Microsoft has said it will release a patch at the end of January that should fix all the problems introduced by a recent update to its Windows Live OneCare security software.

Since November, Microsoft has been slowly rolling out an update to its Windows Live OneCare security software. Although the update was designed to bring in new features, such as the ability to monitor the health of multiple PCs, some say the new version has brought only headaches.

A Microsoft representative said on Friday that the company hopes to push out an update for Live OneCare version 2.0 on January 31.

Robert Webb of North Carolina said he started having problems from the moment his software was upgraded in early December.

"My main problem has been that OneCare does not always start when the computer is booted," Webb said in an e-mail interview. "It has to be manually started."

Microsoft's online forums are buzzing with a host of complaints about the new version, with many people unable to get the software to work.

Last week, Microsoft confirmed that it was working on that problem.

"We are aware that some users are experiencing an issue with Windows Live OneCare when they start up the service after installing (version) 2.0," Microsoft said in a statement to ZDNet Australia sister site CNET News.com. "The issue is being worked on and currently affects a very limited number of customers (about one percent of the install base), each of whom we thank for their patience."

In an interview last Thursday, Microsoft lead product manager Larry Brennan said that, in total, the problems aren't causing a significant disparity compared with users' experience with the older version. Continue At Source

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