As if we haven't had enough problems with last month's Black Tuesday patches, I'm now seeing complaints about odd errors thrown off by KB 2918614, the Windows Installer Service patch. At this point, reported errors include "error 997.overlapped I/O operation in progress," "key not valid for use in specific state," and "SECREPAIR: A general error running CryptAcquireContext MSI (s) (3C:10) [09:27:13:873]: SECREPAIR: Crypt Provider not initialized. Error:-2146893813."

One Microsoft customer reports that with KB 2918614 installed, all attempts to install MSI files result in the error message, "The requested operation cannot be completed. The computer must be trusted for delegation and the current user account must be configured to allow delegation." There are also reports of duplicated IP addresses and upgrade hangs with UAC prompts.

What do all of these problems have in common? They go away when KB 2918614 is removed.

There's a good, brief overview of what this KB changes on Jorgen Nilsson's blog, CCMEXEC.COM. Nilsson shows how, after installing the patch, a repair sequence for Adobe Reader gains a new UAC prompt. That UAC prompt apparently hoses some automatic installers.

The KB 2918614 article, as well as the general MS 14-049 KB article KB 2962940, show no known issues. Neither even mentions "UAC" -- as if you were surprised.

There's no confirmation of the problem as yet from Microsoft, as far as I can tell, and no analysis of the cause of the problem, just a general recommendation from those who have been burned to uninstall the patch.

After all, it's an "important" patch, which in Microsoft lingo means it isn't.

t/h Mike O

This story, "Microsoft patch KB 2918614 triggers 'key not valid for use,' more errors," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Get the first word on what the important tech news really means with the InfoWorld Tech Watch blog. For the latest developments in business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.