Tag: windows 10

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.

Microsoft has released out-of-band updates for Windows shortly after it released the cumulative security updates for Windows earlier this week.

These new updates are available for Windows 11, version 23H2 and 22H2, as well as several Enterprise and server versions of Windows.

Good to know: out-of-band updates are usually released to fix pressing issues. Most need to be downloaded and installed manually, as the issue may not affect all installations.

The updates affect a logon auditing issue in Windows. Since logon auditing is usually not configured on home systems or unmanaged systems, it is an issue that affects Enterprise devices mostly.

Here is Microsoft’s description of the issue:

It addresses a known issue where Audit Logon/Logoff events in the local policy of the Active Directory Group Policy might not show as enabled on the device even if they are enabled and working as expected. This can be observed in the Local Group Policy Editor or Local Security Policy, where local audit policies show the “Audit logon events” policy with Security Setting of “No auditing”.

To sum it up: this is a reporting issue only that does not impact functionality.

The patch can be installed on affected systems to resolve the issue. The vast majority of home users does not need the patch.

Here are the links to the support articles:

• Windows 10, version 23H2 and 22H2: KB5058919
• Windows Server 2022: KB5058920
• Windows 10, version 20H2, and Windows Server, version 20H2: KB505892
• Windows 10, version 1809 and Windows Server, version 1909: KB5058922

Click on the link to the Microsoft Update Catalog website on the linked support websites to download the patch. It needs to be installed manually after download. This is usually done by double-clicking on the downloaded patch file and following the instructions that appear on screen.

While it is generally recommended to install Windows security updates, there are situations that make you want to postpone the installation. Maybe it is because of another faulty update that Microsoft released, a bug that you already experienced after an update was installed on your system, or just the desire to keep the PC running for a long period without forced update reboots.

Quite a few solutions exist that let you toggle the functionality using applications or scripts. Sordum’s Windows Update Blocker is just one program that you may use for the purpose.

And now there is also Pause Windows Updates. It is a tiny open source script that you may run on your Windows PC to pause updates.

Here is how it works: run the script after you have downloaded it and accept the security prompt to get a simple interface. There you may press keys on the keyboard to run corresponding actions. There are:

• (1) Disable Updates
• (2) Enable Updates
• (3) Disable Microsoft Telemetry
• (4) Remove Update Files
• (5) Manage Update Service

Press the h-key to get information about each of the actions. When you select the disable option, all update downloading and installing is halted. This includes updates that are in the process of being downloaded to the system.

Any update that has not been installed fully at this point needs to be downloaded in its entirety again once you enable updates on the system.

Since it is a script, you may review it before you run it on your system. Just load it in a plain text editor like Notepad to do so.

Closing Words

Pause Windows Update is an easy to use option to block updates on Windows machines temporarily. Most users probably won’t need the script or similar apps ever, but there are situations where it may come in handy.

Now You: how do you handle updates on your Windows PCs? Do you let them install automatically or prefer manual control over updates? Any tools you use? Feel free to leave a comment down below. (via Deskmodder)

Microsoft’s Windows 11 operating system has its fair share of annoyances. From mediocre apps, Telemetry and ads to other design decisions that seem to serve Microsoft more than the users of the operating system.

Windows Update and the requirement to restart the PC to install updates is certainly on the list of some users. Especially the operating system’s habit of restarting the PC when it perceives it as idle needs to be mentioned. You find plenty of horror stories online about users losing work because of automatic restarts of their PCs.

Hotpatching

Microsoft created a solution for that some time ago. Hotpatching was introduced in 2022 for Windows Server. This allows updates to be installed without a reboot of the system. Unfortunately, this feature has been limited to Windows Server products up until now.

Good news is that Microsoft has finally ported the Hotpatch functionality to Windows clients, more specifically, Windows 11, version 24H2. Bad news is that this is limited to Enterprise clients at the time of writing.

Microsoft employee David Callaghan revealed the news on the company’s Windows IT Pro Blog. Hotpatching, according to Microsoft, offers several benefits over the traditional method of installing security updates.

• Updates are applied immediately and not after the next reboot.
• Security is always up to date.
• Disruptions for users are minimized, as systems do not need to be rebooted anymore to install updates.

Note that some updates, feature updates or firmware updates for example, still require reboots. This is also true for what Microsoft calls cumulative baseline updates. These are released in January, April, July, and October of each year. They continue to require restarts.

The updates inbetween are hotpatch updates, which means that they do not require restarts.

In other words, four updates per year continue to require restarts, while the other eight cumulative updates of the year do not.

The big downside to the improvement is that home users and many small and medium-sized businesses do not gain access to the functionality. It is reserved for Enterprise customers (Windows 11 Enterprise E3, E5, or F3, Windows 11 Education A3 or A5, or a Windows 365 Enterprise subscription).

Another restriction is that the ARM version is still in public preview. It requires additional prerequisites, specifically a Registry Key needs to be set as outlined by Microsoft.

Closing Words

Windows is not the only operating system that requires reboots when updates get installed. It is still a major nuisance, especially if the system reboots automatically suddenly, which may lead to lost work.

When Microsoft launched its Edge web browser, it used Windows to quickly push the usage share of the browser. One of Microsoft’s ways of doing so was to create artificial protocols in Windows that would open only in Edge.

Clicks on web searches in Start or news would always open in Edge, even if the browser was not the default browser on Windows.

The small tool MSEdgeRedirect was created to address this. The main idea was to redirect requests that Windows would push towards Edge to another browser.

There have not been any updates for over a year, but a new update just hit. Good news for users of the project, as it is improving the redirector in several ways.

Note: The open source program is still a beta officially. While it works well, you may run into bugs or issues using it. Also, Microsoft may change things and that may break functionality.

So, here is what is new in MSEdgeRedirect 0.8.0.0:

• The minimum supported system is now Windows 10. Windows 8 is no longer supported.
• Fixed Windows Spotlight, PDF file handling, some UWP apps no longer working in Service Mode.
• New AI-less Google Search results option.
• Improved news handler.
• Adds support for –from-ie-to-edge and bing.com/WS/redirect.
• Adds passthroughs for –user-data-dir and –win-session-start.

The update is a bug fix update for the most part that fixes some existing issues. If you use the tool already, you should upgrade to the latest version. That is, unless you still run Windows 8.1, as this is no longer supported. Oh, and Europe mode is still a thing, why not give it a try.

All in all, it is good to see that the project has not been discontinued.

Now You: do you use MSEdgeRedirect or have used the app in the past?

Just a few days ago, Microsoft released the cumulative security updates for Windows 10 and 11 to the public. The company did not confirm any new issues at the time, but that has changed now.

A new issue has been confirmed that is affecting all supported client versions of Windows.

The details:

• Windows 10, version 22H2 and Windows 11, versions 22H2, 23H2, and 24H2 are affected.
• The bug uninstalls the Copilot app from the operating systems.
• The Copilot icon is removed from the taskbar in the process as well.

Microsoft confirms furthermore that only the native Copilot app for Windows is affected. In other words, Microsoft 365 Copilot remains unaffected by the issue and won’t be uninstalled.

Microsoft writes:

We’re aware of an issue with the Microsoft Copilot app affecting some devices. The app is unintentionally uninstalled and unpinned from the taskbar.

Note: This issue has not been observed with the Microsoft 365 Copilot app.

It is unclear how widespread the issue is.

Workaround: affected users are asked to reinstall the Microsoft Copilot application from the Microsoft Store and pin it manually to the taskbar to restore the functionality.

Here are the links to the support articles and the KB IDs.

• Windows 11, version 24H2 — KB5053598
• Windows 11, version 23H2 / 22H2 — KB5053602
• Windows 10, version 22H2 — KB5053606

Not all Windows users may be unhappy about this new bug. Granted, it is easy enough to remove Copilot from the system or hide it at least.

If you do not want to do it manually, you could give helper apps like O&O AppBuster or NoBloatBox a try.

Now it is your turn. Have you tried any of the Copilot apps on Windows ever since it was pushed onto systems by Microsoft?

Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system does not support the HEIC image format natively. The same is true for Windows 11. You can check out my guide on adding HEIC and HEVC support to Windows 11, if you run that operating system.

Microsoft is offering a paid extension to add support, but there is a way to add support for free. This guide explains how to do that.

Note that this still installs an official Microsoft extension and does not rely on third-party codec packs at all.

Here is how you go about it:

1. Open the Adguard website in a web browser.
2. Set the first field to ProductID.
3. Paste the following string into the second field: 9n4wgh0z6vhq
4. Keep the third field at RP.
5. Click on the checkmark icon on the right.
6. Wait for the results.
7. Right-click on “Microsoft.HEVCVideoExtension_2.2.33.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe.appxbundle” in the results and select the save option of the browser.
8. Pick a directory.
9. Double-click on the file after it has been downloaded to install the extension.
10. Click on the install button to install it.

Note: Some browsers may refuse to download the file as it is delivered via a regular (insecure) HTTP connection and not HTTPS. You may need to open the download manager of the browser and select the “Keep” option or something similar.

This depends largely on the browser, but if no file is downloaded after you have selected the save option, then this is your best bet to get the file downloaded.

Once installed, many programs are capable of opening HEIF and HEVC media files. This is true for all built-in image viewers, e.g., Photos or the preview of File Explorer, but also third-party apps such as Paint.net or Adobe Photoshop.

Even careful Windows users may accumulate a good number of software programs over the years. Some of these are used daily or weekly, while others may sit idly on the hard drive for months or years without any use.

It is certainly possible to use a program just once every six months or once a year, but some of these may not be needed anymore. The old web browser that you no longer use, a program that you tried and forgot to remove, or a game that you no longer play.

While you can go through the list of programs manually, you may also use the “last used” metric to find these programs easily.

Windows 11’s own list in the Settings app under Apps > Installed apps shows the install date, but not last used date. For that, you need to look elsewhere.

Using Last-Used to find old installed programs

Wise Program Uninstaller is a free program for Windows that is a popular option when it comes to the removal of applications on Windows systems. It is compatible with Windows 11 and also older versions of Windows, down to Windows XP.

It needs a moment on first run to display the installed programs. Each ist listed with its name, size and installation date. Next to that is the last used metric.

Wise Program Uninstaller may display date ranges, such as “within 1 week”, “7 month(s) ago”, or “1 year ago” there.

A click on the last used column header sorts the data accordingly. One click displays the programs that were not used for a long time at the top. Note that the information may be missing from some apps. This is the case, for instance, when they were never run.

All that is left now is to select one or multiple apps for removal. Hit the uninstall button in the program interface afterwards and keep the settings. A System Restore Point is created in that case and a leftover scan is run after the actual removal of the applications from the Windows PC.

Note: Wise Program Uninstaller uses the default uninstaller of the selected applications. You may need to interact with them to commence the removal. You may want to save all open work before you start using the app, as automatic restarts may happen, depending on the software that you remove.

Most unused programs are not problematic, apart from them using disk space. Removing them may still be beneficial, especially if your system is low on free disk space or will be in the future.

Do you keep a keen eye on the list of installed programs on your systems? What is the program that you have not used in a long time that is still on your PC’s hard drive? Feel free to leave a comment down below.