Windows

Microsoft is investigating an interoperability issue between the new Windows Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS) and legacy LAPS policies. The company has confirmed that installing the April 2023 Patch Tuesday updates will break the functionality of both Windows LAPS and legacy LAPS on Windows devices. Earlier this week, Microsoft announced the native integration of Windows…

Microsoft announced some changes yesterday to its release schedule for Microsoft Configuration Manager updates. The company is switching the product from its usual tri-annual updates to a bi-annual release cycle. Microsoft Configuration Manager is a tool that enables IT admins to manage large groups of Windows machines. It helps to deploy applications, automate patch management…

Microsoft will start offering on-prem Unified Update Platform (UUP) updates to Windows 11 PCs on March 28. The company is recommending organizations to prepare for a one-time 10GB download to receive future updates via UUP. Microsoft’s Unified Update Platform (UUP) technology is designed to reduce the size of Windows updates. The on-prem UUP interoperates with…

Many IT pros probably take for granted sharing files on their predominantly Windows environments and local area networks. Although several protocols are available, Server Message Block (SMB) is clearly the most prevalent. This article examines how Windows file sharing works over ports 445, 139, 138, and 137. How does file sharing via the SMB protocol…

Microsoft has introduced watermarking support for Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD). The company announced that the new security feature is designed to protect sensitive information on client devices. Microsoft explained that users can now enable the watermarking feature on Azure Virtual Desktops. Once enabled, users can scan the QR codes to find the connectionID and session…

Windows File Recovery is a free command-line utility for recovering deleted files in Windows. If you have lost files on your PC after accidentally deleting them, this article explains how to use Windows File Recovery to recover them in a couple of steps. Windows File Recovery (WFR) is a newer file restore utility Microsoft released…

In this article, you will learn how to edit the Windows 11 hosts file. There are several easy ways that you can edit the file, and in this article, I will take you through each method step-by-step. In the early days of the Internet, there was just one ‘hosts’ file that was used to match…

Google Drive is a popular cloud-based storage platform. It offers file-sharing and synchronization features that help users create, manage, and share documents across apps such as Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets. In this guide, I’ll explain how to install Google Drive for desktop, and how to pause or check the sync status on a Windows…

Microsoft is set of end extended support for Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2 in October 2023. The company is reminding customers that it will no longer provide software updates, security patches, and technical support after this date. It’s been more than four years since Microsoft announced the end of mainstream support for…

Microsoft announced yesterday that it has started rolling out the Automate tab to Excel for Windows and macOS. The latest update lets desktop users create and edit Office scripts to automate their repetitive spreadsheet tasks or workflows. Up until now, the Automate tab was only available for customers in Excel on the web. With this…