Category: Windows

Microsoft plans to end support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025. This means that the company won’t release security updates anymore for the operating system for free.

Media outlets will pick this up and some will create sensationalist headlines, for the clicks.

If you run Windows 10 systems, should you be worried about the end of support? The short answer: no you should not.

Here is why: as long as you have a contingency plan, you are good. Any of the following means that you do not really have to worry about end of support:

• You plan to upgrade to Windows 11 before support ends.
• You plan to stay on Windows 10 and pay Microsoft for one/three years of extended security updates.
• You plan to stay on Windows 10 and plan to pay 0Patch for security updates until at least 2030.
• You plan to make the switch to Linux.
• You plan to install ESU security updates without paying Microsoft.
• Your Windows 10 PC has no Internet connection and there is no local danger either.

What may not be such a good idea is to keep on running Windows 10 in an unsupported state.

Yes, there are plenty of good practices to keep a system malware-free, but even if you follow all of them, you risk infections.

In case you wonder, here is a list of these practices:

• Run a good content blocker.
• Keep essential programs such as web browsers up to date.
• Run a good security software.
• Avoid untrustworthy links and file downloads / attachments.

All of these reduce the chance of successful attacks against the system. Still, even with all of that in place, there is a chance that attacks may succeed. Rogue software or browser extension updates are one possibility, but there ise more.

Closing Words

Here is my suggestion: if you need more time, you could subscribe to Microsoft or 0Patch for a year to buy twelve months of extra security updates. You could extend that until at least 2030, as 0Patch promised to support Windows 10 until then at the very least.

The best option for a PC is either Windows 11, if you need Windows, or Linux. Both have advantages and disadvantages.

Windows 11:

• + Supports all apps and games that Windows 10 supports.
• + Easy upgrade, if the PC meets the minimum system requirements.
• + No extra costs for most users.
• – Problematic, if the Windows 10 PC does not meet the system requirements.
• – May not like the direction Windows is heading (regarding ads, AI, and functionality).

Linux:

• + Free and continued support is ensured.
• + Support for apps, games, and hardware is much better than it was five or ten years ago.
• + Privacy and security is much improved.
• – Migration is tricky.
• – It takes time to get used to Linux, even though that is much better than a decade ago.
• – Some apps or games do not work under Linux.

Have anything to add to the list? Feel free to do so in the comments below.

One of the first things that I disable on Windows 11 PCs is the integrated web search. Microsoft merged local and web search in Windows some years ago mostly for its own benefit.

Web search results generate clicks and revenue for Microsoft. For users, they serve little purpose. Often, they tend to get in the way.

In best case, search returns a matching result that the user can click on. The same can be achieved in any web browser with the added benefit of having extensions and access to numerous search engines.

Microsoft may split local and web search

It seems that Microsoft could soon split the two searches in Windows 11.

https://twitter.com/alex290292/status/1866954297369563644

The feature appears to be in testing right now in development builds. With it activated, Windows moves web-based searches into a separate tab in the search interface.

This works similarly to how Windows Search separates different types of search data already. You can switch to content-specific tabs, such as Apps or Documents, to get them returned only.

The change is helpful, as it moves web-based results out of the way and restores the focus on local results.

Deskmodder has tested the feature and published several screenshots of how it looks like.

It should help users who do not know how to modify the settings to disable web search, if it bothers them. Experienced users may still want to turn off web search, provided that they have no use for it.

In case you want to give it a try, do the following:

• Download and unpack the latest version of ViVeTool in a development build of Windows 11.
• Run the command from an elevated Terminal prompt: .\vivetool /enable /id:54865932
• Restart the PC.

Note that you need to run it from the ViVeTool directory. Bing Search / App need to be enabled for the change to become visible on the system.

Do you use Windows Search to search the web? Or do you ignore or disable the feature?

Microsoft introduced the new dedicated Copilot-key for Windows keyboards less than a year ago. Now, the company suggests to remap the key to another function, but only on managed PCs.

Here is a quick refresher: Microsoft announced the Copilot key in January to “kick off the year of AI-powered Windows PCs”. The company even went so far to say that it might have the same impact as the introduction of the Windows key 30 years ago.

A tap on the key opens Copilot. Microsoft did add options to remap the key in Windows 11.

A new blog post on Microsoft’s Windows IT Pro Blog suggests that organizations remap the Copilot key for their users. Instead of launching Copilot, Microsoft suggests to launch the Microsoft 365 app instead, as it gives easier access “to Copilot experiences designed for work and education”.

New PCs and newly provisioned PCs will enable the new mapping of the key automatically. When a user presses the key, Copilot within the Microsoft 365 app opens.

The behavior is different for existing PCs. Microsoft says that the original mapping remains on these devices. In other words, it will open the Copilot app when pressed. This is the default for users who sign in with a Microsoft account. Users who sign in with an Entra account will be redirected to the Microsoft Copilot experience on the web instead.

Microsoft recommends that Enterprise customers configure policies to remap the Copilot key to launch the Microsoft 365 app. The app is preinstalled on all Windows 11 PCs according to Microsoft.

Microsoft even recommends uninstalling the Copilot app to “avoid confusion for employees”.

Closing Words

How useful is the Copilot key? Compared to the Windows-key, it offers little use. Press it and Copilot opens. You can achieve the same with a click on the Copilot icon.

Now, Microsoft is already suggesting to the Enterprise to remap it. It is doubtful that the Copilot key will be a smash hit going forward, unless Microsoft starts to add more features to it.

Now it is your turn. Copilot key yay or nay? Is it useful, at least for users who use Copilot regularly on Windows? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Remember suggested actions? Microsoft introduced the feature in mid-2022 in Insider builds of Windows 11 and rolled it out to stable systems later on.

The core idea behind the feature was simple: highlight certain text in Windows and the operating system suggests actions based on the highlighted string. Highlight a phone number and you get a call option. Select date or time, and you get an option to add an event to a calendar.

That is all there was to it and Microsoft did not improve the feature since its introduction. Microsoft never added support for additional types of data. No email or physical addresses to write to or look up, no chat names, or anything else that might come to mind.

Suggested actions are out

Today, Microsoft added suggested actions to the list of deprecated features. The company writes:

Suggested actions that appear when you copy a phone number or future date in Windows 11 are deprecated and will be removed in a future Windows 11 update.

Deprecated features remain in Windows for the time being but will be removed eventually. Features that are put on the list do not receive major updates anymore and it is very rare for a feature to be taken off the list.

In other words: expect suggested actions to be removed in a future update for Windows 11.

Is it a big loss? I disabled the feature on all systems and do not know anyone who found it useful. Yes, chance is that some users found it useful.

Considering that it saves you a few clicks at most, provided that the programs that you use to call or plan events are supported, it is probably a minority of users that will miss it.

Tip: you can check out this guide on Ghacks to find out how to turn off suggested actions in Windows.

Closing Words

When Microsoft announced suggested actions, I did not really see a big use case for it. Phone names and date / time strings support limited it from the get-go and it saved users just a few clicks in the best case. Usage must have been low, as Microsoft never improved the original feature.

Now it is your turn. Did you use suggested actions? Or did you disable it or never even realize that it was there in first place?

Windows 11 PCs with certain Ubisoft games installed won’t receive the upgrade offer to Windows 11, version 24H2 anymore at the time of writing.

Related content:

Windows 11 24H2: Firmware update addresses crash issue for Western Digital and Sandisk SSD

Microsoft confirmed the new issue and has put a compatibility hold in place that prevent Windows Update from offering the upgrade on affected machines.

Here is the list of affected games:

• Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
• Assassin’s Creed Origins
• Assassin’s Creed Odyseey
• Star Wars Outlaws
• Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora

Microsoft says that players may experience issues with these games on devices running the latest version of Windows.

In particular, Microsoft mentions the following symptoms:

• Games may become unresponsive while starting, loading or during active gameplay.
• Users may see a black screen.

Games may need to be ended through the Task Manager in some cases. This is Microsoft’s workaround if the issue is encountered.

1. Open Task Manager. This can be accomplished by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc on your keyboard. Alternatively, you can right-click on the Start button and select Task Manager from the menu.
2. In the Task Manager window, look for your game in the Processes tab. It might be listed under the name of the game or the game launcher.
3. Click on the game’s name to highlight it. Then, click the End Task button at the bottom right of the window. This will close the game.

Note about compatibility holds: Microsoft uses these to block updates via some update management systems. These won’t prevent direct upgrades, for instance by using Windows 11 installation media. They also do not protect against changes that occur after the affected version of Windows is installed.

Plenty of Windows 11, 24H2 issues

Microsoft confirmed another four issues this month alone. Two of these have been resolved, one mitigated at the time of writing.

The last issue standing affects standalone USB scanners that support the eScanner Communication Language (eSCL) scan protocol. These may not be discovered correctly by the Windows system.

Microsoft has not published a workaround for the issue at the time.

Do you run Windows 11, or Windows 11, version 24H2? Did you run into any issues? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Microsoft has announced Administrator protection for Windows 11. The new security feature aims to improve security on Windows 11 devices by changing certain actions that require elevation are carried out and handled.

For users, it means that they need to authorize elevated actions using Windows Hello. Depending on how that is set up, it may require entering the device PIN, using biometric authentication, or other means available on the device.

The core changes happen in the background. When a user signs in to Windows, that user is assigned what Microsoft calls a deprivileged user token. When admin privileges are needed, for instance when installing software, Windows will request authorization from the user using Windows Hello.

When the user does so, Windows “uses a hidden, system-generated, profile-separated user account to create an isolated admin token”. This token is “issued to the requesting process and is destroyed once the process ends”.

In other words, the admin privileges do not persist on the system, but end with the execution of the task that requested them.

The following illustration visualizes the process.

Microsoft lists the following benefits of Administrator protection:

• Improved security by requiring explicit authorization for “every administrative task”.
• Users may manage admin rights by granting or restricting “access granularly to individual apps”.
• Malware that is designed to acquire administrative privileges silently is blocked.

Managing Administrator protection

It appears that Administrator protection is disabled by default. Microsoft explains how administrators may enable the new protection.

It is located under Windows Security > Account protection. There, administrators may toggle Administrator protection to turn the feature on (or off). A restart of the device is required.

There is also a new policy under Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies > Security Options.

• Double-click on User Account Control: Configure type of Admin Approval Mode.
• Change the Local Security Setting to “Admin Approval Mode with Administrator protection”. This enables the feature.

Closing Words

Administrator protection is an optional feature it appears. This means that it won’t be enabled on most home systems any time soon.

The feature improves security against certain types of malware, but it makes certain operations cumbersome. It remains to be seen how well the Windows 11 community will react to the feature.

Would you enable Administrator protection, if it would be available on your system? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Windows supports hundreds of different keyboard shortcuts. Some of them basic, like pressing the Windows-key to open the Start menu. Others more advanced, like pressing Ctrl-Shift-Esc to open the Task Manager.

Not all shortcuts are equally useful. While usefulness depends somewhat on how you use Windows, some shortcuts are certainly more useful than others.

The following shortcuts are the ones that I use most often. They save me a lot of time on my day to day work.

The timesavers

Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V

The shortcut pair copies and pastes your selections. This works in Explorer with files and folders, but also for text and anything else that you may select.

• Ctrl-C — Copies the selection to the Clipboard.
• Ctrl-V — Pastes the Clipboard entry into the active application.

Windows-I

The shortcut opens the Settings on Windows 10 or 11 machines directly.

Windows-X

The “secret” menu opens when you use the shortcut. It displays a number of links to admin tools such as the Device Manager, Network settings, and more.

Windows-[left or right]-arrow

The shortcut snaps the active window to the left or the right side of the screen. Useful to display two apps or windows side-by-side in a matter of seconds.

Ctrl-S

To quickly save content. Most programs that support save operations support this. You can use it in an image or text editor to quickly save content, and in many other apps as well.

Ctrl-P

To print a document, image, or other content quickly. The shortcut opens the print dialog right away.

The superfluous shortcuts

The next two shortcuts are not really that useful, as you can use quicker actions for the same effect.

Ctrl-Esc

The keyboard shortcut opens the Start menu on Windows. There is not really a need for this shortcut, as you can also press the Windows-key, which is faster.

Windows-S

This particular shortcut opens the search interface. It is not really needed either, as you can also search when you open the Start menu. So, pressing Windows and starting to type the search term should be sufficient for most users and most cases.

Now You: do you have shortcuts that you use regularly? Feel free to share them in the comment section below.