The second Tuesday of every month is ‘Patch Tuesday’, when Microsoft releases Windows system updates. What should Windows users do before Patch Tuesday arrives? It depends on how you use your computer.
If you are a user who stores files in the cloud
Users who keep all their files in the cloud and use a Microsoft account will have no hesitation in reinstalling the operating system if necessary. User data is protected with a user name and password, and users with knowledge about security use two-factor authentication.
These users might think they don’t need to back up their computer systems before Patch Tuesday, since if something goes wrong with their computer, they can reinstall the operating system and reconnect to several online storage services. As long as file versioning is enabled for all of the cloud services you are using, you can roll back to any previous version of your files.
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If the update released on Patch Tuesday has issues affecting access to files, and the update has been run, click ‘Remove Update’ in ‘Start → Settings → Update & Security → View update history‘, then reboot your computer and install the update. should be blocked If you can’t reboot your computer, you’ll have to reinstall Windows by booting from a flash drive with an ISO for your version of Windows. You can then reconnect to the data file with your username and password. In this case, the user should also know how to install the necessary hardware drivers. Ideally, find out about the vendor’s website where you can pretest the process and download the missing drivers.Â
The biggest concern for this kind of user is the loss of their internet connection. Most businesses will have a firewall or backup Internet connection that automatically goes over when the Internet connection is lost (individual users can use a cell phone hotspot). If your computer is completely down, you can use another device, such as a phone or tablet, to access your files, email, or other data.Â
For users who store data locally
Some users store everything on their computer and don’t use Microsoft or Google Drive. These users must back up their local computers before Patch Tuesday so that they can access their data again when the operating system is repaired, restored, or reinstalled.
If you are experiencing the side effects of the Patch Tuesday update, you should uninstall the update as mentioned above, reboot your device, and block the update. Be aware of the backup software recovery process and how to initiate a full restore from a backup in case your computer becomes unbootable (ideally, backing up your entire system before installing any updates).
What this kind of user should be most concerned about is the condition of the hard drive. You need to make sure that you have an image backup and that the process of creating multiple backups on a replacement basis using an external hard drive is running. Because it’s a way to get the system back when something goes wrong. Having a spare SSD on hand makes it easy to replace and restore from a backup in case something goes wrong with your hard drive.
When your computer is completely down, you can access your email with your phone or tablet, but you will have to wait for the recovery process to complete to access your files. An alternative is to mount the backup image to another computer, save the necessary files to a flash drive, and use it until the primary PC is fully restored.Â
For users who store files both in the cloud and locally
Even for some kind of hybrid user, backups are still important. The most important part for this kind of user is knowing where important information is stored and where it is backed up, and then documenting how best to restore it.
Documentation of your backups will help you access your data as quickly as possible if something goes wrong with your computer and you decide to reinstall the operating system or buy a new computer for your company. In the short term, it’s common to access files from remote locations, rebuild computers, and synchronize files on a regular basis.
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The key point is that in each scenario, whether data is stored in the cloud or on a local drive, a backup of the current state gives you an option in case something goes wrong. Also, having a backup means you don’t have to worry about anything that could happen on Patch Tuesday. It can be cumbersome, but it won’t completely destroy your data. Data will always be there.
