Recent Discussions
How to achieve *complete" shutdown of Windows 11 Pro x64?
I usually use my Lenovo X1 2-in-1 on AC power and shut it down via the shutdown option in the Alt-F4 menu. After I did so recently I disconnected the laptop from AC power and left it in storage for a few days. When I retrieved it, the battery was almost fully discharged, so it evidently had *not* been fully shut down. I have already disabled "fast boot". What else can I do to ensure that shut down really does what it says?Is the Total RAM Usage Percentage Higher Than the Sum of Individual Programs?
Why is there a discrepancy between the percentage of memory usage indicated in the column title and the total memory usage of individual programs listed in the column? For instance, in Task Manager, why does the column title show 82% of RAM usage when the combined memory usage of all programs listed does not add up to 82%?
Windows 11 Insider Preview 10.0.26120.1330 Not
I cannot seem to get this update and the other update along with this caused one of my 2 displays not to work and any video software like AMD, filmora, and adobe not to work anymore on my computer. Something is off and I worked with one of the tech guys with no luck.
Unable to Remove Shadows for Icons and Text After Latest Update.
Hello, I encountered an interesting issue after my computer updated last night with the 2023-10 Cumulative Update for Windows 11 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems (KB5031354). Following the update, I noticed that shadows beneath text and icons were back on my screen. Despite confirming in the system properties that shadows were turned off (as per my previous settings), toggling the settings and even adjusting the registry entry for the DWORD named ListviewShadow did not resolve the issue after several restarts. If anyone has any suggestions or ideas on how to address this persistent shadow problem, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.Programs mysteriously losing their icons
Hello, I recently set up a new computer with Windows 11 version 23H2, and I've noticed that some of the programs I installed yesterday are now missing their image icons. 1. Can you please guide me on resolving this issue? 2. Any insights on why this may have occurred? Attached is the image to illustrate that the image icons are no longer visible for CPUID HWMonitor and GameFirst VI, although the programs can still be opened and used without any problems. Thank you in advance for your assistance.
Cluttered-up SEARCH
Windows 10 - Forever tiresome, is MS's insistence on excelling at inclusion -- wherever they believe it will enhance Windows -- of superfluous design tweaks, pretty pictures they believe have social interest and value, and endless links to whatever in whereverland. For example, click on TaskBar SEARCH in Windows 10 . . .and be confronted with a pop-up having a list of "Suggested" items of interest on the left half, with the right half full of colorful links to the likes of World Athletics Championships, Ivana Trump, Ricky Martin, Tiger Woods' score today, Atlanta Braves, and whatever else MS's programmers consider supposedly pertinent to the health of this planet and universe. And is there a means of eliminating such uselessness and retaining merely SEARCH bar capacity? Wouldn't know it from perusing Windows 10 . . . So: Is there such an option? Any information/assistance in being able to do so will be fully appreciated. Thank you.Screen Color
I choose: SETTINGS - PERSONALIZATION - BACKGROUND - SOLID COLOR (blue) All looks windowswonderful . . . EXIT Open my wallpaper program (Webshots) and choose a portrait-oriented photo which does not fill the screen width. - In Windows 7, whenever the wallpaper photo did not fill the screen (as a portrait-oriented pix usually would not), the remainder of the screen would remain the screen color chosen (blue). - In "new, improved by MS programmers in the guaranteed employment department" Windows 10, however, when wallpaper presents a portrait-oriented pix, the background color (blue) disappears and is replaced by black. Uh-huh . . . Whose idea was this "improvement"! . . . and how can it be rectified? The screen color should, one would normally expect, remain whichever color is designated in SETTINGS -- regardless of whatever the screensaver photo or graphic superimposes places over it. Anyone know a solution to offer? Many thanks; appreciated.When the Shell Says 12
In Canary builds, people keep debating whether this is “27H2” or something else. But once you look in the right place inside the system, the question changes. Why is the shell signed as version 12.\*🤔 And what does that mean for the Windows architecture?🤔 Canary isn’t a product branch. And not everything inside it belongs to Windows 11.Avast posts on my Windows 11 computer
Hello, to protect my PC I use the default protection of Windows (Windows Defender) and Avast (for around 15 years). For 2 to 3 years Avast has been increasingly intrusive with messages such as: "your banking data may be exposed, "your connection is not encrypted" etc..., messages with the aim of obviously switching to a paid version. However, I was wondering if these 2 protections are sufficient? what if a VPN could protect my PC even more effectively? (I should point out that I have a VPN but that I do not use it when connecting). Thank you in advance for your answersWindows users who prefer to use Windows over Linux, why do you choose to?
I'm interested in understanding why many Windows users prefer to stick with Windows instead of switching to Linux, especially since Windows offers a familiar interface and broad software compatibility. However, I’ve noticed that not everyone is completely happy with this choice, as some encounter issues with system stability, privacy concerns, or limited customization options compared to Linux. I’d like to hear from Windows users about their reasons for choosing Windows over Linux and whether they experience any frustrations or limitations that make them consider alternatives. Sharing your experiences can help clarify what factors influence the decision to stay with Windows and what challenges might lead some users to explore other operating systems.System Windows Ram Problem Fix
You’ve probably seen this happen — you leave your desktop or laptop running, and after a while the system starts eating a huge chunk of your RAM, even on modern hardware. Today I’m bringing a fix that removes this issue permanently and gives Windows back the speed, stability, and clean behavior it should have. By disabling two legacy predictive mechanisms (SysMain + Prefetch), the system stops aggressively caching applications, idle RAM usage drops significantly, and micro‑lags disappear. The attached screenshots show the system before and after applying the fix. This solution works on both Windows 10 and Windows 11, and it’s safe, reversible, and the improvement is immediate. System Ram Before: System Ram After: Step‑by‑step guide (Windows 10 / 11 RAM issue fix) Note: This is a safe and fully reversible system tweak. You’re simply disabling two legacy predictive mechanisms that no longer make sense on modern hardware. 1️⃣ Disable the SysMain service Press Win + R Type services.msc → press Enter Find SysMain in the list Double‑click it Set Startup type to Disabled Click Stop if the service is running Confirm with Apply and OK 2️⃣ Disable Prefetch in the Registry Press Win + R Type regedit → press Enter Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters Find the value EnablePrefetcher Double‑click it and set the value to: 0 Confirm with OK 3️⃣ Restart your system After rebooting, your RAM usage in idle should drop noticeably, and the system will feel cleaner, faster, and more responsive. 4️⃣ How to revert (optional) If you ever want to undo the changes: SysMain: set Startup type back to Automatic and start the service EnablePrefetcher: set the value back to 3 (default) With my regular applications open, RAM usage dropped from 60–70% to just 33%. This is how Windows should have behaved from the beginning. On top of that, overall system responsiveness improved by roughly 50% — even weaker hardware feels noticeably faster almost immediately. This RAM regression has been around since Windows 7. After the kernel overhaul in Windows 8.1 it actually got worse, and it has followed every version of Windows all the way to today.Azure Default Outbound Access Changes: Guidance for Windows 365 ANC Customers
Editor’s note, March 27, 2026: An earlier version of this post listed Azure Load Balancer (SLB) as a supported outbound access method option for Windows 365 ANC. This has been updated. SLB is not a supported outbound access method for ANC. After March 31, 2026, newly created Azure Virtual Networks (VNets) will no longer have default outbound internet access enabled by default. Windows 365 customers choosing Azure Network Connection as a deployment option must configure outbound connectivity explicitly when setting up new VNets. This post explains what’s changing, who’s impacted, and the recommended actions, including Azure Private Subnets and Microsoft Hosted Network. What is Default Outbound Access (DOA)? Default Outbound Access is Azure’s legacy behavior that allowed all resources in a virtual network to reach the public internet without configuring a specific internet egress path. This allowed telemetry, Windows activation, and other service dependencies to reach external endpoints even when no explicit outbound connectivity method was configured. What’s changing? After March 31, 2026, as detailed in Azure’s communications, Azure will no longer enable DOA by default for new virtual networks, instead the VNet will be configured for Private Subnet option, allowing you to designate subnets without internet access for improved isolation and compliance. These changes encourage more intentional, secure network configurations while offering flexibility for different workload needs. Disabling Private Subnet option will allow administrators to restore DOA capabilities to the VNet, although Microsoft strongly recommends using Azure NAT Gateway. Impact on Windows 365 Azure Network Connection Customers For Windows 365 Azure Network Connection (ANC) deployments using virtual networks created after March 31, 2026, new VNets will default to private subnets. Outbound internet access must be explicitly configured for the VNet; otherwise, Cloud PC provisioning will fail. Existing virtual networks are not affected and will continue using their current internet access configuration. Note on Microsoft-hosted network: For Microsoft-hosted network deployments, which is the Microsoft recommended deployment model for Windows 365, Microsoft fully provides and manages the underlying connectivity in Azure on your behalf. There is no impact or change needed for those deployments. What You Should Do To prepare for Azure’s Default Outbound Access changes and ensure your Windows 365 ANC deployments remain secure and functional: Recommendations Transition to Microsoft-hosted network (MHN) if possible. MHN provides secure, cost-effective connectivity with outbound internet access by default, reducing operational overhead and ensuring compliance with Azure’s updated standards. Update deployment plans to ensure either an explicit NAT, such as a NAT Gateway or Default Outbound access (not recommended) is enabled by disabling the Private Subnet option. Test connectivity to ensure all services dependent on outbound access continue to function as expected, and that the ANC does not enter a failed state. Supported Outbound Access Methods To maintain connectivity, choose one of these supported methods: NAT Gateway (recommended) Note: Direct RDP Shortpath (UDP over STUN) cannot be established through a NAT Gateway because its symmetric NAT policy prevents direct UDP connectivity over public networks. Azure Firewall or third-party Network Virtual Appliance (NVA). Note, it is not recommended to route RDP or other long-lived connections through Azure Firewall or any other network virtual appliance which allows for automatic scale-in. A direct method such as NAT Gateway should be used. Unsupported Outbound Access Methods Azure Standard Load Balancer Azure’s Standard Load Balancer is not supported as an outbound access method for ANC. Instead, using NAT Gateway is recommended. More information about the pros and cons for each method can be found at Default Outbound Access. Resources: Azure updates | Microsoft Azure Default Outbound Access in Azure Transition to an explicit method of public connectivity | Microsoft Learn Deploy Microsoft Hosted Network (MHN) QuickStart: Create a NAT Gateway Optimizing RDP Connectivity for Windows 365 | Microsoft Community Hub Quick FAQ Does this affect existing VNets? No. Only new VNets created after March 31, 2026, are affected. Existing VNets will continue to operate as normal. Do Microsoft Hosted Network deployments require changes? No. MHN already includes managed egress. What if I do nothing on a new VNet? ANC checks will fail because the VNet does not have internet access. Configure NAT Gateway or another supported method. What are the required endpoints? Please see here for a list of the endpoints required. Why might peer-to-peer connectivity using STUN-based UDP hole punching not work when using NAT Gateway? NAT Gateway uses a type of network address translation that does not support STUN (Simple Traversal Underneath NAT) based connections. This will prevent STUN-based UDP hole punching, commonly used for establishing peer-to-peer connections, from working as expected. If your application relies on reliable UDP connectivity between peers, STUN may revert to TURN (Traversal Using Relays around NAT) in some instances. TURN relays traffic between endpoints, ensuring consistent connectivity even when direct peer-to-peer paths are blocked. This helps maintain smooth real-time experiences for your users. How do I configure Azure Firewall? For additional security you can configure Azure Firewall using these instructions https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/firewall/protect-azure-virtual-desktop?context=/azure/virtual-desktop/context/context. It is strongly recommended that a direct method of access is used for RDP and other long-lived connections such as VPN or Secure Web Gateway tunnels. This is due to devices such as Azure firewall scaling in when load is low which can disrupt connectivity. Wrap-up Azure’s change reinforces intentional networking for better security. By planning explicit egress (or choosing MHN), Windows 365 ANC customers can stay compliant and keep Cloud PCs reliably connected.
Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V stopped working
After working perfectly for years usin my Lenovo laptop, now when I try to copy or paste using the keyboard shortcuts they do not work. For instance Ctrl +V ends up simply as "v" not what I was trying to paste. How did this stop working all of a sudden? How can I fix it? For now I have been using Right Click and then choosing the option to cut or paste and that still works. Thank you for your help! Larry
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It's time for our fourth Ask Microsoft Anything (AMA) about updating Secure Boot certificates on your Windows devices before they expire in June of 2026. If you've already bookmarked Secure Boot play...
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