Category: Windows

Microsoft is removing this category from the official Store

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

I do not know a single Windows user who is using the Microsoft Store regularly. Microsoft has not revealed how successful the store is, which likely means that it is not successful enough to boast about it.

The company has tried various changes in the past. A recent change, announced at the end of last year, is being removed again already.

Arcade, or Arcade Games, was an attempt to replicate functionality known from mobile stores. It allows customers to play games instantly without installing them first.

Related article:

Looking for Windows Wallpapers? Microsoft has a download site for them

The idea is not bad: give customers an option to try a game for free. This allows them to test the game to see if they like it. If they do, they install the game and can continue playing.

The idea suffered from a lackluster implementation:

  • The listing includes about 50 games only.
  • It lacked a stream of fresh, new games.
  • The games were very basic for the most part.

When you open the Arcade section in the Microsoft Store, you may notice an announcement at the top. It informs you that the section is being removed today from the Store.

It is easy to overlook, as the title “Play free games with no download” makes no mention of the closure of the section.

The games remain available, but you need to download them before you may start playing. This should not be much of a problem, as most of the games appear relatively small in size and functionality.

Closing Words

Arcade seemingly did not have the effect that Microsoft hoped it would have. The same can probably be said for the Microsoft Store, but it is nowadays also used to update apps installed by default on Windows devices.

Now You: have you tried the Microsoft Store in recent time? Maybe even downloaded a game or app? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

How to remove “OneDrive” from the Windows 11 Explorer menu

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft introduced a new File Explorer context menu in Windows 11. This streamlined menu replaced the classic menu by default, but users can still open it from the new context menu or by holding down the Shift-key before they right-click.

Windows 11 has been around for a few years now, and some Windows 11 users may have noticed that the new context menu has grown in size since then. This is understandable to a degree. Third-party app developers learned how to add entries to the new menu so that links to their apps were shown directly to users.

Good to know:

Fixing OneDrive’s “Creating shareable link…” error loop that never ends

Microsoft did add a fair share of items to the context menu as well. You may notice a OneDrive folder, a Share with Skype option, an Edit with Notepad option for any file type and more there now.

Chance is, you may not need all of them. This guide explains how to remove the OneDrive entry.

Tip: you can remove the apps, if you do not use them, to get rid of the context menu items. If you do use them, you may follow the guide to remove them while leaving the apps untouched.

Remove OneDrive from Windows 11’s context menu

  1. Open the Start menu.
  2. Type regedit.exe and press the Enter-key
  3. Select Yes to continue.
  4. Paste HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell Extensions\Blocked into the Path at the top and press the Enter-key.
  5. Right-click on Blocked.
  6. Select New > String value.
  7. Name it {1FA0E654-C9F2-4A1F-9800-B9A75D744B00}.
  8. Double-click on the value.
  9. Set its name to OneDrive.

The change takes effect on the next restart. You may also log off and then on again, or restart the explorer.exe process.

The OneDrive listing should no longer be visible in the context menu afterwards. Note that this does not impact any other OneDrive functionality on the device. Also note that this applies only to the user account under which the change was made.

Now You: how do you handle context menu entries that you do not need? Do you remove them to streamline the context menu or keep and ignore them? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Microsoft to manipulate Mail and Calendar in Windows so that they become unusable in 2025

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

In less than two months, Microsoft will manipulate Windows Mail and Calendar on Windows systems so that they stop working. Microsoft announced the change, in less drastic words, in an update to the Outlook for Windows support page.

There, Microsoft writes:

Support for Windows Mail, Calendar, and People will end on December 31, 2024. We’re currently in the process of moving existing users to the new Outlook for Windows. After December 31, 2024, users will no longer be able to send and receive email using Windows Mail and Calendar.

The change is a culmination of Microsoft’s decision to create and push a new Outlook application to all users. Microsoft confirms that it is migrating users to the new Outlook for Windows.

Microsoft is not shy to point out the benefits and features of the new Outlook. Not all of them are unique or new though.

  • Use AI to “write better emails”.
  • Free and no subscription nedded.
  • Access all your emails in one location.
  • Organize appointments “in one click.
  • Feel secure.
  • Use Microsoft 365 free on the web and “with the click of a button”.
  • Stay organized thanks to universal search and more.
  • Unify accounts.

Not everyone is happy

Part of the userbase sees the change critically, as the new Outlook lacks some features of the classic Mail and Calendar app. On top of that, it has other deficiencies as well.

Users who miss the date may still export their data to the new Outlook, according to Microsoft. They may use the toggle under Settings > General > About Outlook in the new Outlook app to go back to the Outlook for Windows app. The limitations still apply though.

Those who are not satisfied with the new Outlook for Windows app may also switch to another email client. Thunderbird, the open source client that recently got its own Android version, comes to mind.

There are others and most allow you to import data from other clients.

Note: The change does not affect the classic Outlook application for Windows at this point. Microsoft stated in the past already, however, that it will put the classic Outlook to rest as well eventually.

Windows Mail was the default free email client of Windows for several years. The total number of users who use it is unclear, as Microsoft has never revealed usage numbers.

Have you tried the new Outlook for Windows? What is your take on this change? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Windows Updates Viewer

Windows Update Viewer: little helper app for Windows admins

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Windows Update Viewer is an open source application for Windows that serves a number of purposes all around updates in Windows.

The application is free to use and available as a portable version and as an installer. It displays all installed updates on the Windows system when you run it.

Note that it is a .NET application, which means that you need .NET 8 installed on the system to run it.

More on the Topic:

How to disable driver updates via Windows Update

Each update is listed with its ID, date and time of installation, result and title. You may sort the listing by clicking on a header.

When you select an update, you get a wealth of information:

  • ID, date and time of installation, title, and result as before.
  • The update description.
  • Operation.
  • Status.
  • Result code.
  • Support URL.
  • Update ID.
  • Windows Event Log details.

The one that stands out is the information that it pulls from the event log. The updates history that Windows itself provides does not provide the information in a single place. You have to open the Event Viewer to look them up.

Here, you get all the information in one place. Find out why an update refused to install on the Windows device by looking at the provided logs.

The link to the support URL is also handy, as you can follow it to check out what the update is all about or if it has any known issues.

Other than that, Windows Update Viewer includes a filter list to hide certain entries. Defender updates are not shown by default. You can change that, or add any other term to the filter list to block it from appearing in the table.

Closing Words

Windows Update Viewer is one of those handy free apps that make the life of administrators easier. It is great for quickly looking up information about updates, especially those that failed to install.

Do you use software to manage updates on Windows machines? Feel free to leave a comment or a suggestion below.

Looking for Windows Wallpapers? Microsoft has a download site for them

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Wallpapers are a great way to customize your Windows PCs or any other device. Most devices come with a default set of wallpapers, but these are usually fairly limited.

On Windows, you get a few choices and may also download wallpapers from the Internet or the Microsoft Store.

A third option is provided by Microsoft’s official Design website. The Wallpapers section there hosts plenty of official Windows wallpapers and them some.

Want some examples? Microsoft Create, 10th Anniversary Windows Insider Program, Windows 11 Themes, Windows Dev Home, and a lot more.

The downloads contain just the wallpapers. Not all of them are for Windows apparently. When I downloaded the Design Week wallpaper package, I got smartphone wallpapers.

The tenth year anniversary of the Windows Insider program contained Windows wallpapers for regular and wide screen monitors.

There is no option to find out what each package contains. Microsoft does not provide any information on that. This is problematic, as you may be downloading packages that you cannot really use.

Many other wallpaper sites do that better, as they provide information about resolutions as well as filters to limit results to matching wallpapers.

Still, the site is free and interesting especially for users who saw a wallpaper in one of Microsoft’s presentations or teasers.

All in all, nice that Microsoft is offering these as free downloads for all users. You do not need a specific version of Windows to download these. If you run Linux, a Mac, or another device, you can download these as well.

What is your take on wallpapers? Download new ones regularly? Maybe even run software that downloads and sets wallpapers automatically? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Windows 11: Enhance Pointer Precision explained

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Windows 11 and previous versions use the mouse feature Enhance Pointer Precision by default. This guide helps you understand what the feature does and why, in some cases, it may be better turned off.

What is Enhance Pointer Precision? Put simply, it is designed to improve the accuracy of slow mouse moves.

Maybe you have tried to target a very specific pixel on the screen. Say, a smaller than usual scrollbar, a button or link that is tiny, or anything else that needs precise movements.

Enhance Pointer Precision makes “the pointer work more accurately when you’re moving the mouse slowly” according to Microsoft.

While that may be useful in some cases, it can introduce problems in certain apps or games. Take first-person shooter games as an example. You need to be precise in them, but mouse movement is often rapid.

If you do not want Windows 11 to apply its pointer precision algorithm in those cases, you may turn it off.

Turning off Enhance Pointer Precision

You may toggle the mouse preference in the Settings app. Here is how that is done:

  1. Open the Start menu.
  2. Launch the Settings app from it.
    • Tip: you may use the shortcut Windows-I to launch the Settings app.
  3. Go to Bluetooth & devices > Mouse.
  4. Set Enhance Pointer Precision to Off to disable the feature.

Chance is, you may not see a difference right away. It depends on several factors, including the mouse and its movement.

Tip: you may want to test the change. If you ran into issues with the mouse in certain apps or games, launch those and start tests.

You can undo the change at any time by setting the preference to On again.

Registry offers more control

You may also modify the relevant settings in the Windows Registry. While most users may not need to do so, it is offering more options.

Here is an overview of the available keys:

  • MouseThreshold1 — If mouse movement exceeds this value, cursor speed is doubled.
  • MouseThreshold2 – If mouse movement exceeds this value, cursor speed is quadrupled.
  • MouseSpeed — The speed of the mouse cursor.

The two threshold values need to be higher than the value of MouseSpeed.

Here is how you change those values

  1. Open the Start menu.
  2. Type regedit.exe and press the Enter-key.
  3. Confirm the security prompt by selecting Yes.
  4. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Mouse.
  5. Double-click on MouseSpeed, MouseThreshold1, and MouseThreshold2 respectively to change the values.
  6. To turn Enhance Pointer Precision off, set all values to 0.
    • To enable the feature again, set the values to 1, 6, and 10.

Tip: you can experiment with different values to see if the adjusted parameters work for your use cases.

WinDirStat Interface

WinDirStat: a new version is out 19 years after its last stable release

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

If you have been using Windows computers for at least 2 decades, you may still remember the open source app WinDirStat.

WinDirstat, in a nutshell, visualizes disk usage and supports cleanup operations. Programs like it, or my current favorite WizTree, are helpful in detecting large files and folders.

The programs are useful especially when it comes to cleaning up disk space. If your disk space is running low, these programs may help you find large files or lots of smaller files that you do not need anymore.

Something like a downloaded Windows ISO image or a 4K test movie for example.

19 years later: a new version is released

A new version of the open source tool is now available. While WinDirStat 2.0.1 has been released 19 years after the previous version, it did not took 19 years to develop the new version.

A new developer offered to help last year and the new version is the result of the involvement.

As you can imagine, the new version had a lot of catching up to do. The official changelog reflects that. There is now an official native 64-bit version and a native ARM version. The installer is now using MSI, and compatibility with all recent and not so recent versions of Windows is guaranteed.

Next to these architectural changes, there are plenty of functional changes.

Here is a short list of important improvements:

  • Multiple items can now be selected, e.g. for cleaning or moving.
  • Scan results can be exported as CSV files.
  • Full Explorer context menu now available.
  • Support for long file names.
  • Duplicate file finder supports file hashes now.
  • Improved resolution scaling.

Note: I encountered an issue while running the program. It reported a total disk size of 202.1 TB on the main drive of the laptop I ran it on. This drive has an actual size of just 1 TB. It only reported the physical size incorrectly. The logical size was correctly displayed.

The program is easy to use. While it does not scan drives as fast as WizTree, it does so reasonably fast.

The main interface uses three panes. The first displays folders and files, the second file extensions, and the third a visual representation of the space.

You can use the options menu to hide some of the panes. A click on a folder expands it and shows subfolders and files that it contains. Each folder is listed with its size and number of files.

It is relatively easy to spot large folders and files. The program lacks an option to display the largest files though, which may make the process a bit cumbersome.

You may delete files right away or use the cleanup menu, which offers various options.

Closing Words

It is good to see that WinDirStat has been revived from the dead. While I still prefer WizTree, as it is faster and has better functionality, it is a solid alternative.

Do you use disk space analyzers? If so, which is your favorite and why? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

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

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

News about BlueScreen crashes on Western Digital or Sandisk SSD systems broke shortly after Microsoft’s release of Windows 11, version 24H2.

Affected user systems crashed regularly after the upgrade to the new version of Windows 11. Users started to collect information about the issue and even suggested a fix that involved making an edit to the Registry.

Microsoft, in the meantime, added an upgrade block for systems with affected hardware. This block prevents the upgrade to Windows 11, version 24H2 via Windows Update.

The block did not help users who upgraded already. Some downgraded their systems to resolve the issue, others applied the Registry fix.

Firmware Update

Western Digital and SanDisk have released a firmware update for affected storage devices that resolves the issue.

A page on the official SanDisk support website provides the details.

Note: it is recommended to back up important data before you apply firmware updates to storage devices. A BlueScreen crash during the process could corrupt the device and make the data unreadable.

In a nutshell:

  1. Download the Wester Digital Dashboard software using the provided links on the website.
  2. Run the downloaded application.
  3. Select the install button to install the application on the device.
  4. Keep “launch dashboard” checked and activate the finish button.
  5. Select the Tools section.
  6. Click on Update Firmware and then on proceed.
  7. Activate shutdown now at the end of the process.
  8. Power the computer on again.

The new firmware is now installed on the device and the crashes should be a thing of the past.

Affected Western Digital and SanDisk devices

The following Solid State Drives are affected by the issue:

NameModel Number Starting WithUpdated Firmware Version
WD_BLACK SN770 NVMe SSD 2TBWDBBDL0020BNC, WDS200T3X0E731130WD
WD_BLACK SN770M NVMe SSD 2TBWDBDNH0020BBK, WDS200T3X0G731130WD
WD Blue SN580 NVMe SSD 2TBWDBWMY0020BBL, WDS200T3B0E281050WD
WD Blue SN5000 NVMe SSD 2TBWDBS3F0020BNC, WDS200T4B0E291020WD
SanDisk Extreme M.2 NVMe SSD 2TBSDSSDX3N-2T00
Copilot key laptops

Windows 11 24H2: Microsoft confirms Asus Bluescreen issue

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft confirmed three more issues that affect devices that are upgraded to Windows 11 version 24H2.

Probably the most severe of the lot is the issue that may cause a BlueScreen error during the upgrade from earlier versions of Windows 11.

Here are the details:

  • Some Asus devices, including 415KA and X515KA models, are affected.
  • The upgrade does not complete and may result in a BlueScreen error.
  • The issue is linked to “certain hardware components” used in affected models.

Microsoft is blocking (some?) Asus devices from upgrading to Windows 11, version 24H2 using a compatibility hold. This feature blocks the upgrade on the devices, but only when Windows Update is used.

Microsoft recommends that device administrators do not attempt to install the update manually, for instance by using the Windows 11 Installation Assistant or Installation media.

Two additional issues confirmed

Microsoft confirmed two additional issues. These are:

  • Voicemeter app may close unexpectedly and throw a BlueScreen error that may highlight a memory management error. Link
  • Camera use may cause some apps to become unresponsive. This may happen if object or face detection features are enabled. Link

A compatibility hold is now in effect for both issues. While it is easy enough to identify devices with Voicemeter, Microsoft does not reveal which devices are affected by the camera issue.

Administrators are asked not to upgrade to Windows 11, version 24H2 using any other method while Microsoft is investigating and creating patches to address the issues.

Closing Words

Microsoft confirmed several issues affecting Windows 11, version 24H2 already. It is possible that some of these will get resolved when the optional update for the operating system gets released later this month.

On a personal note, I did not experience any issues on a test system that I upgraded to Windows 11, version 24H2.

What about you? Did you upgrade a device to the latest Windows 11 version already? How did it go? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Western Digital users report BlueScreens on Windows 11 24H2 (workaround)

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Reports suggest that some Wester Digital users have problems with Bluescreens on devices with Windows 11 version 24H2.

Microsoft has not acknowledged the issue yet, but reports from the official Western Digital forum suggest that there is indeed an issue.

The post Windows 24H2 + WD = blue screens has 52 replies at the time of writing. It states that “multiple users are having issues with constant blue screens since updating to Windows 24H2”.

Multiple storage devices and firmware versions appear affected. To name the two mentioned the most:

  • WD SN770
  • WD SN580

The Event Viewer shows two related errors:

  • stornvme (this is the system-supplied storage miniport driver.
  • The driver detected a controller error on \Device\RaidPort1 or 2.

Some users rolled back to Windows 11 version 23H2 stating that this has resolved the issue.

Workaround for BlueScreen issues

Note that the workaround requires editing of the Registry. It is recommended to create a system backup, for instance using Paragon Backup & Recovery Free, before making changes to the system.

  1. Open Start.
  2. Type regedit.exe
  3. Select Registry Editor.
  4. Confirm the security prompt.
  5. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorPort.
  6. Right-click on HMBAllocationPolicy and set the value to 0.
  7. If HMBAllocationPolicy does not exist, right-click on StorPort and select New > Dword (32-bit) Value.
  8. Restart the PC.

This should fix the BlueScreens. Some users have reported performance issues after the reboot. Some have set that setting the value to 2 improved the performance on their devices.

The policy supports the following values:

  • 0 — HMB is disabled.
  • 1 — HMB is set to 8 MB buffer.
  • 2 — HMB is set to 64 MB buffer.
  • 3 — firmware controlled buffer size.

You may need to play around with these values to see which works best on your end.

Which hard drives do you use in your PCs? Do you have a Western Digital drive and are affected by the issue? Feel free to leave a comment down below. (via Deskmodder)