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Hive ransomware has been targeting Microsoft exchange servers lately vulnerable to ProxyShell security issues in order to deploy various backdoors. Once the backdoor has been placed various attacks can be performed including but not limited to network reconnaissance, stealing admin accounts, taking valuable data, and even installing and deploying file-encrypting algorithms.

ProxyShell wide abuse

ProxyShell is a set of three vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Exchange Server that allows remote code execution without authentication on vulnerable deployments. The flaw has been used in past by various ransomware like Conti, BlackByte, Babuk, Cuba, and LockFile.

Security vulnerabilities have been reported to be fully patched on May 2021 but how Hive was able to still be successful in exploiting PowerShell and infiltrating into the system there seems to be still some unpatched and open issues.

Hive

Hive has gone a long way since it was first observed in the wild back in June 2021, having a successful start that prompted the FBI to release a dedicated report on its tactics and indicators of compromise.

In October 2021, the Hive gang added Linux and FreeBSD variants, and in December it became one of the most active ransomware operations in attack frequency.

Last month, researchers at Sentinel Labs reported on a new payload-hiding obfuscation method employed by Hive, which indicates active development.

OEM Partition, also known as System Reserved Partition, is placed by the OEM to help users recover their computers or bring back the original state of the computer when it was bought. If you’ve observed that a part of your hard drive says “Healthy (OEM partition)” in the Disk Management and it occupies space in GBs, then this means that it’s normal and there’s nothing to worry about except that part of the storage space is not available and even when you right-click on it, the only thing it displays is the Help menu. Thus, in this guide, you will be guided on how you can merge as well as delete an OEM partition in your Windows 10 computer. Since the Disk Management tool in Windows won’t let you merge or delete the OEM partition, you can just use the built-in command-line tool known as Diskpart. Note that you have to be extra careful when you run the commands as it could mess your computer up and before you proceed with the instructions provided below, make sure that you create a System Restore point first. Once you have that covered, follow the instructions below. Step 1: Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box and type “cmd” in the field and tap Enter to open the Command Prompt. Step 2: Next, execute this command to launch the Diskpart tool: diskpart Step 3: Execute this second command to view the list of the disks in your computer: list disk Step 4: Now select the disk you want to manage by executing this command: select disk x Note: In the command above, replace “x” with the letter of your disk. Step 5: After that, execute this command to display all the volumes or partitions: list partition Step 6: Now execute this command to select the partition you want to delete: select partition x Note: You have to replace “x” with the partition you want to delete. Step 7: Once done, execute this command to delete the selected partition: delete partition override Step 8: Afterwards, execute this command to merge the OEM partition with the adjoining value: Extend Note: if you only want to merge part of the partition, you need to use this command “extend [size=<size>]”. For instance, you want to extend its size by 5GB, then you need to type “Extend size=5000”. The size you set is the size you select from the OEM partition. This will extend the selected volume by size in MB or megabytes.

A command is not recognized Error, what it is? If you are constantly using programs like CMD or DISM directly from the Run prompt, you might have wondered how they launched instantly and how is it that the Windows operating system is able to find them right away. For instance, when you create a shortcut of a program, the shortcut knows where exactly the program is located and launches it quickly. The Windows operating system keeps a list of paths where the most common system programs are located so when you use the Run prompt, it opens easily. The list kept by Windows is called the Windows Environment Variables. If something goes wrong with this list, the programs won’t work. So in this guide, you will be guided on how you can troubleshoot the problem where any command you use is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program, or batch file. Before you start troubleshooting the problem, you need to make sure that the program you are trying to run really exists. In fact, this can also happen to the Run program which is pulled up using the Win + R shortcut. To check, go to C:\Windows\System32 and there, check if the program exists or not or you can also try searching for the EXE in the System 32 folder. After making sure that the program exists, refer to the instructions given below.

Modify the Windows Environment Variables:

• Step 1: Tap the Win + X keys and then select System. After that, it will open the section where you can see all the properties on your computer.
• Step 2: Next, select the Advanced system setting located on the left pane and click on the Environment Variables.
• Step 3: After that, locate Path under the System Variables and select EDIT.
• Step 4: Before you edit, you need to copy the entire string and paste it into the Notepad app so that in case something went wrong, you can paste it back.
• Step 5: Next, look for the directory path, “C:\Windows\System32”. If you can’t find it, try adding a semi-colon at the end.
• Step 6: Afterwards, click OK to save the changes made and then exit.
• Step 7: Now restart your computer as all the paths are picked up when your computer restarts.

Note: Now all you have to do is to try executing the programs once again – the ones where you got the error, “ is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file” every time you open them and then see if you can now open these programs or not.

Windows Vista had in it animated wallpapers on desktop but sadly how they were heavy on system resources Microsoft abandoned the idea. Moving forward a couple of years later we have Windows 10 but still, we do not have live animated wallpapers. Since I am the kind of person who does not want to wait on Microsoft and now it is time to bring animated wallpapers back I am going to make one all by myself and you are welcome to join the ride and do the same for you as well. Enough talk, let's dive into how we can make animated wallpaper for our Windows 10.

Choosing the application

First, we will need some form of application which can we look at our animated wallpapers and since they are animations it means video, so we will need a video player and what better choice than a VLC player, an open-source light weighs all-format player. Get a VLC player from here and install it.

Finding video source

The next thing is to of course have some looping video that we will use as background. There are many sites and ways to get seamless loop videos, I use this youtube channel for my backgrounds. Altho you can use any video footage you want it is recommended that it is not too long, that it is hi-resolution so we do not have pixels on-screen, and if you can, get it as seamless since we do not want to see stutter when the video is lopped from the beginning. So hopefully you have desired video and VLC player installed.

Putting it all together

Copy the following code and paste it into your search bar in Windows to open the Startup folder, or navigate to the Startup folder yourself via file explorer if you know where it is. %appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup Now, next thing is to copy and past the VLC shortcut into this folder so it is started when Windows is first time booted. Right-click on the shortcut and in the edit field paste this: "C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe" --video-wallpaper --qt-start-minimized --no-qt-fs-controller --repeat --no-video-title-show --qt-notification=0 "C:\videopath\filename.mp4" where "C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe" is the path where VLC is installed, point this to where you have installed it "C:\videopath\filename.mp4" is the path where you have your video that you wish to use as animated wallpaper. Please note also that in my case there is mp4 as an extension but it does not need to be mp4, just use any extension VLC can open and play.

Conclusion

And that's it, you have successfully made an animated background or live wallpaper on your Windows 10 computer. You can change your wallpaper anytime by editing shortcut and giving it a new path to a new video or simply overwrite the existing one with a new baring same name.

If you are trying to install or upgrade your Windows 10 computer but suddenly encountered an error message saying, “Windows Could not configure one or more system components”, read on as this post will show you how you can fix the problem. You are not alone in experiencing this problem as other users also reported having the same scenario. Some of them reported getting the following error message:

“Windows could not configure one or more system components. To install Windows restart the computer with error code 0xc1900101-0x30018.”

When you check on the Windows 10 rollback log, you will see a part with the “iisetup.exe” that’s related to the abort. Usually, the upgrade process completes over 50% and gets stuck and then rolls back later on and generates the error logs. This kind of error, in most cases, appears during the upgrade of Windows 10 and is related to the Internet Information Services or IIS in Windows 10. For some unknown reason, it restricts the installation or the upgrade which causes the error to appear. To fix the “Windows could not configure one or more system components” error, you can try to remove the IIS from the Windows Features or rename the “inetsrv” folder. You could also move all the folders related to IIS to another drive. For more details, refer to the options provided below.

Option 1 – Try to remove the IIS from Windows Features

The IIS is installed from the Windows Features and you can find it at Control Panel > Programs. From there, uncheck the checkbox for the Internet Information Services. Once done, click on the OK button to save the changes. Note that this process will get rid of all the related programs, services, and folders from Windows 10. So if you want to, you can just install them later on or use an offline installer from the official site of Microsoft.

Option 2 – Try renaming the inetsrv folder

The next option you can check out to resolve the problem is to rename the “inetsrv” folder. If you have uninstalled IIS from the Windows Features, this should remove the folders as well, however, it didn’t remove the folder then you have to delete the folders that are related to the IIS by following these steps:

• First, you have to boot into the Advanced Recovery Mode and from there, open Command Prompt.
• Next, execute this command to rename the folder from this location, C:Windowssystem32inetsrv: rename C:/Windows/system32/inetsrv/inetsrv.old
• Once done, boot into your computer normally and try to upgrade Windows 10 again, and check if the problem is fixed or not.

Option 3 – Try to move the folders related to IIS to a different drive

• Tap the Win + R keys to launch the Run utility and type “services.msc” in the field and hit Enter to open the Windows Services Manager.
• Next, look for the Application Host Helper Service from the list of services and stop it.
• Once done, take ownership of the “WinSxS” folder and then move the *windows-iis*.*” folders to another drive. You can just search using the “*windows-iis*.*” keyword in the Start Search.
• Next, tap the Ctrl + X keys and paste the folders to another drive.
• After that, start the update process for Windows 10 again.

The “Unknown Hard” error that keeps on appearing in Windows 10 can put users in an unpleasant situation. This kind of error leads to the freezing of the taskbar, blackening of the screen, and sudden disappearance of the icons on the Desktop. And each time you try to open Windows, the system will only give you an error message saying that it’s a critical error and some applications like Start and Cortana won’t work. Upon analysis, it seems that the “sihost.exe” is not responding and that it is the one that’s causing the c000021a Unknown Hard error to pop up. Sihost.exe files represent the Shell Infrastructure Host which is an essential component in the Windows operating system. The Windows Shell Infrastructure Host is primarily responsible for handling some graphical elements of the operating system interface such as the Start menu and the taskbar transparency. And so if the Shell Infrastructure or Sihost.exe has stopped, has been removed, or corrupted, you will most likely have issues with the overall functionality of the Windows operating system and you’ll get the Unknown Hard error In addition, the ctfmom.exe Unknown Hard error may also occur due to incompatible drivers installed on your PC. Ctfmom is a process that identifies inputs such as handwriting, languages, and many more. It’s the one that controls the functions of background behavior. To resolve this issue, you need to first try to identify which application is the one that’s running the sihost.exe file. And if needed, you need to either update or reinstall or completely uninstall the problematic application.

Option 1 – Try to run the System File Checker

The SFC Scan or System File Checker, us a built-in utility in Microsoft Windows that can be found in the C:\Windows\System32 folder. This tool allows users to scan and restore any corrupted system files in Windows that might be causing the Unknown Hard error to appear. Before you use this tool, make sure to find out whether the sihost.exe on your computer is a Trojan that you have to remove or if it’s a file that belongs to a trusted Windows application. Once you have that sorted out, follow the steps below.

• Tap Win + R to launch Run.
• Type in cmd in the field and tap Enter.
• After opening Command Prompt, type in sfc /scannow

The command will start a system scan which will take a few whiles before it finishes. Once it’s done, you could get the following results:

1. Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.
2. Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them.
3. Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them.

Option 2 – Try to use System Restore

You can also try using System Restore. This is one of the ways you can use it to back up your PC. Since restore points are created automatically each week by System Restore, you can use System Restore to restore your computer back to an earlier good point in time.

Option 3 – Try to troubleshoot the error in a Clean Boot State

Putting your PC in a Clean Boot state can help you diagnose and troubleshoot the issues in your system. During this state, you can start the system with a minimum number of drivers and startup programs that will surely help you in isolating the root cause of the Unknown Hard Error.

• Log onto your PC as an administrator.
• Type in MSConfig in the Start Search to open the System Configuration utility.
• From there, go to the General tab and click “Selective startup”.
• Clear the “Load Startup items” checkbox and make sure that the “Load System Services” and “Use Original boot configuration” options are checked.
• Next, click the Services tab and select the “Hide All Microsoft Services” checkbox.
• Click Disable all.
• Click on Apply/OK and restart your PC. (This will put your PC into a Clean Boot State. And configure Windows to use the usual startup, just simply undo the changes.)

After putting your PC in a Clean Boot State, try creating a system restore point and see if the problem still occurs. Clean Boot troubleshooting is designed to help you isolate the problem. For you to execute a clean boot troubleshooting, you must do a couple of actions (the steps are given above) and then restart your PC after every action. You might have to disable one third-party app after the other to really isolate the issue. And once you’ve narrowed down the problem, you can either disable the third-party app that’s causing the problem or remove it. Note that you must switch your PC back into the Normal Startup mode after you’re done troubleshooting the problem. Here’s how you can do it:

• From the “Start” menu, go to System Configuration.
• After that, switch to the General tab and click the option for “Normal Startup”.
• Next, go to the Services tab and clear the checkbox for “Hide all Microsoft services”.
• Then find and click “Enable all” and if prompted, you have to confirm.
• Afterward, go to the Task Manager and enable all the Startup programs and confirm the action.
• Restart your PC when prompted.

Uncdms.dll Error Code - What is it?

Uncdms.dll is a Dynamic Link Library file and a crucial part of the Windows Desktop Search Software. It is used to search emails, documents, photos, videos, and folders instantly. However, the Uncdms.dll error pops on the screen, when the Windows Desktop Search Software fails to start. The error message is displayed in one of the following formats:

• “Uncdms.dll cannot be found.”
• “Windowssearch.exe – cannot find the component. This application has failed to start because uncdms.dll was not found. Reinstalling the application may fix the problem.”
• “The file uncdms.dll is missing.”

Solution

Error Causes

Uncdms.dll error code may pop on your screen due to multiple reasons. These usually include but are not limited to:

• Viral infection
• Issues with Windows Desktop Search
• Registry corruption
• Uncdms.dll accidentally deleted during program un-installation

Further Information and Manual Repair

If you experience an Uncdms.dll error code on your system, fix it right away. This error is easy to resolve. You don’t have to be technically sound to resolve the uncdms.dll error code. Try the methods listed below to resolve without any hassle:

Method 1 - Check Your Recycle Bin and Restore the Deleted Uncdms.dll File

Since DLL files are shared files, there is a possibility that you accidentally deleted them while uninstalling some other program. To fix the issue, simply go to the recycle bin and look for the file. If you locate it, reinstall it. If you can’t, then it is advisable to download the Uncdms.dll file from a trusted DLL file website.

Method 2 - Uninstall and Then Re-install Windows Desktop Search

If the error code is related to issues with the Window Desktop Search application, then simply uninstall this software and re-install to resolve. To do this, click the start button, go to the control panel and then add/ remove programs. Now choose Windows Desktop Search from the list of programs and click Remove. After that, reboot your PC to activate changes. Now download the software and follow the same process and reinstall the Windows Desktop Search program on your PC. To activate changes, reboot. This will hopefully resolve the issue.

Method 3 - Update Windows

As this file is included in the service pack, try updating the Windows Utility to resolve the Uncdms.dll error code. To get started, click start and then go to the control panel, now choose Windows update. Follow the instructions to install Active X and then click install to update Windows Utility. Restart your system to bring the changes into effect.

Method 4 - Scan for Viruses and Repair the Registry

Whether the underlying cause of the Uncdms.dll error code is viral infection or registry corruption, it is advisable to download Restoro. It is an advanced and multi-functional PC Repair Tool integrated with 6 powerful utilities including antivirus and a registry cleaner. It scans and removes all types of viruses. The registry cleaning utility works simultaneously and removes all the unnecessary files corrupting the registry including cookies, temporary files, internet history, and junk files, and repairs it in seconds, thereby resolving the Uncdms.dll error immediately. Click here to download Restoro - PC Fixer

What is Mscomctl.ocx?

Mscomctl.ocx is a Microsoft library Windows Common Controls file. The Mscomctl.ocx error occurs when this file is either lost or gets corrupt. The error is displayed on the screen when the user tries to run a program that is dependent on this file. It appears as:

“Component 'MSCOMCTL.OCX' or one of its dependencies not correctly registered: a file is missing or invalid”

Solution

Download Available to Completely Repair the Error Mscomctl.ocx

Error Causes

Installing and then uninstalling a large number of applications on the Windows operating system often corrupts or unregisters the Mscomctl.ocx library. This message will continue to appear on the screen until you re-register the library file again on your system.

Further Information and Manual Repair

You don’t need to have the sound technical knowledge or call a professional to resolve Mscomctl.ocx error on your PC. The Mscomctl.ocx error is easy to repair and can be fixed in a couple of minutes. Here are 2 solutions to repair the Mscomctl ocx error code on your system:

Cause: Error occurs because the Mscomctl ocx file is unregistered

Solution:

1. Go to the start menu and type ‘Mscomctl.oxc and press enter
2. Copy the ‘Mscomctl.ocx’ file and paste it in "C:WindowsSystem32" folder
3. Now click the start menu again and type ‘CMD’ in the search box. This will open your computer's command prompt.
4. Once this opens, type either of the following commands and then press enter. If you have a 64-bit operating system, then type: Regsvr32 "C:WindowsSysWOW64MSCOMCTL.OCX” and if you have 32-bit operating system, then you should type ‘Regsvr32 "C:WindowsSystem32MSCOMCTL.OCX"

By doing this, you will be able to register the Mscomctl.ocx file on your PC and then you will no longer receive Mscomctl.ocx error code.

Cause: Error code occurs because the Mscomctl.ocx file is missing

Solution:

1. First search for MScomctl ocx on your local drive to see if it is missing.
2. If the file is missing, then download the MScomctl.exe file from a reliable website.
3. Now extract the file to your C:WINDOWSsystem32 directory
4. Then click start and run.
5. Now type ‘REGSVR32 MSCOMCTL.OCX’ and press enter

Please note to implement any of the two solutions stated above, you will need administrator rights. If you have the administrator rights then only can you make the above registry changes. Therefore to make the following changes you will have to access the PC using the Administrator account. Simply follow the instructions given above to repair this error code problem right away!

According to some reports, using RDP or Remote Desktop Protocol on recent versions of Windows 10 results in a black screen. One encounters this issue is when using the Remote Desktop Connection feature on Windows 10. The real causes of this black screen are either the display drivers or some misconfiguration with the Remote Desktop Connection utility. In most cases, the Remote Desktop in Windows 10 will display a black screen and then disconnects afterward. To fix this kind of issue on your Remote Desktop, there are two suggestions you need to check out. First, you can try to disable the persistent bitmap caching, and then you can also try to update your display driver. Follow the given options below for more troubleshooting instructions.

Option 1 – Try to disable Persistent Bitmap caching

The first thing you can do to resolve the black screen issue with the remote desktop is to disable the persistent bitmap caching. All you have to do is follow these steps:

• First, open the Remote Desktop Connection client.
• Next, click on the Show Options button to configure the Remote Desktop Connection.
• After that, go to the Experience tab and uncheck the Persistent bitmap caching option.
• Once done, you should now be able to connect to the remote computer without the black screen.

Option 2 – Try to update or rollback the Graphics driver

You can try to update your Graphics card driver using the Device Manager in your computer to resolve the blank dialog boxes problem or you can also go directly to the website of your graphics card manufacturers like NVIDIA, Intel, or AMD and go to the section called Drivers then check if there’s a new available update – if there is, download and install it. To update your Graphics driver via Device Manager, refer to these steps:

• First, boot your computer into Safe Mode.
• After that, tap the Win + R keys to launch Run.
• Type in devmgmt.msc into the box and tap Enter or click OK to open the Device Manager.
• After that, a list of device drivers will be displayed. From there, look for the Display Adapters and click on them.
• After that, right-click on each entry under the Display Adapters and select the “Uninstall Device” option from the menu.
• Now restart your computer.
• After restarting your computer, go to the Settings app and Check for Updates in the Windows Update section.

Note: If updating the Graphics driver didn’t fix the problem, you can also try to roll back to its previous version and see if that helps or you could also try to roll back, update or reinstall the Network Adapter drivers.

Option 3 – Try performing a System Restore

You might also want to perform a System Restore that might help you in fixing the error. You can do this option either by booting into Safe Mode or in System Restore. If you are already in the Advanced Startup Options, just directly select System Restore and proceed with the next steps. And if you have just booted your PC into Safe Mode, refer to the steps below.

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• After that, type in “sysdm.cpl” in the field and tap Enter.
• Next, go to the System Protection tab then click the System Restore button. This will open a new window where you have to select your preferred System Restore point.
• After that, follow the on-screen instructions to finish the process and then restart your computer and check if the problem is fixed or not.