Lost your Windows 10 Recovery Partition? Can’t run mbr2gpt?

Here’s how to fix it:

You will need Windows 10 Setup media to recover the WinRE.wim, if you don’t have this you can user

Media Creation Tool

To avoid the need for extra partitions, I used a folder c:\recovery

mount your setup media (iso or usb) 

in an elevated prompt run the following commands:

creating folders

md c:\recovery

md c:\recovery\mount

** mounting Windows Image from media

** (if setup media drive letter is not e: replace the e:\ with the correct driveletter)

dism /mount-wim /wimfile:e:\sources\install.wim /index:1 /mountdir:c:\recovery\mount /readonly

** Copying WinRE.wim from image

copy “C:\Recovery\mount\Windows\System32\Recovery\Winre.wim” c:\recovery\

** Unmounting Image

dism /unmount-wim /mountdir:c:\recovery\mount /discard

** Enable WinRE

reagentc /SetReImage /Path c:\recovery\winre.wim /index 1

reagnetc /enable

reagentc /info

** The last command should show RE enabled, after this I was able to successfully run MBR2GPT

also available here: answsers.microsoft.com

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 19018

Hi all, last week Microsoft released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 19018 (20H1) to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring. Search is getting some tweaks, looking good!

Check out the new super key-combo Win + CTRL + SHIFT +L below in the fixes!

From now on the Skip ahead ring will be merged into the Fast Ring, no user action needed, everyone on the Skip Ahead will be auto-moved to the Fast Ring, this ring will have the latest releases.

What’s new in 19018?

Quick searches now in Search Home

To help you find the info that matters even faster, we’ve added four quick web searches to your Search Home:

  • Weather: Get current conditions and the upcoming forecast
  • Top news: Read the latest headlines from popular news sites
  • Today in history: Explore four events that happened on this day
  • New movies: Find out what’s playing in theaters near you
Showing said entries in the Search home.

To preview these web answers and results, select the search box to open Search Home, then choose one of the quick search buttons. Need quick answers about other topics or searches? Just enter a query into the search box for quick results about almost everything.

Let us know what you think about quick searches and how you would like to see them evolve.

Note: This is a server-side change that’s currently rolling out and will appear for users across builds from version 1809 to 20H1. Currently, quick searches are only available in the US, but will be available soon internationally. (to test this outside of the US, set you reguional settings to US )

Updated design for web preview in search results

We have made a few small tweaks to how it looks–here’s what you’ll see now:

New Open results in browser button, and the Bing filters that used to display at the top are no longer visible.

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

  • For Insiders that did not take the Cumulative Update to Build 19013, just a note that this build (like that update), also includes the fix for the issue resulting in black screens and disconnects over remote desktop in the last couple of flights.
  • We’ve fixed an issue where the Settings app was hanging or crashing when accessing the System or Ease of Access sections.
  • We fixed an issue where if a new account profile picture synced down from the cloud, your old one might not be listed in the picture history in Accounts Settings.
  • We fixed an issue where Windows Update history might show an update having failed with error 0x80240017 even though the update had actually succeeded.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in Search sometimes not rendering in the enter space available within the Search window.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in exe using an unexpectedly high amount of CPU when your device was unplugged in recent builds.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in Cortana not responding to Hey Cortana.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in Cortana not being visible in the taskbar right after upgrading, or being visible but not working, until you restarted your PC.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in not being able to keep the Shift key pressed in order to type capital letters in certain languages recently when typing with the onehanded touch keyboard.
  • As some Insiders know, a few releases ago we announced a new keyboard shortcut (WIN + Ctrl + Shift + B) in order to help troubleshoot black screens. With today’s build, in this vein, we’re announcing a new keyboard shortcut (WIN + Ctrl + Shift + L) to help investigate issues with the login screen. Simply press the keyboard shortcut while your PC is locked, reproduce your issue, and then press the keyboard short again–a reference number will be displayed that you can share when reporting your issue. Please note, currently this is only supported for local sessions that have connected to the network and power, and for whom Diagnostic Data is set to Full.
  • Narrator no longer announces changes in fonts when they have not changed.
  • We updated Narrator’s autocorrect sound to be more consistent with the editing experience.
  • We improved Narrator’s navigation and reading experience within Chrome.
  • We’ve improved the Outlook experience with Magnifier when Magnifier is set to track the text cursor in the center of the screen. Arrowing up and down in a list of emails will no longer force the viewport to the left of the list of messages.

Known issues

  • BattlEye and Microsoft have found incompatibility issues due to changes in the operating system between some Insider Preview builds and certain versions of BattlEye anti-cheat software. To safeguard Insiders who might have these versions installed on their PC, we have applied a compatibility hold on these devices from being offered affected builds of Windows Insider Preview. See this article for details.
  • We’ve heard that Settings still isn’t available outside of launching via the URI (ms-settings:) for some Insiders and are investigating.
  • Some Insiders are reporting that after successfully installing printer drivers from the Optional Updates section, the same driver is still showing as available for install. We’re looking into the issue.
  • If this build attempts to download an install before you have completed the first login of a prior install (such as Build 19013), you will experience a 2-hour window before you can install this new build.
  • [ADDED] Based on feedback, we’ve decided to remove the downloads folder from disk cleanup.

source: Windows Blogs

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 19013

Hi all, today we’re releasing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 19013 (20H1) to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring.

Smooth upgrades here, make sure you check out the new updated power toys, they are awesome!

What’s new in Build 19013

More kaomoji

As some of you may know, with Windows 10 version 1903, we updated our WIN+(Period) / WIN+(Semicolon) keyboard shortcut to not only include emoji, but to also now contain kaomoji and special characters. What are kaomoji? Basically, they’re faces with expressions you can make by combining various characters–for example, you might be familiar with the shruggie:

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[2:00 PM] Jennifer Gentleman Showcasing the kaomoji section of WIN+Period.

In any case, based on your feedback, in this build we’re updating our kaomoji list with a few more favorites, including:

  • ヾ(⌐■_■)ノ♪
  • ლ(╹◡╹ლ)
  • (⊙_◎)
  • ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)
  • ಠ_ರೃ
  • (∩^o^)⊃━☆
  • /ᐠ。ꞈ。ᐟ\

And more! Enjoy (❁´◡`❁)

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) 2 will now release unused Linux memory back to your Windows machine

Previously, your WSL 2 Virtual Machine’s (VM) memory would grow to meet the needs of your workflow, but would not shrink back down when the memory was no longer needed.  With this change, as memory is no longer in use in the Linux VM, it will be freed back to Windows, which will shrink in memory size accordingly.

Other updates for Insiders

PowerToys v0.12 now available!

We’ve just released our 0.12 release of PowerToys on GitHub. We’ve gotten tons of great feedback and suggestions from the community and want to directly say thank you to everyone.

New features include a great new utility called PowerRename, which makes it easy to batch rename a bunch of files, improvements to FancyZones, and support for Dark Mode.

GIF showing how you use PowerRename to select a group of files and batch rename them by searching for and replacing certain words.

Check out our latest article for all the details.

Your Phone app–Elevating the Phone screen feature by removing its dependency on Bluetooth connection

Windows Insiders, we heard your feedback about the Phone screen feature’s dependency on Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity. To address your feedback, we partnered closely with Samsung to bring you a more streamlined experience across all Windows 10 PCs by removing the peripheral role dependency for Phone screen, which will expand the overall reach of this feature.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 was the first device to introduce this feature in August. After a positive response, we’ve recently enabled this feature across Samsung Galaxy Fold, S10, S10+, and S10e smartphones. You’ll need to update your supported Samsung devices with the recent software update that enables the ‘Link to Windows’ feature. To continue offering this experience to other smartphones, we’re expanding this feature support to Samsung Galaxy A30s, A50s, and A90 smartphones, and we’ll continue to add additional devices in the coming months.

With the new experience rolling out, we’ll be removing the Bluetooth connectivity option, effective immediately. If you were previously enjoying Phone screen over Bluetooth and you have a phone model that doesn’t yet support Link to Windows, the Phone screen node will disappear automatically within the Your Phone app. We recommend that you unpair your devices by going to the Bluetooth settings on both your PC and your Android phone, so that you don’t have a connection that is no longer in use.

Thank you for helping us refine the Phone screen experience so far!

Phone screen requirements:

  • Select Android phones running Android 9.0 or greater
  • PC running Windows 10 October 2018 Update or later
  • Android phone must be on and connected to the same network as the PC
  • You will need a supported device to use this feature:
    • Samsung Galaxy Fold
    • Samsung Galaxy Note 10/ Note 10+
    • Samsung Galaxy S10/S10+/S10e
    • Samsung Galaxy A30s/A50s/A90

Refer to the Your Phone FAQs for additional information.

Preview new DirectX 12 features

In the latest 20H1 builds, you can preview new DirectX 12 features, including DirectX Raytracing tier 1.1, Mesh Shader, and Sampler Feedback. In this blog post, the DirectX Team explains what each of these features are and how they will improve the gaming experience in Windows 10!

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

  • We fixed an issue resulting in frames being skipped, starting with Build 19002, when running games and videos fullscreen.
  • We fixed an issue where initiating “Reset this PC” with the cloud download option wasn’t working when started from Windows RE.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in preinstalled apps (like Calculator) and other UWP apps being missing from the Apps & Features page in Settings.
  • We appreciate your patience while we worked on our sync engine. As of this build, wallpaper and theme syncing is now up and running again.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in Wi-Fi unexpectedly resetting (turning off and back on) frequently in recent flights.
  • We fixed an issue where Wi-Fi Settings might get stuck saying Connecting, even though the network flyout (correctly) indicated that you were Connected.
  • We fixed an issue where an update being temporarily suspended would result in an 0xc19001e1 error being displayed in Windows Update history.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in the “Open location” search result option not working if the search result was a folder.
  • We fixed an issue where if you moved Cortana’s window to certain places on your screen, and then closed the window, the minimize animation wouldn’t go towards Cortana’s icon on the taskbar.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in File Explorer not rendering correctly sometimes when using multiple monitors with different DPIs on the previous flight.
  • We fixed an issue where you could get into a state where it wasn’t possible to set focus to File Explorer’s search box in order to type your query.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in the app thumbnail disappearing when you right clicked it in Task View.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in the Send Message button in certain notifications not being visible when using High Contrast White.
  • We fixed an issue where the notification following WIN+Shift+S might have a blank space for the screenshot (rather than actually displaying the screenshot).
  • We fixed an issue resulting in Resource Manager unexpectedly not showing any disk activity.
  • We fixed an issue where, if you called SUBST with a path ending with a \ it would give a Path not found error.
  • We fixed a memory leak with running apps that repeatedly sent calls to adjust gamma.
  • Some of you have reached out about when trying to shutdown, seeing a message saying that an app named “G” was preventing shutdown. We investigated and found an issue where windows related to GDI+were only referenced as “G.” We’ve fixed this, so going forward, these will now have the name “GDI+ Window (<exe name>)”, where <exe name> will show the .exe name of the app using GDI+.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in speechruntime.exe using an unexpectedly high amount of CPU on the previous flight.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in Bluetooth devices potentially not reconnecting as expected after closing then reopening the device lid for certain devices.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in the Surface Dial not scrolling in recent builds if you switched to something like zoom and then back to scrolling.
  • Thank you Insiders who shared feedback about the 2-in-1 convertible tablet experience improvements we discussed here. For the time being, we’re returning to the current experience in retail.
  • We fixed an issue where Narrator would sometime report focus as the page instead of reporting the actual focused control within Chrome.
  • We fixed an issue where Narrator would not automatically start reading the Narrator user guide webpage and the YouTube webpage.
  • We corrected Narrator’s “Next Table” command so that it would work in Excel.
  • We fixed an issue where the text cursor indicator was visible on top of the lock screen background picture.
  • We fixed an issue where the text cursor indicator preview wasn’t displaying correctly in Settings when using dark theme.
  • We fixed an issue where when using dark theme, the hardware keyboard text prediction candidate window was unreadable due to black text on a dark grey background.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in the touch keyboard flickering when inputting emoji.
  • We fixed an issue where English punctuations were outputted when using the Chinese Pinyin and Wubi IMEs, even if input mode was set to Chinese under the default IME settings. Thanks for your feedback.
  • We’ve fixed an issue where the character width of alphanumeric characters when using the Traditional Chinese Bopomofo IME would change from half width to full width unexpectedly in some input fields. Thanks for reporting it! If you feel this issue hasn’t been fully addressed in the new version of Bopomofo IME, please let us know your feedback.
  • We’ve fixed an issue where after successfully updating to a new build, the Windows Update Settings page may have shown the same build needed to be installed.
  • We’ve fixed an issue where Optional drivers were failing to install.

Known issues

  • BattlEye and Microsoft have found incompatibility issues due to changes in the operating system between some Insider Preview builds and certain versions of BattlEye anti-cheat software. To safeguard Insiders who might have these versions installed on their PC, we have applied a compatibility hold on these devices from being offered affected builds of Windows Insider Preview. See this article for details.
  • We’ve heard that Settings still isn’t available outside of launching via the URI (ms-settings:) for some Insiders and are investigating.
  • If you use remote desktop connection and the target PC is on this build, within about an hour (if not sooner), DWM may start crashing, and the session window will either go totally black, experience black flashes, or you may get signed out of the remote desktop session altogether. We appreciate your patience.
  • [ADDED] A small subset of Insiders are reporting the Settings app hangs or crashes when accessing the System or Ease of Access sections. We’ve identified the cause, which is related to display settings, and are working on a fix for a future flight. As a workaround, launch Settings and then search for the setting you’d like to adjust. Any display-related setting can’t be adjusted until a fix is made available. Thank you to the Insiders who reported this.

source: Windows Blogs

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 19002

Hi all,last Thursday Microsoft released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 19002 (20H1) to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring.

UPDATE 10/18: New update 20H1 Build 19002.1002, which includes a fix for the issue causing some devices to get stuck during shutdown or restart.

New experience connecting Bluetooth devices, a big improvement!

Watch out for Bluetooth devices not reconnecting correctly after closing the lid of your device, this is a know issue – turn off & on Bluetooth a workaround.

What’s new in Build 19002

Update on improving your Bluetooth Experience

With Build 18985 we announced we were working on improving our streamlined workflow for pairing your Bluetooth devices. We’re happy to share that this change is now rolling out to 100% of Insiders–thank you to those that have already tried it and shared feedback!

gif of our streamlined workflow for pairing your Bluetooth devices.

We also wanted to add two new peripherals to our supported device list:

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

  • We fixed an issue that could result in upgrades failing with error 0x8007042b.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in the acrylic effect in the Action Center only appearing after the Action Center opening animation had finished.
  • We fixed an issue where with multiple monitors and different DPIs, the File Explorer search box could become enlarged and offset.
  • We fixed an issue with the search indexer resulting in unexpected files being returned as search results when searching using French (France).
  • We fixed an issue for Japanese users where the user name in the Settings header wasn’t displayed in the correct order.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in clipboard history, WIN+(Period), and the touch keyboard displaying English text when being used with non-English display languages.
  • We fixed a rare condition that could result in devices not reconnecting after toggling Bluetooth off and back on.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in the VPN sometimes not automatically connecting after waking your device from sleep.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in the brightness getting stuck at 0 or 100% and requiring a reboot before it could be changed.
  • Text cursor indicator works better in more experiences (e.g. Word, Run dialog, Outlook) now.
  • The Magnifier centered text cursor option should now work correctly when switching Magnifier modes.
  • We fixed the mouse pointer visual when using the Magnifier docked mode.
  • We fixed a bug where Narrator was not saying the state of Scan mode when Edge was opened or closed.
  • We fixed a bug in Narrator where Narrator sometimes say password twice when focus was in a password edit field.
  • We fixed a bug in Narrator where scan mode was getting stuck in edit fields in Firefox.
  • We’ve made some general improvements and bug fixes for the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), please see the WSL release notes for details.
  • If you were one of the Insiders experiencing frequent explorer.exe crashes recently, please go to the Microsoft Store and check for Xbox game bar app updates (specifically version 3.34.4xx should have the fix). If you’re on this app version and still seeing explorer.exe crashes, please file feedback and we will investigate.
  • Just a heads up that we’re expanding the rollout of the Settings header to more Insiders, so it may now appear for you when it hadn’t before. As always, we welcome feedback about Settings – in the Feedback Hub you can share it under Desktop Environment > Settings.
  • [ADDED] For devices that were affected by the Dual Scan issue fixed in Build 18999, you will need to disable WSUS on the device or update from an ISO of Build 18999 or higher, which will be released in the coming weeks.

Known issues

  • fixed with .1002: We’re working on a fix for an issue that started with the previous flight where some devices are getting stuck during shutdown or restart and appreciate your patience. If you’re impacted by this issue, please see this forum post for workaround options.
  • 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.
  • We’re investigating an issue where initiating “Reset this PC” with the cloud download option isn’t working on this build or the previous one when started from Windows RE.
  • We’ve heard that Settings still isn’t available outside of launching via the URI (ms-settings:) for some Insiders and are investigating.
  • When using dark theme, the hardware keyboard text prediction candidate window is unreadable due to black text on a dark grey background.
  • When optional updates are available, Insiders with the Settings header may see the Windows Update indicator in a warning state, although the main page of Windows Update Settings shows that everything is up to date.
  • Bluetooth devices may not reconnect as expected after closing the device lid for certain devices. We’re working on a fix, but in the meantime, you can toggle Bluetooth off and back on in the Settings app or reboot the device and that should resolve the issue.

source: Windows Blogs

October Update on Microsoft Technology

OPGELET: Wegens omstandigheden is de locatie veranderd naar ASPEX,

Op donderdag 17/11 doen we ons derde community event van het jaar. Deze keer hebben we het genoegen om af te zakken naar Antwerpen, deze keer bij ASPEX in het centrum van Antwerpen. Voor de sessies quote ik graag de zittende president van Amerika: Words, we have the best words!. Schrijf je dus snel in, Covfefe!

Sessie 1: Microsoft zet zich schrap om de nieuwste Windows 10 update uit te brengen. Deze update 19H2 bevat volgens Microsoft “a scoped set of features for select performance improvements, enterprise features, and quality enhancements”. Erik Moreau, MVP Windows Insider zal je door de nieuwe features loodsen.

Sessie 2: Een profiel van een gebruiker laden in RDS kan zijn uitdagingen hebben, maar het laden van profielen waarin Office 365 componenten verwerkt zitten brengen grotere uitdagingen mee. Met de toevoeging van het gratis FSLogix worden heel wat van deze uitdagingen verholpen. Karel De Winter van Savaco legt je haarfijn uit hoe dit in zijn werk gaat.

Sessie 3: We verplaatsen meer en meer workloads naar Cloud-omgevingen, maar hoe pas je concepten als HA, DR toe op legacy applicaties? Kunnen we ze de containerbehandeling geven? Het antwoord krijg je van Thomas Van Laere, Cloud Architect bij ASPEX in zijn sessie “Modernize Windows Server Apps with Windows Server Containers“.

Agenda:

Wanneer:

  • Donderdag 17/10 om 18:00

Waar:

  • ASPEX, Van Schoonbekeplein 6, 2000 Antwerpen (8ste verdieping)
  • Gratis parking is voorzien in het gebouw zelf!

Registrations Closed – click session name for the presentations

Windows Server 2019 adds support for Office 365 ProPlus

Yesterday Support for Office 365 ProPlus on Server 2019 was made official on the Microsoft Blog, long awaited support for a lot of SMB companies using O365 with RDS:

Our priority is to continue to deliver a great Office experience in on-premises virtualized environments; we have updated our Office 365 support requirements and Windows Server support documentation to reflect Office 365 ProPlus support for Windows Server 2019.

We recommend taking the following steps as a best practice:

– Run Office 365 ProPlus on Windows Server 2019
– Leverage flexibility of Windows Server 2019 to implement single and multi-session capabilities
– Deploy FSLogix to ensure smooth user profile roaming and end user experience at log on
– Use OneDrive with the Files On-Demand capabilities for optimized storage and retrieval of user files

source: Server Blogs

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18999

Hi all, Yesterday Microsoft released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18999 (20H1) to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring.

Lots of Your Phone app updates, calling from your pc… missing out on this with my iphone…

What’s new in this build?

Your Phone app – unveiling Calls, now even more ways to stay connected to what matters

We first announced the Calls feature at the Samsung Unpacked event in August, and you saw a live demo at last week’s Surface event. Today, we’re excited to unveil the Calls feature to the Windows Insider community. Check out this early preview and let us know what you think.

No need to dig for your Android phone to answer your personal or work calls. You can now stay connected by simply answering (or not) your phone calls on your PC. Tap into your PC’s speakers, microphone, and large screen for a richer calling experience.

With the Calls feature you can:

  • Answer incoming phone calls on your PC.
  • Initiate phone calls from your PC using in-app dialer or contact list.
  • Decline incoming phone calls on your PC with custom text or send directly to your phone’s voicemail.
  • Access your recent call history on your PC. Clicking on a specific call will auto populate the number within the dialer screen.
  • Seamlessly transfer calls between your PC and phone.
Screen showing incoming phone call on the PC.

Calls requirements:

  • Android Phones 7.0 or higher
  • Windows 10 PC with Bluetooth radio
  • Requires 19H1build or newer
  • Requires minimum Windows 10 build 18362.356

Known issue:

  • In certain instances, Calls feature may require you to pair your mobile phone & PC again. If you have previously paired your devices, unpair your devices and go through the Calls set up flow again.

This feature will gradually roll out to Insiders on 19H1 builds or newer, so it may take a few days to be available inside the Your Phone app.

We value your feedback, so give it a try and let us know what you think. You can report any issues under the Your Phone > Settings > Send feedback.

Update on the ability to move & resize Cortana’s window

We first started rolling out this change with Build 18975, and wanted to share that as of today’s build, this work is now available for all Insiders.

Please note that we’re still in the process of expanding language/region support of the new Cortana app (as discussed here), and Insiders outside of English (United States) will see a message when launching Cortana saying “Cortana isn’t available.” We’ll update you when the availability increases.

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

  • We fixed an issue resulting in some Insiders seeing error 0x8007023e when installing updates.
  • We fixed an issue where, after successfully updating to Build 18995, the Windows Update Settings page might show the same build still needs to install. After installing Build 18999, you won’t see this issue on future flights.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in the Optional Features page in Settings crashing for some Insiders.
  • We fixed an issue where some Insiders were finding that Settings doesn’t launch from the button in Start, isn’t listed in the All apps list, or as a search result. If you are impacted, pressing WIN+R and inputting “ms-settings:” (without the quotes) will launch Settings if you need it.
  • We fixed a deadlock in the Network and Sharing Center Control Panel, that could result in it not loading.
  • We fixed an issue where if Cortana had been moved from the default position, then it wouldn’t be visible when you tried to launch it via the WIN+C keyboard shortcut.
  • We fixed an issue where when on battery saver SearchFilterHost.exe might use an unexpectedly high volume of CPU.
  • We fixed an issue where search would crash if a Start Menu layout including a folder had been applied via group policy.
  • We fixed an issue impacted VPN connection reliability.
  • We fixed an issue in Narrator which caused Chrome to become unstable when navigating web contents.
  • In Narrator braille, group header contextual elements are now represented with a “grp” abbreviation instead of “group.”
  • Narrator would not show the text being spoken when returning to the same edit field in braille just after navigating back from an element that did not support a standard text control.
  • Magnifier now remembers its window position after close and will reopen in that same location next time.
  • We fixed an issue where the text cursor indicator did not adjust to show in the correct location after content was scrolled.
  • We fixed an issue in the Search bar in either Control Panel or File Explorer where the box becomes grey and prevents input.
  • We fixed an issue where devices configured for dual scan (WSUS and Windows Update) for updates may not have been offered new builds in the Fast ring.
  • We fixed an issue where some devices configured to Use HDR may have experienced a bluish tint on their HDR displays after using Night Light.
  • We fixed an issue where certain 2D apps (like Feedback Hub, Microsoft Store, 3D Viewer) were incorrectly being treated as having protected content within Windows Mixed Reality and were blocking their content from being recorded.
  • We fixed an issue where, when capturing a repro video while filing a bug via Feedback Hub in Windows Mixed Reality, you couldn’t select Stop video.
  • [ADDED] We fixed the issue causing theme packs downloaded from the Microsoft Store to fail to apply.

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.

source: Windows Blogs

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18985

Hi all, last week Microsoft released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18985 (20H1) to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring.

Lots of fixes in this one, Bluetooth Notification for nearby ready-to-pair devices & a very nice new Snip & Sketch update.

Enjoy Upgrading!

What’s new in Build 18985

Improving your Bluetooth pairing experience

For Windows 10 version 1803, we announced a new streamlined experience for pairing supported Bluetooth devices. The idea was simple—if a supported device was nearby and in pairing mode, we’d show a notification that prompted you to go through pairing. This saved you from opening Settings yourself and finding the right place to go. Today, we’re rolling out an update with improvements we hope you’ll like.

Here’s what’s new:

  • Pairing is all done in notifications now. You don’t need to go to the Settings app anymore to finish pairing.
  • For faster pairing time, we improved the UI by showing one less notification.
  • We added a Dismiss button to the first notification to give you more control while using Swift Pair.
  • To make the notification more helpful, now we show the device name and category when we can.

We’re excited for Insiders to try it out and share feedback. This new experience is currently rolled out to 50% of Insiders, and we’ll let you know as the rollout increases. Supported devices include:

  • Surface Ergonomic Keyboard
  • Surface Precision Mouse
  • Microsoft Modern Mobile Mouse
  • Surface Mobile Mouse
  • Microsoft Arc Mouse
  • Surface Arc Mouse
  • Surface Headphones
Streamlined Bluetooth pairing experience.

Improving your optional update experience

As some Insiders have noticed, we’re working on making it easier for you to see all optional updates (including drivers, feature updates, and monthly non-security quality updates) in one place. Once optional updates are detected, they will be listed in a new page under Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > View optional updates. For drivers, you no longer need to browse Device Manager for a specific device to update. Windows Update will automatically keep your drivers up-to-date, same as before, but if you’re having a problem one of those optional drivers might help.

Other updates for Insiders

Snip & Sketch app update

After spending time in both the Fast and Slow rings, we’re now starting to roll out Snip & Sketch version 10.1907 to 100% of Insiders in the Release Preview ring. We will also be rolling this update out to a small percentage of those using retail builds. As a reminder, this update includes two notable improvements based on your feedback:

  • Single window mode: We’ve heard that some of you prefer your previous snip to close when you click New in Snip & Sketch, so you don’t end up with a bunch of windows. Going forward, this will be the default option. If you liked having multiple windows, don’t worry! That’s still an option too if you go to Snip & Sketch settings.
  • Zoom support: You can now zoom in on your screenshots if they’re a bit too small for you to annotate on (and yes, touch, CTRL+Plus, CTRL+Minus and Ctrl+Mouse wheel are supported!) If you prefer keeping a small Snip & Sketch window, we’ll also zoom out to ensure the whole snip fits in the Snip & Sketch window.
Showing a small Snip & Sketch window, where the screenshot has been shrunk to fit the window.

What snipping improvement would you like us to work on next? Let us know! Fastest way to get to the right place is to select the “…” menu in Snip & Sketch, and then choose Send Feedback.

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

  • We fixed an issue where adding a new Language Pack reported successful installation but was not installed.
  • We fixed an issue impacting the reliability of Settings when accessing the Network & Internet section.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in printer entries not displaying properly for non-admin accounts—the text overlapping, and not being clickable.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in Task Manager showing an unexpectedly high temperature for certain GPUs.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in Task Manger unexpectedly showing 0% CPU usage in the Performance tab.
  • We fixed an issue where the setting that enables Microsoft accounts on your device to go Passwordless (by requiring Windows Hello sign in and hiding the password option from the lock screen) was showing for local account users. Now the setting will only show for Microsoft account users.
  • We fixed an issue with the Reset this PC cloud download option not calculating the correct amount of space you needed to free up if you did not have enough disk space to proceed.
  • We fixed an issue with the Reset this PC cloud download option not working when specific optional features were installed.
  • At this time, we’re removing our known issue about Realtek SD card readers. If you are still encountering issues with any SD cards, please take a moment to check for driver updates, and file feedback if that does not resolve it 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.
  • Certain 2D apps (like Feedback Hub, Microsoft Store, 3D Viewer) are incorrectly being treated as having protected content within Windows Mixed Reality. During video capture, these 2D apps block their content from being recorded.
  • When capturing a repro video while filing a bug via Feedback Hub in Windows Mixed Reality, you won’t be able to select Stop video, due to the protected content issue noted above. If you want to submit a repro video, you will need to wait 5 minutes for the recording to time out. If you’d like to file the bug without a repro video, you can close the Feedback Hub window to end the recording and resume filing your bug when you reopen the app in Feedback > Drafts.
  • When viewing Optional drivers in the new section on the Windows Update page, you may notice older drivers showing as available for download. If accepted, they will attempt to install and fail to do so. This is a bug related to revised Windows Update detection logic rather than this new UI. The root cause is understood, and a fix will be available in an upcoming build.

source: Windows Blogs

Resume from Black Screen magic key-combo

Ever resumed from standby & confronted with a black screen?

1st response would be to hit some keys, move the mouse & if the doesn’t work press the power button for 4 seconds & start the machine again with potential unsaved work lost?

Ad this one to your steps, it might just get you there faster & without any loss:

Windows Key + CTRL + SHIFT + B

More details available here: MS Support (select option 1 or 2)

Make sure you look for the latest Graphic drivers for you device to avoid the issue in the future.

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18980

Hi all, last week Microsoft released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18980 (20H1) to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring.

Smooth upgrades on all devices here, a few applications firewall rules were reset but no harm done.

If you experience any strange non-working key combinations, let me know, I had AtlGr only working when elevated & same for the enter key just the 1st few minutes after resume from standby.

If you want a complete look at what build is in which Insider ring, head over to Flight Hub. You can also check out the rest of our documentation here including a complete list of new features and updates that have gone out as part of Insider flights for the current development cycle.

Not seeing any of the features in this build? Check your Windows Insider Settings to make sure you’re on the Fast ring. Submit feedback here to let us know if things weren’t working the way you expected.

What’s new in Build 18980

An update on Cortana

In response to feedback, we are executing a plan to make it easier for all Windows customers to use Cortana. As a first step, starting with today’s build, all Insiders worldwide will see the Cortana icon and the new app. In a future Cortana app update, customers will have the option to use Cortana if they speak a supported language, regardless of their OS display language. The new Cortana app currently supports English (United States)—because Cortana is service backed, we can and will continue to add new languages over the coming months outside the bounds of OS build updates. We expect to support the same set of regions and languages we currently support in retail by 20H1 launch. We will share more details of our language rollout plans as they progress and appreciate your patience during this transition period.

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) improvements

In this build, we’ve added WSL2 support for ARM64 devices! We’ve also added the ability to set your distribution’s default user using the /etc/wsl.conf file. This release also contains multiple bug fixes, including a long-standing issue for legacy Windows symlinks (for example those in the user profile directory.)

Showing working sym links in WSL.

For the full details of changes in this latest Insider Preview build, please see the WSL release notes.

Other updates for Insiders

Update on the Optional Features settings section improvements

These changes are now available to all Insiders in Fast! Thanks to those who’ve already tried it out and shared feedback. If the experience is just rolling out to you now, we can’t wait to hear what you think! To quickly recap, amongst other things, we’ve added multi-select, search, and generally done work to make this section easier to use:

Showing a before and after of the add a features section in settings. You can now multiselect and search.

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

  • There was an upgrade block on the previous flight in order to ensure that Insiders with certain versions of Outlook weren’t impacted by an issue in the build, which resulted in some insiders not finding the build when they checked for updates last week. This has been removed with this flight.
  • We fixed a deadlock in netprofmsvc.dll that was occurring in recent builds. Symptoms for those impacted potentially included upgrade to the build freezing at 98%, or (if you were able to upgrade,) various aspects of the system unexpectedly freezing and becoming unresponsive.
  • We’ve done some work to help address an issue where Outlook wouldn’t launch if you clicked an incoming email notification.
  • We fixed an issue impacting touch keyboard reliability in recent builds.
  • We fixed an issue impacting WIN+(Period) reliability.
  • We’ve made the decision to return to the retail build version of the Korean IME while we work on addressing feedback Insiders shared with us about the updated IME experience.
  • We fixed an issue impacting screen snipping reliability in the last few flights.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in the login screen acrylic on the previous flight sometimes unexpectedly showing squares around UI elements.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in certain app thumbnails going unexpectedly blank when you right-clicked them in Task View.
  • We fixed an issue where removable devices were erroneously labeled as HDD in Task Manager’s performance tab. They will now be labeled Removable.
  • As some Insiders have noticed, to give you the option to save disk space if needed, we’ve converted MS Paint and WordPad into Optional Features. You can choose to uninstall them or reinstall them via Optional Features in Settings.
  • We’ve made some adjustments to help improve performance of the Apps & Features page in Settings when searching.
  • We fixed an issue that could result in Settings crashing when updating your account picture.
  • Ease of Access settings are no longer participating in settings synchronization (roaming). Accordingly, we have now removed the Ease of Access toggle in Settings > Accounts Sync your settings.
  • Magnifier reading now works better in applications like Google Chrome and Firefox.
  • Magnifier reading no longer clicks the application when using the “Read from here” button or the Ctrl + Alt + Left Mouse Click keyboard shortcut.
  • We fixed an issue where the text cursor indicator would not display when switching between left-to-right and right-to-left languages.
  • We fixed an issue where the text cursor indicator would sometimes appear on read-only areas of the screen.
  • We fixed an issue where the text cursor indicator would appear over the Start menu instead of staying in the Search edit box after typing text in the Search edit box.
  • Improved the ability of reading the title of the window with Narrator while reading messages in Outlook.
  • Improved auto-reading in Outlook with Narrator to make it more reliable.
  • Made changes to more reliably read the message headers using Narrator while reading when using the Shift + Tab command while in Scan Mode.
  • Improved the verbosity of Narrator when reading lists at verbosity level one.
  • We fixed an issue where an edit field on some webpages was not getting properly updated on a configured braille display when editing the contents with Narrator.
  • We fixed an issue where certain Local Experience Packs (LXPs) may revert to English.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in certain Wi-Fi adapters not being able to load (code 10 error) after upgrading from a previous release of Windows and needing to be disabled and re-enabled for it to work.

Known issues

  • The Reset this PC cloud download option is not currently calculating the correct amount of space you need to free up if you do not have enough disk space to proceed. To work around this until the fix is available, free up an extra 5GB beyond what is prompted.
  • The Reset this PC cloud download option is not currently working when specific optional features are installed. The process will begin, but an error will occur and roll back the changes. To work around this issue, remove the optional features before trying the cloud download option. We’ll let you know once this issue has been resolved. The optional features are: EMS and SAC Toolset for Windows 10, IrDA infrared, Print Management Console, RAS Connection Manager Administration Kit (CMAK), RIP Listener, all RSAT tools, Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), Windows Fax and Scan, Windows Storage Management, Wireless Display, and WI SNMP Provider.
  • 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.
  • We are looking into an issue where, after updating to this build, adding a new Language Pack reports successful installation but is not installed.
  • Certain 2D apps (like Feedback Hub, Microsoft Store, 3D Viewer) are incorrectly being treated as having protected content within Windows Mixed Reality. During video capture, these 2D apps block their content from being recorded.
  • When capturing a repro video while filing a bug via Feedback Hub in Windows Mixed Reality, you won’t be able to select Stop video, due to the protected content issue noted above. If you want to submit a repro video, you will need to wait 5 minutes for the recording to time out. If you’d like to file the bug without a repro video, you can close the Feedback Hub window to end the recording and resume filing your bug when you reopen the app in Feedback > Drafts.

source: Windows Blogs