2018 - Microsoft Update KB4338818 affects TM Server on Win 7 and 2008R2

on July 10th, 2018 Microsoft released patch KB438818 that applies to windows 2008R2 and Windows 7.

In their own release own notes they indicate known problems that affect Exchange server (among other things) on all their operating systems and we have currently found that it also affects TM Server running on Win 7 and 2008R2 server operating systems as follows:

• Processes that TM server starts cannot be terminated from task manager or the TASKKILL command. Windows says that the task does not exist, but it clearly does.
• Stopping Services via Services will not completely stop running processes.

Temporary Resolution

If web sales are not working, restart the machine. Web sales will run for about 12 hours before windows again starts to misbehave. Please turn off auto-updates.

Permanent Resolution(s)

• Uninstalling the KB438818 on windows 2008R2 or Windows 7 has been shown to work at sites that have done it
• Since windows 2008R2 and Windows 7 are out of support by Microsoft, consider updating the machine to Windows 2016 server. It is available to not-for-profits very inexpensively:
  • on Techsoup.org in the US for $8 USD https://www.techsoup.org/products/windows-server-standard--LVS-47862--
  • on Techsoupcanada.ca for $11 CAD at https://www.techsoupcanada.ca/en/microsoft/product/windows-server-standa...
• Not Tested: it is possible that this link will provide subsequent Microsoft patches that address the issue - we have not tested them: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-released-windo...

If you choose to update the Operating system to Windows Server

We will happily reinstall the TM Server on a machine, if your prepare the machine as follows:

• you save the contents of C:\BoxOffice on the machine for after the update
• You install windows 2016 server on it
• All microsoft updates and patches applied for win 2016 server
• It is NOT joined to a domain - and is simply a stand alone server with one single Admin login available to us.
• It does not have any A/V software on it other than windows defender
• It does not have any anti-malware software on it - which compromises machines
• It has teamviewer installed on it so we can access the machine
• It has latest Firefox or Chrome on it
• Auto Updates are turned off
• You do not use it for a file server

Note: if the server also functions as the database sever, give us a call first, as you will need an off machine backup for the database and/or may need to help you move the database to another machine temporarily. The strategy may vary depending on your setup.