Replies

Zathras wrote:

PerthMike wrote:

I’ve just pushed a few of these blocks out through GPO registry items, as all our corporate users were getting them.

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Notifications\ Settings\Windows.SystemToast.Suggested\Enabled = 0 (DWORD)

Put that in a Group policy wizard for users, and it blocks these “Suggestions”…

I similarly blocked Backup notifications (no need for users to worry about backups on the domain).

If only Microsoft made these easily available via ADMX definitions but nooooooo.

Now, if only Google didn’t pull these same Microsoft tactics by recently silently rolling out Chrome apps onto all our desktops (Gmail, Google Drive, Youtube, etc.). Might want to check your Control Panel/Programs list to see what got silently installed on your PC recently.

Turning the suggested notifications off in ‘Notifications & Actions -> Get notifications from these senders’ does the same thing.  It sets or takes away that registry entry.

I’m curious, on a machine that doesn’t have the Suggested entry yet, if setting that key will block the notifications when it gets installed.  Or will Microsoft just remove the set key so the suggested notifications will come thru.

Not sure, I’ve resorted to using Group Policy on our domain to force-set these registry keys, so Microsoft CAN’T reset them.

No matter where you go, there you are.

I’ve just pushed a few of these blocks out through GPO registry items, as all our corporate users were getting them.

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Notifications\ Settings\Windows.SystemToast.Suggested\Enabled = 0 (DWORD)

Put that in a Group policy wizard for users, and it blocks these “Suggestions”…

I similarly blocked Backup notifications (no need for users to worry about backups on the domain).

If only Microsoft made these easily available via ADMX definitions but nooooooo.

Now, if only Google didn’t pull these same Microsoft tactics by recently silently rolling out Chrome apps onto all our desktops (Gmail, Google Drive, Youtube, etc.). Might want to check your Control Panel/Programs list to see what got silently installed on your PC recently.

No matter where you go, there you are.

1 user thanked author for this post.

oldfry

You Americans are so weird with your obsession of that stuff. 🙂

No matter where you go, there you are.

Thankfully here in Australia, the government finally got off its butt and has started outright banning the damn things. Of course, this was only after lots of kids got hooked on them…

So now you can only get them if you get a prescription from your GP as a quit smoking aid. Shops selling them will be prosecuted, as will people importing them.

“Under Australian law, it is illegal to buy, possess or use liquid nicotine for vaping without a prescription from a registered Australian medical practitioner.”

 

No matter where you go, there you are.

You can also STILL activate Windows 10 (Pro) directly with your old Windows 7 key. Recently had to rebuild my OS due to some corruption, and Windows 10 22H2 still directly accepted the W7 key. Probably because this motherboard used to run Windows 7 until a couple of years ago, but it’s nice to know I didn’t have to rebuild 7 first and then upgrade to W10.

No matter where you go, there you are.

Desktop for life, with a big screen (or two, when I need it). I have my main desktop PC for my limited gaming and flight simming, but mostly to give my eyes more ease when browsing, etc. I also prefer a big keyboard and trackball. Secondly, I have a separate low-power mini PC for 24-hour usage purposes, and an older Dell desktop as a HTPC.

My work-supplied device is a Dell notebook, so I can work from home when it’s called for, but for all my personal needs, the bigger the screen and box, the better.

Not happy where Windows is heading, currently running W10 22H2, and I fervently hope Windows 12 appears before 10 expires, and hopefully it overcomes all the problems with W11. Otherwise, like I did for Windows 7, I’ll stick with that OS past its Use By date, simply because Windows 11 is just not acceptable.

No matter where you go, there you are.

Wow, that Server 2016 patch is a full cumulative update, a massive 1.5GB file.

No matter where you go, there you are.

The worrying thing is that this Moments update apparently contains a Service Stack Update, so it looks like it may be mandatory to install to continue getting updates. Oh Microsoft, have you learned nothing?

No matter where you go, there you are.

My WSUS server just notified me that August’s KB5012170, the problematic secure boot update that breaks Bitlocker encryption has been re-issued (a day after the rest of the updates). Not sure if this one fixes the previous reboot problem, I’m certainly not going to roll it out to any of our fleet until I hear more feedback.

No matter where you go, there you are.

Alex5723 wrote:

My drivers license and medical information is now digitized into computer system

… that certainly will be hacked some time in the future.

I schedule my Doctor’s and Nurse’s appointments with my medical health service using their web site.

Indeed, with the amount of apps appearing, the number of apps not properly coded to protect personal data, or data buckets stored in the cloud, will just increase, so each time this sort of thing is introduced just increases the chance of you losing all your data to someone nefarious.

In Australia, I have a govt services ID for our healthcare system that has a secure (albeit as a result, annoying) MFA process to ensure the data is only kept in places where it absolutely has to be. But it works, and when I visit the doctor, the system works so well that my Medicare rebate for seeing the doctor is processed and transferred into my bank account sometimes before I even leave the doctor’s surgery.

No matter where you go, there you are.

So now they are adding features and changing layouts in monthly updates? Oh for crying out loud, I thought the six month cycle with Win10 was bad. You cannot just change things like this for corporate users whenever you feel like it. It should always be an opt-in choice to have things change like this.

Yes, we’ll stretch the remaining five years of Windows 10 out as long as possible in our govt agency.

No matter where you go, there you are.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Alex5723

A note on the blog, since I don’t use Twitter.

I hope February is an improvement, as we have held off on patching since November (via WSUS). Because our workers are so reliant on VPN, it just wasn’t worth the likely damage and screams of calls from staff.

No matter where you go, there you are.

Gunter Born reporting on his blog that there are multiple reports of boot loops on Windows 8.1 and Server 2012 R2, including on domain controllers.

https://borncity.com/win/2022/01/12/patchday-windows-8-1-server-2012-r2-updates-11-januar-2022-mgliche-boot-probleme/

No matter where you go, there you are.

5 users thanked author for this post.

Microfix, DrBonzo, blackbox, abbodi86, Alex5723

We use a physical mail filter PLUS a third-party scanner on our Exchange server, with the default Microsoft engine not in use, so we were not affected. Y2K22, just what we needed. Good one, Microsoft.

No matter where you go, there you are.

The problem with this approach from Microsoft is that in a lot of corporate environments, the Store is blocked so that users can’t install non-approved apps.

No matter where you go, there you are.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Steve S.