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Windows 10 Tracks Almost Everything You Do - Here's How to Opt Out - 'Settings' is reached by clicking on the Windows icon on the lower left

Some have said Microsoft does not respect its users' privacy by default; others believe some of the hype is overblown.

All of the tracking mechanisms can be switched off through the various options at setup, and after the fact through the settings.

But now there's a lightweight, open-source app that aims to claw back your privacy.

"In my opinion, there is some unnecessary fear surrounding Windows 10, but beneath all of that I do believe lots of fear is justified," said Syed Qazi, the app's developer, on his motives behind building the app.

Among the options, the app -- tentatively called "Disable Windows 10 Tracking" -- disables telemetry collection, disables certain Windows services, and other tracking. The code is also available on GitHub for inspection.

According to Qazi, the app started out as a Python script before being developed into its current standalone form after gaining support and traction on Reddit. Qazi's plan is to build out the app to add as many features as possible in the hope it can disable most if not all of the operating system's tracking.

Granted, it's just a start, but Qazi's development cycle has seen more than a dozen changes in the last two days alone. No doubt more will come along if there's demand.

Of course, it goes (almost) without saying: Use at your own risk.


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[Jun 26, 2021] Microsoft Will Bundle Its Rival To Slack Into Windows 11

Jun 24, 2021 | tech.slashdot.org

(bloomberg.com) 56 integrate its Teams chat and videoconferencing software directly into the operating system . From a report: Teams has seen a huge surge in users during the pandemic, boosting Microsoft in a product category where it's been trying to catch up with Slack and Zoom. The latest personal computer operating system, Windows 11, also features a new design and will offer changes to the app store.

[Jun 26, 2021] Windows 11 Drops Skype As a Default App

Jun 24, 2021 | tech.slashdot.org

(theverge.com) 3 BeauHD on Thursday June 24, 2021 @09:30PM from the out-of-sight-out-of-mind dept. Microsoft is shoving Skype out of sight in favor of Microsoft Teams , which gets a highlight spot in the new center-aligned taskbar and deep integration into Windows. The Verge reports: Today's Windows 11 news is all about where Microsoft sees computing going over the next few years, but it's just as much the story of how Skype has flourished and ebbed since its $8.5 billion acquisition a decade ago. Five years ago, Skype was the big name in internet calling and video, and Microsoft made it an "inbox app" for Windows 10 that was included at installation and launched at startup by default. Now, after a pandemic year that has had more people using their PCs for voice and video than ever before, Skype was nowhere to be seen in the Windows 11 presentation or materials.

The future vision that Microsoft had for Skype everywhere has turned into a reality -- but that reality made competitors Zoom and FaceTime into household names instead. Back in June, when Microsoft made Teams available for personal accounts, the company still paid lip service to Skype, saying, "For folks that just want a very purpose-built app, Skype is a great solution, and we support it and encourage it." But now, if you want to use Skype, you're going to have to go find it in the Microsoft Store like any other app. A company spokesperson tells The Verge: "Skype is no longer an inbox app for new devices that run Windows 11. The Skype app is available to download through the Microsoft Store for free."; Skype joins OneNote, Paint 3D, and 3D Viewer as the apps that will no longer come with the OS.

[Jun 12, 2021] The ins and outs of data recovery in Windows 10 - Computerworld

Jun 09, 2021 | www.computerworld.com

The third step to data recovery: Windows File Recovery

Microsoft offers a good, basic file recovery utility called Windows File Recovery (winfr.exe) for Windows 10 version 2004 and higher. It's available in the Microsoft Store.

This utility launches in an administrative command prompt session and runs at the command line. I tried the command to recover download files, as shown in Figure 2. There is a learning curve involved in using this tool, but the user manual is available online and very much worth reading and exploring for those willing to tackle file and folder recovery at the command line. If you know what's missing and where it resided, you can use it to recover files quickly and easily using specific filters (the more specific, the better, as I learned when recovering my old download files).

data recovery win10 fig2 windows file recovery app IDG

Figure 2: Windows File Recovery is a basic, bare-bones command-line recovery toolset. Even so, it's surprisingly capable. (Click image to enlarge it.)

The winfr tool also supports what's called "extensive mode," which offers more comprehensive and far-reaching repair capabilities. Regular mode is turned on by default; you must use the /extensive parameter to access extensive mode's capabilities. It's good at handling non-NTFS file sytems (e.g., FAT and exFAT), and can find more files deleted longer ago. Extensive mode can also attempt repairs after formatting a disk" which takes us into territory for the next topic, partition repairs" and it is better able to cope with disk corruption than regular mode.

Those who prefer to undelete files using a graphical interface instead of working at the command line should try the free but good Piriform tool Recuva .

The fourth step to data recovery: partition recovery

There are plenty of good third-party data recovery tools available for Windows 10. That said, those that can recover entire drives" especially big ones" or that offer partition and formatting recovery are usually not available at low or no cost.

For example, upgrading from the free version of Recuva to the Professional version means gaining more advanced file recovery, including partition recovery, recovery from damaged or reformatted disks, and more extensive recovery for long-deleted files and folders. The same is true for MiniTool Partition Wizard , which offers excellent partition handling and modest partition recovery in its free version, but adds extensive file, folder, and partition recovery capabilities to its Pro version.

Once partition recovery is effected, you can then tackle file and folder recovery from the newly restored partitions (if needed). In cases where accidental reformatting or partitioning mistakes have been self-inflicted" I've done this to myself on at least two occasions when I targeted the wrong drive" successfully restoring the old partitioning scheme usually brings all the old files and folders back, too.

If you successfully recover data yourself: perform a disk health check

Something had to cause the issues that led you down the recovery road. If you've managed to recover data through chkdsk, Windows File Recovery, or another data recovery tool, it's a good idea to give the problem disk a thorough checkup.

Hard drive and SSD makers often offer such tools as downloads for the drives they sell, and there are plenty of free and for-a-fee tools available for disk health checks. I'm partial to CrystalDiskInfo because it provides a good overview of a disk's SMART data (self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology, which includes error counts that often signal impending disk failures).

Other tools such as HD Tune Pro ($35, occasionally available for free) and Hard Disk Sentinel (free trial available, $20 for the standard version, $30 for the pro version) offer more detailed disk diagnosis and surface/media scans to provide better information on disk health and condition. The former took 10 minutes to scan my 9-year-old OCZ Vertex 3 SSD (nominal 120GB, actual 119GB) before giving it a clean bill of health despite advanced age and heavy usage, as shown in Figure 3.

data recovery win10 fig3 hdtunepro IDG

Figure 3: HD Tune Pro analyzes disk health and condition, including SMART data and a sector-by-sector media scan. The error scan shows all sectors green here; any damaged sectors would show in red. (Click image to enlarge it.)

If a disk shows questionable health or more than 10% of its sectors are damaged, it's time to replace it. Make a backup while you still can, order a new device, and you'll be able to restore the backup when the replacement arrives.

The fifth and final step to data recovery: call in the professionals

If steps 1 through 4 fail, you'll need to seek outside help. Here's Software Testing Help's list of the top dozen data recovery services for those who must travel this road.

Hopefully, you'll never need to send a drive to a professional data recovery service. If you do, be prepared to pay handsomely for their work. Charges of $300 and up are typical. (Bigger drives cost more, as you might expect.) And it can take weeks or months to get through their service queue.

Some companies will let you send them a replacement drive on which to restore what they find. Others will insist on selling you such a drive, sometimes at above-market prices. But sometimes, there is no alternative, and you'll pay what you must to get precious or irreplaceable files and data back.

Be sure to work out as much of the cost picture as you can before sending a drive off for recovery. You don't want the bill, however big it turns out to be, to come as a surprise.

In my 30-plus years of working with personal computers, I've never had to send a drive off for professional recovery. Even so, it's good to know such services exist should I ever need them.

I learned the value of backups in 1989, when a 300MB SCSI drive attached to a Macintosh cratered and I lost a book manuscript as a result. I've never been caught unprotected again, nor should you be. Happy computing!

[Jun 06, 2021] PowerShell script to empty recycle.bin on all drives

Jun 04, 2021 | technet.microsoft.com

I would not recommend deleting files in system folders, but rather use the APIs that are designed for this purpose.

For example, EmpyRecycleBin.exe is a command-line tool that uses the correct APIs. Even then, I would argue that files in the recycle bin should be considered as user data, and should not be deleted without their consent.

Bill

Question Sign in to vote 0 Sign in to vote

Hello, Here's some code that uses the API as Bill_Stewart suggests. Hope this helps:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/22871595/clear-recycle-bin-programmatically-with-powershell


Friday, July 25, 2014 5:34 PM scruff410 0 Po

[Jun 06, 2021] Clean $RECYCLE BIN Directory from command line

Jun 05, 2021 | www.get-itsolutions.com

Clean $RECYCLE.BIN from system drive:

  1. Open command prompt by going to Start "" Search "CMD" "" Open as administrator
  2. Run the following command "" rd /s /q %systemdrive%\$RECYCLE.BIN

This procedure clears out the $Recycle.bin directory from the system partition. You can do this for each hard disk partition in your system like below.

https://c69da4bf7fe4d1ebb1403f95c0f8b6a5.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

Clean $RECYCLE.BIN from other drives:
  1. Open command prompt as administrator
  2. Run the following command "" rd /s /q d:\$RECYCLE.BIN

Note! The cmd command will delete the folder $Recycle.bin permanently.

[Jun 06, 2021] How to clean recycle bins using powershell script-

Jun 05, 2021 | technet.microsoft.com

Question Sign in to vote 0 Sign in to vote

You just adapt that code a bit.

#hard coded drive letters
$names = @{"C","D","E"}

#Loop through the drives
 Foreach ($drive in $names)
 {
    #Get the path for the recycle bin, the ugly format is to keep the $
    $dir = "$drive:" +'\$recycle.bin'
    #remove the content
    remove-item $dir -force -recurse 
 }

Not tested but it might work.
Question Sign in to vote 1 Sign in to vote

[Jun 06, 2021] Microsoft to launch new version of Windows on 24 June

Jun 05, 2021 | computing.co.uk

Nadella's remark about the 'next generation' of Windows came just a week after Microsoft disclosed it was ending development on Windows 10X and some of its features will come to Windows 10 in an update.

Microsoft announced Windows 10X - a lightweight version of the Windows 10 - in 2019 as an operating system designed for use on dual-screen devices. However, the company changed its mind in 2020, announcing a pivot to focus on single-screen devices.

In a blog post last month, John Cable, the head of Windows servicing and delivery, wrote that "the technology of Windows 10X could be useful in more ways and serve more customers than we originally imagined."

Cable said that the best bits of Windows 10X would be integrated into the main version of Windows 10.

Microsoft launched Windows 10 in July 2015 with a one-year free offer for users of Windows Vista and Windows 7. In March 2019, the company announced that its PC operating system was running on 800 million machines.

For Microsoft, Windows 10 is the source of 14 per cent of its total revenue, and it has received two updates each year since its launch in 2015. The latest Windows 10 update, which was rolled out last month, came with only a few changes.

[Jun 06, 2021] How to get rid of bloatware and clean your Windows 10 Start menu (without crapware cleanup tools) - ZDNet

Jun 05, 2021 | www.zdnet.com

Windows is powerful, but it often arrives on your PC as a bloated, crapware-filled mess. Here's how to remove the bloatware and clean it up, without making things worse with more crapware-filled helper apps.

[Jun 06, 2021] 14 reasons why you shouldn't upgrade to Windows 10 - Windows Central

Jun 05, 2021 | www.windowscentral.com

Microsoft has recently reported that Windows 10 is now running on over 75 million computers around the world, which signals a great jump start for the new operating system that will be part of our life for years to come.

Previously, I have share with you a number of good reasons to why you should upgrade to Windows 10 , which included new technologies under the hood, the return the Start menu, Cortana, Action Center, Settings app, and many new features and changes. However, with the good there is always the bad. Today we're going to go through fourteen reasons you should consider to halt the upgrade until a later feature packed update gets released.

Let's look at some of the reasons why you should stay on your current version of the operating system.

https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.462.0_en.html#goog_2115411100

VPN Deals: Lifetime license for $16, monthly plans at $1 & more Top 14 reasons not to upgrade to Windows 10 1. Upgrade problems

While the software giant has managed to fix many of the issues that cause the upgrade process to fail, many users have been reporting failures to upgrade to Windows 10 due to different number of reasons. Some people are finding compatibility issues with hardware and software, and there are situations where the operating system can't complete the upgrade process. One of the most common issues has been the problem activating Windows 10.

2. It's not a finished product

Microsoft is changing the way it builds Windows, with the release of Windows 10, the company will no longer release major upgrades. Instead, Microsoft is now offering "Windows as a Service." Technically, Windows will never be considered complete, which means that the operating system will continue to be a work in progress. As a result, we are likely to see more bugs and other issues in the regular basis. Additionally, because we're in the early days, you will see some missing features and inconsistency.

In my personal experience, I've seen some issues including bugs in the Start menu where parts of the menu will just randomly disappear. Some Live Tiles also won't change accent color automatically, and the Start menu will suddenly lose its color scheme.

The file picker doesn't render its background color correctly and picking one or more files won't highlight what you're selecting.

Sometimes hovering over an app in the taskbar will display an empty preview, even though the app is running.

Windows apps will suddenly crash or freeze more often than in Windows 8.1.

If you perform a clean install your email accounts won't migrate automatically to the new Mail app, you'll have to set all your emails manually.

However, the good thing about the new update model is that the company will be releasing new patches, fixes, and features as soon as they are ready.

3. The user interface still a work in progress

While the new operating system offers an updated user interface, it fails short to be a complete design. For example, there is a big inconsistency around the context menus. Right-clicking on the desktop, using Start menu, taskbar, Mail app, and Microsoft Edge, just to name a few scenarios, you will be presented with a different context menu style.

Image source Twittter

Note: Microsoft has heard your feedback loud and clear and is working to improve the context menu in Windows 10 in future updates .

Also, Windows apps also show user interface fragmentation, as they offer different flyout menu styles. On the Maps app, the menu will appear the left side of the screen, Microsoft Edge on the right, and other apps such as Weather, Movie & TV, News, and others feature a settings page that takes the entire real estate of the app.

Not only the settings are inconsistent among apps, but you will also find different rail styles while clicking the hamburger menu. Some apps will overlay the menu on top of the app and others will simply push the app content to the right.

Although these are small issues that shouldn't slow down your productivity, together with other inconsistencies, can affect the user experience.

4. The automatic update dilemma

In the new operating system, Microsoft is also introducing a new way to update. Moving forward out-of-the-box users are required to install every update the company pushes out. On the good side of things, automatic updates are a good thing because it ensures that all users (technical and non-technical) are always running the most up to date version of Windows 10 with the latest security patches.

However, on the bad side of things, pushing an update even after being fully tested can cause a serious headache to the end user. For example, there could be issues with graphic drivers, or a new patch wasn't fully tested on certain configurations. These and other scenarios can happen anytime, and if you're not a technical user, chances are it will be very frustrating trying to go back to the last known good configuration.

5. Two places to configure your settings

Windows 10 includes the Settings app, which is the new unified place to change and configure many aspects of the operating system. It's also an upgrade to the PC settings in Windows 8, and a feature that will eventually replace the Control Panel.

While the Settings app brings an easy way to manage your settings in Windows 10, the feature is not complete. You're still required to jump to Control Panel to configure certain options of the operating system.

For example, you can change your desktop background through the Settings app, but you'll need to use the Control Panel when you need to change your Theme settings.

You can change your mouse settings via the Settings app, but you need to jump to Control Panel to change the mouse pointer.

You can configure your Wi-Fi connection in the Settings app, but you still need go to Control Panel to manage your network adapter settings.

As you can see in its current stage, Windows 10 doesn't have a consistent experience to configure different options.

6. No more Windows Media Center or DVD playback

Microsoft is trying to build an operating system that is ready for the future. This also involves retiring features it believes are not necessary. This is the case of Windows Media Center and DVD playback features as the company continues to push its Xbox One as the Windows entertainment hub for the biggest screen in the house.

As such, if you upgrade to Windows 10, you'll soon find out that Windows Media Center and the ability to play DVDs are no longer available.

However, the removal of Windows Media Center shouldn't come to a surprise. The company has not updated the feature in years, but there still many fans out there that feel the pain of seeing WMC go away.

The removal of DVD playback was a decision Microsoft made because we're consuming more online content than ever before. Also, adding the codecs to play DVDs adds extra cost to licensing. The company now offers Windows DVD Player in the Store , but you probably don't want to spend $14.99 on something that you can get for free when using other applications such as VLC.

7. Problems with built-in Windows apps

In the new operating system, Microsoft seems to be adding everything as an app. Now, we have the Calculator, Alarms & Clock, Calendar, Camera, Cortana , Mail, Maps, and other apps. However, if you don't like these apps, you can't uninstall them.

Another example is if you're running Windows 10, but you are a PlayStation 4 user. The Xbox app for Windows 10 is pretty much useless and it's another app you can't uninstall.

Also, some of the apps feel half way cooked with missing features. You will see this with the OneNote app, which doesn't offer any options to configure spell checking. You can see what words are wrong, but it won't suggest any alternatives.

The Mail app is headed in the right direction, but it lacks many features found in the Mail app for Windows 8.1. For example, with the new Mail app, I'm unable to view at a glance how many new emails I have to go through on all my accounts. Also, previous accounts you have setup on the Windows 8.1 Mail won't configure automatically in the new app. Many newsletter emails also won't render HTML correctly, there aren't notifications when sending or syncing emails, and you can't change the default conversation view of emails.

Additionally, other apps such as People are very basic with limited functionality or the user interface just feels incomplete.

8. Cortana is limited to some regions

Cortana is one of the biggest features you can find in Windows 10, it's a very useful tool, you can quickly search online or files locally and on OneDrive. Additional, functionality includes the ability to track flights, packages, and keep you inform on anything you like.

You can use voice commands to control the assistant and even compose and send an email to any of your contact hands-free.

There is no doubt that it's a true digital personal assistant that will only get better with time. However, Cortana is only available in China, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States. As such, for users outside of the supported regions, this could be considered another reason not to upgrade.

Note: Because Cortana is personal to you and to a region its being released, it takes time for Microsoft to make the assistant available on different countries, but be sure that the company is proactively working to bring Cortana to more regions.

9. Shutdown and reboot take a long time

Perhaps is not a big deal for many users, but it's to me. One of many things I liked from Windows 8.1 was the ability to reboot or shutdown in just a few seconds. I have a fairly new Intel Core i7 and 16GB of RAM machine, and I don't know what's going on with Windows 10, but now it can take minutes to reboot or shutdown.

Obviously, it's a problem that Microsoft have to address.

10. Devices with limited storage are still limited

Microsoft is building Windows 10 to be an operating system that runs everywhere; your phone, tablet, laptop, desktop, and even IoT devices. This is a great accomplishment that also allows developers to build apps once and target millions of devices without much effort. However, at this point, there is one important missing feature, which is the ability for devices with limited space to use an external storage to install new apps to free up space.

The software giant already added an entry on the Settings app to allow users to use an external storage to install new apps, but the feature isn't yet ready. As such, if you're planning to upgrade a device with limited storage, you should consider this current limitation.

11. OneDrive selective sync problem

In Windows 8, the software maker began integrating OneDrive in the operating system, which also included the concept of placeholders. It's a feature that allowed users to browse OneDrive files locally on the computer, but without downloading the file entirely. The placeholder included some metadata information and a thumbnail, then if you needed to open the file, you simply double-click the file to download and open with the default application.

One of the biggest advantages was the ability to have hundreds of gigabytes of files at your fingertips without using much of your local storage. However, this brought the issue where many people didn't know which files were available offline. As a result, Microsoft introduced selective sync, which allows users to select which files are available in Windows 10. However, the new sync functionality isn't very effective for users with many gigabytes of documents in OneDrive and limited local storage.

While selective sync solves the problem of which files are available to the end users, many other users see this as a problem. Microsoft should have added the two options, or come up with a different approach.

12. Microsoft Edge isn't ready to replace your default web browser (yet)

Microsoft Edge is the new default web browser for Windows 10, it the software that finally replaces Internet Explorer, and takes on Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. However, the browser still in the very early days.

You'll see that the user interface feels incomplete , the current version doesn't include support for touch gestures. Extensions is another feature the company has promised, but it will come on a later update. Also, many users have reported that the browser crashes quite often. If you're not running Windows 10 on fairly new hardware, you'll notice that the browser is very slow and even slower on sites with many ads.

13. Continuum is not enough

Continuum is a new feature in Windows 10 that allows users on 2-in-1 devices to move from a keyboard and mouse to a touch experience, while trying to keep the same level of productivity.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/sPWqowLh4Ok?modestbranding=0&html5=1&rel=0&autoplay=0&wmode=opaque&loop=0&controls=1&autohide=0&showinfo=0&theme=dark&color=red&enablejsapi=1

While it's a great useful feature, it falls short on customization, many users will even argue that the Tablet mode and touch gestures in Windows 10 are inferior to the Start screen in Windows 8.

Also, the full screen Start menu is now on a vertical orientation and wastes valuable space on the sides. You can't access the desktop unless you have a shortcut tile on Start to access File Explorer.

If you're using virtual desktops, and you switch to Tablet mode, all your apps will then arrange on a single group instead of different desktops. And the menu and apps buttons on the Start screen can be a little confusing for some users.

14. Privacy concerns

Since the operating system launched on July 29th, there has been a lot controversy of what information Microsoft collects to improve its services and functionality in Windows 10. If you agree to install Window 10 on your computer, you will be giving Microsoft consent to collect, by default, information about you, devices, application, search queries, application usage, and even when you use voice input such as speech-to-text.

So, if you don't feel comfortable with the information the company collects, probably Windows 10 isn't for you. However, keep in mind that Microsoft is very clear on what it collects and Windows 10 provides some ways to control your privacy .

Conclusion

As I previously wrote, there are a lot of good reasons to upgrade to Windows 10, but there are also other reasons, such as the ones we looked at today. You may want to consider and hold off the installation of the operating system until the next significant update or even Redstone, which is a major update that should arrive in two parts in 2016.

Overall, Windows 10 works very well and seems stable to run on your primary device. However, it feels that Microsoft may have rushed the operating system to get it out to the masses as quick as possible.

In my opinion, the operating system can be considered a good upgrade for technical users because there are great new features and tech savvy users can quickly think outside of the box to resolve pretty much any problem. For regular users, it feels that Windows 10 needs to mature a little bit more.

Have you encountered any issues in Windows 10? Will you recommend Windows 10 to your parents or grandparents in its current stage? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

[Jun 06, 2021] How To Stop The -Microsoft Account Problem- Notification - Bruceb Consulting

Jun 01, 2021 | www.bruceb.com

Bruceb Consulting

How To Get Rid Of The "Microsoft Account Problem" Notification

Sep 15, 2019 | Android , Microsoft , Windows tips , Windows10 | 124 comments

If you get a notification that you have a "Microsoft account problem," you don't have a problem and you don't have to fix anything. You haven't been hacked and you don't have a virus. Microsoft is testing your patience.

(Update 09/2020: Try the tips in this article but they may not work. For some people "" including on my own computers for the last few months "" this notice still appears even after turning everything off. The only suggestion I have left is to ignore it.)


How to stop the notifications

Click on Start / Settings (the gear in the left column).

Click on System .

Click on Shared Experiences in the left column.

Turn off Nearby Sharing and Share across devices .

That should turn off the notifications. (Sometimes they keep popping up even after those switches have been turned off. I can't explain that.)

Trust me "" you won't miss "shared experiences."


Background

The message reads: " Microsoft account problem "" We need to fix your Microsoft account (most likely your password changed). Select here to fix it in Shared experiences settings."

If you see that message and you know you haven't changed any passwords lately, you will worry that your Microsoft account has been hacked. Four people called me on the same day last week about the scary message. They had been putting in every password they could think of, trying to resolve their "account problem." Nothing worked.

Out of curiosity, I have tried to fix the "problem" for several different clients. I tested the credentials for their personal and work accounts to make sure we had up to date passwords, then fed every variation into the prompt at Shared Experiences, trying to satisfy it. Nothing worked.

I'm pretty confident, then, that these two things are true for most people:

  • There is nothing that needs to be "fixed." There appears to be a bug in the way Microsoft has set up "Shared experiences" that brings up an incorrect error message.
  • More importantly: "Shared experiences" is an obscure, nearly useless Windows feature that should never call attention to itself. You aren't using it, you won't use it, and it should be polite and shut up.

This is not a new problem. When the new "Shared Experiences" setting first appeared in Windows 10 two years ago , there were two variations on similarly scary messages.

Message 1: " Microsoft Account "" You need to fix your Microsoft Account for apps on your other devices to be able to launch apps and continue experiences on this device."

Message 2: " Work or school account problem "" We need to fix your work or school account before you can use shared experiences. Select this message to open Settings and fix things."

I wrote this article two years ago about those messages, which were just as wrong then as the scary message you see today.


What are Windows 10 "Shared experiences"?

Let's zoom up to 36,000 feet and get the big picture.

Microsoft was badly burned when it missed the transition to mobile devices. It wasn't for lack of trying! Before 2007 Microsoft had made valiant efforts to develop handheld Windows devices. It was so unsuccessful that when Apple introduced the iPhone, the world forgot about Microsoft's mobile efforts. Today, most people think Apple invented mobile computing.

After fumbling and flailing for a few more years, Microsoft launched a new push to break into the iPhone/Android phone duopoly, redoubling its efforts to develop a phone operating system and spending billions to acquire Nokia and sell its own phones. The result: embarrassing failure, layoffs, and huge write-downs.

Microsoft still has its dominant place in computer operating systems and has brilliantly pivoted to enterprise services. It is embracing open standards and has been avoiding the spotlight now being shone on other tech companies for privacy and antitrust issues. As a result, Microsoft is arguably the most successful tech company on the planet right now.

But Microsoft can't let go of its disappointment about being excluded from the mobile world. The future belongs to the connections among our devices, mostly mobile devices. Since Microsoft doesn't have its own mobile platform, the company risks becoming irrelevant to consumers unless they can be convinced to use Microsoft services to link their devices together.

Thus the insistent push to store files in OneDrive, which with luck will lead you to use OneDrive and the Office apps on your phone. (OneDrive is doing pretty well.) Microsoft is retooling its Edge browser and will be touting its ability to sync your bookmarks and preferences to the Edge mobile app so that you can go back and forth between your computer and your phone. (Edge has a user base of forty-three. That's not a percentage, it's the number of people worldwide using Edge. I don't see anything coming up that will change that.) Microsoft is putting finishing touches on a new Windows app, Your Phone , which will sync your Android phone to your computer and be Fabulously Useful ™. (The Your Phone app will go nowhere "" some loyal users, roundly ignored by everyone else.)

Shared Experiences is yet another halfhearted effort to create links between our devices. As I wrote two years ago :

In theory you can push your open web pages from your desktop computer to your laptop, or transfer your work in a program on your computer to the same program on your phone or tablet. "Shared experiences" can be synced through the cloud as well as Bluetooth. In addition to syncing your place in an app, it has the potential to turn a mobile device into a remote control for, say, media playback on the computer. There is also the chance to "invite others to use apps with me," whatever that means.

The Shared Experiences feature was completely useless when it was introduced two years ago. Nothing supported it. At best, it was only going to be relevant if we used Microsoft apps on our phone that matched the Microsoft programs on our computers "" and we don't. In any case, for the most part, Microsoft apps were not ready to support Shared Experiences, and third party developers showed no interest in supporting it.

Today, two years later, I cannot find any evidence whatsoever that anything has changed. If Microsoft is supporting this feature with its own apps, it is not advertising that in anything I can turn up in a Google search. I find zero evidence of any developer interest. It looks like a feature begging to be abandoned.

Which makes the error message all the more infuriating. Microsoft has had two years either to make this work smoothly or to get its feature to shut up .

This story ends in precisely the same place it did two years ago:

Microsoft showed you an unexplained error message instructing you to fix your Microsoft account, which wasn't broken, for a feature that does nothing now and might never do anything interesting ever.

← Previous Post Next Post ' 124 Comments

  1. Thomas Thomas on May 15, 2021 at 7:36 pm

    I use a laptop and a PC simultaneously however only my browser is in sync. I use my mobile for not much more than a telephone. My partner has a windows 10 laptop also.

    If I want to share between computers I use Bluetooth, upload and download using my website, use a USB stick, or email to myself. I do not want or need one drive. I do not need to use my Microsoft account to share anything however I also get this harassment every day when I boot up. I have spent untold unpaid hours searching for a way to block it

    I remember when Yahoo had a service where people uploaded stuff and when Yahoo cancelled the service there was nowhere else for the stuff to go.

    Nothing is broken which needs fixing, no password relevant to Microsoft has been changed, however I think the reference to "password" is the clue.

    Possibly Microsoft wants windows users to sync their local computer log on password and their Microsoft account password so that when you boot up your device, you will also log into your Microsoft account.

    Added to this is the persistent blocking by Microsoft of features in its Office Suite trying to force me to change from a password to a PIN or something called "hello'. If you click to "fix' this non-existent problem the only option offered is to use "hello'.

    All this has achieved is I will not renew my Office 365 subscription next year.

    Reply
    • Bruce Berls Bruce Berls on May 15, 2021 at 9:10 pm

      I don't know the details yet but I've recently come to think that MS is pushing the Windows Hello system (single-device PIN/fingerprint/camera) as a preferred alternative to password login. I ran across a PC recently that asked for a PIN but didn't seem to have the option to use a password instead, even though it had originally been set up with a password. Seemed strange. Windows Hello is very secure "" it's good technology and the goal of authenticating with something more secure than passwords is good. I'm keeping my eye out to see where MS takes this.

      Reply
  2. Ravindra K. Banthia Ravindra K. Banthia on March 7, 2021 at 11:47 am

    I started getting a notification since I reinstalled Win 10 20H2 in January 2021.

    The notification is as follows:

    "Microsoft account problem

    "We need to fix your Microsoft account (your password has probably been changed). Select here to fix it in the Shared experiences settings."

    Earlier, on December 30, 2018, I had installed Win 10 Home Version 1809 (32-bit version) because my so-called local computer expert had warned that I might face driver problems with the 64-bit version.

    I updated up my Win 10 32-bit installation up to Win 10 20H2.

    All these years, I never once got the above (or similar) notification.

    Finally, this January, I took the leap and did a fresh install of the Win 10 Home 20H2 (64-bit version).

    The installation went very smoothly, and I did not encounter any driver problems.

    But soon after the fresh installation, I began to get frequent notifications that I have mentioned above.

    What did I do differently?

    The first time (when I had installed the 32-bit version), I had entered the Windows product key.

    The second time (in January 2021), I opted not to put in the Windows product key (as advised by some tech sites) and opted to activate using my Microsoft account.

    I have tried many of the solutions proposed above (and by the Microsoft site listed below), but to no avail.

    I wonder if the notification from Microsoft are related to the fact that I did not use the Windows product key and instead opted to activate my account with my Microsoft account.

    Is anyone who installed Windows with the product key getting these notifications?

    Thanks in advance.

    Please note: I am posting this message on the following sites:

    1) https://www.trickyways.com/2019/06/fix-microsoft-account-problem-we-need-you-to-fix-your-microsoft-account/

    2) https://www.bruceb.com/2019/09/how-to-get-rid-of-the-microsoft-account-problem-notification/

    3) https://windowsreport.com/you-need-to-fix-your-microsoft-account/

    4) https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-other_settings/

    I have also seen these threads (all of which are locked):

    1) https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-other_settings/microsoft-account-problem/2f977223-e1d7-4c06-9749-ba69d1da4ece

    2) https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-other_settings/seeing-the-microsoft-account-problem-pop-up/eba096d0-752c-436c-81ca-24247e56c867#:~:text=To%20fix%20it%2C%20please%20try,password%2F%20Microsoft%20account%20password%20again

    3) https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/microsoft-account-problem/e943d084-4710-4f35-a98e-0feb1eca5fa8

    Reply
    • Bruce Berls Bruce Berls on March 7, 2021 at 5:44 pm

      Good question. I haven't done an install with a product key for years. In the last year or so, I've seen this password popup frequently and it's become harder or impossible to make it stop. I tell people to ignore it "" a pretty weak answer but the best I've got.

      Reply
      • Ravindra Ravindra on March 22, 2021 at 2:19 am

        Hi Bruce,

        Sorry for this late response.

        I had expected, but did not get, an email notification when there was a reply.

        It seems I have managed to get rid of this notification problem.

        Based on a suggestion, I did the following:

        "Share across devices" was off.

        I turned it ON and then OFF, and then, as suggested, I restarted (not shutdown) the PC.

        I stopped receiving the notification, so it seemed the matter has been resolved.

        Then, after the "Optional quality update" KB5001567 on March 17, 2021, I seemed to be back to square one.

        The notification was back.

        I again turned "Share across devices" (which was OFF) ON and then OFF, and then restarted the PC.

        The notification has not come since then.

        So it does seem that the problem has been resolved (fingers crossed).

        Best regards,
        Ravindra

        Reply
  3. ella ella on January 8, 2021 at 6:23 pm

    This has been annoying me for months. Thank you for giving me something to try. Not even sure why I had shared experiences on as I'm not trying to share anything with other devices.

    Reply
  4. dingus dingus on January 5, 2021 at 3:23 pm

    I constantly get this notification on my desktop but not my on laptop which are both on the same Microsoft account tried everything but it pops up at least once a week very annoying and strange.

    Reply
  5. Mike c Mike c on December 24, 2020 at 4:28 pm

    Just use /chkdsk /f that will fix it

    Reply
    • Bruce Berls Bruce Berls on December 24, 2020 at 4:41 pm

      Well, no, it won't, not this problem. Fun fact: Windows does hard drive diagnostics behind the scenes and drives have become more reliable "" I haven't had to pull out chkdsk in a long time.

      Reply
      • somedude somedude on January 5, 2021 at 3:26 pm

        It was a malicious joke chkdsk has been bricking computers lately.

        Reply
        • Bruce Berls Bruce Berls on January 5, 2021 at 3:44 pm

          (laughing) Ah, that's right "" I saw references to that recently, should have had it in mind.

          Reply
  6. Albert van Leeuwen Albert van Leeuwen on December 23, 2020 at 3:54 am

    Run regedit
    Go to:
    Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\Identity\Identities
    Clear string value FriendlyName
    Export \identities and save as NoFriendlyName.reg

    Make batch file containing this text:
    REG IMPORT C:\Users\amvla\Documents\RegImportNoFriendlyName.bat
    Save batch file as RegImportNoFriendlyName.bat

    In Task Scheduler make task to launch RegImportNoFriendlyName.bat at log on.

    Reply
  7. Ron Dahl Ron Dahl on December 18, 2020 at 9:59 am

    Is it possible to notify Microsoft of all these sorts of problems? I'd sure like to inform them of how incredibly annoying everything involved with their Microsoft Accoumt is.

    Reply
  8. Steve Steve on December 18, 2020 at 7:18 am

    I have found Mail prompting like this, and uninstalling Mail And Calendar will make it go away.

    Reply
  9. M Reilrod M Reilrod on December 2, 2020 at 7:26 pm

    I get the notification- need to fix account but I think the prompt is due to not being signed into Microsoft account as it does not exist anymore. I closed it maybe two years ago. I try not to use Microsoft anything much. No email, no Office, Edge, etc. Just stuff that I don't need to be logged in for once in a while. No way to stop it buggin me as far as I can figure out. I use a local account and password or at least I guess that's what I do but I don't use much of Windows that I can help. Pretty much Chrome and stuff. Thanks for allowing me the space to ramble.

    Reply
  10. cristobal molina cristobal molina on October 27, 2020 at 6:48 am

    windows is saying that my gmail is out dated but i can sign with google chrome can you please help get away from windows

    Reply
  11. Shah Mohammad Polash Shah Mohammad Polash on October 21, 2020 at 9:27 pm

    Hello
    Thanks for giving a solution of this issue. I found out your site. I can fix it following your step by step guide. Keep up the great work.

    Reply
  12. k. bouse k. bouse on October 5, 2020 at 7:29 pm

    This seems to also be tied into Windows Update. I had to search for a "fixed" driver to use my Samsung S10+ as a hotspot on Saturday because the default NDIS driver wouldn't work" and this has been happening every day since.

    I have no sharing options turned on, no accounts linked in the "View apps and services "", etc. I simply have no need to share with other devices, since in order for search queries to *not* be customized (I hate reinforcement bias limiting my results) I have my browsers set to always delete history. This is a new machine, never had any accounts on it other than mine, so there are no hidden ids from a previous user.

    And FWIW in my experience you *can't* delete a Microsoft account; it is the only way to enable updates, and if you don't get updates it will eventually break, because in Microsoft's eagerness to "be mobile" that's one model they've followed perfectly: don't allow the user to refuse updates and keep what they have that's working just fine, force them to participate in the madness.

    Don't get me started on Samsung's little attempt at trickery " suffice to say my next phone "" after 6 Samsungs in a row" will *not* be a Samsung. Troo dat.

    Reply
    • Billy Rogers Billy Rogers on October 13, 2020 at 6:59 pm

      Those fields are already turned off, and yet, I get that stupid message 3, 4 times a day.

      Reply
  13. WP WP on September 29, 2020 at 7:14 pm

    Thanks. This has been occuring on my MS Win10 box, and gets annoying "" part of the reason why it's still an optional box, not my main one. (I use Linux on the desktop. 🙂 And being "Linux-bred" as one might say, I did take the chance to disable as many of the unnecessary options in Settings as I felt necessary, and it's still turning up! 🙂

    Reply
  14. Jack Crompton Jack Crompton on September 18, 2020 at 3:38 am

    Thank you for this: I just hope it works! This is yet another irritation which I think was just introduced with Windows 10. What a disaster! I'm being driven into the arms of Linux "" I should have done it years ago. Again, thank you for your help.

    Reply
    • Fred Blackstone Fred Blackstone on September 27, 2020 at 4:41 pm

      Turning off "Nearby Sharing" and "Share across devices" has no effect on the notification "We need to fix . . .". I have 1 Hotmail account I use and no other apps and devices I want to share. I still get this error message every time I start my PC.

      Reply
  15. Marcia Marcia on September 8, 2020 at 1:49 pm

    I get this damn message every day. I have several accounts I use for different things (for example, it's the only I can play the same game with two different accounts). I click "fix" and put in all the passwords, and the message goes away "" till the next day. I already have shared experiences turned off. I am so SICK of this!

    Reply
  16. Nick Nick on September 7, 2020 at 7:17 pm

    I keep getting it too. On the PC that uses outlook email account, it will not operate the email unless I fix the account which I do by confirming the MS login & password. I disables all the sharing options "" no effect

    Reply
  17. Rob Rob on August 17, 2020 at 11:57 am

    This WORKS !
    I used 3 = Users can't add or log on with Microsoft accounts.

    https://www.isunshare.com/windows-10/2-ways-to-disable-or-block-microsoft-account-in-windows-10.html#way2

    Method 1 gpedit was not found, but method 2 using regedit and create a DWORD value and name it "NoConnectedUser". .. setting it to 3 worked for me.

    Reply
    • Tony Tony on August 20, 2020 at 8:11 am

      At last, I'm rid of that infuritating notification. Gpedit worked for me. Wish Windows would quit trying to be a Mac.

      Reply
  18. Niamh Peters Niamh Peters on August 11, 2020 at 7:17 am

    I keep getting these notifications from Microsoft about fixing my husband's account . He passed away last year and I deleted his email account. Our email accounts were linked. When I try to amend this, Microsoft say his account no longer exists, but then I get daily notifications to say his account needs to be fixed! I tried the help line and requested to speak to a person not a computer. I waited and waited to be connected and then gave up. Any suggestions?

    Reply
    • Bruce Berls Bruce Berls on August 11, 2020 at 9:43 am

      Although there might be other things that need to be addressed about his account, the easiest thing (and possibly the only thing) to do with these notifications is ignore them.

      Reply
      • Michael Long Michael Long on August 13, 2020 at 3:55 pm

        yep that's why she was having to me but I called the lawn if my sister-in-law she backed off my accounts and now I got my came back and my coach and I like they're showing up stuff at me for I got to relearn it. She blocked me and stop me and kept me out of all my phones in my computer's she has control and access to all my stuff and I didn't give her access to it I still got a credit card in my phone I can't get it off I do know if you can help me I have I know I got bitches out there I know that I started and then she put them in there and do whatever she asks him to it ok I don't know none of the name don't know how to get to names so I can claim company back and I do not know what domain she's using stocking do I got to do to get it off my I get it off my accounts and out of my name I'll get it to where is transferred and only my name is she can get access to it

        Reply
        • Steve Barnhill Steve Barnhill on August 22, 2020 at 11:08 am

          Are you Joe Biden?

          Reply
          • Nancy M Nancy M on April 14, 2021 at 8:47 am

            Good question!

        • English English on March 30, 2021 at 10:24 am

          What on earth are you trying to say?

          You called the lawn? What did it say? Did it help you with the annoying notification Windows is displaying? If so, can I have that lawn's email so I can ask it some more indepth questions please?

          Cheers

          Reply
          • Nancy M Nancy M on April 14, 2021 at 8:49 am

            Thank you! I laughed out loud. I too wondered what the "lawn's" Email address would be!!

  19. rmhartman rmhartman on August 6, 2020 at 10:54 am

    What I am more interested in is what happens if you press the [Fix Now] button? I sure as heck am not going to blindly press a box that lets Microsoft do whatever the heck they think needs to be done to "fix" whatever situation they _think_ is happening. Tell me what's wrong, darn it, and let me take care of it. But a blind "let us fix it for you"? Hell no.
    So " do you have any idea what this button actually does when pressed?

    Reply
    • Bruce Berls Bruce Berls on August 6, 2020 at 11:39 am

      Microsoft has an elaborate collection of troubleshooting tools built into Windows 10 "" look in Settings / Update & Security / Troubleshoot. I haven't used many of them but occasionally they turn out to be quite helpful. One of them may be what's launched by that Fix It button. There's a similar elaborate set of troubleshooting tools for Office 365 "" Microsoft Support & Recovery Assistant for Office 365 . There's no way to know what any of these tools do, but the Office 365 tool is frequently the only way to fix problems with licenses, connectivity, or whatever.

      So it's Microsoft roulette. Will it fix the problem, miss the point, or make things worse? That's a familiar game these days.

      Reply
    • David David on August 24, 2020 at 5:15 pm

      I have clicked the Fix Now button multiple times and it always comes back with the error message to the extent of "You need internet for that. You are not connected to the internet". Followed by a code #

      Reply
    • Michael Michael on September 14, 2020 at 10:42 pm

      I tried the "fix" button and I got a pop-up saying "OOPS something went wrong " connect to account.live.com "" which was useless. I suspect that the message will go away once I hand over my Visa card #, but I won't.

      Reply
      • Bruce Berls Bruce Berls on September 14, 2020 at 10:45 pm

        I've lost track of what's going on with this message. The fixes I suggested in the article don't seem to work any more. I can't find a pattern to it "" I saw it for a while, didn't change anything, and now it hasn't popped up for a while on my own computers. Frustrating problem!

        Reply
    • Adam Adam on October 16, 2020 at 6:37 am

      I know what happens! It tells you that your account name "is ALREADY a Microsoft domain name" and there is NO password that I gave to MS that will allow me to access my account (or domain). I've only tried 6-7 times to "fix' something that wasn't broken. No more. I get the "problem' message a few times a week and I just ignore it.

      Reply
  20. John John on July 30, 2020 at 10:04 am

    I have been battling this infuriating message for months. I tried everything else, including turning off "Shared Experiences". No joy. I added a new local account and started using that. No joy.

    Below is what seems to be working for me. It was really simple so maybe worth a try"

    I deleted my Windows Hello PIN here:

    Settings >Accounts>Sign-in options>Windows Hello PIN

    And changed to use the local account password here:

    Settings >Accounts>Sign-in options>Password

    Probably too good to be true, but so far no "Microsoft Account Problem" notifications. I will update here if it recurs.

    JM

    Reply
    • John John on August 4, 2020 at 8:01 am

      Following up" I have not seen this notification since I deleted my Windows Hello PIN and started using a local account. I am calling my particular flavor of this nuisance resolved. Good luck to everyone still battling this.

      Reply
    • mel jeter mel jeter on August 14, 2020 at 8:01 am

      I've been having this problems for months. Im trying Shared Experiences method. Thank you. I did notice every time another country tried to sync my email, unsuccessfully, the next day I got this message to fix my account. don't know if that's a trigger too.

      Reply
    • somedude somedude on January 5, 2021 at 3:37 pm

      Thanks I'll try that I'm using a pin also.

      Reply
  21. 3DClayman 3DClayman on July 28, 2020 at 1:04 pm

    I have four computers and two e-mails work and home. My switches referenced here are turned off. Microsoft seems to want me t have a separate e-mail for each computer which I think is rather stupid. Two of the computers are running BOINC and I don't need to check them very often. It appears if I succumb to the stupidity and let them create a Microsoft e-mail for each machine I can get rid of the error.

    Reply
  22. HelenH HelenH on July 20, 2020 at 7:58 pm

    > (Sometimes they keep popping up even after those switches have been turned off. I can't explain that.)

    I can.
    It's because the message are NOT being turned on or off by your instructions.

    Reply
    • Bruce Berls Bruce Berls on July 20, 2020 at 10:34 pm

      Something has changed. I'm getting that message nonstop on my computers in the last thirty days, with both of the sharing options set firmly off.

      Reply
    • bill harshbarger bill harshbarger on July 22, 2020 at 11:52 pm

      Worked for me, well at least for this moment. Thanks much!

      Reply
  23. Bill Bill on July 18, 2020 at 5:35 am

    How about just delete the account. Who needs it? I sure don't want to by anything else.

    Reply
    • Rdavison Rdavison on August 12, 2020 at 9:14 am

      But then just try deleting the account"! Might happen in 60 days, or not.
      They have no precaution for a hacked account, which should never have been hackable in the first place"""""

      Reply
  24. anon anon on June 24, 2020 at 3:43 pm

    For what it's worth one tech told me that this occurs when you inherit a machine from another user, and some functions require the old userid. When the old user changes their password, this "your password changed" stupidly nonspecific error message appears.
    I know, not much of an answer, and particularly frustrating since you are not told WHICH function is trying to log in with the old userid. Just giving you guys one more avenue to consider.

    Reply
    • Ken Wyldes Ken Wyldes on July 10, 2020 at 6:35 pm

      I started getting the error message when I voluntarily changed my password, which makes no sense. Why would they ask me to change my password for changing my password? That creates an endless cycle. I will not change it again.

      Reply
      • Bruce Berls Bruce Berls on July 10, 2020 at 10:38 pm

        I've been seeing this notification pop up on machines where there is simply no good explanation. It's maddening and my tips don't always work "" even on my own laptop! Makes me crazy.

        Reply
  25. baazack chisanga baazack chisanga on June 23, 2020 at 10:57 am

    Hi have the problem to sign my account the response am get is bad receiption please help to solve this problem to all fellow users.

    Reply
  26. Jean Chevalier Jean Chevalier on June 9, 2020 at 5:18 pm

    Nothing works. It just keeps coming back. I wasn't even sure I had a microsoft account until this started happening. Apparently it's not important to have an account if they can notify you that it has problems and the problems make no difference whatsoever to the functioning of your computer.

    Reply
  27. Jimmy Jimmy on June 9, 2020 at 5:11 pm

    Am having a problem to open my micro account and I don't know what to do,especially when I am trying to download eg facebook lite and any application.downloading music 🎶 and streaming is actually working so please I need your help now in order for me to open a store

    Reply
  28. Derek Bell Derek Bell on May 29, 2020 at 6:23 am

    Hi! Thank you for doing this. Same problem here, also with Shared Experience insisting FIX NOW. And this, while share options are, and stay, OFF. The Microsoft account for this email address had its password changed 3 months ago "" 3 months of that notification aarrgghh, but seems to function ok. I am sure, by a hacker. Because it coincided with definite hacking via this email address of my Facebook, Amazon, GoDaddy. All three now fixed but Microsoft is less helpful. I ask for a OTP but it wants to send it to a gmail address I don't recognise (the hacker's?). I complete the required form to get in. A dozen ways, a dozen rejection emails. Even though I've given additionally loads of Skype info "" that only I could know "" that's linked to the email address and Mic account. And it's old enough to have a unique Skype name alongside the unique email address. Insult to inury .. the rejection emails offer the fact that emails on this address/account, their subject and addressee, would help " but I am never given the option or any method of providing these on the form that gets assessed. Help!! Anything I've not tried, but should?! Thank you again .. DB

    Reply
  29. Daniel Daniel on May 24, 2020 at 10:23 am

    I have tried RichH's Feb 1 suggestion above on my PC and so far it seems to be working. I simply switched from PIN Microsoft login authentication to local login (windows settings->accounts->sign-in options). I then switched it back to my usual PIN. So far so good. Thanks, Rich and Bruce. Fingers crossed!

    Reply
    • Steve Steve on February 6, 2021 at 1:20 pm

      This worked for me also.

      It was a problem with the stored PIN (which was working fine).

      Sign-in options / Windows Hello PIN
      says ""this PIN isn't working for your organization's resources" "Click here to Fix"
      It did.

      Reply
  30. Donald Maase Donald Maase on May 16, 2020 at 1:34 pm

    I have had much the same frustrations and annoyances, using my MS Surface Pro4. However, I continue to act on its prompts, as I have associated it (right or wrong) with my "Inbox's lagging up to three days in recording messages received. These are later confirmed, when it finally "catches-up". (After "Fixing" my "need to up-date my Account". I too puzzle, with all this long history "" why wont/doesn't MS just FIX the problem?? It would seem a matter of its "integrity"!

    Reply
  31. David N David N on May 15, 2020 at 8:14 pm

    I'm trying your fix first, but while checking notifications I noticed 2 things. First, no notification for Microsoft Account (no real surprise) but second, the app Nearby Sharing is listed twice. Nothing else is.

    But I'm prepared to use the old IT solution of chicken entrails on the keyboard at midnight, if need be.

    Reply
    • Bruce Berls Bruce Berls on May 15, 2020 at 9:16 pm

      Keep the chicken entrails handy "" you might need them.

      Reply
  32. Gerry Gerry on May 12, 2020 at 3:18 pm

    I've been running into this issue, turning off sharing to no avail. Whenever I clicked Fix Now, I'd go to a login dialog with my work account that uses Office 365. After months, I then did a search in the Windows search bar for work account, and came to an "Access Work or School'. Found my work account there, removed it, and the notifications have gone. For now" I've probably changed my work or office 365 password in the past, and the preserved old password on my own Win 10 machine has been out of synch as a result.

    Steps:

    Go to Settings, Accounts, Access work or School. There is a option to remove Office 365 accounts that way.

    Reply
  33. Jay Jay on May 8, 2020 at 5:05 pm

    Hope this helps someone else" I too had the issue with the pop-up despite me disabling shared experience.
    I went to action center and told it I didn't want to see this again. As soon as I did I got a new message in AC telling me that an account in "mail" needed attention. I haven't used mail in years now that I use Outlook. So I opened mail and lo and behold my work email account for which the password would have expired many moons ago. I deleted this account from mail and went back to shared experiences. I clicked the "fix account" and rather than it pop up with a password prompt it instantly changed to "all accounts are working properly"
    Sounds promising. Fingers crossed. Maybe be worth others looking at Win10 apps they may have once sync'd with an external account that has since had a password change.

    Reply
  34. Grant Collinsworth Grant Collinsworth on April 23, 2020 at 4:54 pm

    Total BS None of these suggestions work.. Nobody here has identified the cause, obviously. I know the cause" MS has dropped the ball on the quality of their developers" End of story.

    Reply
    • tom tom on July 4, 2020 at 10:08 am

      your correct, i downloaded version 1204, and now i have the same issue, that i previously had in the last version.. it seems to folow the updates

      Reply
      • A Binnion A Binnion on July 6, 2020 at 8:43 am

        Your'e correct, NOT Your correct. The contraction of "you are' is you're, NOT the pronoun your. Think about it.

        Reply
        • Bruce Berls Bruce Berls on July 6, 2020 at 9:30 am

          Good point! Your right. Also see my article, Grammar Are For Winners!

          Reply
          • Jan Roclawski Jan Roclawski on July 21, 2020 at 5:16 am

            Incorrect. It should read " you're correct"

          • Bruce Berls Bruce Berls on July 21, 2020 at 10:18 am

            Oh, its so embarrassing when I make simple grammar mistakes! Their's really no excuse. Thanks for a feedbacks!

  35. Reiko Reiko on April 13, 2020 at 5:21 am

    The most annoying thing is each time I went to fix it I lost my language setting, my documents in folders, even my photo folder on the desk top! So I have to save files and photos into WD before trying fixing the warning message. I have been doing this once a week!, which is too much! Each time my desk top are swiped out. I wonder if this relates that I use Chrome instead of Microsoft Edge.

    Reply
    • Karen E Karen E on June 25, 2020 at 8:58 pm

      That sounds like a bigger problem than just the notification. 大変ですね!(私も -- 本"す"でいます。)No, using a different browser will not cause such things. I use both Firefox and Chrome, and I never use Edge.

      It sounds like your user settings are getting lost or confused. Documents, Pictures, etc. are folders specific to the logged-in user, and language setting is also unique to each user. So if you create a new user, or log in as a different user, those things will seem to disappear. It is important to log in as the same user every time.

      Reply
  36. Mark Rosenberg Mark Rosenberg on March 30, 2020 at 4:48 am

    I can't believe that I didn't notice that the Microsoft Account problem notifications were coming from the Settings notification. I will turn that off and see if those notifications stop.

    Reply
  37. Mark Rosenberg Mark Rosenberg on March 25, 2020 at 5:36 pm

    Turning off the Microsoft Account notification did not stop the problem after all. The notification still shows up from time to time.
    Also, to Bruce Berls, I don't have the option to tell the admin to change the policy. It was quite a few years ago that one of my son's college professors gave the class the Office 365 pro -plus download with a permanent subscription. He can't be contacted anymore.

    Reply
  38. neo neo on March 24, 2020 at 2:32 pm

    Hi,

    Just thanks for taking the time to post. Thanks!

    That -nonsense- has been irritating me for too long. I deleted the "I don't know how it got there' account today. "and am waiting with bated breath to see how long before MS puts it back.
    "
    A comment about where mobile madness began: General Magic.
    No, not a magic show, tho' in those days the ideas that came from that group of people might have been seen as magic(or insanity). It was startup company and is a movie/Documentary that has quite an amazing story to tell.
    [FYI, IMDb has a trailer for it via `https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6849786/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1` if interested.]

    c-ya

    Reply
  39. Mark Rosenberg Mark Rosenberg on March 23, 2020 at 5:44 pm

    Turning off the Microsoft Account in the Notifications & actions list definitely stopped the Microsoft account problem notifications. It seems like a lot of people don't have the Microsoft Account setting in the Notifications & actions list. In my case one my son's professors gave his class a lifetime subscription to Microsoft Office 365 Pro-Plus a few years back. Roughly every 3 months the password has to be changed. I get a notification from Microsoft Work or School account 2 weeks prior to the password expiration. After changing the password I would get the Microsoft Account Shared Experiences notification. In Shared experiences it would say Fix account . It was simply a matter of updating the password then it would say all accounts are working properly again. At some point however the Microsoft Account problem notifications kept coming for whatever reason. So in the future I'll check the Shared experiences after updating the Work or School account password to see if it needs to be fixed since I now have the Microsoft Account notification turned off. Hope this is helpful to someone.

    Reply
    • Bruce Berls Bruce Berls on March 23, 2020 at 6:08 pm

      Fun fact about password changes: In the early days of Office 365, accounts were set up by default with a 90-day password expiration policy. For a short while, it was effectively impossible to change that; then for a while it could be set to longer periods or set to never require changes, but it could only be done with Powershell commands.

      As time went on, the conventional wisdom changed and now it's widely believed that frequent password changes make you LESS safe "" because people choose new passwords poorly (adding a number to the end of the password, say), or they write passwords down on post-its attached to their monitor.

      Now Microsoft puts up a big notice in the Office 365 admin dashboard urging admins to change the password policy to "never expire."

      So if you're being prompted to change your password every 90 days, tell your admin to change the policy and give you a break.

      Reply
  40. Mark Rosenberg Mark Rosenberg on March 22, 2020 at 10:42 am

    Hi. Turning off Shared experiences didn't work. I just checked the System/Notifications &actions list and I do have a Microsoft Account on the list. I just turned it off and have to wait and see if that stops those annoying notifications. I'll post back if this worked for me or not.

    Reply
  41. Daniel Daniel on March 6, 2020 at 1:59 am

    Microsoft seem to have managed to make it even worse" the fix of disabling Shared Experiences worked for me for a few months, but now I'm getting the notification on every boot again, despite Shared Experiences still being disabled. The behaviour is the same as before, as soon as I click the notification about supposed account problems, I get to the Settings page for Shared Experiences, which says that all accounts are working correctly.

    I'm not sure if it was a Windows 10 feature update I might have installed in the meanwhile that broke things even more, but I'm currently on Windows 10 Pro version 1909 build 18363.657. I didn't write down the build I was on when the fix still worked.

    Reply
    • Bruce Berls Bruce Berls on March 6, 2020 at 8:54 am

      Interesting! I haven't seen that yet. FWIW, on my own computer I turned off all Windows notifications. It's very peaceful. (Settings / System / Notifications & actions / turn off "Get notifications from apps and other senders")

      Reply
  42. Tiny Tim Tiny Tim on March 1, 2020 at 2:32 pm

    My solution was to throw my laptop in the garbage but I still keep getting these annoying notifications.

    Reply
    • Bruce Berls Bruce Berls on March 1, 2020 at 2:58 pm

      I think now if you die, your children start getting the notifications. (grin)

      Reply
  43. Philip Baker Philip Baker on February 25, 2020 at 4:20 am

    I have followed various recommendations for solving this problem, and nothing makes any difference. Having followed Microsoft's own instructions for "fixing' it, I got the message "All accounts are working correctly' "" but I still get the "Microsoft account problem we need to fix your Microsoft account' notification many times throughout each day.

    Reply
  44. John Handley John Handley on February 20, 2020 at 2:22 pm

    Thank you Bruce, and other commenters. I have tried your settings. Fingers crossed. FWIW I actually DID go through the laborious process of changing my password for an account I never use! Still get the stupid message.

    I guess you know the joke about the helicopter pilot lost in fog over Seattle. Edges up to a building, holds a sign in the window: "Where am I?"
    People in the building hold up a sign: "You are in a helicopter"
    The pilot then had his orientation. It was clear he was at the Microsoft Building.

    Reply
  45. RichH RichH on February 1, 2020 at 8:11 am

    I had this problem for about a month and managed to fix it last week. In my case it had nothing to do with Shared Experiences or waiting for network connections to become available. The problem was related to the process by which the *locally stored* PIN or Picture Password is used to authenticate against the *real* MS account password when you sign-in. I can't find a detailed technical explanation of exactly how this process works, but in my case that mechanism seems to have become corrupted. Thankfully though, the solution was to simply switch to a different sign-in method i.e. instead of using a Picture Password, set up a PIN or vice-versa. This seems to reset and fix the authentication mechanism so that it now works correctly and I can successfully sign-in using either a Picture Password or PIN without those infuriating notifications popping up" at least until it breaks again!

    Reply
    • Bruce Berls Bruce Berls on February 1, 2020 at 10:38 am

      Wow, nice sleuthing! I hadn't heard of that but it makes sense, I guess. Good work!

      Reply
      • RichH RichH on July 25, 2020 at 2:07 am

        UPDATE "" After six months of peace and quiet the dreaded notification returned! And, this time, no amount of switching back and forth between different sign-in options fixed the problem, so clearly something else was at play. But after a bit of digging I found the culprit.

        In Settings, Accounts, Sign-in Options, there is a Privacy section at the bottom with a switch to enable/disable the following setting:

        "Use my sign-in info to automatically finish setting up my device and reopen my apps after an update or restart".

        After disabling this setting the "account problem" notification was banished once more. Re-enabling the setting caused the notification to re-appear.

        Disabling this setting prevents many Start-up programs from starting until AFTER you log in (just like Windows XP used to do), including OneDrive synchronisation which I think is the problem application here. If, like me, you have a lot of Start-up programs, I'm guessing that OneDrive synchronisation times out whilst all those other programs are starting up, logging in and doing their stuff. Even though the syncronisation service (OneSyncSvc / Sync Host) is set to a delayed start, I'd guess that the system is still too busy for OneDrive Sync to get a look in and, when it fails, that triggers the "account problem" notification. By preventing many of the Start-up programs from starting until after you log in, the system is at least a bit less busy and OneDrive Sync is then able to complete its task successfully.

        I'm going to try disabling a few Start-up programs that I don't really need (eg. Skype, Send to OneNote Tool, Spotify etc.) and then try re-enabling the setting above to see if OneDrive Sync then has sufficient time and resources to complete its Start-up routine successfully.

        Reply
        • Bruce Berls Bruce Berls on July 25, 2020 at 7:26 am

          Oh, nice detective work! The notice has also been popping up on my computers in the last month or so. I've never seen that setting and the explanation is opaque about what it does. I'm going to play a bit and see if I can replicate what you describe. Thanks!

          Reply
  46. Jeff Jeff on January 29, 2020 at 9:09 pm

    I was having this problem on my Desktop but not my Notebook or Tablet. I think I finally fixed it.

    When I went to Shared Experiences, those two BluTooth options did not appear, so I couldn't verify that they were off, or turn them off if there were on. I only have BT on my Desktop via one of those USB plug in thingies. When not in use, which is almost always, I don't have it pushed in all the way so it's not seen by the system. I pushed it in and the Shared Experiences options came up. Lo and behold, Share Across Devices was turned on. I turned it off and I haven't seen the problem message since, even with the BT device pulled out.

    Reply
  47. Jeff Russell Jeff Russell on January 27, 2020 at 8:44 am

    Brilliant, thank you. I'll try the various approaches "" yours and commenters. But just knowing this is corporate wishful thinking run amok and I can blissfully ignore is valuable information. Found you on Google search, I just subscribed.

    Reply
  48. Sebastian Helm Sebastian Helm on January 27, 2020 at 4:53 am

    Forgot to say that I only use a local account now.

    Reply
  49. Sebastian Helm Sebastian Helm on January 27, 2020 at 4:49 am

    Thank you for this intelligent and empathetic write-up.

    In my case, unfortunately, changing the "Shared experiences" settings has not done away with the nuisance. The only difference I see from your description is that the settings dialog, instead of saying "all accounts are working properly", says (in red) "Some of your accounts require attention 【Fix now'" I am using Win 10 Pro, 64-bit, version 1903, OS build 18362.592.

    Reply
  50. Nigel O. Nigel O. on January 12, 2020 at 2:27 pm

    Just began receiving the annoying "Microsoft account problem" notification about three days ago. Have turned off the Shared Experiences, but unfortunately, I am still receiving the notifications. Have read that switching to a local account, as opposed to a Microsoft account, may resolve the issue, but I have yet to do that. Will give that a go and see if I am still pestered by the notifications. Really, enough to drive anyone absolutely barmy.

    Reply
  51. TrevPlatt TrevPlatt on January 12, 2020 at 3:03 am

    Hi Bruce,
    Don't know if this helps, but I get the "Microsoft account problem" notification every single time I boot up my PC. I've noticed that every time I open the Microsoft "Mail" app it tells me "Your account settings are out of date" and it gives me three options:
    *A "Learn more" link, which is a link to a Microsoft "help" page (it's useless by the way)
    *A "Fix account" button
    *A "Dismiss" button.
    Selecting "Fix account" brings up a Pop-up box titled "Attention required" (the rest of the box is blank), a second pop-up comes up (no title "" completely blank) and a third pop-up comes up titled "Windows Security" where I enter my PC's Login Password. After entering my password the third box disappears, the second box displays a message but disappears too quickly and the Third box says the problem is fixed. My email account then starts downloading messages.
    It's as if the PC settings are forgetting that the built in mail app is connected to my account and is flagging it "" hence the "Microsoft account problem" notification?
    For info, I've never had "Nearby sharing" or "Share across devices" turned on. The pop-up used to be once every so often and it's gradually gotten more and more persistant, until now "" it's every single time!
    If I find anything else about this I'll come back and share it.
    Good luck everyone.

    Reply
    • Bruce Berls Bruce Berls on January 12, 2020 at 12:03 pm

      Microsoft's password prompts are out of control. I'm running into them constantly for Office programs that demand proof that there's a license in force. So frustrating!

      Reply
      • Mike Kovacevic Mike Kovacevic on October 25, 2020 at 4:18 am

        I forgot my PIN. when i went under "chang your PIN"
        i note that when i went into that section, the message was as follows:

        "are you sure you want to change your PIN"apps might require you to sign in again, and any data that's managed by an organization could be lost."

        What data can be lost? just worried if i change PIN there may be important data lost?

        Reply
        • Bruce Berls Bruce Berls on October 25, 2020 at 12:29 pm

          I'm honestly not sure why that warning exists. It would take a rather bizarre sequence of events to disconnect from a business account or disrupt your data.

          But for what it's worth, if you think you can't log in, make sure you know that you can switch to your password "" click on Sign-In Options below the prompt. There shouldn't be any danger to changing your PIN while you're signed in.

          Reply
  52. Zoe Zoe on January 7, 2020 at 5:08 pm

    I had a good chuckle at your article, which was most helpful by the way. Thanks!

    Reply
  53. Ron Ron on January 7, 2020 at 11:39 am

    I get the same problem. Started when MS sent my account number to a corrupted email address. naturally I did not receive it. The instructions to correct it did not work, just went round in a never ending circle. Re-applied with my correct address and things went through ok. But the old one is still there and impossible to remove. I've given up now.

    Reply
  54. James James on January 7, 2020 at 1:25 am

    MS made some mistakes but mainly by not following-thru with their ideas and being late with others. The sturdy Nokia Windows Phone was a breakthru as a sandbox device, not having to worry about virus infections, but was let down by poor and few applications and timing to market.
    The concept of shared devices is important today for me in business and will be in the future for many where you can get/use your data anywhere and on any device. Someone needs to design a secure application that works cross-platform seemlessly, securely and quickly and for (ideally) free. If MS can do this then I am one of the Shared Experience guys that would use it and their platforms. I already use MS Launcher on Android and find it works resonably well apart from this annoyng bug which is the subject of this article. Waiting patiently..

    Reply
  55. Jeffers Jeffers on December 30, 2019 at 1:40 pm

    I bought a new Win 10 laptop for a grandson. I set it up without the need to log in on start up. Almost straight away I started getting the "Microsoft Account Problem" Notification"

    Reply
  56. GNM GNM on December 27, 2019 at 9:26 am

    Hello,

    I've tried the method above regarding Shared Experiences with no luck. I've also changed my password and attempted to address the problem through the settings area with no results.
    Is there any way that someone could communicate with the "suits" at Microsoft and ask them why they are sending this message? I get it ion the Action Center every time I start the computer. It's really annoying.

    Reply
  57. Michael Benton Michael Benton on December 19, 2019 at 4:35 am

    hi I am 57 and not computer savvy. I keep getting the message. could it be that it is because I have just been using an old computer for somethings. it says the old account is and wont take my old pass word. please help an old fart lol

    Reply
  58. Nathan Nathan on December 18, 2019 at 10:32 am

    I think the message for me might be related to something different. I set up a Surface tablet for a friend and installed an old version of Office on it and logged in with my MS account. I have since changed my password and I think that person never set up their own MS account so the old account info is trying to update"..I could be wrong tho

    Reply
  59. Michael GW Michael GW on December 14, 2019 at 6:58 am

    Today there is no problem; no daft messages about passwords and my MS Account:

    For some reason W10 suddenly asked for my Pincode under Settings/Accounts. as evidence of my identity. "" even though I have been logging on with the same Pincode umpteen times during my efforts to solve the MS Account problem.
    I have no idea when this demand for Confirmation of identity appeared.
    I may have provoked it underways " ?

    1 "" I have now confirmed my identity under Settings/Accounts.

    2- I have logged on to my MS Outlook account. directly online, and in Office, and left them open.

    3 "" I have incidentally reloaded a reader extension for Chrome which was messing up my virus updates and/or messages.
    It may have no relevance to the MS Account issue of course. Just mentioning it.

    Reply
  60. Michael GW Michael GW on December 11, 2019 at 4:38 am

    Many thanks for some perspective and a reset of my sanity.

    W7 is so much better, but I only have a month now before W7 updates cease.

    I have had both Shared experience options turned off for a while:
    It doesn't stop the messages, but the options do stay off.

    Yes, I have the same suspicion that the lack of network connection is freaking it out (Daniel november 12):

    I had to log into a Microsoft account, to use a one-time code from Gmail, so I could link my Gmail to Outlook. (There was the irony that the one-time code was rejected, wheras using the MS account password again worked, )
    Since then I have logged off the MS account, and I suspect the problem (for me) is due to the lack of immediate network connection.
    But I ignore the demands for pincode and just open Outlook anyway.

    I have also removed Onedrive (although the folder remains), which may have MS account issues.

    The correct perspective is perhaps afterall to hide the symptom and don't try to cure W10, (Karen E november2).
    Just to get closure "" on this issue.

    Don't expect MS to solve this W10 issue any time soon. I have just left a string going back to 2013 and W8 with just this problem.
    There were 100 entries "" on this one string "" so this is truly a Shared Experience.

    i would like to have one password, rather than having to remove the need for any passwords.

    Reply
  61. gm gm on December 9, 2019 at 11:36 am

    it just keeps coming back.
    it is a microsoft update feature to show you why you should get away from microsoft. fallen from innovation to cheap privacy theft.

    Reply
  62. Gene Gene on December 4, 2019 at 6:14 am

    Sharing is "Off" but the notification keeps popping up" 🙂

    Reply
  63. Tim Farley Tim Farley on December 3, 2019 at 4:15 pm

    I was receiving the same message to fix shared experiences across devices. I ignored message, than one day I clicked on it and decided to turn off nearby sharing and share across devices. When I did that my PC became much faster and I felt that shared experiences is worthless. But almost every time I turn on my PC the notice pops up again and when I go back to shared experiences the nearby sharing was off but the share across devices was turned back on again so I turned it off again. Now every time I turn on my computer share across devices is back on, so I keep shutting it off where I enjoy a faster internet. Every time I turn on my computer share across devices is always somehow turned back on so the first thing I do is turn it off before using it . Very frustrating. I don't know why it keeps turning back on and if anyone else is still getting notices to fix shared experiences after you turned everything off, chances are nearby sharing is turned back on.

    Reply
  64. Herb Carruthers Herb Carruthers on November 19, 2019 at 5:17 pm

    Thanks for posting this "FIX" information. Exactly what I needed.

    Reply
  65. Fabienne Wolf Fabienne Wolf on November 19, 2019 at 3:07 am

    Thank you for this very helpful (and very funny) article that puts things into a proper perspective. In addition to the mentioned problems, I've been receiving phone calls in which a female voice from India haltingly announces, "Hello, I'm from Microsoft and we are receiving worrying signals from your computer ""
    At first I assumed this was a simple scam and put down the phone, then I thought it might be connected with the problem-message of the Microsoft account, and now I wonder what to say if they call again. They seem very persistent "" any thoughts?

    Reply
    • Bruce Berls Bruce Berls on November 19, 2019 at 12:08 pm

      It's a scam! Microsoft does not call to fix your PC. In fact, I wrote a whole article about that "" Microsoft Does Not Call To Fix Your PC . And there's a bigger issue "" the volume of robocalls is steadily increasing, from criminals and scammers. Here's more info about that . Here's my advice from that article:

      "The most effective thing you can do is: don't answer calls from numbers you don't recognize. Leave messages when you call people you know, and count on real people leaving messages for you if you don't pick up.

      "If you answer the phone and discover it's a telemarketer, don't engage a live person in any kind of conversation and don't hit 1 "to be added to our Do Not Call list." Any response will confirm that it's a live number, which moves the number to a list that is called more often."

      Hang up, shake your head about the state of the world, and move on. Be careful out there!

      Reply
  66. David Paul David Paul on November 14, 2019 at 7:17 am

    Totally agreed with your article on Microsoft. My clients frequently gnash their collective teeth at them.

    There is a verse in the Bible that includes the phrase "let not your right hand know what your left is doing". I suspect Microsoft view that as direction to them, not a verse about giving alms to the poor".

    Reply
  67. DIANA DIANA on November 13, 2019 at 8:01 am

    I, also get the same notification. I would simply delete it but have now decided to just leave it up and ignore it.
    Wonder if whom/what ever will be aware of it and just give up. I will leave it up for 2 months and see what happens.
    Yes, it is a PIA. Guess it's just another annoyance.

    Reply
  68. Daniel Daniel on November 12, 2019 at 10:48 am

    Thank you for the quick solution, and thank you for the amusing write-up to go along with it!

    When the Settings page opens after clicking the notification, there's a message saying "All accounts are working correctly," which makes me believe that this might be a timing issue. I get this notification after every boot, so it might be freaking out about not being able to log in while the network connection is not even available yet. Software testing is hard. I initially also thought that clicking the notification might simply open the wrong Settings page, because it's so confusingly worded.

    If I had to think of a feature name that most offensively sounds like it does absolutely nothing of any use, "Shared Experiences" might be something I'd have come up with.

    Reply
    • Bruce Berls Bruce Berls on November 12, 2019 at 10:54 am

      I wonder if you're right about the timing! That makes sense.

      Reply
  69. Izzy Izzy on November 9, 2019 at 9:52 am

    Hey Bruce. It's funny how Microsoft Windows 10 is a whole different from system to system even with the same software version. The one i'm using don't have either the "Microsoft Account" switch under notifications (like your) but also in "Nearby Sharing" it's only two sections: 1) Accounts 2) Share Across Devices. It doesn't have the whole "Nearby Sharing" section. So i ALREADY had "shared across devices" turned off and it's still pestering me with the messages. 🙁

    Reply
    • Bruce Berls Bruce Berls on November 10, 2019 at 4:33 pm

      At this point I've lost track of what to expect. My laptop is set up with a local account, not a personal MS account, and it's been updated to version 1903. I've got the same sharing options, including Nearby Sharing. So I have no idea why you're not seeing it. Oh, Microsoft!

      Reply
  70. Karen E Karen E on November 2, 2019 at 12:12 am

    I also am still getting the notifications even with those two settings off. [I also get a complaint from Calendar (which I don't use) saying that my Outlook account (which I don't have) settings are out of date "" I suspect the two are related.]

    But Gina's suggestion to turn off notifications for Microsoft Account and Calendar seems the wrong way to go about this "" I want to fix the root cause, not just prevent Windows from telling me about it.

    [BTW: Bruce, I'm sure you have that option. Under System -> Notifications & actions, as long as the main switch right under "Notifications" is on, you can scroll farther down to "Get notifications from these senders" and there should be a list of apps and services whose notifications you can silence individually.]

    Reply
    • Bruce Berls Bruce Berls on November 2, 2019 at 9:48 am

      I love this mystery! I don't have "Microsoft Account" listed in System / Notifications & actions / Get notifications from these senders . This just occurred to me "" I don't have my PCs linked to an individual Microsoft account. ( More about that here .) One is linked to a business Office 365 account, one isn't linked to any online account. I bet the "Microsoft Account" option has something to do with that connection. That doesn't tell us what you're being notified about, though.

      Reply
  71. Gina J Gina J on October 31, 2019 at 2:51 am

    Hello. I have had this problem for a while, turned off the shared experiences option several times without success.
    The message always came back.
    So I did Settings/Systems/Notifications and actions. Scrolled down to "Get notificatons from these apps'.
    I turned off notifications from Microsoft Account. Nothing has come back so far. Fingers crossed. Not sure why I would need notifications from my Microsoft accoun anyway, the only one I've ever had is this irritating "Fix it', pointless warning,

    Reply
    • Bruce Berls Bruce Berls on October 31, 2019 at 10:53 am

      You have a slider to turn notification on/off from "Microsoft Account"? That's fascinating. I don't think I've ever seen that. I don't have it on my PCs. I wonder what that's about?

      Reply
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[Jun 06, 2021] Microsoft outlook.com idiotism

First of all those idiots assume that each phone have test capability. Second the whole idea of binding your PC to microsoft email account is extremely idiotic and smell with total surveillance.
Jun 01, 2021 | answers.microsoft.com
LO LoLOuT Created on February 9, 2019 Login Problem Call us overprotective...

...but we need to make sure you can receive a security code if you ever lose access to this account. (idiotism)

Where should we send your code? and shows my **** old email which i had 20 years ago and i dont remember it i think its dead by now. also i changed my email from here

Contact details Edit profile

We use your contact details to deliver important information about your account. It also helps friends to find you on Skype and Skype for Business.

Add Email address then i changed old email to myfuckingnewemail.gmail.com its just example :D gave it Primary Email status but i still get old email from login what should i do with this bug

i have this account from my lifetime so i dont want lose it for some childish developers

This thread is locked. You can follow the question or vote as helpful, but you cannot reply to this thread. I have the same question (5) Subscribe | Report abuse Replies (1) îœ RA Rain_A

Replied on February 9, 2019

Hi LoLOuT,

Greetings from Skype!

While it's great to hear that you've never had problems with your account, it's still important to have insurance against accidents and that's what security info is.

Also, while you might be good at remembering your passwords, you never know when someone might try to compromise your account. Having up-to-date security info helps protect against that too. Also, security info is the key to getting back into an account if you ever forget your password or if someone tries to break into your account. Without that info, you could permanently lose access to your account, your games, apps, subscriptions, email, photos, and files so we occasionally ask customers to confirm their info is accurate so that doesn't happen.

I also sent you a private message which you can via this link: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/privatemessage/inbox?tm=1549741139506

This is for us to further investigate the issue.

Thanks and I look forward to your reply!

[May 28, 2021] Microsoft To Add Support for Linux GUI Apps on Windows 10 Later This Year

May 26, 2021 | linux.slashdot.org

(zdnet.com) 102 as of the next Windows 10 release , officials said on May 25.

Microsoft officials made the announcement on Day 1 of its virtual Build 2021 developers conference. From a report: During his Day 1 keynote, CEO Satya Nadella basically acknowledged there will be another event "soon" about the next Windows. He said: ""And soon we will share one of the most significant updates of Windows of the past decade." He said he has been self-hosting it over the past several months and called it "the next generation of Windows."

Microsoft released a preview of Linux GUI apps on the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) in April, 2021. This capability is meant to allow developers to run their preferred Linux tools, utilities and apps directly on Windows 10. With GUI app support, users can now run GUI apps for testing, development and daily use without having to set up a virtual machine.

[May 28, 2021] Microsoft Launches personal version of Teams with free all-day video calling

Highly recommended!
May 16, 2021 | slashdot.org
(theverge.com) 59

Posted by msmash on Monday May 17, 2021 @12:02PM from the how-about-that dept. Microsoft is launching the personal version of Microsoft Teams today. After previewing the service nearly a year ago, Microsoft Teams is now available for free personal use amongst friends and families . From a report:

The service itself is almost identical to the Microsoft Teams that businesses use, and it will allow people to chat, video call, and share calendars, locations, and files easily. Microsoft is also continuing to offer everyone free 24-hour video calls that it introduced in the preview version in November.

You'll be able to meet up with up to 300 people in video calls that can last for 24 hours. Microsoft will eventually enforce limits of 60 minutes for group calls of up to 100 people after the pandemic, but keep 24 hours for 1:1 calls.

While the preview initially launched on iOS and Android, Microsoft Teams for personal use now works across the web, mobile, and desktop apps. Microsoft is also allowing Teams personal users to enable its Together mode -- a feature that uses AI to segment your face and shoulders and place you together with other people in a virtual space. Skype got this same feature back in December.

[May 28, 2021] The Windows 21H1 update, and why I won't miss Windows 10X

May 27, 2021 | www.computerworld.com

Bifurcating Windows is a bad idea

Microsoft has bifurcated Windows several times over the years, and every time it did, the decision to do so ended badly. First, there was OS/2 vs. Dos/Windows, then Windows 95. OS/2 was ahead of its time; the desktop hardware wasn't yet capable of running a heavy OS. Even at IBM, the primary backer of OS/2, many departments avoided it like the plague for compatibility and slow-boot reasons, though it was arguably more reliable. Then came Windows NT, an updated, clean room version of NT, and Windows 9x.

Secure Cloud Products and Services with New AWS CIS Benchmarks

SponsoredPost Sponsored by CIS

Secure Cloud Products and Services with New AWS CIS Benchmarks

Amazon Web Services (AWS) continues to expand with new cloud products and services. The Center for Internet Security (CIS) responded with more resources to help secure these AWS cloud offerings.

Windows NT went from being an alternative to UNIX to becoming the "corporate" desktop OS. Windows 9x focused on consumers, but in-fighting between the two groups was ugly, and when Windows 2000 (the follow on to NT) and Windows Millennium came out, neither OS was loved. Millenium, in fact, was a train wreck.

Windows 2000 became Windows XT, but there were embedded versions of Windows and versions that worked on an ARM that sucked as the failed Windows Mobile and Phone platforms. Every time Microsoft tried to have multiple desktop versions of its OS, things ended badly.

I expected Windows 10X to continue that trend. Fortunately for us, someone at Microsoft got tired of dealing with new Windows variants and decided to roll many of the Windows 10X features into a full Windows 10 update. Thus, we got Windows 10 21H1.

[Mar 20, 2021] Fix Windows 10 Privacy can disable approximately 130 rules to protect your privacy.

Mar 20, 2021 | www.majorgeeks.com

 download Fix Windows 10 Privacy Fix Windows 10 Privacy 1.1.1.2 \New Fix Windows 10 Privacy can disable approximately 130 rules to protect your privacy.

[Oct 22, 2019] Windows 10 Testers Can Now Answer Android Phone Calls and Text Messages

Oct 22, 2019 | tech.slashdot.org

(venturebeat.com) 21

Posted by EditorDavid on Saturday October 12, 2019 @04:34PM from the Microsoft-Android dept. An anonymous reader quotes VentureBeat:

At Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked 2019 in August and the Surface hardware event last week, Microsoft talked about Windows 10's Your Phone app getting a new "Calls" feature. Today, the company is letting Windows Insiders start testing an early preview of Android calling on Windows 10 .

Having given up on Windows Phone, Microsoft has increasingly poured more resources into Android as its mobile platform of choice. The company offers plenty of Android apps and features, including some that it can't match on Apple's more restricted iOS platform. Last week, Microsoft even unveiled the dual-screen Surface Neo Android phone , coming in holiday 2020.

Your Phone is part of Microsoft's "Continue on PC" functionality, which lets you send a task from your Android or iOS device to Windows 10. The app's main purpose is to let you access your phone's content -- like text messages, photos, and notifications -- right on your PC. The feature first arrived with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update in October 2017, and Microsoft has been broadening it ever since. Calling support means you no longer have to grab your Android phone to answer a call when you're at your computer. You can interact with the call using your PC's speakers, microphone, and screen.

[Dec 16, 2018] Windows 10 Sends Your Activity History to Microsoft, Even if You Tell It Not To by Chris Hoffman

Notable quotes:
"... This problem was recently discussed on Reddit, and it's pretty easy to confirm. Head to Settings > Privacy > Activity History and disable "Send my activity history to Microsoft." It was already disabled on our PC, so it made this easy to test. ..."
"... Update: Microsoft has confirmed this, telling us you'll need to set this option to "Basic" to stop Windows from sending your app usage history to Microsoft. ..."
Dec 10, 2018 | www.howtogeek.com

Chris Hoffman @chrisbhoffman
December 10, 2018, 1:15pm EDT

Windows 10 collects an "Activity History" of applications you launch on your PC and sends it to Microsoft. Even if you disable or clear this, Microsoft's Privacy Dashboard still shows an "Activity History" of applications you've launched on your PCs.

Update: Microsoft's Marisa Rogers reached out to us with the following statement:

"Microsoft is committed to customer privacy, being transparent about the data we collect and use for your benefit, and we give you controls to manage your data. In this case, the same term "Activity History" is used in both Windows 10 and the Microsoft Privacy Dashboard. Windows 10 Activity History data is only a subset of the data displayed in the Microsoft Privacy Dashboard. We are working to address this naming issue in a future update."

In addition to simply disabling the "Send my activity history to Microsoft" option, Microsoft told us you must set your diagnostic data level to "Basic." This will prevent Windows 10 from sending app usage history to Microsoft.

This problem was recently discussed on Reddit, and it's pretty easy to confirm. Head to Settings > Privacy > Activity History and disable "Send my activity history to Microsoft." It was already disabled on our PC, so it made this easy to test.

For bonus points, you can also click the "Clear" button under Clear Activity History. This should, theoretically, clear all that data from Microsoft's servers. But, apparently, it doesn't.

You'll see a list of applications you've launched on your connected PCs, even if you've disabled or cleared your Activity History on those PCs.

This is pretty strange and confusing, but we think there's a simple explanation: Microsoft also collects a history of applications you launch through Windows 10's diagnostics. We think the "Activity History" page in the Privacy Dashboard has an incorrect name. It's not part of the Windows 10 "Activity History" feature, which is associated with the Timeline.

Windows 10's default diagnostic setting, "Full," says it sends "info about websites you browse and how you use apps and features," so this data may just be sent to Microsoft through Windows 10's normal telemetry. You can find these options at Settings > Privacy > Diagnostics & Feedback.

Update: Microsoft has confirmed this, telling us you'll need to set this option to "Basic" to stop Windows from sending your app usage history to Microsoft.

This whole confusing mess highlights how Microsoft has failed to explain exactly what data Windows 10 collects and how you can control it.

The Privacy Dashboard was designed to make this more transparent, but even the dashboard is confusing and uses incorrect names that don't match the associated features in Windows 10. Microsoft still has a lot of work to do here.

[Oct 16, 2017] Windows 10 setup and configuration tips Don't settle for default settings ZDNet

Oct 16, 2017 | www.zdnet.com

javascript:void(0)

The tips in this category are all about setting up Windows 10 the right way, and then configuring it the way you want it to work.

I assume that you've already done a clean install of Windows 10 or upgraded from a previous edition. (For answers to all your questions on Windows 10 installation issues, see my FAQ: "How to install, reinstall, upgrade and activate Windows 10" .)

And if you've heard that Microsoft is no longer offering free Windows 10 upgrades, I have a pleasant surprise for you: See "Here's how you can still get a free Windows 10 upgrade."

After you've got Windows 10 up and running, you're ready for the tips in this category.

Temporarily delay the Fall Creators Update

Each time Microsoft rolls out a major upgrade to Windows 10, you have the option to wait a few months before you install it on PCs running Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise. But you have to act quickly.

Find any Windows 10 setting in seconds

One confusing aspect of Windows 10 is the way it keeps some options in the old-style Control Panel and others in the new Settings app. The good news is you don't have to guess where to look, once you learn these two search secrets.

See also:

Turn off Cortana completely

Microsoft has removed Cortana's on-off switch. But the option to disable Cortana is still available, if you know where to look. Use this tweak to make Windows search strictly local.

See also:

Shut down OneDrive completely

In Windows 10, OneDrive is built in. The connections are so tight, in fact, that OneDrive has its own node in File Explorer, with no obvious way to remove it. But the options to disconnect OneDrive are there if you know where to look. Here are the full instructions.

See also:

Switch back to a local account from a Microsoft account

During Setup, Windows 10 encourages you to use a Microsoft account. But if you prefer to use a local account, the option is there. Here's how to switch back easily.

See also:

Find your PC's original product key

If you've purchased a new PC with Windows pre-installed in the past few years, chances are it has a product key embedded in its BIOS. With a little PowerShell wizardry, you can find that well-hidden key and learn more about your current licensing status.

More Windows 10 tips in this category:

[Aug 30, 2017] How to Install and Use the Linux Bash Shell on Windows 10

Aug 30, 2017 | www.howtogeek.com
Windows 10's Anniversary Update offers a big new feature for developers: A full, Ubuntu-based Bash shell that can run Linux software directly on Windows. This is made possible by the new "Windows Subsystem for Linux" Microsoft is adding to Windows 10.

What You Need to Know About Windows 10's Bash Shell

RELATED ARTICLE Everything You Can Do With Windows 10's New Bash Shell

This isn't a virtual machine , a container, or Linux software compiled for Windows (like Cygwin ). Instead, Windows 10 gains a Windows Subsystem for Linux, which is based on Microsoft's abandoned Project Astoria work for running Android apps on Windows.

Think of it as the opposite of Wine . While Wine allows you to run Windows applications directly on Linux, the Windows Subsystem for Linux allows you to run Linux applications directly on Windows.

Microsoft has worked with Canonical to offer a full Ubuntu-based Bash shell that runs atop this subsystem. Technically, this isn't Linux at all. Linux is the underlying operating system kernel, and that isn't available here. Instead, this allows you to run the Bash shell and the exact same binaries you'd normally run on Ubuntu Linux. Free-software purists often argue the average Linux operating system should be called "GNU/Linux" because it's really a lot of GNU software running on the Linux kernel. The Bash shell you'll get is really just all those GNU utilities and other software.

There are some limitations here. This won't work with server software, and it won't work with graphical software. It's intended for developers who want to run Linux command-line utilities on Windows. These applications get access to the Windows file system, but you can't use Bash commands to automate normal Windows programs, or launch Bash commands from the standard Windows command-line. They get access to the same Windows file system, but that's it. Not every command-line application will work, either, as this feature is still in beta.

How to Install Bash on Windows 10

RELATED ARTICLE What's New in Windows 10's Anniversary Update

To get started, ensure you've installed the Windows 10 Anniversary Update. This only works on 64-bit builds of Windows 10, so it's time to switch to the 64-bit version of Windows 10 if you're still using the 32-bit version.

Once you're sure you're using the correct version of Windows 10, open the Settings app and head to Update & Security > For Developers. Activate the "Developer Mode" switch here to enable Developer Mode.

[Aug 30, 2017] Install the Linux Subsystem on Windows 10

Aug 30, 2017 | msdn.microsoft.com
For Windows Insiders: Install Linux distribution of choice

This section is for Windows Insiders (build 16215 or later). Follow these steps to Check your build . For earlier versions of Windows 10, follow these instructions using lxrun .

  1. Open the Windows Store and choose your favorite Linux distribution.
    Here are links directly to the store installers:
  2. Select "Get"

    Troubleshooting: Installation failed with error 0x80070003
    The Windows Subsystem for Linux only runs on your system drive (usually this is your C: drive). Make sure that new apps are stored on your system drive.
    Open Settings -> Storage -> More Storage Settings: Change where new content is saved

  3. Once the download has completed, select "Launch".
    This will open a console window. Wait for installation to complete then you will be prompted to create your UNIX user account.

    Troubleshooting: Installation failed with error 0x8007007e
    This error occurs when your system doesn't support Linux from the store. Make sure that:

  4. Create your UNIX username and password. This user account can be different from, and has no relationship to, your Windows username and password. Read more .

You're done! Now you can use your Linux environment.

For Anniversary Update and Creators Update: Install using lxrun

lxrun installs Ubuntu user-mode by default on top of the Windows subsystem for Linux.

Since moving to the store, we have stopped keeping this user-mode image up to date. When you're done, run apt-get update.

  1. Turn on Developer Mode

    Open Settings -> Update and Security -> For developers

    Select the Developer Mode radio button

  2. Open a command prompt. Run bash

    After you have accepted the License, the Ubuntu user-mode image will be downloaded and extracted. A "Bash on Ubuntu on Windows" shortcut will be added to your start menu.

  3. Launch a new Ubuntu shell by either:
    • Running bash from a command-prompt
    • Clicking the start menu shortcut
  4. Create a UNIX user

    The first time you install the Windows subsystem for Linux, you will be prompted to create a UNIX username and password.

    This UNIX username and password can be different from, and has no relationship to, your Windows username and password. Learn more about your UNIX account. .

After installation your Linux distribution will be located at: %localappdata%\lxss\ .

Avoid creating and/or modifying files in %localappdata%\lxss\ using Windows tools and apps! If you do, it is likely that your Linux files will be corrupted and data loss may occur. Avoid this issue by using a directory located under /mnt/.
Read this blog post for more information.

You're done! Go use your new Linux environment!

[Aug 30, 2017] Windows 10 Anniversary Update in August 2016 included Bash for Windows, or Windows Subsystem for Linux

Iether Ubuntu utilities or OpenSuse utilities including bash can be installed. That essentially makes Cygwin redundant.
Aug 30, 2017 | www.theregister.co.uk

Back in the desktop world, Windows 10 will now run SUSE Linux. Windows 10 Anniversary Update in August 2016 included Bash for Windows, or Windows Subsystem for Linux, to run Ubuntu Linux apps natively.

Now, however, SUSE Linux has updated the Windows Subsystem to work with its shell. You can install openSUSE Leap 42.2 or SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2.

Instructions are here .

[Dec 26, 2016] Does Windows 10s Data Collection Trade Privacy For Microsofts Security?

Dec 26, 2016 | yro.slashdot.org
(pcworld.com) 181 Posted by EditorDavid on Sunday December 04, 2016 @07:09PM from the peeking-through-Windows dept. jader3rd shares an article from PC World arguing that Windows 10's data collection "trades your privacy for Microsoft's security." [Anonymized] usage data lets Microsoft beef up threat protection , says Rob Lefferts, Microsoft's director of program management for Windows Enterprise and Security. The information collected is used to improve various components in Windows Defender... For example, Windows Defender Application Guard for Microsoft Edge will put the Edge browser into a lightweight virtual machine to make it harder to break out of the browser and attack the operating system. With telemetry, Microsoft can see when infections get past Application Guard defenses and improve the security controls to reduce recurrences.

Microsoft also pulls signals from other areas of the Windows ecosystem, such as Active Directory, with information from the Windows 10 device to look for patterns that can indicate a problem like ransomware infections and other attacks. To detect those patterns, Microsoft needs access to technical data, such as what processes are consuming system resources, hardware diagnostics, and file-level information like which applications had which files open, Lefferts says. Taken together, the hardware information, application details, and device driver data can be used to identify parts of the operating system are exposed and should be isolated into virtual containers.
The article points out that unlike home users, enterprise users of Windows 10 can select a lower level of data-sharing, but argues that enterprises "need to think twice before turning off Windows telemetry to increase corporate privacy" because Windows Update won't work without information about whether previous updates succeeded or failed.

[Dec 26, 2016] How Microsoft Lost In Court Over Windows 10 Upgrades

Dec 26, 2016 | yro.slashdot.org
Posted by EditorDavid on Sunday December 04, 2016 @03:39PM from the winning-against-Windows dept. In June a California woman successfully sued Microsoft for $10,000 over forced Windows 10 upgrades, and she's now written a 58-page ebook about her battle (which she's selling for $9.99 ). But an anonymous Slashdot reader shares another inspiring story about a Texas IT worker and Linux geek who got Microsoft to pay him $650 for all the time that he lost. "Worley built a Windows 7 machine for his grandfather, who has Alzheimer's Disease, [customized] to look like Windows XP, an operating system his grandfather still remembered well..." writes Digital Trends. "But thanks to Microsoft's persistent Windows 10 upgrade program, Worley's grandfather unknowingly initiated the Win 10 upgrade by clicking the 'X' to close an upgrade window." After Worley filed a legal "Notice of Dispute," Microsoft quickly agreed to his demand for $650 , which he donated to a non-profit focusing on Alzheimer's patients.

But according to the article, that's just the beginning, since Worley now "hopes people impacted by the forced Windows 10 upgrade will write a complaint to Microsoft demanding a settlement for their wasted time and money in repairing the device," and on his web page suggests that if people don't need the money, they should give it to charities fighting Alzheimer's . "If Microsoft isn't going to wake up and realize that lobbing intentionally-tricky updates at people who don't need and can't use them actively damages not only the lives of the Alzheimer's sufferer, but those of their whole family, then let's cure the disease on Microsoft's dime so their tactics and those of companies that will follow their reckless example aren't as damaging."
Worley suggests each Notice of Dispute should demand at least $50 per hour from Microsoft, adding "If recent history holds steady they might just write you a check!"

[Dec 26, 2016] PowerShell Security Threats Greater Than Ever, Researchers Warn

Dec 26, 2016 | tech.slashdot.org
(computerweekly.com) 129 Posted by msmash on Thursday December 08, 2016 @01:50PM from the security-woes dept. Microsoft's Windows PowerShell configuration management framework continues to be abused by cyber attackers, according to researchers at Symantec, who have seen a surge in associated threats. From a report on ComputerWeekly: More than 95% of PowerShell scripts analysed by Symantec researchers have been found to be malicious , with 111 threat families using PowerShell. Malicious PowerShell scripts are on the rise, as attackers are using the framework's flexibility to download their payloads, traverse through a compromised network and carry out reconnaissance, according to Candid Wueest, threat researcher at Symantec.

[Dec 26, 2016] Windows 10 Update Broke DHCP, Knocked Users Off the Internet

Dec 26, 2016 | tech.slashdot.org
(arstechnica.com) 256 Posted by msmash on Wednesday December 14, 2016 @12:25PM from the windows-updates dept. Microsoft has quietly fixed a software update it released last week, which effectively prevented Windows 10 users from connecting to the Internet or joining a local network. From a report on ArsTechnica: It's unclear exactly which automatic update caused the problem or exactly when it was released -- current (unconfirmed) signs point to KB3201845 released on December 9 -- but whatever it was appeared to break DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol), preventing Windows 10 from automatically acquiring an IP address from the network . There's also little detail on how many people were affected or why, but multiple cases have been confirmed across Europe by many ISPs. A Microsoft spokesperson has meanwhile confirmed that "some customers" had been experiencing "difficulties" getting online, but that's about it for public statements at present. However, a moderator on the company's forums has said the fix was included in a patch released on Tuesday called KB3206632.

[Dec 26, 2016] Microsoft Exec Admits They Went Too Far With Aggressive Windows 10 Updates

Dec 26, 2016 | tech.slashdot.org
(softpedia.com) 248 Posted by msmash on Friday December 23, 2016 @10:20AM from the aggressive-updates dept. It's no secret that Microsoft has been aggressively pushing Windows 10 to users. Over the past year and a half, we have seen users complain about Windows 10 automatically getting downloaded to their computer, and in some cases, getting installed on its own as well. The automatic download irked many users who were on limited or slow data plans, or didn't want to spend gigabytes of data on Windows 10. A company executive has admitted for the first time that they may have went overboard with Windows 10 updates. From a report on Softpedia: Chris Capossela, Chief Marketing Officer at Microsoft, said in the latest edition of the Windows Weekly that this was the moment when the company indeed went too far, pointing out that the two weeks between the moment when users started complaining about the unexpected behavior and the one when a patch was released were "very painful." "We know we want people to be running Windows 10 from a security perspective, but finding the right balance where you're not stepping over the line of being too aggressive is something we tried and for a lot of the year I think we got it right, but there was one particular moment in particular where, you know, the red X in the dialog box which typically means you cancel didn't mean cancel," he said. "And within a couple of hours of that hitting the world, with the listening systems we have we knew that we had gone too far and then, of course, it takes some time to roll out the update that changes that behavior. And those two weeks were pretty painful and clearly a lowlight for us. We learned a lot from it obviously."

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