If you haven't run update KB4461529 for Outlook 2010, don't!

Microsoft is in trouble again. In fact, I’m thinking of creating a template for my KB update articles with “Microsoft is in trouble again” at the beginning to save me a bit of time. The new problem is that a security update for Microsoft Outlook 2010, update KB4461529 to be precise, causes the program to crash on startup.

Outlook 2010 crashes on startup after installing Update KB4461529

It was first reported by on the 15th November, but took Microsoft 24 hours to find out and respond to it, asking for a crash event report. A day later it got the log and immediate posted a known issue. As of the time of writing, this is where the issues stands for Microsoft:

STATUS: INVESTIGATING
Microsoft is investigating the issue and we will update this page when further details become available. As a workaround, you could try using Outlook Web Access.

Here is the bit that I don’t understand. At the bottom of the post is this:

Caution: We do not recommend removing security update KB4461529.

Microsoft issues an update, it makes Outlook 2010 crash, Microsoft admits they have made a mess of things, but then tells everyone who is affected not to uninstall the update, which fixes the problem. Remember, this is four days after Microsoft got the news.

What Is Everyone Supposed to Do Now?

What is everyone, well, everyone using Windows 10/7 64-bit systems who has been affected, supposed to do in the meantime? I’m not sure what the statistics are here, but I am sure that Outlook is primarily used in a workplace environment. Are all these affected users just meant to wait till Microsoft eventually gets round to issuing a fix?

Bizarrely, while the security update KB4461529, which has known issues, has not been pulled, Microsoft has pulled two other updates relating to the abdication of the Emperor and a change in the Japanese calendar.

Notice
After you install this update, you may experience crashes in Microsoft Access or other applications. To resolve this issue, uninstall the update by following the instructions in the “More information” section.
This update is no longer available.

Particularly annoying since I wrote about these two updates 12 days ago.

So, in other words, a non-security update to change the Japanese calendar is pulled but a security update, with a serious known issue is not… and nor is it fixed.

Have you been affected by the KB4461529 update? Let us know in what way and what you have tried to fix the problem in the comments below.

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