Articles about Windows 11 problems

When Microsoft released Windows 11 build 23516 a few days ago, the biggest change was billed as being improvements to screen casting. There were other changes, fixes and additions that Microsoft shouted about, but there was also a hidden feature that the company kept quiet about.

Cast your mind back a few months and you may recall that we learned of Microsoft plans to introduce the option to fix problems with Windows 11 using Windows Update. This handy feature is now available in the latest Dev build of Windows 11, but it is hidden and disabled by default. With the help of ViVeTool -- or Microsoft's own StagingTool -- however, it can be enabled.

Continue reading →

As part of this month's batch of update previews, we've already seen the KB5028245 update for Windows 11 21H2. For those who are running the more recent Windows 11 22H2, however, there is now the KB5028254 update.

There are many, many similarities between the KB5028245 and KB5028254 updates, and this should come as little surprise. The cumulative update for Windows 11 22H2 does have differences, though, including boosting the accuracy of brightness settings.

Continue reading →

As we approach the end of the month, we reach the time when Microsoft releases preview versions of the updates that will get official launches next Patch Tuesday. This time around, it is the KB5028245 update for Windows 11.

With this cumulative update, Microsoft addresses a series of problems in Windows 11 21H2, including a VPN issue that could lead to excessive ARP requests to the network gateway. Also fixed are a bug that causes incorrect reporting of the L2 cache, and another that prevents the Windows Notification Platform from issuing notifications from apps.

Continue reading →

Windows is no stranger to problems, and some issues linger rather longer than others. A good example is a longstanding bug that has blighted both Windows 10 and Windows 11 since the beginning of the year.

The issue means that the Start menu, Windows search and Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps behave strangely or fail to open. Or at least this was the case; Microsoft has now addressed the problems with a new update.

Continue reading →

Microsoft has issued a new update for Windows 11 that addresses a series of problems with the operating system, including various printing-related complications.

The KB5026436 update is a cumulative non-security update that also fixes audio issues and makes improvements to the taskbar search UX. There are also fixes for Narrator problems, and much more.

Continue reading →

The curse of the problematic Windows update may have struck again. Some users who installed the KB5025305 preview update or the KB5026372 update for Windows 11 are complaining about a significant slowdown in VPN speeds.

Microsoft says that it is looking into speed issues with L2TP/IPsec VPN connections in Windows 11. The company is yet to provide a fix, but there is a less than ideal workaround available in the meantime.

Continue reading →

Microsoft has acknowledged that a recent update for Windows 11 is causing "intermittent issues" with speech recognition for some users.

The company says that the problems come after installing the KB5022913 update or later for Windows 11 22H2. As well as affecting speech recognition, the update is also causing issues with expressive input and handwriting. Microsoft has provided details of a workaround, but there is no fix currently available.

Continue reading →

With the taskbar in Windows 11 Microsoft not only made a lot of changes, but also a lot of mistakes. But some of the issues that irritate users could soon be a thing of the past.

In preview builds of Windows 11, there is evidence that Microsoft is working to improve the taskbar by returning features that were removed in the upgrade from Windows 10. The upcoming changes may not make Windows 11 flavor of the month overnight, but could go some way to improving the image of the operating system, improving workflow and making things easier to use.

Continue reading →

Microsoft has released a new cumulative update for Windows 11 22H2 that sees the arrival of Microsoft account notifications in the Start menu. There are also new features and improvements in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.

The KB5023778 update is a preview of the update that will be released more widely next Patch Tuesday, and as such it is an optional update that you will need to manually install. Installing KB5023778 not only adds Start menu features, but also updates the taskbar search box, adds new functionality and fixes a large number of issues that have been found in Windows 11.

Continue reading →

While there was much interest and excitement surrounding the release of the Moment 2 update for Windows 11, seasoned users were bracing themselves for the inevitable problems to emerge. And emerge they have.

There are a growing number of complaints from people who have installed the update that their system boot times have massively increased. There are also serious issues with severely reduced SSD performance, leading to slow file transfers and poor overall performance.

Continue reading →

Ahead of next week's Patch Tuesday, Microsoft has released a preview of the upcoming KB5023774 update for Windows 11.

This is a non-security update, but it addresses a wide range of issues with Windows 11, including problems with Notepad, USB printer abnormalities, and bugs that were sending PowerPoint awry.

Continue reading →

The release of the latest big update for Windows 11 has been eagerly anticipated for some time, and yesterday Microsoft released Moment 2. It brings massive innovations to the operating system -- as well as problems.

Also known as the KB5022913 update, Moment 2 includes an updated Taskbar search tool, improved touch optimizations, an enhanced system tray, revamped Task Manager and much more. But the update is also causing problems, with Microsoft acknowledging that having certain apps -- notably ExplorerPatcher and StartAllBack -- installed may mean that Windows 11 will not start.

Continue reading →

Ahead of next month's official release -- and after having launched it for users of the Release Preview build of Windows 11 -- Microsoft has made available a preview of the KB5022905 update for Windows 11.

This is a non-security update, but it fixes a number of issues including difficulties properly deleting user profiles, a Z-order problem with maximized windows and more. It also adds a new advanced auto-learning feature for facial recognition.

Continue reading →

Microsoft has announced a big shakeup to the support and troubleshooting options that are currently available in Windows 11. The company says that over the course of the next three years, it will be gradually retiring the Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool (MSDT) and MSDT Troubleshooters currently used by many people to diagnose and fix problems with the operating system.

The ultimate plan is to remove all existing troubleshooters and kill off the MSDT platform using an update for Windows 11. The changes are something that we've heard hints and rumors about previously, but now it has been confirmed. So, what does it mean for Windows users?

Continue reading →

It is no secret that the updates released for Windows 11 have been rather more problematic than updates for previous versions of Windows. Microsoft has managed to earn itself an unenviable reputation for poor quality control, with update after update causing a wide range of issues over the past year and a half.

The problems with updates tend to rear their heads once they have been installed, but there is also an issue that is preventing people from installing updates in the first place. The recently released KB5022303 and KB5022360 updates are among those that fail to install, generating various unhelpful error codes including 0x800f0988 and 0x800f0831.

Continue reading →