New Fast Ring Build – 18945

By DustinPosted on

A new build has been released to Fast Ring Insiders for Windows 10. This time, it’s build 18945. If you got the accidentally released build 18947 build earlier this week, it’s best to rollback to the previous build and then install this one. What’s new in this build? A new Cortana experience, Windows Subsystem for Linux improvements, updated file explorer search, and more.

Be sure to check out the known issues in case there is a show stopper for you.

Known Issues

  • There has been an issue with older versions of anti-cheat software used with games where after updating to the latest 19H1 Insider Preview builds may cause PCs to experience crashes. We are working with partners on getting their software updated with a fix, and most games have released patches to prevent PCs from experiencing this issue. To minimize the chance of running into this issue, please make sure you are running the latest version of your games before attempting to update the operating system. We are also working with anti-cheat and game developers to resolve similar issues that may arise with the 20H1 Insider Preview builds and will work to minimize the likelihood of these issues in the future.
  • Some Realtek SD card readers are not functioning properly. We are investigating the issue.
  • Tamper Protection may be turned off in Windows Security after updating to this build. You can turn it back on. In August, Tamper Protection will return to being on by default for all Insiders.
  • Occasionally, the candidate selection in prediction candidate window for the Japanese IME doesn’t match with the composition string. We are investigating the issue.
  • Insiders may notice some changes in Magnifier with today’s build. These aren’t quite ready yet for you to try, but we’ll let you know once they are in an upcoming flight.

Windows 10 Build 18936 Goes to Fast Ring Insiders

By DustinPosted on

For those in the fast ring on Windows 10 Insiders program, build 18936 has just been released. The Your Phone app has been made more available to other Surface devices. A new Quick Event Create from the taskbar (Open calendar, add an event or reminder straight from the flyout!). And, finally, a way to go passwordless with Windows Hello, Fingerprint, or PIN with a Microsoft account. Several fixes and a few known issues.

Do you ever open the clock and calendar flyout to help organize your thoughts while making plans? We’ve been working on making it easier to create new events and reminders, and are happy to announce that as of today, all Insiders in the Fast ring should see this when you click on the date in the taskbar:

Showing the clock and calendar flyout, with an inline option to add a new event.

Patch Tuesday & More Updates

By DustinPosted on

Microsoft’s patch Tuesday had a lot of fixes this week, a couple patches for zero day updates, and more – a total of 78 CVE’s and two advisories. The biggest zero day is CVE-2019-1132, with a good write up from ESET here, which can lead to a local privilege escalation within Windows.

Before you patch, either with Windows Update or manually, be sure to grab KB4509096, which is a servicing stack update that according to Microsoft “Addresses an issue with a Secure Boot feature update that may cause BitLocker to go into recovery mode because of a race condition.”. This is recommended to be installed before the cumulative updates that Microsoft has released as part of Patch Tuesday’s group of updates.

A good overview of the patches released this round of updates is available at Zero Day Initiative.

Disable File Grouping in File Explorer

By DustinPosted on

Some folders in File Explorer will default to grouping by what time period the file was accessed. Many people do not like this style of file grouping and would like to go back to the default, which is just a sorted list without groups at all. Here is how you can disable the file grouping in File Explorer.

  1. Open the folder you would like to disable the grouping.

 

 

  1. Right click in an empty space in the folder, select “Group by” then click on “(None)”. This will disable the file grouping for this folder only.

 

 

  1. Your default file grouping will be retained for this folder, to show up as a typical folder, with a list of items, sorted by the way you want.

 

 

  1. To make these changes take effect as default with all folders in Windows, click the View button in the top pane, then Options, then click “Change folder and search options”.

 

 

  1. In the Folder Options window, click the Apply to Folders button.

 

Forget Wireless Networks

By DustinPosted on

Every so often, it makes good sense to go into your network settings and forget some of the networks you have connected to previously. This makes sense from a security standpoint as it can prevent your PC from connecting automatically to a network when you don’t want it to. Here is how you can make your computer forget previous wireless networks with Windows 10.

  1. Right click the wireless icon on your taskbar. Select “Open Network & Internet settings”

 

 

  1. In the left pane, click Wi-Fi.

 

 

  1. Under Wi-Fi in the main pane, select “Manage known networks”

 

 

  1. Select the networks that you do not regularly connect to and click “Forget”. This will remove them from the list of networks and Windows will not connect to those networks automatically. Note: when reconnecting to a secure network, you will be required to re-enter the security key for that network.

 

Download Windows 1.11 App from Windows Store

By DustinPosted on

In partnership with Netflix’s latest release of Stranger Things Season 3, Microsoft has released a Windows 10 app for Windows Version 1.11. I remember back in the 80’s wanting Windows 1 & 2, but I was stuck with DOS until Windows 3.0. There is definitely some nostalgia in this app.

Experience 1985 nostalgia with a special edition Windows 10 PC app inspired by Windows 1.0—but one that’s been taken over by the Upside Down from Stranger Things. Explore the mysteries and secrets plaguing Hawkins, unlock unique show content and easter eggs, and play retro games and puzzles—all building off Stranger Things 3. Join Eleven, Steve, Dustin and gang as they seek to save Hawkins and the world. Embrace the 80s and grab your hairspray, because it’s basically the raddest show companion experience ever. But fair warning: beware the Mind Flayer.

Show Hidden Files & Folders

By DustinPosted on

To show hidden files & folders, you can follow these two easy steps.

  1. Open File Explorer (Click ‘This PC’ on desktop, folder image on taskbar, or Windows Key + E).

 

  1. Click on the View Tab.

 

 

  1. On the right hand side, under ‘Show/hide’, you can select the Hidden items checkbox to now show hidden files and folders.

 

 

They will appear in Explorer as a dimmed folder compared to non-hidden folders, as seen by the OneDriveTemp folder here:

 

 

Enable Night Light Mode

By DustinPosted on

Windows 10 introduced a new feature that allows you to limit the blue light at a certain time to help with sleep patterns and to reduce eye stress at night. To enable this feature, follow these steps.

  1. Open the Display Settings by right clicking the desktop and selecting “Display Settings”.

 

 

  1. On the lower part of this panel, turn the “Night light” button to On, and click “Night light settings”.

 

 

  1. In the next window, you can change the settings to have the night light come of during sunrise based on your location or during certain hours. You can also adjust the night time color temperature.

 

New Fast Ring Build Released – Build 18932

By DustinPosted on

The Windows Insider team has released a new build to fast ring insiders ahead of the US Independence Day holiday. This brings us to build 18932 of version 20H1. Some new features, improvements, and a bunch of fixes. A few issues are still present, so make sure to check those out before you update to make sure you’re not running into a show stopper.

Known Issues

  • If you’re seeing failures installing games via the Xbox app, you can retry the install. If it continues failing, you may want to roll back to Build 18922.
  • There has been an issue with older versions of anti-cheat software used with games where after updating to the latest 19H1 Insider Preview builds may cause PCs to experience crashes. We are working with partners on getting their software updated with a fix, and most games have released patches to prevent PCs from experiencing this issue. To minimize the chance of running into this issue, please make sure you are running the latest version of your games before attempting to update the operating system. We are also working with anti-cheat and game developers to resolve similar issues that may arise with the 20H1 Insider Preview builds and will work to minimize the likelihood of these issues in the future.
  • Some Realtek SD card readers are not functioning properly. We are investigating the issue.
  • Tamper Protection may be turned off in Windows Security after updating to this build. You can turn it back on. In August, Tamper Protection will return to being on by default for all Insiders.

How to Fix a Network Printer Showing Offline

By DustinPosted on

Sometimes, network printers can show as offline yet still be functional. This is due to recent versions of Windows Server and clients using SNMP for communication to verify if the printer is online and operational. For many printers, they may not be configured for SNMP, incorrect Public/Private community strings, or not even support SNMP at all. This is how you can disable Windows from using SNMP for detecting the printer status.

  1. Go into the Control Panel, Devices and Printers. The affected printer should show as offline and greyed out. Right click the printer, and select “Printer Properties”.

 

 

  1. Click the “Ports” tab, then select the Port that the printer is using (should be checked). Click “Configure Port…”.

 

 

  1. Uncheck the “SNMP Status Enabled” box, then click “OK”.

 

 

  1. If the printer is powered on and connected to the network, it should now show as online and not be greyed out.