Category: Windows

It is easy to sort files in Windows’ File Explorer. Just activate one of the displayed column headers, e.g., type or size, and Windows will sort all files using the selected value.

Select size and files will be displayed from largest to smallest. Click again, and the sort order is reversed.

Did you know that you can add a second sort parameter to this without breaking the first sort order? This can be useful, for instance by sorting all files by type and by size.

This keeps files grouped by typed, e.g., PDF documents, images, videos, while still sorting each individual group by size.

To do so, simply sort files like you always do. Click on a column header to sort by type. Hold down the Shift-key then and click on another header, e.g., size.

You will notice that files get sorted again without breaking the first sort order.

This can be quite useful, for instance when you want to check the largest files of multiple file types.

Now You: have another tip that is a time-saver on Windows or other devices that you use? Feel free to leave a comment down below to share it with everyone.

What is with Windows operating systems and issues with the default encryption software Bitlocker? Last year, Windows 11 users suffered from the issue after installation of certain updates for their systems.

Now, Microsoft is confirming a similar issue for users of the Windows 10 operating system.

The details:

• The update in question is KB5058379, the May 2025 cumulative update for Windows 10, version 22H2.
• It affects Windows 10 systems with Intel 10th generation or later vPro processors that use Intel Trusted Execution Technology (TXT)
• An automatic repair is triggered on affected systems after installation of the update. This may require the entering of the BitLocker recovery key to proceed with the automatic repair.

Microsoft confirmed the issue on the official Windows 10, version 22H2 health dashboard. There, the company writes:

We are aware of a known issue on devices with Intel Trusted Execution Technology (TXT) enabled on 10th generation or later Intel vPro processors. On these systems, installing the May 13, 2025, Windows security update (KB5058379) might cause lsass.exe to terminate unexpectedly, triggering an Automatic Repair. On devices with BitLocker enabled, BitLocker requires the input of your BitLocker recovery key to initiate the Automatic Repair.

Affected devices may enter one of two states according to Microsoft:

• They may try to install the update for Windows 10 several times before Startup Repair rolls back to the previous version of Windows 10.
• Startup Repair may run into an error on some devices, which ultimately will trigger the Bitlocker recovery screen.

The first state should not require extensive troubleshooting or frantic searching for the Bitlocker recovery key. You can consult this Microsoft support page that lists all options to look up the recovery key.

System administrators may notice the following additional symptoms on affected devices:

• ​Event ID 20 might appear in the Windows Event Viewer in the System event log, with the following text: “Installation Failure: Windows failed to install the following update with error 0x800F0845: 2025-05 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 22H2 for x64-based Systems (KB5058379).”
• ​Event ID 1074 might appear in the System event log, with the text: “The system process ‘C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe’ terminated unexpectedly with status code -1073740791.”

Microsoft is working on a resolution for the issue and plans to release an out-of-band update once that administrators may install on affected devices. The company says that it plans to release the update in the coming days on the Microsoft Update Catalog website.

Users and administrators should monitor the issue on the Microsoft Health dashboard website for updates.

Microsoft plans to end support for several editions of Windows 10 this October. While customers may subscribe to extended security updates to extend support by one (home) or up to three (business / Enterprise) years, it was unclear how Microsoft would handle support for some of its other products and services running on Windows 10, including Microsoft 365.

Do Windows 10 customers, who run apps like Word or Excel after October 14th, 2025, get support when they run into issues? What about software updates? These customers pay Microsoft for access after all.

A new blog post by Microsoft provides answers to these questions and others that customers may have.

Will Microsoft 365 continue to work after Windows 10’s end of support date? Microsoft says yes. Apps like Word or Excel will continue to work. The company notes, however, that running the apps on an unsupported operating system may lead to performance and reliability issues. Microsoft recommends to switch to Windows 11 to avoid these.

For how long will Microsoft support Microsoft 365 on Windows 10? Microsoft plans to release security updates for Microsoft 365 apps under Windows 10 for three years starting the day support ends officially. This seems to imply that the applications won’t receive feature updates anymore. Whether that is indeed the case remains to be seen. Support will end on October 10th, 2028 either way.

Support is limited on Windows 10. While Microsoft promises to support Microsoft 365 apps on Windows 10 for another three years with security updates, it is limiting support in other areas. When customers encounter bugs that affect the Windows 10 version only, Microsoft support will ask the customer to make the switch to Windows 11.

Microsoft limited Office support in the past on Windows systems that ran out of support.

In closing, Microsoft 365 customers may continue to use apps like Word or Excel after support ends. Microsoft will provide security updates for three years, but does not guarantee much besides that.

Now You: do you use Microsoft Office or Microsoft 365? Are you affected by the end of support for Windows 10?

For years, Microsoft has warned Windows 10 customers that the operating system is reaching its end of support in October 2025. Did you know that this is only the cause for specific editions of Windows 10 and that there are numerous other editions that Microsoft will continue to support for years after 2025?

Depending on the Windows 10 edition, support may end in 2026, 2027, 2029, or 2032. That’s right, there is one edition that will receive updates for another 7 years.

The good folks over at Deskmodder have created a list of the different Windows 10 editions and their end of support. Here it is, translated into English:

October 14th, 2025:

• Windows 10 (22H2) Home/Pro
• Windows 10 (22H2) Enterprise and Education
• Windows 10 2015 LTSB (First Windows 10 version)
• Windows 10 IoT Enterprise (First Windows 10 version)
• Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSB 2015 (First Windows 10 version)

October 13th, 2026:

• Windows 10 2016 LTSB
• Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSB 2016

January 12th, 2027

• Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2021

January 9th, 2029

• Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019
• Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2019

January 13th, 2032

• Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021

All listed Enterprise editions will continue to receive support until they reach their end of support date. This means that they do not need ESU, extended security updates, for that.

ESU is only for Windows 10 Home and Pro customers who want to extend support by a year, and for Windows 10 Enterprise or Education customers, who may extend support by up to three years.

Hacks circulated in the past that allowed users of out-of-support operating systems to install updates designed for still-supported versions and editions of the same operating system. It seems likely that hacks will be discovered to allow the same on Windows 10 machines.

Now You: Are you affected by the end of support for Windows 10? If so, what do you plan to do? If not, which operating system do you run on your devices?

Windows 10’s support is going to end in a few months. That is a message that Windows 10 users will see in an ever increasing frequency in the coming months. Note that Microsoft plans to end support for Microsoft 365 apps on Windows 10 on the same day.

Just a few days ago, Microsoft added the information to the official Windows 10 known issues and notifications page.

There, Microsoft writes:

On October 14, 2025, Windows 10 will reach end of support*. After this date, devices running Windows 10 will no longer receive fixes for known issues, time zone updates, technical support, or monthly security and preview updates containing protection from the latest security threats. 

While the information is not new, anyone who follows this blog or any other tech blog must have read about it a dozen times already, it marks the beginning of the final phase in Windows 10’s support lifecycle.

Up until now, Microsoft suggested two courses of action:

• Upgrade the Windows 10 PC to Windows 11, if the upgrade is supported officially.
• Buy a new Windows 11 PC, preferably a Windows 11 Copilot+ PC.

But with this new warning, Microsoft finally added the third official option to the list of recommendations: Extended Security Updates (ESU).

Businesses and end users may purchase a support extension. While end users are limited to a single year, businesses may extend support by up to three years.

Microsoft plans to chargeg $30 for the one-year extension from end users. This may be enough for some, for instance to continue using the Windows 10 PC for just another year before buying a new one or switching to Linux.

Unofficial options are available as well. 0Patch will support Windows 10 with security patches until at least 2030. This costs $30 per year as well and is limited to critical or exploited issues, but it improves security significantly for users who can’t or don’t want to switch to Windows 11 or Linux.

The second option applies a patch so that ESU-updates are installed, even if no ESU subscription is active on the device. If the Windows 7 ESU hack is anything to go by, it will extend support for Windows 10 for many years to come.

There you have it. Expect to see plenty of warnings and announcements in the coming months regarding Windows 10’s end. It is good that Microsoft is finally revealing the ESU option to Windows 10 customers, as it was abesent in previous warnings.

Now You: Do you still run Windows 10 on your devices? If so, what is your plan going forward? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Crapfixer is the latest open source Windows tweaker by serial developer Belim. He calls it “the tool Microsoft would build, if they hated bloatware as much as we do”. I have reviewed several of his tools in the past, including the tweaker TidyOS, the app remover NoBloatBox and the tweaker ThisIsNot11.

The main idea behind Crapfixer is to create a simple tool that gives users control over popular tweaks. These tweaks improve privacy, remove features, or even applications that come preinstalled with the operating system.

With Crapfixer, it is as easy as it gets. Run the program with elevated rights after you have downloaded its 150 kilobyte executable. Windows may throw a SmartScreen warning, which is displayed because the app is new and relatively unknown, not because it is malicious.

The app displays all available tweaks in a sidebar on the left. Hit the analyze button to check if tweaks are already applied. You can uncheck some of the tweaks so that they are not checked by the tool.

Recommended tweaks are marked in red and you may apply them all at once with a click on the CFixer button. It is recommended that you check them first to avoid that a feature is changed or removed that you require.

As far as tweaks are concerned, you find the usual assortment of tweaks supported by the application. From disabling the “First run experience” over “showing full context menus in Windows 11” to disabling Power Throttling and Game DVR.

While the tweaker does not support as many tweaks as WinAero Tweaker, which many consider the richest when it comes to tweaking Windows, it does support major tweaks that you come to expect from an app of its kind. Even new AI tweaks, such as turning off Recall in Windows 11, are supported.

The application is easy to use and the description displayed for each tweak is sufficient in most cases. You can press F1 after selecting a tweak, or right-click and select Help, to display more information. This is usually just a sentence though and may not be enough sometimes to determine its use or usefulness.

CrapFixer features a restore button, which restores functionality. All in all, it is a good tweaker for Windows, but not that special when compared to Belim’s other tools or popular tweakers by other developers. If you have not used a tweaker yet, this could be it. Anyone else may not find much use anymore in that tool.