Articles about Windows Server

Microsoft could be hit with over £1 billion ($1.27 billion) in charges if a huge class action case brought against the firm by UK businesses succeeds.

The case centers around Windows Server, with Microsoft being accused of overcharging customers for the software. The licensing terms of the associated Azure, the lawsuit says, mean that users are channelled towards using Microsoft’s cloud offering because it pushes up the prices of services from rivals like Google and Amazon.

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Microsoft goes through phases of deprecating features from Windows and other software and services it produces. The latest for the chopping block is a component of Windows Server Update Services -- driver synchronization.

While certainly not something that is used by everyone, WSUS driver synchronization gives sysadmins a handy way to sync driver updates across networked devices. But now the clock is ticking, as Microsoft has announced that the feature is heading to the graveyard.

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Several months after announcing its intention to do so, Microsoft has official deprecated the NTLM (NT LAN Manager) authentication protocol in Windows and Windows Server.

NTLM is now a very old protocol which has been superseded by the more secure and feature-rich Kerberos. It will still be possible to use NTLM until the next release of Windows and Windows Server, but Microsoft is keen for users to take action now.

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Updates released for Windows 10, Windows 11 and Windows Server back in January proved problematic for many users. There have been widespread reports of 0x80070643 errors, and Microsoft acknowledged the issue some time ago.

But for anyone holding out for a fix, there's some disappointing news. The company says that it will not be releasing a fix for the problem, but is instead expecting users to follow instructions to sort things out for themselves.

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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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