Hey Guys,
As you may already know that Microsoft is about to roll out it's most recent Operating System (OS) member, windows 10 in just about 2 weeks time from today.
I recently discovered an issue with a few of the updates that were offered to me and which I accepted and installed by way of the Windows Update Service. At first glance, there didn't seem to be a problem with my system, but upon conducting both a Safety Scan using the built-in Microsoft Safety Scanner tool and a check health scan using the Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM.exe) utility, which both found and was unable to repair these seeming file corruptions.
That said. I did some research and realized that pretty much ever system out there that have received and installed certain updates also experience this same file corruption issue. Below are a list of the windows updates that are causing the file corruption issues upon install:
KB3022345
Package_for_KB3022345~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.3.1.5
KB3068708
Package_for_KB3068708~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.3.1.0
KB3035583
Package_for_KB3035583~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.3.1.29
The above are windows update packages that seem to be causing file corruption problems for Windows 8 and 8.1 users by their respective "Knowledge Base" Package Names. Two of these Updates were initially release through the Windows Update Service as "OPTIONAL UPDATES." However, the first of these three updates was re-released as a recent mandatory or "IMPORTANT UPDATE" under the update name "KB3068708" to replace the original optional update referred to as "KB3022345."
These update pretty much all do the same thing, which is to install a new service which runs in the background called the "DIAGNOSTIC TRACKING SERVICE" among your system's list of services that run in the background on a pretty regular basis by way of your systems TASK SCHEDULER routine.
The included service uses SSL (TCP Port 443) to download manifests and upload data to Microsoft when data is available for upload. The service uses the following DNS endpoints:•vortex-win.data.microsoft.com
•settings-win.data.microsoft.com
This update contains the following two manifests that are occasionally updated by the Diagnostic Tracking Service:
•telemetry.ASM-WindowsDefault.json
•utc.app.json
The two files are marked as static files in the update. When an advanced user runs the System File Checker Tool (sfc.exe), the files are unintentionally flagged as corrupted. There is no impact or actual corruption on a device that is running this update, and this issue will be fixed in a later service update.
Having these updates installed on your system doesn't typically cause any real problems to users, other than those of privacy and returning a Safety Scan result of your system having seeming file corruptions, as this service is used to relay system usage data back to Microsoft Servers for what they describe as being "Customer Experience Monitoring" to be used by them to improve your systems' overall performance and to allow Microsoft to address resulting system use issues by way of future updates and patch releases.
I, personally, uninstalled every instance of these updates, only to have my system really begin to behave strangely, as these updates are part of the Service Pack 1 for the Windows 8 OS platform. I eventually had to re-install these updates as a couple of them are now no longer simply optional updates, but have been made MANDATORY updates in anticipation of an eventual upgrade migration to the Windows 10 OS platform later.
**Remember, they are not really different or separate updates, but are rather the same update by different names and offered by Windows Update Service as either an Optional or Important update.**
For anyone who would like one uninstall these updates, BE WARNED!!! These updates will eventually find their way onto your system somehow, via the Windows Update Service, at some point in the future, whether as a (mandatory) Important Update or an Optional Update. Just note that once uninstalled, these updates WILL, turn up once again in your update cue for re-installation back onto your system and removal may cause your system to become unstable.
You can remove these updates from your system a number of ways. However uninstalling them using your update history is the simplest way to do so. Below are the instructions for doing so:
Method 1:
Take these steps to be certain you want to remove an update:
1.Open Installed Updates by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking Programs, and then, under Programs and Features, clicking View installed updates.
2.Select the update that you want to remove, and then click Uninstall.
Method 2:
Take these steps to be certain you want to remove an update:1.Open a Command Prompt as a system Administrator, swipe or mouse right to bring up the Charms Menu , type CMD, and then, Right click to select Run As Administrator.
2.Type the following into the Command Prompt window without the quotes. "DISM.exe /Online /Remove-Package /PackageName
ackage_for_KBXXXXXXX~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~X.X.X.X"
3.You will be asked by command prompt once the process completes if you would like to, then restart your system to save the uninstall changes made by typing either Y/N, so type "Y" to complete the process and restart your system to save the changes.
4.Repeat the above mentioned steps for each of the update packages you wish to remove from your system one by one also restarting your system each time.
According to Microsoft's own Technical Support Department, this issue both can and will only be resolved at the moment by migrating/upgrading to Windows 10. These updates were released to prepare your system for the eventual upgrade to the new and latest version of Windows. These updates are prerequisites for upgrading to Windows 10 from older versions and the resulting features they add will be standard in Windows 10.
