Posts by Who-me

Free Blue Screens of Death for Windows 11 24H2 users

You know, I was a Windows tech for many, many years. Been retired for a few years now, but even I'm starting to wonder if it's too late to learn Linux.

Windows 2000 Server named peak Microsoft. Readers say it's all been downhill since Clippy

Windows 2000, now that was when graphics were graphics!

Windows 11 adds auto-recovery, kills offline setup loophole

Re: Meh

Did an install the other day after an upgrade to a processor. Just created a new online account with a silly name. Did the setup. Created my usual local admin account. Deleted the other account and removed its profile. If MS want to play these games, I’ll just created a new account every time, then abandon it. If everyone does this MS will soon get tired of the mess it makes of their servers.

Microsoft trims more CPUs from Windows 11 compatibility list

As I said earlier, one of my Windows 11 boxes is a 10th gen i5. Been running 11H24 since 3rd December with no obvious problems. (Knowing me, I suspect I did a forced update there so maybe it didn’t come through Windows update).

Just checked the 11H24 compatibility lists, (the official ones). Sure enough, 10th gen has been removed. Minimum now seems to be 11th gen.

AMD list looks unchanged. Even a couple of the 2000 series are still in there, as are 3000, 4000, 5000 etc.

What is interesting is they now give a spec for running Copilot+. I wonder if the reason 10th gen has been pulled is because they are not up to the job?

Microsoft quietly erases Windows 11 TPM 2.0 bypass workaround from help page

The hack still works. I'm still running client Win 11 Pro on an old AMD FX and 99X board using a TPM 1.2 and the reg hack. No problems. The only recent problem is that I've had to disable memory integrity check since the December patch Tuesday, as it keeps crashing the machine.

One third of adults can't delete device data

The real key is that people need to be much more careful about what they put on a phone in the first place, even with modern encryption.

I said some time ago, "nobody in their right mind does anything security sensitive on a phone" and I still believe that. The damn things are too easily snatched if nothing else and yet people are now putting tap and go card details on it. Absolute madness.

Windows 11 24H2 rolls out to more devices – with a growing list of known issues

I see the Asus X515KA is on the hold list. For anyone that’s interested, I can confirm that it seems to work fine on the X515EA.

Microsoft confirms there will be no U-turn on Windows 11 hardware requirements

I’ve not read all 63 posts here, so someone might have covered this already but, while it insists on some sort of TPM, you can install Windows 11 without a TPM 2.

Three years ago, I installed Windows 11 Pro on and old Asus A99X board with an AMD FX8370 processor. A TPM 1.2 is the best the board will support. It needed a bit of a registry hack to get it to accept a 1.2 but, after said hack, the machine has been fine ever since. In fact, I just updated it to 24H2 yesterday.

Similarly, you can get Bitlocker to work without a TPM. You just need to enter the key manually or from a USB stick at boot up.

Put your usernames and passwords in your will, advises Japan's government

You lot only just thought of this?

I’ve had a letter addressed to my next of kin explaining the master passwords locked in my filing cabinet, along with my other papers, for years now. The only key is on my person at all times.

Nothing wrong with writing it down so long as it's in a secure location. Security is one thing. Total paranoia freezing you out of taking necessary action is another.

Microsoft rolls out AI-enabled Notepad to Windows Insiders

Somebody please tell me there's going to be a bloody off switch for that.

700K+ DrayTek routers are sitting ducks on the internet, open to remote hijacking

Article detailing what has been patched and when here:

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2024/10/serious-security-vulnerabilities-exposed-in-704000-draytek-routers.html

Re: DayTrek should be fined in court

Indeed, they updated their entire range in August for GUI vulns, including my old 2762. I would have to say their support has been very good over the years.

UK Ministry of Defence gets into chipmaking game, buys gallium arsenide fab

Re: Skynet

OK, I confess, I was referring to the Terminator films.

It's making chips for something called "SkyNet" apparently.

Re: Sensible

Not to mention that we need to import the coke as we don't have a coal industry anymore.

Windows 11 Patch Tuesday preview is a glitchy disaster

Yes, all three. I'm typing this on one of the Intels and I was on the AMD earlier today.

Interesting...I've had it installed on two Intels & and AMD, all Win 11 Pro 23H2, for several days now. Not a single problem.

Campaigners claim 'Privacy Preserving Attribution' in Firefox does the opposite

Re: So how does one turn it off?

It seems to be linked to "Allow Firefox Data Collection and Use"...which I've always turned off anyway.

Admins using Windows Server Update Services up in arms as Microsoft deprecates feature

Why Microsoft feel they must bugger about with stuff that actually works is beyond me. And they are removing SMTP Server? I'm long retired now, so I must have missed it but anyone know what are they replacing that with?

FTC urged to stop tech makers downgrading devices after you've bought them

Funny, last phone I had from a certain well known manufacturer suddenly started going through the battery like wild-fire after its last update. Thought it might be my paranoia but this seems to suggest I was right. Bad strategy on their part. I've never bought another phone from that manufacturer as a result!

AMD won’t patch Sinkclose security bug on older Zen CPUs

"In defense of AMD...". Do you work for them or something?

So it's OK for a manufacturer to churn out badly designed c**p, so long as they can get it to the end of a 12 month warranty? And what do you mean by warranty anyway? The last one ever sold or the one you bought? Have you stopped to think that if security support was limited to warranty your going to be cost a furtune replacing stuff every five minutes? What complete nonsense.

How long have they had to get this right and they're still dropping clangers like this? Let's be realistic. If manumfacturers can't build a secure system by now then they never will be able to. It's time for a complete rethink on security.

Microsoft yanks Windows 11 update after boot loop blunder

Re: Don't blame MS

I never cease to be amazed that people are still putting in genuine data. I've been feeding them with complete nonsense for years. If more people did, the data they are selling would be complete rubbish, eventually become discredited and the whole rotten system would collaspe. In fact I'm registered on this website as Stuart Peade. (Think about it).

UK council yanks IT systems and phone lines offline following cyber ambush

Re: Ah, the good old UK public sector!

I worked for a council, for a few months between "real" jobs. If they paid worth a damn they might keep the better people.

Crowning glory of GOV.UK websites updated, sparking frontend upgrades

Yeah...let's spend more tax payer's money on an unnecessary job. Not as though we need to be spending it on roads, railways, hospitals, schools, care homes, housing, military...well just about everything in this country really, as things are falling apart. Still, at least it's keeping some IT staff in a job.

Crims found and exploited these two Microsoft bugs before Redmond fixed 'em

KB5034763...another winner from MS....At least, I assume it would be if I could get the damn thing to install. Gets to 74% and grinds to a halt.

Mozilla slams Microsoft for using dark patterns to drive Windows users toward Edge

Interesting. Just lately I’ve started getting a malware warning when trying to do a backup using the old Win 7 backup on Win 11. (Yes, I’m old fashioned like that). Anyway, said malware only flags in shadow copies of the profile entries for both Firefox and Thunderbird. Parent folders scan as clean. My own research suggest they are false positives. Excluding these folders backups up with no problems. Just coincidence?

Microsoft suggests command line fiddling to get faulty Windows 10 update installed

For anyone still interested, fixing a couple more machines today suggests you do not need to shrink the OS partition. Removing the existing RE partition causes the refesh install with the latest installation media to create a new one of the right size. It leaves the location of the old one as unallocated space but it is so small as to be of no odds. You do not need to turn off Bitlocker to apply this and the security update then goes on without issue.

In actual fact, the fix posted by MS does not work. It refuses to work with Bitlocker. Ironic for a security update to a Bitlocker vulnerability.

I agree, wait for MS to sort themselves out. For anyone interested my own fix, after their's screwed the machine up, was to remove Bitlocker, shrink the OS partition & then use their reagentc.exe instructions to remove the RE partition. The minimum space needed seems to be something like 600MB. A refresh reinstall with the latest download of the installation media then replaces the RE partition with a new one. ReBitlocker and run updates. The updates then installed correctly. A right rigmarole. No doubt someone can think of a simpler fix but this worked for me.

New year, new updates for security holes in Windows, Adobe, Android and more

Re: Windows update Situation Normal

The general public that can't do this are the lucky ones. I've run their so-called fix and you have to turn off Bitlocker for the fix to work. It then it refuses to enable Win RE on the new partition if you are using Biotlocker on the same volume. It's a joke even by MS standards. Must be April 1st in the US.

Mid-contract telco price hikes must end, Ofcom told

Re: What's a specter?

The US spelling of the English spectre.

Yes, you have a good point there.

The OF…whatever are all pathetic in this country.

OFCOM should never have allowed this situation to develop. It’s not inflation that is the problem. Afterall, I think we understand that they have to pay their bills including wages, but 3.9% on top as an open-ended ongoing commitment. Really? Talk about a license to print money.

OFCOM should also have insisted the ISPs retain one-year contracts. Nothing wrong with two year, three year, even five year if people want to go for it but there has to be the option of one-year as well.

If you like to play along with the illusion of privacy, smart devices are a dumb idea

Of course, the business model only works because people are daft enough to provide real data. They get away with selling it on because it has value. I've been putting nonsense into things like this for years now. If the rest of you did the same the business model would have long since been discredited and collapsed.