Hi All,
As of recently we (reseller) have been facing an increase in issues with Microsoft including 3rd party drivers in their updates. These include Nvidia drivers, HP bios updates and VMWare ESXI tools. We disable the automatic download of manufacturers apps but Microsoft seems to have a mind of its own.
Now this isn't new. The Nvidia drivers have been included for a long time and upgrading/downgrading them is something I do a lot if performance issues are observed and I take a system back to the Avid supported setup. But the recently included updates cause a different level of problems not just for Avid products but also on a windows level including the server products.
Why this post? This situation pushes for 'protection' from these updates. During the windows 7 times Avid actually certified updates and included them as a bundle in the download center but as time progressed and microsoft's updates in generally weren't causing issues Avid moved away from that and started supporting all microsoft updates, except full version (1909, 2004, 20H1,etc...), updates for windows 10. Those are individually supported.
I believe it is not economically viable for Avid to start certifying individual updates again but that leaves 'us' with the question which 'protection' to implement? There are several tools, including from Microsoft themselves, to manage updates in a cooperate environment but I wonder what 'you' are using/doing, besides disabling updates all together.
Should Microsoft be (legally) forced to make driver updates a process where manual intervention is needed, at least on the windows pro, enterprise, workstation editions and server products?
In the light of 2012r2, 2016 server, Internet explorer not allowing you to go to any site without clicking through each and every security warning, this situation where I'm searching to protect a manufacturers's product from himself is becoming absurd.
Thanks
Jeroen van Eekeres
Technical director, Broadcast support engineer, Avid ACSR.
Always have a backup of your projects....Always!!!! Yes Always!!!!
A.V.I.D....... Another Version In Development
www.mediaoffline.com
Hi Jeroen. Thanks for all that info. My Win10 Pro PC lost its User Settings immediately after a recent Windows Update to 2021H1.
The MC start-up of v2021.6 was met with a flurry of fast error messages that I didn't quite see as they went by. MC did launch BUT with stock User Settings, reflecting a brand new User. I hadn't made a back-up copy of all the customizations I had done. I decided to try a System Restore, and it worked. However, back on Windows 2020H2, after starting up MC, I still found that my User Settings were at 'stock" and did not contain my prior customizations. So my System Restore, it seems, did not get everything back, as was.
Just thought I'd pass that along-- now I am careful to make regular back-ups of my Avid User Settings, along with my other back-up routines.
Have you been able to sucessfully run MC v2021.6 with Windows Updated to 2021H1? I am ready to try it again, just to get it over with.
-Telegram!
Hi Telegram,
Thanks for your reply. It is a clear example of the risks involved in these updates and why applying them mid project or on a deadline is a risky business.
I want to point out a small difference. The 20H4 -> 21H1 update is still manually triggered. While it helps in no way, at least you know you pulled the trigger. In case of the driver updates we are at the mercy of Microsoft. Which drivers will be included in the next update? Even if the setting of 3rd party apps would fully disable driver updates, which it doesn't, its an all or nothing decision. I question what was wrong with the way automattic updates were organized in windows 7/2012r2 server.
But the main problem is how the updates fit in the ever increased need for security. More and more companies start having policies in place to manage this. And while that is fully understandable, if the biggest threat to software or hardware (firmware/bios) of a system are the manufacturers themselves, it becomes a complex if not unsolvable puzzle in the end.
© Copyright 2011 Avid Technology, Inc. Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Site Map | Find a Reseller