Turns out the issue is widespread and still not patched. I noticed the reports of Windows 11 24H2 DHCP again when one of Windows Latest flagged a new Reddit thread on the topic titled “Win 11 24h2 and DHCP fix(WLAN or eth) | Option 43”, which goes on to talk about a bug we already reported.

Let me explain what’s going on with some of the PCs after upgrading to Windows 11 24H2 update. Before you read this article, I recommend going through my previous report on the same topic: Windows 11 24H2 issues break internet, Wi-Fi, network sharing, cause more BSODs.

It’s similar, but I’ve also highlighted some related bugs that might be breaking your internet connection.

So what’s up with DHCP, Wi-Fi and lack of internet after upgrading to Windows 11 24H2 update?

After some people started using Windows 11 24H2, they noticed that their devices were not getting an IP address. Instead, some of you might see APIPA address. For those unaware, APIPA is basically Automatic Private IP Addressing, where Windows 11 tries to automatically assign a random IP address.

This happens when DHCP server is not available. In other words, if your computer’s Wi-Fi uses DHCP and Windows 11 tries to automatically assign an IP address, it means the DHCP isn’t working as it is supposed to.

“A group of computers the pass few days have been having issue with DHCP, I can still statically set their IP address just fine. I’ve been trouble shooting the issue, slowly ruling out various setting and components,” one of the users noted after they installed Windows 11 24H2 update.

“What I have found is that all of the computers with issues have updated to Win11 v24h2, and upon rolling back the update DHCP works just fine. I then run some repairs, sync with Intune/defender and run a gp update to verify that none of those settings recreate the issue. This has occurred on both HP and Dell computers so far.”

“When running the stable version of Windows 11, I had no problems, but after updating to the preview version 24H2 of Windows 11, every time I turn on my PC, it says I have no access to the internet when I go to diagnose my network it says Windows is having trouble finding the DHCP server, I use the diagnostic tool to fix it, and it does fix the connection, but I have to do this every time I turn on my PC, and it only started happening after the update,” another user wrote an in a Feedback Hub post seen by Windows Latest.

Hundreds of people have reported the DHCP bug, and Microsoft confirmed to Windows Latest that it had seen the reports.

It looks like Microsoft has already tried to patch the problem in a November 2024 Patch Tuesday update.

According to the release notes spotted by Windows Latest, Microsoft patched an issue that affected a number of devices.

“This occurs when a DHCP server response has duplicate DHCP options. This stops IPv4 connections on certain networks,” the company said.

How to fix the Windows 11 24H2 Wi-Fi DHCP issue

If you have issues with the DHCP server, try installing Windows 11’s November 2024 patch, which could help.

However, that’s not the case for everyone. Wi-Fi and DHCP connections are still broken for some people even when they use the December 2024 Patch Tuesday.

Microsoft is apparently aware of the mess, and it might share more details sometime, but it’s unclear when a proper fix will be issued. Microsoft probably doesn’t know what to do because it’s an isolated issue, and the workaround or the bug could vary from one device to another.

We have at least two workarounds that might work for some of you. The first one is easy as it requires you to change the endpoints for PCs running Windows 11 24H2. This includes changing the option type from text to string for your DNS configuration.

As soon as you change the endpoints, Windows 11 24H2’s internet should start working again.

Or you can also try these steps as they have worked for many people:

1. Go to Windows Search and search regedit.
2. This will open Registry Editor. In Registry Editor, you need go to HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\WcmSvc
3. Inside the WcmSvc, try to edit the DependOnService and remove line that says: WinHTTPAutoProxySvc
4. Click OK to apply changes you made here. Then, open Task Manager > Services, and restart Windows Connection Manager (WcmSvc). Do the same for WLAN AutoConfig (WlanSvc).

Remember that it’s a hit-and-miss situation, so the workarounds may not work for everyone. We recommend going back to Windows 11 23H2 till Microsoft figures out what broke DHCP and the internet in the update.

The post Windows 11 24H2 Wi-Fi DHCP internet issue is still not fixed, headache for sysadmins appeared first on Windows Latest

The rollout is supposed to begin in January, and we’re already seeing the reminder when we open the Microsoft 365 app, which is now set to be called Microsoft 365 Copilot.

What’s funny is that the Windows 11 app was previously called Microsoft Office, but the company renamed it to Microsoft 365 as it believed more in Microsoft 365 branding at that point. Microsoft 365 still has the “Office” name inside the bracket to help people understand that it’s the same old Office app, but what would happen after the latest rebrand?

Is Microsoft going to call it Microsoft 365 Copilot Microsoft 365 Office? (pun intended), but I honestly don’t understand why the rebrand was necessary. It will likely be called just Microsoft 365 Copilot. Worse, it will be called Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat for enterprises.

More on the rebranding:

• In mid-Jan 2025, Microsoft Copilot for Entra will be renamed Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat.
• Microsoft 365 app is switching to Microsoft 365 Copilot.
• Icons will change to Copilot for everyone.
• You can use Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat feature inside Microsoft 365 Copilot app.

Microsoft wants Copilot branding everything. It’s serious about it.

Previously, we thought the company would rebrand everything as Microsoft 365 and stop at some point. But now, the world has changed, thanks to OpenAI. Microsoft is convinced it needs to bring AI, particularly Copilot, to everything.

Bringing Copilot alone isn’t enough for Microsoft. It’s also trying to rebrand everything to Copilot.

As shown in the above screenshot, if you open the Microsoft 365 app on Windows 11, you’ll notice a friendly reminder about the changes in the branding.

The current icon is a blue gradient loop. On the other hand, the new icon is “Copilot” colorful with shades of blue, yellow, pink, and purple.

The text “M365” is added to the new icon.

The app will still work the same, only the name and icon are changing, Microsoft said when Windows Latest reached out.

However, it’s more than a simple rebrand and change of icon to Microsoft 365 Copilot.

As Windows Latest previously spotted and noted in our report, Copilot is taking a front seat in the new Microsoft 365 Copilot app. The app will ditch the header, and all buttons will move to the left sidebar. The Copilot will be aligned to the top. Microsoft is also dropping the ‘Back’ button for the Microsoft 365 Copilot app.

“Microsoft 365 Copilot app [is] becoming the destination for Copilot, we will be bringing AI powered document creation into Copilot tab,” Microsoft officials said when Windows Latest reached out.

What do you think about Microsoft’s branding strategy? Is it a good idea to rebrand everything as Copilot when the company doesn’t even know what to do with the Copilot key on enterprise Copilot+ PCs? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Microsoft is really serious about giving more products Copilot name on Windows 11 appeared first on Windows Latest

But why? Based on our understanding of Microsoft’s documentation, if you use a USB or drive to install Windows 11 24H2 with the October 2024 or November 2024 security updates included, you might end up breaking Windows Update. By default, Windows 11 24H2 ships without October or November security patches.

Windows 11 24H2 installation has a bug that causes conflict with Windows Update when you try to install the OS with newer updates. This can happen particularly when using a third-party tool to create your own copy of Windows 11 24H2 or you follow either of the methods:

• You used DISM or similar third-party apps to create an ISO image with newer updates pre-installed.
• This can be Rufus or some other tools.
  
• You mounted Windows 11 and then integrated October or November 2024 updates into the ISO, and installed it.

If you modified the media file or used a third-party to update Windows, you’re now stuck in a mess where Windows Update won’t install newer updates, such as the December one. This could be why we saw reports of Windows 11 December 2024 Updates failing to install on many PCs.

Microsoft does not offer additional Windows 11 24H2 ISO files with newer updates already integrated. Instead, these ISOs are manually created by you. For example, Media Creation Tool still offers the original version of Windows 11 24H2, which shipped on October 1.

Now, if you created your own custom installation media by integrating with newer security patches, you’ll run into major issues installing newer updates.

“When using media to install Windows 11, version 24H2, the device might remain in a state where it cannot accept further Windows security updates,” Microsoft warned in a support to its support document.

It means that you’re now stuck with a Windows 11 24H2 installation that cannot be updated with any new patches.

In the support document spotted by Windows Latest, Microsoft also confirmed that the problem does not happen if you used the original Media Creation Tool, Windows Update or the Microsoft Update Catalog to grab the updates.

Microsoft doesn’t have a proper workaround for any of this mess.

Microsoft says it will fix Windows 11 24H2 installation issues

Microsoft told Windows Latest that the company is aware of these reports and that they only affect a very small number of PCs. This makes sense because how many of you try to modify the ISOs to include fresh updates? Very few.

What can you do if you’re unable to install new cumulative updates after installing Windows 11 24H2? You’ll need to download the Media Creation tool, create a fresh media file, and reinstall the OS.

That’s the only “workaround”, but it requires a lot of effort, and here you’re basically reinstalling the OS all over again. Microsoft promises it’s working on a fix and will share more details in January when the engineers return to work.

Have you come across other other problems in Windows 11 24H2? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Microsoft confirms Windows 11 24H2 installation issues, newer updates fail for some PCs appeared first on Windows Latest

For those unaware, reset sync server data is an optional feature in Microsoft Edge for Windows 11 and other PCs that allows you to purge the synced data stored on Microsoft’s servers. The sync data is linked to a Microsoft account, and it apparently includes stuff like your browsing data, favorites, passwords, tabs, and more.

Edge syncs data in real time, but sometimes, it may not be able to sync everything across all devices. In some cases, older data could be synced, and you’ll lose access to the new content browsed on one of your devices. Or you might have duplicate items across all devices.

When you use the “reset sync server data” button in Edge for Windows, it purges all data from the server and reuploads data from the current device.

Finally, Microsoft syncs it across all devices.

Neat feature, right? However, the reset sync server data feature wasn’t available in Microsoft Edge for Android/iOS until now.

As shown in the above screenshot, Windows Latest can confirm that Microsoft Edge Android has Windows 11’s feature that gives you control over what has been synced to Microsoft servers with an option to purge everything and reupload it from Android.

This option has been on the desktop for close to a year now, and it’s nice to see it arrive on Android.

Bottom address bar on Android

Microsoft previously told Windows Latest that it’s considering bringing the bottom address bar or Omnibox to Edge on Android.

Google has also been experimenting with an optional bottom address bar for Chrome, so we weren’t surprised when we heard Microsoft wanted to pull this off with Edge, too.

A new experiential flag is already live in Edge Canary that lets you access the setting with a toggle to move the Omnibox to the bottom of the screen. In our tests, the toggle or the setting doesn’t show up yet, but we wouldn’t be surprised if it’s similar to Google’s implementation.

Here’s how Google has implemented the bottom address bar in Chrome through optional toggle:

In addition to these two new features in Edge, Microsoft is trying to bring a full-fledged Copilot experience to Edge Android.

The current Copilot implementation doesn’t do justice to the previous version’s PDF reading and summarizing capabilities. It also doesn’t work well with YouTube videos, but we can hope it will get better over time.

The post Microsoft Edge on Android will let you reset sync server data, tests bottom bar appeared first on Windows Latest

“New [native version] Copilot is rolling out to more people,” Microsoft officials confirmed to Windows Latest.

You can head to the Microsoft Store and check for updates, and it should show up shortly if you don’t see it already. Unlike the previous Copilot versions, Microsoft proudly says the new Copilot is “native” and is not a PWA (Progressive Web App). The company previously announced the native Copilot for Windows Insiders, but it’s now out for all of us.

“With this update, the previous Copilot progressive web app (PWA) is replaced with a native version,” Microsoft noted in a blog post dated December 10, 2024. “After installing the Copilot app update, when you run Copilot, you will see it appear in your system tray.”

In a way, it’s true that the new Copilot is more “native” than the previous versions, but one cannot deny the fact that the so-called native Copilot app is still highly web-based because it loads copilot.microsoft.com in a Microsoft Edge-based WebView. The approach is new and more “native”, but it doesn’t make any significant difference.

Let me explain why.

First and foremost, The new “native” Copilot is worse than the last two PWAs in terms of performance because it consumes more RAM.

In our tests, Windows Latest observed that the new Copilot app consumes more than 1GB of RAM and averages between 500-600MB of RAM.

This is because Microsoft has bundled the new Copilot with a dedicated WebView2, which is almost like running a new instance of Microsoft Edge under the disguise of Copilot.

The new “native” Copilot is a Windows app built with WinAppSDK and WinUI for its “shell,” which includes a window title bar, icon, and basic UI framing. Under the hood, though, Copilot still uses a Microsoft Edge-based WebView that loads the Copilot webpage (copilot.microsoft.com).

So even though it appears more integrated with Windows 11, such as showing up in the system tray, more native title bar, or Edge’s right-click menu not showing up when you right-click anywhere within the app, remember that the content and logic remain web-powered.

In fact, you’ll still run into Edge-related pop-ups, like this one:

Or how about this?

The older Copilot PWA versions worked almost the same way, but Copilot was just opened inside Microsoft Edge’s own PWA framework. Now, that PWA is replaced with a native Windows app container that embeds a WebView2 (Edge).

As a result, the so-called “native” Copilot has more system-level features. And yes, it’s also “native”.

For example, you can now use the Alt + Space keyboard to open Copilot in a small Quick view window, which is similar to ChatGPT’s mini window.

While ChatGPT uses Chromium’s picture-in-picture feature, Copilot uses Microsoft Edge’s implementation of picture-in-picture mode. Remember, Edge is also based on Chromium, so we’ve reached a full circle here.

Another advantage of the new Copilot (“NATIVE”) is that it now shows up in the system tray when running in the background, but is that even needed?

The evolution of Copilot on Windows

For those unaware, Copilot has gone through several significant changes over the past six months.

Copilot’s Windows integration was rushed with a poorly designed sidebar, which was later replaced by a half-baked Copilot web app that had the original design of Bing.com/chat.

It was later  replaced by another Copilot web app, which looked better and offered faster performance. However, in many ways, it was a clone of ChatGPT’s interface.

That Copilot web app was cancelled when Mustafa Suleyman took over Microsoft AI leadership. He replaced the Copilot experience with his version of Copilot PWA, which behaves more like your personal, friendly assistant.

This PWA version has now been replaced with the native version, but the overall experience of Copilot remains a mess.

Copilot fails to do justice to Microsoft and OpenAI’s partnership. On the other hand, we’ve ChatGPT on macOS, which works really well and integrates with existing apps.

I wouldn’t be surprised if we get another redesign of Copilot on Windows, but I’m asking this question.

Does Microsoft even understand what’s native anymore? There seems to be a gap between Microsoft’s understanding of “native” and what we as a user consider “native”.

The post Windows 11’s new native Copilot rolls out to everyone, but it consumes more RAM appeared first on Windows Latest

Over the past few months, Microsoft has been trying to bring some new features from Windows 11 to Windows 10. Remember how Microsoft added Windows 11-like Copilot to Windows 10? Now, it’s adding Windows 11 Settings’ About to Windows 10 and making it more colourful.

There are two new “features” coming to Windows 10 – A colourful Settings homepage and a Windows 11-like “About” System settings page.

Windows Latest has previously reported about the upcoming changes to the System > About page in Windows 10, but we didn’t have access to all of the features at that time.

But today, we noticed the redesigned “About” System Settings on our own system and it works properly for the first time.

It almost looks like Microsoft has embedded Windows 11 About System settings page inside Windows 10’s Settings container. Everything looks out of place. It doesn’t match the Windows 10 design language at all, but it’s still being developed and it could look better in the stable branch if it ever ships.

As shown in the above screenshot captured by Windows Latest, the new “About” page in Windows 10 has a fresher layout with key details.

The details are now shown in bubble-like boxes at the top. These include Installed RAM with RAM type, Processor with number of cores and clock speed, Graphics Card with type and capacity, and storage with free/used storage breakdown. Clicking on the storage should open Storage Settings, but it doesn’t at the moment.

Then, we have the Device specification section, which has the same current details, such as the Device Name, Processor, DeviceID, Product ID, etc. Nothing has changed.

The most interesting addition is “Frequently Asked Questions”, which tells you if having 4GB of RAM (in my case the allocated RAM is 4), is enough to run Windows? Is it capable of running apps smoothly? There’s also a similar question for GPU – “Is my GPU sufficient for high-end gaming and video experience?”.

These two questions are pretty good for beginners.

But what caught our attention was the third FAQ. This is about “Am I running the latest version of Windows OS?” then it proceeds to explain that Windows 11 is the newest version, and one should “consider” upgrading to it.

Microsoft added that Windows 11 has better navigation, productivity, performance and security features compared to Windows 10.

Interesting way to promote Windows 11, right? I wouldn’t be surprised if they update this page with a warning about Windows 10 end-of-life.

The Windows specifications section has also been moved down.

Colourful Settings icons

We also spotted some colourful icons on the homepage of Windows 10’s Settings out of nowhere, and it turned out to be a new feature.

First, let’s talk about the colourful changes for Settings.

As shown in the above screenshot (first image), the icons at the top (like OneDrive, Windows Update, Rewards, etc.) use the blue colour.

In the old screenshot (second image), those icons were grey regardless.

The biggest change is that Windows 10 now applies your accent colour to some of the top icons in Settings. Everything else remains the same. This includes the layout of the categories (System, Devices, Personalization, etc.).

They all look the same, but the top icons and headings now respect your accent (green, in my case). At the moment, it’s only applied to the Rewards icon.

I’m not sure I like it, as this makes the Settings interface more inconsistent. I mean, Microsoft is not applying the accent colour to all icons. Only the Microsoft Rewards alert has a green accent. And we’ve got blue paint for the remaining. It doesn’t make sense to me.

Why not just stick to one colour (blue) or accent?

What about you? Do you like the new changes coming to Settings in Windows 10? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Windows 10’s updated Settings sneak in a Windows 11 reminder, add colours appeared first on Windows Latest

Microsoft Edge typically undergoes a lot of changes, including these minor tweaks. As shown in the below screenshot shared by a Windows Latest reader in our forums, Edge 131.0.2903.112 has a new take on these folder icons, which represent the favourites or your bookmarks in the toolbar.

“And just like that Microsoft Edge updated itself to version 131.0.2903.112 and changed the folder icons for favorite. Not sure if i like it or not,” one of our readers noted in a forum post. I opened Microsoft Edge and I also noticed that the folder icons have been updated, and they’re now transparent.

“What a stupid change and it’s silly that there’s no option in settings to customize these,” one of the users noted.

“Went to see if my laptop changed and when I first opened Edge the folders were yellow at first BUT,…when I closed it and opened it again the folders had changed to transparent just like my PC,” another user added in a post on Reddit.

Fair enough, right? I mean, people can like and dislike changes. While some people like the monoline transparent folders in the Edge toolbar, some aren’t happy with how Microsoft changed the icons and refused to provide any customization options to bring back the yellow folders.

Thankfully, if you aren’t a fan of the transparent folder icons, you can go back to yellow folder icons for your favourite by following these steps:

1. Locate the Microsoft Edge (msedge.exe) from the search panel > locate location.
   
2. Right-click msedge.exe shortcut.
3. Open Properties.
4. Go to Shortcut tab.
5. Modify the target to include disable-features=msFavoritesMonolineFolder after the “quotation”. Simply copy the following code:

6. --disable-features=msFavoritesMonolineFolder

7. Click Apply and OK to save the changes.
   
8. Reopen Microsoft Edge, and the old yellow-colored folders should be back now.

Remember this is a temporary workaround, and Microsoft may remove it in a future release of Edge.

If you want to keep using these yellow folders, you need to hope that Microsoft adds an option to customize how favourites look in Edge. But that doesn’t make sense. I mean, it’s not practically possible to make everything customizable in Edge without bloating the already bloated settings.

Speaking of Microsoft Edge, we recently reported that Windows 11’s default browser fearmongering isn’t going anywhere. We spotted more references implying that Edge has plans to show new pop-ups that encourage people to set it as the default. If you set it up as default, there are a few new advantages to try.

For example, Edge is now capable of using on-device AI to detect scams and protect your Windows 11 installation. Similarly, Edge’s built-in PDF reader will use OCR to help you extract texts from scanned documents.

The post Microsoft Edge drops yellow for folders (favourites), gets monoline transparent look appeared first on Windows Latest

Like every other browser on Windows 11 (and Windows 10), Chromium-based Google Chrome also uses MediaRecorder API, which is responsible for recording your screen content when you are in a video conference on a web app like Google Meet. Until now, Google Chrome handled media recording using H.264, VP8, and VP9 codecs.

H.264 was used because it worked on almost all platforms, but it made bigger files and quality is not on par with H.265 (HEVC). VP8 and VP9 were Google’s own codecs, free to use, but VP8 was less efficient, and VP9 didn’t work everywhere. This changes now as Google is switching to HEVC for all web recording-related work on Windows 11.

As first spotted by Windows Latest, we noticed multiple code commits on Chromium Gerrit, including one titled “HEVC encode support for MediaRecorder API.”

Windows Latest observed that adding HEVC encode support for MediaRecorder API is an ongoing process, but most of the basic work has been done, and it’s already being added into Chrome.

Specifically, Google is adding support for HEVC (also known as H.265) for recording videos in Chrome. This replaces the existing codecs like H.264, VP8, and VP9, which are good but not as good as HEVC. Now, Chrome will support HEVC for recording videos in MP4 and MKV.

If you want to see how the integration works and whether videos are indeed hardware encoded using HEVC when you record the content of Google Meet, you can turn on an experimental flag titled:

--enable-features=MediaRecorderHEVCSupport

“This add the basic part of mkv/mp4 muxer support of HEVC,” Google developer noted in a Chromium Gerrit post spotted by Windows Latest. “Disabled by default, and need to pass
to enable the support manually,” they added.

Right now, this feature is disabled by default in most cases and must be manually enabled for testing.

The code only supports basic HEVC encoding but doesn’t check if the hardware can actually encode HEVC. This means that even if MediaRecorder.isTypeSupported() says HEVC is supported, encoding may fail on unsupported hardware.

“Until hardware detection is fully added, developers are advised to use tools like MediaCapabilities.encodingInfo() or VideoEncoder.isConfigSupported() along with MediaRecorder.isTypeSupported() to check if the device can encode HEVC before creating a MediaRecorder instance,” Google noted.

As mentioned at the outset, Google is still testing the feature, and it doesn’t work by default unless devs switch to the API’s new endpoint.

In addition, Windows Latest previously spotted that Chrome is building a modern Task Manager for extensions, web pages, processes and other browser activities on Windows 11 and other platforms.

The post Google Chrome is upgrading video recording on Windows 11 with better quality, low size appeared first on Windows Latest

While the idea of a festive banner might have more to do with wishing Christmas to everyone, its execution has left many people scratching their heads. When you turn on your PC and notice that there’s a huge Christmas banner on your desktop, do not panic – your device is not compromised.

The Christmas banner can also pop up when you’re playing games. In some cases, the banner crashes apps.

As shown in the below screenshot spotted by Windows Latest, ASUS’ Christmas banner covers 1/3rd of the screen. There is a Christmas wreath with festive lights and a red button in the center. It also has a message saying, “Press ESC to exit.” If you look closely, there’s a space button as well.

Even worse, the malware-looking Christmas wreath is linked to a process called “Christmas.exe.”

Christmas wreath banner on Windows 11 gives malware vibes. Christmas.exe makes it worse.

A couple of people reached out to Windows Latest to ask if I knew of a potential new malware with a Christmas wreath at the bottom of the screen and an associated process called “Christmas.exe”. I looked into it, and it turns out this is not malware.

It is a part of the ASUS Armoury Crate software that is pre-installed on some ASUS PCs.

ASUS uses it to display a holiday-themed splash screen, but this time, they didn’t clearly brand it or explain what’s even happening.

As reported by several users in a forum post first spotted by Windows Latest, as soon as some people turned on their ASUS PC, a black bar showed up at the bottom of the screen with a Christmas wreath.

The Christmas-themed banner is so unpolished and poorly designed that it initially appears to be a part of a game or some malware. If you go to the Task Manager, you’ll notice that the whole banner is linked to a process named “Christmas.exe”.

Many of our readers thought that they’d been hacked or were being ransomware, especially since Christmas-themed malware has been a thing.

“We’re back at it again. This time the banner not only covered part of the screen, but also caused a RAM leak. I was only able to close it through the task manager,” one of the frustrated users noted. “Brilliant, Asus, to congratulate your customers with some kind of virus.”

“I disconnected my internet opened the file location of Christmas.exe from the process in Task Manager and seen it was in the Asus folder in Program Data. First, Google was some old worm from years ago with the same name,” another user noted.

What’s interesting is that the banner disappears on its own and doesn’t even show up in the Task Manager unless you keep it open.

While digging further, we used Task Manager to trace the location of the process, and it’s apparently inside:

•  C:\ProgramData\ASUS\FestsEffect\data\HappyNewYear\HappyNewYear.exe
•  C:\ProgramData\ASUS\FestsEffect\data\Christmas\christmas.exe

Christmas.exe size is about 106 KB.

How to turn off these alerts on Windows 11 ASUS PC

As mentioned at the outset, ASUS Armoury Crate, which is preinstalled on some systems, is responsible for pulling this off.

In the ASUS armoury crate, when you open Aura > Aura effects, you’ll also see a festive event option. This “feature” (banner) is related to the effects.

Based on the references we saw, we wouldn’t be surprised if you end up seeing a similar banner on the New Year. To stop ASUS from spamming Windows 11, you can use the official uninstaller for ASUS Armoury from the company’s website.

Remember that the software will try to install again automatically, so make sure you turn it off from ASUS BIOS. To block Armoury Crate on an ASUS motherboard, open BIOS by pressing Del or F2 during startup.

Once done, switch to Advanced Mode by pressing F7, navigate to the Tool menu, locate ASUS Armoury Crate, and change the option [Download & Install ARMOURY CRATE app] from Enabled to Disabled. Save and exit the BIOS.

Or you can just ignore all of this, as the banner automatically goes away after the holiday.

Have you also seen one of these banners? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Asus bombards Windows 11 with christmas.exe malware-like Christmas wreath banner appeared first on Windows Latest

These issues affect KB5048667 for Windows 11 24H2 and KB5048685 for Windows 11 23H2. We have already reported issues with Windows 11 KB5048667 (24H2), including an issue where the patch fails, but it looks like there are more problems. We’re also seeing similar issues with KB5048685 (23H2).

I looked into more reports and heard back from our readers, and it turns out that Windows 11 December 2024 Update is a bigger mess than I initially thought.  According to reports seen and verified by Windows Latest, the Windows 11 December 2024 Update causes the Start menu to stop working.

There are two separate issues related to the Start menu.

One of our readers pointed me to a Feedback Hub post titled “KB5048667 breaking Start Menu’s search theme.” After installing the December 2024 patch for Windows 11 24H2, one user observed that the Start menu search is showing mostly in white when using a dark Windows theme.

But there’s a bigger problem. The Start menu simply stops working.

After applying the Windows 11 KB5048667 (24H2) or KB5048685 (23H), you may run into an unresponsive Start menu in VDI sessions.

As confirmed by Citrix document, which was first spotted by Windows Latest, the Start menu unresponsive behaviour when using Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is a known issue and is being investigated. If you’re one of those few people affected, you can update the following registry:

• HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\CtxUvi

In the above location, you’ll need to add StartMenuExper; to the UviProcessExcludes value, and reboot Windows 11. We recommend that you back up the registry before creating the new value.

While the Citrix bug mostly affects enterprises, there’s a second bug that affects people who do not have Critix software. It also makes the Start menu unresponsive.

In our tests, Windows Latest spotted that the second Start menu unresponsiveness issue is likely linked to an outdated (.dll) package called “MSVCP_140_APP.dll”. This package is bundled with Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00 (version 14.0.30704.0).

Now, the issue is that the Start menu stops working when Windows 11 detects you have an older version of the MSVCP_140_APP.dll package. It crashes StartMenuExperienceHost.exe, and the Start menu stops working abruptly.

If you’re affected, you can install Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00 manually. Of course, this should have auto-installed by Windows, but in case it is not installed, you will run into these Start menu issues.

We recommend installing Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00 package using “Microsoft Store Generation Project”. Otherwise, you can also uninstall older versions of Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00 using PowerShell commands like Get-AppXPackage -Name Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00 -AllUsers | Remove-AppxPackage.

In some cases, Windows 11 23H2 is also affected, which is why we haven’t specifically mentioned Windows 11 24H2 in the headline.

For example, in a Feedback Hub post, after installing “2024-12 Cumulative Update for Windows 11 Version 23H2 for x64-based Systems (KB5048685)”, one user observed that the “Safely remove hardware and eject media” icon constantly showing “Realtec USB GbE Family Controller” available as a device to eject.

This was not the case before the patch. Further, one user noted that TCP resets and interrupts network connectivity.

There’s one isolated report of the screen being dull after installing Windows 11 23H2 KB5048685. This could be related to the HDR issue we reported earlier this week, as described by one user.

Just installed the above update on my Dell XPS 9700 with UHD screen, took a long time to install and when restarted the screen is very dull, whites are yellowish, if it turn up the brightness it still doesn’t look how it did before the update.

What about you? Are you also having issues with Windows 11 December 2024 updates? Let us know in the comments below.

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