Local administrator passwords are a problematic situation in an organization of significant size. Every computer either has the same password for the local administrator account, some formula to determine it, or a spreadsheet to track it. The bigger threat surrounding those accounts having a common password is more of an internal threat. With technicians coming and going, it … [Read more...]
How to re-enable Java in Chrome through Group Policy
Google rolled out version 42 of the Chrome browser this week. Along with security fixes, the biggest change is the disabling of NPAPI plugins by default. This means sites using Java, Silverlight, and other plugins will no longer work in Chrome. This NPAPI deprecation has been a long time coming with the Chromium documentation starting in January 2014. The April 2015 stage … [Read more...]
Microsoft pushing Skype as an ‘optional’ Windows Update KB2876229
On Tuesday, your Windows Updates might have notified you of new updates available. One update under the Optional section is "Skype for Windows Desktop 7.0" (KB2876229). It has the description "Stay in touch with friends and family with free Skype-to-Skype calls and messages.". Yep, this is the normal, full-blown Skype that you might already have installed through the Windows … [Read more...]
PowerShell Script to update Adobe Flash Player that avoids IE
Pushing out Adobe Flash Player updates through a startup script got a little more complicated with Windows 8. For IE11 on Windows 8, Adobe Flash Player is updated through Windows Updates. Pushing the update out through a startup script for Windows 7 works just fine for the ActiveX and Plugin installs but on Windows 8+, the IE Adobe Flash Player update can hang and keep Windows … [Read more...]
Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2013 Update 1 Preview released
Windows Server 2016 may have slipped to release in calendar year 2016 but the rest of Microsoft's supporting infrastructure is still making progress. Microsoft has released a preview to MDT 2013 Update 1. This update will be required in order to use Microsoft's free Solution Accelerator imaging process with Windows 10. The Preview should not be used in production … [Read more...]