help me please to block all the optional and update that push w7 and w8 to upgrade to w10
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By Abhay V
Microsoft releases firmware and driver updates for Surface Laptop and Pro devices
by Abhay Venkatesh
As part of the regular updates for its Surface devices, Microsoft is rolling out a bunch of firmware updates to the Surface Laptop 1, Laptop 2, Pro 5, and Pro 6 devices. The updates are rolling out to devices running the Windows 10 May 2019 Update (version 1903) or newer and bring a bunch of audio, reliability, and other improvements.
The first-gen Surface Laptop updates mostly bring audio performance and playback improvements, in addition to the general system updates to enhance stability. Here is the complete changelog for the update:
Windows Update History Name
Device Manager Name
Version and Update
Realtek Semiconductor Corp. - SoftwareComponent - 11.0.6000.92
Realtek Hardware Support Application - Software components
11.0.6000.92
Improves application stability during audio playback. Realtek Semiconductor Corp. - Media - 6.0.8936.1
Realtek High Definition Audio (SST) - Sound, video, and game controllers
6.0.8936.1
Improves audio performance and battery life. Realtek Semiconductor Corp. - Extension - 6.1.0.6
Realtek High Definition Audio (SST) Extension - no Device Manager notes
6.1.0.6
Improves integration between system services. Surface – System – 6.105.139.0
Surface Integration Driver Service – System devices
6.105.139.0
Improves integration between system services. The updates for the Surface Laptop 2 are mostly identical, including the same audio performance improvements. However, the second general clamshell laptop is receiving an additional fix for the Serial Hub Driver that fixes issues with the system experiencing bugchecks. Here is the changelog for the additional driver update:
Windows Update History Name
Device Manager Name
Version and Update
Surface - System – 9.49.139.0
Surface Serial Hub Driver – System devices
9.49.139.0
Addresses system bugcheck. Next up are the Surface Pro devices. The update changelogs for the fifth-gen and sixth-gen Surface Pro devices are identical to that of the first-gen Surface Laptop, bringing similar audio and stability fixes to the devices.
The company has not listed any known issues with these updates, which is always a good thing. As usual, these firmware releases will be rolled out in a staggered manner, meaning that not all devices will receive the update right away.
Again, users of these PCs should be running Windows 10 version 1903 or newer. With this version of the OS soon reaching the end of support next week, Microsoft has already begun force-upgrading users to Windows 10 version 1909, so it shouldn’t be a problem for most users. You can head to Windows Update to check if your device has been offered the updates yet.
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By Sszecret
Microsoft Weekly: Halo 4 finally on PC, more Fluent icons, and optional updates
by Florin Bodnarescu
The last week brought Halo 4 for the first time to PC players the world over, a Fluent Design upgrade for Edge icons showed up – as well as multiple new features -, plus some security fixes for a range of Windows 10 versions. You can find info about that, as well as much more below, in your Microsoft digest for the week of November 15 - 21.
Halo 4 finally on PC
After much anticipation, the final title in the Master Chief Collection, aka Halo 4, has finally arrived on PC. Bringing cross-play support and a bunch of new enhancements, the game is now live on Steam, the Microsoft Store and Xbox Game Pass for PC. If you’re curious as to what exactly the title has to offer, do take a peek at the review that’s currently up, in which our very own Pulasthi Ariyasinghe calls the FPS a “satisfying conclusion to the Master Chief Collection”.
Continuing with the first-party news, Sea of Thieves has received its November update, complete with a range of bug fixes, upgrades to Treasure Vault voyages, performance improvements, and much, much more. The update comes in at 6GB on Windows 10, Xbox One X, and Xbox Series X, with the One S and Series S owners receiving a slightly smaller 5GB update. Steam owners are the luckiest with a measly 3.6GB required to download.
And since we mentioned it, before we get back to the game news, it’s worth interjecting with the fact that new Xbox Series S orders may arrive after the holidays. This is because, unsurprisingly, the Series S is out of stock.
Returning to first-party games, Minecraft has just gotten a new Star Wars-themed DLC, and if that’s not quite what you want to be playing this week, there’s always a bunch of Deals with Gold to browse, including ones for Code Vein, Dark Souls, Ace Combat 7, and much more.
Ending this section is a bit of gameplay from both the Xbox One X and Series X for CD Projekt RED’s upcoming open-world RPG, Cyberpunk 2077. Switching between the two consoles frequently, the video highlights interiors, exteriors, combat, and other NPC interactions.
More Fluent icons
Regardless of your opinion of the new Edge, one major change in comparison to the Legacy version is that the browser gets updated more frequently than before.
As such, everybody in the Dev and Canary channels can now start using the text comments in PDFs feature. If you haven’t gotten it yet, the Dev build is 88.0.702, in case you want to try out this capability.
There are also new features added to Edge this month, like an improved copy-paste experience, better integration with Bing rewards, new shopping features, and much more.
Staying on the subject of improvements, now when you open history, it will show a pop-up window which allows you to more easily navigate through your previously opened links. Furthermore, you’re now able to pin a history icon next to the address bar for easy access.
Microsoft was also eager to share the fact that Edge WebView2 is now available for .NET. This, for folks not aware, is the Chromium Edge equivalent of Project Spartan’s (old Edge) EdgeHTML-based WebView. Additionally, the Redmond firm also aims to stop Chromium browsers from launching with elevated privileges.
Finally, for those of you who wish the company would just stop for a second and update everything to its (for now) unified Fluent Design system, there’s good news. Chromium Edge is going to be getting a new set icons to bring the entire experience more in line with the company’s design aesthetic du jour. The first phase is currently being rolled out.
Optional updates
If you’ve been running Windows 10 for a while, you’ll be aware that Microsoft also releases optional updates from time to time, beyond its Patch Tuesday patches.
If you’re on 1809, or the October 2018 Update, you’ll get KB4594442, which bumps up the build number to 17763.1579 and addresses a security bug with Kerberos authentication and ticket renewal. If you’re running the Anniversary Update (1607), that same fix will come through for you as KB4594441, bumping the build number up to 14393.4048, while folks on the May 2019 Update (1903) and November 2019 Update (1909) will be getting KB4594443, with builds 18362.1199 and 18363.1199, respectively.
Finally, those on either the May 2020 Update (2004) or October 2020 Update (20H2) will receive KB4594440, with builds 19041.631 and 19042.631.
Microsoft was busy releasing even more builds however, so here’s what else you need to be on the lookout for:
May 2019 Update / November 2019 Update (1903/1909): KB4586819, builds 18362.1237 / 18363.1237 – fixes a bug that causes Edge to open in the background when the device is in tablet mode, as well as bugs with USB 3.0 hubs, Narrator, and WMR headsets running in lower resolution modes. October 2018 Update (1809) Enterprise, Education: KB4586839, build 17763.1613 – fixes the same bugs for the version above, as well as the issue which may cause the HDD to fill up in certain error situations. The known issues for all updates above remain the same ones outlined in the Patch Tuesday wave of updates.
In other news, Microsoft will not release any optional Windows 10 cumulative updates in December. This applies to preview updates (so basically A, C, and D wave updates, rather the B wave ones which come with Patch Tuesday every month). This is due to “minimal operations during the holidays and the upcoming Western new year”.
Over in the Insider Dev channel, the company unleashed build 20262 with a number of fixes, as well as 20262.1010, the of which was simply a Cumulative Update to test out the servicing pipeline.
Dev channel
Polls in Teams meetings have now started rolling out. New Power Apps and Dataverse are now generally available for Teams. Photoshop Beta is now available for ARM-based Windows 10 and macOS devices. WinUI 3 Preview 3 is now out, featuring ARM64 support. Dynamics 365 Project Operations has been announced, aimed at service-based businesses in India. Microsoft 365 is now available from datacenters in Brazil. The November updates for Microsoft 365 include new Teams apps, among other features. Teams personal features are now rolling out on desktop and the web. The Surface Studio 2 has gotten new firmware updates to fix audio performance and stability, with the Go 2 and Book 3 now available for purchase in India. Logging off
We cap things off with a new security chip that Microsoft intends to introduce for Windows-based devices.
In what the firm will be dubbing Pluton going forward, Microsoft has announced essentially the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip equivalent, but integrated on the SoC.
Seen in other solutions like the Xbox consoles or Azure Sphere, this is basically an intersection of software and hardware to provide the benefits of TPM chips in terms of security, but (currently) none of the drawbacks. Specifically, since TPM is separate from the CPU, perpetrators are able to target the channel between the CPU and TPM chip with their attacks.
Working with AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm on the solution – with AMD being the first to use it -, Microsoft says that the Pluton chip will work with BitLocker and System Guard, and that information can’t be removed from the chip via malware or any other way.
Integrated with Windows Update in the same way Azure Sphere Security Service integrates with IoT devices, the chip will make sure that firmware updates come directly from Microsoft.
There’s currently no word as to when we’ll be seeing the chip’s debut in PCs.
Missed any of the previous columns? Be sure to have a look right here.
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By Abhay V
Surface Studio 2 updates now rolling out with audio performance and stability fixes
by Abhay Venkatesh
Microsoft has released new updates to Surface Studio 2 PCs, just a few weeks after serving new firmware updates to its newer batch of devices – the Book 3, Laptop 3, Pro 7, and the Go 2. Just like for those devices, the Studio 2 updates bring fixes for audio issues and improvements to overall system stability.
As usual, these updates will be made available to devices running Windows 10 version 1903 (May 2019 Update) or newer. Considering that version 1809 (October 2019 Update) reached the end-of-support this month, most devices should be moved to version 1909 (November 2019 Update) automatically. However, if your device is still running 1809 or an older version of the OS, it is best to upgrade to a supported version.
Here is the complete list of fixes:
Windows Update History Name
Device Manager Name
Version and Update
Surface - Firmware - 532.3389.768.0
Surface UEFI
532.3389.768.0
Improves system stability. Realtek Semiconductor Corp. - SoftwareComponent - 11.0.6000.92
Realtek Hardware Support Application - Software components
11.0.6000.92
Improves audio performance while streaming content. Realtek Semiconductor Corp. - Media - 6.0.8936.1
Realtek High Definition Audio (SST) - Sound, video, and game controllers
6.0.8936.1
Improves audio performance and resolves associated system bugcheck. Realtek Semiconductor Corp. - Extension - 6.1.0.6
Realtek High Definition Audio (SST) Extension - no Device Manager notes
6.1.0.6
Improves integration between system services. As with all such releases, the updates will be available via Windows Update. However, they roll out gradually to all users, so it might be a while before all devices receive the bits through Windows Update. Additionally, the firm notes that there are no known issues, which is always a good thing.
Microsoft recently also updated the Surface lifecycle information document, providing timeframes on driver and firmware support for its PCs. The Surface Studio 2 is slated to be supported until October 2022, adhering to the minimum four years of support that the company promises.
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By Abhay V
Patch Tuesday: Here's what's new for Windows 7 and 8.1 this month
by Abhay Venkatesh
It is the second Tuesday of the month, which means that it is time for Patch Tuesday updates. As usual, all supported versions of Windows receive updates on Patch Tuesday, which include all Windows 10 versions other than version 1511, Windows 8.1, and only the users of Windows 7 that have opted to receive the Extended Security Updates (ESUs).
As usual, these updates are split into two sets – a monthly rollup and a security-only update. While the monthly rollup can be installed via Windows Update, the security-only update must be installed manually.
For Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2, the monthly rollup is labeled KB4586845 and can be manually downloaded from the Update Catalog here. Below are the improvements and fixed made this month:
However, there is also one known issue that users must be aware of:
Symptom
Workaround
Certain operations, such as rename, that you perform on files or folders that are on a Cluster Shared Volume (CSV) may fail with the error, “STATUS_BAD_IMPERSONATION_LEVEL (0xC00000A5)”. This occurs when you perform the operation on a CSV owner node from a process that doesn’t have administrator privilege.
Do one of the following:
Perform the operation from a process that has administrator privilege.
Perform the operation from a node that doesn’t have CSV ownership.
Microsoft is working on a resolution and will provide an update in an upcoming release.
The security-only update is called KB4586823 and can only be installed manually from here. The two fixes in this update are the same as the first and last points in the monthly rollup, and this update shares the single known issue with the one mentioned in the monthly rollup.
As for Windows 7, these updates will only be available to businesses that have opted to pay for extended security updates since this version of the OS reached the end of support officially in January 2020. Eligible users will receive monthly rollup KB4586827, which can be manually downloaded from here. The update includes the following fixes:
This update also has a couple of known issues which are mentioned below:
Symptom
Workaround
After installing this update and restarting your device, you might receive the error, “Failure to configure Windows updates. Reverting Changes. Do not turn off your computer,” and the update might show as Failed in Update History.
This is expected in the following circumstances:
If you are installing this update on a device that is running an edition that is not supported for ESU. For a complete list of which editions are supported, see KB4497181.
If you do not have an ESU MAK add-on key installed and activated.
If you have purchased an ESU key and have encountered this issue, please verify you have applied all prerequisites and that your key is activated. For information on activation, please see this blog post. For information on the prerequisites, see the "How to get this update" section of this article.
Certain operations, such as rename, that you perform on files or folders that are on a Cluster Shared Volume (CSV) may fail with the error, “STATUS_BAD_IMPERSONATION_LEVEL (0xC00000A5)”. This occurs when you perform the operation on a CSV owner node from a process that doesn’t have administrator privilege.
Do one of the following:
Perform the operation from a process that has administrator privilege.
Perform the operation from a node that doesn’t have CSV ownership.
Microsoft is working on a resolution and will provide an update in an upcoming release.
The security-only update is termed KB4586805 and can be downloaded manually from here. The changes are identical to the monthly rollup and also shares its known issues with the rollup.
Another point to note for Windows 10 users is that version 1809 reaches the end of support today for Home and Pro users, which means that users of those SKUs will receive their last cumulative update today.
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By Sszecret
Microsoft Weekly: Xbox and chill, billions to spare, and distinguished driver updates
by Florin Bodnarescu
The week brought us not only the revenue figures for Microsoft’s first quarter of its 2021 fiscal year, but also an Xbox fridge, and even vertical tabs in Edge. You can find info about that, as well as much more below, in your Microsoft digest for the week of October 25 - 31.
Xbox and chill
With the next generation of Xbox consoles mere days away, Microsoft has announced that there will be a live-stream event for the Series X|S launch on November 10, set to kick off at 2PM ET. However, that’s not all the company announced this week.
Ever since its reveal at The Game Awards in December of last year, the Xbox Series X has been memed up and down. Among said memes, the most popular compared the console to a fridge. Not to be one-upped, Microsoft decided to not let the memes be dreams, and actually made a Series X fridge. Not only is this real, but it also plays the same Series X boot-up sound when you open the door, and comes complete with green LEDs on the inside. And yes, you can win one if you retweet the announcement tweet by November 4.
Needless to say, with the launch so close, Microsoft was eager to reiterate that the Series X and S will leverage “full” RDNA 2 capabilities, stating that it “chose to wait for the most advanced technology” from AMD before finalizing its next console.
In not so great news, Halo Infinite head Chris Lee has stepped down, leaving series veterans Joseph Staten and Pierre Hintze in charge of the next Master Chief-centered title. If all goes well, Infinite should land sometime in 2021 on the Xbox One and Xbox Series families of consoles, as well as PC. As far as a Halo game that is coming to PC much earlier, the Halo 4 Insider session has been extended, simultaneously gaining Halo Reach multiplayer for cross-play tests.
Continuing the not-so-great news, Microsoft will be pulling the plug on the Gears Pop! mobile game, less than two years after launch. According to the company, the reason why the game is being shut down is because it’s no longer feasible to keep developing it.
More first-party news came through by way of Asobo, with the fifth patch for Flight Simulator seeing a brief delay, but arriving a mere three days later than expected and fixing a bunch of bugs, but also adding some known issues. The fixes included cover everything from the planes, UI, installation manager, Marketplace, and much more.
Sea of Thieves got its Fate of the Damned update with spooky voyages, gameplay changes, and more skeleton pets. Updates were also headed to the Xbox Game Bar on Windows 10, in the form of new widgets and a new entry under Settings > Gaming features, which allows you to see if your PC supports DirectX 12 Ultimate.
Finally, this would all be pointless without some actual games to play, including Aragami: Shadow Edition, Full Spectrum Warrior, LEGO Indiana Jones, and Swimsanity!, all of which can be claimed for free this month as part of the November wave of Games with Gold. Aragami: Shadow Edition and Full Spectrum Warrior can in fact be claimed right now.
If that’s not quite what you’re looking for, there are always Deals with Gold, or the new additions to Xbox Game Pass. On both console and PC, you’re already able to play Carto, Day of the Tentacle Remastered, Full Throttle Remastered, Grim Fandango Remastered, and can look forward to Knights and Bikes on November 5.
If you want to game across PC, console, and your Android device (thanks to xCloud), you’re able to play Five Nights at Freddy’s and Unruly Heroes already, with Celeste, Deep Rock Galactic, and Eastshade arriving November 5, followed by Ark: Survival Evolved: Explorer’s Edition on November 17.
As far as titles only available on a single platform in Game Pass, there’s the already playable PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds on Android (via xCloud), and Comanche, which is set to arrive on PC on November 5.
You should know that a number of games have left the subscription recently. On console, you can no longer play After Party, LEGO Star Wars III, as well as Rise & Shine, while The Red Strings Club has been removed from the PC variant of Game Pass. Ending with titles that have been removed from both PC and console, there’s Tacoma and The Lord of the Rings: Adventure Card Game.
Billions to spare
As was to be expected, this week Microsoft announced its earnings for the first quarter of FY2021.
Revenue grew by 12% over the same quarter last year, totalling $37.2B. Of that sum, Productivity and Business Processes came in with $12.3B (up 11%), Intelligent Cloud with $13B (up 20%), and More Personal Computing with $11.8B revenue (up 6%).
Starting with Productivity and Business Processes, there was a 9% increase in Office Commercial products and cloud services, including 21% growth in Office 365 Commercial. The products, however, declined by 30%.
On the consumer side, Office products and cloud services revenue grew by 13%, and Microsoft 365 Consumer subscribers stand at 45.3 million (up 27%). LinkedIn revenue was up 16%, and sessions grew by 31%. As far as Dynamics is concerned, products and cloud services revenue grew by 19%, mainly due to the 38% increase in Dynamics 365 revenue.
To nobody’s surprise, Azure was the main component behind the growth in the Intelligent Cloud section. All Server products and cloud services grew by 22% - including the 48% growth in Azure. Server products specifically though, actually declined 1%.
Last but not least, when it comes to More Personal Computing, Windows OEM revenue declined by 5%, a stat that includes a 31% growth in non-Pro revenue, meaning there was also a 22% decline in Pro revenue. Windows Commercial products and cloud services grew 13%.
Surface revenue was boosted quite a bit, with a 37% increase. This (and the increase in Windows non-Pro revenue) is attributed by the company to increased PC demand.
Gaming revenue also increased by 22%, including a 30% increase in Xbox content and services. Finally, search advertising revenue - excluding traffic acquisition costs - was down 10%.
Distinguished driver updates
It’s worth kicking this section off with the fact that, starting November 5, Microsoft is going to better distinguish between manual and automatic updates in Windows Update. This, according to the company, is done to give users better control over plug-and-play accessories that automatically download and install drivers. Furthermore, the Redmond giant is also looking to overhaul the Windows 10 UI starting with 21H2, the update scheduled for the second half of 2021.
We should also mention an optional update that Microsoft pushed out earlier this week, for versions 2004 – apparently the most popular version of Windows 10 currently - and 20H2. Found under the KB4580364 Knowledge Base article, this update bumps up the build for 2004 to 19041.610, and for 20H2 to 19042.610. It adds the Meet Now feature to the Taskbar, as well as fixing an issue which would cause devices to stop working after using the pen for several hours.
There is one known issue to be on the lookout for, specifically regarding Japanese or Chinese IMEs. When using the Input Method Editor for either language, you may experience issues with input, receive unexpected results, or you might not be able to enter text.
For testers in the Dev channel, a new build arrived this week, namely 20246.1. Coming from the fe_release branch, it’s apparently the only such build testers will get for a while. In other words, this is merely Microsoft testing a switch in release branches, which means a switch back to rs_prerelease should happen with next week’s build. As you’d expect, 20246.1 does include some fixes for known issues, but also a number of removed features like the redesigned touch keyboard, voice typing, theme-aware splash screens, and more. Don’t worry, you’ll have access to those once again after switching to the newer rs_prerelease build, set to arrive next week.
Switching to not so great news, a zero-day vulnerability in Windows that’s currently being exploited has been disclosed by Google’s Project Zero. The Mountain View company stated that Microsoft is set to patch this vulnerability – from the Windows Kernel Cryptography Driver (cng.sys) – on November 10. That said, of the folks on Windows 7, only businesses that have subscribed to Extended Security Updates will receive these patches.
Dev channel
Adobe, Microsoft, and C3.ai have teamed up to create an “enterprise class” AI-powered CRM solution. The Skype Preview now supports 100 call participants. The ability to record video of the presenter during a slideshow is an ability coming soon to PowerPoint on the Mac. Trackpad support for Office apps on iPadOS is now being rolled out. Office Insiders on iOS meanwhile, got a new Outlook calendar widget, voice commands, and more. Support for custom Power BI and Power Query data types is now present in Excel. OneDrive adds group sharing, a feature coming to Office apps next year. The October updates for Microsoft 365 include updates to OneNote, Outlook, Teams, and more. Teams itself now has more than 115 million daily active users and is set to soon allow users to add up to 1,000 participants in a meeting chat. PowerToys 0.25 is out with a Video Conferencing Mute utility coming next week. Here’s our Surface Pro X (Platinum) unboxing and first impressions. Microsoft has developed a new machine learning model to detect password spray attacks. The Redmond firm has released manual update packages for removing Adobe Flash from Windows. Microsoft has thwarted a cyberattack on Munich Security Conference attendees. LinkedIn now has a tool called Career Explorer to help you find jobs based on your skills. Logging off
We end with, what else, but some Edge news.
For fans of better using their widescreen monitors, the Chromium-based Edge browser now supports vertical tabs in the Canary and Dev channels. Testers using the former channel can now finally enable history and open tab sync, while enterprise users of Edge should be looking forward to a revamped new tab page in Edge 87.
Last but not least, if you’re an Edge user in the Dev channel, version 88.0.680.1 is now out with Caret Mode for PDFs as its main feature, as well as support for enhanced copy and paste on the Mac.
Missed any of the previous columns? Be sure to have a look right here.
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