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Microsoft has warned some PC users they will not be able to apply an emergency Windows patch because their security software is incompatible. The out-of-bounds update was issued by Microsoft yesterday to address the Meltdown and Spectre flaws in Intel chips. These vulnerabilities affect most PCs and servers, and can be exploited to allow an attacker to read sensitive information, such as passwords, from protected memory. The Spectre flaw also affects AMD chips, but is considerably more difficult to exploit, as well as a small number of Arm-based processors. However, not every Microsoft system will be able to apply the...

Only Intel machines are affected by Meltdown Details have emerged on two major processor security flaws this week, and the industry is scrambling to issue fixes and secure machines for customers. Dubbed “Meltdown” and “Spectre,” the flaws affect nearly every device made in the past 20 years. The Meltdown flaw only affects Intel processors, and researchers have already released proof of concept code that could lead to attacks using Meltdown. The vulnerabilities allow an attacker to compromise the privileged memory of a processor by exploiting the way processes run in parallel. They also allow an attacker to use JavaScript code...

NetMarketShare's idea of what the operating system market share is for the major OSes. If you're interested in how they figure that, here's a description of their methodology.

Hands On You have £3,000 burning a hole in your pocket. You're also an engineer, developer or manipulate visual images. You also absolutely must have a touchscreen portable workstation, preferably with a display that detaches so you can go home and watch Netflix.If you're in that most slender Venn diagram intersection, then lucky, lucky you! Microsoft's new Surface Book 2 is pretty much aimed between your eyes. The 13.5-inch model loaned to us and illustrated below will set you back a cool £2,999 and will shortly be joined by an even larger 15-inch beast. The Pen isn't included.The proposition is...

Microsoft has posted an out-of-band security update to address a remote code execution flaw in its Malware Protection Engine.Redmond says the flaw, dubbed CVE-2017-11937, has not yet been exploited in the wild. Because it is an out-of-band critical fix, however, it should be installed as soon as possible. For most users, this will happen automatically.The security hole is present in Windows Defender and Microsoft Security Essentials, as well as Endpoint Protection, Forefront Endpoint Protection, and Exchange Server 2013 and 2016.The bug was discovered and reported by the UK's National Cyber Security Centre – which is part of GCHQ, Blighty's spying...

Windows has been knocking around in some form or another for a grand total of 32 years now, and in that time it’s amassed a lot of features—not just the newest bells and whistles but long-standing features you might have forgotten about or never even discovered in the first place. Here are 10 really useful tricks that Windows 10 is capable of that you might not know about, but should definitely know about. Virtual desktops Video and media streaming Scheduling tasks Malware removal Reclaim lost disk space Remote assistance Share files around the house Check for missing files and disk...

Updated Microsoft's latest batch of software updates for Windows has been blamed for a mysterious ailment befalling some poor old Epson dot-matrix printers.Reg readers let us know that, after installing this week's Patch Tuesday payload from Redmond, their Windows boxes no longer work with Epson's dot matrix printers (which are still a thing, apparently, especially among those working with accounting software like Sage)."I had two clients today whose Epson dot matrix printers stopped working after applying this month’s cumulative update on Windows 10 and Windows 7," one tipster told us. "It just seems to eat the print job."In a discussion...

I have a general software query I'm hoping someone can help me with. I'm trying to find, if something even exists, a plugin or add-in for Microsoft Outlook that I can use that can give me a "File Explorer" -ish look and feel to the program. I have lots of emails I'm trying to go through and if I had something that made navigating the thousands of emails I got more easily it would make my job a lot more pleasant. And please, this is a serious request, so no snarky remarks about using other programs and no Microsoft haters....

Humanity has a massive password problem. We might call it The Password Pandemic. Computers keep getting faster and cheaper, making passwords easier to crack, while human operators do not change their bad password habits. This is a losing proposition, with the advantage clearly toward hackers and cyber criminals. Most users of the Internet now know that they need to use “strong” passwords, and that they should use a different password for each site. With a dozen or several dozen online accounts, this quickly becomes unmanageable. Exasperated, people just use the same (usually weak) password across several accounts. Hackers know this,...

Readers routinely ask me whether it’s still possible to clean install Windows 10 with an unused Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 product key. Over two years after Microsoft first enabled this functionality, the answer is a resounding yes.And I can think of a number of reasons why one might need to do so.As noted, Microsoft first introduced this capability over two years ago, and in doing so it erased what had been one of the early install/activation issues with the then-new Windows 10.Almost a year later, I reported that this capability—which was supposed to be temporary, by the way–still worked....

This year's global outbreaks of the WannaCry and Petya/GoldenEye ransomware variants shook the tech and business world. Traditionally designed as a for-profit malware scheme, ransomware encrypts important files on computers and demands a ransom to give you access to them again. These cyberattacks mainly targeted outdated and unpatched Windows machines, which are vulnerable to a variety of NSA hacking tools leaked earlier this year. Since the flaws are wormable, the attacks even prompted Microsoft to make an unusual move - it released a patch for the now obsolete and unsupported operating systems to protect the apparent millions of users still...

Just a few days ago, Microsoft revealed details of the Surface Book 2 which is due to launch in November. But before the device is even available, it has been dealt a blow by Consumer Reports.Earlier in the year, the review group said that problems with reliability meant that it was impossible for it to recommend any Microsoft laptop or tablet. Now Consumer Reports says that this extends to the Surface Book 2, meaning that the device will not be recommended. While hardly the end of the world for Microsoft, this will still come as bad news. The company expressed...

Dunamis Power is yours my children just speak what you need or declare what it is My Spirit is to manifest before you and it shall be for as you have overcome the world it now sits at your feet as it does for me for we are one and I walk hand in hand with you as you do my will alone . Let My Spirit of Holiness lead your days now for the body and Bride of Christ are coming together now in a redeeming way in that all that is being done now in this hour is...

The company last week quietly patched vulnerabilities in the WPA2 protocol used to secure wireless networks, but did not reveal the fix until today. Microsoft today revealed that it quietly patched Windows last week against vulnerabilities in the Wi-Fi Protected Access II (WPA2) protocol used to secure wireless networks. Details of the security update were only published Monday to Microsoft's Security Update Guide, the catalog-like portal that earlier this year replaced the decades-old practice of delivering explanatory bulletins. All supported versions of Windows received the update, according to the catalog listing, including Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows Server...

In its ongoing effort to improve browser security, school Microsoft on security, and retain its search audience, Google is today rolling out several Chrome for Windows fortifications.The search biz has modded Chrome for Windows to detect when extensions switch people's Chrome settings, such as the default search engine, without authorization, a common tactic for deceptive software. The browser will now ask whether it can restore previous settings, which for the majority of Windows users will reestablish Google as Chrome's default search engine.The operation can also be done by visiting a reset URL: chrome://settings/resetProfileSettingsWhat's more, Google has enlisted security biz ESET...

Versions in use by millions lag behind latest OS, leaving systems vulnerable to attack Microsoft is silently patching security bugs in Windows 10, and not immediately rolling out the same updates to Windows 7 and 8, potentially leaving hundreds of millions of computers at risk of attack.Flaws and other programming blunders that are exploitable by hackers and malware are being quietly cleaned up and fixed in the big Windows 10 releases – such as the Anniversary Update and the Creator's Update. But this vital repair work is only slowly, if at all, filtering back down to Windows 7 and Windows...

The Fall Creators Update for Windows 10 is almost here, but if you're not ready, in this guide, we'll tell you the steps to delay it. Starting on October 17, Microsoft's update servers are expected to be busier than usual pushing the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (version 1709) to millions of compatible devices already running Windows 10. The update will roll out in phases, beginning with newer devices known to work with the new version to work out any unforeseen bugs, and then expanding at a slow pace until is fully available to everyone. If you rely on your...

Or so say a bunch of PC execs and Canalys CEO Canalys Channels Forum Microsoft will quit its loss-making Surface hardware business by 2019, according to execs from PC manufacturers and a channel watcher.Talking at the tenth Canalys Channels Forum in Venice, Canalys CEO Steve Brazier said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella would exit the product line because he is a “software guy, a cloud guy” and pointed to the demise of the smartphone line.He added: “The Surface performance is choppy; there are good quarters and bad quarters, overall they are not making money. It doesn’t make sense for them to...

Allowed Windows 10 latest update/build to run on my PC last night. It ended shortly before I went to bed, and I shut down the PC. The morning I could not execute my Win 7 games - Solitaire, Spider Solitaire, Freecell, Majong. All the "run as administrator" and "compatibility" and "compatibility troubleshooting stuff" didn't do a dam thing. NOTHING, not even reinstall of the games and then all the compatibility stuff again worked. Nada, zilch., I had expended considerable effort from XP to Win 7 and then to Win getting versions of these games that would run, after each Windows...

Full Title: Will Microsoft love Linux to death? Shuttleworth and Stallman on whether Windows 10 is free software's friend If you believe Satya Nadella, then Microsoft loves Linux. Under Nadella's leadership, Microsoft has a discovered a new enthusiasm for open-source software, leading it to join the Linux Foundation and build support for GNU/Linux directly into Windows 10. Yet, in some quarters, there is skepticism that a company whose former CEO described Linux as a cancer could be reborn as a true believer. The greatest suspicion is reserved for the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), which allows Windows 10 to run...