Author: Martin Brinkmann

When I was young, I studied German, History and English at Essen University in Germany. I worked in computer support for several years at the time to help other computer users when they ran into issues. Writing started out as a passion project, as I wanted to help more users and not just the ones that I handled in support. This lead to the founding of Ghacks Technology News in 2005. First, as a side-project, but shortly thereafter as a full-time project as the site's popularity exploded. I sold Ghacks to Softonic some years ago, but stayed on as Editor. You can still read my articles on the site. I do publish on Betanews as well. In recent years, I started to write and publish technology books, including my latest book "Windows 11 From Beginner to Advanced", which is available on Amazon. I'm also a freelance writer for the German publisher Gamestar. Chipp.in is my newest project. I want to use it to talk about my book projects, sell my books directly, and write about technology, as this is what interests me.

Don’t Bother with Windows 11’s new Speedtest feature

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

How fast is the Internet connection of your Windows 11 PC? It may surprise you that you may give two answers to that question: the maximum speed of the line or the actual speed of the device.

Speedtests help test this. They are useful for troubleshooting connection-related issues, and may also help you get a partial refund from your Internet Service Provider, if the advertised speed does not match the actual speed you get.

Most Internet users run tests in browsers. Go to a site like speedtest.net, fast.com, or Cloudflare Speed, and you get information about the download and upload speed and the ping.

There are also some apps that you can run locally, which may offer better results as they eliminate the browser bottleneck. Lastly, there are also some command line solutions, but these may require the installation of extra packages.

For example, to install Speedtest CLI, which enables you to run tests from the command prompt, you would first install the module with the command winget install Ookla.Speedtest.CLI. Once done, you’d run a basic test from the command prompt with the command speedtest. You can also use parameters, which allow you to test the speed against specific servers or write the output to a json file.

The Windows 11 Speed test

Microsoft released preview updates for Windows 11 about a week ago. These add several new features, including a new speedtest.

Here is how Microsoft describes the feature:

A built‑in network speed test is now available from the taskbar. You can open it from the Wi‑Fi or Cellular Quick Settings, or by right-clicking the network icon in the system tray. The speed test opens in the default browser and measures Ethernet, Wi‑Fi, and cellular connections. This feature helps check network performance and troubleshoot issues.

This sounds like a useful addition to Windows. Instead of having to open a test in a browser, run an app or a command, you’d simply run the test from the taskbar.

However, when you test the feature, you may realize that this is not a fully integrated speedtest in Windows 11. When you select the option, for instance by right-clicking on a network icon on the Windows taskbar, you are taken to the speedtest.net website.

In other words, Microsoft has implemented a shortcut to the website instead of implementing its own solution.

Is it still useful? Well, it may save you a click or two and it may expose the option to some users who did not know such tests existed in first place.

However, if you have used a device with Internet connectivity for a while, you may not be that impressed by this new feature.

Now it is your turn: have you used speed tests in the past to test your Internet speed?

Warning! That laptop on Amazon? It comes with temporary storage

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

I do not think that Amazon is the best place to shop for computer parts, laptops or full PC systems. The main reason for that is price, but there are other factors that should make you pause before you hit the “add to cart” button on the shopping site.

A new issue that has been uncovered by Neowin is that some sellers on Amazon inflate the storage of the devices that they sell. A laptop with 1.1 TB of storage? What an odd number. While it is possible that such a laptop exists, for instance one with a 128 GB solid state drive and a 1 TB platter-based drive, in this case, something different is being sold.

See, these particular sellers add a one year subscription to OneDrive to the laptop, and they add the 1 TB of cloud storage to the total of the laptop’s storage. So, instead of getting a laptop with 1.1 TB of storage, buyers get a laptop with 128 GB of storage and 1 TB of cloud storage.

This should not be a problem for users who know what OneDrive is, as physical and cloud storage is clearly separated in the title and Microsoft’s cloud service is mentioned by name. The system configuration is also displayed correctly, but it can still be problematic for users who hit the buy button too quickly or do not know the difference.

At the very least, it can be very confusing. If you open such a result on Amazon, say this HP 14″ laptop, you find the following title on Amazon:

HP 14″ Natural Silver Ultrabook Laptop, Intel 4-Core CPU, 4GB RAM, 1.1TB Storage (1TB OneDrive and 128GB SSD), HD Display, Windows 11, Microsoft 365 Web Apps

The title says 1.1 TB of storage first before the seller highlights how much of that is physical and how much is cloud-based.

This laptop comes in three configurations: the base model comes with 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage, the most expensive model with 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. Here, the seller has not added the 1 TB to the laptop’s total.

However, when you scroll to the specs right below, you see 1.1 or 1.2 TB as the hard disk size. The “about this item” section again differentiates the storage between local and cloud storage.

Ultimately, it is a new selling strategy on Amazon that you may want to look out for, if you do buy laptops or PCs there. It is quite possible that Amazon is not the only marketplace where the strategy is used.

“If your printer works today, it will continue to work”: Microsoft corrects previous announcement

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Last month, Microsoft made a statement regarding printer support on Windows that caused confusion. Back then, Microsoft wrote: “January 2026, Windows will no longer support V3 and V4 printer drivers. These older driver models were announced as deprecated in September 2023”.

Turns out, this was not really what the company meant. Windows Central claims to have received a statement by Microsoft that confirms that support for legacy printer drivers is not ending after all on Windows.

If that would be the case, millions of printers would stop working. Here is the full statement as reported by the site:

Windows has not ended support for legacy printer drivers. If your printer works with Windows today, it will continue to work, and no action is required [..] an update to the Windows Roadmap stated that Windows will no longer support V3 and V4 printer drivers—this update was inaccurate and has since been removed

Here is what Microsoft actually meant: new legacy printer drivers will only be accepted on a case-by-case basis. This does not affect existing printer drivers and users may still download and install the updates from third-party sources.

The core changes

  • The Microsoft IPP Class Driver: Instead of downloading a specific driver for every printer model (e.g., an HP driver, a Brother driver, a Canon driver), Windows 11 is shifting to the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) and the Mopria standard. This allows Windows to use a single, built-in inbox driver that works seamlessly with almost any modern printer.
  • Windows Protected Print Mode (WPP): Introduced in the Windows 11 24H2 update, this is an optional security feature that entirely disables third-party printer drivers. When enabled, your PC only uses the Microsoft IPP Class Driver. While it’s currently turned off by default, Microsoft’s long-term goal is to make WPP the standard.
  • Print Support Apps (PSAs): Instead of bundling advanced features (like watermarks, stapling, or deep color management) into a heavy driver package, manufacturers are being pushed to offer these features through lightweight Print Support Apps downloaded directly from the Microsoft Store.

The official timeline

  • January 15, 2026: Microsoft officially stopped accepting new v3 and v4 printer drivers onto Windows Update. From this point forward, new printers are expected to be IPP/Mopria compliant, but exceptions may be made case-by-case.
  • July 1, 2026: Windows will change its internal ranking system. If you plug in a new printer, Windows will default to the Microsoft IPP class driver instead of hunting for a manufacturer-specific driver.
  • July 1, 2027: Windows Update will stop distributing non-security updates for third-party legacy drivers. Only critical security patches will be allowed through.

YouTube Premium Lite subscribers get background playback and downloads with a big “but”

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

If you want to watch content on YouTube without ads, then you have just one official option: a subscription for YouTube Premium. For a price of about $14 per month, subscribers get an ad-free experience and some other benefits, including access to YouTube Music, background playback on mobile devices and also downloads.

Google introduced YouTube Premium Lite as a cheaper option in some regions. It is not entirely ad-free though, and up until now, did not support any of the extras that come with a Premium subscription.

This meant no options to download videos for offline playback or to play videos in the background on mobile.

Google tried to block third-party solutions that allowed background play recently, but as usually, it did not work out too well.

This is changing though. Google announced today that downloads and background play are rolling out to Lite subscribers, for the most part. There is this little asterisk behind the feature that informs you that this is not unlocked for all videos.

Here are the details:

  • Advertisement: Still shows up on music content, Shorts, when searching or browsing.
  • Background play: Not available for Shorts or music content, or user-generated content that includes content from music partners.
  • Downloads: Not available for Shorts or music content, or user-generated content that includes content from music partners.

In other words, if you want to download regular videos or play these videos in the background on mobile, you are fine as a YouTube Lite subscriber. However, if you want to play music in the background or download your favorite songs, then you still can’t do it.

Not that great for many users. I would assume that many use background playback for music, but I could be wrong.

Firefox 148.0 is out with its AI kill switch and support for Windows 7 and 8.1 comes to an end

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Mozilla has released several updates for its web browser Firefox, including version 148.0 Stable and also updates for the extended support release (ESR) versions. It is a special day, as Mozilla is ending support for older versions of Windows and macOS with the release of Firefox 115.33.0 ESR.

Firefox 148.0: The release highlights

  • The AI kill switch and AI controls make their debut, allowing users to control AI in Firefox.
  • Important security fixes.
  • Improved PDF screen reader support for math formulas.
  • Translation improvements.
  • Telemetry adjustments.

How to download and install Firefox 148

Most unmanaged Firefox installations will be updated automatically to the latest release once it has been released officially. This may take minutes, hours and sometimes even days. You can speed this up by selecting Menu > Settings > Help > About Firefox.

The new AI controls

The new AI controls of the Firefox browser.

Probably the main feature of Firefox 148.0 is the new AI controls that Mozilla added to the browser. Load about:preferences#ai in the browser’s address bar or go to Menu > Settings > AI Controls to display all options.

The options are divided into two main sections: first a toggle to block all AI enhancements in Firefox with a single click or tap, and then individual controls for users who want to enable some but not other AI features.

So, if you want to block all AI, toggle “Block AI enhancements” and confirm the decision. This should take care of all current and future AI features in Firefox.

The second section is divided into two parts: On-device AI and AI chatbot providers in sidebar. Here you can enable or block the following features individually:

  • Translations.
  • Image alt text in Firefox PDF Viewer.
  • Tab group suggestions.
  • Key points in link previews.
  • Chatbot in sidebar.

When you see available, it means that the feature is not active. Blocked means that it is disabled and enabled means that it is active.

A word or two about Remote Improvements

Remote Improvements are small changes to Firefox that are delivered remotely. Previously, this required for Firefox to share “technical and interaction data”, short Telemetry, with Mozilla. Starting in Firefox 148, this is no longer the case.

In other words, you can receive the fixes without sharing the data or participating in experimental studies.

Opting-out

Uncheck the highlighted option to opt-out of remote updates.

The feature is on by default in Firefox 148, unless you have opted out of studies in the Settings prior to the release of Firefox 148.

To make sure that you are opted-out, do the following:

  • Load about:preferences#privacy in the address bar.
  • Scroll down to the Firefox Data Collection and Use section near the bottom.
  • Uncheck “Allow Firefox to improve features, performance, and stability between updates”.

Smaller changes in Firefox 148

  • Firefox now has improved support for screen readers accessing mathematical formulas embedded in PDFs.
  • Firefox Backup is now also available to Windows 10 users who set “Clear history when Firefox closes” to enabled. Backups will only include data that is not set to be cleared on exit in that case.
  • Translation into Vietnamese, and translation into and from Traditional Chinese is now supported.
  • New Tab wallpapers will show up on new container tabs also now.

The security updates

Firefox 148 fixes several security issues in previous versions. The severity is high and a massive 51 issues or potential issues are patched when the updated is installed.

The end of the road for old Windows and macOS versions

Mozilla is ending support for older operating systems with the release of Firefox 115.33.0 ESR. It is the last official release for systems that are no longer supported by their makers. Mozilla was the last major browser maker to support these operating systems, but this is coming to an end.

Firefox 115.33.0 continues to work on these systems, but updates won’t be released anymore. This means that security issues won’t get fixed anymore, which can be problematic as time passes by. Similarly, new web technology support is absent, which means that some sites or apps may not work correctly or at all.

Password

Research: It appears that AI is very bad at generating secure passwords

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

If you can’t come up with a secure password by yourself — and don’t use a password manager for that task (which most should) — then you may have come up with the idea of asking AI to give you a hand in generating secure passwords.

Cybersecurity firm Irregular published research on how that turned out for them during tests, and the result is anything but pretty.

When it asked large language models such as Claude, Gemini or GPT to generate secure passwords, it found “predictable patterns in password characters, repeated passwords, and passwords that are much weaker than they seem”.

While individual 16 character passwords looked strong, the researchers soon discovered that generating passwords multiple times would reveal the weaknesses of the approach.

Take Claude Opus 4.6 for example. When asked to generate 50 passwords, the researchers discovered several noticeable patterns:

  • Of the 50 passwords, only 30 were unique. One password was repeated 18 times.
  • All passwords started with a latter, usually uppercase G,, almost always followed by the digit 7.
  • Character choice was very uneven, with some appearing in nearly all passwords and others rarely.
  • No repeating passwords in any of the generated passwords.

ChatGPT did not fare much better. It created passwords with strong similarities. Most passwords started with the uppercase letter V, almost half continued with an uppercase Q.

Passwords generated by Gemini showed clear patterns as well. Almost half the passwords started with uppercase K or lowercase k,, usually followed by one of the characters #,, P or 9.

All AIs tested generated predictable passwords, which make it easier for attackers to brute force them. The researchers conclude that “people and coding agents shouild not rely on LLMs to generate passwords”.

Passwords generated through direct LLM output are fundamentally weak, and this is unfixable by prompting or temperature adjustments: LLMs are optimized to produce predictable, plausible outputs, which is incompatible with secure password generation.

Conclusion

Most computer users may want to stick to password managers as the go-to apps when it comes to generating strong passwords. There are free and paid solutions, local and cloud-based, something for every use case out there.

Here is what the Windows UserChoice Protection Driver UCPD does

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Have you ever heard of the Userchoice Protection Driver (UCPD.sys) that Microsoft added to its Windows 10 and Windows 11 operating systems in 2024? It is a protective driver designed to prevent third-party applications or scripts from making changes to Registry keys that fall into the UserChoice category. This includes system defaults, such as the web browser, PDF viewer, or widgets.

Before the introduction, apps or scripts could make changes to default settings on Windows by editing certain keys in the Registry directly. With UCPD active, Microsoft implemented a check that allows or disallows changes to these keys.

If the change comes from a legitimate Microsoft process, it is allowed. If the change comes from a non-Microsoft process,, it is not allowed.

So, using the Settings application works, while using a script to make the changes does not.

While Microsoft has not revealed much about the motivation behind the introduction of the driver, it was at least partially introduced to make hijacking of important user settings difficult.

Granted, this had the added effect that it would be harder for competitors to change the defaults, even when users wanted it to happen.

The Impact

Most users may never notice that Microsoft introduced the feature in the first place. Changing defaults via the Settings app is not prevented and so is not a direct edit to the Registry using the Registry Editor.

However, for system administrators and some advanced users, UCDP has been a major headache as it broke command line tools and scripts.

How to check if the driver is running

Here is one easy method to check if the driver is active on your Windows PC:

  1. Open the Start menu.
  2. Type cmd and press the Enter-key to load the Command Prompt.
  3. Type sc query ucpd.

If you see running next to state, then you have confirmation that the service is active.

Can you do something about it? (Should you?)

The short answer: yes, you can turn this off, but it is not as straightforward as you might want it to be.

Here are the required steps:

  • Run sc config UCPD start= disabled from an elevated command prompt window.
  • Open Task Scheduler, navigate to \Microsoft\Windows\AppxDeploymentClient, and disable the UCDP velocity task so that it does not turn the driver back on.
  • Reboot the system.

I suggest you check whether UCDP is running using the command prompt again to make sure.

Should you disable the feature? My advice: if you did not notice any issues so far, you might not need to disable it. If you have run into problems recently running scripts or apps, then you could consider it, especially if you run them regularly.

Keep in mind though that this is also blocking malicious scripts and apps from making those changes.

Google teases three new Chrome features that sound familiar

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Google announced three new features for its Chrome web browser on its official The Keyword blog recently. The new features — split view, save to Drive, and annotate — improve the productivity of Chrome users according to Google.

Users of several other browsers may not find the features as exciting as Google, as at least some of the features have been supported by other browsers for some time.

Split View is coming to Chrome

Split View is a typical example of such a feature. It allows you to display two websites next to each other in a single tab. Instead of displaying the two sites in two browser windows next to each other, you may display them in a single window.

This has some advantages, like easier handling as you interact with a single window only. However, there are also some disadvantages, including that only one address is shown in the address bar at a time.

Split View is not a new feature. In fact, Google is late to the party. Microsoft Edge, Vivaldi, Opera or Brave Browser support the mode already. Mozilla has also launched the feature in its Firefox web browser, but it is experimental at the time of writing.

How to use Split View in Chrome

Simply right-click on a tab in the web browser and select “Add tab to new Split View”. Chrome splits the space in half, with the right side empty in the beginning. Just select an open tab, which Chrome displays, type an address or pick a bookmark to load it in the second half.

Chrome displays both open websites in the same tab, but only the URL of the active tab in the address bar.

PDF annotations

If you open PDF documents in Chrome, you can now “highlight text and add notes” to it right in the browser. Google says that this eliminates the need to use a separate application for that.

This is not exactly a new feature either, as both Microsoft Edge and Mozilla Firefox have supported the feature for quite some time.

To use it, open a PDF document in Chrome and click on the draw icon in the toolbar once it is displayed. Here you find the new options to annotate directly to the PDF file.

Save to Drive

This is probably the strangest edition in this feature update. Google is reaching feature parity with Split View and PDF annotations, which is a good reason to introduce the features.

However, Save to Drive is the outlier. It enables you to save PDF documents that you view in Chrome to Google Drive. Google says this keeps important documents backed up in the cloud.

It is not as if this was not possible before already, at least in many cases. If you run Google Drive on your system, you could simply put the file into the Drive folder to store it locally and online. I guess it helps if you do not run the software and want to save PDFs to Drive directly. Saves the step of saving the document locally first before uploading it.

Now You: what is your take on the new features? Something that would make you switch to Google’s browser?

No Login? No Problem: 5 Google Maps Alternatives That Respect Your Privacy

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

If you have used Google Maps until now without a Google account, then you may have noticed that something is off in the past couple of days.

When I launched Google Maps today in Firefox, I immediately noticed that Google was limiting information. Listings did not include user reviews anymore among other things, and Google displayed a disheartening “You’re seeing a limited view of Google Maps” and “Get the most out of Google Maps. Sign In” message at the bottom of each listing I opened.

It appears that Google is limited access for anonymous users. While you can still look up listings, use route planning, and get ads, you won’t get what some what say is the most vital information on Google Maps: user reviews.

Read Also: Google Maps is getting a new feature that you either love or dislike

Five Google Maps Alternatives

While you could sign-in to a Google account to restore full access, some may prefer switching to a different service entirely.

Here are five good alternatives that you could try:

  • Organic Maps — Organic Maps is widely considered the “gold standard” for privacy-conscious users. It is a fork of the original Maps.me, created by the original developers who wanted to strip out all the trackers and bloatware.
  • Magic Earth — If you miss Google Maps’ real-time traffic alerts and lane guidance, Magic Earth is your best bet. It manages to offer advanced “smart” features while remaining strictly no-profile.
  • OsmAnd — OsmAnd is the most feature-dense mapping app available. It’s not just a map; it’s a professional-grade geographic tool.
  • Apple Maps — In mid-2024, Apple finally brought Apple Maps to the web (currently in beta). Unlike Google, Apple’s web version actually functions better without a login, as it currently doesn’t even support signing in to an Apple ID on the browser.
  • DuckDuckGo Maps — If you are looking for the most seamless “Google Maps-like” experience in a web browser without ever being asked to sign in, DuckDuckGo is the winner. It uses Apple Maps’ MapKit JS framework, giving you high-quality visuals without the data-tracking baggage.

There are also regional apps and maps that sometimes offer better information and services than Google Maps. Kakaomap, for example, is seen as the superior app in almost any area, if you are in Korea.

Now You: do you use a map app or service? Any app that you can recommend?

Mozilla ends support for Firefox on Windows 7 and 8/8.1

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

The digital clock has finally run out for holdouts clinging to the past, forcing a critical decision for millions of PC users worldwide.

Mozilla has confirmed that it will officially terminate security updates for Firefox on Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 by the end of February 2026.

The organization is the last major browser maker that still supports the discontinued Windows operating systems.

Windows 7 support ended in January 2020 officially, but Microsoft introduced Extended Security Updates for business customers. These allowed businesses to extend support for up to three years, for a price.

Windows 8 and 8.1 support ended in January 2023, which is also the month that Windows 7 ESU support ended officially.

While Mozilla continued to support Firefox on Windows 7 after January 2023, Microsoft ended support for its Edge browser in the same month. Google followed a month later, when it released Chrome 109, the last official version of the web browser that supported the two operating systems.

Mozilla has now confirmed that it won’t release new updates for Firefox 115 ESR, the last version to support Windows 7 and 8/8.1, after February 2026.

  • Firefox 115 is now the last version supported on Windows 7, 8 and 8.1.
  • Updates will be delivered through the ESR channel until the end of February 2026.

The organization recommends that users upgrade the operating system to a supported version to “continue receiving Firefox security and feature updates”.

However, this could be problematic for a number of reasons, at least when upgrades to newer versions of Windows are considered:

  • The next direct upgrade is Windows 10. Microsoft has ended support and ESU updates are only provided until October 2026 for Home and Pro editions. Mozilla plans to continue supporting Firefox on Windows 10 though.
  • Windows 11 is supported, but it has stricter system requirements. Systems that do not meet the requirements can’t be upgraded as easily, if at all (there are some that can’t be bypassed).

Affected users might consider switching to Linux. It is a daunting task, but things have improved significantly in this regard over the years. Yes, some apps or games are not available directly, others may not run, but the vast majority of apps and games should run on Linux.

Firefox 115 ESR will continue to work after February 2026, but Mozilla won’t release any new updates for the version of the open source browser.