Category: Software

The latest Windows 11 update is causing reboot issues

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft has confirmed a reboot issue that is affecting Windows 11 version 23H2. The company says that it is investigating issues that are causing multiple restarts or blue / green screens after installation of the latest update for Windows 11.

The update in question is KB5043145, which Microsoft released as an optional update for the operating system some says ago.

Affected devices reboot the system multiple times. Some may trigger automatic repair in an effort to repair the issue that is preventing the start of the Windows 11 operating system.

In other cases, users may get into the BitLocker recovery screen where they may need to enter the key to proceed.

Good to know: Microsoft plans to encrypt drives automatically with BitLocker.

Not the first time

If you follow Windows 11 news, you may remember that Microsoft confirmed a very similar issue back in July.

Back then, Microsoft confirmed that devices might boot into BitLocker recovery after installation of the — then — latest update for Windows 11.

Microsoft resolved the issue in August 2024. It is unclear if the issue is identical or related to the September 2024 issue that Microsoft confirmed this week.

Closing Words

The bulk of Windows 11 users are not affected by the new issue, as it is triggered by the optional update that Microsoft released in September 2024 for the operating system.

Microsoft has about two weeks left to address and fix the issue before the next cumulative update gets released. If Microsoft fails to to so, it will impact more users.

The next Patch Tuesday updates will be released on October 9, 2024 for Windows 11 version 23H2 and other supported systems.

The issue highlights again why most users may want to ignore the optional — beta — updates that Microsoft releases at the end of each month. These may introduce issues and bugs. If you do not want beta updates, do not install them and wait for the inclusion less than three weeks later as part of the cumulative security updates.

What is your take on optional updates? Do you install them or skip them? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Recall: Microsoft’s second attempt begins with security and privacy changes

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

The initial announcement of the AI feature Recall is a great example of shooting yourself in the foot. When Microsoft announced Recall, it floated on a wave of positive and encouraging AI news and developments.

Recall was never tested in Insider builds prior to the announcement, at least to my knowledge. While the reason for that decision is unknown, it is possible that Microsoft wanted to launch the new Copilot+ PCs with a banger.

Microsoft did not anticipate the criticism that it received after the announcement. These complaints were valid and could have been avoided if Microsoft would have received feedback from beta testers outside the company.

Privacy and security were at the center of the issue. Recall was enabled by default, which meant that users had to disable it, if they did not want to use it. It recorded the screen every 5 seconds and saved the data in a database that was not protected during runtime.

Microsoft pulled Recall shortly thereafter and promised to do better. Today. Microsoft revealed the improved version of Recall on its Windows Experience website.

Has it improved? Lets find out.

Recall Security

Microsoft makes four statements in regards to security:

  • Recall is opt-in — The option is shown during the setup experience and users need to enable the feature to use it.
  • Recall data is encrypted — Snapshots and information is stored in an encrypted database. Keys are protected using TPM and are linked to the user’s Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-in Security identity.
  • A core service is further isolated — Microsoft says that the service responsible for accessing snapshots and data runs in a secure VBS Enclave. Only data that the user requests is getting outside, according to Microsoft.
  • Recall uses Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-in Security – This is done to authorize Recall operations.

Particularly interesting is the fact that users may uninstall Recall. Microsoft introduced the option under Optional Features some time ago, then pulled it again saying that it was a bug. Now it turns out that Recall can be uninstalled fully, if the user so desires.

Microsoft addresses main criticisms with the change. Making Recall opt-in will reduce usage, but it ensures that unsuspecting users do not have screenshots of their activity taken every five seconds by the feature.

Recall Privacy

Next to security, Microsoft says that it has also improved privacy controls. Apart from making Recall opt-in, Microsoft highlights the following options to users who choose to enable the AI-feature.

  • In-private browsing data is never captured or saved. This is true for supported browsers. Microsoft lists Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Opera and other Chromium-based browsers.
  • Specific apps or websites viewed in browsers may be filtered. Works only in Edge, Chrome, Firefox and Opera.
  • Users control how much disk space Recall uses and how long content is retained.
  • Sensitive content filtering is enabled by default. This helps protect passwords, credit card numbers and the like to a degree.
  • Options to delete a time range, or all content from an app or website, or “anything and everything found in Recall search”.
  • An icon visualizes when snapshots are saved. Allows to pause snapshots.

Closing Words

Some of the features existed in the first version already. Microsoft has addressed the major points of criticism. While it is too early to tell how this will all work out, as Recall has not been released yet, it is giving users who are interested in the feature more control and better security.

Those who have no interest in the feature can either ignore it, by making sure not to opt-in during setup, or to remove it from the system entirely, if they prefer that.

You can check out the full blog post, which includes many security details, here.

What is your take on the changes? Do they go far enough, or is still something amiss? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Tab Group in Firefox

Firefox is getting Tab Groups – and you may try the feature already

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Tab Groups is a useful browser feature that allows you to group open websites together for better management. Most Chromium-based browsers support Tab Groups, as Google implemented them in Chromium and Chrome.

That’s one of the advantages of using an established browser source that is developed constantly. Don’t get me wrong, there are also disadvantages, like the death of Manifest V2 extensions support, which Google put into Chromium.

It is interesting to note that Mozilla introduced Tab Groups into Firefox at a time when Chrome and Chromium-based browsers did not really support it. Called Panorama, Mozilla launched it in 2010 as a way for users to group tabs.

While the implementation was not as elegant as what Google introduced in Chromium and Chrome, it was nevertheless a useful feature to some. Firefox extensions like TabGroups Manager would improve accessibility and usability. Mozilla decided to kill tab groups in Firefox eventually.

A few months ago, Mozilla announced that it would listen to feature requests from the community. Next to vertical tabs, Firefox would also get support for tab groups.

Tab Groups in Firefox Nightly

Firefox Tab Groups Enable

First bits of code have now landed in Firefox Nightly.

Note: Tab Groups in Firefox is not feature-complete at this point. There is no point in criticism Mozilla at this point, as development is still ongoing.

With that said, Firefox users who want to follow the development may enable Tab Groups in Firefox in the following way:

  • Make sure that Firefox Nightly is up to date (check Menu > Help > About Firefox Nightly).
  • Load about:config in the browser’s address bar.
  • Search for browser.tabs.groups.enabled.
  • Click on the toggle icon to set the value to true.
  • Restart Firefox.

Right-click on a tab and select “Add tab to new group” to create a new tab group in Firefox. You can drag & drop tabs between groups already. Some features, such as the ability to collapse and expand groups, are not implemented yet.

What is your take on tab groups in Firefox? Do you plan to use the feature once it lands? Feel free to write a comment down below.

Edge Extensions performance issue

Microsoft Edge: performance-dragging extension warnings in the works

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Browser extensions can be very useful. From the ultra-useful content blocker to extensions designed for specific tasks. They can make your life on the Internet easier or better.

While most extensions may not impact performance noticeable, some may. That is a problem, as it may not always be obvious which one is to blame. Some userrs may even blame the browser, which is not something that browser makers want.

Microsoft is working on integrating warnings in Edge to warn users about extensions that impact the browsing performance.

The details:

  • The feature is available in Edge 130 and newer only.
  • It needs to be enabled.
  • Edge monitors the performance of extensions when enabled.

Note that the feature monitors performance only.

Tip: Microsoft is testing several new features. There is Super Drag & Drop or a RAM limiter that you may try.

How to enable the feature

Starting with Edge 130, some users of the browser will have the new performance detector enabled by default. Most users won’t, but there is an option to turn it on.

Here is how you enable it in Edge

  1. Load edge://flags/#edge-performance-extension-detection in the browser’s address bar.
  2. Change the value of Extension performance detector to Enabled.
  3. Restart Microsoft Edge.

The feature runs in the background from that moment on.

How the extension performance detector works in Edge

Microsoft describes the feature in the following way:

Enables detection and optional disabling of user-added extensions if they impact page load time. Alerts will appear in browser essentials.

This is not too helpful, but Microsoft published a blog post as well that provides additional details.

There, Microsoft says that Edge will alert the user if it notices persistent extension slowdowns that impact the browsing experience.

A click on the browser essentials icon in Edge displays information about extensions that Edge found to slow down browsing consistently.

Each extension is listed with the percentage of slowdown and an option to disable it. Disabling is optional, and you may also select to get a reminder at a later time.

Most users who use extensions will not see the alerts according to Microsoft.

Closing Words

Whether the performance monitor for extensions is useful or not depends on the individual user. It may help users who install lots of extensions in the browser and users who noticed slowdowns after installing extensions.

The alerts may help identify performance issues, which is useful. Still, some extensions may be too valuable even though they may impact the browsing performance or experience.

Do you run extensions in your browser that you would not disable under any circumstances? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Defender Teaser

ConfigureDefender: open source tool to manage Microsoft Defender settings

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft Defender is the default security solutions on all modern versions of Windows. Users have to become active to replace it with another security solution. It is probably a safe bet that Defender is the tool on most Windows 10 and 11 systems.

It is different from tools like SuperMSConfig, which provide broader tweaking options.

The operating system offers several options to configure Microsoft Defender. The most common for home users is to use Windows Security. It divides settings on multiple pages and subpages, and may leave out some settings depending on certain factors.

ConfigureDefender is a long-standing open source tool to improve this. Just launch the small app after you have downloaded it from its GitHub repository to get started.

The app displays all settings on a single page.

You have two main options now:

  • Change individual settings directly.
  • Use a preset to change the status of multiple settings at once.

Presets offer a quick way to change settings, but it is rather difficult to understand what each setting does. Max, for example, looks like it would set everything to the highest values, but you still do not know what that actually means.

ConfigureDefender supports four presets: default, high, interactive and max. Default is handy, as it resets all settings to their default values.

A click on the info-button opens a readme with the information. There you find information about each preset. It will take some time to go through the listing though.

The second option gives you full control over the settings. Some users may have difficulties understanding what some of the settings do. While experienced users may understand that PUA Protection refers to “potentially unwanted applications”, inexperienced users may not.

It may be necessary to search for specific terms on the Internet to find out what they do.

The program supports a large number of settings. These are divided into basic, admin and exploit guard settings. Each preference is modified through a simple menu. Click on the menu and ConfigureDefender displays the available options. Pick one and hit the refresh button. The program reminds you that a restart of the Windows PC is required to apply the change.

Closing Words

ConfigureDefender speeds up the configuration of Microsoft Defender on non-managed systems. It is easy to use, especially for users who know what each of the settings do. New users may need to spend time in the beginning researching some of the preferences to understand what they do.

All in all, it is a useful helper app for Windows users.

Which security solution(s) do you use? Is Microsoft Defender one of them? Feel free to write a comment about this.

Chrome for Android may move and delete Tabs automatically

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Google released Chrome 129 today for Android and desktop systems. The update fixes a few security issues and introduces new features and changes as well.

One change in particular affects users of Chrome on Android: the automatic handling of inactive tabs.

Once updated to Chrome 129 on Android, the browser will move inactive tabs to a new group automatically. There, the tabs remain for a period of 60 days before they are deleted automatically according to Google.

Tip: Switching from Chrome to Firefox is easier than ever before. If you worry about disabled or crippled extensions, Firefox is your best bet to avoid this.

Note: Whether the deleting is enabled by default is unclear. Google says that the tabs will get deleted automatically, but it was disabled in Chrome 129 Beta.

When is a tab considered inactive? Google moves tabs to the Inactive Tabs group after 14 days of inactivity. Inactivity means that the tab was not activated in that time in Chrome.

Chrome for Android's new Inactive menu.

Good news is that you may change the functionality in the settings. Here is how that is done:

  1. Open Google Chrome on the Android device.
  2. Select Menu > Settings to open the preference.
  3. Activate Tabs there to display tab-related settings.
  4. Tap on Inactive to customize the functionality.
  5. Set the period to 7 days, 14 days, 30 days, or never. The default is 14 days.
  6. Toggle “Close after 60 days” to enable or disable the auto-delete feature.

Google says that the feature is designed to reduce Chrome’s memory usage and to improve the accessibility of tabs in the browser.

Deleted tabs remain accessible through the browsing history, but only if it has not been deleted.

Chrome users who do not want inactive tabs to be moved to the new group should set the functionality to Never. This ensures that Chrome won’t move inactive tabs out of sight or delete them after the inactivity period.

How do you handle tabs in your browser? Keep everything open? Use bookmarks? Start afresh on every start? Feel free to leave a comment below.

Outlook Error Startup MSLS70.dll

Microsoft conveniently suggests to use the new Outlook if you encounter the msls70.dll error in classic Outlook

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft confirmed a new issue that is affected classic Outlook and also Word and other Office applications.

When you start an affected app, you may receive the error message “The required file msls70.dll cannot be found in your path. Install Microsoft Outlook again”.

A click on the OK button, the only available button, hides the error message only. Any attempt to launch Outlook on the system is met with the same error message.

Did you know? The new Outlook may transfer third-party logins when using the sync feature.

Microsoft says that it is working on a solution for the issue. In the meantime, it recommends accessing the emails using the new Outlook or the web-based version of Outlook.

Maybe it is just my cynical-self speaking, but the timing seems awfully convenient. When Microsoft launched the new Outlook client, it made it clear that this app would become the only client of Outlook one day.

It put an end to Mail and Calendar in Windows, but also announced that the classic version of Outlook would go away one day. While that day is years away, it is something that Outlook users need to be aware of.

The error message suggests that Outlook cannot find a DLL that it needs to run. Microsoft’s support page offers no explanation for the issue. Did an update cause the error? If not, what caused it and why is the DLL missing?

A thread on Reddit suggests that you could fix the issue temporarily by using online repair.

Here are the required steps (you need an active Internet connection):

  1. Open the Start menu.
  2. Select Settings.
  3. Go to Apps > Installed Apps in the Settings window.
  4. Locate Microsoft 365 in the list.
  5. Select the three-dots menu.
  6. Activate the Modify option.
  7. Confirm the UAC prompt that appears.
  8. Switch to “Online Repair” and select the repair button.
  9. Confirm the action by selecting the repair button on the next screen as well.
  10. Wait for the process to complete.

This should fix the startup issue temporarily. Try starting Outlook on the affected device. It should work now.

The process is highlighted in a video on YouTube as well.

There you have it. Use online repair to fix the issue or wait for Microsoft to fix it. No ETA given though at this point.

Do you use Outlook? Or do you prefer a different email client on desktop PCs? Feel free to leave a comment down below!

Tools

Windows 11: PowerToys may soon change Settings on schedule

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Turning Bluetooth off for two hours, enabling Dark Mode at eight in the evening, or setting the volume to 0 percent in the morning. These are all examples what a new PowerToys tool might offer in the future.

The main idea is simple: let users create schedules for certain system settings. Besides what is been mentioned already, the new feature may support Wi-Fi or keeping the screen turned on for a specific amount of time.

Windows itself offers limited functionality when it comes to automating features. One of the very few options lets users activate Night mode on schedule so that Dark Mode is enabled at a specific time.

Administrators may use the Task Scheduler for certain jobs, but this is an advanced tool and not user friendly.

What is PowerToys? PowerToys is a collection of tools that expand Windows. It adds dozens of tools to Windows. The program is optional and while it does add a ton of tools to Windows, some dislike it because of its size.

Settings Scheduler Tool

Settings Scheduler PowerToys tool

Settings Scheduler is not yet available, but it has been announced as an idea on the PowerToys GitHub repository.

There, it has been described in the following way:

A simple utility for scheduling a setting for a set time or duration. The utility would have a few options for different settings then the option to change them based on a timer or based on a specific schedule.

While it seems likely that Settings Scheduler is going to be integrated into PowerToys, there is no guarantee for that at this stage.

Who is the tool for? The answer depends largely on the functionality that it will ship with initially. It could be an interesting tool for users who would like to automate certain processes.

The real question is, would you use it if it meant that you would likely have to run PowerToys on system start (assuming that the scheduled tasks are not added to the Task Scheduler)? Feel free to leave a comment down below. Also, whether you use PowerToys. (via Neowin)

Windows 11

DISM GUI: free admin app for checking and repairing Windows

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

DISM-GUI is a free app for Windows 10 and 11 that gives you access to various commands to check and repair Windows.

Good to know: DISM stands for Deployment Image Servicing and Management. It is a command line tool that, among other features, may be used to find and repair Windows issues related to missing or changed operating system files.

The free app makes the functionality more accessible. You still need to know the basics, as the program lacks documentation. The program interface consists of buttons that run the selected commands in a command prompt window.

DISM-GUI interface

It includes all popular options, including cleanup, which frees up storage space by removing overhead from the component store, and restore, which attempts to repair the Windows system.

Tip: check out Super God Mode as well. It creates shortcuts to more than a thousand admin tools and settings on Windows.

Here is a quick overview:

  • Check (CheckHealth) – The command checks for corruptions inside the Windows image.
  • Scan (ScanHealth) – The command runs a more thorough scan.
  • Restore (RestoreHealth) – Searches for errors and attempts to repair them.
    • Online – check using the local image.
    • Wim – use an ISO image or an unpacked ISO image for the repair.
    • ESD – use an ESD image.
  • Analyze ( AnalyzeComponentStore) – Checks the component store for overhead.
  • Cleanup (StartComponentCleanup) – Cleans up the component store to free up disk space.

DISM-GUI supports several non-DISM commands next to that:

  • SFC Scan — Runs the command sfc /scannow.
  • CAB Install — Install a CAB update on the system.
  • ESD > WIM — Convert an ESD file to a WIM file.
  • Get State — Returns the state of Reserved Storage.
  • Enable / Disable — Enable or disable Reserved Storage.

Note: Windows reserves storage on the primary partition for “proper performance” and updates.

Commands are executed in a command prompt window in the background.

DISM commands

You can download DISM-Gui over at Deskmodder.

Verdict

DISM-Gui is a useful helper app for Windows 10 and 11. It is especially useful for admins who use the commands regularly and for inexperienced users who need to run the commands.

All in all, it is a useful free app for Windows administrators.

Fastfetch output

Fastfetch: nerdy tool that displays system information next to Ascii Art

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Fastfetch is an open source cross-platform application that is command line driven. It collects system information and displays the info in the terminal window next to an Ascii art image of the used operating system.

The information that it collects is useful, but the main purpose of the tool seems to be to share a screenshot of the info with others.

An alternative: Glow is an open source system analyzer for Windows that displays lots of hardware and software information.

All you need to do to get started is to download the latest version of the app from its GitHub repository. On Windows, you’d simply extract the archive, open a command prompt window at the location and run the executable without any parameters.

The output displays information about the operating system, processor, graphics unit, RAM, disk drives and other hardware or software components.

Here is where it gets interesting: Fastfetch comes with a billion parameters that add more information about the system to the output. On top of that, it supports dozens of parameters to change the output itself, e.g. by specifying colors.

To run it with all parameters, use fastfetch -c all.jsonc. This adds lots more to the output, including network information, cpu and gpu usage info, temperatures, and more.

Tip: run the –help parameter to get the full list of supported parameters. It is long, but thankfully grouped to improve accessibility.

Closing Words

Fastfetch may not be as easy to use as other system information tools, provided that you do not work with a Terminal window all the time.

It is a niche program, but it seems to have a loyal following. Plus, it is updated regularly, which is always a plus.

Have you used Fastfetch, or the grandmother of this type of programs Neofetch, before? If not, would you? Feel free to leave a comment down below.