[Njtechdiv] Important update for Windows 7

[Mario Brusco]

a notice to users of Windows 7 regarding the update to SHA-2 signing:

the update is called:

2019-03 Servicing Stack Update for Windows 7 for x64-based Systems 
(KB4490628) 8.9 MB.

if your Windows Update is set to automatically download and install, I 
think you should be eventually getting it because it should be already 
checked, but you can manually check for updates to make sure you get it. 
if you do decide to check for updates, make sure it is checked. it will 
be an "important" (critical) update, so once the process for checking 
for updates is finished, you should have 1 important update, press the 
space bar on this to reveal what the update is called. it should match 
the above mentioned name and should be checked. if it isn't, press the 
space bar. tab to the OK button and press the space bar. and press the 
space bar on the install button. wait until it has been installed with a 
message that would elude that an update has been installed.

------ Original Messag	e --------
From: Mario [mailto:mrb620 at hotmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2019, 10:26 AM
To: njtechdiv at nfbnet.org
Subject: Important update for Windows 7

just passing along a heads up message for those still using Windows 7:

Microsoft has already decided on the end-of-support dates for Windows 7
users and while it’s January 2020, there’s a chance that users could get
locked out of Windows Updates soon.

Microsoft recently announced that they are moving to SHA-2 for better
encryption. This is not a big news for Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 users
but is a critical one for Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 SP1 and SP2
users as they still rely on SHA-1 encryption. Microsoft had initially
planned to roll out an update in April to fix the issue so the older
systems could support SHA-2 encryption. However, Microsoft has now moved
the date to March and the fix will roll out with Patch Tuesday for all
the Windows 7 users. It’s really important that everyone downloads the
patch as it will make older OS compatible with SHA-2 encryption. After
this update,
Microsoft will be signing Windows Updates using SHA-2 which will not be
supported on devices that don’t have the update. You can read more about
this change on the Microsoft Support website:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4472027/2019-sha-2-code-signing-support-requirement-for-windows-and-wsus