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A standalone security update released as part of the February Patch Tuesday cycle has created headaches for some owners of PCs running Windows 10. After investigating reports of those issues, Microsoft has yanked KB4524244 from its update servers. Update 15-Feb-2020: The mess gets messier: Judging from a series of cryptic tweets by security experts, this update and its revocation are tied to a situation involving Kaspersky Rescue Disk and a signed bootloader that can circumvent the Secure Boot feature that is the bedrock of security on modern PCs. I'm still trying to figure out the sequence of events here. Stay...

As 1809 is nudged toward the darkness, the Baron of Bork has plans for 1903 and 1909 There are three certainties in life: death, taxes and duff patches from Microsoft. So, yes, some Windows 10 users have found their PC unhappy following Tuesday's patch shenanigans.A helpful forum posting from one of Microsoft's loyal MVPs concerning the arrival of KB4532693 for Windows 10 1903 and 1909, and KB4532691 for 1809, has seen some customers reporting that the updates had left their systems a little distressed.Users have found things reset to a seemingly default state and a temporary user account used for...

Default-hijacking browser extension pulled from Office Pro Plus installations Microsoft has U-turned on plans to automatically switch browser search defaults to Bing when users install Office 365 Pro Plus.In January, Microsoft let slip its plans to install a browser extension for Chrome that makes Bing the default search engine when users installed or updated Office Pro Plus, a key part of enterprise subscriptions to Office 365. The move was buried in documentation, rather than being delivered in the usual enthusiastic blog post, suggesting perhaps the company knew it would not go down well.The stated rationale was to let users, er,...

She applied the fix to fix the fix... I don't know why she did the apply. Perhaps it'll die Like a needy ex-partner that just won't let go, Microsoft's legacy OSes continue to cling to the Windows behemoth's ankles. Windows Server 2008 and Windows 7 have once again been bashed with the borkage bat.Users are reporting that the fix to fix the fix that broke the desktop wallpaper in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 has left systems unbootable after an apparent boot file deletion.The fix-fixing fix (KB4539602) was unleashed at the end of last week, and some administrators...

Users rage, rage against the dying of the light (and support) It's not only end of support that Windows 7 diehards have to contend with. Late last week a new problem emerged – systems that refuse to shut down.Complaints have been widespread on Reddit, Microsoft's official Answers forum and on on SevenForums. Some users also reported other issues, such as not being able to view their documents folder in Explorer.Fortunately the problem seems to be fixable in most cases. The favourite solution is to tweak the UAC (User Account Control) settings with the Group Policy setting "Run all administrators in...

Windows 10 may now be essential but users new and old have had a rough ride in recent weeks. And it has just gotten a lot worse after a new, high-profile Windows 10 failure has left more questions than answers and some seriously angry users. The drama began yesterday [2/5] as Windows 10 users suddenly found that Search was broken with a black bar showing where search results should be, even for those who tried to perform a local search of their files. Breaking with tradition (1,2,3,4,5), Microsoft was fast to act blaming “a temporary server-side issue”. But the explanation...

The Free Software Foundation really set the bar high there Good news everybody! The Free Software Foundation has blown through its self-imposed target of 7,777 signatories in its efforts to persuade Microsoft to make Windows 7 open source.We noted last week the GNU-gang's attempt to coax the born-again open-sourcerer formerly known as "The Beast Of Redmond" into making a surprise deposit into GitHub.The thinking was that since Windows 7 has now come to the end of the road, as far as free security updates are concerned, then perhaps Microsoft might release it as open software?We put it to the Free...

Dayglored Note: This is a real article from 2001. Ballmer really did say this, and believe it... Contaminates all other software with Hippie GPL rubbish Microsoft CEO and incontinent over-stater of facts Steve Ballmer said that "Linux is a cancer that attaches itself in an intellectual property sense to everything it touches," during a commercial spot masquerading as a interview with the Chicago Sun-Times on June 1, 2001.Ballmer was trying to articulate his concern, whether real or imagined, that limited recourse to the GNU GPL requires that all software be made open source."The way the license is written, if you...

A new report reveals that 250 million Microsoft customer records, spanning 14 years, have been exposed online without password protection. Microsoft has been in the news for, mostly, the wrong reasons recently. There is the Internet Explorer zero-day vulnerability that Microsoft hasn't issued a patch for, despite it being actively exploited. That came just days after the U.S. Government issued a critical Windows 10 update now alert concerning the "extraordinarily serious" curveball crypto vulnerability. Now a newly published report, has revealed that 250 million Microsoft customer records, spanning an incredible 14 years in all, have been exposed online in a...

Still using Internet Explorer? Don't. There's another zero-day Microsoft let slip on Friday an advisory detailing an under-attack zero-day vulnerability (CVE-2020-0674) for Internet Explorer. The scripting engine flaw can be exploited to gain remote code execution on a vulnerable machine by way of a specially crafted webpage. The flaw can be mitigated by restricting access to the JavaScript component JScript.dll, and thus far there is no patch available. "Microsoft is aware of this vulnerability and working on a fix," the software giant noted. "Our standard policy is to release security updates on Update Tuesday, the second Tuesday of each...

Deadlines are scary. I know. And Microsoft has thrown Windows 7 users a big one: Update to a more modern operating system by January 15, 2020, or you’ll never receive security updates ever again. Eventually, Microsoft will even start disabling key Windows 7 services—like Internet Backgammon and Internet Checkers—throughout the year. I’m being a little lighthearted about this, but Microsoft’s abandonment of Windows 7 is a cause of concern for many. Lifehacker reader Douglas recently wrote in with this question: “I was reading your writeup regarding Windows 7 and I really cannot afford to upgrade at this exact moment. Is...

'Divisive and humiliating' terms are bad as the N-word, uni lecturer argues Labeling super-smart people with terms like nerd, geek, or boffin is hate speech, and should be punishable as such, argues lecturer and Harley-Street psychotherapist Dr Sonja Falck.Likewise wonk, smarty-pants, and know-it-all: these terms are "divisive and humiliating," and the “last taboo,” the University of East London egghead said this week while promoting her new book about brainiacs. Such “anti-IQ” words set society's Einsteins apart, she claimed, with the result that geeks end up “feeling like they’re a misfit and don’t belong.”Calling someone a swot, whizkid, brainbox, smart-arse, or...

'I'm not dead!' insists doomed OS. It will be soon Microsoft unloaded some festive cheer on the last remaining Windows Phone user by apparently extending the life of the doomed platform for another few weeks.Twitter user Longhorn gave a hat-tip to @wenti_man for spotting that the release notes for the very last patch issued to the moribund operating system now show the death rattles extending to 14 January 2020. The support lifecycle pages, however, insist that 10 December remains the end of the road.El Reg, like many others, said our goodbyes to the dusty drawer dwellers last week.The Windows Phone...

Windows struck down at Asda Click & Collect 'Drive Thru' For the latest in The Register's sporadic series of Windows falling over in strange places, we present UK retailer Asda and its borked Click and Collect "Drive Thru" terminal.Snapped by friend of El Reg and bearded rust-botherer Andy Hinks during a misguided attempted to collect six months' worth of groceries, the glorious Blue Screen of Death was beaming its cold light over visitors to the Walmart tentacle's Hollingbury branch in the damp city of Brighton.Because Blade Runner day has now been and gone, and we still can't bark "Enhance" at...

Alongside the announcement of the Surface Duo, Microsoft announced a new version of Windows - Windows 10X - that would power the upcoming dual-screen device. It’s going to look very familiar to Windows 10, but with some tweaks to improve the UI for dual screened devices. Windows 10X is part of Microsoft’s push towards a modular version of Windows 10, so 10X should be regarded as a branch of Windows 10 for dual screened devices, just as there are versions of Windows 10 that branch out to support HoloLens, Surface Hub, and Xbox. This weekend saw reports of a leaked...

Microsoft has released a support bulletin that warns users of a new issue in Windows 10 that could cause Thunderbolt devices to stop working under certain situations.According to the bulletin, this issue is occurring to users running Windows 10, version 1909, 1903, 1809, 1803, or 1709, have Fast Startup enabled, and have multiple devices plugged into a Thunderbolt dock.If these users perform the following steps, it could cause the Thunderbolt devices to no longer work even though they are still listed as operational in Device Manager. You connect the Thunderbolt Dock to the computer. Devices on the Thunderbolt Dock are...

Spices up your life with change to naming conventions Microsoft crossed the streams last night as both the Fast and Slow Rings of the Windows Insider Program synchronised ahead of the final fit and finish of next year's Windows 10.While build 19033 was light on features, as is depressingly the norm with 20H1 these days, that watermark remained absent and, more importantly, the release hit the cautious Slow Ringers as well as the brave folk on the bleeding edge of Fast.And because it wouldn't be Windows without a good few ways of referring to it, 20H1 will also now be...

Users warned not to open email claiming to be from Microsoft concerning a Windows 10 update. Users have been warned not to download a fake Windows 10 update which is actually packed with malware.Security researchers from Trustwave's SpiderLabs have uncovered a new malicious campaign that spoofs an urgent update email from Microsoft to infect user's systems with the Cyborg ransomware.Targeted users first receive an email with either the subject line 'Install Latest Microsoft Windows Update now!' or 'Critical Microsoft Windows Update!' which is already suspicious as Microsoft pushes Windows updates through its operating system and never through emails. Donald Trump...

Absolutely, definitely a complete surprise DYKE-PLUGGING SOFTWARE BORKER Microsoft has done it again.The company released the November 2019 Update to Windows 10 earlier this month and lo and behold, there's a problem.Windows updates have become a running joke since before the legendary Build 1809 debacle which saw the company actively roll back the update. This time, the problem is reasonably fundamental - File Explorer searches are broken in the 1909 build.The more eagle-eyed amongst you will know that one of the few features in this latest update is…. better searching in File Explorer. The idea was that it would gain many of the...

Microsoft's free Windows 10 upgrade offer still works for many Windows 7 and 8 users. With support for Windows 7 ending in January 2020, Microsoft is encouraging users to upgrade to Windows 10 to keep devices running securely and smoothly. On Microsoft's website, the Windows 10 Home operating system costs $139 to download. However, you don't necessarily have to shell out the cash: A free upgrade offer from Microsoft that technically ended in 2016 still works. When Windows 10 was first released in July 2015, Microsoft offered an unprecedented free upgrade offer for Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 users, good...