bios

  1. Windows Secure Boot Certs Expire 2011: What IT Must Do by 2026

    Microsoft has warned that the original Windows Secure Boot certificates issued in 2011 are set to expire beginning in June 2026, and that systems which do not receive replacement certificates before that date may stop receiving critical pre‑boot security updates — leaving them exposed to...
  2. Secure Boot Certificate Expiration: Plan for Windows, Linux, and OEM Firmware (2023 CA)

    Microsoft has confirmed that the original Secure Boot certificates shipped with most Windows PCs are nearing the end of their life, and the transition to new certificates is already underway — a quietly consequential change that affects Windows servicing, OEM firmware, Linux compatibility, and...
  3. Why Windows 95 Omitted the HLT Instruction to Prevent Bricked Laptops

    Microsoft’s choice to omit the x86 HLT (halt) instruction from Windows 95’s shipped idle path was not a bug or oversight — it was a deliberate, conservative engineering decision taken to avoid a catastrophic failure mode that, in lab and field tests, could leave some laptops effectively bricked...
  4. Engineering Firmware Causes SSD Failures Linked to Windows 11 KB5063878, Phison Confirms

    Phison has publicly acknowledged and replicated a key finding first raised by the PCDIY community: a wave of disappearing and allegedly “bricked” NVMe SSDs linked in timing to Windows 11’s August cumulative update (KB5063878) appears to have been driven, in at least some test cases, by...
  5. Why Windows 95 Dropped HLT: A Lesson in Compatibility and Risk

    Windows 95 engineers walked away from a simple CPU instruction — the x86 HLT (halt) — not because the idea was exotic or useless, but because using it risked turning customers’ laptops into permanent bricks. What looks, in hindsight, like a small compatibility choice was in fact a high-stakes...
  6. KB5063878: No Widespread SSD Failures in Windows 11 24H2

    Microsoft and Phison have now all but closed the book on the late‑August panic: after weeks of community reports, lab reproductions and headlines warning that Windows 11 24H2’s August cumulative (KB5063878) was “bricking” SSDs, thorough vendor and Microsoft testing found no reproducible link...
  7. Intel APO Update Expands Game Profiles for Hybrid CPUs

    Intel’s Application Optimization (APO) has received another round of support updates, expanding the number of game profiles and refining how hybrid Intel CPUs are used while gaming — a move that promises small-to-noticeable frame-rate and frame‑time improvements for certain titles, but that also...
  8. Microsoft Pushes OEMs to Deliver Reliable USB‑C Notifications in Windows 11

    Microsoft is pushing PC makers to stop treating USB Type-C as a cosmetic port and to implement the platform-level hooks Windows 11 needs to deliver consistent, useful notifications when Type‑C connections behave unexpectedly. The company’s guidance — now baked into Windows’ hardware requirements...
  9. Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, and GPT: Upgrading for Modern PC Gaming

    Modern PC shooters are raising the bar: several recent AAA titles now refuse to run on Windows 10 unless Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 are enabled, forcing many players to move from legacy BIOS/MBR setups to a UEFI/GPT configuration before they can even launch the game. (ea.com) Background / Overview...
  10. Create and Use a Bootable Windows 10/11 Recovery USB to Repair Startup

    Create and Use a Bootable Windows 10/11 Recovery USB to Repair Startup Difficulty: Intermediate | Time Required: 20-30 minutes Introduction A bootable Windows recovery USB gives you the tools to fix startup problems, run offline repair utilities, restore system images, and — if needed —...
  11. Windows 11 KB5063878: No fleet SSD bricking, Microsoft and Phison say

    Microsoft says the recent reports that a Windows 11 cumulative update “bricked” consumer SSDs are not supported by its telemetry and lab findings, and vendor testing so far has failed to reproduce a fleet‑level failure tied to the August servicing wave tracked as KB5063878. Background The story...
  12. ART Off We Go

    :)
  13. Dell Precision 5550 verification: i7-10850H, 32GB, 1TB, Quadro T1000

    The Dell Precision 5550 spec sheet that appears in the teamduval.org listing — claiming a 10th‑generation Intel Core i7‑10850H, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB NVMe SSD, NVIDIA Quadro T1000 and Windows 11 Professional in a 15.6‑inch mobile workstation chassis — largely matches configurations Dell offered for...
  14. Is Your PC Windows 11 Ready? Quick TPM, Secure Boot & Upgrade Checks

    Windows 11 promises a cleaner interface, deeper security and better performance — but not every PC qualifies. This guide gives a clear, practical pathway to find out whether your machine can run Windows 11, how to fix the common blockers (TPM and Secure Boot are the usual suspects), and what...
  15. VAN9003 on Windows 11: Proven Fixes for Valorant's Vanguard Anti-Cheat

    The VAN 9003 crash that left many Valorant players staring at the message “This build of Vanguard is out of compliance with current system settings” proved to be less a single bug and more a collision of modern Windows security posture, anti‑cheat kernel drivers, and inconsistent platform...
  16. ART Knitting A Bull

    :razz:
  17. Why Task Manager Shows Fewer CPU Cores and How to Fix It

    When Task Manager shows fewer cores than your CPU’s spec sheet promises, it triggers an immediate alarm: is Windows misreporting, is some software throttling the chip, or is the processor literally losing cores? The truth lives between these possibilities. In many cases the fix is a handful of...
  18. KB5065505: Phi Silica AI Update 1.2507.797.0 for AMD Copilot+ on Windows 11 24H2

    KB5065505 is a Microsoft update that delivers Phi Silica AI component version 1.2507.797.0 targeted to AMD-powered Copilot+ PCs running Windows 11 (version 24H2). (support.microsoft.com) Overview and what this article covers What KB5065505 is and which devices it applies to. What Phi Silica is...
  19. Battlefield 6 Secure Boot Guide: Enable and Troubleshoot on PC

    Battlefield 6’s highly anticipated launch has brought new energy to the storied first-person shooter series, but many PC players have encountered an unexpected roadblock before they can even enter the heat of battle: the Secure Boot requirement. Anyone booting up Battlefield 6 only to be greeted...
  20. Secure Boot in Windows: Essential Guide for Battlefield 6 Players and Gamers

    The launch of the Battlefield 6 Open Beta has ignited excitement among gamers worldwide, but a new technical hurdle—Secure Boot—has stopped many PC players in their tracks. For the first time in the franchise, Electronic Arts requires Secure Boot to be enabled on Windows 10 and 11 machines to...