In the wake of the recent Wannacrypt (also known as Wannacry) Ransomware attack, it appears evident from questions still regularly asked at Experts Exchange and other forums that some are still falling prey to Ransomware attacks, mostly due to not having applied appropriate available patches to their older operating systems.
As recently released security patches for Operating Systems that have already reached their End of Life cycle have not been made "automatically" available via Windows update, many seem to be struggling to find links to the patches they need, or indeed decipher and make sense of the (sometimes confusing) Microsoft pages, listing where patches can be downloaded.
**Note** This article does not promote the continued use of any "no longer supported" operating system. That having been said, this author recognises that some people may have little choice but to continue doing so, or be faced with financial hardship by having to replace expensive propriety hardware or software solutions they've already paid for. It's with you folks in mind that this article has been written.
With that out of the way, below I present a list of handy links to the patches you should make sure are installed in any of the operating systems listed that you may still be using. If you're unsure if you've installed the listed patches or not, I suggest downloading all those that are applicable to your system. If you don't need a patch when you try to install it, Windows will tell you so and you can just move onto the next one.
Tip! - Grab them all now while they're still available! They will come in handy if you ever need to reinstall.
Service Pack and Patches for Windows XP (SP2 & SP3)
If your copy of Windows XP hasn't been updated to SP3, you can still download and install SP3 using the following source:
Check to see if you have all of these patches installed:
Listed in ascending KB patch order..
Tip! Also grab this KB4018271 patch to update Internet Explorer 8
Service Packs & Patches for Windows Server 2003
Download Links to Service Packs
Supported Operating System
Windows Server 2003
Supported Operating Systems
Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2 (32-Bit x86), Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, Windows SBS 2003
Supported Operating Systems
Windows Server 2003 R2 x64, Windows Server 2003 x64
Download Links to (32-bit) Server 2003 Patches
Check to see if you have all of these patches installed:
Listed in ascending KB patch order..
Download Links to (64-bit) Server 2003 SP2 Patches
Check to see if you have all of these patches installed:
Listed in ascending KB patch order..
Service Packs & Patches for Windows Server 2008
Due to the many different flavors of Windows Server 2008, these can be a little trickier to list. The easiest way to ensure you're protected as best as you can be is to first update to the latest available service pack - before applying the following patches.
Tip! - Some of the following patches may list as available for the Microsoft Vista operating system - in those circumstances, note that they also apply to Windows Server 2008
Download Links to Service Packs
Supported Operating Systems
Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2
Supported Operating Systems
Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista
Includes all updates since SP1 was delivered
Supported Operating Systems
Hyper-V Server 2008, Windows Server 2008
Includes all updates since SP1 was delivered
Supported Operating System
Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems
Download Links for Windows Server 2008 (32-bit) SP2 Installations
Check to see if you have all of these patches installed:
Listed in ascending KB patch order..
Download Links for Windows Server 2008 (64-bit) SP2 Installations
Check to see if you have all of these patches installed:
Listed in ascending KB patch order..
The following are Specific to Windows Server 2008 "R2" (64-bit)
Download Links for Server 2008 SP2 (Itanium Based) Installations
Check to see if you have all of these patches installed:
Listed in ascending KB patch order..
The following are Specific to Windows Server 2008 "R2" SP1 - Itanium Based Installations
Manual Patch Installation
Installing the above patches manually is simplicity itself.
Patching Tips!
Conclusion
I hope this article eases some of the confusion about patching out of date operating systems. Do keep in mind that while the above list of patches will effectively make your operating system a "little" more secure, you should try to upgrade to a supported Operating System version as soon as possible. More vulnerabilities are being discovered every day and there is no guarantee that Microsoft will provide any additional security patches in the future.
Till the next time...
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