Microsoft today released some optional updates to fix bugs in modern OSes

Jul 10, 2014 05:12 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft rolled out a total of six different security updates on Patch Tuesday to address vulnerabilities in its software and thus try to keep its users secure, but it appears that the company has also prepared something a little bit unusual for those running Windows 8.1, RT 8.1, and Server 2008 R2.

The so-called “July 2014 update rollup for Windows RT 8.1, Windows 8.1, and Windows Server 2012 R2” is an optional update that shows up in Windows Update after deploying all Patch Tuesday bulletins and, instead of fixing security vulnerabilities, it's only supposed to address bugs that were found in the three operating systems.

While we haven't seen Microsoft fixing bugs in its OSes with optional updates in a while, it's still a good thing that this is happening, especially because more users are moving to Windows 8.1 these days.

“The July 2014 Windows RT 8.1, Windows 8.1, and Windows Server 2012 R2 update rollup package resolves issues, and includes performance and reliability improvements. We recommend that you apply this update rollup as part of your regular maintenance routines,” Microsoft explained.

The list of bugs supposed to be fixed by this update (which you can also find at the end of this article), includes BSODs that were experienced when restarting a computer or USB devices that could not be recognized after plugging them in your system.

Just like it's the case with all the other updates released by Microsoft, this new optional patch (which, by the way, should be installed by each and every one of us) is being delivered via Windows Update, so it's enough to simply install all Patch Tuesday bulletins to see it listed for download.

The rollup is only aimed at modern OS versions, including the following: Windows 8.1 Enterprise, Windows 8.1, Windows 8.1 Pro, Windows RT 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter, Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials, Windows Server 2012 R2 Foundation, and Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard.

The update can also be downloaded manually using the links below (please note that Windows RT devices, such as Microsoft's very own Surface RT, cannot be updated manually, so your only option is to launch Windows Update to get it from there):

All supported x86-based versions of Windows 8.1 All supported x64-based versions of Windows 8.1 All supported x64-based versions of Windows Server 2012 R2 Here is the full list of bugs supposed to be squashed by this new optional update:

2974318 Translation issue on a German language computer that is running Windows RT 8.1 or Windows 8.1 2973456 USB 2.1 device cannot be recognized when the BOS descriptor validation fails in Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 2973071 "HTTP 403" or "0x80040001" error when a DirectAccess server requires OTP authentication in Windows RT 8.1 or Windows 8.1 2972090 Incorrect candidate selected in Japanese IME when you convert a Kana in the Search pane in Windows RT 8.1 or Windows 8.1 2970746 "Profile Installation Failed" error when iOS device is Workplace Joined by using DRS on a Windows Server 2012 R2-based server 2970237 Computer goes back to sleep mode quickly in Windows 8.1 or Windows Server 2012 R2 2969040 Toggle button does not respond in landscape mode for a right-to-left language in Windows 8.1 or Windows Server 2012 R2 2967165 PowerShell 3.0 fails to import signed localized data file on Windows 8.1 or Windows Server 2012 R2 2937429 Group Policy Preferences items take a long time to apply because of full DFS namespace sync 2923238 Microsoft Online Responder can't service an OCSP request that contains multiple certificates 2973445 "0x0000009F" Stop error when you restart a Windows 8.1 or Windows Server 2012 R2-based computer 2972624 Date and time is incorrect when a computer running Windows 8.1 or Windows Server 2012 R2 resumes from hibernate mode 2971677 IP addresses become APIPA when DHCP failover server running Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2012 R2 is unavailable 2967567 Cannot access DFS root when the DFS path is offline and you log on to a Windows-based computer for the first time 2966729 0x8e5e043e error when you try to use the Tiering Engine Service in Windows Server 2012 R2 2960124 The Online Responder service does not return a deterministic GOOD for all certificates not included in the CRL 2954978 DNS query fails if you use BIND DNS together with Windows DNS in Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 2458125 The Value field under the Attribute item for event ID 5136 is empty in Windows Server