Vistapocalypse

Great news! @WinClient5270 will not have to edit the listings for AVG and Avast to add, "Works on build 6002 but causes BSODs on build 6003." (However there could be other build 6003 incompatibilities lurking out there.)

It looks like VLC 3.0.7 stable was released today.

Thanks again for investigating this artomberus, as I am not currently running build 6003 and cannot readily investigate myself. If I finally understand this issue correctly, any Server 2008 update that changed the build number to 6003 would have caused Win32k.sys BSODs on Vista systems with Avast/AVG installed - but not anymore! The micro-update is not actually present in the legacy installer (signed in November 2018), but is downloaded automatically - the user doesn't even have to be logged in (see this April article). Edit: I suppose the online installer might supply the micro-update immediately.

Avast (including AVG) actually ended support for Vista beginning December 1, 2018 (see End of support for Windows XP/Vista), and only promised definition updates for version18.8 or older. However I have been following a thread at another forum that @Stevo might find very interesting, Windows Bluekeep patches causing Win32k.sys BSOD. The OP was running Server 2008 SP2 and using AVG 18, which attracted the attention of Avast representative Peter. On June 4, Peter posted: (KB4489887 was a preview released in March, and was the first update to change the build number to 6003.) It is difficult to believe that Avast would take any action that benefits legacy versions of their free products. On the other hand, this could explain why artomberus had no issues with AVG Free 18.8 in his June 4 post despite running build 6003: Perhaps he was among the first beneficiaries of the micro-update? Still, the only further information I can find relates to business products, e.g. BSOD/Failure to Boot after Installing AVG Business Edition on Windows Server 2008. There is some general information about micro-updates in an earlier article:

However KB4474419 is a May update, whereas @Stevo reported that the issue began with April updates.

The update that Jaguarek62 warned about on April 19 was actually KB4493458. Jaguarek62 is not using any antivirus software (unless his bank installed safety software), but reported issues with VMware services.

Thanks again! It sounds like the Avast/AVG issue is solved by avoiding KB4474419 - not by installing KB4499184, which you had not yet installed. I am content to let Jaguarek62 figure out the VMware issue, which might not be so closely related after all, despite producing the same BSOD.

KB4474419 adds SHA-2 code signing support for Server 2008, which needs the update to continue receiving automatic Windows updates after July according to 2019 SHA-2 Code Signing Support requirement for Windows and WSUS. Of course Windows Update will never deliver Server 2008 updates to Vista in any event, so the only possible benefit might be automatic updates for MS Office and Windows Defender. Edit: KB4474419 was "updated June 11, 2019 for Windows Server 2008 SP2 to correct an issue with the SHA-2 support for MSI files." One question: Have you also installed the preview KB4499184 that Jaguarek62 recommends above?

See this post. Then it must be KB4474419 that breaks Avast/AVG and VMware! Thank you very much artomberus!

@artomberus : Your winver screenshot shows you are running build 6003. Are you using an antivirus? I wonder what good antivirus remains since Avast/AVG is broken.

Sorry to bother you again, but if you have skipped recent security updates in favor of the "non-security" Preview, it now occurs to me that you have not patched CVE-2019-0708 a.k.a. BlueKeep (see my post at the top of this page), among other things. And yes, avoiding all security updates since March would presumably allow Avast to be used; but installing security updates is really the whole point of this thread.

A question about Win32k.sys BSOD on Server 2008 SP2 upon installation of May updates was posted at spiceworks yesterday. Edit: It was that thread that convinced Avast to issue micro-updates for compatibility with Windows build 6.0.6003.

Thanks for the update! I don't see any obvious explanation in KB4499184 though. Are you sure you tried KB4499149 earlier? Regarding your banking site problem, did you see dencorso's April 22 reply? (I do not use online banking myself.) One question you never answered: Are you using an antivirus? Even an antivirus that is not broken is noteworthy these days.

Adding insult to injury, the critical patch for Windows XP reportedly does not break Avast 18.8. There is a good discussion about mitigation etc. in this XP thread. If Avast v.18,8 is broken, then it is probably safe to assume that AVG v.18.8 (owned by Avast) is also broken. I would never suggest relying on a 4-year-old version of Spybot, but an April 28 AskWoody post might mean that it is also broken. It also might not be a coincidence that ESET decided to end support for Vista last month. I would not call that an "announcement" because it was buried in an article about Windows 10 May 2019 update compatibility with ESET products, but it states that "Microsoft will begin to enforce their End-Of-Life policy for Vista," causing me to wonder if ESET knew something that we are just beginning to figure out? And of course there is the issue with VMware reported by Jaguarek62. Would someone who is still optimistic about the topic of this thread please post? Edit: I was overly pessimistic on May 29. Yes, AVG was broken by the build-number change along with Avast, but both have been fixed by micro-updates. No doubt the BlueKeep patch for Windows XP did not change their build number. BTW Microsoft thinks patching BlueKeep is pretty darn important, so avoiding build 6003 is risky.

Or perhaps they say, "You want patches? Here's a critical patch that breaks your best free antivirus, lol."

According to Microsoft, CVE-2019-0708 is so critical that they have posted customer guidance for various unsupported Windows versions. In the case of Windows Vista, Microsoft recommends installing KB4499180 (May's security-only update for Server 2008). The KB article in turn recommends that you first install April's Servicing stack update for Windows Server 2008 SP2.

I forgot to ask if the final POSReady 2009 or KB4500331 updates broke compatibility with Avast 18.8? (The Windows 6.0 rollups for April and May reportedly do).

Have you tried setting Sound Scheme to Windows Default? If an old version of iTunes was installed, a Windows Default (modified) may have been saved automatically.

I appreciate all the concern for Windows Vista on page 199 of this thread! You might be interested to know that Microsoft has just revised Customer guidance for CVE-2019-0708, which now advises those running Vista to install KB4499180 for Server 2008. The KB article has also been revised to include Windows Vista.

Welcome to MSFN Stevo. I certainly appreciate your post, but I'm not really surprised. Avast seems to think their issues with Windows updates in April were limited to business solutions, and that the issues have now been resolved by "micro-updates." You might want to post about this problem in their End of support for Windows XP/Vista thread, but in all likelihood you will have to choose between continuing to use the legacy version of Avast or installing the last 10 months of Windows 6.0 updates. As for "other free AV products...that won't suffer this problem": If WinClient5270 is still using Security Essentials 4.4.304.0, then I would presume that it is unaffected. We have a thread about using that MSE version on Vista here. Sandboxie is not a traditional AV product, but Ruan has reported version 5.28 as working with April 2019 updates (see my May 8 post). If you intend to continue running Vista beyond Server 2008's EoL in January, then definition updates for Avast might be available much longer than definition updates for Security Essentials. New Edit: That was a pretty good speech; but as Stevo already knows, he does not have to choose between using Avast and updating to build 6003 because Avast has fixed the issue with a micro-update! It occurs to me that "Windows 6.0.6002 March 2019" is a very strategic point to create an image or clone using Macrium or Acronis. This method of backing up your system becomes all the more valuable in light of Jody Thornton's April 27 post above, i.e. updating Vista after reinstallation may go from "a major pain" to "virtually impossible" before long.

Well has the May update fixed it? Did anyone else using VMware (or perhaps Avast) encounter problems after installing the April updates, and have your problems been resolved now?

An experiment at another forum suggests that you would still be able to get definition updates for Windows Defender. Edit: The tester did not install Servicing stack update for Windows Server 2008 SP2. None of the updates posted May 11 have yet been replaced by newer file versions.

This thread has become rather bewildering these last 2 days. I wonder if .NET Core 2.2 (used by some cross-platform apps) could be installed on Vista?

Well https://wiki.beamng.com/Requirements says they do not support Vista or VMs. Was the game working before you installed Windows updates in April?

Interesting. Is there any software requiring .NET Framework 4.6.2 that you are now able to run successfully on Vista with the preview version installed?