Articles about Windows 10

Numerous people who have upgraded to Windows 10 May 2020 Update are seeing ESENT warnings, as well as suffering problems with reduced performance.

Users looking at the Event Viewer see multiple ESENT warnings with the event ID 642. In addition to seeing these warnings, some people are complaining of reduce game performance in titles such as Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege and Call of Duty: Warzone.

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

Some Windows 10 users noticed after the installation of a recent update for Windows 10 that certain applications, Notepad and Paint in particular, were no longer available on their system. Mark explains how these can be restored here.

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It's only a couple of weeks since Microsoft released PowerToys v0.19.0, and the company has now pushed out its second bug-fixing update to the collection of utilities.

Just last week, v0.19.1 addressed a range of issues with the Windows 10 tool collection, and now v0.19.2 has landed. Among the changes are fixes for PowerToys Run and FancyZone, and it also addresses an issue that caused high CPU usage.

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Yesterday, Microsoft rolled out a new Windows 10 Build to the Beta Channel (what used to be the Slow ring) and today the software giant follows that up with a new flight on the Dev Channel (previously the Fast ring).

Build 20170 introduces a couple of new features, but won’t be offered to Insiders running PCs with AMD processors due to a bug affecting overall usability.

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These days it is hardly uncommon to find that an update for Windows 10 ends up breaking something, but the latest problematic update is causing a strange issue by removing components of Windows itself.

Yesterday, Microsoft released KB4565503 to fix various bugs, including problems introduced by previous updates to the operating system. After installing this update, some users are reporting that the Notepad and Paint apps have been removed from their computers.

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On Patch Tuesday last month, Microsoft kept up its track record of problematic updates. Users who installed KB4557957 or KB4560960 found they were plagued by problems with the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) and forced restarts.

Now the company has pushed out a new update, KB4565503, to address these issues and more.

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It’s been a month since Microsoft announced that it would be replacing its Insider ring system, sorting Windows 10 preview releases by quality rather than frequency, and today sees another new release on the Beta Channel -- what used to be the Slow ring.

Build 19042.388 (20H2) is all about fixing issues and making general improvements. Key changes in this build are:

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Two weeks ago, Microsoft began rolling out a refreshed Start menu and personalized taskbar for Windows 10 Insiders on the Dev Channel. The new menu, which removes the solid color backplates behind the logos and adds a translucent background to tiles, comes as part of Build 20161 but isn’t available to everyone. We’ve already shown you one way to force Windows 10 to display this menu, but if you're feeling adventurous we have a second, more powerful method for you to follow.

Microsoft uses a system called Feature Control to hide new and unfinished features from users -- including the new Start menu -- but it’s possible to find and enable these, giving you the chance to test them out before anyone else.

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Fans of Microsoft’s famous Flight Sim won’t have long to wait until the latest incarnation arrives. This promises to be the most detailed and authentic version to date, with incredibly accurate landscapes that are ever-changing, coupled with highly detailed aircraft, covering everything from light planes to commercial jets.

Microsoft Flight Simulator has been around since 1982 -- feeling old yet? -- and the new version will be available in three editions -- Standard ($59.99), Deluxe ($89.99) and Premium Deluxe ($119.99).

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

Microsoft unveiled a redesigned Start Menu in the latest Windows Insider build. Check out Mark's article on enabling the Start Menu in that particular version.

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Microsoft has revealed details of a new platform security technology which the company says will prevent data corruption attacks.

Kernel Data Protection (KDP) works by marking sections of kernel memory as read-only, so there is no way it can be tampered with. The technology comes in response to the fact that increasing numbers of attackers are using data corruption techniques to bypass security, gain additional privileges, and more.

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Windows 10 has a number of things that users find annoying about it, not least that it forces you to use other Microsoft products. Type a web query into the Windows search box, or ask Cortana something, and the results you receive will come from Bing.

Microsoft has recently replaced its old Edge browser with a Chromium version, and while this is a big improvement, the software giant has forced it onto users and made it hard (but thankfully not impossible) to remove.

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Ah, PowerToys… how much we love thee! After reviving the much-loved utilities for Windows 10, Microsoft has wasted no time in releasing update after update, adding more and more tools and refining this incredible software.

It's only a week since the release of PowerToys v0.19.0, but the development team already has a new version for you to try out.

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Since the days of Windows 8, operating system settings have been split across the traditional Control Panel and the newer Settings. Over time, Microsoft has gradually tried to encourage people away from the Control Panel, burying it deeper and deeper in Windows.

Now the company has taken yet another step that signals the end of the line for the Control Panel you've come to know and love. In the latest builds of Windows 10, the System applet has been rendered all but redundant.

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After giving us a tease of a redesign, Microsoft rolled out the new look Start menu in Windows 10 build 20161.

But while there was a great deal of excitement about the cleaner, more refined look complete with translucent backgrounds, many Windows users were disappointed to find that the new Start menu was not available to everyone. Here's what you need to do to see the new Start menu.

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