All posts by Ed Tittel

Full-time freelance writer, researcher and occasional expert witness, I specialize in Windows operating systems, information security, markup languages, and Web development tools and environments. I blog for numerous Websites, still write (or revise) the occasional book, and write lots of articles, white papers, tech briefs, and so forth.
Insider stuff, Recent Activity, WED Blog, Windows 11

Canary Build 27965 Gets New Start Menu, But…

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I have a strange and twisted history with access to new Windows features. If they’re on gradual rollout, I’m not in the first cohort. If they target specific hardware or configurations, that’s not what I’m using. Today brings another case in point. If you read the MS announcement for the latest Canary drop, you’ll see it starts with this bold headline: Introducing the new Start menu for Windows 11. Here’s the catch: Sure Canary Build 27965 gets new Start menu. But that big new layout requires “a larger screen device” on which users “can see more of your apps and files.”

Canary Build 27965 Gets New Start Menu…On Big Displays…On Gradual Rollout

Wouldn’t you know it? I’m running Canary on a Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Convertible Tablet. The 12 indicates a nominal 12″ display, so it doesn’t qualify for the bigger, broader layout. Sigh. It doesn’t even kick in when I remote into the system through a 27″ monitor. Go figure!

Given the size limitation, I could see why my Start menu didn’t get bigger on the X12. But then, I read the fine print at the end of the New Start menu section:

[We are beginning to roll this out to Windows Insiders in the Canary, so the experience isn’t available to all Insiders just yet as we plan to monitor feedback before pushing it out to everyone.]

It seems that because I can’t access the UI features discussed earlier in that section, I’m not in the initial release cohort to get this feature anyway. Is that adding insult to injury, or just more of the same old, same old? Here in Windows-World it can be hard to tell the difference!

 

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AI, Cool Tools, Insider stuff, Recent Activity, WED Blog

Give Me Real Agentic AI, Please!

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I’ve been using Copilot a lot more these days for all kinds of things, both personal and work related. But I have to say, I wish AI could DO more. That’s why this blog post is entitled “Give me real agentic AI.”

Let me explain what I think “real agentic AI” means. It means when you ask for information, AI goes out and does what it must to obtain that information. For example: yesterday I needed information about a specific patent case on the docket in a US Federal Court. First, I spent 15 minutes to access what I now understand is an old, obsolete docket management system. Then, I learned they’d switched to a different docket management system. Another long sign-up process loomed. Long story short: I opted out because of time and effort for another sign-up.

Why I Say: “Give Me Real Agentic AI!”

I want to be able to ask my AI agent to go out and find stuff for me that requires action — and perhaps even payment. Then, I want it to do that work, especially handling the niggling little details. I don’t want to have to jump a bunch of hurdles to get information I need. I want AI to do that for me.

In fact, handing the details involved in obtaining access is what I think AI is best used for. Let me decide what I need and focus on the results; let AI free me of the mundane details and hurdles necessary to get me those results. Then, we can both knock off and share a beer (I cheerfully confess Bender from Futurama is the inspiration for the — wait for it — AI-generated “agent avatar” that serves as the lead-in graphic for this blog post).

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Cool Tools, Insider stuff, PowerShell, Recent Activity, WED Blog, Windows 11

Bringing OhMyPosh to Flo6

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Flo6 is what I call my new production desktop. Today, I finally got around to installing and turning on the OhMyPosh shell prompt tool on said desktop. I’ve done this before, and it’s always interesting to see how things work now, as opposed to the way they did the last time I did this. Indeed I hit some changes: nothing insuperable, but enough to make me stop and think about what I was doing, and how best to do it. In bringing OhMyPosh to Flo6, I had to overcome bogus Copilot guidance, re-read my own 2024 OhMyPosh article, and visit the OhMyPosh website to grab my preferred theme.

After Bringing OhMyPosh to Flo6, A Snazzy Look

If you examine the lead-in graphic you can see what adding OhMyPosh to the mix does for PowerShell inside Windows Terminal. It definitely adds to the visual appeal of the command prompt, and lets you see more info right away.

Here’s brief summary of the steps involved (all the deets are covered in the afore-linked OhMyPosh article, which I will henceforth abbreviate as OMP):

1. Install a nerd font (necessary for OMP to show its colorful symbols and glyphs)
2. Change the default profile in WinTerm to invoke that nerd font
3. Change PowerShell startup to call OMP and its theme on startup
4. Reload the startup info ($Profile variable) to invoke the new setup

In theory, this is dead easy. In practice, it requires a fair amount of command line jiggery pokery. The whole operation took half an hour or so, mostly because I had to remember (and read about) those steps and their details. OMP also no longer downloads its themes when it’s installed, so I had to visit the themes page and download the one I wanted (it’s named JanDeDobbeleer.omp.json) and put it in the OMP default folder (C:\users\<acct>\ohmyposh) to match the configuration in the associated profile info.

Eminently doable, if a bit more time consuming than I remembered. But shoot: that’s just another normal day here in Windows-World!

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Insider stuff, Recent Activity, WED Blog, Windows 11, Windows Update

Gradual Rollout Strikes Notification Update

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I guess it’s inevitable. Upon reading about how Windows 11 25H2 finally extends notification area pop-ups to non-primary displays on multi-monitor rigs, I checked my own production PC. This is, of course, the Asrock B550-based Ryzen 7 5800X with its dual Dell 2717 UHD displays. And wouldn’t you know it? Works on the primary, but not the secondary. As I check the KB5065789 announcement, I learn why. Once again, gradual rollout strikes notification update, and my PC is NOT in the forefront. Sigh.

Explaining Gradual Rollout Strikes Notification Update

If you look at the lead-in graphic, you can see the text from the afore-linked announcement. It reads:

​​​​​​​[Notification Center] New! The Notification Center functionality is now available on secondary monitors. To open it, select the date and time in the system tray on the taskbar. With the August 2025 non-security update (KB5064081), you can also show a larger clock with seconds above the calendar.

What that doesn’t show, alas, is that this occurs under the “Gradual Rollout” heading in that announcement. In turn, that means this feature is trickling out to 25H2 PCs, not all of them at once. I’ll hook a second monitor up to one of my Copilot PCs and see if that machine gets the new functionality. Nope, doesn’t work when I used HDMI to connect up a second monitor to the Lenovo Copilot+ AIO9i model, either.

It Remains the Hardest Part: Waiting…

I’m just going to have to wait for MS to flip whatever switch it takes to get one  or more of my 8 or so 25H2 PCs to attain this capability. I’m no stranger to this position in the Windows-World feature sweepstakes — that is, on the outside, looking in. Sigh again.

 

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Cool Tools, Insider stuff, Recent Activity, WED Blog, Windows 11

25H2 Notification Gets Time

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Earlier this week, Windows 11 25H2 started making its way onto desktops via Windows Update (and other means). By now, I’ve got about half my eligible PCs updated. So far, it’s been a positive experience. Though others have reported issues  — knocks wood — so far, things at Chez Tittel have been hunky-dory. I read this morning at NeoWin that clock time is returning to the notification calendar in 25H2. If you look at the right-hand item in the lead-in screencap, you’ll see what I mean, as 25H2 notification gets time back.

What 25H2 Notification Gets Time Means

The left-hand side of the lead-in shows what the notification calendar looks like in 25H2 without a small settings change. This is the calendar that pops up when you click the date & time area to the far right of the notification area in Windows 11. Note that the left-hand side shows the weekday, month and date up top. The right-hand side shows time in hh:mm:ss AM/PM on one line, and then weekday, month and date below that. The difference is the presence or absence of the clock line.

How do you make this appear in 25H2? Good question! Here’s a step-by-step:

1. Click through Settings > Time & language > Date & time
2. Toggle Show time in Notification Center from Off (default) to On.

The next time you click on the date & time in notifications, you’ll see the time info above the typical weekday, month and date line. Easy-peasey, right?

Back from Windows 10, But I Never Missed It

If you read the Neowin story linked above (or other copious coverage on this tiny but often-requested UI change), you’ll get the sense that this little change is a big deal. And apparently it is, for some. But as a long-time and ongoing user of Helmut Buhler’s Gadgets from GadgetPack.net, I’ve been able to see a clock (and turn the second hand on) since Windows 8 came along just over 13 years ago. So it’s no big thing for me.

The clock gadget shows an analog clock to which I add the Windows machine name. Always on the desktop: handy!

But for others in Windows-World, it appears to satisfy a long-standing desire. Who am I to say them nay? Enjoy!

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Insider stuff, PowerShell, Recent Activity, WED Blog, Windows 11

Winget Update Re-Raises Restart Requirement

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Late last April, I wrestled with getting winget updates (aka Microsoft.AppInstaller) to “take.” That is, figuring out how to follow the advice to “restart the application” so the new version could take over. Turns out that nothing short of a restart seemed to guarantee that the update would run in PowerShell/Windows Terminal. Other techniques — killing all active processes, open/close WinTerm, and so forth — did not always suffice. A recent Winget update re-raises restart requirement, as I tried to move from version 1.26.430.0 to 1.26.510.0. It was the same darn thing all over again!

Why Winget Update Re-Raises Restart Requirement

If you read into my April blog post that offered explanations from two winget mavens, you’ll see that the winget upgrade waits until dangling APIs and runtime modules, plus pending package updates, all get resolved before completing its own upward move. For the chronically impatient — including yours truly — that makes a restart/reboot a surefire way to FORCE the changes through as a consequence of shutting down, then starting back up.

It worked last April, and it still works now. But a restart on my production PC with its numerous peripherals and 6 drives showing in File Explorer, is no small thing. It takes over a minute to shut down, and another 2-3 minutes to get through restart and to the desktop. So while it does the job, it also makes me wait rather longer than I’d really like to.

But hey: that’s the way things go in Windows-World sometimes. When things change, waiting for “out with the old, in with the new” can take some time. Maybe I should go get another cup of coffee…

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Copilot+ PCs, Insider stuff, Recent Activity, WED Blog, Windows 11, Windows Update

Copilot+ PCs Hit 25H2

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OK then, yesterday was Patch Tuesday. It included amidst its offerings the eKB enablement package KB5054156. All (both) of my current Copilot+ PCs got the upgrade. The Intel-based AIO got it automatically, with an after-hours upgrade. I just used the self-installing upgrade package (.msu) for ARM64 on the Snapdragon X based ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 laptop. The whole process: download, GUI install, post-GUI install and reboot to desktop took less than 2 minutes. I’ve been waiting for this for some while, so I’m glad that, finally, my Copilot+ PCs hit 25H2 version levels.

When Copilot+ PCs Hit 25H2, Then What?

Time to poke around in Settings (and elsewhere) to see what’s different and potentially new. I just learned that because the AIO doesn’t have a battery I don’t have access to the new Power Mode settings under Settings > System > Power & battery. Go figure!

On the Snapdragon X PC, however, the new “Best Power Efficiency” and “Best Performance” options do indeed appear. I opted into the latter (“Best Performance”) to see what impact it might have.

Learned something else amusing: because I’m remoting into the AIO, I can’t mess with Recall settings (nor, presumably, other AI stuff as well). Apparently, I need to set up Windows Hello authentication locally to make that happen… goes off to do so … OK now it’s working through RDP.

Adventures Ahead, For Sure!

Copilot tells me it’s gained new capabilities (as have other MS app) especially via Click to Do. There’s a new “help agent” in Settings that can actually manipulate Windows configurations and settings to some degree. All kinds of AI stuff all over the place. Now, I just need to find the time to actually DO this. And wouldn’t you know it? Right now, I’m swamped in paying work, so I have less time to learn and play. A welcome change of pace in Windows-World, but one that may frustrate me for a while…

Stay tuned: as soon as I have more time, I’ll share what I’m learning.

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Insider stuff, Recent Activity, Troubleshooting, WED Blog, Windows 11

Beta Build Resets Browser Default: Edge

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Notifications started popping like snack food when I logged into my Windows 11 Insider Preview Beta Channel PC this morning. You can see a whole string of them in the lead-in graphic. The generic and interesting error message is some variation of “An app caused a problem.” And bam! this Beta Build resets browser default: Edge is now in charge. Ask me if I’m happy about this. Answer: NO!!

Why Beta Build Resets Browser Default: Edge?

Good question! Google AI says:

An automatic default browser reset is a known issue in Windows 11 Insider Preview build 26120.6760. A potential workaround for this specific bug is to use the Settings app to manually re-select your preferred browser for all relevant file and link types.

But hey! I don’t have to like it, do I? I also went looking for a one-click reset tool, but couldn’t find anything useful. So off I hared to Settings > Apps > Default Apps, where I picked anything that came up Edge and changed it to Chrome. Sigh.

Here in Windows-World, it’s always something. Today it was an involuntary Edge default reset. I dealt with it, but I’d rather not have Windows 11 do that again for a while…

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Hardware Reviews, Insider stuff, Recent Activity, WED Blog

P3 Ultra Shows Amazing Interior Design

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Yesterday, I upgraded the Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Ultra with mixed success. I was able to install and use a Samsung 990 EVO Plus NVMe SSD 4TB. I tried to boot after installing a pair of G.SKILL Ripjaws DDR5 32GB SO-DIMMs. Alas, the PC wouldn’t POST, so I had to send them back. I’ve ordered a pair of matching SK Hynix HMCG88AGBSA095N modules instead, and hopefully they’ll work when I stick them in next week. Throughout this in-and-out process, however the P3 Ultra shows amazing interior design. Let me explain…

How P3 Ultra Shows Amazing Interior Design

I was able to take this SFF PC apart and access the ports for M.2 SSDs and for the lower 2 memory slots without using a single hand tool. All the areas I needed to access, while covered with other components — fan housings, in fact — were easily accessed by releasing latches and swinging items out of the way. You can see this in the lead-in graphic for the NVMe fan housing.

I’ve worked on hundreds of PCs and laptops, including a dozen-plus SFF PCs. This particular model is nearly unique in making itself easy to work on and understand. Indeed, Lenovo has posted short videos that show how to access the chassis, M.2 drives,CPU fan, lower memory modules, and a whole bunch more. Combined, they made it dead easy for me to get things out of the way, and install/remove the components I was after.

The whole process took less than 2 minutes for each action (install NVMe, install 2 SO-DIMMs, remove 2 SO-DIMMs). It’s been an amazing trip so far.

Half-Way Benefits, with More to Come?

I’ve got the new NVMe drive working. I was able to create a full C: drive image backup — using Macrium Reflect X — on that new D: drive. Total time required: 00:37 (yes, that’s thirty-seven seconds, total, disk size of image: 45.57GB). SSD-to-SSD backup is definitely the way to go, and even better if — as is the case here — it’s from the primary (boot/system) internal SSD to a secondary internal SSD. Again: 37 seconds! Wow!!!

When the matching memory modules show up next week (I couldn’t get the PC to post using the G.SKILL Ripjaws DDR5 SO-DIMMs I ordered) I’ll try again. By ordering the same part number as what’s installed, I hope that the next try will succeed. Stay tuned: I’ll let you know.

Here in Windows-World, it’s always nice to find a great design that makes it easy to get in, add or remove components, then get out and back to work. Kudos to Lenovo for a truly magnificent design. I love it!!

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Insider stuff, Recent Activity, USB devices, WED Blog, Windows 11

WTC = What the Clunk?

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I bought my first hard disk back in the late 1980s. If memory serves it was a 300MB drive with 8″ platters. It cost about US$1,000. It attached via SCSI to a Macintosh SE desktop, with its 9″ CRT (512×342 resolution). Why tell you all this? Because that old drive was literally a clunker: as it started, or read data, or shut down it would emit a series of thunks and clunks you could hear in the next room. I just added a Seagate IronWolf 12TB NAS drive to my production desktop. This morning as I booted up I found myself saying WTC = What the Clunk? as it started up for the day.

Why I’m Saying WTC = What the Clunk?

I just looked up the innards of this new spinning disk. It’s got 8 platters, each with 2 heads and a total of 1.5GB of capacity. And  those heads and platters are sealed into a helium filled chamber to keep them as quiet as possible. Even so, spinning up apparently takes some mechanical oomph because I heard at least a trio of discernible clunks as the unit spun up this morning.

It had been so long since I’d heard those sounds, I’d forgotten what they sounded like. Now, I’m reminded of what I used to listen to all the time nearly 40 years ago: a steady series of thumps, clunks and thunks as big disks went about what — by today’s standards — can only be called “small business.” Fortunately, as the IronWolf goes about its much, much bigger business it only emits an occasional sound. If I use my imagination, I can hear it as a chuckle at the depth of my disk drive recollections.

I won’t even go back to the earlier days when I worked on Data General and DEC PDP minicomputers that used 14″ platters. Those came (and went) as removable disk packs. They made some industrial strength noise, for sure, in the days before Windows-World came along. But that’s a whole ‘nother story…

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