Strange behaviour of Windows search box on taskbar
As of today I've noticed some very strange behaviour of the Windows search box. Previously, when I clicked in the box, I got "suggested" (left), "quick searches" (top right) and "top apps" (bottom right) as shown in the first image below. But today I started getting just "recent searches" as shown in the second image. I tried a different computer that hadn't been updated recently and got the previous appearance, but when I updated it using Windows Update I got the behaviour just described. I tried uninstalling some of the updates applied today (KB5129195, KB5126052, KB5120708 being the only ones I was allowed to uninstall) and nothing changed. However, on starting the computer somewhat later the original appearance was restored. I reinstalled KB5129195 and KB5126052 (I wasn't given the opportunity to reinstall KB5120708) and again all was OK until the computer connected to WiFi, when it again showed just "recent searches". A third computer, not updated for a month or more, consistently behaves as it always has. I'm totally mystified by this; certainly, as far as the "different computer" mentioned earlier is concerned, I changed no system settings during the process described above. No attention should be paid to the different background colours of the two images below as they came from different PCs. I'd greatly appreciate any advice on how to restore the original appearance, please. I should add that, on the PC where I first observed the problem, I have tried the standard fixes including running SFC and DISM, starting and stopping explorer, starting and stopping the Windows Search Host Process and restarting indexing. None of these had any effect whatsoever.Windows 11 taskbar
Having used the Mac and Windows for years it would be good if the Windows Taskbar could be made like the Mac Dockbar so you can use the full width of the screen and drag icons down right across the bottom wherever you want. it seems crazy to me why this hasn’t been done already, and needs a rework so you can do that.What is the best way to get a qr code free for business?
Hi everyone, I am completely new to this, so apologies if this is a basic question. I'm starting a small business and want to create a QR code for customers to scan, probably for things like directing them to my website, menu, or social media. I've seen so many options online: free qr generators, paid services, built-in ones from online, etc. I'm a bit overwhelmed. As a newbie, what's the best way to get a QR code for business use? Should I just use a free one, or is it worth paying for something? Also, what should I look out for in terms of safety, reliability, and making sure it doesn’t expire or stop working? Thanks for any advice!
Unable to remove an inactive/old linked PC from Link to Windows Android app
Hi everyone, I currently have two PCs linked to the Link to Windows Android app. One of them is no longer active, but it still appears in the app, and I’m unable to remove it. I have already tried the usual troubleshooting steps, including resetting the Link to Windows app, but the inactive PC continues to be listed. Interestingly, when I check Devices under my Microsoft Account, only my currently active PC is shown. The inactive PC does not appear there. This issue has been ongoing for more than two years. I recently contacted Microsoft Support regarding this issue, and after further troubleshooting, I was advised to seek assistance from the Microsoft Community. Has anyone experienced a similar issue or knows how to remove an old/inactive PC that is still listed in the Link to Windows Android app? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.
Windows 11 25H2 Build 9457 lockscreen not changing picture
Hello to all, so, we have three laptops that have Windows 11 25H2 Build 9457, two of these have Enterprise whilst the third one has the Pro version installed, one of the Enterprise laptops is my work laptop, the other one I use for testing image installations etc and is freshly installed with this build. The Pro version is my personal laptop and has also been freshly installed. Ever since having the latest build installed on all three of these laptops, the lockscreen picture does not work, all three remain on the default blue bloom one. I have tried changing from spotlight to picture, restart, then switch to spotlight again with no success. I have deleted the contents of the Assets folder located under this folder MicrosoftWindowsContentDeliveryManagercw5n1h2txyewy , and also the settings folder, rebooted and had no success. I also tried the powershell script that registers the content delivery manager and had no success either I ran a dism check health and all three have no corruption detected, the same after running an sfc scannow. All this on three of these laptops. Then i decided to log on to the local Admin account of my work laptop and after a couple of minutes i locked the screen and the lockscreen picture changed I said to myself so it is working now, i signed out logged in with my domain account and the lockscreen defaulted back to the blue bloom picture. The same happened with the test laptop, i use a test domain user account for this, when i change to a local account the lockscreen picture changes, when i go back to a domain account it defaults to the blue picture. Also happens with my personal laptop where i use a microsoft account to log in. I am literally out of ideas what is causing this because using a local account makes the lockscreen spotlight work, when using a domain or Microsoft account it seems to break it. Thank you for any help.
Windows 11 File History
I use File History to backup stuff to an external drive on a weekly basis. This past week, when I plugged in the drive to start the File History Run, it complained that it found "File History has found files that are encrypted with Encrypting File System, on a network location, or on a drive that doesn't use the NTFS file system. These files won't be backed up." That's the first time i've ever gotten that message. File History didn't show me the "Turn On" link to enable File History. Did some checking and discovered that Bitlocker was on for my C: drive. I DIDN'T turn it on myself! I turned Bitlocker off and let it decrypt all the files. I still see the message "File History has found files that are encrypted ..." but Bitlocker is off and i have nothing on a network drive and my external drive is still NTFS. At least it let to turn on File History again. It wasn't giving me the Run Now option. I looked through the settings for FH and it lets me set the Advanced Settings. When I select the drive that i've been backing up to and select my folder on that drive and click Ok, nothing happens. It won't let me use that same drive anymore. I can select a drive that File History has never accessed and it will give me the Run Now button. I checked Event Viewer and didn't see any obvious problems there. *** the other things that concerns me was that something turned on Bitlocker. i vaguely recall seeing a pop-up about Bitlocker a week or two ago but i thought i cancelled/rejected it so it wouldn't turn on.Dell Latitude 5285 running Win11 keeps crashing with a blue screen, error code CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED
The device is a Dell Latitude 5285. It repeatedly experiences blue screens while running Windows 11, with the stop code CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED. This issue occurs frequently in Normal Mode but does not occur in Safe Mode Troubleshooting steps attempted: Ran DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth; completed. Ran sfc /scannow; no integrity conflicts were found. Ran chkdsk C: /scan; no issues were found with the file system. Performed a clean boot, disabling all non-Microsoft services and startup items; the blue screen still occurs. The system has generated a mini-dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\081226-9625-01.dmp. In Device Manager, the USB Root Hub (USB 3.0) displays error code 43, but it has not yet been confirmed to be directly related to the blue screen. Wireless network adapter model: Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265.
Pushing specific Key produces multiple Keystrokes
Hello! I'm having a random issue with my laptop Asus K571GT/X571GT Pushing the 1 button: Tapping it once will either produce nothing, or 111 in a row. Shift 1 doesn't produce a ! anymore. Pushing the q button: Will produce 5 qqqqq in a row. Shift q doesn't produce a capital q. Similar to Pushing the 1 button, If I tapped the q button 7 times, it will makes 33 q's in a row. Pushing the Tab button: Does the same thing. Tap it once and its as if I hit the tab button 3-5 times. I thought it might be software while other users think it's hardware. But the issue comes and goes. This minute, the 1, Q, and ! buttons are perfectly fine. 5min later, it's either producing multiples 1's or Q's, or none at all. So I'm not sure if it's software or hardware. Anybody have any solutions?
802.1x wired network profiles missing after upgrade to Windows 11 24H2
Issue Description: During the upgrade of workstations to Windows 11 24H2, the IEEE 802.1X wired network security profiles are occasionally not restored after the upgrade process completes. As a result, affected devices fail to authenticate against Cisco ISE, leading to a loss of LAN connectivity. The issue appears to occur randomly and does not show any clear correlation with specific hardware models or workstation configurations. We are using Feature Updates to upgrade workstations to Windows 11 24H2, deployed through SUP in SCCM/MECM. This approach works best for us because it does not require any user interaction during the upgrade process. I developed a remediation script that is triggered by a scheduled task based on a specific event ID generated when Cisco ISE rejects authorization. The script successfully restores the locally stored 802.1X profiles and resolves the issue. However, I am wondering whether there is a better or more native way to handle this scenario. Has anyone experienced a similar issue with Windows 11 24H2 and 802.1X profiles? Any advice before we open a support case with Microsoft Support?Microsoft Print to PDF
I use the Microsoft Print to PDF quite frequently. Until recently you got a prompt to select a location to save the resulting PDF file, however that stopped happening after a recent update. Where is Microsoft saving the files, and can I change the function back so that each time I print something to PDF I can set it up to get a prompt to specify a file location? Thanks!
