AutoPatcher Closed Down By Microsoft

This time Microsoft have really done it.Auto Patcher was the easiest way to update your pc after formatting. Now they are going to give a lot if us headaches. This is the worst possible Microsoft could have done. The are being jerks.If they’ve pulled the plug then they should offer alternatives or they should be warned the Darkangel is coming after them.

Hello Steven,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Ron

Autopatcher was giving additional value to windows (easy update for all your, or your company’s, PCs with a single download). Many ITs were already mad at microsoft, with this move I guess there will be even more…

I am tired with all their I-am-the-boss-and-I-decide attitude. I am a client and you hit my nerves. Time for an OS switch?

Hi Kawa,
I agree. Autopatcher provided a very valuable service, one which many people depended on.
Thanks for your comments.
Ron

Thanks again, Microsoft, for another senseless act of stupidity.
As soon as I read this, I searched & found a mirror that was still up & downloaded all August Autopatcher files. I can at least patch new installs through Aug ‘08.

I have to rebuild a number of computers every year here at work. Even though I have WSUS servers, I still prefer to use AutoPatcher. One of the most important reasons behind that decision is that the MS patches are sequenced - install this one and then, after restarting, it calls for the next one that couldn’t be installed in combination with the others. No such nonsense with AutoPatcher. Choose what you want (with many more useful options than MS provides) and then let it go. It’s all done in one shot - no problem.
This is the tool that MS should have been providing all along for those of us who work with their OS’s for a living.
The fact that a small team of guys based in Greece were able to do this for 4 years with a consistently high level of performance with only contributions and a strong sense of service to keep them going must have been an irritant to MS. The team did it better, faster and at no cost to the end user - talk about getting in MS’s face!
They will be missed by thousands of users all over the world, with me among them.

Thanks Ironman and Jon for dropping by and sharing your comments with us. I agree. Microsoft should of bought Autopatcher and continued to use their services, not shut them down.

Thanks, Ron

Unfortunately, real improving change takes far too much time, but it is unavoidable.
Reminds me of the now “Junk-bond” status of “The Big Three” (GM, Ford, Chrysler), who, for reasons unknown - other than corporate exec hyper-egotistical profit-taking power-hungry dysbehavior - decided against listening to their customer base regarding safety, durability, and economy; opting to force their ignorant power over the entire industry, … until the Orient began building the kind of automobiles people really wanted, and could use reliably.
The Ford Pinto “Timeless-bomb” was in the 70’s, and it has taken this long before Ford has really had to pay the price for their horrible attitude(s). They were counting on the “loyalty” factor, and the tradition (for which they paid in false advertising) that “Buying American” was God’s blessing.
Today most every automobile in the US is either imported - wholly - from the Orient, … perhaps via Mexico; or it has Oriental powerplants (the best being Mitsubishi in Chrysler products).
I remember the words of a science teacher in Issaqua, WA: “Ellsworth’s Law of Social Inertia: you can only change the trends of society by exerting a little pressure over a long time, or by exerting a lot of pressure over a short time. Otherwise society tends to continue moving in the direction it’s already going.”

Sad, but true. M$ has continually been pushing and shoving its way into history - first, by attacking “Potiential competition”, such as Lotus, with DO$ 2.11, 3.x, 5.x and finally DO$ 6.x which wiped me out as a programmer. That was when we actually had a “choice” to avoid Windows. Now they have obliterated that option and are replacing a bad series of GUI-OS’es which only worked sporadically with WGA, which - by design - sporadically, and intentionally, shuts down whole systems - either a little at a time, or totally.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist, or a Psychologist to see their goal and their game. It was always some form of conquest. Now that it has turned on the very customer base it should be serving, the focus has shifted to China. That should be interesting.

It’s a tragedy that the only real improvement to come out of Redmond - now that they have few true software companies to buy or destry - is the switch-pulling monster of destruction. The BSOD was bad enough, but now they boast of a power/ability to successfully attack any user they deem ± “Pirate”.

Inertia is already turning society against them. Let’s hope it doesn’t take 30 years before foolish people begin to fit the punishment to the crime.

As if to rub sand into their own faces microshaft have just headlined their “Microsoft Download Notifications: August 31, 2007″ newsletter with:

“Download Windows XP Service Pack 2
Help protect your computer against viruses, hackers, and worms.”

Whoa! Thanks for the timely reminder redmond. Where would we be without your guidance?

lmao…

It pretty obvious to me that what MS is doing is trying to force people to buy Vista. If you can’t fix XP, in their eyes, you’ll HAVE to buy Vista.

Right way, Wrong way, and the Microsoft way. That used to be the case, however many users have switched to the Linux way because of Microsoft’s narrow minded ways. Microsoft’s shutting down AutoPatcher should be a wake up call that they rule with an iron hand. Don’t you just love Microsoft?

Hello Ted Bruner, Glen Olah , Tammy M, and Bob,
Thanks to you all for sharing your thoughts and comments. I don’t think MS knew how many folks they are going to piss off by their actions. Most likely they won’t care as well.
Ron

I guess I never new about auto patcher till the storm blew in. All I’ve ever done is about once a month go to MS updates and express d/l the stuff there, then defrag, then do a system check. I suppose if I didn’t want to
go there, I could go to the ADMIN site, packup everything and put it on a
cd and patch from there, but then, that’s me, a hands on rather than letting an automatic program thingy do the work.

I still miss command line, but from what I keep hearing about VISTA even from those in the know, I will strongly consider LINUX before being forced down the path of having to buy yet another OS to keep my treadle model cpu going.

Hi Carl Ray,
Many users still prefer the old fashion way of doing things manually.
Have a great week and thanks for your comments.
Ron

I loved Autopatcher , For people like me who go out to peoples house’s and update their computers it was a blessing , 1 file , 1 cd and no waiting on a slow internet connection.

I asume microsoft did this, as it allowed people to update their systems without installing the WGA (windows genuine Advantage) which for people with a pirated version meant no popup saying their software may be counterfeit.

There are other ways to update peoples PC’s without internet connections like using the catalog version of windows update and downloading the files and storring them, but manually installing 500 update files .. OMG come on Micorosoft , You could have bought it and forced WGA installation or given the guys a option of “you must force WGA installation or shut the service down ”

Anyways my 2 cents ..

Hello Mortifer,
Exactly. It would of been so easy for MS just to buy it. Maybe if enough people complained to MS they may just do that. Just a thought.
Ron

Why can’t they just require the end files be compiled on the end user machine?

Change auto-patcher to download files direct from M$ as needed….

then, you take the COMPILED download to the 2nd PC….

would totally get around anything M$ could say or do.

Hello Ben,
Good thought. But there is that fear that MS would stop that as well and possibly sue.
Regards, Ron

I agree it is a LOAD OF B.S shutting down auto patcher. It truly was so much easier to get all of your updates and in a simple way not to much of a hasle. Well i think Microsoft is thinking for people who hack their O.S they can update their systems without having to use the Microsoft one. But if the updates are free to do whatever auto patcher should fight this. I really hope that it is not the end although it seems like it.

Hi Nathan,
I think we all agree. It would appear that MS is trying to place tighter controls on who gets the updates.
Ron

[...] AutoPatcher Closed Down By Microsoft ~ The Blade by Ron Schenone, MVP For years many of us have depended on AutoPatcher to keep our systems updated with the latest patches and updates for Windows XP. But today it appears that [...]