Posts by js6898

Go to security school, GoTo – theft of encryption keys shows you need it

Re: "Better" than most?

Security 'breaches'

You're welcome.

Computing's big question for 2023: How many more questions can we endure?

Re: unnecessary

To be fair to Edge, it does have that functionality

Ad blockers struggle under Chrome's new rules

I use Edge and host file.

Near-undetectable malware linked to Russia's Cozy Bear

Re: Iso

anyone know why the decision was made back.in the day to hide file extensions ? seems a pretty stupid thing to do.

If you didn't store valuable data, ransomware would become impotent

How's this for an aphorism - data isn't data unless it's read-only.

Ransomware encrypts files, demands three good deeds to restore data

Nooooooo..... They can keep my data scrambled - there is no way I'm opening a Facebook and Instagram account.

Ad-tech firms grab email addresses from forms before they're even submitted

well you could mark any emails received this way from eg John Lewis as spam - if enough people did it maybe the spam filters would start taking their emails out...

Windows 10 still growing, but Win 11 had another bad month, says AdDuplex

Re: W11? Personally I wouldn't bother upgrading and I use W11 daily!

missing the one big difference - you need to use a ms account not local account.

yes i know there are hacks round it, but they would never dare to make that restriction on W10 now, hence the need for a new version.

No local account from the get-go.

New Windows 11 build boasts inbox updates and UI tweaks

tabs

Let's hope if there is a tabbed explorer window that there is - unlike on taskbar - a 'never combine' option.

Running Windows 10? Microsoft is preparing to fire up the update engines

Yes it is possible.

It is in theory easy to stop and start WU simply by starting and stopping the windows update service. However, as we all know, if you stop it the 'medic' service starts it again for you - very annoying. Thus you have to disable the medic service first. This is done by renaming the .dll file to eg .bak (or whatever you like). However, this .dll is owned by system, so you have to take ownership first and then you can rename it.

Open an elevated command prompt (in c:\windows\system32) and run the following commands (you need do this only once):

copy WaaSMedicSvc.dll WaaSMedicSvc.BAK /y

takeown /f c:\windows\system32\WaaSMedicSvc.dll

cacls c:\windows\system32\WaaSMedicSvc.dll /e /p "Preferred Customer":f

erase c:\windows\system32\WaaSMedicSvc.dll

(here, Preferred Customer is my windows account name - use your own)

You can also create a .cmd file with these 4 lines in and run it as an administrator if you prefer.

That has disabled the medic for good, although you will need to check if a new .dll is ever added if you do updates in future.

Now you can stop and start the windows update service as you wish. I have a couple of .cmd files on the desktop which stop and start the service - I just run the one I want as administrator. These are the 2 command files:

sc config wuauserv start=auto

sc start wuauserv

pause

sc stop wuauserv

sc config wuauserv start=disabled

pause

turn off wu

not sure what tje fuss is about - just turn off windows updates

Not sure what all the fuss is about - just turn off windows updates

Facebook may soon reveal new name – we're sure Reg readers will be more creative than Zuck's marketroids

Addy Mc Ad-Face?

When the bits hit the fan: What to do when ransomware strikes

backups

not sure I completely understand - if you do a backup to eg tape every so often, and don't re-use that tape then this provides a backup surely? Just as long as you flip the read-only switch when you restore.

Lenovo pops up tips on its tablets. And by tips, Lenovo means: Unacceptable ads

Re: Uninstalling system level programs

Edit: you could, of course, simple put an 'erase' command in test.cmd above to erase the application executable or .dll

Uninstalling system level programs

Have done some experimenting and it seems to work. Microsoft's PSexec with the -s switch allows you to run as a system user, and thus uninstall system applications.

Download psexec.from the Microsoft Sysinternals site and copy psexec.exe into the c:\windows\system32 folder

Now create a .cmd file (eg test.cmd) containing the following line:

rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL appwiz.cpl

and copy test.cmd into the c:\windows\system32 folder

Now open an elevated command prompt, and navigate to c:\windows\system32

Type

psexec -s -i test.cmd

and press 'enter'. Add/remove programs will then open with system level privileges.

uninstalling

I am no expert so correct me is i am wrong but downloading psexec from sysinternals gives you system level priviliges and thus running psexec with control panel parameter will allow you to add/remove even system apps.

I have had success using psexec mmc to run services.msc as a system user and stop system services such as windows update medic.

Windows 11 will roll out from October 5 as Microsoft hypes new hardware

Re: How do I opt users out of this "upgrade" ?

Yes you can turn off Windows Update (and turn it on again)

1. disable the Medic Service. Either set Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WaaSMedicSvc to '4' or take ownership of the .dll and erase it

2. then you can turn the WU service on and off as you wish

Re: How do I opt users out of this "upgrade" ?

If you have a PC that meets W11 requirements but do NOT want it to automatically update to W11 but want to stay on W10 then the procedure is:

1. turn off Windows Update so that your W10 machine never updates automatically

2. manually download the W10 security etc updates each month or whatever from the Microsoft Update Catalogue and apply them manually.

Start or Please Stop? Power users mourn features lost in Windows 11 'simplification'

It's not about the start menu. What's the one thing that has changed? Well you **must** use a microsoft account ie no more local accounts for setup

Why? Not that difficult to work out why.

Thales launches payment card with onboard fingerprint scanner

why do we need the card at all? just use your fingerprint to pay...

Windows 11: What we like and don't like about Microsoft's operating system so far

Re: I'm mystified

i can tell you exactly why

MS would not dare to mandate no local accounts in W10 there would be too big a backlash

W11 well no.problem - noone seems to have noticed

Windows 11

I have no idea if I will 'like' Windows 11 or not - I expect there will be bits I like and bits I hate.

However, what I **do*** know is that Windows 11 will be the first release since - well I suppose since it was invented - that mandates that you have to sign in with a Microsoft account to use it.

It doesn't take much foresight to see where this is leading...

there is one change - you can no longer have a local account.

that I think is the whole reason for the release

Microsoft patches PrintNightmare – even on Windows 7 – but the terror isn't over

Re: It is about time

I may have misunderstood your point but you can turn off services even those that you cannot turn off by using sysinternals psexec to run services.msc

psexec.exe -i -d -s mmc.exe /s services.msc

apologies if I have misunderstood the point.

Developing for Windows 11: Like developing for Windows 10, but with rounded corners?

Everyone is looking the wrong way

By far the majority of comments I've seen on Windows 11 are about rounded corners, centralised start menu etc etc

Everyone is looking North whilst a herd of stampeding elephants is coming up from the South

Windows 11 is not and never has been about tweaking the interface. It is about positioning for Windows as a Service

MS could never have forced eg 'local accounts cannot be used'' onto Windows 10 - but Windows 11 you must have a MS account to install and must have aa MS account to 'use certain features'

That is why MS is releasing W11

What you need to know about Microsoft Windows 11: It will run Android apps

Re: mspaint

... and the dlls

mspaint

This doesn't even make sense - by the end of W10 support in 2025 there are still going to be millions (hundreds of millions?) of perfectly good PCs and laptops running W10 without TPM2 that can't be upgraded. Are they going to be left without security patches etc after 2025?

Also, I bet they get rid of mspaint leaving only paint3D - a deal breaker for me!

I knew they would disallow a local account even before the announcement - they have been wanting to do this for a long time.

Wonder if they will stop using the HOSTS file, thus removing one way of stopping ads etc?

One thing I predict is that they will remove the various ways we have of stopping automatic windows update eg by making the update and medic services unstappable.

UK watchdog sniffs around Google Chrome's Privacy Sandbox as it may give Choc Factory all the sweeties

Can someone update me (genuine question) - if I use Chrome and use Google to search etc etc, then as long as I am not 'signed in' does it matter what Google collects on 'me' because they don't know who I am and the next time I 'clear cookies / browsing history' everything is reset again?

Or am I missing something?

Of course, before I clear cookies they can serve targetted ads based on the cookies and browsing history stored so far, but since I have an ad blocker I don't see ads anyway.

Explained: The thinking behind the 32GB Windows Format limit on FAT32

Would love to hear a similar story about why the person who decided that the default on Windows would be to hide the file extension...

After Cummings' Barnard Castle trip, cheeky Britons started using the word 'vision' in their passwords

Use the first character of each word in a song or poem - the more obscure the better.

Example - God save the Queen becomes

gsogqllonqgstq

Obviously this song is not obscure enough it was just an example

RIAA DMCAs GitHub into nuking popular YouTube video download tool, says it's used to slurp music

WinX youtube downloader anyone?

Excel Hell: It's not just blame for pandemic pandemonium being spread between the sheets

The same company produces an operating system where the default is to hide file extension, thus allowing any scammer to send a file called 'nothingtoworryabouthere.pdf' and hiding the last part '.exe'

Samsung slows smartphone upgrade treadmill with promise to support three Android generations on Galaxies

Now, if they could just allow the phone to be updated over mobile data instead of mandating wifi then i could actually install their updates.....

Cache me if you can: HDD PC sales collapse in Europe as shoppers say yes siree to SSD

One advantage of spinning rust drives is that if you use a program such as eraser to erase a file then it is definitely erased. You cannot say the same if the drive is a SSD...

Chrome ad-blocker crackdown preview due late July. Here's a half-dozen reasons why add-on devs are still upset

Why bother about ad blocking extensions anyway - can you not just use the HOSTS file ? (genuine question)

Easter is approaching – and British pr0n watchers still don't know how long before age-gates come into force

They are coming into force 15 July

Official: Google Chrome 69 kills off the World Wide Web (in URLs)

is switching to Edge the answer, particularly now it will have disable html5 autoplay gunction (which is the only reason i use cjrome)

Samsung escapes obligation to keep old phones patched

Re: So What Is the Law for Updates...

I think a guarantee is related to the spec at the time of sale. So if 2 months down the line the phone won't turn on then you can claim. If an attack vector is found and a security update issued then not. The sales literature etc never said they would be.

Analogy time again - you buy a DAB radio. All goes well until 6 months down the line someone finds a way to inject their own (eg advertising) message into the DAB signal so interrupting your listening. All new radios are thereafter build with a software fix that means this can no longer happen. Should this fix be retrofitted to all existing older DAB radios?

Sysadmin hailed as hero for deleting data from the wrong disk drive

Well luckily going forward nothing like this whatever happened again at least on Windows 10 machines all you have to do is tell Cortana what you want to do

UK age-checking smut overlord won't be able to handle the pressure – critics

easy - just create an id based on someone else. Everyone knows someone whose name, address, dob and even cc number if required they know.

It's World (Terrible) Password (Advice) Day!

To me there are two different kinds of passwords scenarios

the first is where you are logging on to say your bank. anybody is very unlikely to guess your password because you only had three tries and then you are locked out and have to do a reset so in this scenario the password almost doesn't matter - no one is going to get it in 3 tries

The second scenario is where the person trying to get your password has access to the file containing the encrypted source of passwords or for example a Word document that is encrypted. in this case of course they have as many tries as they want and will typically run a password cracking program using a very fast computer and an even faster GPU.

In this case they will use a dictionary attack and so you should not use words for example 'my head is painted green' is only a 5 character password as it has 5 works

a simple way to choose a random password is to think of an obscure song or poem and use for example the first letters of each word in the first couple of lines of that song or poem as the password. Add a special character at the beginning or end or both if you want to

Windows 10 April 2018 Update lands today... ish

No availability yet - the Microsoft ISO download page still shows Fall Creator's Update

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10

Time to ditch the front door key? Nest's new wireless smart lock is surprisingly convenient

why a 7v battery? 9v maybe but 7v? yes they are available of course but who has a spare 7v battery lying around ?

Windows 10 to force you to use Edge, even if it isn't default browser

Truely don't understand all this anti-MS feeling. I have been with MS since XP days, upgraded to W7 (missed Vista) and then W10 (missed W8). Everything just continues to work. I have Office 2007 for my spreadsheets and word files (keeps working year in, year out). Thumbsplus for my photos, VLC for my videos, IE for internet (started with IE6, now on IE11). Never had a problem. HOSTS file block adverts etc - always has done, still continues to do so. Use Allway Sync to backup my files, Audacity, Freemake (old free version), Adobe Audition (old version). Never had to upgrade anything. Just goes on and on. Now on W10 1709 not had to pay anything for years (last time was when I bought my W7 PC and I assume I paid an OS licence then). I love MS - just can''t work out how they make any money. They've certainly not had much from me over the last 15 years. Oh and yes, had years and years of free Hotmail. Feel as though I should make a donation to MS as a 'thank you' but don't know how.

Perv raided college girls' online accounts for nude snaps – by cracking their security questions

If you know someone's date of birth (even approximately) and where they were born you can get the mother's maiden name from the GRO - indexed on FREEBMD.

Alexa, please cause the cops to raid my home

Alexia logs? Surely they don't log what you do with it...

BT hikes prices for third time in 18 months

I've got a 30GB package from Three, ditched my landline and used my Galaxy S6 (then S7) as a modem to connect my laptop for some time now. It's fast, reliable, better than my WiFi was. Don't have internet TV - then again, I never did.

Please activate the anti-ransomware protection in your Windows 10 Fall Creators Update PC. Ta

Turned it on, went to edit a .txt file on my desktop (using notepad), wouldn't let me save the changed .txt file back onto the desktop. Turned it off and then I could save the file.