14 DAY TRIAL // As I reported a few days ago, the March 2018 monthly rollup for Windows 7 Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 is causing some issues on systems installing it, including problems with network adapters.
Microsoft has updated the official KB page of this update (via AskWoody) to state that it’s aware of the problem and to also provide a workaround for those who encounter it.
More specifically, a number of Windows users who installed update KB4088875 revealed that they ended up with a ghost NIC on their system which impacts the settings of the other adapters. Removing it was the only solution, some users said, but Microsoft has a more complex workaround explained in the Known issue 1 section in this convenience rollup document.
“A new Ethernet virtual Network Interface Card (vNIC) that has default settings may replace the previously existing vNIC, causing network issues after you apply this update. Any custom settings on the previous vNIC persist in the registry but are unused,” Redmond says in the updated KB page.
New fix likely landing in April
While this is just a temporary workaround, Microsoft hasn’t said anything about a new fix that could be released for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 systems, but instead such a patch is expected to ship next month on the April Patch Tuesday rollout.
KB4088875 also comes with a bunch of other known issues, including BSODs experienced when the update is applied to 32-Bit (x86) systems with the Physical Address Extension (PAE) mode disabled and on those not supporting Streaming Single Instructions Multiple Data (SIMD) Extensions 2 (SSE2).
Additionally, starting with this month’s release, Windows 7 would no longer receive security updates unless they have up-to-date antivirus that is flagged as compatible. This is a policy that Microsoft previously implemented in Windows 10 back in January and which is now expanded to Windows 7 as well.