On 15 April 2006 the automatic Windows Update system started downloading and installing several updates, including the one identified by Microsoft as KB908531 or MS06-015.
This update causes major problems on some people's computers. If you are not encountering any problems then you are not affected and you do not need to read the rest of this email.
Possible problems include Windows hanging if you right-click on the desktop. It is also reported by Microsoft that some of the following problems may occur:
• You cannot access special folders such as "My Documents" or "My Pictures."
• Microsoft Office applications stop responding when you try to save or to open Office files in the "My Documents" folder.
• Office files that are located in the "My Documents" folder cannot be opened.
• If you open a file by clicking Open on the File menu, the application stops responding.
• When you type an address in the Address box in Microsoft Internet Explorer, nothing happens.
• When you right-click a file and then click Send To, nothing happens.
• When you expand a folder in Windows Explorer, nothing happens.
• Some third-party applications stop responding when you open or save data in the "My Documents" folder.
Microsoft have issued a bulletin at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918165 which says that this is caused by an interaction between a newly added Microsoft program (verclsid.exe) and previously installed software from Hewlett-Packard or Kerio.
Microsoft have also issued a bulletin at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms06-015.mspx which says that in addition to the Hewlett-Packard software, systems with particular NVidia graphics drivers are also affected.
If you run across any of the problems described above, you have three choices:
1. Follow the instructions in http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918165. These are incomplete and therefore may not help.
2. Uninstall the KB908531 update, using Add/Remove Programs in the Windows control panel. Read http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms06-015.mspx before you do this, to see what protection you are removing from your system.
3. Wait until 25 April, when Microsoft promise that Windows Update will deliver a corrected update that will remove this problem.
