Articles about Microsoft

The Windows Registry is obviously a critical component of the Windows operating system, serving as a hierarchical database that stores low-level settings for the OS and applications. It contains configurations for system hardware, installed software, user preferences, and the OS itself.

You can add new functionality to Windows and change how existing features work by creating new registry keys or altering existing ones, typically changing their binary values from 0 to 1 or vice versa. But have you ever wondered what would happen to Windows if -- in a moment of madness -- you set every registry key to 0? Basically setting them to ‘disabled’ or ‘off'?

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Four months ago, we reported that Microsoft was testing adding long overdue features like spell checking and autocorrect to its Notepad app. You may have been wondering when, or indeed if, this functionality was ever going to come non-Insiders, but the updated Notepad is now quietly rolling out to all users and you likely already have it installed.

Notepad has been a popular tool since its arrival in 1983, acting as a simple, free alternative to the likes of Word, and these new capabilities will be a welcome addition for its fans, especially after Microsoft took the controversial decision to kill off the more capable WordPad recently.

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Six-hundred-two in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 and 11 on the Microsoft Store and elsewhere in the past seven days.

Proton has launched a privacy-first document editing feature that is attached to its Proton Drive service.

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PowerToys updates are always keenly received, and while users are hoping for new utilities every time, even those releases that are focused on "stability and improvements" can be exciting.

The release of PowerToys v.082.0 does not, sadly see the addition of new modules, but it is a big release. The number of bug fixes and tweaks is impressive, but there are also many new options scattered liberally across the suite of utilities.

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Microsoft goes through phases of deprecating features from Windows and other software and services it produces. The latest for the chopping block is a component of Windows Server Update Services -- driver synchronization.

While certainly not something that is used by everyone, WSUS driver synchronization gives sysadmins a handy way to sync driver updates across networked devices. But now the clock is ticking, as Microsoft has announced that the feature is heading to the graveyard.

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There are lots of ways that you can speed up Windows without performing pricey hardware upgrades, including disabling running processes and features. Windows comes with a handy, lesser-known feature which can boost your system performance by killing off annoying resource hogs you didn’t even know were running.

If you install a lot of software, you’re probably aware that many apps will automatically set themselves to run at login. This may be useful to you, but equally it could be a pain, and consume system resources without your permission, or even your knowledge. You can check to see what’s running using task manager, but there’s a way of being alerted automatically without having to lift a finger.

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Six-hundred-one in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 and 11 on the Microsoft Store and elsewhere in the past seven days.

Good news for Windows 10 users. Micro-patching service 0Patch will support the operating system at least until 2030 with security updates.

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Windows 10 continues to live on, although it is now a ripe old age. Despite the looming end-of-life for the operating system, Microsoft has surprised users by continuing to add new features and options.

This is not the case with the new KB5039299 update, however. This is a non-security update which, Microsoft proclaims, "includes quality improvements". This is a cute way of saying it's a boring bug fixer, but if you've been affected by those bugs, it's an important update.

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Microsoft has released a preview version of next month's KB5039302 update for Windows 11. Although there are no security fixes, the update addresses a number of problems such as distorted audio in Snipping Tool recording and issues with ejecting USB devices.

This update also sees the welcome return of the Show Desktop button in the taskbar and brings new TAR and 7-Zip creation options to the context menu of File Explorer. But there's much more too.

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What's the time? Well, it's time for yet another problematic update from Microsoft! The culprit on this occasion is the KB5039212 update from earlier this month, and it's especially worrying for the enterprise.

As it includes security fixes, this particular update is one that would have been installed automatically on many systems. But in addition to addressing security issues, the KB5039212 update also brought problems of its own; Microsoft has acknowledged a Windows 11 upgrade issue. Not for the first time, a fix is yet to be created.

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If you uninstalled the recently released KB5036979 update for Windows 10, you may have experienced unwanted Open With dialogs appearing. While first spotted in Outlook for Windows, Snip & Sketch, and Teams, the problem affects other apps as well.

While there is not yet a fix for this irritating, semi-random pop up, Microsoft has acknowledged the issue. The company is working on a patch for the bug, and offers up some insight and advice in the meantime.

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With the official launch of Copilot+ PCs, Microsoft has also unleashed Windows 11 24H2. This most recent update to Windows 11 has been a long time in the works, and there have been numerous preview builds available.

What is interesting is the way in which this launch is taking place. Copilot+ PC are now available with Windows 11 24H2 pre-installed, and it is also available to Insiders. The fact that systems have this version of the operating system installed means that development is complete (well, as complete as such work ever is), but the launch is dividing the Windows userbase into haves and have-nots -- in more ways than one.

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If you have been experiencing higher than normal CPU usage in Windows 11 recently, you are certainly not alone. There is good and bad news.

The good news is twofold. Firstly, the cause of the issue has been identified by Microsoft, and secondly, it only affects Insider builds of Windows 11. The bad news, however, is that there is no fix available, and no indication of when this may change.

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Five-hundred-and-ninety-nine in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 and 11 on the Microsoft Store and elsewhere in the past seven days.

Microsoft is changing the functionality of the controversial Recall AI feature to improve quality and security. It won't release the feature on June 18 to Copilot+ PCs, but plans to introduce it to the Windows Insider Platform first.

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Since it was first announced, the Recall feature for Copilot+ PC has been a major headache for Microsoft. The AI-powered feature has raised all manner of privacy concerns, and now the company has responded by putting the brakes on rolling it out.

Microsoft doesn't use words like "delay" or "postpone", of course. In an update to an earlier blog post about the rollout of the feature, the company now says: " We are adjusting the release model for Recall to leverage the expertise of the Windows Insider community to ensure the experience meets our high standards for quality and security".

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