Mark,
I think you make a wonderful point, but I wanted to add some detail to
it.
Run a
chkdsk %systemroot% /f
Reboot, this addresses the risk of a corrupted registry. (I am sure that
many of you could share fun stories of recovering from registry
corruption while applying patch updates)
Apply the patch and a final reboot. What you may receive push back from
people stating that there are too many reboots. The reboots could be
staged and automated, remotely and coordinated via scripts. Most patch
installation packages wouldn't coordinate these events.
Hopefully this will clear up the issues around "clearing up any weird
settings" and "changes hanging around".
There are only a few things that require a reboot under windows.
Changes queued in this registry key:
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session
Manager\FileRenameOperations
A File that is in use that can not be unloaded(which if it is a patch it
will update the above key)
A new driver is installed and not started by the installation program.
A new service is installed and not started by the installation program.
Crashes are also the result of Ring 0 operations that are not properly
handled, Ring 3 operations can't crash the operating system. Some of you
may also argue and say that isn't true; there are Ring 3 operations that
will cause Ring 0 operations to crash the system. It is still the result
of Ring 0 operation and not a Ring 3. This same issue holds true with
linux/unix. The kernel panics while in Windows you get the lovely BSOD.
- There are two types of people in this world, one who groups people in
categories and another group that doesn't.
-----Original Message-----
From: Windows NTBugtraq Mailing List
[mailto:NTBUGTRAQ@LISTSERV.NTBUGTRAQ.COM] On Behalf Of Perry, Mark-Allen
(Mark-Allen)
Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2004 2:17 AM
To: NTBUGTRAQ@LISTSERV.NTBUGTRAQ.COM
Subject: A question about preparation for patching
To all:
I've never seen this explicitly mentioned but I thought I'd post the
question.
How many people reboot their machines just before applying a patch that
requires again a reboot?
In my opinion, this would clear out any weird settings and changes
hanging around and remove any doubt whether a crash was caused by the
patch or had been waiting there before.
Is this a better idea than just patching and THEN rebooting?
Comments?
many thanks,
--
Mark-Allen Perry
ALPHA Systems
Marly, Switzerland
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