Windows 11 has a weird bug that 'overcharges' laptop batteries

Laptop battery charge

Everyone likes the idea of squeezing as much life out of their laptop as possible, and every new iteration of Windows has made great promises about prolonging battery life.

But a strange bug in Windows 11 means you might get more than you bargained for. Over on Reddit, one user shared screenshots of their laptop battery charging to beyond 100 percent. So, what's going on?

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Best Windows apps this week

taskbar

Four-hundred-sixty-three 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.

Several Windows 11 applications stopped loading after recent application updates, including the Snipping Tool. Microsoft pulled the updates and is working on a resolution of the issue that fixes it on affected devices.

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Microsoft releases KB5008295 update for Windows 11 to fix app problems

Windows 11

Just yesterday we wrote about a series of issues with apps in Windows 11. Users found that the Snipping Tools and various Windows settings did not work, something Microsoft has blamed on an expired certificate.

Now the company has released the KB5008295 update to address the problems, but not everyone is going to be able to install it just yet.

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Microsoft warns of problems with several of Windows 11's built-in apps

Windows 11 magnifying glass

If you have been experiencing problems in Windows 11, particularly with the Snipping Tool, you are not alone.

An issue with an expired certificate means that the Snipping Tool app, as well as other apps and settings in Windows 11, do not work properly -- or at all in some cases. Microsoft has workarounds and fixes for some of the problems, but not all of them.

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Microsoft is bringing drag and drop back to the Windows 11 taskbar... but you'll have to wait

Windows 11 centered Start menu

There are many complaints about Windows 11, mainly focused on the features and capabilities that were removed.

One change that has proved controversial and frustrating relates to the taskbar. If you try to drag and drop an app to the taskbar to create a shortcut, or drop a document on an existing shortcut to the associated app to open the file, you will find that you can't. Microsoft is planning to bring this functionality back to Windows 11, but not immediately.

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Don't like the new Windows 11 Start menu? Start11 and Open-Shell have solutions for that

Start11

Windows 11 is here! It’s shiny, it’s new, it’s streamlined, it’s -- er -- missing some favorite features. If you’ve discovered that the new Start menu is more stop than start, and yearn for something old and familiar, then the good news is that there are options -- both paid-for and free -- to fill the gap.

Chief among these comes from renowned Windows developer Stardock. It’s just officially released Start11 v1.0. The bad news is that it’s no longer free to use now it's out of beta, but you can at least give it a trial run before deciding if $5.99 is a fair price to pay for it.

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Microsoft releases Windows 11 Build 22494 with new mute call taskbar button

Windows 11 laptop

It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time for Microsoft to deliver another new build to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel.

Windows 11 Build 22494 fixes a lot of bugs, but also introduces some known issues. The biggest addition to this build is the ability to mute and unmute the microphone directly from the taskbar during a Microsoft Teams call.

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Windows 11: Should businesses take the leap of faith?

The cat’s out of the bag. Windows 11 is here, more than six years after the release of its predecessor, Windows 10.

Microsoft has promised Windows 11 will be "the most secure Windows operating system yet" which, if true, will come as a relief for those plagued by ransomware and malware attacks.

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Windows 11 has a weird problem with empty folders

Pile of empty folders

An odd problem has been found in Windows 11 that sees dozens, scores, hundreds or even thousands of empty folders being created in a directory of the System32 folder.

The fact that the folders are empty means that there is no danger of hard disks filling up, but it's a bizarre bug that has many Windows users scratching their heads. If you're affected by the issue, you'll find that your drive is littered with large numbers of folders with names ending in .tmp.

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Kingston launches FURY Renegade PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD for PC gamers and enthusiasts

ktc-product-ssd-sfyrd-4000gb-3-zm-lg

Do you need a PCIe 4.0 NVMe solid state drive? No, nobody really needs the insane speed these drives offer. However, the drool-worthy performance is certainly nice to have. Look, if you can afford such an SSD and your computer supports it at full speed, you might as well get one. I mean, why not?

Today, Kingston announces its latest such PCIe 4.0 SSD under its FURY gaming brand. Called "Renegade," it features blazing fast speeds and capacities up to 4TB. Of course, even non-gamers will want to check out the extremely high-end performance FURY Renegade offers.

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KB5006674 and KB5006670 updates are causing printer problems in Windows 11 Windows 10

Windows key

The seemingly never-ending stream of printer problems caused by Windows updates shows no sign of abating.

Following the Patch Tuesday releases a couple of weeks ago, Microsoft has added warnings of known issues to the support pages for the KB5006674 and KB5006670 updates. Printer-related errors including 0x000006e4 (RPC_S_CANNOT_SUPPORT), 0x0000007c (ERROR_INVALID_LEVEL), and  0x00000709 (ERROR_INVALID_PRINTER_NAME) are among those the company says users may experience.

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Best Windows apps this week

profiles

Four-hundred-sixty-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.

Microsoft started the rollout of the new Microsoft Store on Windows 10. It is being made available to Release Preview insider builds at first, but it will be pushed to stable versions of Windows 10 soon as well.

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WSATools makes it ridiculously easy to sideload Android apps in Windows 11

WSATools

Microsoft's decision to bring Android app support to Windows 11 has caused responses ranging from hatred, through ambivalence to love. Partnering with Amazon, however, means that the Windows Subsystem for Android has access to a slightly limited range of apps, resulting in people seeking ways to sideload APKs.

A few days ago, we looked at one of the techniques that can be used to sideload apps, but it was a bit fiddly and complicated -- certainly not something everyone would be happy undertaking. But by turning to the free app WSATools, sideloading Android apps in Windows 11 is made so much simpler.

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Samsung unveils trio of Galaxy Book Windows 11 laptops including 5G convertible model

Galaxy-Book-Pro-360-5G-Tab-S-pen

Samsung hasn't just announced one new Windows 11 laptop, but three of them. A trio of notebooks running Microsoft's latest desktop operating system? How exciting!

Two of these computers are traditional 15.6-inch LED 1080p laptops; one of that pair (Galaxy Book) has a touch-screen display, while the other (Galaxy Book Odyssey) does not. The third model (Galaxy Book Pro 360 5G), is a convertible with a 13.3-inch FHD AMOLED touch-screen that features 5G wireless connectivity.

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Microsoft releases Windows 11 Build 22489 with a new Microsoft account settings page

Your-Microsoft-Account

It’s Wednesday, so that (usually) means Microsoft has a new Windows 11 build for Insiders in the Dev Channel.

Build 22489 comes with the standard long list of changes, improvements, fixes, and known issues, but it also introduces with a new settings page for your Microsoft account that displays all of the information related to it that you are likely to need.

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