My creation software was being slow, so I set them to high priority, and I didn't see any noticeable effect. Is there any way to more directly control the distribution of RAM in the system? I have hundreds of tabs open in Google Chrome which may be what is causing the slowdown, but I don't see why Chrome needs to hog up so much space. How much RAM does it take to just keep tabs open, without them actually doing anything?

It used to be very short in Win 10 but recently i noticed after i switched to Win 11 that it stays up too long whenever i change volume using keyboard. That too at the bottom portion of screen where usually my subtitles are present thus creating an annoyance. Is there any way to change this ?

I always had them saved in pictures/screenshots, but now i dont even have this folder. What can i do?

Strange question, but as the title says.

I'm using an old external USB hard drive (930 GB WD SmartWare, end of support already reached) that I formatted to NTFS.

I have some sensitive data that I'd like to store on this hard drive, so I'd like to have a software that can protect a folder with a password. I've looked in my System Information and my system does not support device encryption because of "Un-allowed DMA capable bus/device(s) detected, Disabled by policy," so I can't use the "Encrypt contents to secure data" option in folder properties, which is greyed out. And this is fine, because even if it did work, I would probably use this for just one case which I don't think would be very helpful.

Anyways, so the kind of (preferably FOSS) software I'm looking for is one that simply denies access to a folder until the correct password is put in. It doesn't need anything fancy like encryption or anything like that, I just want a password protected folder because I won't really be taking the hard drive anywhere except my house.

Let me know if such a software exists!

Need to create a vm and install ubuntu on it for a project. Is this possible on home??

Why do I need to do all these updates daily for my laptop to run normally?

If I don't install the updated, my laptop is slow and laggy, but after I install the updates, it runs just fine. But every day, I get on my laptop and I have to install updates again before I can use it normally.

After up upgrading windows 10 to Windows 11 I notice the file explorer just freezes. To resolve i just downgrade it back to windows 10 or move to another OU. i also noticed the indexing is turned off. Does anyone know what GPO controls this? MS has collected logs so far but i just discovered but no success. At least now we know there is something in the GPO that blocks it for w11. I hope someone have encountered this.

So I recently reset my laptop. And I'm tryna make it as ultrakill themed as possible. Problem being. Windows sucks for this kinda stuff (I had to spend 5 minutes tryna learn how to delete a garbage bin icon.) I got most of it done. Mostly working on the taskbar. Because it's hideous. I just wanna know if I can change it and like give it custom skins kind of like what you would do with rain meter. Ty

https://preview.redd.it/akfreo56c2xc1.png?width=1895&format=png&auto=webp&s=25858d3b90f770aa0d329626b10952f5d1b97d79

I have a long question that I’ll summarize, keep reading below if you want details. Is there a way to create Win 11 installation USB with the MS media creation tool and add OEM drivers to it so you don’t get stuck trying to wipe your PC because a bunch of OEM drivers are missing? Can this be done if OEM only has their drivers in .exe files on their website?

Details: I tried to wipe a new pc using Win 11 USB created with MS media creation tool. Once I deleted all partitions and installed Win 11, I entered setup and discovered that the touch screen, wifi, track pad and most of the keyboard (except Tab, Fn and Space) weren’t working (no OEM drivers). This got me stuck where the installer tries to force you to pick a wifi network (no networks showed although there were many). While I was able to pull up a cmd window (Fn keys were working) I wasn’t able to enter any commands since most of the keyboard wasn’t working (no letter keys). After much head scratching I used another PC to make a Win 10 install USB. I used a second usb to download the OEM drivers as .exe files. I was able to go through the Win 10 install since there’s a “skip this step” button on the “pick a wifi network” screen (no such button in Win 11) which I was able to “push” thru a combination of Tab and Space. Once Win 10 was up I plugged in the USB with the driver .exe files and again thru a combo of Fn, Tab and Space was able to run the driver setup .exe files, and reboot. From there on, all was fine. Is there a way to avoid all this by adding the drivers somehow when I create Win 11 install USB?

I have Windows 10 on my current pc and I am planning on building a new pc but I want Windows 11 as my system for it. Can I use the windows 10 on my current pc and just upgrade it to windows 11 for my new pc? Will my current pc still have windows 10?

I can't figure out how to get rid of these advertisements. Today I misread it and thought they were advertising singles in my area, so I complained to Microsoft. I don't want any of this anywhere near my desktop.

How do we get just a simple UI?

https://preview.redd.it/v35oghq9z1xc1.png?width=624&format=png&auto=webp&s=f80df859bc8fcfaefc079082bf55cd0cf37c4882

It's been a little while since I've been a Windows user (moved to Fedora years back) but up until that point I had been a Windows person since I was young.

I recently purchased a laptop for a relative which came pre-installed with Windows Home S (didn't know what the S stood for since it's been a while) and after getting past the Microsoft Account requirement annoyances, I got to the desktop and went to install Chrome.

Problem #1: Can't install Chrome due to Windows S, fine. Now I know what Windows S and there's instructions on how to disable it. Great. So I opened up the Microsoft Store, went to the page to disable the "S" and pressed "Get".

Error. Something something "try again". OK...I press the button again. Same error. No details as to what the error is, no other way to accomplish this as far as I can tell. I restart and try again. Nothing. I make sure every update available is installed. No change. I create a new local account on the computer, log in as that user, and try again. Nada.

I spent ~1.5 hours trying to step through every permutation and Google search I could find to resolve it and STILL COULDN'T DISABLE IT.

So I said F this, I'm going to dig up an old Windows Pro key and start from scratch. Downloaded the ISO (from MS officially), restored it to a thumbdrive and booted. Another error: "A media driver your computer needs is missing" What the heck. This is a bottom-of-the-barrel Intel-based laptop a generation old at least, how could a fresh Windows ISO not have some of the most standard drivers available. Downloaded the drivers with another machine, still nothing.

Long story shortened slightly:

• I had to recreate the USB stick using the Media Creator tool instead of the ISO and then the separate drivers worked
• Had to add a special file to the USB stick to force it to allow me to choose what version of Windows to install since it would just read the key from the BIOS and default back to Windows Home S without allowing me to change it
• Had to disable secure boot

Basically it took ~3-3.5 hrs just to get things up and running all because I couldn't turn off Windows S for some inexplicable reason.

I really don't understand how all this is acceptable in this day and age. I don't ever remember having so much difficulty with Windows and I was a computer tech in a past life. Is it just me or has this experience gotten much worse?

While many have criticized the new UI and the seemingly intrusive AI, I believe we're overlooking the substantial benefits these technologies bring.

Chatbots in Windows 11 can automate mundane tasks, from scheduling to providing quick fixes for common system issues, effectively streamlining our digital interactions. Isn't that a step towards smarter computing?

I don't get it why the hate for something that does in fact work?

I personally don't know anyone who appreciates this new Outlook, let alone uses it. The old Mail and Calendar apps were great for basic use.

The same applies for video editing. With Windows Movie Maker, Windows used to have a reliable video editor for simple tasks. When this was discontinued users were left dead in the water for a while, until Windows 11's video editor came along. Pretty good stuff - but also discontinued now in favour of a web-based app (Clipchamp). It's ridiculous that you have to upload your source files which can be several GB just to edit them). I'm sticking with the Legacy Photos/Video Editor app as long as it is available.

What exactly is Microsoft trying to achieve here? Thoughts?

I learn that in order to make a entire USB drive available for a Hyper-V VM, it has to be set offline so that attached to VM as a raw disk.

However I do not see such Offline option in Disk Management. When I try to offline it via diskpart, it throws

DISKPART> offline disk

Virtual Disk Service error:

The operation is not supported on removable media.

Is there anything extra that needs to be done? Or just plain impossible for Windows 11?

I'm curious if anyone has a workaround to this without just disabling the auto-save. I like the feature, it helps me make backups of stuff ive snipped, but often times when I snip something, it is going to a specific folder. So say I snip a bit of text and want to store it in folder B, without the auto-save, next time I snip something folder B will already be selected, since that was the last place I saved to. But with auto-save on, it will always open the screenshots folder whenever I go to save a snip, because it auto saves to there. This means I have to go all the way to folder B each and every time I want to save something to it. It's troublesome, and not really worth it to keep the auto-save on, in this case. But, I'm hoping there might be a workaround, like a way of enabling it where only manual save locations are remembered so even though it autosaves, it doesn't shove me into the screenshots folder? Im not sure if this feature exists or how someone would manage it.

If anyone happens to know, Id be very thankful! ^ ^

I am trying to set up an account for my kid to use the laptop in school. He uses Chrome to access Microsoft Office and all other websites are blocked. Family app will let me block a bunch of Microsoft apps but some of my other apps are still visible on his end.

Is there a way to block the access to the apps on the user side, to hide them from the start menu and to block the access to settings

Since the version of edge Microsoft Edge Version 124.0.2478.51 (Official build) (64-bit) has been installed its forcing me to sign in on every domain every new tab why i have not changed any settings !

Is there any way to change the dark screen when rebooting windows 11 since it's blue for windows 10 .

Hello

I use a local account but I finally enabled Windows Hello with a PIN, to be able to use FIDO2 passkeys to authenticate to websites and services. Since the PIN has only local significance, I just configured a small 4 digit PIN which I consider enough for my computer that never leaves my home.

Since I use a local account , I was expecting that for logging into Windows , I would still be prompted for my password. But instead, the login screen now defaults to the PIN. Which I don't want to use for my initial login.

Is there any way to enable Windows Hello with PIN for authenticating into websites and apps, but not for the initial login?

In other words, can I disable the PIN option from the initial login screeen?

Thanks

Gonzchi

This weird thing with my PC keeps happening where certain times if I hover my mouse over a certain things, it constantly scrolls without me touching it, and even if I try to scroll in the other direction, it keeps going.

Why i have this drivers updates of 1968 on windows update ? It's a bit weird isn't ?

Was going thru and uninstalling apps and this showed up. first time I’ve seen this

I've been searching for this one only answer for MORE THAN HALF A YEAR! Everything I found either did not work or no longer existed! I wanted to find at least one way to get motion blur on your monitor without buying a new one. I will stay with 75 Hz until I get my new monitor. I've tried every single thing! Cursor Trails, programs, virtual monitors, monitor overclocking, simulated refresh rates (did not find anything that worked). Everything I found was complete garbage. I'm pretty sure there is a way to get this somehow installing some Windows mod, but no I did not find anything like that. (And do not even talk about cursor fx, which no longer has the motion blur trail effect.) (After reading this, it sounds more dramatic than I imagined).

Im not sure if theres a solution, I dind´t find any, but is there a way to put all the main folders like Documents, Downloads, etc, under the "This PC" section like Windows 10 on Windows 11? At least for me, is really annoying to have a different section for all this

https://preview.redd.it/53eehmf9evwc1.png?width=1121&format=png&auto=webp&s=d68c03df7ce97d387a19ca44331e863b04a79d5a

https://preview.redd.it/ftbu0vz7evwc1.jpg?width=700&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=280ded88453fb712b9bf4dab204ee03145601b69

I have been hearing lately that M$ will block any way of going around its mandatory use of microsoft accounts on new W11 installations, and I was wondering... how about using a dummy Ms account just to get past the installation process, and once in Windows, create a local account and just switch to it as your main user? would that work?

Thanks

Had a virus recently, hence why i reset it, run a scan and no more viruses but still 70 percent memory being used with only a chrome tab open with nothing running