clarification. Hopefully we are all talking about Windows Media Player 11 (x86 version only). Hasn’t anyone tried to get iTunes working? The last version to support Windows 7 and 8 appears to be 12.10.11. (The last version to support vanilla Vista is a dinosaur now.)

Yes. I posted a screenshot comparing the digital signatures of two servicing stack updates for Windows 6.0 in this September 2019 post. The April 2019 SSU was dual-signed, whereas the September 2019 SSU was signed with sha256 exclusively. SHA-2 support is required to install the second update. Here’s another Microsoft article for inquiring minds.

I am not posting to ask a question: Only to repeat information that has been well known to some of us for years. There was recently much discussion (often bordering on hysteria) about Microsoft abandoning SHA-1 in favor of SHA-2, particularly in the Windows XP forum. There was also some discussion of old Windows updates related to SHA-2. I only want to clarify the situation with respect to Windows Vista here. Microsoft released KB2763674 for Windows Vista SP2 in January 2013. For those who are curious, there is still a Microsoft article about the update at this time. Those running Vista SP2 may want to check Installed Updates to confirm that they have this update (before “upgrading” to Windows build 6.0.6003). If not, then you are in luck because the Download Center links in the above-mentioned article are still good! (Not even the service packs for Windows Vista have Download Center links anymore, although they can of course still be found in the Catalog.) To make it easy for you, here they are: 32-bit 64-bit The continued existence of those Download Center links could be just an oversight that M$ might correct at any time, so here is a Catalog link for KB2763674. If all else fails, there are also x64 and x86 .cab files in greenhillmaniac’s repository (check the General folder). I am sure that equivalent updates were released for other versions of Windows, but there would be no point in discussing those here. Of course updates for Windows Server 2008 SP2 can generally be installed on Vista SP2. The main thread about that has long been Server 2008 Updates on Windows Vista. While the update mentioned above should be sufficient to run third-party applications with SHA-2 signatures, Server 2008 received updates to allow installation of Microsoft updates with SHA-2 signatures in 2019. I answered a question about which updates to install for that purpose in a July 2020 post. You would need to do that if you wish to install all possible security updates for Server 2008 SP2, since they have been signed with sha256 exclusively since the summer of 2019, or if you wish to install antispyware definitions for Windows Defender.

There are a couple of old sticky threads by spacesurfer in the Windows Vista forum that may contain useful information (or else why are they still there?)

Thank you, that appears to be current, so Panda support for Vista is still ONG.

WMP issue was discussed January 25. Same member reported March 6 WMP “now working out-of-the-box,” so the solution might be to use the latest version of extended kernel. Edit: Oops! See 3 posts down.

Perhaps it is unreasonable of me to hold a grudge against Panda over a debacle that occurred in March 2015. It would be interesting to know if the Panda version number installed on your Vista is truly the same as the version that would be installed on Win10 or even Win7 in 2021? (Online installers might deliver different Panda versions to different Windows versions.)

I tried Panda Free six years ago and had to reinstall Vista due to the damage it caused. True, it still supports XP/Vista and is listed as ONG in this thread’s original post. (Bullguard is also ONG, has anyone tried that?) Your opinion “it works better than Avast” is not persuasive in the least to me. Edit: Of course I don’t have your famous slow Vista laptop to worry about.

VLC 3.0.13 has been released. (It’s been available since late April, but has just now replaced 3.0.12 as the main download.) There is a security bulletin. Platform Update is required. This may be the final update before VLC 4.0, which will not support Windows XP or vanilla Vista.

You seem to think that Windows Update stopped working for Vista and earlier last year only because users did not install certain updates. What gave you that idea? Windows Update no longer works for Vista and earlier because Microsoft does not want it to work for them anymore. Dave-H and others in this thread have fully-updated XP systems, but Windows Update only gives them an error. If anyone reading this wants to update Vista, greenhillmaniac has a complete repository. As for Windows 7, the only update that has thus far been needed to get Windows Update working is SP1. Perhaps that will change today, but there is no immediate danger of Win7 updates being removed from the Catalog.

Most of the updates probably are interchangeable, but the reason there is no thread is that they both went EOL/ESU in January 2020. Another thing: there are no x86 versions of Server 2008 R2 updates.

After further thought, it seems likely that @greenhillmaniac never noticed that KB4020507 for .NET 4.5.2 was replaced by KB4345682, apparently in August 2018. (There is no mention of it in greenhillmaniac’s detailed August 23, 2018 post, nor is the update in the repository.) You may want to try installing it from this Catalog link to see if you have better luck. It was apparently never replaced. (The same update evidently replaced a Vista-era .NET 2.0 update, KB3142023.) Edit: There was actually a discussion between VistaLover and greenhillmaniac on Page 2 as to whether KB4020503 (which, again, was the 4.6.x equivalent of KB4020507 for 4.5.2) should be included in the repository, with VistaLover arguing against it.

KB4020507 was a March 2017 update for .NET Framework 4.5.2. That was indeed the 4.x version that Windows Update used to offer for Vista, but it does not follow that someone actually has it installed in 2021 (maybe check programs and features > uninstall a program). If you manually installed a 4.6.x version, then the equivalent update was KB4020503. (VistaLover mentioned that one in his May 15, 2017 post because he had .NET 4.6.1.) Furthermore, Package Details at the Catalog say KB4020507 was replaced by KB4345682, so there should be no need for it if more recent .NET updates have been (or can be) installed.

Or maybe this is external pressure from the US Department of Homeland Security.

A diehard naysayer? Suit yourself then. I hesitate to ask (because it’s more likely a VMWare issue), but has anyone running Vista 6.0.6003 x64 updated to February 2021 or later noticed audio issues with VLC 3.x?

I’m not a leading authority, but if your understanding was accurate, then scannow could obliterate any and all Windows updates - not just Server 2008 updates installed on Vista - unless your installation media was slipstreamed with all possible updates to begin with. When an update is installed, I believe backup copies of files are cached. There is no reason to be fearful of these updates. It’s not like Microsoft simply forgot to block installation on Vista: the updates contain extractable text documents that plainly list Vista under applicability info. Vista and Server 2008 SP2 are both Windows 6.0. (Beginning in April 2019, the build number changed from 6.0.6002 to 6003, which was a little scary - and in fact I stayed on 6002, but would not rule out “upgrading” if I decide that I must have SHA-2 support on Vista.)

@Dave-H A little OT, but does XP’s security center regard Malwarebytes Premium as an antivirus? (I know that Malwarebytes Free does not register in Vista’s security center.)

Unfortunately, 4.6.0 having been the last version to officially support Server 2008 SP2, it seems unlikely that there will be any further .NET rollups for Server 2008 SP2 after April 2022. (Edit: ESU updates for .NET reportedly cannot be installed by non-customers anyway.)

Welcome to MSFN! We have a lot of “diehards” here! Contrary to the predictions of naysayers who warned many Vista users against installing these updates, no issues related to sfc /scannow have ever been reported as far as I can recall. (The extended kernel discussed elsewhere in this forum is another matter entirely: scannow will reportedly “fix the corrupted files” if that is installed.)

Well you could uninstall an update, but first better make sure a standalone installer is available.

Correct: Steam does not support Vista. I’m not a gamer myself, but hope you have fun!

How do you prevent Steam from updating?

Oops! I failed to realize that “it” was Steam, due partly to another recent post. I won’t ask how (but others may wonder).

Assuming you have SP2 and Windows Update Agent 7.6.7600.256, it sounds like an old familiar issue is back!? (But Windows Update isn’t supposed to work anymore!?) Set Windows Update to “Never check for updates,” click OK and restart. Then manually install KB4015195, KB4015380, KB4012583 and KB3205638 either from Microsoft Update Catalog or greenhillmaniac’s repository. There is a YouTube video by WinClient5270 with download links in the description: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtGYgxfpkeg (Minor detail: If IE9 is already installed, I would nowadays suggest KB4507434 rather than the older patch mentioned in the video.) Act fast because M$ may shut it down again, and let’s try not to turn this into a “How to Update Vista” thread please. Edit: False alarm.