Items tagged with anniversary update
The Anniversary Update for Windows 10 brought a lot of great refinements and features to the table. However, as far too many users discovered, it also brought with it a number of bugs. From the get-go, it began locking-up on users, ultimately pushing Microsoft to endorse user-submitted fixes. Later, the update managed to kill webcams, and somehow even made some Linux users' lives miserable. Fast-forward to now, four full months after the Anniversary Edition launched, and Microsoft is dealing with yet another bug - but this one should be fixable fairly easily. Recently, some users have noticed (probably abruptly) that their Wi-Fi dropped out, with Windows complaining about an invalid IP configuration....
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Over the summer, Microsoft began pushing out the Windows 10 Anniversary Update to consumer PCs (and the Xbox One). While Regular Joes might not mind putting up with bleeding edge software and a few bugs here and there, businesses and those that use Windows 10 in mission critical situations aren’t very keen on taking chances with new updates. Thankfully, Microsoft has just declared that after months of testing by its various customers — including enterprise deployments — that the Windows 10 Anniversary Update (aka Windows 10 1607) has been certified as a Current Branch for Business (CBB). “Businesses are seeing significant value, enhanced security and improved productivity with Windows 10 today,”...
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Microsoft has faced criticism on numerous occasions over its aggressive tactics in getting users to both upgrade to Windows 10 and, more recently, install the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, but its efforts are paying off. The latest figures from AdDuplex, a cross-promotion ad network for Windows Phone and Windows Store apps, shows that the latest version of Windows 10 is now installed on roughly three quarters of Windows 10 PCs.While not as pervasive as the Anniversary Update on mobile, where AdDuplex says the penetration rate has reached "critical mass," being installed on 76.6 percent of Windows 10 PCs is, as the ad network notes, "still a pretty solid number" and one that should entice developers...
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Those of you rocking a PC with the Windows 10 Anniversary Update may want to hold off on letting your system apply the latest round of fixes. There are several user complaints that Build 14393.222 (KB3194496), the seventh Cumulative Update since the Anniversary started flooding PCs in August, is borking systems by putting them into an endless reboot loop. The latest update package is supposed to deliver "quality improvements" in the form of several bug fixes for various issues, as well as improve the reliability of certain tasks, such as downloading and updating games from the Windows Store. Unfortunately, in many cases the installation fails somewhere along the way and rolls back the changes...
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If you’re a Windows Insider, then you have a nifty little feature to try out in the latest Skype Preview for both Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile. The latest update to Microsoft’s premiere messaging app allows you to both send and receive text messages via your Windows 10 PC using the SMS relay feature. The only catch is that the Skype Preview must be set as your default messaging app on your Windows 10 Mobile device. “There’s no need to reach for your phone – you can view new messages as they arrive and respond to messages from your computer,” writes Microsoft’s Suzanne Choney in a blog posting. “Send and receive texts, group messages and photos all in one app with a single view of your SMS...
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My how the tables have turned. It used to be that you couldn’t blink an eye without Microsoft shoving its Windows 10 nag screens down the throats of Windows 7 and Windows 8 users. Now that the free upgrade period to Windows 10 is over, Microsoft is taking it easy on users. The same goes for Windows 10 users that haven’t yet been auto-updated to the Anniversary Update. When Microsoft initially launched the Windows 10 Anniversary Update in early August, it announced that the update would be handed down to users in waves. Over a month later, some Windows 10 users still haven’t been automatically upgraded to the Anniversary Update. As prominent Microsoft blogger Mary Jo Foley points out, the company...
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If you’ve been annoyed by incessant freezing and slowdowns on your Windows 10 PC after installing the Anniversary Update, it's time to turn that frown upside down. It took Microsoft roughly a month to figure out the problem, but users can now apply a Windows Update, which was released yesterday, to alleviate the problem. Microsoft Community forum moderator Basith M posted an update to the original thread discussing the issue, writing: With the help of users and MVP’s who posted on this thread an investigation determined that a small fraction of users who had moved app information to a second logical drive could encounter this issue.The Windows Update released on August 31st for Windows 10 includes...
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Late last week, we reported that the Anniversary Update was causing problems for certain webcams that were otherwise working fine in Windows 10. Today, we’re learning of yet another hardware incompatibility with Windows 10, and the inconvenience to users is far greater this time around. Customers are reporting that something as simple as plugging an Amazon Kindle e-reader into a free USB port is now causing their PCs running Windows 10 Anniversary Update to throw up a blue screen of death (BSOD). User Tucsat posted to the Microsoft Community forums: Today I plugged in a Kindle Paperwhite and it immediately crashed my laptop to a blue screen with a QR code regarding the sys_part_mgr or something...
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Microsoft brought some cool new features and functionality to Windows 10 with its recently released (and much anticipated) Anniversary Update, the second major upgrade to the OS since it was released in July of last year. Unfortunately, the Anniversary Update has at least one unintentional side effect—it breaks webcams. It doesn't break all webcams, but this is no small issue. Millions of popular webcams seem to be affected, including Logitech's popular C920 model, which is one we use at HotHardware for our Two And A Half Geeks video podcasts. The problem arises when an affected webcam tries to broadcast in HD, which because of a change in Windows can cause the video stream to freeze. To understand...
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If you’re still experiencing freezing issues after installing the Anniversary Update on your Windows 10 PC, then you’re going to have to sit tight a little bit longer. Microsoft initially acknowledged last week that a “small number” of users were experiencing problems in a Community forum posting. Since that time, the thread has received 482 replies and plenty of feedback from affected users. Now, however, Microsoft has locked the thread due to it being derailed a number of times with off-topic commentary. “We don’t want this one thread to lose focus so after seeing the variety of posts we have decided to lock this thread,” writes Charles. Microsoft has also included an update to the original...
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We reported last week that users were having issues with the new Windows 10 Anniversary Update locking up their PCs. Some users have experienced freezing issues almost immediately after installing the major software update for Microsoft’s latest consumer operating system, which was released on August 2nd. Reddit user SolowingX wrote, “After logging in everything works for like 20 seconds. After that if I only mouse over the Start area, Taskbar, the black part simply, it freezes and I get a message that Windows is not responding." The problems are affecting a broad swath of customers running varied hardware configurations, so it doesn’t appear to be an isolated incident. Microsoft is now...
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As a rule of thumb, it's a good idea to back up your important data prior to installing any type of major update. That includes the Anniversary Update for Windows 10, essentially a modern day Service Pack, which seems to be tripping up some systems. If you head over to reddit, you'll find several complaints of PCs not responding shortly after logging in after applying the update.Reddit user SoloWingX brought the issue to attention with an ongoing post describing his initial problem and what effect various suggested troubleshooting steps have had on his setup. SolowingX says that "everything went fine" during the actual update process on his primary PC, but "after logging in everything works for...
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Another word of warning before you proceed with installing the Anniversary Update for Windows 10—you only have 10 days to decide if things are working out or whether you want to roll back to a previous build. After 10 days, Windows 10 locks you into the Anniversary Update for good, whereas previously Microsoft allowed 30 days to evaluate things.For most people this will be no big deal. In our limited testing, the Anniversary Update has been running fine on multiple PCs and configurations. But that's not going to be the case across the board. Limiting the ability to roll things back to a previous build to only 10 days will inevitably put some users in a tough spot. What if someone applies the...
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Microsoft made a huge fuss about getting customers to upgrade from Windows 7 and Windows 8.x to Windows 10 — all free of charge of course. The last day to perform the free upgrade was July 29th, and in the weeks leading up to that deadline, Microsoft employed some questionable tactics to get users to bite. We already know that users who currently take advantage of Assistive Technologies can still upgrade to Windows 10 for free (and even those who don’t can simply go to this page and download a free copy). But according to ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley, Microsoft has left open yet another “window” to allow stragglers to enter the Windows 10 house of worship. Apparently, users that have retained valid...
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At long last, Microsoft released its Anniversary Update for Windows 10 yesterday, though not for every platform. The long anticipated update, which is the second major one for Windows 10 since it was released a year ago (we called them Service Packs in the old days), is now available for PCs, Xbox One consoles, and HoloLens, but not for Windows 10 Mobile devices. The Anniversary Update for Windows 10 Mobile is scheduled to arrive August 9. Well, maybe. Microsoft's official Twitter account for Lumia in India posted a tweet indicating the August 9 release date, adding that "if you have any queries, we'll be here for you!" However, the tweet has since been taken down. Questions asking about the...
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If you haven’t already made the upgrade to Windows 10 — and believe us, you’ve had plenty of time to do so and plenty of forewarning — the free upgrade “window” has officially closed. Those who use Assistive Technologies can still upgrade for free (for now), but everyone else will need to pony up $119 for the privilege. With that being said, the next big thing on Microsoft’s agenda is the Anniversary Update, which is the first major update for Windows 10. The Windows 10 Anniversary Update will be released to the general public tomorrow, and here’s what to expect when you install it on your Windows machine: Windows Ink: Windows Ink is a natural fit for first-party Microsoft hardware like the Surface...
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So you’ve finally made the decision to upgrade to Windows 10. Congratulations! You put up the good fight and held out for a year, but with the prospects of paying $119 now staring you in the face, there are likely millions of people like you around the globe in the same situation. However, the move to Windows 10 also comes with some words of caution as well. As you might have already heard over the past year, Microsoft ruffled the feathers of users that value their privacy with Windows 10. So, to that end, we have a guide that is dedicated to helping you navigate these murky waters to make sure that you are only handing over the information that you deem necessary to Microsoft. We'll...
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Microsoft is celebrating Windows 10’s first birthday today, and it also marks the last day that customers can receive a free upgrade to the operating system (starting tomorrow, the upgrade will cost $119 per license). And beginning next Tuesday, those who have already joined the Windows 10 family will be able to download the Anniversary Update. However, at least one group of Windows 10 users isn’t going to be happy about the update. The Group Policy editor for Windows 10 Pro has received an update that actually removes functionality that has been included in the operating system for the past year. The Group Policy editor isn’t available in the consumer-centric Windows 10 Home, but the more education-...
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Cortana, the voice-controlled personal digital assistant that helps you find things on your PC and the web, is getting a promotion from an on-call employee to full-time status. That's to stay you won't be able to turn Cortana off once Microsoft rolls out its Anniversary Update for Windows 10, which is scheduled to arrive on August 2, 2016. "With the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, the search box is now Cortana," Microsoft said in a statement. "Customers can expect the same great search experience powered by Bing and Microsoft Edge with the added benefit of Cortana’s personality." This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Cortana in Windows 10 is essentially a better, more sophisticated version of search....
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Windows 10 is a fine operating system that in many ways is far superior to its Windows 8.x and Windows 7 predecessors. Windows 10, however, has also gotten a pretty bad reputation due to steps that Microsoft has taken to push the operating system onto consumers in an effort to reach one billion installs by the end of 2018 (a goal that now is completely out of reach). But we shouldn’t let Microsoft’s overaggressive upgrade campaign make us lose sight of the benefits that Windows 10 offers. And we would be remiss if we didn’t mention that Microsoft’s free upgrade offer for Windows 10 expires this week — July 29th to be exact. The operating system has been a free upgrade ever since it launched around...
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August 2nd is the big day for the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, and it comes just a few days after the free upgrade offer expires for Windows 10. The Anniversary Update will eventually spread throughout Microsoft’s current hardware ecosystem on devices like Lumia smartphones, HoloLens and even the Xbox One. As you might expect, Microsoft can’t possibly start updating all of these devices at the same time, which is why the company announced this week that the update will be coming in waves. There are currently over 350 million devices running some variant of Windows 10, so it makes sense that Microsoft would take a more measured approach when it comes to updating all of those devices to the most...
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Subscribers to the Windows Insider program who signed up for the Fast ring have a new Windows 10 build to play with, that being build 14383. It's available for both PC and Mobile, and with this release Microsoft moves ever closer to the Release To Manufacturing (RTM) version of its Windows 10 Anniversary Update that's rolling out to customers on August 2, 2016.Microsoft tells Windows Insiders that they'll notice a few things different in this release versus prior builds, such as the desktop watermark being gone. That's because Microsoft is beginning to finalize code for the aforementioned RTM release, so what you see in these builds are largely what the public will get when August rolls around....
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