A recent Windows 7 update meant to make the transition from Windows 7 to Windows 8 easier has been causing systems to freeze up according to many user accounts online. Microsoft released this update on April 22nd as KB2952664. There have been updates in the past which have caused the operating system to lock up, freeze or malfunction such as this Microsoft Security Essentials update for Windows XP which was pulled by Microsoft after user’s started having issues.
Although the patch has been labeled as an “important” update on some systems and “optional” on others, it isn’t necessary to keeping Windows 7 operating properly. It is best for users to hide this update completely.
If you haven’t installed it yet, here’s how you can avoid this update and avoid issues with your Windows 7 System:
Go to Start and type “Windows Update” without the quotes in the search box. Click on Windows Update at the top of the list:
You will need to look in both the Important Update and the Optional Updates for this patch:
Search for the patch with id KB2952664 in the updates list, right click on it and select Hide Update:
If you have already installed the update, or don’t see the update listed in the Important Updates or Optional Updates section, you may need to uninstall it manually.
You can do this by going to Start -> Control Panel -> Programs and Features -> View Installed Updates. Then find the patch with ID KB2952664, right click on it and select uninstall. Then follow the steps above to hide it from future updates.
All monthly maintenance clients will have this done for their systems during their next update cycle. For further support or questions about this issue, contact your local IT professionals.
This is spot on. I’ve been fighting this for two days. Uninstalled KB 2952664 yesterday. Seemed to clear it up.
Re installed to confirm, yep, back to freezing.
Thanks for the tip.
..thought I’d mention I have Windows 7 64 bit Pro, So far problem only on my desktop. Three laptops Win7, have update KB2952664 installed 5 days ago, 1 pro 64 bit, one home premium 64 bit, another Pro 32 bit, no issue… yet
Good observations. I’ve heard that not all Windows 7 systems are affected. Still getting feedback from various users on this.
Could this up date block my ability to see my x box 360 preventing me from streaming? Which I had been doing til recently?
Removing the update should have no effect on streaming files or multimedia across your network, including to your XBox 360. You may want to make sure your streaming settings are configured correctly and that the appropriate ports are open to allow the Xbox to see your Windows 7 system. Serviio is a great UPNP DLNA Server that is free and lets you stream to media devices like an xbox.
This update was causing my Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit system to freeze repeatedly – reverted back to a 3week old image and the problem has cleared up. Windows Update offered it again as an important update – no way I will touch it with a bargepole!
Caused my 64bit Win 7 to freeze which eventually resulted in hours of trying to get my bootable ssd to be detected… did a restore which removed that update. Everything good now. Not going near that update even if they pay me. CRAP!
I have not had any freezing problems as was mentioned but did experience print spooler problems across a lot of our computers. Has anyone had any problems associated with local print spoolers/drivers?
I just uninstalled this update, as my laptop wouldn’t shut down properly. I ended up having to hard power down manually. Also it was throwing a warning on not connecting with notification service. My toolbar looked different too. I uninstalled and everything back to the way it was and system shuts down as it should now.
This update caused my netbook running win7 32-bit to have connectivity problems to both wifi and ethernet LAN. I just uninstalled it . Everything goes back to normal afterwards
And Microsoft has released it again. And it’s still causing issues.
I have been having trouble since this update was installed and now I cannot even uninstall because this comes up when I try “An error has occurred. Not all updates were successfully uninstalled” so now I don’t know what to do. Can you help?
This update has been trying to install on my system for 2 weeks now. The install history shows installed. Trying to delete it after research and it is still trying to delete after several hours. WTH! Trying hard reboot. Wish me luck.
I have tried several times to uninstall update KB2952664 and receive error message stating it did not remove all of update. I work from home within a vpn, system freezes , could this be the cause, and how can I totally remove update?, Thank you
I know this article is a bit dated now but KB2952664 will no longer respond to any attempt to remove it. Have tried the normal way, wusa from the console, everything but it will not go away.
Remove it and do a disk cleanup and make sure you have “windows update cleanup” selected. What appears to be happening is when you uninstall it, the system sees the update in the catalogue and automatically reinstalls it on reboot.
I just tried uninstalling kb2990214 first then kb2952664 and it worked. After uninstalling the two updates I restarted my computer and they appeared no more when I checked the installed updates. This worked for me and it might as well to anybody there. Just sharing…