Windows narrator keeps turning on.
I just completed 2 windows updates this morning and since then, when the computer "goes to sleep" and I wake it, the narrator program starts to run. I shut it off but it will turn back on the next time it goes to sleep again. I checked the task manager/start up and narrator is not listed in there. I'm running Windows 11 and any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Agent Mode in Copilot for Excel
Will someone please help me on this. I had access to Agent Mode in Excel, through the frontier add-in for Excel Labs and now I can no longer access it on desktop app or web. I have a 365 personal plan and it includes Copilot. Not sure if it matters, I have Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot apps installed. Everything I have found online doesn't work. The Excel Labs shows Agent Mode is no longer available through the Frontier add-in. It is not showing in Tools from the Copilot Chat either. I updated the app, opted in for Beta Testing and nothing. If giving any steps to try please list each step. Please help. ThanksAllow muting a person only for me
Sometimes I am in a meeting where one of the persons in the meeting is actually near me in the world outside the screen. In this case the sound is a bit maddening since there is a small delay between the sound from the person and the sound through the teams interface. In these cases, I would like to mute the person only for me since I am sitting near and can hear the person fine without headphones. Right now I need to takeoff headphones when the person is talking and putting it back as the person finishes talking.
Windows 11 24H2/25H2 System Freeze After January 2026 Updates – Lenovo ThinkPad G2
Dear Microsoft Support Team, We would like to raise a high-priority technical support case regarding a stability issue observed after installing the January 2026 cumulative updates on our Windows 11 devices. Environment Details: Device Model: Lenovo ThinkPad G2 (multiple units) OS Versions: Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2 Update Installed: January 2026 Patch Tuesday cumulative update (KB number can be provided) Deployment Method: WSUS / Intune / Windows Update (specify accordingly) BIOS Version: (Installed Latest available from Lenovo) Issue Description: After installing the January 2026 cumulative updates, devices intermittently experience a complete system freeze. The system becomes fully unresponsive: Mouse and keyboard input stop responding No BSOD is displayed Task Manager cannot be opened System recovery is only possible via hard reboot (power button) Frequency: The issue occurs randomly, both during active use and idle state. Multiple users across our environment are impacted. Troubleshooting Performed: Reinstalled OEM-certified Lenovo display drivers Disabled Fast Startup Ran SFC and DISM health checks (no integrity violations) Updated BIOS to latest version Setting power idle mode, then work normally Request: - Please confirm whether this is a known global issue under investigation. - Advise if any hotfix, Known Issue Rollback (KIR), or registry-based mitigation is available. - Provide guidance on additional diagnostic logging required at kernel or driver level. - Confirm whether crash dump analysis is recommended for this scenario. We are prepared to provide additional diagnostic logs, memory dumps, or reproduction steps upon request. Kindly treat this as a priority case due to multi-user impact in a production environment. Thank you for your support. #Windows11, #Windows 11 24H2, Windows Update, Cumulative Update, System Freeze, Lenovo ThinkPad, Display Driver, Enterprise
Question about Copilot observations related to a possible historical find
Hello everyone, I am working on an art‑historical examination of an older oil/acrylic painting that shows a striking stylistic proximity to John Lennon. What makes it unusual is that the painting contains several features typically seen in Lennon’s drawings, including geometric facial divisions, reduced line structures, characteristic eye shapes, and a distinctive arrangement of figures. While using Copilot, I noticed several noteworthy observations that captured these features with unexpected clarity. I am not looking to present or evaluate anything here, but simply to understand which types of Microsoft teams or roles generally deal with such Copilot observations in connection with possible historical finds. If anyone in the community knows which areas are typically responsible for this or whom one might contact in such cases, I would appreciate any guidance. Thank you.
Internal RDP vs Self-Hosted RustDesk
Hi everyone, I am looking for some guidance and real-world experiences around choosing the best approach for remote access in a Windows environment. Right now, we are considering two main options: - Continue using Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), but strictly for internal use only (no direct exposure to the public internet). - Deploy a self-hosted instance of RustDesk as an alternative or complement to RDP for remote access and remote support. Our main concern is security. RDP has historically been a common attack vector, especially when exposed externally or misconfigured, and we want to avoid introducing unnecessary risk to our endpoints. Even if we restrict RDP to internal networks or VPN-only access, we are still cautious about potential vulnerabilities, credential theft, lateral movement, and abuse of remote access. What we are trying to understand better is: 1. In environments where RDP is used only inside the LAN or over VPN (no open RDP from the internet), what are the recommended hardening practices and controls you would consider mandatory today? Examples might include: Network Level Authentication (NLA), strong account policies, just-in-time access, firewall restrictions, RDP Gateway, MFA, monitoring/logging, etc. 2. From a security and operational perspective, is it generally considered acceptable to keep RDP enabled only for internal administrative tasks, while avoiding using RDP for end-user remote support scenarios? 3. For those who have deployed self-hosted RustDesk (or similar remote support tools) in a Windows/Active Directory environment, how has it compared to RDP in terms of: - Security model (encryption, authentication, access control, exposure to the internet) - Ease of deployment and maintenance - User experience and performance - Logging, auditing, and integration with existing security monitoring 4. Are there any best practices or architectural patterns you would recommend when combining these approaches? For example: - Keeping RDP only on jump servers / bastion hosts inside the network - Using RustDesk (self-hosted) for remote support and helpdesk use cases - Enforcing least privilege, MFA, and strong authentication for all remote access paths - Segmentation and limiting which machines are even allowed to receive RDP connections 5. Have you encountered any specific security pitfalls, misconfigurations, or "gotchas" when relying on RDP internally or when rolling out RustDesk self-hosted that we should be aware of before committing to a design? Our goal is to design a remote access strategy that: - Minimizes attack surface and reduces the likelihood of compromise via remote access. - Separates administrative access from end-user remote support where it makes sense. - Remains manageable for a small IT/security team in terms of configuration, patching, and monitoring. If you have any references to Microsoft documentation, hardening guides, or community best practices for RDP (especially internal-only scenarios), as well as any detailed write-ups or lessons learned from using RustDesk self-hosted in production, those would be extremely helpful. Thank you in advance for any guidance, recommendations, or examples you can share. Best regards, JuanI want to turn off or hide the draft with copilot dingbat that follows my cursor around in MS Word.
I have seen a few articles on this website, and I know it's not possible but I'm going to ask anyway. For reference this is what I'm referring to: It's more I find the little thing following me around on my screen to be annoying and distracting, I've managed to hide or disable anything related to copilot on my system except this little dingbat. When a new document is open you get a little message that says "Select the icon or press Alt + i to draft with copilot" It would be nice if I could hide that as well, yes copilot is a *feature*, and I don't care about it. I also want to hide the paste with copilot and just used the local paste options that were built into previous versions of word. I suspect that there is a copilot dingbat that is stored somewhere on my system, possibly in a font, and as I have already made a few detrimental modifications to my operating system registry, I'm not wary of messing up my computer any more than it could be. The only saving grace I have at the moment is there is an issue with my account, so any accidental triggering of the feature causes it to crap out. (So long as I don't accidentally press the 'fix account" button) I know that if it was easy to turn off there would be a button for it, I know Microsoft probably wants us to use this feature because it means more data for them to collect, an I'm disappointed in the loss of user agency that's resulted from this rollout, and there's a spike in animosity towards AI in general.
Cross-device clipboard not working on Windows 11 25H2 (Phone Link connected, sync enabled)
Hi everyone, I’m experiencing an issue with cross-device clipboard sync between my Windows 11 laptop (Version 25H2, Build 26200.7840) and a Samsung S25 Ultra. What is already working: Phone Link shows the phone as connected, Bluetooth pairing is successful, Clipboard history is enabled in Windows, Sync across devices is turned on with automatic sync selected, the option to allow this PC to access mobile devices is enabled under Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Mobile devices, the phone is signed in using the same Microsoft account, and cross-device copy and paste is enabled in Link to Windows on the phone. The problem: Even with all required settings enabled, the phone does not appear under Mobile devices, copy and paste between the phone and PC does not work, and no errors are shown in Phone Link or Windows settings. Additional observations: The system is running Windows 11 25H2 (Build 26200+). Some legacy sync services used in older builds are no longer present. This appears to be a device registration or cross-device platform issue rather than a configuration mistake. Troubleshooting already attempted: Re-linking Phone Link from scratch, signing out and back into the Microsoft account on both devices, clearing Link to Windows app data on Android, restarting related Windows services and rebooting both devices, verifying clipboard sync settings multiple times, and installing the latest Windows updates available for this build. None of these steps resolved the issue. Question: Is this a known issue with Windows 11 25H2 / Build 26200+ that affects cross-device clipboard registration? If anyone has a confirmed fix, registry or feature-flag workaround, or official confirmation from Microsoft, I would really appreciate the guidance. This could also help others using newer Windows builds. Thanks in advance.
Clipboard History does not recognize the Delete key on Windows 11
I recently moved to Windows 11 (installed from scratch), and as soon as it was ready I activated the Clipboard History with the Win+V shortcut, since I really liked this feature on Windows 10. But after a short while I noticed the Windows 11 Clipboard History does not recognize the Delete key anymore. On Windows 10 this works: - Invoke the Clipboard History with Win+V - Scroll to the entry you want to delete with your arrow keys - Hit Delete on your keyboard and that entry will be removed from the history. Clipboard History remains open so you can repeat this for as many entries as you like. On Windows 11: - Invoke the Clipboard History with Win+V - Scroll to the entry you want to delete with your arrow keys - Hit Delete on your keyboard, then the Clipboard History closes with no error or message. If you invoke the Clipboard History again, the entry is still there. So apparently there are only two options on Windows 11 now, use the "Clear all" button to remove all the entries from the history. Or click the 3 dots next to each entry you want to remove and then click Delete, which is... annoying if compared to Windows 10. Is there a way to make the Delete key work again?
