Windows Server 2008 SP2 Extended Security Updates (ESU) third and final year ended on January 10, 2023. Additionally, Extended Security Updates on Azure only support ended on January 9, 2024. For more information, see Extended Security Updates for Windows Server overview.
We recommend that you upgrade to a later version of Windows Server. For more information, see Overview of Windows Server upgrades.
Summary
Learn more about this security-only update, including improvements, any known issues, and how to get the update.
Note As of July 2020, optional non-security releases for this operating system are no longer offered. Operating systems in extended support have only cumulative monthly security updates.
Verify that you have installed the required updates in the How to get this update section before installing this update.
For information about the various types of Windows updates, such as critical, security, driver, service packs, and so on, see Description of the standard terminology that is used to describe Microsoft software updates. To view other notes and messages for Windows Server 2008 SP2, see Windows Server 2008 SP2 update history.
Improvements
The following is a summary of the key issues that this update addresses. The bold text within the brackets indicates the item or area of the change we are documenting.
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[User Account Control (UAC)] When the Windows Installer repairs an application, the UAC does not prompt for your credentials. After you install this update, it will prompt for them. Because of this, you might have to update your automation scripts. Additionally, you should add the Shield icon to indicate that your automation scripts require full administrator access. To turn off the UAC prompt, set the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer\DisableLUAInRepair registry value to 1. For more information, see:
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[Remote Desktop Services (RDS)] Fixes an issue in which RDS would stop responding.
For more information about the resolved security vulnerabilities, please refer to the Deployments | Security Update Guide and the September 2024 Security Updates.
Known issues in this update
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Symptom |
Next step |
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After installing this update and restarting your device, you might receive the error, “Failure to configure Windows updates. Reverting Changes. Do not turn off your computer”, and the update might show as Failed in Update History. |
This is expected in the following circumstances:
If you have an ESU key and have encountered this issue, please verify you have applied all prerequisites and that your key is activated. For information on activation, see the Obtaining Extended Security Updates for eligible Windows devices blog post. For information on the prerequisites, see the How to get this update section of this article. |
For the current status of any past known issue, see the Windows Server 2008 SP2 Known Issues page.
How to get this update
Before installing this update
We strongly recommend that you install the latest servicing stack update (SSU) for your operating system before you install the latest Monthly Rollup. SSUs improve the reliability of the update process to mitigate potential issues while installing the Monthly Rollup and applying Microsoft security fixes. For general information about SSUs, see Servicing stack updates and Servicing Stack Updates (SSU): Frequently Asked Questions.
If you use Windows Update, the latest SSU (KB5039341) will be offered to you automatically. To get the standalone package for the latest SSU, search for it in the Microsoft Update Catalog.
Language packs
If you install a language pack after you install this update, you must reinstall this update. Therefore, we recommend that you install any language packs that you need before you install this update. For more information, see Learn about adding a language pack to Windows.
Install this update
To install this update, use one of the following release channels.
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Available |
Next step |
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No |
This update is not available from Windows Update. See the Update Catalog or Server Update Services release channel. |
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Available |
Next step |
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Yes |
To get the standalone package for this update, go to the Microsoft Update Catalog website. To download updates from the Update Catalog, see Steps to download updates from the Windows Update Catalog. |
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Available |
Next step |
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Yes |
This update will automatically sync if you configure Products and Classifications as follows:
For more information about configuring in WSUS, see Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). For more information about configuring in Configuration Manager, see Synchronize software updates. |
Reminder If you are using Security-only updates, you will also need to install all previous Security-only updates and the latest cumulative update for Internet Explorer (KB5043049).
File information
For a list of the files that are provided in this update, download the file information for update KB5043087.
