Category Archives: Windows 11

Patches and updates, Things that are bad, Windows, Windows 11

Dear Microsoft: stop screwing with my computer

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At one point, not many years ago, we had control over our own Windows computers. Microsoft has ripped that control from us gradually, and with Windows 11, not only does Microsoft decide which patches your computer needs, it also decides when to install them, and when to restart your computer to complete them.

Sure, there are ways to regain some control. Updates can be delayed, and restarts can be scheduled. But that’s only if you’re running the more expensive versions of Windows.

Various update-induced nightmares

Power settings reverted

I’ve never seen a satisfying explanation for why this keeps happening on computers I manage.

I suppose it’s possible that Microsoft is trying to be a good citizen, and tell the billions of Windows computers it effectively manages to go to sleep when they are no being actively used.

Sure, that saves power. And sure, most of the time a sleeping computer is just slightly annoying to its user. But the Windows sleep feature isn’t exactly reliable. Most power users leave it permanently disabled because it just causes too many problems.

It’s also a huge problem for computers that are mainly used remotely. When a remote Windows PC goes to sleep, it becomes impossible to access remotely. Someone has to go to the computer physically and hit the keyboard to wake it up.

Sure, there’s technology to get around this, such as Wake-On-LAN. But I have yet to see WOL work reliably on any Windows computer where I’ve tried it.

Incidentally, this exact scenario recently happened to me (again), and there was no way to access the remote PC until the business reopened two days after I needed remote access.

Default apps revert to Windows defaults

This has happened on Windows computers I manage more times than I can remember. There’s no pattern to it. I would almost prefer if this happened after every update, because then I would know that I always have to reset them.

It’s no coincidence, I’m sure, that the defaults involve setting up Microsoft apps to open everything. Nothing to do with the fact that a lot of those defaults involve opening files in Edge, and the fact that Edge is basically hated by everyone and used very little, at least intentionally.

Worse still, Microsoft has made it increasingly difficult to change these settings. The latest user interface is awful. And it’s now effectively impossible for an application to make itself the default for specific file types. Apps typically now have a message apologizing for not being able to make those changes, and telling the user that they have no choice but to use the crappy Windows interface.

Resetting all the default apps on my Windows 11 computer takes about an hour. I’ve spent a lot of time testing applications, and have settled on a collection that works very well for me. Very few of them are Microsoft apps. I have to keep notes about it, because I can’t remember all of the details.

Updates and reboots interrupt critical processes

You’ve probably heard the stories about people giving important presentations, only to be interrupted by updates and reboots. It’s even happened to Microsoft executives.

Microsoft has tried to improve this, offering to only install updates and reboot after hours, but those settings are far too limited.

Updates are not properly tested

Those other problems are annoying and problematic, but they pale in comparison with those times when Microsoft’s Windows update ineptitude has caused major outages around the world. There have been estimates about how much these problems have actually cost in terms of lost productivity, and the numbers are significant.

Of course, every time this happens, Microsoft says it was impossible to predict, and that it will never happen again. Here’s a suggestion, Microsoft: try testing updates properly before foisting them on millions of innocents users.

Conclusion

So hey, Microsoft. Kindly fuck all the way off with this bullshit. Linux looks better all the time.

Microsoft, Things that are bad, Windows 10, Windows 11

Bug causes clock problems on Windows 10, 11, Windows Server

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A recently-discovered bug in newer versions of Windows is causing bizarre local time shifts.

Keeping accurate time on computers is important for a lot of reasons, many of which are not obvious to non-technical users. Update schedules, scheduled background tasks, synchronization with server and cloud resources, and many other time-sensitive processes depend on your PC maintaining accurate time.

Because it’s so important, and because various factors can sometimes cause a PC’s clock to drift, operating systems use a variety of methods to check and adjust it. The most obvious of these in Windows can be seen in Windows 10 and 11 in Settings > Time & Language. Windows regularly compares the PC’s clock with an Internet-based clock, such as time.windows.com. When a discrepancy is observed, the PC’s clock is updated.

Between a PC’s internal clock and Windows’ time synchronization, most Windows-based computers are able to maintain accurate time.

But at some point, someone at Microsoft decided that Windows needed additional time checks. So they created something called Secure Time Seeding. This function regularly analyzes secure network traffic from a ‘known good’ host computer, and calculates the current time based on what it sees.

Sounds good, right? Anything that makes the clock more accurate is good, right? Well, no. There’s at least one major problem with Secure Time Seeding, which causes it to get confused about the date and time, and can set your computer’s time based on random values. This has been observed to incorrectly change the Windows clock by minutes, hours, days, or more. As you can imagine, this causes all manner of strange problems.

Microsoft’s response to the report of this bug has been disappointing: they are downplaying its scope and effects. And while it’s true that there are very few reports of this happening, the problems it can cause are bad enough that anyone running Windows 10 and up or Windows Server 2016 and up should disable Secure Time Seeding.

To disable Secure Time Seeding on a Windows 10 or 11 PC, follow the instructions provided by Microsoft.

Trying to make sense of the actions and statements of a corporate behemoth like Microsoft is an exercise in futility. It’s possible that they will realize that this bug is actually very bad, and fix it, or they may find a way to limit its effects, or they may change the feature so that it’s disabled by default. But in the meantime, there are potentially millions of computers out there that might start exhibiting strange clock problems for the forseeable future.

Microsoft, Windows, Windows 11

Den Delimarsky: Windows Needs a Change in Priorities

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In a recent post on his blog, Den Delimarsky explains why he’s disappointed with the direction Microsoft is going with Windows.

Anyone who reads my own posts about Windows will notice that we complain about the same things. Inconsistent user interface elements, disappearing functionality, changes that nobody wants, advertising, and privacy issues all plague Windows 11, just as they do with Windows 10. But with each new Windows release, the problems are only getting worse.

It’s a good read, and I recommend it to anyone who is considering upgrading to Windows 11. It may also be helpful for people who are stuck using Windows 11, in business and education environments. If you’re using Windows 11 and are only vaguely aware that something is rotten in Denmark, this article may clarify things for you.

Microsoft, Windows 11

Windows 11 workarounds

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Windows 11 hasn’t even been released yet, and people are already looking for ways to work around some of the changes Microsoft has decided we really need.

First up, it’s the venerable Start menu, which for some reason Microsoft has decided to move from its traditional place at the bottom left of the display, to the bottom center. Perhaps because that’s the way macOS does it?

I have no problem with Microsoft making changes like these, as long as there’s a way to revert those changes. In this case, there’s no obvious way to do that, but helpful folks have found a workaround.

Next, it’s the incredibly annoying prompts, taskbar icons, alerts, and other associated distractions generated by Microsoft Teams. That software isn’t included with Windows 11, but Microsoft has packed the new O/S with what amounts to advertising for Teams. Again, helpful folks have figured out how to get rid of this crap.

Meanwhile, Mozilla has discovered how to get past the hurdles Microsoft erected to prevent Firefox from making itself the default web browser automatically. You’ve no doubt seen what is normally required to change the default browser on Windows 10 (which now affects Windows 11 as well): you’re forced to make the change manually.

Forcing the user to intervene in changing the default browser (and other applications) was added to Windows as a security measure, because otherwise malicious software could more easily take over affected applications. But Microsoft’s applications don’t seem to be affected by this restriction, making the whole thing seem more like Microsoft giving itself an unfair advantage.