From: G6JPG@255soft.uk   
      
   On 2026/1/17 0:21:33, VanguardLH wrote:   
   > "J. P. Gilliver"  wrote:   
   >   
   >> On 2026/1/16 11:1:12, John C. wrote:   
   >>   
   >> []   
   >>   
   >>> Here's what it says:   
   >>   
   >> []   
   >>   
   >>>     [Drivers] This update removes the following modem drivers:   
   >>> agrsm64.sys (x64), agrsm.sys (x86), smserl64.sys (x64) and smserial.sys   
   >>> (x86). Modem hardware dependent on these specific drivers will no longer   
   >>> work in Windows.   
   >>   
   >> []   
   >>   
   >> I fail to see any point in removing drivers, and thus killing equipment;   
   >> what is the justification?   
   >>   
   >> (Not that I've used a MoDem - other than the ones built into my "router"   
   >> - for years; just as a point of principle.)   
   >>   
   >> If drivers are _replaced_, that's a different matter.   
   >   
   > If the drivers are no longer supported by the hardware maker, Microsoft   
   > doesn't want to be doling out or supporting old and possibly bad   
   > drivers.  They only distribute the drivers.  They don't write them.  The   
   > hardware might still be working, but that doesn't mean Microsoft wants   
   > to proliferate bad or unsupported drivers for that still-working   
   > hardware.   
      
   There's a difference between not proliferating them, and actively   
   withdrawing them.   
   >   
   > The agrsm[64].sys, I guessing are for some Agere hardware.  Agere went   
   > defunct back in 2007.  Merged into LSI Corp who went defunct in 2014.   
   > Acquired by Avago Tech in 2016, rebranded to Broadcom.  Good luck   
   > finding the drivers there.   
   >   
   > Despite Microsoft removed them, you could reinstall them if you still   
   > had the media (e.g., CD or floppy) that came with the product.  Or get   
   > them from the hardware maker, but I doubt Broadcom has them.   
      
   As I said, I'm not using any of the affected hardware; it's more the   
   principle.   
      
   --   
   J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()ALIS-Ch++(p)Ar++T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf   
      
   A biochemist walks into a student bar and says to the barman: "I'd like   
   a pint of adenosine triphosphate, please."   
   "Certainly," says the barman, "that'll be ATP."   
   (Quoted in) The Independent, 2013-7-13   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)