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UNKNOWN PROGRAM/APP FROM WINDOWS/MICROSOFT
About a week ago I discovered a new app/program on my computer and have never seen it before (see picture). It was installed on 20.05.25 and it was the same day I reinstalled Windows 11 home. Everything was then completely deleted so that I had clean hard drives and cleaned them afterwards with Revo uninstaller. 20.05.25 and the next few days only Windows 11+upgrades to Windows were installed. This app/program was not there then and only appeared about a week ago, when I saw it for the first time. I think it was after one of the upgrades for Windows. The strange thing about this app/program is that it has no "size". It only says 3 dots there and therefore I can't find out where it is. It can't be uninstalled and it changes name every time I start the computer. Mostly Japanese letters/text. I have run Windows Defender both via Windows and at startup. Nothing is found. I have run Malwarebytes and Super antispyware in full scan. Can't find anything. From the date on the app/program, I see that it must be a Windows or Microsoft app. Only from those that were installed that day and the next few days. The computer is not used very often, as it is a work machine where I mainly just write articles and do genealogy research. So not much with programs on it. Mainly Office 365, upgraded drivers, Google Chrome, Legacy, which is a genealogy program, and some tools that came with the purchase of the computer. Everything is upgraded to the latest. Wondering if this could be a Windows program/app that Windows has removed and that was not completely uninstalled? I have another computer and a laptop. Neither of them have this. So wondering if anyone else has experienced this and possibly knows what causes it and how it can be removed?313Views0likes1CommentTo the security / permission developers
Please refrain from working on any and all software for the rest of your lives. Get a job shoveling dirt. There is no reason as a single user with admin rights, should be denied from accessing / modifying any files or folder on my PC without having to jump through a thousand hoops. Even after granting ownership, I'm still getting screwed. And by the countless forums I see about other people experiencing the same issue, there's still no light at the end of the tunnel. So, for the love of god, just stop what you are doing before it gets worse.SCSeiderApr 20, 2026Copper Contributor25Views0likes2CommentsProblem with Windows Copy Plus in Windows 11?
I have been trying to update a position of a location on a website but could not make sense of the methodof adding the location. I have been sent some instructions but they use Windows Copy Plus, I am not seeing the 'Copy Plus Code' as shown in an example sent to me. Whilst searching I see some suggestions of problems with Copy Plus Code on some installations. I tried a few suggested ways of getting it to appear but not working. Any suggestions of way to get Windows Copy Plus Code to appear?mbriscoeApr 20, 2026Copper Contributor26Views0likes2CommentsWindows 11 screen goes black after waking from sleep, only mouse moves
After waking my PC from sleep, the screen is totally black but the mouse cursor still works. Keyboard is unresponsive, I can only force restart. Tried updating graphics drivers and disabling fast startup, no luck.DaxxonFosterApr 20, 2026Iron Contributor33Views0likes1CommentBest AI music maker to create songs for Spotify, YouTube and TikTok?
I want to start creating full songs (vocals + instrumentals) using AI and release them on Spotify, YouTube, and TikTok. What's the best AI music generator for this in 2026? I need something that can produce commercial-quality tracks that are actually ready for distribution. AI music maker what I'm looking for: Full songs with vocals – Not just instrumentals/background music Good vocal quality – Nothing that sounds obviously robotic Stem export – Would be nice to have individual tracks (vocals, drums, etc.) for tweaking in a DAW My main questions: Which tool gives the best vocal quality for pop/hip-hop genres? Do any of these offer one-click export to TikTok/YouTube formats? Thanks for any real-world experiences!FaudoApr 20, 2026Iron Contributor67Views0likes9CommentsWindows 11 25H2 SMB Client Directory Cache Regression
- QUERY_DIRECTORY Increased 95x, "dir" ETW Events Dropped to Zero - Hi SMB Team, I've identified a significant performance regression in the SMB client on Windows 11 25H2 affecting network file share operations. I have comprehensive data from a controlled comparison between clean installations of 23H2 and 25H2. Environment - Two clean-installed PCs (23H2 vs 25H2) connected to the same file server on the same network - Application: Python-based tool loading .py files from SMB file shares - Both PCs have identical SMB client configuration defaults for all cache-related parameters Measured Impact | Metric | 23H2 | 25H2 | Ratio | |--------|------|------|-------| | Application startup time | 26 sec | 80 sec | 3.1x slower | | Total SMB2 packets | 12,544 | 227,796 | 18.2x | | QUERY_DIRECTORY packets | 1,128 | 107,382 | 95.2x | | READ packets | 586 | 570 | ~1.0x (identical workload) | | PerfMon Metadata Requests/sec (avg) | 87.10 | 1,185.52 | 13.6x | The READ count is virtually identical (586 vs 570), confirming the actual workload is the same. The 25H2 client is issuing 95x more directory enumeration requests to the server for the same set of files. Root Cause: ETW "dir" Cache Events Dropped to Zero I captured ETW traces from the Microsoft-Windows-SMBClient provider on both systems and extracted cache-related events. This is the definitive finding: | ETW Event Type | 23H2 | 25H2 | |----------------|------|------| | file | 151,667 | 185,365 | | dir | 93,917 | 0 | | performance | 0 | 106,557 | On 23H2, the SMB client generated 93,917 "dir" events, indicating active directory cache usage. On 25H2, this event type is completely absent — zero occurrences. A new "performance" event type (106,557 occurrences) appears in 25H2 but does not serve as a cache mechanism. This indicates that the directory cache code path in the SMB client driver has been removed or disabled in 25H2. SMB2 Command Breakdown (Wire shark) | SMB2 Command | ID | 23H2 | 25H2 | Ratio | |--------------|----|------|------|-------| | CREATE | 5 | 3,278 | 56,536 | 17.2x | | CLOSE | 6 | 2,274 | 54,462 | 24.0x | | READ | 8 | 586 | 570 | 0.97x | | QUERY_DIRECTORY | 14 | 1,128 | 107,382 | 95.2x | | QUERY_INFO | 16 | 4,284 | 8,846 | 2.1x | | IOCTL | 11 | 10 | 0 | — | | CHANGE_NOTIFY | 15 | 0 | 0 | — | | Total | | 12,544 | 227,796 | 18.2x | 99.7% of all 25H2 SMB2 traffic is file discovery overhead. Only 0.25% is actual data reads. Additional Verification: Minimized Search Path (25H2) I also tested a minimized configuration on 25H2 using explicit path specification to reduce directory traversal: | Pattern | Startup | Total Packets | QUERY_DIRECTORY | |---------|---------|---------------|------------------| | 23H2 default | 26 sec | 12,544 | 1,128 | | 25H2 minimized paths | 30 sec | 119,153 | 57,888 | | 25H2 default | 80 sec | 227,796 | 107,382 | Even with minimized search paths, 25H2 generates 9.5x more packets than 23H2 and the ETW "dir" events remain at zero. This confirms the issue is in the OS driver, not the application. SMB Client Configuration (Identical Defaults) All cache-related parameters are identical between 23H2 and 25H2 at clean install: - DirectoryCacheLifetime: 10 (both) - DirectoryCacheEntriesMax: 16 (both) - FileInfoCacheLifetime: 10 (both) - FileInfoCacheEntriesMax: 64 (both) - FileNotFoundCacheLifetime: 5 (both) - FileNotFoundCacheEntriesMax: 128 (both) I also tested increasing all cache parameters significantly (DirectoryCacheLifetime=60, FileInfoCacheEntriesMax=65536, etc.) with no improvement. Additionally, setting RequireSecuritySignature=False (changed to True by default in 25H2) had no effect. Affected Driver Versions | Driver | 23H2 | 25H2 | Size Change | |--------|------|------|-------------| | mrxsmb.sys | 10.0.22621.6133 (685 KB) | 10.0.26100.8246 (931 KB) | +35.9% | | mrxsmb20.sys | 10.0.22621.6133 (333 KB) | 10.0.26100.8115 (390 KB) | +17.2% | | rdbss.sys | 10.0.22621.6133 (505 KB) | 10.0.26100.8115 (562 KB) | +11.4% | The 35.9% size increase in mrxsmb.sys suggests substantial implementation changes beyond routine patches. Questions 1. Is the removal of directory cache events ("dir") in 25H2 an intentional design change or a regression? 2. If intentional, what is the recommended mitigation for applications that perform heavy directory enumeration over SMB? 3. Is there a hotfix or upcoming update that addresses this behavior? Thank you for your time.k-kaneuchiApr 20, 2026Copper Contributor69Views0likes1CommentWindows 11 keeps popping up notifications, how to turn them off?
My Windows 11 keeps popping up all kinds of notifications, some are ads and some are system reminders. It’s really annoying. Is there a simple way to turn off most of them?KairosRiversApr 20, 2026Iron Contributor54Views0likes3Comments
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