Windows Server 2022: VMware ESXi 7.0 U3k Patch for Secure Boot Issue (Update KB5022842, Feb. 2023)

Windows[German]VMware released VMware ESXi 7.0 U3k on Feb. 21, 2023, to address the Secure Boot issue of VMs. The background was that with the Feb. 14, 2023 patchday, an installed security update (KB5022842) for Windows Server 2022 prevented virtual machines under certain ESXi versions from Secure Boot. The workaround was to disable Secure Boot. A fix is now available for VMware ESXi 7.x – other scenarios with this flaw continue to wait for a patch and must continue to operate without Secure Boot.

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Outlook.com inboxes flooded with SPAM (Feb. 20, 2023)

[German]If your Outlook inboxes (outlook.com, live.com etc.) has been flooded with SPAM today, February 20, 2023, the good news is "you was not alone". Something must have happened at Microsoft and someone switches off the SPAM filters so that mailboxes were flooded with SPAM messages.

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Licensing hooks: MS SQL Server license increased by factor 3, and user-based Oracle Java SE licenses

[German]Today a nice article about how Microsoft and Oracle are pulling customers you around the arena by a nose ring. Blame the licensing thing. Depending on your view, it's either love or hate. Some will happily donate their money for licenses – you are doing a good work (there is no alternative), others curse like sparrows, but swallow it anyway. One reader informed me that he is "happy" to pay triple the price for renewing an MS SQL Server license. And Oracle users are rejoicing because new Java SE licenses are now charged by the user. This moved me to share this joy with you and write a small article about it.

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Windows Server 2022 Feb. 2023 Patchday: Secure Boot issues also on bare metal systems!

Windows[German]With the security update KB5022842 released on February 14, 2023 for Windows Server 2022, a problem can occur during the second restart. Machines can subsequently no longer start after a reboot and either can no longer find their system drives, or they trigger a Secure Boot error. I had already described this effect for virtual machines running VMware ESXi. Now I have a report that refers to a Windows Server 2022 system directly (bare metal). A search revealed that other users are affected. Disabling Secure Boot helps – Microsoft and VMware have now partially confirmed this bug (for VMware ESXi).

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Caution: Exposed Wi Fi password in Windows

Windows[German]Maybe it is common knowledge – I was not aware of it: Locally logged in users can retrieve the password of a Wi Fi (WLAN) under Windows if it was entered under the same user account. This does not require administrator privileges if done correctly. After a reader pointed this out to me, I was able to reproduce this myself on a Windows 10 22H2 system. Here's a brief overview of why it works.

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Why ISL Online: Critical factors when choosing a remote desktop solution

[Sponsored Post]In the rapidly evolving IT world, choosing the right remote desktop software is critical for organizations that value security, ease of use and reliability. One provider of secure remote access that has been on the market since 2001 is ISL Online, which presents some considerations for choosing such software below. More ...


Is Microsoft working on Windows 12 and Windows Server 2025?

Windows[German]It's clear that Microsoft is already developing successors to Windows 10/11 and Windows Server 2022. Now, however, the first hints have come to my attention that there might be a Windows 12 and a Windows Server 2025. So there is still an "on-premises" server operating system planned by Microsoft. Here some information, what  came under my eyes.

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An exchanged computer locks users out of Microsoft OneDrive account and prevented to register MS Office..

[German]It's a rather crude case that German blog reader Thomas has just put "on the table" for me. There was a need to change the computer running Windows – I don't know the details. Following this action, the user found that he could no longer access his OneDrive account. Microsoft denies access. Even a registration from Microsoft is no longer possible, because the account is rejected.The user is now wondering where Microsoft once again "took a wrong turn" and whether this can have to do with a strange "security incident" a few days ago.

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Parallels Desktop: Authorizes Windows 11 on Mac M1 processors

Microsoft has authorized Arm versions of Windows 11 Pro and Enterprise for the Mac with Apple silicon for use in a virtual machine hosted with Parallels Desktop for Mac. IT administrators can now allow their users to run Windows 11 on Arm in Parallels Desktop Windows 11 Pro and Enterprise on Mac with M-Series chips. Details are available at Options for using Windows 11 with Mac® computers with Apple® M1® and M2™ chips.

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Windows Server 20212 R2 (Essentials): Feb. 2023 updates drops install error 0x800F0922

Windows[German]I got several reports from administrators that the February 2023 security updates to Windows Server 20212 R2 (and Windows 8.1) are causing issues and the installation is aborting with error 0x800F0922. With Windows 8.1 it is clear, because of the end of support. But with Windows Server 20212 R2, administrators may thank Microsoft's AI-powered Extended Support update check. I'll just thread together some information I have now here.

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Fortinet fixes critical RCE vulnerabilities in FortiNAC and FortiWeb

Sicherheit (Pexels, allgemeine Nutzung)[German]Administrators of Fortinet's FortiNAC and FortiWeb need to take action. The vendor released a security advisory this week and fixed critical RCE vulnerabilities. The question that arises: Why only now, isn't the vulnerability CVE-2021-42756 probably known since 2021? Is there something being exploited in the wild? Here is some information about it.

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