Tag Archives: microsoft
Questions on Sync and what should I do with one drive after a re-install?
My WIN 11 home laptop comes with Office 365 and OneDrive was set up with the default folders (documents, pictures and desktop). I have a local folder on my C drive (c:mydata) which I want to backup to Onedrive. I copied c:mydata to my OneDrive-personal. Under Windows Explorer, I can see
OneDrive -personal
– Documents
-Pictures
-Desktop
-mydata
and on local, OS(C:)
-mydata
Most of the time, I updated the files under C:mydata. This way, if I lose my network connection, I can continue to work with the updates on C:mydata. Whatever update I did showed up on OneDrive-personalmydata sometime later. I am a casual user. I did not check the delay and did not think much about it. From my experience, I know the updates showed up at least a few hours later. However, I don’t believe this is right because if I use OneDrive as my backup my local update should go to OneDrive immediately otherwise any update will be lost before the sync happens.
My questions are
1. Am I doing things wrong all along? Should I update OneDrive -personalmydat first and wait for the sync to update my local C:mydata?
2. If I have to work on C:mydata because there is no network connection, how can I force a sync to OneDrive as soon as the network is back?
Last week, I got BSOD on my laptop. I had to recover with a re-install. I picked the keep file and data option. After the re-install, I can see
OneDrive -personal
– Documents
-Pictures
-Desktop
-mydata
But I am not sure how current is mydata? I should only be up to the point of the last Sync. Is there anyway to tell when did the last sync happened?
Since I picked save file and data during recovery re-insatll, is there anything I need to do to OneDrive setup after the re-install?
My WIN 11 home laptop comes with Office 365 and OneDrive was set up with the default folders (documents, pictures and desktop). I have a local folder on my C drive (c:mydata) which I want to backup to Onedrive. I copied c:mydata to my OneDrive-personal. Under Windows Explorer, I can seeOneDrive -personal- Documents-Pictures-Desktop-mydataand on local, OS(C:)-mydataMost of the time, I updated the files under C:mydata. This way, if I lose my network connection, I can continue to work with the updates on C:mydata. Whatever update I did showed up on OneDrive-personalmydata sometime later. I am a casual user. I did not check the delay and did not think much about it. From my experience, I know the updates showed up at least a few hours later. However, I don’t believe this is right because if I use OneDrive as my backup my local update should go to OneDrive immediately otherwise any update will be lost before the sync happens.My questions are1. Am I doing things wrong all along? Should I update OneDrive -personalmydat first and wait for the sync to update my local C:mydata? 2. If I have to work on C:mydata because there is no network connection, how can I force a sync to OneDrive as soon as the network is back?Last week, I got BSOD on my laptop. I had to recover with a re-install. I picked the keep file and data option. After the re-install, I can see OneDrive -personal- Documents-Pictures-Desktop-mydataBut I am not sure how current is mydata? I should only be up to the point of the last Sync. Is there anyway to tell when did the last sync happened?Since I picked save file and data during recovery re-insatll, is there anything I need to do to OneDrive setup after the re-install? Read More
We want to implement MAM for our devices like Android and IOS devices.
Hello All,
We want to implement MAM for our devices like Android and IOS devices. Client don’t want to use MDM for manage devices. Please suggest me how to start implement of MAM for devices.
Hello All, We want to implement MAM for our devices like Android and IOS devices. Client don’t want to use MDM for manage devices. Please suggest me how to start implement of MAM for devices. Read More
Permissions for a static teams tab
If I am building a basic teams tab that is just a static site with buttons for redirect, do I need to request any permissions? I’m looking at this: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/permissions-reference and nothing seems relevant in the first iteration but eventually I do want to add SSO and get User.Read access for personalization.
If I am building a basic teams tab that is just a static site with buttons for redirect, do I need to request any permissions? I’m looking at this: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/permissions-reference and nothing seems relevant in the first iteration but eventually I do want to add SSO and get User.Read access for personalization. Read More
Outlook file damaged Microsoft Office 2013
Hello, I have the following problem, the Outlook 2013 pst file included in the Office Home and Business 2013 suite was corrupted, I can’t access the file data, when opening Outlook the error “the file is inaccessible or corrupted” is presented, I already tried to repair it with the Scanpst tool and immediately when starting the process, The same error is presented.
The failure occurred after the Kaspersky Internet Security antivirus detected infected emails and proceeding with the solution proposed by Kaspersky, at the end, it requested to restart the computer and later when Windows started and tried to access Outlook it was no longer possible presenting the error “the file is inaccessible or corrupted”. I already used Stellar Repair For Outlook and it was also not possible to repair it, if anyone please let me know, in advance, Thank you.
Hello, I have the following problem, the Outlook 2013 pst file included in the Office Home and Business 2013 suite was corrupted, I can’t access the file data, when opening Outlook the error “the file is inaccessible or corrupted” is presented, I already tried to repair it with the Scanpst tool and immediately when starting the process, The same error is presented.The failure occurred after the Kaspersky Internet Security antivirus detected infected emails and proceeding with the solution proposed by Kaspersky, at the end, it requested to restart the computer and later when Windows started and tried to access Outlook it was no longer possible presenting the error “the file is inaccessible or corrupted”. I already used Stellar Repair For Outlook and it was also not possible to repair it, if anyone please let me know, in advance, Thank you. Read More
Help pulling information from one tab to another.
I am trying to get information to pull from one tab to another and having issues. I believe it is because there can be multiple responses. I am trying to pull information based on table number. I have already used the following formula to pull information from this tab to a different one, but it doesn’t work for this situation because multiple lines have the same table number.
=IF(ISERROR(XLOOKUP(1,’Master Seating’!H$2:H$159,’Master Seating’!K$2:K$159,)),””,(XLOOKUP(1,’Master Seating’!H$2:H$159,’Master Seating’!K$2:K$159,)))
Is there a way to edit this formula to work or another formula that I should be using.
I have attached screen grabs of the workbooks. From the first workbook I want to pull the names and allergies into the second workbook based on Table number.
Workbook1
Workbook 2
I am trying to get information to pull from one tab to another and having issues. I believe it is because there can be multiple responses. I am trying to pull information based on table number. I have already used the following formula to pull information from this tab to a different one, but it doesn’t work for this situation because multiple lines have the same table number. =IF(ISERROR(XLOOKUP(1,’Master Seating’!H$2:H$159,’Master Seating’!K$2:K$159,)),””,(XLOOKUP(1,’Master Seating’!H$2:H$159,’Master Seating’!K$2:K$159,))) Is there a way to edit this formula to work or another formula that I should be using. I have attached screen grabs of the workbooks. From the first workbook I want to pull the names and allergies into the second workbook based on Table number. Workbook1Workbook 2 Read More
Azure Sphere OS version 24.06 is now available for evaluation
Azure Sphere OS version 24.06 is now available for evaluation in the Retail Eval feed. The retail evaluation period for this release provides 14 days (about 2 weeks) of testing. During this time, please verify that your applications and devices operate properly with this release before it is deployed broadly to devices in the Retail feed.
The 24.06 OS Retail Eval release includes a security update.
For more information on Azure Sphere OS feeds and setting up an evaluation device group, see Azure Sphere OS feeds and Set up devices for OS evaluation.
For self-help inquiries or technical support, review the Azure Sphere support options.
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
I have a list on a SharePoint page, and it doesn’t populate properly.
I have this list I need to add for this FAQ project I am on, and I am trying to figure out why the list won’t generate properly.
I am using this JSON code to format the list and it shows up perfect on my lists. Im not a coder I used this code I found online and used Chat GPT to customize it.
I have this list I need to add for this FAQ project I am on, and I am trying to figure out why the list won’t generate properly. I am using this JSON code to format the list and it shows up perfect on my lists. Im not a coder I used this code I found online and used Chat GPT to customize it. {“$schema”: “https://developer.microsoft.com/json-schemas/sp/v2/row-formatting.schema.json”,”hideColumnHeader”: true,”hideListHeader”: true,”groupProps”: {“headerFormatter”: {“elmType”: “div”,”attributes”: {“class”: “sp-row-card”},”style”: {“color”: “black”,”background-color”: “#FAF9F9″,”flex-grow”: “1”,”display”: “flex”,”flex-direction”: “row”,”box-sizing”: “border-box”,”padding”: “4px 8px 5px 8px”,”border-radius”: “6px”,”align-items”: “center”,”flex-wrap”: “nowrap”,”overflow”: “auto”,”margin”: “1px 4px 4px 1px”},”children”: [{“elmType”: “img”,”style”: {“max-width”: “24px”,”max-height”: “24px”,”margin-top”: “2px”,”border-radius”: “2px”}},{“elmType”: “div”,”children”: [{“elmType”: “span”,”style”: {“padding”: “5px 5px 5px 5px”,”font-weight”: “500”,”font-size”: “15px”},”txtContent”: “@group.fieldData.displayValue”}]},{“elmType”: “div”,”children”: [{“elmType”: “div”,”style”: {“display”: “flex”,”flex-direction”: “column”,”justify-content”: “center”}}]}]}}} Thanks! Read More
Fully block custom scale factor?
Hi
I’m using Windows 11 on different screens (hdpi laptop, external FullHD, external 4K) but I’d like Windows 11 to stop changing the scale factor and resolution each time I connect to a different environment.
Each time I switch to a different display, I have to go to the dispaly settings and turn off custom scale factor, put it back to 100% and this is getting on my nerves.
Is there a way to have it stop rescaling automatically once and for all? I searched everywhere and the answer is always the same: turn off custom scale factor, signout and sign back in.
Problem is that next time you sign in, it’s back to 200% and automatic scale factor, etc…
I don’t want Windows to change the scale factor automatically.
Any way to do this or should I abandon Windows 11?
Thanks for any help
Steve
HiI’m using Windows 11 on different screens (hdpi laptop, external FullHD, external 4K) but I’d like Windows 11 to stop changing the scale factor and resolution each time I connect to a different environment. Each time I switch to a different display, I have to go to the dispaly settings and turn off custom scale factor, put it back to 100% and this is getting on my nerves. Is there a way to have it stop rescaling automatically once and for all? I searched everywhere and the answer is always the same: turn off custom scale factor, signout and sign back in.Problem is that next time you sign in, it’s back to 200% and automatic scale factor, etc…I don’t want Windows to change the scale factor automatically. Any way to do this or should I abandon Windows 11?Thanks for any helpSteve Read More
Help to reboot my dev box
Hi Team, my dev box is stuck. Can you please help me to reboot? Dev box portal does not work me now. My dev box is not shown there. Thank you in advance!
I can provide my Remote computer details if needed.
Hi Team, my dev box is stuck. Can you please help me to reboot? Dev box portal does not work me now. My dev box is not shown there. Thank you in advance!
I can provide my Remote computer details if needed.
Read More
Microsoft 365 Free Developer Program Not Working
My Microsoft 365 Free Developer Program Account is no more working. It’s asking for activation code. To get the free 365 Developer program account again, should I uninstall my Microsoft 365 completely and start again from scratch??
My Microsoft 365 Free Developer Program Account is no more working. It’s asking for activation code. To get the free 365 Developer program account again, should I uninstall my Microsoft 365 completely and start again from scratch?? Read More
Introducing comments in Loop Tables and Boards
Hi Insiders,
Collaboration just got better in Loop! You can now add comments to Loop Tables and Boards to better share your ideas in context and collaborate efficiently asynchronously.
Learn how to add comments by reading our latest blog by Aditya Prakash, Product Manager on the Loop team: Introducing comments in Loop Tables and Boards
Thanks!
Perry Sjogren
Microsoft 365 Insider Social Media Manager
Become a Microsoft 365 Insider and gain exclusive access to new features and help shape the future of Microsoft 365. Join Now: Windows | Mac | iOS | Android
Hi Insiders,
Collaboration just got better in Loop! You can now add comments to Loop Tables and Boards to better share your ideas in context and collaborate efficiently asynchronously.
Learn how to add comments by reading our latest blog by Aditya Prakash, Product Manager on the Loop team: Introducing comments in Loop Tables and Boards
Thanks!
Perry Sjogren
Microsoft 365 Insider Social Media Manager
Become a Microsoft 365 Insider and gain exclusive access to new features and help shape the future of Microsoft 365. Join Now: Windows | Mac | iOS | Android Read More
What causes sync’d excel to miss Forms responses?
Hi All –
I’m having trouble with seeing all responses in a sync’d excel sheet. I created a “New Group Form,” tested it out, and confirmed that when people respond to the form, my sync’d excel will update in real time (~ish), which is perfect. I would like to use this form indefinitely to replace a process that is currently very manual. But now after a couple weeks of success, I’m missing two responses. I have earlier responses, I have later responses, so the form didn’t completely unsync.
I’ve read through the microsoft troubleshooting, but it doesn’t have a ton of details…
Excel workbook is corrupt – doesn’t seem to be.Excel workbook is too large – nope, under the limit. Excel workbook is locked or checked out – we’re not requiring anyone who might have access to the excel to do this; is this something that could happen by accident that would temporarily prevent synching? Excel workbook has been manually edited – well, in my case, to not edit the excel workbook at all would defeat the point, but I’ve edited sync’d excels from forms before with no issues. Anybody know more specifically what editing actions will cause issues? Excel workbook is IRM protected – presumably this would prevent it from ever synching again, and wouldn’t be a temporary problem.
The only other thing I can think of is that maybe some of the responses contained characters that break the synch – is that even possible?
Any help is welcome.
Thanks!
Hi All – I’m having trouble with seeing all responses in a sync’d excel sheet. I created a “New Group Form,” tested it out, and confirmed that when people respond to the form, my sync’d excel will update in real time (~ish), which is perfect. I would like to use this form indefinitely to replace a process that is currently very manual. But now after a couple weeks of success, I’m missing two responses. I have earlier responses, I have later responses, so the form didn’t completely unsync. I’ve read through the microsoft troubleshooting, but it doesn’t have a ton of details…Excel workbook is corrupt – doesn’t seem to be.Excel workbook is too large – nope, under the limit. Excel workbook is locked or checked out – we’re not requiring anyone who might have access to the excel to do this; is this something that could happen by accident that would temporarily prevent synching? Excel workbook has been manually edited – well, in my case, to not edit the excel workbook at all would defeat the point, but I’ve edited sync’d excels from forms before with no issues. Anybody know more specifically what editing actions will cause issues? Excel workbook is IRM protected – presumably this would prevent it from ever synching again, and wouldn’t be a temporary problem. The only other thing I can think of is that maybe some of the responses contained characters that break the synch – is that even possible? Any help is welcome. Thanks! Read More
Do more with Loop content using the new Print & PDF export command
Hello Microsoft 365 Insiders,
You told us you want more flexibility when sharing and distributing your Loop content. We listened and are excited to introduce the new Print & PDF export command! Read our latest blog by Kenichiro Chiba, Product Manager on the Loop team: Do more with Loop content using the new Print & PDF export command
We have also shared out on X/LinkedIn/Threads:
X: https://x.com/Msft365Insider/status/1800568388428628311
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7206332565446623233
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@msft365insider/post/C8FQ3FAhjEg
Thanks!
Perry Sjogren
Microsoft 365 Insider Social Media Manager
Become a Microsoft 365 Insider and gain exclusive access to new features and help shape the future of Microsoft 365. Join Now: Windows | Mac | iOS | Android
Hello Microsoft 365 Insiders,
You told us you want more flexibility when sharing and distributing your Loop content. We listened and are excited to introduce the new Print & PDF export command! Read our latest blog by Kenichiro Chiba, Product Manager on the Loop team: Do more with Loop content using the new Print & PDF export command
We have also shared out on X/LinkedIn/Threads:
X: https://x.com/Msft365Insider/status/1800568388428628311
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7206332565446623233
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@msft365insider/post/C8FQ3FAhjEg
Thanks!
Perry Sjogren
Microsoft 365 Insider Social Media Manager
Become a Microsoft 365 Insider and gain exclusive access to new features and help shape the future of Microsoft 365. Join Now: Windows | Mac | iOS | Android Read More
Season of AI: Getting started with Azure AI Studio
Join us for an incredible online event from the “Season of AI” series.
Getting Started with Azure AI Studio
Dive deep into the capabilities of Azure AI Studio, now in General Availability.
We’ll cover all facets of the UI and create applications featuring Multi Modality, Prompt Flow, and our own data!
This session is perfect for anyone interested in the power of AI and how Azure AI Studio can facilitate innovation tailored to our unique requirements and aspirations.
Join us for an incredible online event from the “Season of AI” series.Getting Started with Azure AI StudioDive deep into the capabilities of Azure AI Studio, now in General Availability.We’ll cover all facets of the UI and create applications featuring Multi Modality, Prompt Flow, and our own data!This session is perfect for anyone interested in the power of AI and how Azure AI Studio can facilitate innovation tailored to our unique requirements and aspirations. Read More
Azure Certifications
Hi Azure Community.
If any of you are looking to get certified in the many Azure certifications out there and need guidance you can join a Microsoft Learning Room that is managed by MCTs (Microsoft Certified Trainers). It’s called “Microsoft Exam Prep by MCTs”.
Have a look here. Microsoft Learning Room Directory – Microsoft Community Hub
Here is the room you can join and get exam tips from experts and others starting their journey.
Below is a screenshot of what channels we have in the Learning Room.
This Thursday, June 13th @ 11am EST is a live event where an MCT will talk about how to prepare to take exam AZ-104 Microsoft Azure Administrator.
See you there!
Hi Azure Community.
If any of you are looking to get certified in the many Azure certifications out there and need guidance you can join a Microsoft Learning Room that is managed by MCTs (Microsoft Certified Trainers). It’s called “Microsoft Exam Prep by MCTs”.Have a look here. Microsoft Learning Room Directory – Microsoft Community Hub Here is the room you can join and get exam tips from experts and others starting their journey.
Below is a screenshot of what channels we have in the Learning Room. This Thursday, June 13th @ 11am EST is a live event where an MCT will talk about how to prepare to take exam AZ-104 Microsoft Azure Administrator.
See you there! Read More
Microsoft 365 data residency offerings now available in Spain
We are excited to announce that Microsoft 365 and its associated data residency offerings – Advanced Data Residency (ADR) and Multi-Geo capabilities – are now available for commercial customers in our new cloud region in Madrid, Spain.
With the availability of Microsoft 365 will now offer Multi-Geo and ADR add-ons to provide customers provisioned in Spain with greater control over the location of their cloud data.
Multi-Geo allows customers to configure in which geographies their Microsoft 365 user data is stored at rest, on a per-user basis and within a single tenant. Exchange Online, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Microsoft Teams are available for Multi-Geo configuration.
ADR provides guarantees that certain customer data will be stored at rest (in this case, in Spain) for several core online services, including Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive, Microsoft Teams, Copilot for Microsoft 365, Exchange Online Protection (EOP), Office for the Web, Viva Connections, Viva Topics, and certain Purview products.
ADR and Multi-Geo include data residency commitments for Copilot for Microsoft 365 customers as of March 1, 2024. For information about data residency and Copilot for Microsoft 365, see Data Residency for Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365.
This new cloud region will provide artificial intelligence (AI) and other cloud services to contribute to the digital transformation and the development of the AI economy in Spain.
“We are committed to supporting Spain, by making investments, forging business partnerships, and creating programs that ensure broad access to cloud and AI services that empower organizations and individuals to develop and use technology in ways that will serve the public good. We do so by delivering a data center infrastructure that provides the most innovative cloud and AI services, offering the highest levels of reliability, security, privacy and data residency. Proof of this is the high-level certification within the National Security Scheme, obtained by the new cloud region.” — Alberto Granados, Country Manager, Microsoft Spain
This is the second new cloud region we have launched this year, continuing a series of datacenter launches that include Poland, Italy, and Mexico in the last 18 months.
Learn more about empowering your organization with Microsoft 365, ADR, and Multi-Geo.
— Microsoft 365 Datacenter and Data Residency Teams
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
Effective strategies for conducting Mass Password Resets during cybersecurity incidents
You’re in the middle of a cyber incident, and you know certain accounts have been compromised, but you are not certain of the full extent of the Threat Actor’s impact. What do you do? Oftentimes, Microsoft Incident Response will recommend a mass password reset. This helps you regain control of your identity plane, deny other avenues of access, and disrupt any persistence the attacker may have established in your environment. However, and especially for larger organizations, navigating mass password resets can be a complex task. In this blog post, we’ll discuss the practical challenges of performing a mass password reset, how to prepare to carry one out, and best practices in performing them.
Identifying the need for a mass password reset
A mass password reset is not always required, but it is important to identify the circumstances under which it is. Some considerations for when a mass password reset is the best course of action include:
Active Directory database exfiltration: When there is evidence of Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) database exfiltration by a suspected threat actor.
Active Directory database staging: When there is evidence of AD DS database staging with intent to exfiltrate by a suspected threat actor.
Compromised privileged identities: When a threat actor has compromised credentials belonging to one or more privileged groups such as Domain Admins, Enterprise Admins, or built-in Administrators.
Attacker-in-the-Middle: When there is evidence of an Attacker-in-the-Middle (AiTM) attack or other threat-actor-introduced proxy services which may have gathered user credentials.
Cloud or third-party identity platform compromise: When there is evidence of a compromise on an authoritative Identify platform such as Microsoft Entra Connect, AD FS, RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial In User Service) Servers, or 3rd party identity solutions.
Ransomware deployment: When a threat actor has been able to successfully deploy ransomware by compromising accounts belonging to privileged Active Directory (AD) groups.
Privileged credentials exposed in Business Email Compromise (BEC): When a BEC has exposed privileged credentials in emails.
Privileged credentials exposed in exfiltrated data: When data exfiltrated from productivity and collaboration tools (such as OneDrive or SharePoint) has exposed privileged credentials.
Privileged credentials exposed in code: When privileged credentials have been exposed in an online code or source control repository.
Attribution to nation state or Advanced Persistent Threat (APT): When an attack has been attributed to an APT or nation state.
Organizational challenges and scenarios
Almost all organizations have remote users: many have hybrid users, and some have entirely remote workforces. This means that every organization has unique requirements and considerations for when a mass password reset is required. In this section, we will consider some of those requirements and how organizations can best prepare and respond if the need arises. Scenarios to consider include:
Local users: Users primarily onsite with line of sight to a domain controller.
Remote users: Users who primarily use VPN (virtual private networks) or have hybrid identities.
Administrative controls: Whether password resets are driven by administrators or end-users.
Service account management: Considerations for service accounts, which often have never-expiring passwords.
Privileged identities: Special considerations for managing privileged cloud and on-premises accounts.
Users onsite with direct access to domain controllers
This scenario is the least complicated one: if all users are primarily onsite with line of sight to a domain controller, then a simple flag on every user account to require the user to change password at next logon can be used to enforce the password change. Users can be given a deadline and informed they are required to change their passwords by the deadline, and, if they fail to do so, their accounts will be disabled. Several PowerShell scripts are available online that allow for enumeration of users in specific organizational units (OUs) and manipulating the “User must change password at next logon” flag to facilitate a gradual password reset rollout so an organization’s helpdesk is not inundated. When the users arrive in the office and attempt to log on, a message will prompt them to change their passwords.
Gradual, but expedited expiration of passwords using Fine Grained Password Policies (FGPP) and the progressive reduction of password age through domain policy modifications offer alternative methods for enforcing a mass password reset for domain users. However, a significant drawback to this approach is the potential for a threat actor to remain within an authenticated session until a logon event triggers the password reset. When considering this method, it’s important to balance the urgency of credential changes with the need to provide users with a grace period. Since many organizations have a portion of their workforce operating remotely, this strategy is often employed as part of a broader series of steps designed to secure all user accounts across various scenarios.
Remote users who use VPN to access the environment
This scenario is more common when most users are primarily remote, or there is a mix of remote and onsite users. In this scenario, users rely on authentication mechanisms separate from their domain password; for example, certificate-based authentication. Once the users are authenticated using the VPN solution, they can be treated like the previous scenario since they will have line of sight to a domain controller.
An important consideration for remote users is whether you will execute an administratively managed password reset (which is where an admin resets credentials for users and relies on users to use self-service password reset (SSPR) to regain access) or allow users to change their credentials gracefully on their own.
This scenario becomes more challenging when the VPN solution relies on the domain password as one (or the primary) factor for authentication and the VPN solution does not support a password reset during the sign-in flow. In such a scenario, if the organization has been set up for SSPR before the incident occurs, it makes the password reset process much easier to handle. If an organization does not have SSPR capabilities, a mass password reset will require some manual intervention. This could take the form of users having to call in to the help desk or attend a centralized location that has been set up for this purpose, provide verification of their identity over voice, video, or in person, and then have their password manually reset.
Alternatively, for VPN solutions that do not support a password reset during the authentication flow, you may wish to consider migrating the authentication source of your VPN solution to Microsoft Entra ID either temporarily to allow the session to be interrupted with a password reset, or permanently to gain the benefit of additional Microsoft Entra ID features like Conditional Access policies.
Users primarily remote with hybrid (on-premises) identities
With hybrid identities, an organization’s identities (users and computers) are already synchronized to Microsoft Entra ID. In this scenario, line of sight to a domain controller is not a requirement to orchestrate a mass password reset. Microsoft Entra ID supports flagging users to reset their credentials at next sign-in, similar to on-premises Active Directory.
Admins can use Microsoft Graph to set the user attribute either to “forceChangePasswordNextSignIn” or “forceChangePasswordNextSignInWithMfa” on the desired users to interrupt their next sign-in and allow them to change their password gracefully. If the password writeback feature is enabled in Microsoft Entra ID and the organization’s users are enabled for SSPR, then a password reset via either the MyAccount portal or SSPR portal will ensure that the newly reset password is synchronized back on-premises. If password writeback and SSPR are already enabled, this is the scenario with the fastest route to threat actor removal and least amount of manual work. There are some scenarios where an organization may not want to use SSPR, which we will discuss later in this post.
Considerations for service accounts
Service accounts with their never-expiring passwords and traditionally overprivileged nature tend to be the bane of any Active Directory administrator’s existence. This is particularly problematic when a mass password reset must be performed and little-to-no inventory exists that maps applications to service accounts. An effort should be made to inventory all service accounts and their associated services and applications. Where possible, service accounts should be migrated to Group Managed Service Accounts (gMSA). This has the dual advantage of making service accounts more manageable and removing the manual overhead associated with service accounts. This is also a great opportunity to “right size” the service accounts that tend to be traditionally overprivileged.
Considerations for privileged identities
All privileged cloud accounts should have phishing-resistant MFA enforced. Also, it is strongly advised to use Just in Time (JIT) administration methods, for example Microsoft Entra ID Privileged Identity Management (PIM). In addition, there should exist a clear separation of on-premises and cloud administration with separate identities for each realm. Identities belonging to the privileged on-premises AD DS groups should not be synchronized to Microsoft Entra ID. Conversely, all privileged cloud roles should be held by cloud native identities and must not be synchronized from AD DS. Most organizations will choose to manually reset any privileged credentials for a high level of assurance and control. It is important to verify when passwords were reset with PowerShell or Microsoft Graph; otherwise, it is very likely that some accounts may be missed.
Assurance and control considerations for a mass password reset
As we’ve detailed, there are several different scenarios that necessitate a mass password reset. This means that there are different levels of control or assurance an organization might require while performing a mass password reset. When SSPR mechanisms can be reliably used to provide assurance, organizations can use that feature to accelerate a mass password reset.
However, there are situations where an organization may not want to use the existing SSPR solution. For example, when an advanced threat actor has abused the organization’s SSPR system, or where there is actual evidence of AD DS database exfiltration. In such a scenario the organization would likely not choose to use that mechanism to enforce the mass password reset because the threat actor could re-establish initial access or persistence via SSPR.
Where an organization seeks a high degree of control and assurance for a mass password reset there will, unfortunately, be an element of manual intervention. However, with preparedness ahead of time, Microsoft Entra ID features such as a Temporary Access Pass, when combined with Conditional Access policies, can be used to automate some aspects of assurance and control. In any event where a high degree of assurance and control is desired, some level of manual intervention to verify users’ physical identities and the issuance of such temporary access passes is inevitable. In a subsequent post we will examine different Microsoft Entra ID features that can be used to accomplish this.
Conclusion and next steps
There are several variables and considerations for a mass password reset, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution. However, we can, with adequate preparedness, make this process less onerous and more manageable for organizations.
We recommend exploring other blogs from Microsoft Incident Response for expert guidance and tailored solutions to improve your incident response capabilities. Additionally, consider the benefits of Microsoft Entra ID for advanced identity and access management, which can strengthen your defenses against identity-related breaches.
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Partner Case Study Series | Iraya Energies
Using Microsoft Azure to serve the data needs of the energy industry
Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with offices in Singapore, the Philippines, Denmark, Norway, and the United States, Iraya Energies employs a talented mix of data scientists, geoscientists, and engineers. The tech startup became a Microsoft partner in December 2018 and has utilized Microsoft Azure for a few years. ElasticDocs Intuitive Knowledge Container, the company’s flagship product, is a cloud-enabled web solution that organizes, structures, and accesses unstructured data for the energy industry. It’s available in a Software-as-a-Service model through the Microsoft Azure Marketplace.
Iraya Energies implemented ElasticDocs on Azure to access graphics processing capabilities for machine learning training and inference for experimentations. ElasticDocs employs Azure Synapse Analytics and Azure Machine Learning resources. Azure Synapse Analytics lets users query data at scale using either serverless on-demand or provisioned resources, and Azure Machine Learning accelerates the creation and deployment of machine learning models.
Continue reading here
**Explore all case studies or submit your own**
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Myths and misconceptions: Windows 11 and cloud native
Let’s discuss the myths around the move to cloud-native management, with Microsoft Intune and Microsoft Entra ID, and Windows 11. In this post, we will address some common questions and misconceptions by sharing insights and perspectives gathered from the conversations we’ve had with organizations of all sizes from around the globe this past year.
We understand that as an IT pro a big part of your role is to help manage change, and to mitigate risks when implementing those changes. So, when considering a joint move to cloud-native management and keeping up to date with Windows 11, why does the task seem so daunting? Is it a singular, monolithic project—or two distinct, related endeavors? Let’s look at the impact and progress you can make when you decouple the efforts and pursue them in parallel.
Misconception #1: To deploy Windows 11, you must also go full cloud native.
We hope everyone’s running a currently supported version of Windows 10 and well on their way to Windows 11. For those beginning that journey, you can confidently move to Windows 11 by leveraging your existing tooling. There’s minimal effort needed for IT admins and limited impact on the people in your organization. If you’re an IT admin, here’s what this means for you.
For those exploring the notion of cloud-native management, we encourage you to check out 3 reasons why now is the time to go cloud native for device management. If you have already embraced cloud-native management, you may be realizing benefits, and we encourage you to continue applying it to move devices forward. If you are already using Microsoft Intune for updates, then use Intune for your Windows 11 rollout. If you are still using Microsoft Configuration Manager, then use in-place upgrades in Configuration Manager.
You can accelerate and simplify the processes around upgrading and begin the move to cloud-native management by enabling co-management and moving the Windows Updates workload to Intune. This also enables you to schedule and deploy updates (including the Windows 11 upgrade) with Windows Autopatch and ultimately choose the level of control that’s best for your organization. This allows you to immediately take advantage of:
Cloud-delivered driver and firmware updates
Simplified configuration with automatic gradual rollouts
Safeguard holds to help protect against known compatibility issues
Using Windows Update for Business reports for Windows Updates in Microsoft Intune
Enabling Windows Autopatch allows you more time to focus on what adds value to your business by automating routine update management processes. With our detailed reports, Windows Autopatch provides actionable insights to speed up the process to secure your environment. For example, Westpac was able to transform its IT department and enable secure, inclusive, flexible work with Windows 11 Enterprise and Windows Autopatch.
From a provisioning perspective, we recommend you use Windows Autopilot to deploy your new Windows 11 devices as cloud native. In other words, these devices are natively joined to Microsoft Entra ID and managed by Microsoft Intune. We fully understand that the process of moving your entire estate of Windows devices to cloud-native management will take time. However, you shouldn’t keep provisioning new Windows 10 PCs with your current tools. Instead, whichever tool you’re using to deploy new PCs, make the switch to deploy Windows 11 now using that same tool.
Misconception #2: That name change means a bigger change.
When looking at the name change of Windows 10 to Windows 11, it’s easy to recall the past. Remember the large-scale, often multi-year projects that were required to get from Windows XP to Windows 7 and again from Windows 7 to Windows 10? This is not the case with moving to Windows 11.
The fact is that Windows 10 to Windows 11 is, by design, the same as a Windows 10 feature update. If you’re like most organizations, feature updates aren’t major projects. Windows 11 is built on Windows 10, even carrying a Windows 10 version number for the highest compatibility. So, you can take a more business-as-usual approach to this upgrade.
Misconception #3: Application compatibility is a risk when upgrading to Windows 11.
Windows 11 is built on the same foundation as Windows 10. It’s an evolution that improves upon Windows 10 strengths and addresses its limitations. Benefits of Windows 11 include enhanced security, productivity, and user experiences, all while maintaining existing app investments and workflows. As a continuation of Windows 10 servicing, Windows 11 is built with the same application compatibility you have come to know with Windows 10-to-Windows 10 feature updates.
Since the initial release, organizations moving to Windows 11 have observed that applications running on Windows 10 continue to run on Windows 11 without issues. In fact, we’ve noted a higher than 99.7% app compatibility between Windows 10 and Windows 11. You can and should be confident that the application compatibility processes used to get you to Windows 10 won’t need to be repeated when moving to Windows 11. Most organizations and independent software vendors (ISVs) simply haven’t seen a need to test each application to unblock Windows 11 because they just work.
In the unlikely event that you do encounter a compatibility issue, you’re equipped with tools to help you identify and resolve any compatibility problems. Microsoft App Assure service helps you proactively analyze app portfolios, fix and shim apps that might require a fix, and monitor app performance and reliability on Windows 11 before and after upgrading your organization.
Misconception #4: The Windows 11 experience change means business productivity will be adversely impacted.
You’ve probably heard various opinions on the look and feel of the user interface (UI) in Windows 11. As we saw in a Forrester Consulting study, Windows 11 helped organizations realize incremental productivity gains for information workers, as well as surges in productivity for the IT and security teams.
The most prominent UI change we made with Windows 11 is the visual aspect of the Start menu and taskbar. This enables a vastly better user experience when using wide screens. No more constant swiveling from the center to the bottom left of the screen! Additionally, you and your users have more options to personalize and customize your desktop experience.
The Start menu is also more adaptive and responsive across a broader array of devices and orientations. You can easily switch between tablet and desktop, and support multiple monitors with different resolutions, making it easier to work across different screens.
We’ve heard fantastic feedback from businesses where this user experience change helped rebuild confidence in the IT department as a team that adds value to the business. The conversation isn’t just about the user experience. The changing mindset of the IT team leads you to be more flexible with the delivery of solutions, while meeting the business where they are.
Misconception #5: Variation in device configuration increases total cost of ownership.
Multiple configurations support the dynamics of your business. Nearly all organizations have users with different roles and personas. Each might require different applications, tools, and configurations to accomplish their duties. Similarly, configuration complexity tends to increase with different geographies, languages, security controls, regulatory requirements, and more.
This transition is the same for Windows versioning: as you move to Windows 11, you’ll likely have devices at varying versions of Windows 10 alongside your Windows 11 devices. As you pursue a transition to cloud-native in parallel, you’ll likely end up with a matrix of versions and management/identity states.
There are ways to minimize the disruption of this transition and total cost of ownership. Striving to move all workloads to Intune — not just for cloud-native devices, but also for your existing devices — gets you to a single pane of glass for managing your estate.
For new devices, these should be deployed as Windows 11, cloud-natively managed. For existing devices, upgrade in place to Windows 11 and transition individual devices from hybrid to Microsoft Entra joined at the next planned device refresh. Leave a device in the hybrid joined state until it’s replaced or, opportunistically, when the device needs to be reimaged or reprovisioned. This approach has been used with great success by organizations that have completed their cloud-native transition.
Every step counts
While there are costs and risks associated with either adopting or resisting change, the move from Windows 10 to Windows 11 can be taken with confidence and considered business-as-usual. Indeed, many organizations have already built the muscle to successfully deploy the fourteen Windows 10 semi-annual feature updates to date, and Windows 11 simply represents their next rollout. The management tools, processes, and risk mitigations you have in place will continue to work for your Windows 11 deployment as they are today. Your organization should not be afraid of moving to Windows 11.
Embrace your parallel journey as an opportunity to optimize your IT processes, improve user experiences, and deliver more value to your organization. Your transition to the cloud, while related, shouldn’t delay or be delayed by your Windows 11 rollout. They are complementary activities, and we’re here to support you along the way:
Need tailored guidance to help with planning, preparation, and deployment? Explore FastTrack for Windows 11.
Looking for a step-by-step walkthrough of preparation and deployment, including security recommendations? Check out the Windows 11 setup guide.
Explore how to use Windows Update for Business reports for Windows Updates in Microsoft Intune.
Curious how to best keep your Windows ecosystem up to date? Try the Manage Windows updates in the cloud learning path.
Interested in Windows Autopatch? Check out What is Windows Autopatch?
Have questions? Join our monthly Windows Office Hours on the Tech Community. We have product and engineering experts from across Windows, Intune, Windows 365, public sector, security, and more on hand to help.
Continue the conversation. Find best practices. Bookmark the Windows Tech Community, then follow us @MSWindowsITPro on X and on LinkedIn. Looking for support? Visit Windows on Microsoft Q&A.
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Pulling cell value based on sequence of numbers.
Hi,
I have created a spreadsheet to map data flow for my company and assign a scoring of 1 – 3 for four categories.
I have a list of a risk ratings based on the 4 scores given.
The scoring looks like this on the main tab. I’ve added a section at the bottom of the first line to input the risk rating (which I’ll replicate when I’ve figured it out how to do it). I want it to pull the rating from the list based on the 4 scores given.
so for the first entry from G8 the example above the risk rating will be ‘Low’. as it would flow 3,3,3,1. which is the third sequence on the left hand list on the snip above.
I assume this would be easier if the risk rating list was in the same format as the scoring table on the main tab but I couldn’t work it out when I changed the list.
any help would be appreciated and apologies if my query is not clear.
Hi, I have created a spreadsheet to map data flow for my company and assign a scoring of 1 – 3 for four categories. I have a list of a risk ratings based on the 4 scores given. The scoring looks like this on the main tab. I’ve added a section at the bottom of the first line to input the risk rating (which I’ll replicate when I’ve figured it out how to do it). I want it to pull the rating from the list based on the 4 scores given. so for the first entry from G8 the example above the risk rating will be ‘Low’. as it would flow 3,3,3,1. which is the third sequence on the left hand list on the snip above. I assume this would be easier if the risk rating list was in the same format as the scoring table on the main tab but I couldn’t work it out when I changed the list. any help would be appreciated and apologies if my query is not clear. Read More