Free Republic

Microsoft appears to have been really struggling to get updates for Windows 10 users right of late. What with advising Windows 10 users to install a critical update before any others to avoid potential problems, and then confirming the Windows Update Assistant itself had a security vulnerability. However, just days after the latest Windows 10 update, KB4520062, was released, Microsoft is advising that some users, "should not install this update," as it can break the Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) service. So, what’s gone wrong this time and who needs to avoid this latest Windows 10 update? What is...

The wrong kind of intrusion protection Symantec has acknowledged an issue with an update to its Endpoint Protection Client that causes a Windows kernel exception after users this morning came down with a mild case of Blue Screen of Death.A Reg reader who got in touch about the problem confirmed "multiple" businesses running Symantec were getting hit with the BSOD stick.According to the support note TECH256643: When run LiveUpdate, Endpoint Protection Client gets a Blue Screen Of Death (BSOD) indicates IDSvix86.sys/IDSvia64.sys is the cause of the exception BAD_POOL_CALLER (c2) or KERNEL_MODE_HEAP_CORRUPTION (13A). When BSOD happens, Intrusion Prevention signature version is...

There’s no way I can write about the return of Flight Simulator without sharing just a little bit of my own story for context,... ... Like many of its predecessors, the new simulator models the entire planet, including something like 40,000 airports worldwide. I used to brag in presentations about FSX that we started with 2 terabytes of scenery data, and then compressed that to fit onto a couple of DVDs in a box. The world in the new version consists of 2 petabytes of data — yes, that’s one thousand times bigger. The scenery is built on Bing satellite...

Dear friends: I'm having a computer problem I would like some advice/help on. Please be aware that this problem has been ongoing for several weeks, so please don't advise me to reboot or clear out the cache since I've done that several times and it makes no difference whatsoever. And please don't ask if my computer is plugged in or turned on. I don't understand why cruelly having fun at the expense of someone with an issue is so popular here. Daily Motion is an excellent site for watching old movies and TV shows that YouTube won't allow. I used...

Free burritos keep the action going but, jeez, open a window would ya?Hardcore gamers no longer have to tread the knife-edge of actual life or death in the physical world while pwning n00bs in their favourite battle royale.Thanks to some newly installed and highly conspicuous emergency buttons – each helpfully labelled EMERGENCY BUTTON to avoid any potential confusion – players hunkering down for the long haul at the Belong Gaming Arena in central Bristol from Monday next week will not end their days as a dried up old skeleton with a Dual Shock still quivering between their bony fingers.No, they...

The rise of killer robots is now unstoppable and a new digital Geneva Convention is essential to protect the world from the growing threat they pose, according to the President of the world’s biggest technology company. In an interview with The Telegraph, Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, said the use of 'lethal autonomous weapon systems' poses a host of new ethical questions which need to be considered by governments as a matter of urgency. He said the rapidly advancing technology, in which flying, swimming or walking drones can be equipped with lethal weapons systems – missiles, bombs or guns –...

Microsoft says it'll offer free security updates through the 2020 election in the United States — and in other interested democratic countries with national elections next year — for federally certified voting systems running on soon-to-be-outdated Windows 7 software.

With Microsoft embracing Linux ever more tightly, might it do the heretofore unthinkable and dump the NT kernel in favor of the Linux kernel? No, I’m not ready for the funny farm. As it prepares Windows 11, Microsoft has been laying the groundwork for such a radical release.I’ve long toyed with the idea that Microsoft could release a desktop Linux. Now I’ve started taking that idea more seriously — with a twist. Microsoft could replace Windows’ innards, the NT kernel, with a Linux kernel.It would still look like Windows. For most users, it would still work like Windows. But the...

COBOL is celebrating 60 years since its specifications were signed off. Darling of Y2K consultants, the language is rapidly approaching pensionable age, but many a greybeard owes their career to it. It arose from a desire to create a language that could straddle the computers of the era. Each manufacturer had its own way of working, which, while OK if a company always stuck with one maker, made portability of programs or skills a tad tricky. If only there was, say, a COmmon Business-Oriented Language? Wouldn't that be splendid? Mary Hawes, a programmer of Burroughs machines, put forward a proposal...

Users find PCs silenced while Microsoft looks into search fix Microsoft seems unable to catch a break with its Windows 10 updates. No sooner than it acknowledged that its CPU usage fix borked desktop search for some, users complained that the patch has also caused audio issues.Released on 10 September for Windows 10 1903 (aka the May 2019 Update), KB4515384 is a security update that included a fix for Cortana's CPU-munching habit. Alas, it turned out that the fix left desktop search a tad broken for some users.While the support page for the update resolutely states (at time of writing)...

One step forward, er, one step back. Nobody gets too far like that Microsoft's build 18362.356 (KB4515384​​​​​) for its Windows 10 May 2019 Update (version 1903) rolled out on Tuesday with security improvements for Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, networking tech and input devices – and a CPU usage fix that, for some, has broken desktop search.The security tweaks address a variety of speculative execution side-channel vulnerabilities known as microarchitecture data sampling (MDS) for 32-bit x86 versions of Windows. Intel dealt with the CVEs at issue – CVE-2019-11091, CVE-2018-12126, CVE-2018-12127, CVE-2018-12130 – in May.The update, released concurrently with Build 17763.737 for...

Some Insiders are more equal than others (sorry, Release Preview) Microsoft has attempted to clear the murky waters of its Windows Insider programme by stowing its virtual coin toss for those on the Slow Ring.Build 18362.10019 of Windows 10 went out last night to those keen to get their mitts on 19H2, the version expected to drop at some point this month.Unlike previous releases, Microsoft has turned on the new features for all Insiders.The previous arrangement had some users running build 18362.10014 with the new toys turned off while all the good little Insiders on build 18362.10015 had their stockings...

Microsoft has just shipped Windows 10 KB4512941 to anyone who hits the ‘Check for updates’ button in Windows Update and click on the new ‘Download and install now’ option, which has been made available for optional updates or feature updates. Windows 10 KB4512941 fixes the broken Windows Sandbox, black screen issue hitting Remote Desktop connections and several other bugs. However, some users have run into serious problems after installing the latest update that advances PCs to Build 18362.329. According to various reports on forums (1, 2) and Feedback Hub, a number of devices may startup with a high CPU usage...

exFAT heading towards Open Invention Network's Linux System Definition Microsoft has published the technical specification for exFAT, a file system widely used for removable storage devices.exFAT is widely used for high capacity SD cards in cameras exFAT stands for Extended File Allocation Table and is widely used for things like memory cards. It is the most recent iteration of Microsoft's FAT series, a simple file system that is lightweight but lacks the resiliency and security of file systems like NTFS.The original FAT was used by DOS in the late 1970s. It was expanded to 8-bit, 16-bit, and then to FAT32,...

Doors on the Edge Insider Bounty Program flung open Having finally pushed out the first Beta preview of its Chromium-based browser, Microsoft has launched a bounty programme aimed at getting researchers to kick the tyres on its latest and greatest.Up to $30k is available to researchers who find what Microsoft deems "critical and important" vulnerabilities in the Beta and Dev channels of Chromium Edge. The Canary channel is excluded because, well, it seems hardly fair to poke holes in daily builds that are, by definition, not fit for public consumption.Interestingly, up to $15k is available to anyone who discovers critical...

'Defending democracy' initiative to resist nation-state attacks Microsoft has demonstrated its ElectionGuard electronic vote system at the Aspen Security Forum under way in Colorado and warned that nearly 10,000 of its customers have been targeted by nation-state attacks.ElectionGuard aims to enable end-to-end verification of voting. Voters receive a tracking code and can check via a web portal that their vote has been counted, and, crucially, not altered. The portal does not show the content of the vote, protecting voter confidentiality. "It will not be possible to 'hack' the vote without detection," said Microsoft's Tom Burt, CVP of Customer Security and...

This month's Security-only update package for Windows 7 includes an unexpected compatibility/telemetry component that has some skeptical users up in arms. As expected, Windows Update dropped off several packages of security and reliability fixes for Windows 7 earlier this week, part of the normal Patch Tuesday delivery cycle for every version of Windows. But some hawk-eyed observers noted a surprise in one of those Windows 7 packages. Under Microsoft's rules, what it calls "Security-only updates" are supposed to include, well, only security updates, not quality fixes or diagnostic tools. Nearly three years ago, Microsoft split its monthly update packages for...

Mysteriously missing update finally arrives in preview form. World shrugs The next version of Windows 10, aka 19H2, finally arrived in the hands of testers last night to a collective "meh".With the UK sweltering in a heatwave, even Microsoft could no longer pretend summer had not arrived and so emitted build 18362.10000 of Windows 10 to the Slow Ring of its volunteer testers ahead of a full release later this year. As if to emphasise that this is very much a step away from the previous big bang releases (and calling last October's effort a "bang" would be an understatement...

Nope: it was not giving Android a run for its money... Bill Gates has said his biggest management miscalculation was failing to position Microsoft's Windows Phone as the primary rival mobile operating system to Apple's iOS.Speaking at venture capital beanfeast Village Global last week, Gates said that although the company he founded had not missed mobile phones it had gone about things the wrong way. Although Gates stepped down as CEO in 2008, it is fair to say he retained an interest in the company he founded and remained chairman until 2014.Gates, sporting a natty pink jumper, said: "The greatest...

They cite the increasing costs of commercial software as reason CERN is best known for pushing the boundaries of science and understanding, but the famed research outfit’s next major experiment will be with open-source software. The cost of various commercial software licenses has increased 10x The European Organisation for Nuclear Research, better known as CERN, and also known as home of the Large Hadron Collider, has announced plans to migrate away from Microsoft products and on to open-source solutions where possible.Why? Increases in Microsoft license fees. Microsoft recently revoked the organisations status as an academic institution, instead pricing access to...