Windows 7 users: You need SHA-2 support or no Windows updates after July 2019

[douglas9]

6. If you miss this vital Windows 7 patch updates will stop working in July

All Windows 7 users hopefully know that Microsoft will cease support for the operating system in January 2020, but what they might not realize is that extended support could dry up in July 2019 if they fail to install some critical patches next month.

The patches arriving in March mark a security upgrade for Windows 7, and mean that Windows updates will only use the SHA-2 hash algorithm to sign and authenticate patches (i.e. to make sure they’ve come directly from Microsoft, and haven’t been tampered with).

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In short, then, you need to make sure you don’t miss the various standalone security updates that will deploy next month and usher in SHA-2 code sign support – currently, Microsoft is estimating a target date of March 12 for their release on Windows 7.

https://www.techradar.com/news/if-you-miss-this-vital-windows-7-patch-updates-will-stop-working-in-july

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4472027/2019-sha-2-code-signing-support-requirement-for-windows-and-wsus