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Windows 10

Win10 SCU Is Out Next Week

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Windows 10 Spring Creators Update is going to be released next week.
In My Humble Opinion:
– There is no reason to upgrade within 30 days of release. (Or at least until the following Patch Tuesday.)
– There are no new features worth upgrading for.

You can stick with the current release you are on and still get updates for at least 18 months:
1709 (Fall Creators Update) Expires April 9, 2109
1703 (Creators Update) Expires October 9, 2018
1607 (Anniversary Update) Expires April 10, 2018

I recommend blocking/delaying feature updates:
– You need to be running Win10 Pro, Enterprise, or Education.
There is no way to stop a feature update in Win10 Home without stopping security updates. You can officially upgrade from Home to Pro for $99 but there are MUCH, MUCH cheaper legit keys to be had out there. If you can’t find them, email me.
Go to Settings > Update & Security > Advanced options
Optional – Use the  > Semi-Annual Channel ( NOT Semi-Annual Channel (Targeted) )
This channel used to be Current Branch for Business. This delays feature updates until they are ready for business, i.e. all the bugs are worked out. This was about 3 months for FCU (approx. Oct 17 – Jan. 11).
Go to Settings > Update & Security > Advanced options >
In the box under A feature update includes new capabilities and improvements. It can be deferred for this many days:
Change days to desired amount. I recommend at least 31 but since SCU offers me nothing then up to 365 will not hurt. You can re-evaluate when the next feature update comes out and it looks to be a big one.

Win10 Updated

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“This update includes quality improvements. No new operating system features are being introduced in this update.”
Remember, updates are cumulative.

For 1709 (Latest Build) – March 22, 2018—KB4089848 (OS Build 16299.334)

For 1703 – March 22, 2018—KB4088891 (OS Build 15063.994)

For 1607 – March 22, 2018—KB4088889 (OS Build 14393.2155)
*1607 is getting EoS next month.

1709 (Fall Creators Update)
1703 (Creators Update)
1607 (Anniversary Update)

See also:
Windows lifecycle fact sheet
Windows 10 release information

Win10 Updated

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March 5, 2018—KB4090913 (OS Build 16299.251)
“This update includes quality improvements. No new operating system features are being introduced in this update…Addresses an issue in which some USB devices and onboard devices, such as a built-in laptop camera, keyboard, or mouse, stop working.”
This update is a cumulative update. That means it will apply the Meltdown/Spectre patch from past months.

Windows 10 Ultimate Performance Power Mode

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I woke up this morning and a number of sites are all giddy talking about the new Win10 Ultimate Performance Mode.
Windows Blog – Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17101 for Fast & Build 17604 for Skip Ahead

A new power scheme – Ultimate Performance: Demanding workloads on workstations always desire more performance. As part of our effort to provide the absolute maximum performance we’re introducing a new power policy called Ultimate Performance. Windows has developed key areas where performance and efficiency tradeoffs are made in the OS. Over time, we’ve amassed a collection of settings which allow the OS to quickly tune the behavior based on user preference, policy, underlying hardware or workload.
This new policy builds on the current High-Performance policy, and it goes a step further to eliminate micro-latencies associated with fine grained power management techniques. The Ultimate Performance Power plan is selectable either by an OEM on new systems or selectable by a user. To do so, you can go to Control Panel and navigate to Power Options under Hardware and Sound (you can also “run” Powercfg.cpl). Just like other power policies in Windows, the contents of the Ultimate Performance policy can be customized.
The Ultimate Performance Power plan is selectable either by an OEM on new systems or selectable by a user. To do so, you can go to Control Panel and navigate to Power Options under Hardware and Sound (you can also “run” Powercfg.cpl).
As the power scheme is geared towards reducing micro-latencies it may directly impact hardware; and consume more power than the default balanced plan. The Ultimate Performance power policy is currently not available on battery powered systems.
We’ll continue to tune and evaluate the power plan settings. To submit feedback please use the Feedback Hub and file your feedback under Power & Battery > Setting category.

My take. Microsoft is going to fix the High Performance Power Scheme because it was still turning things off even though you told it not to. High Performance is just that. “Ultimate High Performance” is just a marketing ploy.

Fix Windows 10 Network Browsing

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After my latest computer build, parts swapping in/out old computers, and making a new/old home server I noticed network browsing was FUBAR. I double-checked everything I could think of. Everything worked last time I checked. I did some Googling and finally came up with the answer.
Fall Creators Update broke network browsing. Surprise, surprise:
[Read more…] about Fix Windows 10 Network Browsing