In our tests, Windows Latest previously observed that Device Encryption is turned on by default. Over the weekend, users also noticed that Microsoft has already enabled it in Windows 11 24H2 RTM preview builds, suggesting the feature is likely coming this year when the update rolls out to everyone.

When we asked Microsoft, the company confirmed to Windows Latest that it recently adjusted the prerequisites to enable device encryption.

“We have adjusted (removal of Modern Standby/HSTI validation and untrusted DMA ports check) to enable device encryption so that it is automatically enabled when doing clean installs of Windows 11,” Microsoft said in a statement.

As Microsoft explains in its documentation, Device Encryption uses BitLocker to encrypt the data applied to all system drives. You must backup your BitLocker key to your Microsoft account or save it to an external USB disk. Without this, you cannot access your data.

Windows can request the BitLocker recovery key while resetting or reinstalling the operating system. However, procuring the recovery key can be challenging if the feature is enabled without the user’s approval. If you lose access to your Microsoft Account, you will also lose access to the PC.

BitLocker has a list of hardware requirements, including a TPM 1.2 or newer chip and UEFI. Since Windows 11 checks for these changes during installation, escaping BitLocker is impossible. However, there are workarounds.

How to turn off automatic Device Encryption in Windows 11

During installation, you can disable Device Encryption using a Registry hack:

1. Press Shift + F10 to open the Command Prompt window. Type regedit and press Enter to launch Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\BitLocker subkey.
3. Right-click the empty side and select the New > Dword (32-bit) Value option from the context menu.
4. Name the value “PreventDeviceEncryption”.
5. Set the value date to 1 and click on the OK button.
6. Close the Registry Editor.

You can also create a bootable USB drive with Rufus. It can prepare a modified Windows 11 installation media to bypass system requirements and disable BitLocker.

With Rufus, you can interact with the GUI interface, which is more accessible for less tech-savvy Windows users.

The post Microsoft confirms Windows 11 24H2 turns on Device Encryption by default appeared first on Windows Latest

Microsoft already has ample ways to inform you that Windows isn’t activated, including the Settings app, desktop, and other places. Microsoft wants to take things up a notch. In a recent Microsoft Edge build, Microsoft has started testing several flags that may allow the company to block browser’s capabilities when Windows 11 is not activated.

These features identify whether Windows is activated:

• msEdgeActivatedStateCheckAndUpdate
• msEdgeNonActivatedOSTrigger
• msEdgeLockSettingsInNonActivatedOS

Windows Latest tried running the Edge Canary version with these features enabled individually. We got the “msEdgeLockSettingsInNonActivatedOS” working, which locks you out of some settings in the Edge browser.

After opening the Settings page in Edge, we noticed a banner at the top informing us that “We notice your Windows is not activated, some customization has been limited”. We dug deeper and opened all the subpages inside the Settings app.

After enabling this feature, we couldn’t find any other blocked setting. However, Microsoft might add more restrictions in Edge’s upcoming builds. For example, the company may not let you change the new tab settings, hide the MSN feed, change accent, dark theme, or other features.

Does it even make sense to block Edge settings?

Locking users out of Edge browser settings because they use a non-activated Windows version doesn’t make sense. Since the Edge browser is available for Mac and mobile devices, why is the activation popup only for Windows users?

We don’t see any benefit from these restrictions other than irking users into switching to Chrome or Firefox.

Browsers shouldn’t nudge you to purchase a Windows license. It’s one of those features we sincerely hope will never be approved. Meanwhile, Microsoft is testing a resource control feature in the browser.

Edge will get a RAM limiter feature

Windows Latest tested the Resource Control feature hidden inside Edge Canary. It lets you set a maximum size of RAM that Edge can use. So, if you have a low-end PC that flatlines after running Edge, you can allocate a fixed amount of RAM.

Limiting RAM usage of the browser won’t improve the performance but will ensure that other apps and Windows have the bare minimum system resources that they need.

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This new memory-saver policy will discard all the tabs that have been in sleep mode for more than 1.5 days. However, this policy only works when the “SleepingTabsEnabled” policy is active. If that isn’t the case, then configuring this policy won’t have an effect.

After a tab is discarded, it no longer uses system resources. It must be reloaded to use the webpage again, and Edge won’t close the tab automatically.

You might be confused between Sleeping Tabs and Discarded Tabs. A sleeping tab consumes very little memory but keeps the page alive. A discarded tab releases all the system resources, and you must reload the page.

The new Edge policy graciously gives 1.5 days before removing all the system resources from the tab. Unless you use Edge for 1.5 days straight without closing any tabs, this policy won’t help much.

Microsoft has not mentioned whether the 1.5-day duration is configurable in the Edge Release Notes page. The company recently announced the depreciation of two CSS features that allowed websites to adjust themselves as per the user’s default system themes.

Forced colors will make the contrast theme experience better

The Forced Colors debuted in 2020, but Microsoft retained the old—ms-high-contrast query. It also extended support to other Chromium-based browsers and Firefox. After four years, Microsoft wants websites to adopt the new Forced Colours scheme to improve accessibility for Windows users.

This won’t be an abrupt transition. Microsoft plans to slowly deprecate the old media query with Edge browser version 138. Currently, Edge 124 is available in the stable channel, so we have a year before the change happens.

To test the feature, type edge://flags/#edge-deprecate-ms-high-contrast in the URL bar, set the flag to Enabled, and restart Edge to apply the changes.

Microsoft is also experimenting with a resource control feature in the Edge browser, which Windows Latest has covered extensively. The feature allows you to set the maximum amount of RAM the Edge browser can use.

It is designed to help users manage resource control for the browser on low-end systems. RAM limiter won’t make your Edge browser faster, but it can free up resources for other apps running on your PC.

The post Microsoft Edge will save memory on Windows by auto-discarding sleeping tabs appeared first on Windows Latest

The references to Windows 11 AI snapshot and recall features are in line with the previous rumours. For those unaware, AI Explorer is supposed to record everything you do on your PC, including app activities, email activities, documents, meetings, movies, and more.

For example, if you were working on documents about your company’s quarterly reports but can’t remember where they are, you can invoke AI Explorer, which could appear at the top of the screen, and ask the AI to “show me documents about quarterly reports viewed last week,’ and AI Explorer will find them.

This is possible because AI Explorer records everything you do on your PC. It also makes your activities searchable by creating a snapshot of the moment. References to the snapshot feature were recently spotted in the preview builds:

Microsoft watcher Xeno also spotted “snapshot” references in the Control Center. Then there’s a recall feature, which I think lets you go back in time and browse that moment again.

This is another speculation, but based on these references, I think you’ll be able to recall a snapshot by clicking on a toggle in the Control Center on Windows 11.

Microsoft watcher Albacore previously spotted similar references to features like “Snapshot”, “Screen Understanding”, and “Discovery”.

While screen understanding could mean Windows 11 AI Explorer recording your screen, Snapshot lets you go back in time and recall the moment on your PC. On the other hand, Discovery could refer to suggestions like “remove background from an image” that may appear when you’re editing photos.

Similarly, references to a new AI cursor were also spotted in recent Windows 11 24H2 builds.

What makes AI Explorer useful in Windows 11?

Other use cases of AI Explorer could be searching your everyday tasks, such as your spreadsheet. For example, just type ‘find me that spreadsheet Jack shared with me earlier this month,’ and you’ll find it.

Had a discussion with a colleague about a new project but can’t recall the details? You can type ‘find conversations about the new project,’ and AI Explorer will bring up those chats and when they took place.

AI Explorer uses an NPU chip and it won’t save your data in the cloud, and it’s also powered by Microsoft’s small or large language models, which means you can search using everyday language.

When can you try AI Explorer?

Microsoft watcher Zac Bowden previously reported the feature could be unveiled during Microsoft’s AI event on May 21.

However, you won’t be able to use the AI feature on Windows 11 unless you’re willing to upgrade to the Snapdragon X-powered PC.

Here are the full system requirements of Windows 11 24H2 AI Explorer:

1. Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus.
2. 16GB of RAM
3. 256GB of SSD.
4. NPU
5. Windows 11 24H2

In other words, you won’t be able to use it on your existing device because the feature is written for ARM hardware. It also means Microsoft is confident the AI Explorer is so useful that it might convince you to buy a Snapdragon X PC.

In our tests, Windows Latest also observed that Snapdragon X Elite PCs easily outperform Intel and AMD PCs in AI processing capabilities, and the performance gap is so large that these numbers can’t even be compared:

Other details of AI Explorer are unavailable, but we recently spotted references to the “AI sessions” at the Build 2024 developer conference, where we might learn more about the technical details.

The post Leak: Windows 11’s new AI integration will have “snapshots” that you can recall appeared first on Windows Latest

AI Explorer, which has nothing to do with File Explorer, is a new feature that relies on 45 TOPs-capable NPU chips to log everything you do, see, and use on your Windows 11 PC. This includes the apps you open, websites you visit, emails you read, documents you edit, and presentations you create in PowerPoint.

It’s all captured by Windows 11’s AI Explorer, and stored locally, which is why it requires PCs with powerful NPUs. So, how does the feature work? According to references in the preview builds, AI Explorer can understand what’s on your screen, suggest actions, and make all your activities ‘searchable.’

AI Explorer, which is context-friendly, shows up at the top of the screen when it is turned on.

According to a new .dll file spotted by Microsoft watcher Albacore on X, Microsoft is also working on a few new cursors for AI Explorer, but we don’t know how and where these cursors will be used.

The cursor has been spotted in AIX (AI Explorer) DLLs and it may be just a mockup for the demo. At the same time, it is also possible AI cursor could pop-up when you try to interact with your scren using AI Explorer.

AI cursor isn’t a new concept

The idea of the AI cursor isn’t entirely new in Microsoft’s ecosystem.

According to a document found by Windows Latest, Microsoft has an Office project codenamed “Sophia,” which comes with an AI cursor.

As shown in the above screenshot spotted by Windows Latest, Office AI cursor shows up only when you use the Alt + C keyboard shortcut. This cursor allows you to interact with the data that’s on your screen, including texts generated by a large language model.

Office AI Cursor makes it easy to ask follow-up questions without accidentally opening other features. For example, when you’re using the Office Sophia AI project, you can press Alt + C to open the “AI cursor,” then select an area on the screen (content) and ask a question.

This also works in an empty space where you can use AI cursor to create a blue print, document, content, images, and more.

“The AI cursor provides a way for you to interact with the data that’s generated or ask a new question. It responds to natural language commands and provides contextual recommendations as you navigate the content,” Microsoft explained how the AI cursor could work in Office.

AI Cursor in Office is a concept for a now, but it shows that the tech giant has been exploring new cursor ideas for AI.

I don’t know if Microsoft is also working on a AI cursor for AI Explorer in Windows 11, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the tech giant unveils a new way to interact with specific regions of the screen using AI.

The concept of AI Explorer is interesting because it makes everything you do on your PC “searchable.” For example, if you read an article about a pizza recipe several weeks ago but can’t remember where, which browser, email, or app, you can use AI Explorer to find the details.

Similarly, AI Explorer will integrate with other Microsoft services like Teams, allowing you to go back in time and find something interesting from your previous meetings’ transcripts.

While there is a lot of speculation about it above, the whole purpose of AI Explorer is to make everything searchable.

Microsoft is also making this feature exclusive to Snapdragon X Elite PCs with 16GB of RAM, 256GB of SSD storage, and a 45 TOPs NPU chip.

The post Windows 11 leak points to a possible new cursor for some AI Explorer actions appeared first on Windows Latest

Previously, some users were offered Windows 11 22H2 when they checked updates on Windows 10. As a result, those users were forced to download Windows 11 22H2 and then perform another system reboot to install version 23H2.

I don’t know why Microsoft has been pushing Windows 11 22H2 over Windows 11 23H2 on some PCs, but the new server-side update finally skips version 22H2 to download and install 23H2 directly. It is worth noting that this was not the case for everyone, as some of you have always been offered Windows 11 23H2 directly.

I observed that Microsoft quietly started offering a direct upgrade to Windows 11 23H2 over the past few weeks. In the last week of April, my ASUS PC started seeing “Windows 11 23H2” on the Windows Update page.

Previously, the same device was offered to download the older version 22H2. Similarly, my Lenovo’s Legion 5 Pro also started seeing version 23H2.

Windows Latest has observed similar patterns across all our virtual machines in VMWare.

All these devices run Windows 10 22H2 with recent cumulative and driver updates installed, but they were never offered the newer version 23H2 until recently.

This never made sense, especially since version 23H2 is just an update for version 22H2, and is as stable as the previous version. In fact, 23H2 comes with Windows 11 Moment 4 features already turned on, which makes it much better than 22H2.

I looked into it a bit, but I still can’t figure out why the company would offer an older update for Windows 11, and then install a newer update, leading to multiple system reboots.

It’s also worth pointing out that support for Windows 11 22H2 will end on October 8, 2024. This means after this date, Microsoft will no longer provide updates.

On the other hand, Windows 11 23H2 is supported for another year, which could explain why the company has fixed Windows Updates on Windows 10 to push the newer version correctly.

Windows 11 23H2 comes with all the new features from the Moment 4 update, including support for taskbar ungrouping, a new volume mixer, and native 7Zip integration, which lets you open more compressed files.

Support for Windows 10 ends soon

Windows 10’s support is ending in less than two years, and Microsoft will begin nagging people to install the new operating system soon.

If you don’t have a supported device, you must upgrade your hardware, buy a new PC, or pay Microsoft for extended security updates.

The post Windows 10 finally offers a direct upgrade to Windows 11 23H2 for more users appeared first on Windows Latest

Windows April 2024 security updates have been rough for everyone, including consumers and businesses. Windows Latest has already flagged as many as three critical issues in the April 2024 Patch, and the fourth new bug has been spotted in Windows Server 2022.

In an update to its support document, Microsoft warned about the issues in Windows Server 2022. According to Microsoft, you might notice an abrupt blowup in NTLM authentication traffic if you are an administrator. For those unaware, it is an authentication protocol to verify the user’s identity to establish a connection.

NTLM is a legacy protocol that’s not as heavily used as Kerberos but was mangled by April’s security update. In addition to the NTLM traffic surge, Microsoft informed that Windows Server PCs acting as a Domain Controller could encounter a service crash issue.

The abrupt crash of the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) can force your PC to reboot. This problem exists in Windows Server 2022 and affects all older editions, including Windows Server 2008.

Here’s a full list of affected Windows edditions:

• Windows Server 2022 (KB5036909)
• Windows Server 2019 (KB5036896)
• Windows Server 2016 (KB5036899)
• Windows Server 2012 R2 (KB5036960)
• Windows Server 2012 (KB5036969)
• Windows Server 2008 R2 (KB5036967)
• Windows Server 2008 (KB5036932).

If you are looking for a resolution, you must wait until Microsoft rolls out a patch. As always, you can choose to uninstall the update via PowerShell.

To remove April 2024 update from Windows Server 2022 using DISM, use these steps:

1. Open PowerShell as Administrator. Run this command:
2. dism /online /get-packages
3. Look through the list for a package name that includes “KB5036909“. Note the full name of the package.
4. Replace PackageName with the exact name of the update package and run the following command:
5. dism /online /remove-package /packagename:PackageName
6. Example, if the package is listed as Package_for_KB5036909~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~10.0.1.0,  your command would be:
7. dism /online /remove-package /packagename:Package_for_KB5036909~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~10.0.1.0
8. As you can see, it must have full name. Once done, run Restart-Computer to finish removing updates.

You can follow the same steps for other Windows editions, but replace the KB ID. Also, you should pause the updates until the fixes are ready.

It’s worth noting that Windows Server is also plagued with two other issues in the April 2024 update.

Profile Photo and VPN connection errors

You might encounter an error if you try changing the profile photo on your Windows Server PC. The selected image is often applied as the new profile picture and the 0x80070520 error appears after that.

It warns that the profile picture couldn’t be saved, which is incorrect.

On Windows 11 consumer editions, the problem is associated with a local account, as confirmed by our tests in another post.

VPN software might fail to connect, making using the PC in a secure environment challenging. Both these issues remain unresolved, and it’s been almost a month since the update went live.

A few weeks back, Microsoft accidentally installed Copilot app on Windows Server PCs with an update for the Edge browser. Unlike consumer editions, Copilot isn’t available for Windows Server.

However, Microsoft took cognizance of the incident and removed the app with a new update for the Edge.

The post Microsoft confirms KB5036909 issues in Windows Server with NTLM traffic, LSASS appeared first on Windows Latest

Let’s first talk about the new adaptive interface. For those unaware, WhatsApp interface was not really adaptive until the recent update on Windows. When attempting to resize the WhatsApp window to a more compact user interface (small window), the contacts list and chat were displayed together.

This made it difficult to read messages as the interface was shared by both the contacts list and chat. Meta is rolling out a new update that hides the contacts list inside the menu, and chat page now takes the full screen space.

As a result, you can now use WhatsApp on Windows 11 in a compact layout.

Multi-window support rolls out to WhatsApp on Windows

WhatsApp is also adding a new button that lets you open chat in a new window.

This is similar to Telegram’s open in a new window feature, and it allows you maintain multiple “chat” windows of WhatsApp.

Here’s the part where the integration gets interesting: When you click pop-up chat, it opens the selected chat in a new window without all other features. The pop-up window will only have your chat, and it has a more compact UI.

The third feature is a new hamburger menu, which shows your contact statuses and chats in WhatsApp.

All these features are rolling out to stable version.

Windows Latest understands that the menu could be used for AI features, such as shortcuts to Meta AI. At the same time, the new hamburger menu also reduces clutter, and lets you quickly access the  features like chats, statuses, settings and more.

As Windows Latest reported recently, WhatsApp is also testing “Meta AI” integration in the desktop app.

In our tests, we observed that Meta AI’s large language model shows up on Windows 11 only when you use the bot on your phone, and try to access it on desktop later.

It is not possible to initiate the chat directly from desktop, but this could change in a future release.

As shown in the screenshot above, Meta is testing a native dialog for AI features, warning that your messages in Meta chat could be used to train the AI.

The post WhatsApp on Windows 11 gets a new adaptive UI, multi-window and navigation menu appeared first on Windows Latest

Starting with the File Explorer, you will find a duplicate tabs option when you right-click on an open tab in the File Explorer. The feature creates another tab with the same folder location. Earlier, it required a Vivetool trick to enable it, but now it is available by default.

KB5037008 patches a File Explorer memory leak while accessing archive folders. In addition, it fixes the spacing between desktop icons, which was unusually wide otherwise. File Explorer’s Home section loads faster, and the accidentally appearing address bar drop-down menu won’t bother you anymore.

The Task Manager now displays the RAM speed in MT/s instead of MHz which describes the amount of data it can transfer per second. You can check out the Performance section in the app. The sort feature has been improved, and processes will be released faster after receiving the End process request.

If you have trouble resizing the Task Manager window, grab the top bar to adjust its size. This build also irons out a bug that blocked the “Safely Remove Hardware” option for ejecting USB devices if the Task Manager was open.

Several more improvements to the app’s accessibility have been made. The complete list of fixes is on Microsoft’s announcement page.

The beta update (KB5037008) also hides an upcoming upgrade to File Explorer’s archive feature.

You can create archives in 7z and TAR format

Windows Latest extensively covered the support for compressing files in new formats when it first surfaced in the Windows 11 24H2 build. We expected Microsoft to roll out the feature with the 24H2 update for stable channel users, but the feature is now spotted in the Beta build.

Unlike the tab duplication feature, archive support for 7z and TAR is disabled by default. You will need Vivetool to enable it, or you can wait for a few weeks until Microsoft makes it available in the Beta channel. Since this feature is backported from 24H2, the chances of arriving in 23H2 are very high.

You can compress files and folders in three formats, including the ZIP format, which has been available for decades. Microsoft has yet to find common ground with WinRAR, so the native support for RAR format compression is out of the picture, at least for now.

The post Windows 11 KB5037008 beta makes Task Manager and File Explorer faster appeared first on Windows Latest

VPN connections failure

On the second Tuesday of April, Windows 11 received the KB5036893 update, while Windows 10 received the KB5036892 update. After installing the update, users began reporting issues when connecting to their VPN network.

We don’t think the issue is widespread, but Microsoft has still updated the KB5036893 support page to confirm VPN issues.

Windows Latest tested the April 2024 Update with our Windscribe VPN but had no problems connecting to a network. We also tested several other VPN apps with Windows 11 KB5036893 and KB5036980 updates, but there were no visible performance issues.

The support page still mentions the VPN issues, meaning that it hasn’t been fixed for everyone in the April 23, 2024 update.

According to the official release health status page, this VPN problem affects numerous Windows 10 and 11 editions. The list includes Windows 11 (23H2, 22H2, and 21H2), Windows 10 (22H2 and 21H2), and multiple Windows Server builds.

Blank White Screen Error

Many users contacted us about their problems with the KB5036893 update.

For many, the update failed to install and produced multiple error codes. Windows Latest also noticed a white screen after applying the update. It was a blank white screen with no elements, leaving us scratching our heads.

However, the problem disappeared after disconnecting the WiFi, and the PC successfully booted onto the desktop. The white screen problem didn’t occur after restarting the PC.

A user found success after switching to safe mode and then turning off a few services.

Even the Feedback Hub app, which lets you submit problems with your PC, stopped working for many.

Changing Profile Picture Produces Errors

Microsoft’s April security update also breaks the ability to change user account profile. If you try to change the user account profile picture, you might encounter the 0x80070520 error message.

This issue is present in all April 2024 updates, including security and optional updates.

In our tests, Windows Latest observed that the profile picture can be changed smoothly when Windows 11 is connected to a Microsoft account. However, when we tried to change the profile picture on a local account, Windows 11 refused to apply changes with the following error:

Windows 11 April 2024 updates have been available for a month now, but there’s still no patch in sight. Microsoft says it’s working on fixing these problems, but for now, the only resolution is to remove the April 2024 update from your Windows PCs.

To do that, search for Uninstall updates in the Start Menu and click the Uninstall button next to the most recent security update.

Other notable problems with the April 2024 Update include performance issues, inability to recognize external monitors, and laggy mouse and other system elements.

The post Windows 11 April 2024 Update is causing three major issues appeared first on Windows Latest