Articles about Microsoft

A self-described "reverser/pwner [and] Windows kernel hacker" has demoed a working exploit for two recently discovered vulnerabilities in Windows Remote Desktop Gateway (RD Gateway).

The exploit takes advantage of the CVE-2020-0609 and CVE-2020-0610 vulnerabilities which have already been shown to make a denial of service attack possible. Now Luca Marcelli has shown how the same vulnerabilities can be exploited in a Remote Code Execution attack.

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We're still waiting for Microsoft to release a patch for the actively exploited security vulnerability in Internet Explorer -- at least for those who will receive it. In the meantime, the company suggested a workaround which involved restricting access to JScript.dll, acknowledging that this might lead to certain problems.

But it seems that the company underestimated the negative impact the workaround could have. In addition to problems with services that rely on JScript.dll or PAC scripts, users are also experiencing problems with printing.

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Some Windows 7 users who installed the KB4534310 update found that their desktops turned black. With the operating system having now reached end of life, the company said that it would only make a fix available to organizations paying for Windows 7 Extended Security Updates (ESU).

But Microsoft has changed its mind. It now says that it will make a patch available for all Windows 7 users, addressing the bug introduced by the last ever freely available Windows 7 update.

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Windows 10 has been with us for a number of years now, so you might think that you know about all of its features by now -- but there could well still be things for you to discover.

As you're probably well-aware, there's a lot that can be achieved by editing the registry; it's a common way to change inaccessible settings, for instance. We've discovered an exciting free tool that save you from having to delve into the registry, but gives you the opportunity to access hidden options, features and settings. We present the freeware tool Hidden Windows 10 Features – it's like a modern day TweakUI for Windows 10.

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Windows 7 is dead: you know this. There are no more Windows 7 updates for most people: you know this. And some believe Windows 7 should be made open source: yeah, right

Whatever the status of Windows 7, the fact of the matter is that there are plenty of people still using it, and the last update (KB4534310) caused a strange problem for some users, turning their desktops black. Microsoft has now acknowledged the issue, but says that it will only fix the bug for those who are willing to pay.

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With St. Patrick's Day fast approaching (March 17), many of us will soon be eating traditional Irish cuisine, such as corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, and soda bread. There are sure to be many people wearing the color green as well. On this day, we celebrate all things Irish.

But what if you want to hold a conversation with an authentic Irish person on that holiday (or any other day for that matter)? If the person prefers to speak Gaelic, rather than English, this can be a big problem. Thankfully, Microsoft has come up with a solution. Using its popular Translator service, you can now communicate with those that speak Gaelic -- just use your smartphone to convert words and hold a conversation!

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Windows 7 is dead to Microsoft -- unless, of course, you're willing to pay. It's now ten days since the operating system reached end of life, but many people, for various reasons, are choosing to stick with it rather than upgrading to Windows 10.

This means missing out on security updates, but the Free Software Foundation (FSF) thinks it has a solution. It suggests that Microsoft 'upcycles' Windows 7 and makes the operating system open source so that the community can "study and improve" it.

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Three-hundred-and-seventy in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Microsoft Store in the past seven days.

Check out Mark's guide on using the free screen recorder tool in Windows 10. Microsoft is preparing to include a new launcher in the company's PowerToys tools collection.

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Internet Explorer may be a relic from the past, but it's still out there and used by surprising numbers of people. Not all versions of it are supported by Microsoft anymore, so when a critical bug was discovered in the Windows 7, 8.x, 10, Windows Server 2008 and 2012 versions of the browser, there were questions about who was going to be protected.

The bug was revealed just days after support ended for Windows 7, and it wasn't clear whether Microsoft would stick to its guns and leave those people still using this operating system out in the cold and unprotected. The company has now confirmed what's going to happen.

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Microsoft continues to roll out new test builds for future feature updates of Windows 10, and today sees the release of Build 19551.1005 to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring.

There’s not too much to get excited about here, although Microsoft is now conducting an experiment regarding how driver updates get delivered through Windows Update.

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Microsoft’s Your Phone app connects your Android smartphone to your Windows 10 PC, making it possible to view and reply to text messages directly in Windows, receive and manage phone notifications, and -- most recently -- make, receive, and decline phone calls directly on your PC.

One of the app’s more useful features is the ability to view and save copies of the most recent photos on your phone, but this did have one particularly annoying limitation.

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It can hardly have escaped your attention that Windows 7 has now reached end of life. For companies and enterprise customers unwilling to pay for Extended Security Updates, this means there will be no more updates. The average home user who has decided to stick with Windows 7 has been completely abandoned by Microsoft, leaving them with an operating system that could be found to contain an endless number of security vulnerabilities.

But, actually, there is another option for home users, and it does not involve paying any money to Microsoft. We're talking micropatches. Specifically, we're talking about micropatches from 0patch. We've covered the work of this company in the past, including its recent fix for the Internet Explorer vulnerability.

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At the end of last week, a serious vulnerability was discovered in Internet Explorer, affecting all versions of Windows. Not only is the bug (CVE-2020-0674) being actively exploited, but for Windows 7 users the vulnerability was exposed right after their operating system reached the end of its life.

Even for users of newer versions of Windows, and despite the severity of the security flaw, Microsoft said it would not be releasing a patch until February. Stepping in to plug the gap comes 0patch with a free micropatch for all versions of Windows affected by the vulnerability.

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A new report reveals how Microsoft exposed nearly 250 million Customer Service and Support records online late last year.

The security research team at Comparitech discovered five servers, each of which contained the same 250 million logs of conversations with Microsoft support agents and customers. The records, which spanned 2005 to December 2019, were accessible to anyone with internet access; no password protection or encryption was used.

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Over the last nine months Microsoft has been drip-feeding us new PowerToys for Windows 10. So far we've seen FancyZones, Shortcut Guide and PowerRename, and now the company is preparing to add another one.

PowerLauncher is -- or will be -- a quick launch tool for launching apps, and it's aimed at power users. Not only is it open source like the rest of the PowerToy collection, there is the promise that it will be extendible through the use of plugins.

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