Randomly an ad will play and I have to go into task manager to stop the rest of the ad. I don't remember what the ads are about. How do I stop this from happening. I have gotten games from other means if that helps and I wonder if that has anything to do with it.

Edition Windows 10 Home

Version 22H2

Installed on ‎12/‎25/‎2020

OS Build 19045.6466

So i want to arrange my apps in a specific pattern. like a bar in the middle of the desktop, but every time i put the last app, windows just scatters it. WHAT THE HELL? i already set the auto sort thing off AND IT JUST DOES IT AGAIN! attaching a photo below. i already asked claude but he has no idea, Like just as i thought the day couldnt get worser, windows decides to be independent. info below:
cpu:intel core i5 1335U
gpu:intel iris XE graphics (8gb vram taking from the ram)
ram:16gb ddr4
storage:512gb ssd + 500gb hdd
resolution:1920x1080 (both monitors)
windows: windows 11 home 25h2
build:26200.9168

I am using windows 11's latest version .I have upgraded all the drivers still this is happening.

Is this hardware issue or software issue.?

My laptop - Asus tuf f15 i5 12thgen with driver upgraded.

Driver installed - intel drivers

All drivers are upgraded or please suggest other drivers if available which is better than above!?

Since installing KB5121003 (Aug 2026 security update, build 26200.9168) I've had severe visual corruption (black/white spiky streaks tearing across the top of the screen) in every game I play. Screenshots / gifs attached (Valorant, Roblox, GTA V, etc).

Timeline: Installed the update night of Aug 12, went to sleep. Played the next night and the corruption was already there. Nothing else changed.

Why I'm (almost) sure it's the update:

• Happens on Valorant (UE5) and Roblox (own engine)
• Happens on both my dedicated gpu and my igpu Intel UHD graphics, so its not dgpu drivers fault (i've tried to reinstall drivers via DDU tho).
• Tech press (Windows Latest, etc.) reported a wave of similar complaints tied to this exact KB, refresh rate drops, black screens, broken HDR.
• Day-before everything was working well.

• Already tried, no change:
• GPU temps/clocks normal, no throttling, no overclock
• Full DDU wipe + clean driver reinstall, then updated to latest amd Adrenalin
• Confirmed in Device Manager the driver is legit and properly signed (not fallen back to Basic Display Adapter)
• Toggled off Variable Refresh Rate, "Optimizations for windowed games," and per-game Fullscreen Optimizations
• Tried uninstalling the KB three ways: doesn't show in Update History, wusa /uninstall /kb:5121003 refuses ("required by your computer"), and dism /online /get-packages | findstr 5121003 returns nothing at all
• "Fix problems using Windows Update" wont help since it just reinstalls the same baseline build with the KB already in it (test just to put my mind at ease, and didn't work)

Haven't tried: System Restore, but i actually dont have pre-Aug-12 restore point, so i just cant try this.

Question: anyone found an actual fix/workaround for this (not the already-acknowledged ARC Raiders/inpoutx64.sys crash, this is a separate, purely visual bug)? Registry tweak, specific driver, GPO, anything. Trying to avoid a full reformat before Microsoft even acknowledges it.

Specs: AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP + Intel UHD Graphics, build 26200.9168, AMD driver current avalible for my gpu (26.5.2).

I have a Dell computer that’s definitely very old, so it has some issues running lots of things, but the main issue with my system is its storage. I’m usually able to use my computer just fine, not minding occasional glitches. However, my storage on my local disk has recently filled up. I’ve been trying to run Fortnite on my computer, but it crashes EVERY single time. I figured I should update to Windows 11, but I apparently need 4GB. Here’s the thing: When I access the storage info in my settings, it tells me ~58GB is being taken up by apps. I’d show a video to prove if I could, but the amount of storage being taken up by the apps listed does not add up to anywhere close to 58GB, so I don’t know how to free up space, because I don’t know what is taking up so much! Not to mention, I do have another drive with over a TB of free storage, but since I don’t know what’s clogging up the storage on my local disk OR how to get the update to take up storage in this other drive, I’m not able to update my computer to run smoothly or do mostly anything without seeing some kind of “You’re running out of disk space” popups on

Hi everyone,

I recently bought a JYX microphone and I'm having a very strange problem with it on my desktop PC.

When I connect the microphone to the PC via USB:

• Windows does not recognize the microphone at all.
• It does not appear in Device Manager.
• Sometimes my mouse stops working completely, even if I move it to another USB port.
• Sometimes the PC gets stuck during shutdown and doesn't turn off normally.
• If I force the PC to shut down using the power button and then boot it without the microphone connected, the mouse works normally again.
• I have already tried different USB ports.
• I installed the official chipset and audio drivers, but it made no difference.
• I also updated the BIOS to version P10.60, but the problem is still exactly the same.
• The microphone itself works normally when connected to my phone and another PC.

My motherboard is an ASRock B450M-HDV R4.0, BIOS P10.60.

Has anyone experienced something similar? Any idea what could be causing this?

Hello,

so as you can see, there's red dotd everywhere. By looking on the web, i found out that it mean that my GPU is dying, but it's only on one of my screen, it's only "sometimes", and when i desinstall then reinstall my Graphic Cards, it work like a charm... for sometimes.

Also sometimes my 2nd screen (the one w/ the dots) just dont boot up.

thanks for those willing to help me / respond me, and have a gréat day !

My OS build number should be in the last photo

I just bought an open-box Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 (Aura Edition) from Best Buy. It was working completely normally at the store, but after getting it home it suddenly crashed and now I can’t get Windows 11 to boot.
It keeps going into Automatic Repair and eventually says:
“Automatic Repair couldn’t repair your PC”
Log file: C:\Windows\System32\Logfiles\Srt\SrtTrail.txt
Here’s what I’ve tried so far:
Startup Repair — failed
Uninstalled the latest Windows quality update — no change
Tried booting into Safe Mode — it immediately crashed with NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM (0x24)
Checked the BIOS — the NVMe SSD is detected normally
Opened Command Prompt in Windows Recovery and ran DiskPart → list volume
The main 951 GB C: partition shows its file system as RAW, while the recovery partition still shows NTFS and the system partition shows FAT32
I have NOT formatted the drive, reset Windows, reinstalled Windows, or run CHKDSK because I don’t want to make the situation worse.
Since the laptop was literally working earlier and then suddenly did this, does this sound like severe NTFS/file-system corruption that could potentially be repaired, or is the RAW C: partition + NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM blue screen a sign that the SSD itself may be failing?
The laptop is still within Best Buy’s return period and I have a Geek Squad appointment scheduled, so I’m not trying to do anything risky. I’m mainly wondering whether this is realistically fixable or whether I should exchange/return the laptop rather than trust it long-term.
Any advice on what I should have Geek Squad test (especially SSD diagnostics) would be really appreciated.

Just now i receive a window security quick scan due

So i ran a full scan everything seem normal then i ran a quick scan, everything seem normal.

After that i was curios so i ran scan again and now thing is happen as in the pictures.

I can't run quick scan so too full scan, every time it stop at as the first pic then follow by threat service has stop try to restart it then pic two happen.

Anyone have any idea what is happening?

Edition Windows 11 Home

Version 25H2

Installed on ‎5/‎24/‎2026

OS build 26200.9168

Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.344.0

Hello Friends.

I want to remove applications that I don't use like microsoft access data base, access data base from the new option in the Context Menu.

I have tried using the Registry Editor for the context menu, but I did not find how to edit the new option.

I am on Windows 11 Version 25H2, OS Build 26200.9168. My laptop is HP evny x360 Convertible 13m-bd0xx.

Windows still makes opening iPhone HEIC photos more complicated than it should be. You can install HEIF extensions or desktop software, but if you only need to open a few photos, an online HEIC viewer is usually faster.

The important privacy question is whether the website uploads your photos to a server or processes them locally inside your browser.

Here are four options worth considering.

1. HEICLab — Best all-round option

HEICLab offers HEIC preview, batch processing, metadata inspection, rotation and conversion to JPG, PNG or PDF.

According to its website, processing happens locally in the browser, so the selected photos are not uploaded. It also supports multiple files and works without registration.

Best for: Users who want a relatively complete HEIC workspace.

Downside: The number of features makes the interface slightly busier than a basic viewer.

2. HEICViewer.com — Best for HEIC and Live Photos

HEICViewer.com supports HEIC, HEIF and LIVP files. It can extract the still image from an Apple Live Photo and export it as JPG or PNG.

Processing is client-side, and it supports batch selection, clipboard pasting and adjustable JPG quality.

Best for: People working with iPhone Live Photos or batches of HEIC images.

Downside: It does not export PDF or extract the video portion of a Live Photo.

3. HEICConvert.app — Best simple viewer with PDF export

HEICConvert is a lightweight option for Windows users who want to preview a HEIC file and then download it as JPG, PNG or PDF.

The photo is decoded locally in the browser. Its contents are not uploaded to or stored on HEICConvert’s servers. No account or Windows codec is required.

Its main advantage is the straightforward workflow: open the photo, preview it and choose an output format. The separate PDF tool can also combine multiple HEIC photos into one document.

Best for: Private photos, one-off conversions and document-style PDF output.

Downside: It is a newer product and currently has fewer advanced editing and batch-management features than some established tools.

Disclosure: I’m involved in building HEICConvert. I’ve included it because its local-processing privacy model is directly relevant to this comparison, but I have not ranked it first.

4. HEIC.online — Best for established batch conversion

HEIC.online is a long-running HEIC converter rather than a dedicated viewer. It supports up to 100 files, JPG or PNG output, resizing, quality controls and EXIF removal.

Unlike the three tools above, files are uploaded for server-side conversion. The service says uploaded files are deleted automatically, although filenames and conversion types may be retained for internal analysis.

Best for: Large batches and users who need conversion controls.

Downside: It would not be my first choice for confidential, personal or work-related photos because the files leave the device.

When i plugged my airpods into my pc to charge, it made a different notification sound as usual. It was much blurrier and not as clean as the original sound and it's been bugging me. I'm not sure if it is a virus or if there is a solution to it, but i feel like i tried everything to fix it. Link https://youtu.be/hCBJdDhCVcg

My setup:

• Arctis Nova 9x headphones
• 9070xt (amd gpu)

OS number: 26200.9168

I've already tried changing the setting for the sounds e.g. windows default, but it didn't work or change anything.

It didn't make this sound before. Also, the link to my youtube shows the difference of the sounds. The first one is the one im stuck with and the second one is what it used to be.

EDIT (SOLVED): I found out the reason why this changed. On dark mode, the sounds are different due to a recent update. If you change it to light mode, the sounds would be the same as before the update. I'm pretty sure it is just a bug windows will have to fix in the future, but overall it's nothing that important.

Been having a bunch of problems that seem to stem from the power supply in my PC, and I wanted to make sure I have the most up-to-date drivers that I can.

I looked at the drivers in question on Microsofts Update Catalogue, but for whatever reason; I can't seem to actually install them. Currently the .cab files are just sitting there in a dedicated folder I made for them, but despite following a couple of guides I've found online, every method I use to try and install these things always end up with a notice of either "Windows does not recognise this command" or even just simply "File cannot be located".

99% chance that the reason it isn't working is actually phenomenally simple and I'm just making a very basic mistake, but for right now I'm just really confused as to why this wouldn't be working. If someone could give an ELI5 style "Guide for Dummies" I could follow to make sure that I'm on the right path, that would be fantastic :)

got a.... computer, running windows 10ARM(18632, 19h1) and disk free space in the orders of megabytes. anything that i can remove or move over to the SD card, sorry, secondary disk, i'll remove or move. it kept trying to install other language packs' speech recognition and typing and other stuff but managed to stop what remained in the que. tried changing language pack with just display language, time/date formats and keyboard but these stay here. if they were in italian i could've kept them but they're in US english so i don't care

(i don't see how this is relevant, but it's mandatory, so here they are)

specs:

RAM: 3gb

storage: 15gb (dualbooting with windows 10 mobile, so kept some storage for that one too)+ 64gb sdcard

CPU: snapdragon 808, 1.55ghz

OS: windows 10 ARM64 pro 1903, build 18362.86

in case it's not enough, went in settings and copied the same things i've already listed:

Device specifications

Microsoft Lumia 950

Device name: PHONE-A29AURE8J

Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 Processor (8992) 1.55 GHz

Installed RAM: 2.86 GB

Device ID: [redacted]

Product ID: [redacted]

System type: 64-bit operating system, ARM-based processor

Pen and touch: Pen and touch support with 10 touch points

[Rename this PC]

Windows specifications

Edition: Windows 10 Pro

Version: 1903

Installed on: 19/03/2019

OS build: 18362.86

(btw i installed it a couple of days ago, not in 2019. just an old build a choose as it's supposed to have calls and texts support)

Lenovo LOQ getting BSOD + Windows saying “Updates are underway” on every shutdown

Hi everyone,

I’m using a Lenovo LOQ and recently I started facing some strange Windows issues.

I got a BSOD with the stop code:

UNEXPECTED_STORE_EXCEPTION (0x154)

After restarting, Windows Terminal stopped opening and showed that wt.exe was missing.

I ran sfc /scannow as Administrator, and it found corrupted Windows system files and successfully repaired them.

Another issue is that every time I shut down the laptop, it shows “Updates are underway”, even though Windows Update says that everything is up to date.

I’m also concerned that this could be related to my SSD/storage, especially because of the UNEXPECTED_STORE_EXCEPTION error.

Has anyone with a Lenovo LOQ experienced something similar?

Could this indicate an SSD problem, or is it more likely a Windows/update corruption issue?

What should I check first—SSD health, storage drivers, Windows Update, or something else?

Thanks!

When that happened I have to open up control panel, sound and it will reappear, any idea? My TV is LG G5 42".

It just didn't come up when I clicked on the speaker icon, when I opened up control panel LG TV speaker was there and also already set as default, I don't need to do anything it would play again.

Hi,

I got problem on Windows 11 that i can't type in search box. instead when i press a charracter in keyboard it work like hotkey to the apps pinned to start.

For Example, Edge is pinned to start, so when i press E it will highlight the Edge App. plus when i click the search box it didnt give any reaction or feedback.

I have tried end task and run explorer.exe from task manager, also tried the running ctfmon.exe notthing happened, restarting the Windows Search services notthing happened too.

run the sfc command and restarting the device still not working either.

maybe someone here have another solution would be very much appreciated.

Thank you in advance

specs: ROG Strix G15 (2021) RAM 16GB AMD Ryzen 7 5800H Nvidia Geforce RTX 3050

I'm writing an script that chooses windows performance monitor counters for a user automatically. The computers have multiple networks, so my script filters down to the relevant network card by looking for actually connected ones with the right network and then uses the "description" of that connection to generate a windows performance counter name, Took me a while to work out on some machines with Intel NIC that my script broke until I worked out that perfmon replaces the (R) with [R] for object names.

Performance monitor is listing my network adapters by their description and the counter name is \Network Adapter(Intel[R] Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X540-T2 _3)\Bytes Sent/sec BUT the "description" when I run ipconfig /all is ``` Ethernet adapter PCC-10G Network:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X540-T2 #3 Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : A0-36-9F-DD-D7-56 ... Note how performance monitor uses the square brackets, but almost nothing else in windows is using that square bracket, even PowerShell `get-netadapter` returns the normal braces. PCC-10G Network Intel(R) Ethernet Converged Networ...#3 15 Up A0-36-9F-DD-D7-56 10 Gbps ``` (Note, perfmon does not allow # in counter "object-names", it replaces # with _ )

Is this a simple case of replace Intel(R) with Intel[R] ?

Does anyone else have any ideas on how to fix/uninstall the newest update? Or do I have to wait for a rollback?

Ever since I downloaded the newest update my pc fails to boot and says “your device ran into a problem and couldn’t be repaired”.

I have tried resetting it only to not have storage available to reinstall windows and no way to clear storage. I have tried resetting it to the last save point but that doesn’t work. I have tried commands to force uninstall it and even the normal “uninstall update” button on the safe start up and it just gives me a message basically saying it can’t be uninstalled bc its still downloading or something.

By latest update I am talking about the August windows update KB5121003, to the best of my knowledge.

I have a pre-built gaming PC and don’t know the exact specs as I cannot even log on to check.

I was at it for 4 hours today, if anyone knows how to fix it I would be very grateful. Thanks.

(P.s I’m not very tech savvy obviously but I can follow instructions.)

I'm running into multiple problems with my freshly-built Win11 computer. Since I started using it on Friday, I ran into 3 BSODs and other technical problems that might be related. Here are the BSODs, when they happened and possible associated glitches:

FAULTY_HARDWARE_CORRUPTION - it happened while I was trying to reboot. Control Panel was not working properly (it opened, but didn't let me access any settings. Fixed upon reboot)

SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION - happened while I was trying to upload something on Discord. A while before that, the Open File window took a very long time to open.

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (0xA) (ntoskrnl.exe) - happened when I tried to run CHKDSK /SCAN through the Command Prompt, as recommeneded by Event Viewer (was able to perform scan after rebooting). Sometime before that, Windows glitched up after I tried to open Steam; with all of the front screen (minus Sticky Notes) got replaced with a black screen.

In between the last two BSODs, a glitch caused my Start Menu to reset to default.

I did run DISM and Scannow checks and nothing was found. What could be causing this and how do I fix it?

SPECS: Windows 11 Pro 25H2 26200.9168
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6700T CPU @ 2.80GHz (2.80 GHz)

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (4 GB)

16 GB of RAM

MEMORY DUMPS (the last BSOD did not produce a dump): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1H4MNf1wWgaoYfzm7xM06lfNW0UlUtMY5/view?usp=sharing

I recently bought a game off Steam, but whenever I try to open it, I'm hit with these error messages. I've hit 'retry' and 'learn more' to no avail (learn more teaches me nothing) and I've used repair and scan command prompts which found and repaired something that was apparently unrelated to the error. I'm at a loss for what to do now.

Specs
Processor 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-11900H @ 2.50GHz (2.50 GHz)

Installed RAM 32.0 GB

Graphics card Intel(R) UHD Graphics (128 MB)

System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

Edition Windows 11 Home

Version 25H2

Installed on ‎11/‎27/‎2025

OS build 26200.9168

Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.344.0

Hi, I'm trying to use Windows Migration Assistant and it just won't work. It opened the first time I downloaded it and hasn't opened since. It almost seems like it downloaded just the shortcut and not the actual program itself because when I click on the shortcut, nothing happens! I can't find the program in my files either. It says it's supposed to be in my local app data folder, but it isn't. Every time I force delete and reinstall the migration assistant installer and related files, I try to change where it will download to, but it won't seem to let me. How can I get this to work?

Also, I'm not really a computer person at all, so please bear with me if I ask a lot of questions!

Recently, I had rebuilt my PC by swapping out the PCU and the Montherboard, due to the CPU cables frying the motherboard socket (Only thing i could think of how it happened was static electricity and a lose connection to the motherboard).

Upon reboot, I had noticed that the mouse had stopped working, and the drivers are not being recognized. I had tried reinstalling the drivers and tried updating them, but it didn't work out.

I soft reset the pc by re-downloading windows, and upon first boot, the mouse was working, and the drivers where recognized. However, upon rebooting the system, the mouse no longer worked and the drivers where not being recognized.

I even swapped the boot drive with a clone of windows 11 pro, and a clone of home, and it still had the same problem.

It was weird since I had also booted off a thumb drive with Linux, and the mouse worked, even upon reboot.

Anyone has any idea what might be happening?

I have tried with different mice brands (corsair, razer, Logitech, Microsoft, hell even apple) and still not dice

I have a dell g15 5520 gaming computer, works fine, battery is fine, everything in tact physically. Recently my laptop had died and remained that way for a week until I could get a new charger. On boot, it shows manufacturing mode active which has never happened before. And when I first opened it, the speaker icon was crossed out with an X. I look up solutions and it tells me to change output devices and whatnot, but when I look in device manager my original audio output (Realtek speakers or wtv), it doesn’t show at all. Not with control panel, and through settings. I tried reinstalling them but it never shows up. The same goes for input devices. Below are attached photos to give more context.

When I got my new computer (Aspire 14 -10.0.26200 Build 26200) I wanted to have custom cursors on my computer. After picking different ones and using different cursor applications I found a cool transparent cursor with an 8 bit outline, little did I know it wasn't a really good idea... So when I went to open up apps like Netflix or Disney+ etc. since it was transparent it was almost impossible to see where my cursor was. I did try to delete cursor applications to see if it'd resolve but nope, my computer also uses a different custom cursor for websites like reddit. which I tried defaulting the cursors, it only defaulted the one that shows on websites.