Newsletter Archives

• SMB security changes in Windows 11 might affect your NAS, too

  Posted on August 28, 2023 at 02:44 CDT by Mary Branscombe • Comment in the Forums

  WINDOWS 11

  By Mary Branscombe

  It’s going to get harder and harder to connect to your NAS as a guest with SMB. That’s a good thing for security, but it could be a problem if your hardware is older.

  The Server Message Block (SMB) network file-sharing protocol lets Windows applications read and write files stored on servers in your network, including Network Attached Storage (NAS) systems. SMB underpins a lot of Windows network technologies, such as Storage Spaces Direct and even network printing. The print spooler is essentially just a file, after all.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.35.0, 2023-08-28).

  Windows 11 Home Networks, NAS, Newsletters, SMB Signing, SMBv1, SMBv3

• MS-DEFCON 2: Are you still on Windows 10 21H2?

  Posted on June 8, 2023 at 02:45 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 20.23.1 • 2023-06-08

  

  By Susan Bradley

  We’re nearly halfway through the 2023 patching year, almost to the end of the road for Windows 10 21H2.

  But before we delve into that: Patch Tuesday is just around the corner, so it’s time to get conservative and defer patches. Accordingly, I’m raising the MS-DEFCON level to 2.

  Microsoft is indicating that it will “force” 21H2 machines to 22H2, but I have news for them — if you don’t have 22H2 and you are not using one of the methods to hold off on feature releases (Group Policy, registry key, etc.), chances are you have some sort of issue that is blocking the install. Some of the blocks may be driver-related, and some may be the result of underlying corruption in the code that handles patching.

  Anyone can read the full MS-DEFCON Alert (20.23.1, 2023-06-08).

  AskWoody Plus Alert, MS-DEFCON Alerts, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 2, SMB Signing, SMBv1, SMBv2, SMBv3, Windows 10