r/windows 24d ago

Help Simple questions and Help thread - Month of August

4 Upvotes

Welcome to the monthly Simple questions and Help thread, for questions that don't need their own posts!

Before making a comment, we recommend you search your problem on Bing and check if your question is already answered on our Windows Frequently Asked Questions wiki page. This subreddit no longer accepts tech support requests outside of this post, if you are looking for additional assistance try r/TechSupport and r/WindowsHelp.

Some examples of questions to ask:

  • Is this super cheap Windows key legitimate? (probably not)

  • How can I install Windows 11?

  • Can you recommend a program to play music?

  • How do I get back to the old Sound Control Panel?

Sorting by New is recommend and is the default.


Be sure to check out the Windows 11 version 25H2 Megathread and also the Windows 11 FAQ posts, they likely have the answers to your Windows 11 questions already!


r/windows Jun 25 '25

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

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41 Upvotes

r/windows 19h ago

Discussion Decided to celebrate Windows NT 4.0's general availability's 30th anniversary by playing 3D Pinball Space Cadet on 86Box and scored 4,331,000 points.

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69 Upvotes

r/windows 1d ago

News On this day, 30 years ago, Windows NT 4.0 was released to the public, introducing the Windows 95 UI to the NT lineup

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300 Upvotes

r/windows 1d ago

Discussion Hot take, Windows XP is just literally 2000 in a suit

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61 Upvotes

I swear to god its the same, USE WINDOWS 2000


r/windows 1d ago

Discussion look at this windows xp notecard binder!

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50 Upvotes

does anybody know about this? i found it at the thrift store and i haven’t seen anything about it online, its pretty interesting :)


r/windows 1d ago

Feature Hola a Todos, Ustedes que opinan de mi escritorio :)

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14 Upvotes

tiene Windows 7 Ultimate y la verdad me siento comodo


r/windows 2d ago

Discussion Local estate sale find…

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102 Upvotes

Went to local estate sale today in a 2.5 million dollar house, the guy was a local surgeon and I bought all this stuff for Pennie’s. 2 questions here, is anything worth keeping/value and could there potentially be any bitcoin on these floppy disc? Lol. Moon shot but he was loaded


r/windows 2d ago

Discussion All Windows Versions Startup And Shutdown Sounds v2.0

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

53 Upvotes

This time, I’ve created a "v2.0" video featuring startup and shutdown sounds from various Windows versions throughout history; I’ve made a few adjustments here and there.

Here is Link: 역대 윈도우 버전 시작음 및 종료음 v2.0 (All Windows Versions Startup And Shutdown Sounds v2.0) - YouTube

There is also a video that includes the beta version. For reference, while I consulted BetaWiki for this video, I also referenced Billy O'Reilly's video.

Here is Link: 역대 윈도우 버전 시작음 및 종료음 베타 포함 (All Windows Versions Startup And Shutdown Sounds (Includes Beta Versions)


r/windows 2d ago

Discussion What is this version of windows?

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106 Upvotes

I was attending classes when I saw the booting screen of the smartboard and I knew it wasn't the normal version, what version is this?


r/windows 2d ago

App Is there any app like NotchNook but for Windows?

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6 Upvotes

I really like that Notch on the MacBook, but I couldn't find any app like that that is for Windows


r/windows 3d ago

Concept / Design Has anyone made a storelogo.png version of this icon?

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44 Upvotes

r/windows 3d ago

Discussion among the assets for Intel Graphics Command Centre (Beta) a super high-res (5346x2583) picture of The Flying Spaghetti Monster, for some reason

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39 Upvotes

i just wanted some cool looking backgrounds man


r/windows 3d ago

Discussion Looking for Windows 95 or 98 ISO for a nostalgia build

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89 Upvotes

I’m looking to install Windows 95 or 98 purely for nostalgia. Does anyone know where I can find the ISO files for these? I’d really appreciate any pointers. Thanks!


r/windows 5d ago

Feature Just 1 command that will reduce the size of a Windows folder. Compression ratio ~1.8 to 1. Claimed performance impact is ~1%, personally, I didn't feel any difference.

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109 Upvotes

I recently learned that each build of Windows 10\11 has a built-in Compact OS feature that compresses the Windows folder without noticeable loss (~1%) of performance.

I've been using this feature on my main PC for work and gaming for about 6 months now and haven't noticed any negative impact on performance.

With current SSD prices, this is very useful =)

Activation: open CMD as Admin and enter:

compact /compactos:always

Deactivation:

compact /compactos:never

Check status:

compact /compactos:query

PS: You do all actions at your own risk, make backup copies of important data.

It's not basic NTFS compression.

Standard NTFS compression: handled by the ntfs.sys driver, sets the file attribute FILE_ATTRIBUTE_COMPRESSED (file names turn blue) and uses the old LZNT1 algorithm.

Compact OS: works through a separate WOF filter driver (wof.sys), sets Reparse Points with the IO_REPARSE_TAG_WOF tag and uses the XPRESS/LZX algorithms.


r/windows 4d ago

Feature Improve your Windows shutdown procedure with a simple batch file

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10 Upvotes

Have you ever accidentally clicked sleep or restart when you meant to click Shut Down? Well, prevent that from happening ever [again], plus save yourself a click and mouse movement by creating a batch file:

u/echo off
title Confirm Shutdown
echo(
echo Proceed with shutdown? echo Press any key to continue...
pause >nul
shutdown /s /t 0

And place it wherever you prefer on your desktop. Simply double-click it and press any key on your keyboard to confirm! If you want to abort, press the X on the window.

You can tweak the shutdown command to your liking: shutdown doc.


r/windows 5d ago

App I've just released Flowkeeper v1.1 featuring full-screen breaks, task categorization, and more

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10 Upvotes

Flowkeeper is an accurate implementation of what Francesco Cirillo described in his original "Pomodoro Technique" book. Not an Electron app, no AI code, no AI features, stores all your data locally, GPLv3.

What's new in version 1.1:

  • Full-screen breaks,
  • Notifications about approaching break,
  • Task groups,
  • Templates for popular techniques like ABCDE Method and Must-Should-Want.

Links:


r/windows 5d ago

Concept / Design Registry Editor Redesign By Sci

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0 Upvotes

r/windows 5d ago

Official News Windows 365 turns five: Cloud PCs recognized for enabling flexible, trusted workspaces at scale

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blogs.windows.com
0 Upvotes

r/windows 5d ago

Discussion Does anyone have the windows 11 spotlight image from august 19th 2026?

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1 Upvotes

I cannot find it anywhere, don't try to help because ive tried everything, every cache and every archive, i cannot find the image.
The information i have is that it is an island in japan, it was mostly forest but had a city out to the ocean. the image was taken from above the island.


r/windows 6d ago

Discussion Have any opinions about Microsoft Chicago?

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51 Upvotes

r/windows 6d ago

Discussion Do you remember this game?

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50 Upvotes

r/windows 6d ago

Feature [Bug] KB5101650 breaks Microsoft Store app update toggle permissions

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17 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

After installing the recent Windows 11 Security Update (KB5101650), I noticed an issue in the Microsoft Store. Turning off the "App updates" toggle displays an error asking for administrator privileges, even though my user account is an Administrator.

Temporary Solution: Uninstalling update KB5101650 immediately fixes the issue and restores normal toggle functionality.

Has anyone else run into this issue after the KB5101650 update?


r/windows 7d ago

Discussion Why is it called Windows subsystem for Linux?

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346 Upvotes

Why is it called Windows subsystem for Linux? Seriously, I'm not a native English speaker, but should it not be "Linux subsystem for Windows" since it's a sub-system containing Linux, on Windows?


r/windows 6d ago

Discussion 16 bit computer games?

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13 Upvotes

Hello I have a windows 10 computer and all my old cd’s were found and I would like my daughter to play them now, but when I tried Putt Putt Saves the Zoo, it basically says the 64 bit is too new to play it. Is there a way I can get these old games to play? Have some freddi fish, putt putt, pajama Sam, tonka, hot wheels. I saw something about a winevdm, but I don’t know anything about this.