On Mon, 16 May 2022 at 00:52:54, VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> wrote (my
responses usually FOLLOW):
[]
>Last update was back in 2010, but then you're asking about Word 2003
>which was released back in, well, 2003. Since you didn't ask how to
>convert from .odt to .doc[x], your wording indicates you have Word 2003
>installed, and why you want to use that to view ODT files.
[]
(I'm on W7 [32 bit], but as this is about Word 2003, I thought I'd
mention it [this thread was in the XP 'group only].)

The last update may be _dated_ 2010, but I still _got some_ last month.

For my system - W7, Office 2003 - I'd more or less got used to having no
updates but the Malicious Software Removal Tool about once a month, from
about 2020-12 to 2022-3. (Yes, I know it doesn't do much, but I can't
see it does any harm.)

Must have been early last month, I tried the Microsoft Security
Essentials (I hadn't had it on before; I had AVG). [I turned MSE off
after a short while, as it seemed to impact performance quite a bit.)

Whether it was due to that or for some other reason - and I can't think
of anything else - I suddenly started getting updates for Office 2003
(and a few other things, like Viewer 2007, and Visual C++ 2010 and 2008
SP1); guessing from their KB numbers they're probably _dated_ some years
ago (for the ones with 2003 in the name, mostly 2xxxxxx, the odd
9xxxxx), but I hadn't had them until now. The most recent one with 2003
in its name was _installed_ 2022-4-16 (as part of a block of
thirtysomething that day).

All seem to have installed successfully, and they don't seem to have
broken the only bits of Office I actually use (Word and Excel).

FWIW I have it set to tell me when updates are available but let me
choose to install them - though for the last few years I've usually done
so when it has told me (I just like to see what they are). I haven't
changed that setting for years.

Any idea why they suddenly started appearing after so long with just the
monthly MSRT? (Or, perhaps a better question, why they _didn't_ appear
much earlier?)

Just curious!
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

A dishwasher is rubbish at making treacle sponge. - Marjorie in UMRA, 2017-1-15

On 5/16/2022 6:38 AM, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
> On Mon, 16 May 2022 at 00:52:54, VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> wrote (my responses usually FOLLOW):
> []
>> Last update was back in 2010, but then you're asking about Word 2003
>> which was released back in, well, 2003.  Since you didn't ask how to
>> convert from .odt to .doc[x], your wording indicates you have Word 2003
>> installed, and why you want to use that to view ODT files.
> []
> (I'm on W7 [32 bit], but as this is about Word 2003, I thought I'd mention it [this thread was in the XP 'group only].)
>
> The last update may be _dated_ 2010, but I still _got some_ last month.
>
> For my system - W7, Office 2003 - I'd more or less got used to having no updates but the Malicious Software Removal Tool about once a month, from about 2020-12 to 2022-3. (Yes, I know it doesn't do much, but I can't see it does any harm.)
>
> Must have been early last month, I tried the Microsoft Security Essentials (I hadn't had it on before; I had AVG). [I turned MSE off after a short while, as it seemed to impact performance quite a bit.)
>
> Whether it was due to that or for some other reason - and I can't think of anything else - I suddenly started getting updates for Office 2003 (and a few other things, like Viewer 2007, and Visual C++ 2010 and 2008 SP1); guessing from their KB numbers they're probably _dated_ some years ago (for the ones with 2003 in the name, mostly 2xxxxxx, the odd 9xxxxx), but I hadn't had them until now. The most recent one with 2003 in its name was _installed_ 2022-4-16 (as part of a block of thirtysomething that day).
>
> All seem to have installed successfully, and they don't seem to have broken the only bits of Office I actually use (Word and Excel).
>
> FWIW I have it set to tell me when updates are available but let me choose to install them - though for the last few years I've usually done so when it has told me (I just like to see what they are). I haven't changed that setting for years.
>
> Any idea why they suddenly started appearing after so long with just the monthly MSRT? (Or, perhaps a better question, why they _didn't_ appear much earlier?)
>
> Just curious!

It's possible when you use MSE, that Windows Update is flipped to Microsoft Update
and you receive updates for Office as a result.

Paul

On Mon, 16 May 2022 at 08:07:50, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote (my
responses usually FOLLOW):
>On 5/16/2022 6:38 AM, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
[]
>> FWIW I have it set to tell me when updates are available but let me
>>choose to install them - though for the last few years I've usually
>>done so when it has told me (I just like to see what they are). I
>>haven't changed that setting for years.
>> Any idea why they suddenly started appearing after so long with just
>>the monthly MSRT? (Or, perhaps a better question, why they _didn't_
>>appear much earlier?)
>> Just curious!
>
>It's possible when you use MSE, that Windows Update is flipped to
>Microsoft Update
>and you receive updates for Office as a result.
>
> Paul

Ah, that would make sense. Although I hadn't specifically changed my
update strategy, as you say turning on MSE might have changed that. The
updates _do_ seem to be settling down in numbers.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

What's awful about weird views is not the views. It's the intolerance. If
someone wants to worship the Duke of Edinburgh or a pineapple, fine. But don't
kill me if I don't agree. - Tim Rice, Radio Times 15-21 October 2011.

On Mon, 16 May 2022 08:07:50 -0400, Paul wrote:
> On 5/16/2022 6:38 AM, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
> > [quoted text muted]
> >
> > Any idea why they suddenly started appearing after so long with just the monthly MSRT? (Or, perhaps a better question, why they _didn't_ appear much earlier?)
> >
> > Just curious!
>
> It's possible when you use MSE, that Windows Update is flipped to Microsoft Update
> and you receive updates for Office as a result.

That was my thought also.

But John said he was also getting old _Windows_ updates. Maybe MSE
also flips the switch to install all updates, including the
"optional" ones not previously installed, or even the ones the user
has explicitly hidden? Or maybe it just did a one-time install of
"missing" updates.

John reported that MSE seemed to bog down his system. Maybe it wasn't
MSE per se, but all those updates?

I tried googling for
"microsoft Security Essentials" installs old Windows updates
(quotes as shown). This up more good hits about MSE than about
updates. I'll deal with updates first.

The 25th hit was
<https://askleo.com/why-am-i-still-getting-updates-for-windows-7/>
and seems to answer John's primary question. Here's the TL;DR line at
the top:
"Updates are updates except when they?re not, and the difference
matters."
The article is clearly written and not too long; it's worth a read.
There's also good info for Windows 7 users in the comments.

--------- Microsoft Security Essentials and alternatives -----------

The 12th hit was
<https://pctonic.net/2-reasons-why-you-might-want-to-ditch-ms-
security-essentials-and-why-shouldnt/>
which begins
"#1 Revoltingly long first update
"Microsoft Security Essentials takes a ridiculous amount of time to
update for the first time (just after you install it). On a slow
connection, it can be as long as an hour or more! Since future
updates are all automatic and silent, this is likely the only time
you?re gonna notice the update, and naturally you feel pissed off.
People assume it?s always gonna take that long to update (which would
be outrageous), and uninstall it without thinking twice. This is not
true. The subsequent updates are small and fast as any other
antimalware program. So why the gigantic first update? Lets see."

But apart from the performance issue. which looks like a first-time-
only problem, you wouldn't want to use MSE because it's not getting
platform updates, only definition updates, and even for those who
knows for how long?
<https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-security-
essentials-to-get-updates-after-windows-7-eos/>

Does Windows 7 come with Windows Defender? IIRC, reviews say it's
fairly lightweight and does a decent job of catching malware. And it
doesn't come with the baggage of AVG and Avast. If it's available,
I'd use that and supplement it with daily scans by Malwarebytes Free.

--
Stan Brown, Tehachapi, California, USA https://BrownMath.com/
Shikata ga nai...

On Mon, 16 May 2022 at 10:12:43, Stan Brown <the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm>
wrote (my responses usually FOLLOW):
>On Mon, 16 May 2022 08:07:50 -0400, Paul wrote:
>> On 5/16/2022 6:38 AM, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
>> > [quoted text muted]
>> >
>> > Any idea why they suddenly started appearing after so long with
>> >just the monthly MSRT? (Or, perhaps a better question, why they
>> >_didn't_ appear much earlier?)
>> >
>> > Just curious!
>>
>> It's possible when you use MSE, that Windows Update is flipped to
>>Microsoft Update
>> and you receive updates for Office as a result.
>
>That was my thought also.
>
>But John said he was also getting old _Windows_ updates. Maybe MSE
>also flips the switch to install all updates, including the
>"optional" ones not previously installed, or even the ones the user
>has explicitly hidden? Or maybe it just did a one-time install of
>"missing" updates.

That seems very plausible.
>
>John reported that MSE seemed to bog down his system. Maybe it wasn't
>MSE per se, but all those updates?
>
>I tried googling for
> "microsoft Security Essentials" installs old Windows updates
>(quotes as shown). This up more good hits about MSE than about
>updates. I'll deal with updates first.
>
>The 25th hit was

I must be a lot more circumspect when asking questions: I certainly
didn't mean anyone to go to the extent of reading to the 25th hit!

><https://askleo.com/why-am-i-still-getting-updates-for-windows-7/>
>and seems to answer John's primary question. Here's the TL;DR line at
>the top:
>"Updates are updates except when they?re not, and the difference
>matters."
>The article is clearly written and not too long; it's worth a read.

Thanks; have done. The gist seems to be "the update mechanism is used to
update more than just the OS - it also updates things like Office, MSE,
and the MSRT."

>There's also good info for Windows 7 users in the comments.
>
>--------- Microsoft Security Essentials and alternatives -----------
>
>The 12th hit was
><https://pctonic.net/2-reasons-why-you-might-want-to-ditch-ms-
>security-essentials-and-why-shouldnt/>
>which begins
>"#1 Revoltingly long first update
>"Microsoft Security Essentials takes a ridiculous amount of time to
>update for the first time (just after you install it). On a slow
>connection, it can be as long as an hour or more! Since future
>updates are all automatic and silent, this is likely the only time
>you?re gonna notice the update, and naturally you feel pissed off.

It was some _days_ (might even have been a week or two) after turning it
on that I decided it was what was slowing things down a lot.

>People assume it?s always gonna take that long to update (which would
>be outrageous), and uninstall it without thinking twice. This is not

I haven't (knowingly) uninstalled it, just turned it off.

>true. The subsequent updates are small and fast as any other
>antimalware program. So why the gigantic first update? Lets see."
>
>But apart from the performance issue. which looks like a first-time-
>only problem, you wouldn't want to use MSE because it's not getting
>platform updates, only definition updates, and even for those who
>knows for how long?
><https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-security-
>essentials-to-get-updates-after-windows-7-eos/>
>
>Does Windows 7 come with Windows Defender? IIRC, reviews say it's
>fairly lightweight and does a decent job of catching malware. And it
>doesn't come with the baggage of AVG and Avast. If it's available,
>I'd use that and supplement it with daily scans by Malwarebytes Free.
>
MSE seems to still be getting Security Intelligence Updates (KB2310138)
daily on this 7-32 - the latest installed being Version 1.363.2043.0
today. And MSRT (KB890830) abut monthly - latest being v5.101 yesterday.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

If you believe in telekinesis, raise my right hand