End of Windows 10 Support: What Defender Customers Need to Know
As of today, October 14, 2025, Microsoft is officially ending support for Windows 10. This means that Windows 10 devices will no longer receive security or feature updates, nor technical support from Microsoft. While these devices will continue to operate, the lack of regular security updates increases vulnerability to cyber threats, including malware and viruses. Applications running on Windows 10 may also lose support as the platform stops receiving updates. Will Defender continue to protect Windows 10 devices? Defender supports a range of legacy systems, including Windows 10. (See here for a full list of supported operating systems.) Microsoft Defender will continue to provide detection and protection capabilities to the extent possible on Windows 10 and other legacy systems. Keep in mind that security solutions on legacy systems are inherently less secure and may not be able to receive all new features, so please review the next section for important actions you can take. For Windows 10 customers without Defender, Microsoft will continue to provide security intelligence updates for the built-in Microsoft Defender Antivirus protection through October 2028. Of course, Defender Antivirus alone isn't a comprehensive risk mitigation posture without Microsoft Defender detection and response deployed across your digital estate. What should customers do to protect their Windows 10 devices? Upgrade to Windows 11: Moving to Windows 11 is strongly recommended for PCs eligible to upgrade. Windows 11 delivers the latest security features, improved performance, and ongoing support at no additional cost. This is the best way to ensure your endpoints remain protected and compliant. Devices running Windows 10 will be more vulnerable, even with ongoing security intelligence updates (SIUs). Extended security update (ESU) program: If upgrading isn’t immediately possible, Microsoft offers an ESU program for Windows 10. The ESU program provides critical and important security updates but does not include new Windows features or technical support. Enterprise customers can purchase ESU for up to three years or receive it at no additional cost with a Windows 365 subscription. Cloud and virtual environments: Windows 10 devices accessing Windows 11 Cloud PCs via Windows 365 or Virtual Machines are entitled to ESU at no extra cost, with automatic updates. Consumer customers have options to enroll for one year of ESU, including free enrollment methods in certain regions. For further guidance, check out the posts below or connect with your Microsoft account team. End of support for Windows 10, Windows 8.1, and Windows 7 | Microsoft Windows How to prepare for Windows 10 end of support by moving to Windows 11 today | Windows Experience Blog Extended Security Updates (ESU) program for Windows 10 | Microsoft Learn To learn more about Microsoft Security solutions, visit our website. Bookmark the Security blog to keep up with our expert coverage on security matters. Also, follow us on LinkedIn (Microsoft Security) and X (@MSFTSecurity) for the latest news and updates on cybersecurity.
After execution of sysprep Win10 OS, the device again booting to Audit mode then keeping sysprep
I have executed of sysprep by selecting OOBE and Generalize and shutdown. Then while powering-ON, the device again booting into Audit mode and sysprep window is remained opened. I have to execute sysprep once again to go to OOBE. This is affecting my automation. Can someone please help me to resolve this issue? Thanks, Devanathan
Recovering windows 10 password
While attempting to remove antivirus that slow downs my windows., it prompted to restart. It took long to restart but the processing sign was working.. after a while when it restarted windows it was stuck on boot screen for a while and I had to force shutdown. I tried couple of times but same result. Windows recovery was activated and it showed options to recover and it prompted for the password that I had long forgotten as I used to sign-in through pin. And the password was local not associated with Microsoft account. So I'm locked out and I can't loose the data.. please can anyone any genius help me !!!
Query regarding MDM Unenrollment initiated by the User.
Hi, We are facing one Issue regarding MDM Unrenrollment process initiated by User, In which when MDM server is receiving Unenrollment the request, it does not contain Meta value for Alert(1226) in the SyncBody. Please find following logs for the same behavior : [Windows MDM Sync request for device guid <> <SyncML xmlns="SYNCML:SYNCML1.2"> <SyncBody> <Alert> <CmdID>2</CmdID> <Data>1201</Data> </Alert> <Alert> <CmdID>3</CmdID> <Data>1224</Data> <Item> <Meta/> <Data>user</Data> </Item> </Alert> <Alert> <CmdID>4</CmdID> <Data>1226</Data> <Item> <Meta/> <Data>1</Data> </Item> </Alert> <!-- other device information --> <SyncBody> Earlier, Under this Alert tag we had a Meta tag which contained string : "com.microsoft:mdm.unenrollment.userrequest" as part of User Initiated disconnection, on basis of which MDM Server proceeds with further action. <Alert> <CmdID>4</CmdID> <Data>1226</Data> <Item> <Meta> <ns2:Type>com.microsoft:mdm.unenrollment.userrequest</ns2:Type> </Meta> <Data>1</Data> </Item> </Alert> But now the above <Meta> that MDM Server receives is Empty tag without any String (<Meta/>). This behavior can be seen on various windows versions like : 1803, 1809, 1903, 1909 and 2004 that has been tested and getting the same result. In the document : https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/client-management/mdm/disconnecting-from-mdm-unenrollment#user-initiated-disconnection , nothing is updated or mentioned regarding change in unenrollment process initiated by the User. Can we use the alert value 1226 without the "com.microsoft:mdm.unenrollment.userrequest" value be used to trigger unenrollment for the device. Any reason why the type has been removed from these versions. Please clarify on same so that we can proceed on this. Thanks.Can DHCP Server detect client windows version?
I have a DHCP server and several clients, some running Windows 10 and some Windows 7. I want the DHCP server to be able to identify the Windows version of the clients using the vendor class and assign the settings I've specified accordingly. Also, I don't want to configure anything on the clients; I want the DHCP server to be able to detect the Windows version by itself. Is there a way to do this?
Stuck in "Let's finish setting up your PC" screen after latest Update.
After doing a Windows Update today morning my PC gets stuck inside the "Let's finish setting up your PC" screen, without any possibilty for me to interact with it. The Error: After Starting the PC and logging in with my PIN, after the Explorer fully loaded, the Loading screen for the "Let's finish[...]" screen appears. When the loading finishes, it becomes a whitescreen. With alt+tab I can see, that e.g. the Taskmanager opens up when I open it via CTRL+ALT+DEL, but I cannot interact with it since the Setup window cannot be closed, minimized, or interacted with. It looks like this: The "Let's finish[...]" screen does not show up in safe mode, but deactivating the Notification Setting for it (even in Registry) does not fix the Error. I tried uninstalling the latest quality updates, which did not fix the issue. When I try to uninstall the latest functionality updates, I get a Notification that thats not possible and that I should instead reset the PC, which I would like to avoid. Is there any possibilty to get rid of this problem, or should I reset the PC?
