Articles about Windows Server

Microsoft caused concern when it released an update to its Edge browser. Despite having decided not to add its AI-powered assistant Copilot to Windows Server 2025 because of complaints from admins, users were upset to find that Copilot suddenly appeared in the list of installed apps for Windows Server 2022.

What's going on? Nothing sinister, insists Microsoft. The company has scrabbled to calm the fears of administrators saying that while a package called "Microsoft chat provider for Copilot in Windows" may well show up, Copilot has not actually been installed and it is not collecting any data.

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Not for the first time, Microsoft has released a patch-for-a-patch after a recent update was found to cause memory leaks in Windows Server.

The problems stemmed from the KB5035857 update -- the March 2024 security update -- for Windows Server, which Microsoft acknowledged as having known issues. Now the company has released the out-of-band KB5037422 update which affected users will have to manually seek out and install.

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Following complaints from large numbers of system administrators, Microsoft has finally acknowledged that there are problems with the recently released KB5035857 update for Windows Server.

The March 2024 security update was released 10 days ago, and it did not take long for users to start experiencing problems. Now Microsoft has confirmed that it is aware of an issue with Kerberos requests on domain controllers which may cause LSASS memory leaks. [UPDATE: there is now a fix available]

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Just over a week ago, details emerged of a worrying 0day vulnerability affecting everything from Windows 7 to Windows 11, and Windows Server 2008 R2 to Windows Server 2022. The EventLogCrasher vulnerability allows a low-privileged attacker to disable Windows logging on all computers in a Windows domain and any local computer, thereby compromising intrusion detection and forensic capabilities.

Microsoft is yet to issue a fix for the problem, and this is concerning given not only the scale of the issue, but also the importance of the logging tool. As it has done before, micropatching firm 0patch has risen to the challenge and released a free patch which can be installed by everyone.

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Microsoft has announced the availability of Windows Server Preview Build 26040, the first preview of what has now been confirmed to be called Windows Server 2025.

The release marks the resumption of the Windows Server Insider builds after a break for the winter. In addition to the revelation of the Windows Server 2025 branding, Microsoft has also added flighting and downloadable in-place upgrades to the Windows Server Insider program which works in the same way as for Windows 11.

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There is some good news for anyone who wants or needs to stick with Windows Server 2012 for a little longer.

Just a month after Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2, and Windows Embedded Server 2012 R2 reached end of support, Microsoft has announced that administrators are able to get three additional years of Extended Security Updates (ESUs).

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With the release of this month's security updates for Windows, Microsoft has brought to an end support for not only Windows Server 2012, but also Windows 11 21H2.

What this means for users of these versions of the operating system is that there will be no more updates of any sort made available -- and this means both security updates and non-security updates. For anyone who wants or needs to stick with Windows 2012, things could get expensive, but there are free upgrades available to those currently running Windows 11 21H2.

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Written by a 10-time Microsoft MVP award winner with over 20 years of IT experience, Mastering Windows Server 2022 is a hands-on guide to administer any Windows Server environment.

Whether new to the server world or working to keep your existing skills sharp, this book aims to be referenced on a regular basis instead of gathering dust on your shelf. Updated with Server 2022 content, it covers a wide variety of information pertaining to your role as a server administrator.

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The Windows Server Automation with PowerShell Cookbook is back with a new edition, featuring over 100 PowerShell recipes that will make your day-to-day work easier.

This book is designed to help you learn how to install, configure and use PowerShell 7.2 effectively. To start with, the book will explain how to install and configure PowerShell 7.2, along with useful new features and optimizations, and show you how the PowerShell compatibility solution bridges the gap to older versions of PowerShell.

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Earlier this month, Microsoft released the KB5021237 and KB5021249 updates which it later confirmed were causing Hyper-V issues for some users.

Now the company has now released a pair of out-of-band patches to address the virtual machine problems. The KB5022553 and KB5022554 updates have been issued as emergency fixes for affected systems.

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There are few Patch Tuesdays that are not swiftly followed by the discovery of problems caused by the updates that have been released. This December is no different.

Microsoft has confirmed that after installing the KB5021249 update, some users may experience a range of problems with virtual machines on some Hyper-V hosts.

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The torrent of problematic updates for Windows shows no signs of drying up. Since Patch Tuesday this month, Microsoft has already confirmed a Direct Access connectivity issue in various versions of Windows (which it sort of fixed by rolling back the update), now the company has issued a warning that this month's updates are also causing problems with Kerberos authentication.

Despite the fact the issue can lead to sign-in problems, failed Remote Desktop connections and printing not working, Microsoft is yet to offer either a fix or a workaround. Virtually every version of Windows is affected.

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Microsoft is warning users of every from Windows 11 down to Windows 7 that this month's security updates -- in particular the KB5018427 update -- could lead to issues joining a domain. The company says that those affected by the problem will see 0xaac (2732) errors.

Despite flagging the matter in the known issues section of Windows release health, Microsoft says that the behavior is intentional. There is, sadly, no proper fix right now, just some advice and workarounds -- but this should change soon.

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In a move that will please -- and surprise -- many, Microsoft has added WSL 2 distro support to Windows Server.

The new Windows Subsystem for Linux functionality is not available by default, as it requires the installation of a special update. This will be officially released on Patch Tuesday, but it is also available as a preview right now for anyone who does not want to wait.

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Following the release of this month's Patch Tuesday updates, Microsoft has issued a warning that installing the KB5013943 update can lead to authentication issues for various Windows services.

The update was released on May 10, and was meant to -- among other things -- fix an issue with screen flicker in Safe Mode. But in addition to causing error messages for some users, the KB5013943 update has also led to authentication failures Windows domain controllers.

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