How to block Windows 10 from restarting automatically after updates

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft configured non-managed Windows 10 systems to restart automatically after the installation of updates. This can be a huge problem for users. If you run certain processes or have important apps up and running, Windows 10 may restart regardless of that.

This happens after a certain inactivity period. Sometimes, this may result in users losing access to work or being thrown out of games or other apps. While some may reload, like Office apps, others may not reload to the state they were in prior to the initialization of the restart.

The following sections offer step-by-step instructions to stop Windows 10 from restarting the system automatically after the installation of updates.

Stop automatic restarts using the Group Policy Editor

Windows 10 prevent automatic restarts after installation of Windows updates

Note: the Group Policy Editor is only available for Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions. In other words, it is not available for Home editions. Please skip this section and check the Registry section below for instructions to enable the same policy on Home devices.

  1. Open the Start Menu.
  2. Type gpedit.msc and select Edit Group Policy from the results. This opens the Group Policy Editor.
  3. Follow the folder structure on the left and go to: Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update.
  4. Double-click on No auto-restart with logged on users for scheduled automatic updates installations.
  5. Set the policy to Enabled.
  6. Select OK.
  7. Double-click on Configure Automatic Updates under the same Windows Update folder.
  8. Set the policy to Enabled.
  9. Set the policy to Auto download and schedule the install.
  10. Click ok.

Tip: you can also set the second policy to Notify for download and auto install to prevent any automatic downloads of updates or installations of updates.

Stop automatic reboots using the Registry

Stop automatic reboots Windows Update
  1. Open the Start menu.
  2. Type regedit.msc and select Registry Editor.
  3. Confirm the UAC prompt, if it is displayed.
  4. Go to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU.
  5. If a key does not exist, right-click on the previous key and select New > Key. Name it accordingly.
  6. Right-click on AU and select New > Dword (32-bit) Value. Repeat the steps six times:
    • Name the first AUOptions. Double-click and set its value to 4.
    • Name the second NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers. Double-click on it and sets its value to 1.
    • Name the third NoAutoUpdate. Double-click on it and set its value to 0.
    • Name the fourth ScheduledInstallDay. Double-click on it and set its value to 0.
    • Name the fifth ScheduledInstallEveryWeek. Double-click on it and set its value to 1.
    • Name the sixth ScheduledInstallTime. Double-click on it and set its value to 3.
  7. Close the Registry Editor.
  8. Restart the PC.

How do you handle updates on Windows devices?

Download Windows ISO images

How to download Windows ISO images (Stable or Insider)

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

You have several options when it comes to downloading Windows ISO images. From downloading them from Microsoft using the Media Creation Tool to using tools such as Rufus to download them.

One of the easiest options to get the latest Insider or Stable ISO images is to use UUP Dump.

It supports:

  • All Windows releases: Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server.
  • All Windows channels: Public Release, Release Preview, Beta, Dev and Canary.
  • Several Windows editions: Home and Pro
  • All architectures: x64 and ARM64
  • All supported languages.

Here is how it works

  1. Open the UUP Dump website in your browser of choice.
  2. Use
    • Search to find a specific build.
    • Quick Options to get the latest build of a specific channel.
    • Recently added builds to see the latest releases.
  3. Select the desired language and click next.
  4. Select the desired edition, e.g., Windows Home and Pro, and click next.
  5. Make sure download method is set to download and convert to ISO.
  6. Check conversion options:
    • Include updates.
    • Run component cleanup.
    • Integrate .NET Framework 3.5.
    • Use solid (ESD) compression.
  7. Select create download package.
  8. Pick a local folder and select save to download the ZIP archive to the local system.
  9. Right-click on the download ZIP file and load the properties.
  10. Select the unblock option and click ok to proceed.
  11. Extract the ZIP archive.
  12. Modify CustomAppsList.txt to select the Microsoft Store apps that you want installed when using the ISO image. Add # in front to block installation and remove # to include the installation.
  13. Run uup_download_windows.cmd to start the process.
  14. Note that Windows may throw a SmartScreen warning.
  15. The process may take quite some time. Wait until you get the notification that you may press 0 to exit.
  16. The ISO image should now be inside the folder.

That is all to it.

Have you downloaded Windows ISO images recently?

Windows create archives compress to

Windows 11 supporting 7z and Tar creation is a good thing, but you should not be using it

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft has added support for extracting archive formats and creating ZIP archives in its Windows operating system. This is a useful feature, as it allows users to manage several popular archive formats without installation of third-party software.

If you encounter archives occasionally, say once a month, then it is usually easier to use the built-in functionality than third-party tools.

Now, Microsoft is working on bringing support to create 7-Zip and Tar archives to Windows 11. This works identical to creating zip archives.

Just right-click on and select the “compress to” option to see a list of all available archive formats. Pick the one you want and Windows will compress the selection of files to the format.

The three supported formats increase the usefulness of the feature. While Windows continues to lack support for creating other popular formats, such as Rar or Gz, adding native support for more formats is still welcome.

Third-party archive software is superior

While it is great that Windows is getting support for extracting and creating archives, most users may want to use third-party software still.

The main reason is performance. Extracting archives with Windows’ built-in extraction feature is much slower. Similarly, creating archives using Windows’ built-in compress to functionality is also much slower.

This is true for any of the supported formats. It can takes minutes longer to extract an archive using the Windows functionality. Might not be such a big problem if the functionality is needed rarely, but if you happen to extract or compress regularly, you should use third-party software such as 7-Zip or WinRAR to do so.

Closing Words

All in all, it is still a good feature addition to Windows. It improves handling of archives right out of the box. Still, most users should install third-party archive software to manage archives on Windows.

What about you? Do you use archive software? If so which and why this particular piece?

About Microsoft PC Manager suggesting to reset Edge to use Bing Search

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Over the last couple of days, a story about Microsoft PC Manager suggesting to reset the default search engine of Microsoft Edge to Bing made the rounds.

While I’m usually critical when Microsoft is introducing new ads on Windows or trying to persuade users to use its products, I think this new attempt is blown out of proportion.

Before you start asking how much Microsoft paid me for that opinion, hear me out.

Microsoft PC Manager

PC Manager Edge reset Search Bing

Microsoft PC Manager is available in select regions only. Created by a Microsoft team in China, it is added to Chinese Windows systems from this month onward.

The tool has a couple of options. Notable are PC boost, which tries to reduce memory usage and the space that temporary files occupy. There is also an option to manage some startup items, processes, or run a deep clean operation to free up more space.

It is a basic tool, but some users may find it useful. One of the features of PC Manager is that it can show tips to the user. These tips are also basic. One of them checks the default search engine of Microsoft Edge. If it is not Bing Search, PC Manager will suggest resetting it as a tip.

While it can be seen as yet another attempt from Microsoft to get users to use Bing Search, it can be helpful as well. The case here is if a malicious software has changed the search engine in Edge.

Yes, it does not happen as often anymore as five or so years ago, but there is still a chance of that happening.

Edge users who have changed the default search engine can also ignore the suggestion easily. While I agree that putting this as a repair tip stretches the definition of repair in many cases, it is still not as problematic as resetting search providers automatically after the installation of updates or showing annoying notifications if you happen to use the “wrong” browser.

In worst case, users select the option to have the search engine in Edge reset to Bing. It takes a couple of clicks to change the search engine again.

Closing Words

Better tools exist to handle what PC Manager offers. It is a Microsoft app, on the other hand, which may appeal to users who were burned by other booster apps or optimization apps.

All in all, it is often better not to use apps like PC Manager. Most functionality is manageable elsewhere better. For startup items, use Autoruns. For storage, try BleachBit. For processes, try the Windows Task Manager or Process Explorer.

What is your take on this? Have you used Edge or Bing Search recently?

Enable Device Bound Session Credentials in Google Chrome

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Google is working on removing support for third-party cookies in Google Chrome. Cookies continue to be of use, for instance to save preference or as session cookies.

In an effort to make cookies more resilient to attacks, especially stealing, Google started to integrate Device Bound Session Credentials into Chromium.

The main idea here is to bind cookies to a specific device so that attackers who steal it cannot use them.

One of the main threats of cookie stealing is that malware actors may access accounts online without authentication.

Google explains how the feature works:

By binding authentication sessions to the device, DBSC aims to disrupt the cookie theft industry since exfiltrating these cookies will no longer have any value. We think this will substantially reduce the success rate of cookie theft malware. Attackers would be forced to act locally on the device, which makes on-device detection and cleanup more effective, both for anti-virus software as well as for enterprise managed devices.

Note: the feature is still in a prototype stage in Chrome. Google said in April 2024 that it is experimenting with protecting Google accounts in Chrome Beta currently.

How to enable Device Bound Session Credentials in Chrome

Chrome Device Bound Session Credentials

Google Chrome users may enable the feature in their browser already. It is an experimental feature at this stage, which means that it needs to be enabled separately.

Device Bound Session Credentials

Enables Google session credentials binding to cryptographic keys that are practically impossible to extract from the user device. This will mostly prevent the usage of bound credentials outside of the user device. – Mac, Windows, Linux

Here is how that is done:

  1. Load chrome://flags/#enable-bound-session-credentials in the browser’s address bar.
  2. Change the status of the flag to enabled.
  3. Restart Google Chrome.

The security feature is enabled automatically at this point. You can revert the change at any time by changing the status to Default.

Adobe Acrobat

Disable Make Adobe Acrobat your default PDF app on Windows

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

If you have installed Adobe Acrobat on Windows devices, you may receive regular notifications to make it the default PDF viewer on the system. This happens only if Adobe Acrobat is not set as the default PDF application on Windows.

Microsoft Edge is the default PDF viewer by default on Windows systems.

Tip: you can disable Rewrite with Copilot in Microsoft Edge to remove that annoying popup.

The notification reads: “Make Adobe Acrobat your default PDF app. Easily view, comment on PDFs, and more when you select Adobe Acrobat as your default viewer for PDF files.”.

Make Adobe Acrobat your default PDF app

Adobe’s support website has a support page about the prompt, or better, disabling the prompt. Problem is, it explains how this is done for an older version of the notification and only when launching Adobe Acrobat.

The actual Adobe Acrobat prompt has three main controls:

  • Set as default — which starts the process of making Adobe Acrobat the default PDF viewer on the Windows system.
  • The x-icon — which closes the notification.
  • The three-dots-icon — to turn off all notifications for Adobe Acrobat or open the notifications settings of the operating system.

How to disable the Adobe Acrobat prompt

Apart from making Acrobat the default PDF viewer, your best option is to activate the three-dots icon and select turn off all notifications for Adobe Acrobat.

Turn of all notifications for Adobe Acrobat

Note that Adobe suggests a different solution on the support page. The main difference is that Adobe’s provides a solution for the message when Adobe Acrobat is started, and not for the Windows notification.

Still, if you want to disable it as well, you may do so in the Windows Registry:

  1. Open the Start menu.
  2. Type regedit.exe and select Registry Editor.
  3. Confirm the UAC prompt that is shown.
  4. Go to Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\AVAlert\cCheckbox.
  5. Double-click on iAppDoNotTakePDFOwnershipAtLaunchWin10.
  6. Set its value to 1.

Note: if iAppDoNotTakePDFOwnershipAtLaunchWin10 does not exist, right-click on cCheckbox and select New > Dword (32-bit) Value. Name it accordingly and set its value to 1.

Closing Words

You could also remove Adobe Acrobat, if you do not need it. On most systems, it is installed for a purpose though.

Microsoft Edge

How to disable Rewrite with Copilot in Microsoft Edge

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

When you type in Microsoft Edge, chance is that you may get a Rewrite with Copilot option displayed at times. This option is part of the browser’s writing assistance feature, which is powered by AI.

In essence, it adds Copilot’s creative writing capabilities to text fields in Edge. It works by selecting text in a text field and activating the Rewrite with Copilot option that pops up.

Rewrite with Copilot in Edge

You may also press the shortcut Alt-I after selecting text in Edge to launch Copilot. Edge loads a small Copilot window to display a new version of the selected text.

Rewritten text

Note the scrollbar on the right. Depending on the height of the popup window, controls may not be displayed above the fold. You find options to change the tone, format, or length of Copilot’s creation there.

A click or tap on the replace button replaces the selected text with the newly created one.

An active Internet connection is required for the functionality, as the selected text is transmitted to Microsoft servers for processing.

Some Edge users may find this useful, others may have no use for it. Good news is that it can be turned off, if it is not something that you may want to use.

Here is how that is done.

Disable Rewrite with Copilot in Edge

Microsoft Edge disable writing assistance
  1. Select Menu > Settings, or load edge://settings/ in the address bar directly.
  2. Switch to the Languages submenu.
  3. Scroll down to Writing Assistance and toggle Use Compose (AI-writing) on the web to off.

The change takes effect immediately. A restart of Microsoft Edge is not required. You can restore the feature by setting the preference to on again.

Closing Words

Rewriting can be a useful feature. It is unclear how many Internet users already use AI to modify or even create texts. Clearly, there is the possibility that the feature is misused. In fact, AI is already used by spammers to create websites and fill these with textual content.

Edge users who do not need the rewriting option can turn it off in the preferences of the browser. The same feature is also accessible directly in Copilot. Many AI tools support rewriting text nowadays, including Google Gemini, DeepL, and Claude AI.

Microsoft introduced a range of features in Edge recently. From Search Suggestions in Edge’s titlebar to an upcoming RAM limiter feature.

Have you tried Edge recently?

Windows 11 Snipping Tool Bing

Windows 11 Snipping Tool is getting Bing search option

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

The Windows Snipping Tool is a good screenshot tool that covers a lot of use cases already. While third-party screenshot tools, including PicPick or ShareX, are usually better, the Snipping Tool is sufficient for many Windows users.

Microsoft is testing a new feature integration in the Snipping Tool currently. It integrates Bing into the tool. More precisely, it adds an option to run a visual search for content displayed by the Snipping Tool.

To use it, you select Menu > Visual Search with Bing. This opens the Bing search results for the displayed content.

You can give it a try right away. Just visit Bing Images and select the “search using an image” option on the webpage.

Here, you may upload an image or select one of the sample images displayed by Visual Search.

The feature identifies objects and people. Multiple identified objects are selectable and the search results reflect the selection. It is also possible to highlight a specific part of an image to get related content and information about it.

This is the latest in a series of new features that Microsoft baked into the Snipping Tool. Recent additions include support for text recognition among other features.

Visual Search using Copilot

Windows Copilot may display information about the active image on the Windows system. You can upload any image to Copilot or allow Copilot to access Clipboard images.

You’d have to copy the image to the clipboard first, which many screenshot tools support.

The information that Copilot provides is limited, however, and it is not visual, but text-based.

Closing Words

Microsoft continues to integrate Bing, Copilot and AI into Windows and applications. The upcoming feature update for Windows 11 heralds the beginning of AI PCs, at least according to Microsoft.

Snipping Tool users who do not need the feature can safely ignore it. It can be useful to some Snipping Tools users, but a feature like it may work better on mobile devices.

What about you? Which screenshot tool do you prefer?

Did Microsoft recant plan to introduce Windows Start menu ads?

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Back in April 2024, Microsoft changed the description of a Windows Start menu preference in an Insider build. It changed it from “show recommendations for tips, shortcuts, new apps, and more” to “Show recommendations for tips, shortcuts, new apps, ads, and more”.

The addition of three letters — ads — seemed to confirm Microsoft’s path of turning Windows into an advertising vessel.

Current Windows versions may show ads — Microsoft likes to call them promotions, recommendations, and tips — in various places already.

  • Copilot — may return ads as part of its answers.
  • File Explorer — may show notifications to use OneDrive for backup.
  • Lock screen — may show ads when Windows Spotlight is enabled to show wallpapers.
  • Notifications — may display suggestions and tips. These may also include promotions.
  • Search — Windows 11 Search supports web results by default, which may be displayed as suggestions.
  • Settings Home — displays Microsoft 365 and/or Game Pass subscription information and options.
  • Start Menu — may show ads for apps under recommended.
  • Start Menu — account profile icon may show a warning, if not signed-in with a Microsoft account, to sync data to OneDrive.
  • Widgets — shows curated content from the Web, by default from MSN and other Microsoft services.

Did you know? There is a small tool to do away with most ads in Windows 11 (or a Reg file, if you prefer that).

With build 26212 comes the reversal

The release of build 26212 for Windows 11 changes the description again. This time, it reads: “Show recommendations for tips, app promotions, and more”.

The word ads is gone, and so is the word shortcuts. The term new apps has been replaced with app promotions. The latter indicates that Microsoft continues to hold on to the idea of promoting Microsoft Store apps in the Start Menu.

Ads on the other hand, appear off the table for now. Since this is a development build, there is still the chance that Microsoft is making changes to the description and functionality in the future.

Microsoft never revealed how ads would look like in the Start menu. Maybe it had plans to integrate them into the new Windows 11 Start menu sidebar feature that it started testing recently.

Closing Words

The reversal is a win for the Windows community, but it is likely not the last battle that needs to be fought in regards to ads in Windows.

Should Microsoft stop pushing ads in Windows 11?

Chrome 124 0-day security update

Google fixes Chrome security issue that is exploited in the wild

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Just days after the weekly Google Chrome security update comes another security update for the web browser. This one unscheduled, as it fixes a 0-day security issue in Google Chrome that is exploited in the wild.

Google Chrome users should update the browser immediately to protect the browser and their data. Here is how that is done:

  • Open Google Chrome on a desktop system.
  • Select Menu > Help > About Google Chrome.

The browser displays the current version and runs a check for updates. It should pick up the security update and install it automatically.

Windows users may also launch a command prompt window and run winget upgrade Google.Chrome.EXE to update the browser to the latest version.

One of the following versions should be displayed by Chrome after installation of the update:

  • Chrome for Windows or Mac: 124.0.6367.201 or 124.0.6367.202
  • Chrome for Linux: 124.0.6367.201
  • Chrome Extended for Windows or Mac: 124.0.6367.201

The Chrome 0-day security issue: what we know

Google reveals little about the security issue on the official Chrome Releases website.

[N/A][339266700] High CVE-2024-4671: Use after free in Visuals. Reported by Anonymous on 2024-05-07

Google is aware that an exploit for CVE-2024-4671 exists in the wild.

The security issue is rated high and it is a use after free in Visuals. It was reported to Google on May 7, 2024, which means that it could have been exploited at least since that date. It is unclear how this issue can be exploited.

Other Chromium-based web browsers are also affected by the issue. This means that browsers such as Microsoft Edge, Vivaldi, Brave, or Opera are all vulnerable until an update is released.

Expect updates for these browsers in the coming hours and days.

Chrome on Android does not seem to be affected by the issue, as Google has not published an update for the browser or made an announcement on the releases blog regarding the platform.

When do you update browsers?