Recent Discussions
Windows 11 25H2 desktop shell broken after January updates
Hello, We are seeing a repeatable issue after upgrading users to Windows 11 25H2 and installing the January 2026 cumulative updates, and I’m trying to determine if this is a known or emerging regression. Affected machines are on OS Build: (10.0.26200.7623) Issue Summary After the update, some users experience a broken Desktop shell: Desktop folder icons do not open when double-clicked Recycle Bin does not open from the Desktop Right-click context menus appear, but Open / double-click does nothing The same folders open normally when accessed via File Explorer using the full path Issue affects only certain users, but we have now seen it on multiple machines Recycle Bin being affected suggests this is not a file or OneDrive issue, but a Desktop shell / namespace problem. Environment Windows 11 25H2 January 2026 cumulative updates installed Microsoft 365 environment OneDrive in use with Desktop Known Folder Move enabled Issue appeared after the 25H2 + January CU combination Troubleshooting Already Performed Restarted Explorer, ShellExperienceHost, StartMenuExperienceHost Cleared Explorer Bags / BagMRU (HKCU) Reset icon and thumbnail caches Forced OneDrive files to be local (“Always keep on this device”) Renamed affected folders (removed special characters) Verified desktop path resolution Confirmed issue persists across reboots In at least one case, clearing Explorer Bags caused the Desktop to fail to re-render until reboot, further pointing to shell state corruption. Observed Behavior Desktop icons visually render Click handlers do not fire Recycle Bin (CLSID object) is non-functional from Desktop File Explorer itself continues to work normally Expected Behavior Desktop icons and shell objects (including Recycle Bin) should open normally. Question Has anyone else seen reports of: Desktop shell / namespace issues Recycle Bin not opening Desktop icons becoming non-interactive after Windows 11 25H2 + January cumulative updates, particularly in environments using OneDrive Known Folder Move? If this is a known issue or being investigated, any confirmation or guidance would be appreciated. Thanks.
Installation Failure of KB5074109 on Windows 11 25H2 Multi-Session – Error 0x80073712
We are experiencing persistent issues installing the latest Windows update, KB5074109, on Windows 11 25H2 Multi-Session running in Azure. The installation fails on multiple machines with error code 0x80073712. We have tried the following troubleshooting steps, but still the same issue: sfc /scannow DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth Windows Update Troubleshooter (Settings → System) Manual download and installation of the update Has anyone else run into this, or does anyone have ideas on how to fix it? Could the update itself be the problem?Frequent BSODs on Windows 11 computer?
Hi, few months ago i built my first PC, everything was running great for a month, two max. But now I'm getting frequent bluescreens with this error code: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (a) Was googling around, but can't find any info that would help me figure out whats wrong. PC Specs MB: B450M Pro4 R2.0 CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6600 RAM: GSkill AEGIS DDR4 16gx2 XMP 2.0 Ready PSU: Aerocool Integrator 600W
Unable to enable Num Lock on brand new HP notebook with Windows 11
Dear Community, Lately I have setup a brand new HP notebook from the business line which had a preinstalled Windows 11. After finalizing the setup I remarked that I was unable to enable the Num Lock on the external keyboard. I have tested multiple keyboards, connected them either directly to the notebook and via the docking station. With the same keyboards on other computers there is no issue to enable the Num Lock. However, on this particular notebook it doesn't work. Based on the explained issue I suspect that it must be a wrong setting on the new machine. However I was unable to find a particular setting to fix this issue. Do you know any reason why this could happen and how I can solve it? Best regards, cmcm
WiIN 11 Set up issues
+Just started a new minicomputer with WIN11. Moved data from old WIN 10 PC using a transfer cable. Had to use a transfer cable because the initial set up on new PC did not identify it was downloading data from original One Drive back up. Suspect it was working but did not provide any visual status to activity and % complete. My solution was a transfer cable Now find I have my old WIN10 desktop complete with all my original programs and documents, together with a new WIN 11 start screen which does not have access to my original programs unless I download them from the original site. Confused and disappointed in the whole process. If I now D/L programs from vendors site, do I have 2 copies - say original office on WIN10 desktop and a second version downloaded on WIN 11 start menu
Trouble Reinstalling Windows 11
I believe my windows 11 could be corrupted. I have lost the ability to connect to wifi. Shows "no connections available". Have tried all the usual things - reset the network, reinstall the network adapter driver, nothing works. Have tried to download and install Windows update 24h repair file but it won't install. So I have backed up my SSD and made a USB boot drive. Booted from the USB drive and first tried repairing Windows 11 which wouldn't install. Next tried installing a new copy of Windows 11. I got to the point where I had to select the drive to install on. Problem is Drive 0 is listed as 0 bytes and I can't select it. Using the command prompt I tried diskpart / list drive / select drive 0 / and clean but received another error message saying no Drive 0. However if I am in Windows I can see 4 drive 0's using Disk Management. Chkdsk /f/r runs and says all is good yet I cannot reinstall Windows 11 from either inside windows or from Support Assistant. I question whether my SSD is corrupted but have not been able to find any software that tell me that. Was hoping a clean reinstall of the OS would fix this. By the way, with the exception of no wifi the rest of Windows works just fine. I can get the internet using an ethernet connection so not all is lost. Any ideas?
Help analysing BSOD minidump
Hi, Can someone assist with analysis of a minidump? I have a Lenovo TP laptop (still within warranty - so not old), and I have noticed some strange behaviour on occasion where when in sleep mode (so not in use), there is something happening that is causing the CPU to generate a lot of heat as the fan is whirring away pumping out a fair amount of heat. I noticed this yesterday, and I could not get the laptop out of sleep mode. Eventually I was able to, but it was the 'fat finger' method. Looking at the event log this morning, there are 11 'collections' of Windows Error Reporting (1001) in the app event logs since Friday evening. These "bluescreen" events are preceded by different events - none of which are errors or warnings, but appear to be normal activity. Strangely, in the \minidumps location, there are just 5 files (I am not familiar with this - so could be normal), but each of the occasions is writing to a different .dmp file (cyclic?). Anyway, if I upload to say a OD share, could a kind MVP analyse? Many thanks. JasonRestrictive Pin to start/Taskbar
It is so frustrating that I can’t pin every single type of file/folder/program to both taskbar and start menu on windows 11 alongside being forced to look at “enable recommendations section” when disabling extra options for my start menu. I want a completely CLEAN desktop, with all my shortcuts on my taskbar and start menu. However, I can’t pin bat files to either of them. However they can be on my desktop? How does that make sense? I can easily launch them from there, so what’s the difference of not allowing me to pin them? Why can’t the recycling bin be allowed on the task bar, but it can be pinned to the start menu? Programs like ilok software license can be pinned to the start menu… but not the taskbar? What sense does it make??? Seriously, why do you charge upwards to TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS for this operation system just to make inconsistent features and unnecessary bloat that clutters up the interface? I am switching to Linux. Goodbye windows.I’m leaving windows
I’ve been a Windows user since I was a kid in the 90’s playing solitaire on Windows 3.1 on my dad’s pc. Windows 7 was so good, but since then Windows has gotten so bloated and slow with less control over the pc that I OWN. And now with Microsoft forcing Copilot down our throats and killing the ability to have a local account, the ads in the search window, data collecting, recall, etc I’ve had enough. And to top it off Windows is an absolute RAM hog! I have 32gb of RAM and with only Edge running I routinely have 7 or 8 gb being used by background processes. I’m a 3d artist. I need as much of those 32 gb as I can use! I have switched to Linux Fedora 43 and my computer runs so much better! No lagging at all. Only 2 or 3 gb of RAM being used in the background. I need my Mac to run Marmoset Toolbag but other than that everything I need is on Linux. And it was quite easy to set up a kvm switcher and file sharing between my Mac and PC. I will never use Windows again on a PC I own until they at the very least make Copilot optional, local account posssible, stop all of the telemetry, and make performance a priority. I’m only making this post in hopes someone from Microsoft will actually see it and take note.How to restore an entire drive with file history
My computer is running on Windows 11, with file history backing up to an external SSD drive. I had a problem with the computer not booting up. Took it to a shop and they said windows needed to be reinstalled. They made a copy of all data on C drive, where Windows is located. They were told to not touch D drive as it contained thousands of pictures. Apparently they reinstalled Windows on the C drive and reinstalled the data. However they completely wiped the D drive! Computer is running good and all data is present on C drive. I attempted to restore D drive from the external drive using file history. I could not get it to restore the drive. The note “There isn’t any history of your files, folders, or libraries.” comes up. If I open the D drive, I can find all the pictures along with several copies. How can I get file history to work? I can copy and paste them but that is a lot of work, considering multiple copies in different places.Allow developers to create their own user space
It would be wonderful if Microsoft and the windows team documented how developers could create their own userspace. The NT Kernel was designed for this, and it would allow better extensibility of the overall OS. It also would be a way to partial opensource Windows. You could license the kernel at a low price, and let others build the user space. This would be in the vain of the original WSL, but it would allow any developer skilled enough to bring enhancements to the system.
How to escalate support issues.
I have an issue with Microsoft's Backup and Restore and File History on Windows 11. Specifically, the shadow copy space is empty and set to 1GB, but the error complains that the shadow space is full or too small. (I've run through every support article available) This was all working fine (on Win 11) until a couple of weeks ago. However, the support chat claims this is 3rd-party software and that Windows 7 backups cannot be restored to Windows 11, which has nothing to do with the issue at hand. The machine has never had Windows 7 installed, but the support agent insists that Windows 7 is unsupported, and hence, I'm using 3rd-party software and will not transfer me to anyone else, and no longer responds. The agent's reasoning just doesn't make sense to me. Is there any way to raise a support issue for Windows 11 or its components? This reminds me of trying to install Windows Vista; although it was a forced upgrade that failed, the support agent just insisted Microsoft Vista wasn't Microsoft software.Windows Insider update stuck in endless download install restart loop
Hi everyone, I accidentally enrolled my PC into the Windows Insider Preview Program and since then I am stuck in a continuous update loop. A new Insider update appears in Windows Update, it downloads to 100 percent successfully, installs successfully, then Windows asks me to restart to complete the update. After restarting Windows shows Updating for around 30 minutes but it never completes, then the system boots normally and when I check Windows Update again the same update starts downloading again from the beginning. This cycle repeats every time so the update never finishes, I cannot properly leave the Windows Insider Preview Program and Windows Update is effectively stuck. I would like to stop this update loop, safely unenroll from the Windows Insider Preview Program and return to the stable public release of Windows without losing any data. Has anyone experienced this before or knows how to fix it. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Muhammad Hasnain
Neujahrsgrüße und Wertschätzung an die Microsoft‑Ingenieurteams
Liebes Microsoft‑Team, ich möchte Ihnen meine aufrichtigen Neujahrsgrüße und meine große Wertschätzung für Ihre Arbeit im Bereich der Informationstechnologien aussprechen. Als langjähriger Nutzer von Microsoft‑Produkten und ‑Diensten sehe ich, wie viel Engagement, Intelligenz und Verantwortung hinter Ihren technischen Entscheidungen stehen. Ihre Arbeit prägt die digitale Welt, in der Millionen von Menschen täglich leben, arbeiten und kreativ tätig sind. Vielen Dank für Ihren ständigen Anspruch an Verbesserung, für Ihre Verpflichtung zu Qualität und für Technologien, die Menschen weltweit stärken. Bitte nehmen Sie meine besten Wünsche für das neue Jahr entgegen — für Klarheit, Inspiration und weiteren Erfolg in allem, was Sie entwickeln. Mit Respekt und Dankbarkeit, Hermann Thomas DeutschlandWindows 10 shuts down but immediately restarts or displays a black screen
After installing the new Windows 10 system, shutdowns functioned normally for the first few days. Subsequently, the system began automatically restarting upon shutdown or displaying a black screen (unable to enter BIOS). Replacing the power supply and resetting the BIOS proved ineffective. Seeking troubleshooting steps to identify the root cause of the issue.
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