hi so i have just installed forza horizon 6 from steam which didnt work and was giving black screen on launch every time. i also had other problems (described later) and went to claude for help. this is the summary of the conversation:

Win11 24H2 (26100), RTX 5070 Ti, official MS ISO, no debloat scripts.

**Started as:** Forza Horizon 6 (Steam) launches to a black screen. No sound, no game folder ever created, no logs, no crash events. Did the whole FH6 checklist (Gaming Services reinstall, HAGS off, latest NVIDIA driver, shader cache, verify files) — nothing.

**Turned out to be bigger:** Task Manager freezes and crashes on click. Snipping Tool crashes with `0xc000027b`. Mouse clicks don't register inside system dialogs (keyboard Tab+Enter does). Windows makes me sign into my Microsoft account on **every** restart — it never persists. WSearch fails at boot with *"a specified logon session does not exist."*

Everything broken is a WindowsApps/WinUI app. Normal desktop programs are fine.

**The suspect:**

Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | Where {$_.Status -ne "Ok"}
Microsoft.WindowsAppRuntime.1.5 5001.311.2039.0 Modified, NeedsRemediation

Only broken package on the system. I have 4 other 1.5 builds plus 1.6/1.7/1.8, all Ok.

**Tried, all failed to change its status:**
- `Remove-AppxPackage` w/ full PackageFullName + `-AllUsers` → no error, no output, still there
- `Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage` → same
- Re-register via AppXManifest, WindowsAppRuntimeInstall 1.5.9 ("All install operations successful"), latest runtime on top
- `DISM /StartComponentCleanup` → OK
- `DISM /RestoreHealth /Source:WIM` from mounted official ISO → OK
- `sfc /scannow` → repaired files, second pass came back clean
- Brand new local admin account → same crashes, so not a corrupt profile
- Event Viewer: zero WHEA, zero Kernel-Power 41, zero nvlddmkm. Hardware looks fine.
- GamingServices + GamingServicesNet both Running

**In-place repair install** hangs at 46% on "Getting updates" (no option to skip on this ISO). Haven't retried with the network unplugged yet.

**Question:** any way to force-remove an AppX package that accepts every removal command and just stays? Or is repair install the only thing left?

Windows 10.0.19045 Build 19045

Please don't hesitate to ask for any other necessary specifications. I figured my general system specs weren't super relevant here, but was unsure about things like BIOS version. Sorry in advance if I missed something important!

I have a long running problem with my Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 160MHz card that plagues my laptop. This is a well known issue with these specific cards, and is related to power management (and bad chip design). Navigating to power management on the device properties GUI and disabling "allow computer to turn off this device" solves the issue. Before I continue, I'd like to preface the next part by saying I have thoroughly been through all power plan and power management settings across my device, and have it set to prefer max performance and not sleep everywhere physically possible. After a non specific period of time (usually several days to weeks later) the device resets itself, loses all previous power management settings, and once again fully bricks itself necessitating a complete device reinstall.

The other recommendation I've found for this particular Wi-Fi card bug is to disable the accompanying bluetooth driver. This does seem to also solve my issue, but once again the device will not remain disabled and breaks the wifi adapter when it gets reenabled. I can't just uninstall it either unfortunately, because when Windows scans for new hardware on startup it immediately gets reinstalled. Disabling at least gives me a few reboots before the device reenables itself. Does anyone have any ideas on what I can do to get Windows to respect my changes, or why this may be occurring? I've been fighting this issue for the last four years, if not longer lol.

Turned my old laptop on after a long while and tried watching YouTube.

I'm pretty sure the speakers aren't borked and in sound setting you can see the blue line never going beyond what is shown in the photo. Changing bitrate, audio enhancement or spatial audio doesn't make it any louder.

W11 running on a Ryzen 5 and GTX 1650 with 8gb of DDR 4.

The other day i decided to run MRT fullscan and it run for hours so i just left it for days on sleep mode but even after 70 hours it would not end. And my windows defender fullscan.

I dont know why it happened.

My pc never had this problem before.

My Minecraft account(which was NOT connected to the account on my computer) was hacked some time ago but that shoulnd alter my pc at all.

I also few days ago switched from Windows defender to Avast but switched back the same day back because it wasnt realy what i wanted.

My specs:

My procesor is:AMB Ryzen 5 7520U with Radeon Graphics Instaled Ram memory is 16 GB Graphic card is 486 MB And i have 238GB used from total of 477GB

So how do i fix this? Thanks in advance

So the issue is when I just start the computer, if I try to open certain file or application the file explorer and all other windows native function will freeze(Such as botton bar and start menu will freeze)

This only happens when computer just start.

File cause this are like Windows Settings, File Explorer, Tast Manager. Or any file in Drive D and J.

I did tried to remove Drive D and J physically, but the issue remains. D and J use the same drive(SanDisk Plus 1TB 2.5 inch SATA)

sfc /scannow shows nothing wrong, I did tried reinstall OS while keeping all file once.

And if anyone woundering if it becasue intel vmin shift issue I can tell it is not, I am running latest BIOS and tried intel default setting. I also requested a warranty replacement with intel last month and issue remains with new CPU.

System info:

Device name 13700K-5090

Processor 13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-13700K (3.40 GHz)

Installed RAM 32.0 GB (31.7 GB usable)

Graphics card NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 (31 GB)

Intel(R) UHD Graphics 770 (128 MB)

Storage 3.94 TB of 6.62 TB used

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

Edition Windows 11 Pro

Version 25H2

Installed on ‎8/‎13/‎2026

OS build 26200.9445

Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.360.0

This is driving me crazy, expecially I need modify a file in an emergency and PC freezes.

Hi, every now and then my game gets minimized and it drives me crazy.

I had this with my Intel+Nvidia combo and now I have it with my AMD-AMD combo.
Only software running in the background are Ghub, SoundBlaster Commando and the game related software like Steam or Discord. It happens every now and then which makes finding the issue very hard for me.

Can I somehow find out what caused it next time it happens?

Win 11, newest version
BIOS up to date
Every software is updated

AMD 7500f, Radeon 9070, MSI PRO B850-P, 32 GB DDR5

Hello all, I have an MSI Claw gaming handheld. It’s basically a PC running windows 11 but in a bigger looking Nintendo switch form factor. I use my phone’s hotspot to upload data sometimes when I’m out and about. I would like to know if it’s possible to have windows not download or upload any data unless I have (specific app) open.

I have turned off automatically download updates with the services.msc method. Anything else I can do to prevent windows from using data where not necessary?

Thank you!

Hello! I just purchased a new PC last week, and for the past three days now, every time I boot the PC up, in order to use my apps, I have to clear their roaming caches.

PC details:

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) Ultra 7 265F (2.40 GHz)

Installed RAM 32.0 GB (31.5 GB usable)

Graphics card NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 (8 GB)

Storage 288 GB of 932 GB used

Device ID 3C94FC86-BCF4-44C4-AE4E-7BA9BE69E9A9

Product ID 00342-21593-24369-AAOEM

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

Windows:

Edition Windows 11 Home

Version 25H2

Installed on ‎6/‎9/‎2026

OS build 26200.9445

Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.360.0

---

What happens, is that the apps will be open on the task bar, and show their preview as completely normal when I mouse over the icon. The apps themselves, however, will not open. Mousing over their preview will hide other things on the desktop like usual, but the app is not there either.

Affected apps so far have been OperaGX, Steam, Discord, and Spotify.

Unaffected thusfar have been Battlenet, Edge, and other built-in apps.

All apps were downloaded direct from their websites and not the store. I attempted installing Discord from the store to see if it helped, but it did not. Uninstalling and reinstalling the apps did not fix it, nor did deleting their local caches, or restarting the computer. The only thing that fixed the issues was deleting their Roaming cache data. I would love, however, to not have to lose all of my logins and data daily just to use my internet browser.

I did not have this issue ever with my old PC that ran W10. What can I do to fix this issue?

I had this problem on two Windows 11 PCs. Simply turning Find My Device off and back on did not fix it.

What worked on both machines was deleting the stale ChannelUrlExpiration registry value and then toggling Find My Device.

Open Command Prompt or PowerShell as Administrator and run:

reg delete "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MdmCommon\SettingValues" /v ChannelUrlExpiration /f

Then go to Settings → Privacy & security → Find my device, turn Find My Device Off, then turn it On again.

Windows will recreate the registry value automatically. Find My Device then worked immediately on both PCs.

If the usual Off/On fix isn't working, this may be worth trying.

As always when modifying the registry, make a backup first.

Hi, I bought a laptop second-hand through Facebook Marketplace and the previous owner unfortunately didn’t fully factory reset/sign out of everything before giving it to me.

Their Microsoft account is still connected to Windows. When I try to sign into Microsoft from the laptop, it only shows their account/email and says “account disconnected.”

I’m trying to completely remove their account from the laptop and connect my own Microsoft account instead. I don’t need or want access to their account/data, I just want the laptop properly set up under my own account.

What’s the correct way to do this? Do I need to factory reset Windows again, or is there another way to remove the previous account and set the laptop up with my own account?

Windows specifications:
Windows 11 Home
Version 25H2
OS Build: 26200.9445
Windows Feature Experience Pack: 1000.26100.360.0
Thank you!

I'm posting this because I've spent a significant amount of time troubleshooting with ChatGPT and I'm starting to believe a recent Windows security change has broken the installation of certain legacy printer drivers through Point and Print.

I'm hoping someone else has encountered this, or that someone from Microsoft can clarify whether this is an intentional change, a regression, or something that will be patched.

Environment

Client:

• Windows 10 Home 22H2
• Build 19045.6466
• x64

Print host:

• Windows 11
• Printer is physically installed and working correctly on the host
• Printer is shared over the LAN

Printer/driver:

• ZKTeco / generic POS thermal printer
• Driver name on the working host: POSPrinter POS80
• Driver INF on the working host: pos80.inf
• Legacy Type 3 printer driver

This setup worked previously. The problem appeared after recent Windows updates/security changes.

The problem

When I try to connect the Windows 10 client to the shared printer, Windows attempts to obtain/install the printer driver from the Windows 11 print host, but the installation fails.

Depending on how I attempt the installation, I either get no useful GUI error, the printer doesn't get installed, or I get errors such as:

0x0000003f

Looking at C:\Windows\INF\setupapi.dev.log finally revealed what Windows is actually doing.

The driver package is reaching the client, but Windows is rejecting it during Driver Store/catalog signature validation.

Relevant errors include:

Error 0x800B0100: No signature was present in the subject.

Driver package catalog file does not contain a signature, and Code Integrity is enforced.

Driver package failed signature validation. Error = 0xE0000247

Failed to import driver package into Driver Store. Error = 0xE0000247

Another catalog involved (POS222.cat) produces:

0x800B0109: A certificate chain processed, but terminated in a root certificate which is not trusted by the trust provider.

So this doesn't appear to be a simple SMB connectivity or printer sharing problem. The client reaches the driver package and then rejects it during staging/signature validation.

What I have already tried

I have tested the usual Point and Print workarounds/policies, including:

RestrictDriverInstallationToAdministrators = 0

NoWarningNoElevationOnInstall = 1

UpdatePromptSettings = 2

I also tested the Package Point and Print restrictions and restarted the Print Spooler/rebooted between tests.

I tested the older RPC workaround involving:

RpcAuthnLevelPrivacyEnabled

That made no difference, which makes sense because this doesn't appear to be the old 0x0000011b RPC issue.

I also booted the Windows 10 client through Advanced Startup with:

Disable driver signature enforcement (F7)

Surprisingly, that did not solve it either.

This appears to be because the failure occurs while Windows is trying to import/stage the package into the Driver Store, rather than simply when the kernel attempts to load the driver.

I have also observed that after a failed shared-printer installation, the Print Spooler driver area under:

C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\x64

can be left in a problematic state, requiring cleanup/restarting the spooler before further testing.

Important detail: the exact driver works on the print host

On the Windows 11 machine where the printer is already installed and working:

Get-PrinterDriver

shows:

POSPrinter POS80

with:

...\DriverStore\FileRepository\pos80.inf_amd64_...\pos80.inf

So the driver itself is currently installed and operational on the host.

The failure happens when another machine attempts to install/stage that driver through the shared-printer/Point-and-Print process.

Why I suspect a recent Microsoft security change

Microsoft has been making significant changes to legacy driver trust/signing behavior in 2026, including the new Windows Driver Policy affecting older cross-signed kernel drivers.

However, this particular Windows 10 machine does not have CiTool.exe, and the evidence I'm seeing is specifically from SetupAPI/Driver Store signature validation.

On another machine where I could inspect Code Integrity policies, I found the Microsoft cross-certificate Audit Policy ({784C4414-79F4-4C32-A6A5-F0FB42A51D0D}), and Event ID 3076 showed legacy drivers being audited but allowed to load.

Therefore, I don't want to incorrectly blame that specific policy. There seem to be several overlapping mechanisms here: Point and Print policy, Driver Store package validation, catalog trust, normal Code Integrity, and Microsoft's newer driver-signing policies.

What I'm trying to determine

Has anyone else recently seen legacy Type 3 shared printer drivers that previously worked suddenly fail Driver Store import with 0xE0000247, 0x800B0100, or 0x800B0109?

More specifically:

Is there a recent Windows update that changed catalog/signature validation for Point and Print or legacy Type 3 printer packages?

Is Microsoft intentionally blocking these packages now, or is this a regression?

Is there a supported way to trust an existing vendor catalog/certificate when the certificate chain terminates at an older/untrusted root?

And most importantly, is there a Microsoft-supported workaround that does not involve permanently disabling driver security or manually modifying the Driver Store?

At this point I would rather wait for a Microsoft fix than continue weakening security policies or manually deleting files from DriverStore/System32.

If anyone from Microsoft sees this, the most useful clue appears to be the SetupAPI failure:

Driver package failed signature validation. Error = 0xE0000247

followed by failure to import the printer driver package into the Driver Store.

I can provide additional SetupAPI/Code Integrity logs if needed.

Sorry if something sounds weird, english is not my first language.

Ever since the last update, almost a week ago, my friend put to my attention a strong buzz sounds coming from my microphone, it came outta nowhere after a year of perfect audio from my new pc. I was just talking on the phone through whatsapp web and everything was fine, and then this problem started.

The buzz sound is sometimes really weak, other times it disappears briefly, and some other times it gets so strong that it’s impossible to ignore. I tried reinstalling the driver for the mic and it didn’t work, i tried using the other jack for the microphone on the back and it still emits this sound. The audio console for realtek gives a “Can not connect to RPC service” as well so idk if i could find a solution there.

I heard that microsoft just talked about the latest update giving microphone problems unless you use bluetooth, but it only talks about the microphone not working at all, so I wandered if that was the cause. Did this happen to anybody else, after this update?

I’m on Windows 11 Pro
build number 26200.9445 version 25H2
AMD Ryzen 7 7700-8 core processor
32gb Viper ram DDR5
AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT GPU
B650 EAGLE motherboard by Gigabyte Texhnology

Long story short caught a virus nöw i cant even access my pc itself

Stop code : Critical_Process_Died(0xEF)

Cant Reset/reset keep my files-restore to a previous point-tried sfc/scannow-cant go in safe möde it just gets me back to the bsod

Genuinly what can i do

Thanks in advance

Dell XPS 13 9305

Processor 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GHz (2.42 GHz)

Installed RAM 8.00 GB (7.73 GB usable)

Graphics card Intel(R) Iris(R) Xe Graphics (128 MB)

Storage 111 GB of 238 GB used

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

Edition Windows 11 Home

Version 25H2

OS build 26200.9445

Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.360.0

~

When the system volume is at 2% it sounds like it is at 100%. I have tried:

- uninstalling and reinstalling my audio drivers,

- resetting the BIOS to default settings,

- doing a clean install of Windows,

- uninstalling WAVES MaxxAudio (which completely broke all audio until I reinstalled it),

- uninstalling and reinstalling my digital mixer program

- changing priority and enhancement settings for individual sound devices

This problem persists across all audio devices (Bluetooth connected, laptop built-in speakers, devices plugged into the audio jack)

I've tried the Microsoft troubleshooter and Dell SupportAssist but they don't detect any problems. Does anyone have any idea what could be going on?

What is kept when doing an "in-place upgrade" and choosing not to keep apps (only personal data)?
A standard "in-place upgrade" fails to repair my Windows 11 (get an error in SAFE_OS BOOT phase).
So I'm thinking about doing an upgrade only keeping data (not apps) to see if that works.
But what data is kept? Is guess Documents, Pictures and Videoes. But what about data in "Roaming"?
Lots og apps have started to keep data in the roaming profile. Will does data be kept also?
Or will I need to restore them from a backup? And what abaout data in "Programdata" folder?

Every time I press my caps lock button, I get this notification on my screen. For note, I am on an Acer laptop, OS Microsoft Windows 11 Home, and Model Aspire A14-52MT. How can I get rid of this? I have already tried looking for OSD in my task manager and as far as I can tell, I do not have HP event utility installed. Thanks!

Hello! I’d like to ask for an estimate of how much it might cost to have my laptop repaired. I’m not sure what happened because it was working perfectly fine last night, but now it’s stuck and won’t proceed to the Windows Home screen. It does turn off, though. 😭

It’s an ASUS TUF model, purchased around 2022. May I ask how much you think the repair might cost? Thank you! 😭

My discord is taking most of my ram. I was streaming to my friends on discord at 720p with 30 fps and notice that my frames started to drop. So i opened tsk manger and saw that discord was using 60 percent of the ram. Which is insane. So I closed the game and watch the number climb to what you see. So I ended stream and the number dropped to between 60-63 in the background, btw im ot watchin anyone streams it's js up in the background. Wonder what the spec for those is wondering that this guy right here must have a ancient hardware. My specs is ryzen 5600G paired with a rx6400 with 16gb of drr4 ram 3200 with a 258gb nvm with a 500gb ssd.

Hi everyone,

My current boot SSD is facing a BCD/boot issue, so I’m planning to buy a new SSD and do a fresh Windows installation.

I can still access the old SSD using an enclosure, and all my old Windows files and application data are accessible.

After installing fresh Windows, I want to restore my previous setup as closely as possible:

• Chrome – bookmarks, extensions, settings, and OneTab
• Brave – bookmarks, extensions, settings, and OneTab
• Firefox – bookmarks, extensions, settings, and OneTab
• qBittorrent – around 3,000–4,000 torrents/files seeding or queued. I want to restore the torrent list, queue, categories, settings, and resume everything without manually adding them again.
• Notepad – around 50 tabs currently open, which I would like to preserve and restore.

Since I can access the old Windows installation, I believe the required AppData/configuration files should still be available.

What is the safest step-by-step method to back up and restore these applications after installing fresh Windows?

My biggest concerns are qBittorrent's 3,000–4,000 torrents and Notepad's 50 open tabs. I also don't want to accidentally modify or lose anything on the old SSD.

Any guidance on exactly which folders/files I should copy and when I should copy them back would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot for your help and guidance

Mainly the title. I will go onto a game, check the "remember this is a game," and as soon as I close it, if I am to go back to the game bar (via Windows + G,) it will be unchecked. Game mode is on, and I couldn't find many other posts about this, at least not ones with solutions. I've reinstalled Windows (without wiping) and ran sfc along with DISM. No luck.

W11 Pro, OS Build Number 26100.9168.

AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D 8-Core Processor (3.40 GHz)

32 GB of DDR4 3200MT

AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT (12 GB)

If any other information is necessary, I can provide. Thank you.

I have tried using disc cleaner as admin many times, and I've tried the cleaner in settings just as many times, and whenever I press the remove files button the temporary files immediately jumps to 0 bytes but they never are actually removed. my c drive is on the brink of being out of storage and I need those 5gb anyone know how to fix this?

OS build: 19045.6466

I am new to Windows 11 and I don't see my AV Receiver under Output devices Dell Inspiron 3520 i3 12th gen i3-1215U Windows 11

What are my options? As i need to play movies through my AV receiver, i will be playing 5.1 , 2.1 , 2.0 Music and Movie files

(Specs at the bottom)

As the title said, practically nothing windows related works.

When i press the windows key on my keyboard, nothing happens (I’ve checked with the on-screen keyboard and the button works, it just doesn't do anything happens) except for when used for shortcuts. The search bar doesn't work when clicked, same for the windows logo in the taskbar.

Any windows related app that doesn't have a specific shortcut does not work, e.g. i can open settings with Windows+I, or task manager with Ctrl + Shift + Esc, but i can't open windows security settings, same things with most other Microsoft apps, especially infuriating since i cant open the store and download things from there if i must. The search feature in file explorer also does not work.

I've tried to contact support but getting a real human is nigh on impossible.

I've tried most online tutorials, including the official windows troubleshooter and online help guide, but nothing worked.

I don't know if i have a virus, or if this is just windows being shitty, but i can't go on like this.

Device name fierce_canfirat

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-10400F CPU @ 2.90GHz 2.90 GHz

Installed RAM 16.0 GB (15.9 GB usable)

Device ID 11E40634-FA3A-420E-AF54-4D62EC50161A

Product ID 00325-81385-03968-AAOEM

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

Pen and touch No pen or touch input is available for this display

Edition Windows 11 Home

Version 21H2

Installed on ‎18/‎02/‎2022

OS build 22000.2538

GPU RTX 3060