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Lenovo, and possibly other PC vendors, is exposed to a UEFI bug that can be exploited to disable firmware write-protection. If the claims made by Dmytro Oleksiuk at Github are correct, an attacker can “disable flash write protection and infect platform firmware, disable Secure Boot, [and] bypass Virtual Secure Mode (Credential Guard, etc.) on Windows 10 Enterprise.” The reason Oleksiuk believes other vendors are also vulnerable is that the buggy code is inherited from Intel. He writes that the SystemSmmRuntimeRt was copied from Intel reference code.

A researcher has discovered a new low-level zero-day exploit that overrides the protection for the firmware code in Lenovo ThinkPads and other laptops, bypassing hardware and Windows security features. Last week, Dmytro Oleksiuk, also known as cr4sh, released the code for his ThnkPwn proof of concept on Github, showing how it can be used to exploit a flaw in the unified extensible firmware interface (UEFI) driver for privilege escalation. This lets attackers remove the write protection for system flash memory, and allows them to run arbitrary code with full access to the entire victim system. Lenovo had not received advance...

As the Windows 10 free upgrade period draws to a close, Microsoft is stepping up its operating system's nagware to full-screen takeovers. The Redmond software giant confirmed today it will start showing dark blue screens urging people to install the latest version of Windows. The full-screen ads will pop up on Windows 7 and 8.1 desktops from now until July 30, when the free upgrade period ends. "This notification is a reminder that the Window 10 free upgrade offer ends on July 29, 2016. Microsoft recommends that you upgrade to Windows 10 before the offer expires," Microsoft said. "You can...

Microsoft has been forced to change the red "x" notification on its Windows 10 upgrade prompts after users reacted angrily to the misleading button. Microsoft dispensed with the historical function of the red "x" in the upgrade prompts to instead use it as authorisation for the upgrade process; clicking the button meant users gave their consent for the upgrade to take place. But backlash from users over the perceived trickery has pushed Microsoft to pledge to modify the button back to its original function. Now, clicking the "x" will dismiss the upgrade prompt and won't initiate the Windows 10 download,...

A few days after Microsoft released Windows 10 to the public last year, Teri Goldstein's computer started trying to download and install the new operating system. The update, which she says she didn't authorize, failed. Instead, the computer she uses to run her Sausalito, California, travel-agency business slowed to a crawl. It would crash, she says, and be unusable for days at a time. "I had never heard of Windows 10," Goldstein said. "Nobody ever asked me if I wanted to update." When outreach to Microsoft's customer support didn't fix the issue, Goldstein took the software giant to court, seeking...

This summer, one year after the initial launch of Windows 10, Microsoft will release its first major update: the Windows 10 Anniversary Update. It will be delivered in the usual way -- via Windows Update -- and will install automatically on its own. However, if you're curious (or apprehensive) about the upcoming update, you don't have to wait until the final release date to check it out. Microsoft has been releasing public preview builds, each one a little bit closer to the final version. Anyone can get and install those builds by first becoming part of Microsoft's Windows Insider Program,...

One thing that really annoys us about Windows 10 is Microsoft’s aggressive upgrade strategy. Steve Jobs famously said “people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” Microsoft must think this is true for Windows 10. And so its developers keep finding new ways to trick Windows 7 and 8 users into upgrading because surely they will like Windows 10 once the see it. Or they’ll just surrender. ... Microsoft acts as if its goal for 1 billion Windows 10 users supersedes the company’s responsibility for its existing Windows customers. This reckless battle has unintended consequences that...

The abacus-shufflers of analyst firm IDC have revised their 2016 PC sales forecasts downwards. The firm now says PC shipments “... are forecast to decline by 7.3% year over year”. That's “roughly two per cent below earlier projections as conditions have been weaker than expected.” The firm names “weak currencies, depressed commodity prices, political uncertainty, and delayed projects” as the weaker conditions impacting sales. Windows 10 isn't helping matters either, because lots of people are availing themselves of free Windows 10 upgrades rather than buying a new PC. The firm also says that “while a large share of enterprises are...

Microsoft has released Insider Preview Build 14361 for Windows 10 on PC and Mobile with a huge boost for building microservices and cloud. You can now run Docker natively on Windows 10 with Hyper-V containers, to build, ship and run containers using nano server in technical preview five of Windows Sever 2016, that’s due in the third quarter. Nano Server is a remotely administered server operating system for cloud and data centre lacking local log-on and that only works for 64-bit. A new version of the Docker engine for Windows has been built, too, which improves DockerFile syntax. Elsewhere, the...

Microsoft’s Windows 10 nagware campaign has entered a new phase, with all options to evade or escape an upgrade finally blocked. Recently, Microsoft’s policy had been to throw up a dialogue box asking you whether you wanted to install Windows 10. If you clicked the red “X” to close the box – the tried-and-tested way to make dialogue boxes vanish without agreeing to do anything – Microsoft began taking that as permission for the upgrade to go ahead. Now Microsoft is changing gears. It has eliminated the option to re-schedule a chosen upgrade time once you’ve confirmed it while also...

Samsung is advising customers against succumbing to Microsoft’s nagging and installing Windows 10. The consumer electronics giant's support staff have admitted drivers for its PCs still don’t work with Microsoft's newest operating system and told customers they should simply not make the upgrade. That’s nearly a year after Microsoft released Windows 10 and with a month to go until its successor – Windows 10 Anniversary Update – lands. Samsung’s customers have complained repeatedly during the last 12 months of being either unable to install Microsoft’s operating system on their machines or Windows 10 not working properly with components if they...

The company is taking a $950 million charge to unwind the last vestiges of the Nokia deal. div class="c-entry-content"> Microsoft is further scaling back its flagging phone business, exiting the consumer market and cutting another 1,850 jobs.As part of the move announced Wednesday, Microsoft will take a $950 million charge and cut what little remained of its Finland-based phone hardware business, unwinding the last of its disastrous $7.2 billion acquisition of Nokia's phone unit. Last week, Microsoft announced separately that it was selling what was left of its low-end "feature phone" business.The company has been scaling back its phone ambitions...

Microsoft's new trick to coax users into upgrading to Windows 10 relies on changing behaviors the pop-up's instilled since December. This morning, the unthinkable happened: My wife, an avowed PC user who long ago swore to never touch an Apple device, started shopping around for a Mac Mini. And it’s all thanks to Windows 10. Or rather, the nasty new way that Microsoft’s tricking Windows 7 and 8 users into automatically updating to Windows 10. ... The annoying “Get Windows 10” pop-up began using deceiving malware-like tactics months ago, but it recently received an overhaul that seems purposefully designed to...

Why does WIN-10 not connect with my home WIfi on start-up

I live by myself and had been away from home for 12 hours. I often leave my home computer turned on even when I am gone. Last night, I noticed my computer screen was on and my computer was downloading Windows 10. I tried to stop it and, when I couldn't, I simply shut the computer off. After turning it back on, it said "restoring to your previous version" and I'm now back to Windows 7. I noticed that somehow my update settings had all been changed to allow Microsoft maximum access and Windows 10 upgrade was now categorized as...

The latest Windows 10 preview has been released by Microsoft, with changes making it more Linux and web-friendly. Gone, however, is automatic Wi-Fi sharing with contacts, with Microsoft citing low uptake over cost of development. Extensions to Edge, Microsoft’s browser alternative to Internet Explorer, in Windows 10 build 14342 can now be downloaded from the Windows Store. It ends the need to extract and load them from a local store but, Microsoft has warned pioneers, you’ll have to re-install any extensions they might have. Extensions are also available for AdBlock and Adblock Plus and a range of other applications while...

[Disclaimer: This article uses a lot of pejoratives about Win10. Don't bother taking that bait -- the important things are that a) the nagware is going away, and b) support for non-Win10 has horizons that bear paying attention to when planning for the future.] Microsoft's "Get Windows 10" nagware will be killed off in July, the tech giant has told us. The software has been worming its way into Windows PCs via Windows Update since last year using aggressive malware-like techniques and frequent pop-up reminders. It quietly downloads and installs Windows 10 automatically for you, and then cheerfully offers to...

Good news for Windows 10 users: you can now block internet ads in the Edge browser just like those with Chrome and Firefox do! Extensions for both the AdBlock and AdBlock Plus services have come to Microsoft's new browser, and are now available on the Windows Store. There is one small requirement, however, and it's that users need to be Windows Insiders with build 14291 on the desktop. Non-Insider users will still need to wait until this summer to take advantage of extensions in Edge, when the Anniversary Update for Windows 10 is released to the public. Once that's out,...

Microsoft has made a change to an update for Windows 7 that can prevent certain systems from booting. While you might expect me to say, "good news, the software giant has fixed the problem", in fact what Microsoft has done is switch the update from "optional", to "recommended". So, on some systems, it will now install, and break Windows 7 automatically. There is good news though, and that’s you can solve the problem and get your computer working again by (can you guess?) upgrading to Windows 10. Hooray! The update in question is KB3133977 and what this does is fix...

<p>At the end of April, Microsoft's Windows 10 nagware interrupted a live TV weather broadcast to urge meteorologist Metinka Slater to upgrade her computer.</p> <p>A week later, while playing Counter Strike: Global Offensive to 130,000 spectators on Twitch.tv, Erik Flom was blasted out of his match by the Windows 10 installer. This was even after he spent a few frantic minutes trying to delay the upgrade until after his game had ended. The fun starts about nine minutes into this recording of the live stream. "F*ck you, Windows 10!" was Flom's response.</p>