r/WindowsHelp Oct 14 '25

Windows 10 Windows 10 End of Support, what it means for you and what you can do.

Thumbnail
11 Upvotes

r/WindowsHelp Mar 04 '21

Mod Announcement Welcome to /r/WindowsHelp, here are some guidelines for requesting assistance

35 Upvotes

Welcome to /r/WindowsHelp, the subreddit for you to ask questions and get support for issues related to Microsoft's Windows family of operating systems. Please give this a quick read before posting.

This subreddit is only for help related to Microsoft Windows and its built in software, like Edge, Store, PowerShell, and so on. Issues about 3rd party software like Chrome or Steam should be posted in their subreddits or /r/techsupport. Also, this is not a hardware subreddit, so issues like your hard drive is not detected would need to be posted in /r/techsupport. General discussions, news, artwork, and so on should be in /r/Windows, /r/Windows10 or similar subreddits. Malware/virus removal has been covered extensively in this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/techsupport/comments/33evdi/suggested_reading_official_malware_removal_guide/

Posts are required to have a moderately descriptive title. Submissions with vague titles like just "help me" will be removed. You don't need to write an essay in the title, but everyone should have a rough idea what you are asking about before even clicking the link. Titles like "I'm encountering System Exception errors when launching Photos" or "20H2 update won't install" are acceptable, but the more details the better.

The body of your post should also be as detailed as possible. We are not mind readers, and nobody is going to want to play 20 questions. Help us help you, your post should include:

  • Your full Windows version, which on Windows 10 is listed in the Settings app under System -> About, it will be the OS Build number.

  • Details about your device, like the hardware specifications.

  • Any recent changes you have made, such as installing/uninstalling software or accessories. Any updates you have installed, tools you have ran, or anything else you think may be relevant.

  • Include details on your error messages and error codes, these are critical to figuring out the issue.

  • Tell us what you have already tried to fix this. Any tools you have ran, and changes you tried, and so on. I know it is a meme at this point, but seriously, reboot your computer, it often fixes things!

  • If possible, include screenshots or video. If you are including screenshots, try to use screenshot software like Snip & Sketch tool built into Windows 10, then you can upload them to a free image host like https://imgur.com to put in your post. We understand that using screenshot software isn't always an option, you can take photos with a phone or similar device, but please be sure to check to make sure everything is in focus and is legible.

This subreddit follows the same rules as /r/Windows, you can view the full rule page here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows/wiki/rules

The TL;DR of the rules is be polite, helpful, and don't encourage piracy.


r/WindowsHelp 4h ago

Windows 11 Windows after update causes freezing, gray aplications and gpu driver crashes

Thumbnail
gallery
8 Upvotes

hi, just like in the title. Windows updated itself overnight and now my apps randomly freeze and turn grey, sometimes freezing entire pc so i need to restart it, often disabling my gpu (code 22) and sometimes causing terrible earrapes if browser is affected. Tried rolling back the update but of course it had to reinstall itself without my permission every single time, and i kept my pc on all the time to avoid it reinstalling after restart but it found another way. Not sure if it is caused by update 25H2 or some security update. Did a full format because of this and didnt help

Windows 11 25H2 26200.9168

RX 7800XT

R5 7600

32GB DDR5 6000MHZ

Aorus B650E ELITE X AX ICE

M2 SSD, 256GB (OS) + 2TB


r/WindowsHelp 5h ago

Windows 11 Issues with the menu bar and sizing

Thumbnail
gallery
2 Upvotes

Hey everyone, I have been having issues with Windows 11, with having a sizing problem that breaks some programs, and it looks and feels off.

To note, I have used Windhawk in the past for editing the look of Windows (got bored with Windows 11 being bland)
I have tried multiple different things to figure out the cause and fixes, including corrupt file scans, full restart

I have not tried reinstalling Windows 11 as I do not have a secondary drive (RAM crisis and financial crisis in my country), nor installing Linux as a temporary fix due to my school sadly requiring Microsoft Teams and other Microsoft products
My current OS build is: 26200.9278
This device is an MSI laptop with
GTX 1650 max q edition 4 GB
Intel i5-10300H
24 GB SODIMM RAM
512 GB of storage

If anyone has had this issue and has possibly fixed it, I would love to know how to help me out.

Thank you.


r/WindowsHelp 1h ago

Windows 11 Bluetooth disconnecting all of a sudden.

Upvotes

Hello, maybe this was already discussed or posted

I've been having this issue for a while now with my laptop. My Bluetooth devices are disconnecting all of a sudden while I'm using them after a while. For example, My Bluetooth headphones get disconnected after 15 minutes of music/video; or my Bluetooth Mouse after vectorizing in Illustrator.

Now, I don't know if this has to do with the attempt to install Windows 98 in the Oracle Virtual Machine, where I noticed this problem happened.

I have to force the power off holding the power button to get the laptop to have everything running again.

My model is an HP Victus 16 dl1003

Windows Version 1000.26100.360.0

Comp. 26300.9278

Version 26H2


r/WindowsHelp 2h ago

Windows 10 Touchscreen issue with digital jukebox

1 Upvotes

I purchased a used Crosley Digital Jukebox (2006) that uses a Mac mini with a touchscreen monitor. I want to use a software called Jukeblaster but it only runs on windows so my son built me a PC using intel core i5 processor running windows 10. I hooked up to the touchscreen and the screen appears but the touchscreen won’t work. My son downloaded and installed the driver that was suggested but that didn’t work. Then he read windows 10 has its own drivers so installing touchscreen drivers isn’t necessary but it obviously didn’t work.

Yes I connected the USB cable for the monitor.

What are we missing?

Note: I am not a tech guy. My son does all that. I’m just trying to do a little digging for him to help solve the problem.


r/WindowsHelp 3h ago

Windows 10 Ready or Not won’t launch – XINPUT1_3.dll “Bad Image” error 0xc000012f – tried almost everything

Post image
1 Upvotes

For you information: the following part was generated by chat gpt, because all I have done to this point was with the help of ChatGPT but I have a feeling that there is no point in trying further that’s why I’m asking this subreddit

I’m having a persistent issue with Ready or Not on Steam (Windows 10). The game refuses to launch and gives me the following error:
ReadyOrNotSteam-Win64-Shipping.exe – Bad Image
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\XINPUT1_3.dll is either not designed to run on Windows or it contains an error.
Error status: 0xc000012f
The same error also occurred when XINPUT1_3.dll was placed directly into the game’s Win64 directory.
Here is everything I’ve tried so far:
Verified Ready or Not’s files through Steam
No solution.
Reinstalled/verified the game
The game files themselves appear to be fine.
The error consistently points to XINPUT1_3.dll.
Installed/reinstalled the DirectX End-User Runtimes (June 2010)
I extracted the official DirectX package.
I located the old XInput CAB packages such as:
APR2007_xinput_x64
APR2007_xinput_x86
AUG2006_xinput_x64
etc.
I extracted xinput1_3.dll from the x64 package and tested it.
Ready or Not still returned 0xc000012f / Bad Image.
Checked both Windows XInput locations
C:\Windows\System32\XINPUT1_3.dll
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\XINPUT1_3.dll
We also backed up/renamed some existing XInput DLLs during troubleshooting.
Tested the DLL outside System32
Created:
C:\XInputTest
Copied the DLL there and checked it.
PowerShell Get-AuthenticodeSignature returned:
Status: UnknownError
no signer certificate
The same happened when testing the existing DLL.
Compared SHA-256 hashes
We calculated SHA-256 hashes for the existing/backed-up DLLs.
The files were not simply identical copies.
Searched the entire C: drive for XINPUT1_3.dll
Found several copies, including:
Microsoft GameInput x64/x86
Microsoft DirectX runtime under WindowsApps
Ubisoft Game Launcher
System32
SysWOW64
our test directory
Inspected the Microsoft GameInput x64 version
The copy under:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft GameInput\x64\XInput1_3.dll
reports proper version information:
File version: 10.0.26200.1
Product version: 10.0.26200.1
Company: Windows (R) Win 7 DDK provider
Original filename: XInput1_3.dll
Checked the architecture of the System32 XINPUT1_3.dll
Read the PE header directly using PowerShell.
Result was 8664, meaning AMD64/x64.
So this does not appear to be a simple 32-bit DLL accidentally placed in System32.
Ran DISM
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
Result:
“No component store corruption detected.”
Ran SFC
sfc /scannow
Result:
Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them.
I rebooted afterward and tested the game again.
The strange part is that Windows/DirectX has been repaired/reinstalled multiple ways, but Ready or Not keeps failing specifically on XINPUT1_3.dll with 0xc000012f.
I’m trying to avoid doing a completely clean Windows installation unless absolutely necessary.
System
Windows 10 22H2 / build 19045
64-bit Windows
Ready or Not through Steam
Ready or Not is installed on a separate drive (D:)
The executable failing is ReadyOrNotSteam-Win64-Shipping.exe
Error: 0xc000012f – Bad Image
Problematic module: XINPUT1_3.dll
Does anyone know what could cause a valid x64 XINPUT1_3.dll to consistently trigger 0xc000012f, even after DirectX reinstall, DISM and SFC?
I’m especially interested in whether this could be caused by DLL loading/side-by-side issues, Windows loader corruption, a broken legacy DirectX runtime registration, or another program hooking/replacing XInput.

Thank you for anyone trying to help


r/WindowsHelp 6h ago

Windows 11 Keyboard inputs randomly get stuck in Windows 11 — KeyDown remains after releasing the key

1 Upvotes

Hello. I’m having a random keyboard input problem in Windows 11.

Sometimes a key remains registered as pressed after I physically release it. For example, I press D, release it, but Windows still reports D=DOWN. Sometimes multiple keys are affected at once, such as S=DOWN and D=DOWN.

The issue happens randomly and can occur outside of games as well.

This is especially problematic in Counter-Strike 2, because getting a movement key stuck can make my character continue moving even after I release the key. It makes the game extremely difficult to play normally.

System specifications

  • Windows 11 Pro
  • OS Build: 26200
  • CPU: Intel Core i5-1135G7
  • GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics
  • RAM: 16 GB
  • Keyboard: laptop's built-in keyboard + cheap Chinese USB keyboard
  • Mouse: Razer DeathAdder Essential
  • Dual boot: Bazzite Linux

The same hardware works normally when booted into Bazzite Linux. I only experience this problem in Windows.

Troubleshooting already performed

  • Tested both the built-in and external USB keyboard.
  • Tested outside of games.
  • Tested in CS2 training/offline mode.
  • Restarted Windows.
  • Reinstalled/reset keyboard devices and drivers.
  • Checked the keyboard driver configuration.
  • kbdclass is the only keyboard filter listed under UpperFilters.
  • Most keyboard devices use Microsoft's keyboard.inf, version 10.0.26100.8521.
  • Disabled Razer Cortex.
  • Completely closed Razer applications.
  • Stopped Razer-related services.
  • Tested with a non-Razer mouse.
  • The problem still occurs.

Error messages / observations

There are no Windows error messages or error codes when this happens.

I used a keyboard state tester based on Windows GetAsyncKeyState(). When the problem occurs, it can show:

D=DOWN

even though I have physically released D.

I've also seen:

S=DOWN
D=DOWN

at the same time.

Sometimes A=DOWN or D=DOWN can occur while CS2 is completely closed.

Normally the key correctly changes from:

D=DOWN → D=UP

after I release it.

What could be causing this?

Could this be related to Windows HID/input handling, a keyboard driver, or a third-party input hook?

Since the problem does not occur under Linux on the same hardware, I suspect something in Windows 11 rather than a physical keyboard problem.

Any help identifying what is causing the stuck KeyDown events would be greatly appreciated.


r/WindowsHelp 6h ago

Windows 11 CS2 random keyboard input bug — keys get stuck after being released

1 Upvotes

Hi! I have a strange keyboard issue in CS2 on Windows.

Sometimes I press W/A/S/D, release it, but the game still thinks I'm holding the key. Sometimes multiple keys get stuck, e.g. S + D. Pressing the key again sometimes fixes it.

The weird part is that my keyboard tester also shows D=DOWN even after I release the key, and this can sometimes happen outside CS2.

Hardware:

  • Intel Core i5-1135G7
  • Intel Iris Xe
  • 16 GB RAM
  • Cheap Chinese USB keyboard + laptop's built-in keyboard
  • Razer DeathAdder Essential mouse
  • Windows 11 Pro, build 26200
  • Dual boot with Bazzite Linux

The problem never happens in Linux, only Windows.

I've already tried reinstalling keyboard drivers, disabling Razer software/services, testing both keyboards, and testing outside CS2.

Could this be a Windows HID/input issue or a missing KeyUp event? Has anyone experienced something similar?


r/WindowsHelp 6h ago

Windows 11 Windows Security blocks MS Word, Excel and Intel Graphics Software

1 Upvotes

I started having this issue about 2 days ago.

Windows Security/Defender is blocking basic apps like Intel Graphics Software and MS Word/Excel from updating drivers and from making edits to files I opened in them.

This has been extremely frustrating as I've needed to manually unblock them.

I don't know which other apps are affected but I'm assuming the ones I mentioned aren't the only ones. I'm also assuming other MS 365 apps won't work at first either but I haven't used Access or PowerPoint in the past 2 days so I don't know.

Please advise.

(Device Details:)

Lenovo Yoga Pro 7i Gen 10

Intel Core Ultra 7 255H + Arc 140T

32GB DDR5 8533MT/s

1TB NVMe SSD

(Windows 11 Details:)

Version: 25H2

OS Build: 26200.9278

(Windows Security Details:)

Security Intelligence Version: 1.457.442.0


r/WindowsHelp 6h ago

Windows 11 Dell Precision 5550 reaching these levels under load according to HWiNFO. Normal behavior or something to fix?"

Post image
1 Upvotes

r/WindowsHelp 6h ago

Windows 11 I just pressed update and restart and now my laptop won't even turn on

1 Upvotes

I was working then I saw that I have an update to do, so I just pressed update and restart. Few hours later I see that the screen is completely black. I unplug my HDMI cable. I press the power key. Then I see a green loading bar coming up saying that BIOS recovery mode is active, do not turn off the laptop. I wait for some time. It completes the loading part, then I see a text that BIOS recovery has been completed, press escape to hide the text. Then the screen goes completely blank, the device does not boot up, so I just press the power on button again. This shit happens for five, six times. Then I press the power key for more than 15 seconds. Now the computer won't even turn on. It's a Lenovo IdeaPad 3 gaming laptop running on Windows 11. I don't know what's the problem.


r/WindowsHelp 7h ago

Windows 11 Duplicate display suddenly stopped working, while Extend works perfectly — ASUS TUF A15 / RTX 4050

Post image
1 Upvotes

I’m having a strange issue with duplicating my second display.

When I connect my second monitor, all the other display modes work normally, including Extend, but Duplicate simply doesn’t work when I select it.

I’m fairly certain this is not a hardware, cable, or monitor issue, because the exact same setup and connections were working normally a few months ago. This makes me think the problem is software-related.

Here’s what I’ve already tried:

  • Performed a Windows Repair Install (in-place repair without deleting my files or applications).
  • Reinstalled the NVIDIA graphics driver using a Custom → Clean Installation.
  • Tried changing/reinstalling the graphics drivers.

Unfortunately, none of these fixed the problem. Extend works normally, but Duplicate still doesn’t.

My laptop is:

  • ASUS TUF Gaming A15 FA507NUR
  • NVIDIA RTX 4050 Laptop GPU
  • Windows 11

Has anyone experienced something similar, or know what could specifically prevent Duplicate display mode from working while Extend works normally?


r/WindowsHelp 8h ago

Windows 11 problem due to microsoft account

1 Upvotes

hi .

HP laptop 14-ep2011wm

intel N150 processor

4gb DDR4 ram

intel UHD graphics

and windows 11 version up to date up until early august

I am writing this message on behalf of my parents from France as it is their computers ( one in france and i got one for them here in the US) that have the issue. they are older folks who got scammed by the classic "contact microsoft customer service" scumbag scammers two days before they took the plane to come here. everything seemed to have worked fine for a few days when they arrived to visit me here for the summer as they only started the computer here with their PIN . suddenly the pin and password were not being recognized . we have tried to do the whole recovery of their account thing with all the questions about old passwords and messages sent ... blah blah blah . at the end a message said we would get an email , that was over 3 weeks ago . off course without , their MS account , no way to get in their computer even to just start a second account , tried to used the recovery tools from F11 on start but need the recovery key thingy .

now i still am thinking doing a fresh reinstall of windows 11 so i downloaded the microsoft windows11 ISO from MS's site and got it ready on ventoy ...my question is , as far as getting her hotmail adress back , i guess that ship has sailed , but is there a way to locate the windows11 license number without being able to enter the computer usualy , and is the license number associated to the computer or the MS account ? how does it work ?

sorry if that seems like a stupid question but i have personaly been on linux mint since the end of service of windows XP so I have no idea how windows works these days .

thanks for any help


r/WindowsHelp 8h ago

Windows 11 Windows update broke my kernel, but I KNOW it is fine...

1 Upvotes

Windows 11 Home 10.0.26200

Acer predator PO3-620 prebuilt machine

Bios : American Megatrends Inc. R01-A2, 19/01/2021 (Updated few years ago, is current latest version) My machine is not in the supported list for acer/windows secure boot update incoming, assume this is to blame?

RTX 2060 i7-10700 @ 2.90GHz 8 cores 16 logical

Downloaded a windows 11 update this morning at 12:30AM I am now having issues getting into my PC. Upon boot, 'Preparing automatic repair', few seconds later 'Your device ran into a problem and needs to restart. We'll restart for you'. Stop code: KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE (0x139).

So I have a 4Tb Nvme that runs Windows 11 and two 1Tb SSD's for extra storage. It is stuck in this boot loop. Changing TPM to off and secure boot to off or on changes nothing in the boot loop. I enabled secure boot in order to play Call of Duty Warzone around 8pm, no issues then.

I put windows 11 creation media onto a USB to hopefully try and actually do a windows repair, but that does not work either. So reformatted one of my SSD's and installed windows onto it to try some cmd.exe fixes. I was able to log in on the new windows install, so no faulty hardware. The Nvme and other SSD were encrypted, weird, I never requested that. To access the drives I had to input a bitlocker recovery code, login to my microsoft account and 3 recovery keys were created at 12:30AM this morning, the exact time I restarted to try and finish the windows update.

I unlock the Nvme drive with the key and play Manor lords which is installed on the Nvme for 5mins, so the Nvme is fine. And so is all of my hardware. I de-encrypt the 4Tb drive which took around 2 hours. Restart my PC. Gives me the option to boot from OS on partion 2 (SSD) or partition 8 (Nvme), select partition 8. Solved, yay. I ensure encryption is turned off, I add a line into the regedit to prevent bitlocker automatically locking me out again and switch to signing in via a local account instead of a microsoft account. Run disk cleanup and delete windows updates cache or whatever disk cleanup deletes.

Assumed issue was solved so reformatted SSD as it no longer needed windows. Restart. Back square one, boot loop.

First of all...what the actual fuck. Second, what do I do? I'm going repeat the same process, but, how will it be different?

Update 1: This time recovery did not take long at all. Just installing windows onto another drive allowed my Nvme to boot. No decryption needed no bitlocker keys required this time, I suppose because I've already done that. I am a bit scared to uninstall my 2nd copy of windows. I'm looking into to file hosting services so I can post a video. How does this make sense? Ran sfc scannow and Dism the first re-install, no errors. At some point I restarted and it 'uninstalled' the previous update.

"2026-08 Preview Update (KB5120998) (26200.9278) We couldn't install this update, but you can try again (0x800f0845)" In windows update menu.


r/WindowsHelp 8h ago

Windows 11 Mic Input Muting on Startup by Default

Post image
1 Upvotes

I have a windows laptop with a USB audio interface that I use for music/recording software. Recently I've been issues with my recording software not receiving any input from the audio interface; after some digging I discovered that Windows was muting the inputs of the interface. I tried unmuting them, but anytime the interface is disconnected it defaults all inputs back to mute. This interface has 18 inputs, so it's a pretty tedious process to do. I keep the laptop up to date, so unfortunately I can't narrow down what change/update caused this to suddenly be an issue.

Any ideas on how I can get these inputs to stop defaulting to a muted state?

What I've tried so far:
-Reinstalled the interface ASIO driver
-Reset all audio devices to default
-Disabled "Allow applications to take exclusive controls of this device" under audio devices
-Confirmed mic is enabled in privacy and security setting, Reaper (recording software) is also listed as permitted use.
-Disabled fast start up
-Windows and nvidia drivers are up to date
-Tried multiple USB ports

AMD Ryzen 9 8940HX / RTX5060 / Windows 25H2 26200.9278


r/WindowsHelp 9h ago

Windows 11 mouse pointer lag issue in laptop while using in-build mouse pad

1 Upvotes

Laptop: Acer aspire 5.

my mouse pointer, when using in-build mouse-pad occasionally lags, but gets fixed automatically,

wanna get rid of this issue....

please help....

Device name DESKTOP-DKCB96V

Processor 13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-13420H (2.10 GHz)

Installed RAM 16.0 GB (15.7 GB usable)

Graphics card NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2050 (4 GB)

Intel(R) UHD Graphics (128 MB)

Storage 79 GB of 477 GB used

Device ID E45125CB-F61A-49E1-B4C7-9A5893B1652A

Product ID 00342-42676-32466-AAOEM

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

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


r/WindowsHelp 9h ago

Windows 11 Lifecam vx1000 works on OBS bit cannot use in Windows 11 Photo App

1 Upvotes

I successfully installed the (old) driver for the Microsoft LifeCam vx1000.
The webcam works fine in OBS, both video and audio capture devices are listed and working.

Now i wanted to try to take a photo shot from the webcam, using the Windows 11 Photo App.
But the system says there are no webcams found, despite of the device being reported as correcly installed in Device Manager.

Any suggestion?

Here are the PC specs for any needs:


r/WindowsHelp 10h ago

Windows 11 My PC Keeps Waking Up From Sleep Mode

1 Upvotes

I just reset my PC last week and for some reason now im having this problem.

Processor 13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-13900K (3.00 GHz)

Installed RAM 64.0 GB (63.7 GB usable)

Graphics card NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 (24 GB)

Storage 1.72 TB of 4.55 TB used

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


r/WindowsHelp 11h ago

Windows 10 Updating to windows 11. MBR2GPT error, can’t find room for the EFI system partition

Thumbnail
gallery
1 Upvotes

Hi all,

I’m trying to update my W10 to W11 which requires secure boot.

During the process of changing my SSD to GPT, it keeps throwing an error of can’t find room for the EFI system partition.

After troubleshooting, i THINK the error is due having more than 3 partitions in an OS disk? Check my disk, it appears that my OS drive Disk 3 have 4 partitions (OS, Recovery and 2x unallocated). I know the unallocated is from the over provisioning using Samsung Magician of 10%.

Now using the Samsung Magician program, I can’t clear the 10% over provisioning… I can’t see the apply button. I also cant select any way to fix this using disk manage app, i cant extend or delete the unallocated partitions.

Can someone please help me? I’m updating as I do not have a LAN on my new place and I need Windows 11 to enable wifi/bluetooth on my PC :(

Thanks heaps.


r/WindowsHelp 11h ago

Windows 11 Scroll/zoom action loops on its own, happens on BOTH Chrome and Edge, disappears on a different Windows account — tried everything

1 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I'm dealing with a really strange bug and I've run out of ideas, so I'm hoping someone here has seen something similar.

The symptom

A mouse wheel action (scroll up / zoom in) keeps firing repeatedly on its own, as if the wheel were continuously spinning upward, with zero physical input from me.

Scope of the issue

  • Happens on both Google Chrome AND Microsoft Edge (so any Chromium-based browser)
  • Persists even when the mouse is fully powered off or unplugged
  • Persists with a second mouse and a second keyboard tested
  • Does NOT happen on a different user account created on the same Windows machine
  • This strongly points to something specific to my Windows user account, rather than Chrome/Edge, the hardware, or Windows as a whole

Everything I've already tried, with no luck:

  • Full PC restart
  • Restarting Logitech G HUB
  • Testing with a second mouse
  • Fully unplugging the keyboard
  • Chrome Incognito mode
  • Disabling every Chrome extension one by one
  • Looking for the hardware acceleration toggle to disable it (couldn't find it in my settings)
  • Testing on a brand new Chrome profile (same Windows account) — issue still present
  • Fully resetting Chrome settings to default
  • Fully closing Discord — no change
  • Fully closing Logitech G HUB — no change
  • Moving all USB peripherals (mouse, keyboard, dongle) from USB 3.0 ports to USB 2.0 ports
  • Checking Task Manager, Processes tab — no suspicious process
  • Checking Task Manager, Details tab (more thorough) — still nothing named chrome/google/notification_helper/crashhandler
  • Stopping the "Google Update" service in services.msc
  • Trying to rename Chrome's entire User Data folder (%LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data) — impossible, the folder is reported as "in use" even with no visible process holding it
  • Restarting Windows Explorer to try to release the lock on that folder
  • Trying to rename the folder via an elevated Command Prompt
  • Temporarily disabling third-party antivirus
  • Testing on a brand new local Windows user account on the same machine — the issue completely disappears on that account

My current conclusion

Since the bug affects both Chrome and Edge (which share the same Chromium engine) but disappears entirely on a different Windows account, this points to something specific to my user profile (HKCU registry, a scheduled task, a startup entry, or some software targeting Chromium windows specifically) rather than to Chrome, Edge, or the hardware itself.

If anyone has run into this before or has a lead I haven't explored yet, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks in advance!


r/WindowsHelp 23h ago

Windows 11 i need some support with wifi driver install on Windows 11, it don't work.:/

Thumbnail
gallery
9 Upvotes

Hi everyone,
I’m having a really annoying issue with the WiFi on my new PC and I honestly don’t know what else to try

I downloaded the WiFi drivers on my laptop and put them on a USB stick, then plugged the USB into my new PC i downloaded the driver for the ROG STRIX X870E-E GAMING WIFI.
I think I installed it, but WiFi still doesn’t show up anywhere. I also can’t open things like ASUSSetup from the USB. Nothing happens when I click on it.

I can’t use Ethernet either, so I’m basically stuck
without any internet connection on the PC.
Sorry for the screenshots being in German. I can’t change Windows to English without internet in the first place 😭
I’ve been trying to fix this for days now and I’m honestly losing my mind. If anyone knows what I’m doing wrong or how I can manually install the driver, I’d really appreciate some help


r/WindowsHelp 22h ago

Windows 10 Windows 10 crashing after updating for the last several updates

5 Upvotes

Windows stopped letting me pause updates but I'm very intentionally doing that because the last two times I've updated made my computer consistently crash after being on for a minute or two and I had to uninstall them. It forced the update just now and of course it crashes after about 2 minutes. Again I had no issues until I installed the last three (including most recent) at separate instances.

Computer: alienware aurora R5 with some parts replaced.

Specs (not a computer person):

16gb ram

Intel i7-6700 Processor

Nvidia GeForce GRX 1070 graphics card

I have like 200gb open so I doubt its storage

Aaaand it crashed before I could get any more info.

The crash itself is just a full freeze-up after a few minutes. Mouse and keyboard seem to just turn off too. I do use wireless ones but the wired one I tried fared no different.


r/WindowsHelp 1d ago

Blue Screen of Death (BSoD) How I Fixed SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED (BSoD)

Post image
11 Upvotes

After countless failed attempts, I finally found the cause of the SYSTEM THREAD EXCEPTION NOT HANDLED error in my case: automatic updates for the ELAN device, despite having tried every possible way to disable them.

What finally worked for me was to retrieve the following Hardware IDs for the ELAN device:

ACPI\VEN_ETD&DEV_0504

ACPI\ETD0504

\ETD0504*

I then ran the following commands:

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DeviceInstall\Restrictions" /v DenyDeviceIDs /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DeviceInstall\Restrictions" /v DenyDeviceIDsRetroactive /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DeviceInstall\Restrictions\DenyDeviceIDs" /v 1 /t REG_SZ /d "ACPI\VEN_ETD&DEV_0504" /f

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DeviceInstall\Restrictions\DenyDeviceIDs" /v 2 /t REG_SZ /d "ACPI\ETD0504" /f

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DeviceInstall\Restrictions\DenyDeviceIDs" /v 3 /t REG_SZ /d "*ETD0504" /f

Obviously, these commands will need to be adjusted if your Hardware IDs are different.

P.S. This is what worked in my particular case, so your mileage may vary.


r/WindowsHelp 16h ago

Windows 11 Missing program icons on the taskbar after waking the computer from sleep mode

Post image
1 Upvotes

I've been experiencing this error on Windows 11 since its release! Has anyone had a similar experience? Repairing system files, clearing the icon cache, and even a clean install of Windows 11 haven't helped. The Event Viewer doesn't report any errors. Interestingly, I've never encountered this in Windows 10! I'm slowly starting to see it as a "feature" of the system. Any advice? Specs:

Windows 11 Pro 25H2

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3400G with Radeon Vega Graphics (3.70 GHz)

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 (2 GB)

RAM: 16GB

Motherboard: MSI B350M Gaming Pro (MS-7A39) (2 PCI-E x1, 1 PCI-E x16, 1 M.2, 2 DDR4 DIMM, Audio, Video, Gigabit LAN)