Windows 8.1 (KB5015874) and Windows 7 (KB5015861) Patch Tuesday updates land

Microsoft has released Patch Tuesday updates for Windows 8.1 (KB5015874) and Windows 7 (KB5015861). They each come with a whole host of improvements and known issues with workarounds. It’s worth noting that support for Windows 8.1 will end in January, so Microsoft urges you to upgrade to a later edition of Windows. The Patch Tuesday update for Windows 7 requires you to have purchased the Extended Security Update (ESU) support.

Windows 8.1

Improvements

• Starting with this release, we are displaying a dialog box to remind users about the End of Support (EOS) for Windows 8.1 in January 2023. If you click Remind me later, the dialog box will appear once every 35 days. If you click Remind me after the end of support date, the dialog box will not appear again until after the EOS date. This reminder does not appear on the following:
  • Managed Pro and Enterprise devices.
  • Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry Enterprise and Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry Pro devices.
• When you use Encrypting File System (EFS) https://docs.microsoft.com/windows/win32/fileio/file-encryption files over a remote Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) protocol connection, the connection might be unsuccessful.
• NTLM authentication through an external trust is unsuccessful when serviced by a domain controller that has the January 11, 2022 or later Windows update installed. This issue occurs if the DC is in a non-root domain and does not hold the global catalog (GC) role. Impacted operations may log the following errors:
  • The security database has not been started.
  • The domain was in the wrong state to perform the security operation.
  • 0xc00000dd (STATUS_INVALID_DOMAIN_STATE)
• Applications might not run after an AppLocker publisher rule is deployed.
• Addresses a known issue that might prevent you from using the Wi-Fi hotspot feature. When attempting to use the hotspot feature, the host device might lose the connection to the Internet after a client device connects.
• Addresses a known issue in which Windows Servers that use the Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) might be unable to correctly direct Internet traffic. Devices which connect to the server might not connect to the Internet, and servers can lose connection to the Internet after a client device connects.

Known issues in this update

Windows 7

Improvements

• When you use Encrypting File System (EFS) files over a remote Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) protocol connection, the connection might be unsuccessful.
• NTLM authentication through an external trust is unsuccessful when serviced by a domain controller that has the January 11, 2022 or later Windows update installed. This issue occurs if the DC is in a non-root domain and does not hold the global catalog (GC) role. Impacted operations may log the following errors:
  • The security database has not been started.
  • The domain was in the wrong state to perform the security operation.
  • 0xc00000dd (STATUS_INVALID_DOMAIN_STATE)
• Addresses a known issue that might prevent you from using the Wi-Fi hotspot feature. When attempting to use the hotspot feature, the host device might lose the connection to the Internet after a client device connects.
• Addresses a known issue in which Windows Servers that use the Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) might be unable to correctly direct Internet traffic. Devices which connect to the server might not connect to the Internet, and servers can lose connection to the Internet after a client device connects.

Known issues in this update

Both of these updates are now available to download through Windows Update if you’re eligible. Your systems will download and install the updates automatically.