How to hide the 'System requirements not met' warning in Windows 11
Whether it stems from wanting to ensure that people have the best experience by using appropriate hardware or not, Microsoft has caused annoyance among Windows 11 users with warning messages about system requirements. If you have installed Windows 11 on a computer that does not technically meet the minimum requirements, you may well have seen these alerts advising you that your system is not up to scratch.
Whether you are irritated by the "System requirements not met" message on the desktop, or the one that appears in the System section of Settings, you will be pleased to hear that you can hide them. There is no need to track down a watermark remover, as all you need to do is apply a registry tweak.
Ubuntu and other Linux distros at risk from Oh Snap! More Lemmings security exploit
Security researchers from Qualys have issued a warning about a Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability Discovered in the snap-confine function of Canonical's Snap package manager.
Known as Oh Snap! More Lemmings and tracked as CVE-2021-44731, the collection of security flaws can be exploited to gain root privileges.
Microsoft is testing an annoying desktop watermark if you install Windows 11 on unsupported hardware
One of the obstacles standing in the way of some people upgrading from Windows 10 to Window 11 is system requirements. Even some relatively new systems are unsupported due to lacking features such as TPM 2.0, but where there's a will there's a way, and there are various workarounds that make it possible to install Windows 11 on pretty much any system.
If you have opted to go down this route, Microsoft is preparing to irritate you. The company is testing a desktop watermark that will serve as a constant reminder that you're using unsupported hardware. The message reads "System requirements not met" and is sure to lead to a surge in watermark removal tools. [UPDATE: it is now possible to hide the message!]
Microsoft has updated the data wiping tool in Windows 10 and Windows 11... and now it leaves behind data
Using Windows' built in option to reset your computer and erase data may not be as secure as you thought. If you are passing on a computer to a friend or family member, or perhaps selling a machine you no longer need, you may well have used the option to reset the PC and wipe out your personal data. While this seems like a sensible move, an update to the data wiping tools in Windows 10 and Windows 11 means that potentially revealing and sensitive data can be left behind.
Tests conducted by Microsoft MVP Rudy Ooms showed that in Windows 10 version 21H2 and Windows 11 version 21H2 the data wiping function left behind user data in the Windows.old folder. Versions of the operating system prior to 21H2 did not suffer from this issue.
Researchers use Hive ransomware's own encryption algorithm to find master decryption key
Security researchers have managed to use the encryption algorithm used by the Hive ransomware to determine the master key needed to decrypt files for free.
Ordinarily, victims of a Hive ransomware attack would have to pay up to receive their individual decryption key. But a team of researchers from the Department of Financial Information Security, at Korea's Kookmin University, have been able to calculate the master key. This has then been used in what is believed to be the "first successful attempt at decrypting Hive ransomware"
You may have just installed Windows 11, but Microsoft could be readying Windows 12
SwiftOnSecurity has stirred up a huge level of interest and excitement after suggesting that Microsoft is already busily working on Windows 12.
The rollout of Windows 11 may have gone well, but the cyber security expert and Microsoft MVP tweeted saying that the successor is already in the pipeline. A tweet reading "according to a source at Microsoft, Windows 12 is already under development and it's going to require two TPMs" appeared over the weekend. What is going on?
You can finally make 911 calls from Skype
For as long as most users can remembers, Skype has come with a warning that it cannot be used to place 911 calls. Microsoft has just announced that this is now changing for users of the Windows 10, Windows 11, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS versions of the app.
The application is now labelled as offering "Limited emergency calling". What this means, for now, is that Skype users in the US are able to place 911 calls using the app, bringing it in line with a handful of other countries. More than this, Skype can help emergency operators to locate you if necessary -- but there are some limitations to the new functionality.
Project Zero finds that Linux developers fix security flaws faster than Apple, Google or Microsoft
Whether Linux distributions are more secure than Windows or macOS is the source of on-going debate, but Google's Project Zero has some interesting findings relating to the patching of security holes.
The security research program at Google has published information relating to security flaws found in software over the course of two years. Between January 2019 and December 2021 the Project Zero team found that Linux developers addresses problems far faster than Apple, Microsoft or Google itself.
Microsoft releases important KB5010415 update for Windows 10 because Windows 11 is not ubiquitous
Microsoft has been pouring a lot of love into Windows 11 of late, and understandably so -- but this does not mean that people who have decided to stick with Windows 10 have been forgotten. And to prove this, the company has just released the significant KB5010415 update, introducing new features and options, as well as fixing various issues.
For now, KB5010415 is only a preview, meaning that it is an update that gives an early taste of the full launch next Patch Tuesday. The update is available to anyone who wants to install it, and it includes a number of compelling reasons to do so.
Windows 11 will force users to create Microsoft accounts
If you're using Windows 11, there is a reasonable chance that you have a Microsoft account -- but it is not necessarily the case. While there are various advantages to signing into Windows using your Microsoft account, it is not something everyone feels entirely comfortable with.
So it will come as bad news to such hold-outs that Microsoft is going to force some users to create such an account. The change is coming to Window 11 Pro, meaning that home users who have opted for this version of Windows, in addition to the organizations, businesses and enterprises that use this edition of the operating system are affected. But there is some good news.
Chrome, Edge and Firefox versions 100 will break many websites
Cast your mind back, and you will recall the Millennium Bug, or the Y2K problem. There were fears that planes would fall from the sky, bank machines would fail, and chaos would ensure as computer systems did not know how to properly interpret the two-digit date 00 (did it mean 1900 or 2000?). Now there is a comparable problem on the horizon for web browsers.
Version 100 of the major web browsers are not far from being released, and this presents something of a problem. When Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Mozilla Firefox hit three-digit version numbers, many websites will not know how to deal with user-agent strings that are made up of trio of numbers.
KB5010414 update for Windows 11 fixes loads of problems as well as adding new features
The latest update for Windows 11 is a big one -- and we're not just talking about the size of the download. The update in question is KB5010414, and it's something we have already touched on a couple of times.
Much of the focus has been, entirely understandably, on the new features the update brings; KB5010414 is about much more than this. Yes, the arrival of support for Android apps is nice, but it's certainly not something everyone is interested in. What is more impressive and interesting about the KB5010414 is the laundry list of changes, tweaks and fixes Microsoft has introduced. This is what makes this the most significant update to Windows 11 yet.
Chrome could soon give you greater control over bothersome compromised password warnings
In theory, the fact that Google Chrome can warn you if any of your saved passwords have been involved in breaches is a good thing. In theory. In practice, it can be a different story. There may be a very good reason for no wanting to change a particular saved password, rendering warnings nothing more than irritating.
You could, of course, disable password warnings completely, but this is clearly something of a security risk. But if an experimental setting Google is working on in Chrome makes its way to the release version of the browser, you could soon have finer-grained control over password warnings -- meaning that you could stop Chrome pestering you about passwords you won't want to change or can't change.
CISA says to urgently patch actively exploited SeriousSAM/HiveNightmare flaw affecting Windows 11
The CISA (US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) has published a list of 15 actively exploited software vulnerabilities, encouraging users of Windows and macOS to install the available patches.
Included in the list is the SeriousSAM vulnerability that is also known as HiveNightmare affects Windows 10 and 11. Tracked as CVE-2021-36934, this is a local privilege escalation vulnerability that makes it possible for an attacker to grab password hashes from the registry and gain admin privileges.
Users complain of overheating Windows 11 systems and broken printing after installing KB5010414
Following the release of Windows 11 Build 22000.526, also known as the KB5010414 update, users are complaining of various problems with their computers.
The update was released to the Beta and Release Preview channels just a few days ago, and it introduced various changes and improvements to the Windows 11 taskbar. But it also seems that the update introduced problems with printing, and high CPU loads leading to overheating.
Sofia Elizabella's Bio
Sofia Wyciślik-Wilson is a queer, transgender journalist based in Poland. She has been writing about technology for more than two decades, and after years working for magazines, her writing moved online. She is fueled by literature, music, nature, and vegetables. You can find her on Bluesky and Mastodon. If you like what you read, you can Buy her a Coffee!
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