smart app control

Use Smart App Control in Windows 11 to Block Untrusted Apps Safely Difficulty: Beginner | Time Required: 10 minutes Smart App Control is a built-in Windows 11 security feature that helps block untrusted, unsigned, or potentially harmful apps before they can run. It adds another layer of...

Windows 11’s latest Release Preview update, shipped as Builds 26100.8106 and 26200.8106 (package KB5079387), quietly advances two of Microsoft’s most visible and controversial platform priorities: accessibility powered by AI and practical manageability for system security. The update expands...

Microsoft has started rolling out the March optional update for Windows 11 to Insiders in the Release Preview Channel, delivering a collection of accessibility, File Explorer, Settings, and device‑management improvements under the package tracked as KB5079387. Overview This Release Preview...

Microsoft is pushing another measured but meaningful update into the Release Preview Channel today: Windows 11 Builds 26100.8106 and 26200.8106 (packaged as KB5079387) arrive as a staged, non‑security release that blends expanded on‑device AI for accessibility, practical usability polish across...

Windows 11 Pro ships with an array of built‑in capabilities that can immediately raise the security, manageability, and practical flexibility of a modern worker’s laptop — but only if you actually enable and configure them. gHacks’ recent roundup makes the practical case for turning on the...

Microsoft’s quiet about-face on Smart App Control (SAC) has finally addressed one of the feature’s most user‑hostile design choices — you can now toggle SAC from inside Windows without permanently locking it off — but the reality on the ground remains messy: depending on which Windows 11 build...

Microsoft is moving Windows toward a tighter, more consent-driven security posture — and if you wait until one of your favorite apps breaks, you’ll be reacting under pressure instead of controlling the outcome. The change isn’t a sudden ban on freedom; it’s a multi-year shift that layers...

Microsoft has quietly fixed one of the most annoying usability limits in Windows 11’s app-protection stack: Smart App Control (SAC) can now be switched on and off from the Windows Security app in Insider builds, removing the old requirement to wipe or reset Windows just to re-enable the feature...

Microsoft’s latest security push for Windows 11 marks a deliberate turn toward a consent-first, secure‑by‑default desktop: the company has announced Windows Baseline Security Mode (BSM) and User Transparency and Consent, a pair of features that together limit runtime execution to verified...

Windows 11’s February 2026 cumulative arrives as a consequential, wide‑reaching refresh: Microsoft has pushed KB5077181 to Release/Stable rings, delivering the promised expansion of Cross‑Device Resume for Android phones, a major overhaul to Windows’ MIDI stack, important usability changes to...

Microsoft has quietly moved a crucial piece of Windows' defensive plumbing into a more aggressive, easier-to-manage posture — shipping both refreshed Microsoft Defender security intelligence for installation images and a usability update to Smart App Control that lets administrators and users...

Microsoft’s latest Windows 11 preview update is doing something Microsoft hasn’t always done well: it stitches together a string of modest, practical refinements into a package that meaningfully improves everyday continuity, biometric security, and creator workflows — without waiting for the...

ROG Ally owners are reporting that ASUS Armoury Crate and its supporting services are being blocked by Windows 11's Smart App Control (SAC), leaving handheld gaming features, firmware pathways, and per‑game performance profiles unusable until the security feature is disabled or other workarounds...

The February quality update for Windows 11 is small in name but meaningful in practice: Microsoft has bundled a series of targeted usability, security and developer-facing changes that address long-standing pain points — most notably making Smart App Control practical to use again — while...

Microsoft’s February 2026 Windows 11 package is not a dramatic redesign — it’s a pragmatic, quality‑first release that stitches together eight targeted improvements designed to smooth everyday workflows, tighten security manageability, and modernize platform plumbing for creators and...

Microsoft’s latest Windows 11 preview — delivered as KB5074105 to the Release Preview channel at the end of January 2026 — reads like a focused quality-of-life and platform-enablement bundle rather than a headline-grabbing overhaul: broader cross‑device continuity, a modernized MIDI stack for...

Microsoft’s February Windows 11 update is more than a routine patch — it’s a pragmatic bundle of fixes and incremental features that together reduce friction for everyday users, address long-standing platform complaints, and open modest new opportunities for creators and accessibility users...

Microsoft’s February Windows 11 patch is unusually substantive: a Release Preview cumulative (KB5074105) shipped in late January expands cross‑device continuity, modernizes Windows’ MIDI stack, relaxes a long‑standing Smart App Control restriction, broadens biometric support for Windows Hello...

Microsoft’s February 2026 cumulative update for Windows 11 moves beyond incremental polish and toward practical cross-device continuity: the Release Preview rollout expands Cross‑Device Resume, makes Smart App Control toggleable without reinstalling Windows, extends Windows Hello Enhanced...

Asus’s Armory Crate SE — the hub that lets ROG Ally owners tune TDP, switch performance profiles, remap controls and apply firmware updates — has begun failing across a wide set of handhelds after recent Windows 11 changes. The symptom is a blunt, unhelpful error: “Oops! There was an issue with...