Windows 10: How to enable the search widget in Windows 11 Insider Preview Builds for testing

GHacks · May 20, 2022

Microsoft introduced a search bar on the desktop in Build 25120 that was released yesterday to the Dev Channel in the Insider Preview Program. The feature is being tested on a limited basis, so not everyone has access to it. But, if you can't want to try it, we show you how to enable the search widget in Windows 11 right now.

How to enable the search widget in Windows 11

1. Download the ViveTool application from its GitHub page.

2. Extract the ZIP file's contents to any folder.

3. Open a Terminal window as an administrator.

4. Copy and paste the following code in the window.

.\vivetool addconfig 37969115 2

The command window should display a message that says "Successfully set feature configuration".

Credit: WithinRafael

Accessing the search bar

Close the command window, and go to your desktop screen. The search bar won't be visible on it, even though you just enabled it. You can access it without rebooting the computer.

1. Right-click anywhere on the desktop, and select Show More Options.

2. This menu has a "Show Search" option, it will have a checkmark next to it.

3. Toggle the option to disable it.

Repeat the above steps, and you should see the search widget on the desktop. Give it a try.

Don't like it? Use the following command to remove the search bar.

.\vivetool delconfig 37969115 2

You will need to restart Explorer.exe from the Task Manager, or restart the computer to apply the changes.

A few observations about the search widget in Windows 11

When you type your query in it, the search bar will display some results in a pane, aka search suggestions. Click on it, or hit the Enter key and Windows 11 will open the results via Bing, in Microsoft Edge. Entering a URL such as ghacks.net will directly open the website in Edge.

There are no options to configure the widget's behavior. The biggest issue here is that all results from the widget are opened in Microsoft Edge, even if you have set a different program as your default web browser. There aren't any keyboard shortcuts to access the tool. The search widget's right-click menu has some basic options to edit the text.

Having tried it out, I think the widget is sort of pointless, as you can do the same things (paste a URL, or perform web searches) directly from the Start Menu. The new search widget in Windows 11 is quite obtrusive, since it is not opaque it hides part of the wallpaper. It stays on the desktop permanently with no option to hide it, and you cannot move the widget or resize it either. The widget is still in an early phase, so hopefully we can expect some improvements to it in the future.

If you really need a similar search tool/launcher app, try Microsoft PowerToys. It has a utility called PowerToys Run, which has more options than the new widget, as it can be used to search files on your computer, open applications, etc. The app is similar to the Spotlight tool in macOS. PowerToys Run tool hides automatically when not in use, and you can trigger it using Alt + Space. It also respects your default browser setting to handle web searches.

The Everything desktop search engine is an excellent alternative as well, and you can use the Everything Toolbar to access it quickly from the Taskbar.

Have you tried the new search widget in Windows 11?

Thank you for being a Ghacks reader. The post How to enable the search widget in Windows 11 Insider Preview Builds for testing appeared first on gHacks Technology News.

read more...

Andre Da Costa · May 20, 2022

Insider build previews

Because you are running a Windows Insider Preview build, you might be seeing defects or bugs in the build you are using, which is still under development. I suggest you use the Feedback Hub to submit a bug report detailing your problem.

You should only run Windows Insider Builds for testing purposes, not for production.

I recommend you revert to a commercial build such as the recently released Windows 10, 1803 revision.

Go to a working computer, download, create a bootable copy, then perform a clean install.

Step 1: How to download official Windows 10 ISO files

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki...

Step 2: How to: Perform a clean install of Windows 10

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/wiki...

If there are files on the drive you want to recover, see - How to: Perform a Custom install of Windows 10

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/wiki...

Brink · May 20, 2022

KB5004252 Windows 11 Insider Preview Dev Build 10.0.22000.71 - July 15

UPDATE 7/22: KB5004300 Windows 11 Insider Preview Dev Build 10.0.22000.100 - July 22 | Windows 11 Forum

Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22000.71 to everyone in the Dev Channel!

Changes and Improvements

We’re introducing a new entertainment widget! The entertainment widget allows you to see new and featured movie titles available in the Microsoft Store. Selecting a movie will direct you to the Microsoft Store to see more information about that title. Just open widgets and click or tap on the “Add widgets” button and choose the entertainment widget.

Add or Remove Widgets Button on Taskbar in Windows 11 | Windows 11 Forum

Add or Remove Widgets in Windows 11 | Windows 11 Forum

The new entertainment widget gives you quick access to featured moved titles in the Microsoft Store.

The new context menus and other right-click menus have been updated to use acrylic material.

The new Windows 11 context menus before acrylic and after.

We are testing the usability of a SplitButton for making new folders and files in the File Explorer command bar.

The Taskbar previews (when you mouse-over open apps on the Taskbar) have been updated to reflect the new visual design of Windows 11.

Taskbar previews with rounded corners!

Fixes

Taskbar:

We fixed an issue where if you drag app icons on the Taskbar to rearrange them, it was making the apps launch or minimize when you released the icon.

Using a long press with touch on an app icon in the Taskbar to open the jump list should now work.

After right-clicking the Start icon in the Taskbar, clicking somewhere else should now dismiss the menu more reliably.

Shift + Right-click on an app icon in the Taskbar will now bring up the window menu like it used to and not the jump list.

We’ve addressed an issue that was making your mouse move slowly when hovering over the Taskbar previews.

We’ve included the fix for an issue when using multiple Desktops where an app icon in the taskbar might give the appearance of multiple windows being open when that wasn’t the case on that Desktop.

When using the Amharic IME you should no longer see an unexpected X next to the IME icon in the taskbar.

The issue where if you click on the input indicator on the Taskbar and it would unexpectedly highlighted Quick Settings has been fixed.

When you hover over Task View, the preview flyout for your Desktops will no longer pop back up after using Esc to dismiss them.

We made a fix to address an issue where explorer.exe might crash after hovering over the Task View icon in the Taskbar.

We fixed an issue where the selected date in the calendar flyout was out of sync with the date in the Taskbar.

We made an update to address a scenario resulting in some Insiders not seeing the lunar calendar text in the calendar flyout when enabled in Settings.

This flight addressed an issue that could unexpectedly make the Taskbar background transparent.

Right-clicking the focus assist icon in the taskbar should now show a context menu.

The issue from the previous flight where icons in the taskbar corner were getting crushed against the top of the Taskbar has been addressed.

The tooltip for the location in use icon in the Taskbar should no longer appear blank sometimes.

Settings:

We fixed an issue making Settings crash on launch periodically.

Using the volume mixer sliders in Sound Settings should be more responsive now, as well as the page responsiveness as a whole.

We fixed an issue resulting in Disk and Volumes Settings’ change size option being clipped.

There was a non-functional verify link under Backup Settings – this has been fixed.

The Power and Battery Settings page should no longer be reporting that battery saver is engaged in it’s not.

The Power and Battery Settings page should also now not crash when launched from Quick Settings.

We fixed a grammatical error in the Sign-in Settings text.

The “I forgot my PIN” link was unexpectedly missing in Sign-in Settings when a PIN was set up and has now been returned.

The issue where the Move option under Apps & Features in Settings wasn’t working reliably should be addressed in this build.

We’ve mitigated a problem where some of the colors in Settings weren’t updating after switching between dark and light mode, leaving unreadable text.

We’ve done some work to help improve the performance of Settings when switching between light and dark mode.

We addressed an issue where some of the elements of the Themes page in Settings would end up crowded together when the window size was small.

We resolved an issue where the Pen menu toggle under Taskbar Settings was not in sync with the actual state of the feature.

Changes made to “Dismiss notification after this amount of time” in Accessibility Settings should now persist.

Some of the icons you could enable in Taskbar Settings were erroneously labeled Windows Explorer even though that’s not what they were – this should now be fixed.

The Connect text in Quick Settings has been updated to say Cast.

File Explorer:

Clicking the command bar button twice should now close any dropdown that appeared.

The new command bar should now appear when “Open folders in a separate process” is enabled under File Explorer Options > View.

This build addresses an issue where right clicking a file and selecting Open With > Choose another app might launch the file in the default app rather than opening the Open With dialog.

Fixed an issue the desktop and File Explorer context menu would stop launching.

Search:

We fixed an issue where the option to verify your account in Search wasn’t working.

Hovering over the Search icon on a secondary monitor will now show the flyout on the correct monitor.

Search should now work if you open Start and start typing after having gone to the apps list and back.

Widgets:

When using the Outlook client with a Microsoft account, Calendar, and To Do updates should sync faster down to the widgets.

We addressed an issue where if you added multiple widgets quickly from the widgets settings, it could result in some of the widgets not being visible on the board.

We fixed a bug where widgets could all become stuck in a loading state (blank squares in the window).

The traffic widget should now follow the Windows mode (light or dark).

The title of the sports widget should no longer mismatch with the content of the widget.

Other:

This build addresses an issue where ALT + Tab was getting stuck open sometimes after you released the keys and had to be manually dismissed.

We made a fix for an issue where Narrator focus wasn’t ending up on the emoji panel after using the keyboard shortcut to open it.

Magnifier’s lens view has been updated so the lens now has rounded corners.

We found an issue that was noticeably impacting Start launch reliability for some Insiders, and have addressed it with this flight.

We’ve updated the “Most Used” text in the Start menu’s app list so it should no longer be getting clipped.

Using the semantic zoom in Start’s app list should no longer result in the list being pushed down and to the right off the edge of the window.

We fixed an issue where if you pressed WIN + Z you would need to press Tab before you could use the arrow key to navigate through the snap layouts.

We addressed an issue where an acrylic area could get left on the screen after repeatedly snapping and unsnapping a window with touch.

We’ve done some work to mitigate an unexpected flash when moving a snapped window with touch.

We made a change to help window borders have a little more contrast when “Show accent color on title bars and windows borders” was turned off.

Known issues

[REMINDER] When upgrading to Windows 11 from Windows 10 or when installing an update to Windows 11, some features may be deprecated or removed. See details here.

Start:

In some cases, you might be unable to enter text when using Search from Start or the Taskbar. If you experience the issue, press WIN + R on the keyboard to launch the Run dialog box, then close it.

Based on feedback, we are working on adding access keys to WIN + X so that you can do things like “WIN + X M” to launch Device Manager. Insiders may see this functionality in this build, however we are currently investigating an issue in which sometimes the option is unexpectedly unavailable.

Taskbar:

There is an issue in this build where Explorer.exe will crash when the date and time button on the Taskbar is clicked to access new notifications with Focus Assist turned off. The workaround for this is to enable Focus assist to priority or alarms mode. Note that when focus assist is turned on, notification popups won’t appear, but they will be in the notification center when opened.

The Taskbar will sometimes flicker when switching input methods.

Taskbar previews may draw partially offscreen.

Settings:

When launching the Settings app, a brief green flash may appear.

When using Quick Settings to modify Accessibility settings, the settings UI may not save the selected state.

The button to rename your PC doesn’t work in this build. If needed, this can be done using sysdm.cpl.

Settings will crash when clicking “Facial recognition (Windows Hello)” under Sign-in Settings if Windows Hello is already set up.

Reset this PC and Go back buttons in Settings > System > Recovery do not function. Reset and roll back can be accessed from the Windows Recovery Environment by selecting System > Recovery > Advanced startup, and pressing Restart now. Once in Windows Recovery, choose Troubleshoot.

Choose Reset this PC to perform a reset.

Choose Advanced options > Uninstall Updates > Uninstall latest feature update to perform a rollback.

File Explorer:

Explorer.exe crashes in a loop for Insiders using the Turkish display language when battery charge is at 100%.

When right clicking the desktop or File Explorer, the resulting context menu and submenus may appear partially off screen.

Clicking a desktop icon or context menu entry may result in the wrong item being selected.

Search:

After clicking the Search icon on the Taskbar, the Search panel may not open. If this occurs, restart the “Windows Explorer” process, and open the search panel again.

When you hover your mouse over the Search icon on the Taskbar, recent searches may not be displayed. To work around the issue, restart your PC.

Search panel might appear as black and not display any content below the search box.

Widgets:

Widgets board may appear empty. To work around the issue, you can sign out and then sign back in again.

Launching links from the widgets board may not invoke apps to the foreground.

Widgets may be displayed in the wrong size on external monitors. If you encounter this, you can launch the widgets via touch or WIN + W shortcut on your actual PC display first and then launch on your secondary monitors.

Store:

The install button might not be functional yet in some limited scenarios.

Rating and reviews are not available for some apps.

Windows Security:

Device Security is unexpectedly saying “Standard hardware security not supported” for Insiders with supported hardware.

“Automatic sample submission” is unexpectedly turned off when you restart your PC.

Localization:

There is an issue where some Insiders may be some missing translations from their user experience for a small subset of languages running the latest Insider Preview builds. To confirm if you have been impacted, please visit this Answers forum post and follow the steps for remediation.

For developers

You can download the latest Windows Insider SDK at aka.ms/windowsinsidersdk. The Windows Insider SDK will be continuously flighting with corresponding Windows 11 Insider Preview builds, and the latest Windows Insider SDK for Build 22000.71 is now available.

Beginning with Windows Insider SDK version 22000.71 and the latest .NET 5 update, we have also added support for .NET 5 developers who want to target the Windows Insider SDK and access these new APIs. For more details on this support, refer to the Windows Insider SDK download page.

Important Insider Links

You can check out our Windows Insider Program documentation here, including a list of all the new features and updates released in builds so far. Are you not seeing any of the features listed for this build? Check your Windows Insider Settings to make sure you’re in the Dev Channel. Submit feedback here to let us know if things weren’t working the way you expected.

If you want a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel, head over to Flight Hub. Please note, there will be a slight delay between when a build is flighted and when Flight Hub is updated.

Thanks,
Amanda & Brandon
Click to expand...

Source: https://blogs.windows.com/windows-in...uild-22000-71/

Brink · May 20, 2022

KB5004745 Windows 11 Insider Preview Dev Build 10.0.22000.65 - July 8

UPDATE: 7/15: KB5004252 Windows 11 Insider Preview Dev Build 10.0.22000.71 - July 15

Hello Windows Insiders,

We are so excited to have so many of you running the first preview of Windows 11 and we’re busy looking at all your feedback that’s coming in. Today we are releasing an update (Build 22000.65) to everyone in the Dev Channel with a good set of improvements and fixes that will make your Windows 11 experience even better!

Changes and Improvements

Start now has a search box to make it easier to find what you’re looking for.

Taskbar will now show across multiple monitors which can be enabled via Settings > Personalization > Taskbar.

We have updated several system alert dialog boxes such as the alert for when the battery is running low on your laptop or when you change your display settings with the new Windows 11 visual design.

The ‘Power mode’ settings are now available on the Power & battery page in Settings.

Right clicking the desktop now directly has a Refresh option without needing to click “Show more options”.

Right clicking a .ps1 file in File Explorer now directly has a Run with PowerShell options without needing to click “Show more options”.

Available snap layouts when using smaller PCs in portrait orientation have been optimized for that posture. You can now choose to snap three apps on top of each other, instead of four quadrants.

Based on the collaboration with the most popular GIF provider in China, weshineapp.com, GIF selections are now available for Windows Insiders in China via the emoji panel (WIN + .). If the location is set as China, then GIF data will appear from weshineapp.com.

Right-clicking on the volume icon in the taskbar now includes an option to troubleshoot sound problems.

Fixes

We fixed a remote code execution exploit in the Windows Print Spooler service, known as “PrintNightmare”, as documented in CVE-2021-34527. For more information, see KB5004945.

Taskbar:

We fixed an issue where it wasn’t possible to click the Show Desktop button with your mouse at the very edge of the Taskbar.

We fixed an issue where the date and time in the Taskbar weren’t reflecting your preferred format.

We fixed an issue where the preview window might not display the entire window when hovering over Task View on the Taskbar.

We fixed an issue pressing ESC or clicking the desktop wouldn’t dismiss the window of open app preview thumbnails if you set focus to it after pressing WIN + T.

We fixed an issue where if you rotate a PC to portrait orientation and back to landscape, it could result in app icons not displaying in the Taskbar despite there being room.

Settings:

We fixed an issue resulting in Settings failing to launch. If you were impacted in the previous flight, please see here.

We fixed a noticeable stutter in the animation when closing Quick Settings and Notification Center by clicking on their respective icons in the taskbar.

We fixed an issue where the Quick Settings and Notification Center windows were missing shadows.

We fixed an issue where it wasn’t possible to launch Quick Settings by setting keyboard focus to it in the taskbar and pressing the Enter key.

We fixed an issue where Quick Settings wouldn’t render correctly if you removed all settings except volume.

We fixed an issue that mitigates Focus Assist enabling unexpectedly.

We fixed an issue with the animation in the touch keyboard when resizing it in Settings.

We fixed an issue where Sign-in Options in Settings had an unexpected checkbox under Facial Recognition with no text.

We fixed an issue where the button to disconnect a work or school account in Account Settings wasn’t working.

We fixed an issue where Lock screen Settings had a toggle with no text.

We fixed an issue where the title of the Advanced Options page under Windows Update in Settings could be missing.

We fixed an issue where the “Windows privacy options” at the bottom of Privacy & Security > Search Permissions in Settings wasn’t working.

We fixed an issue where the Open Navigation button could become overlapped with other text.

We fixed an issue causing Settings to crash when applying a theme under Contrasts.

We fixed an issue where parts of Settings were unexpectedly in English for some non-English languages.

File Explorer:

We fixed an issue resulting in pinning and unpinning apps from Start not working, the command bar in File Explorer disappearing, and the snap layouts unexpectedly not appearing until rebooting your PC.

We fixed an issue that could result in the elements of File Explorer’s title bar being unreadable due to low contrast.

We fixed an issue where some of the icons in File Explorer’s context menu could be blurry.

We fixed an issue where the “see more” menu in File Explorer’s command bar wouldn’t dismiss when you clicked on Options.

We fixed an issue that could result in not being able to create a new folder on the desktop.

Search:

We fixed an issue resulting in Search having grey boxes sometimes instead of app icons.

We fixed an issue that could result in Search dropping the first keystroke when pressing the Windows key and starting to type.

We fixed an issue where when hovering your mouse over the Search icon on the taskbar, the third recent search would not load and remained blank.

We fixed an issue where if you searched for Windows Update, it would open Settings but not navigate to the Windows Update settings page.

Widgets:

We fixed an issue where system text scaling was scaling all widgets proportionally and could result in cropped widgets.

We fixed an issue where when using screen reader/Narrator in widgets it wasn’t properly announcing content sometimes.

We fixed an issue where resizing the Money widget could result in the bottom half of it not displaying anything.

Other:

We fixed a memory leak that was noticeable when using one of the C# printing samples.

We fixed an issue causing an error in safe mode saying 0xc0000005 – Unexpected parameters.

We fixed two issues that could cause explorer.exe to start crashing in a loop, when the display language was set to Russian or when multiple input methods enabled.

We fixed an issue where if you minimize a full screen window and later restore it, there was a chance it could result in a bug check with win32kfull.

We fixed an issue resulting in some WSL users seeing “The parameter is incorrect” when opening Windows Terminal.

We fixed an issue causing blurry windows in ALT + Tab.

We fixed an issue resulting in a flicker in the taskbar when Korean IME users used ALT + Tab.

We fixed an issue impacting reliability of displaying the UI when using WIN + Space to switch input methods.

We fixed an issue impacting voice typing reliability.

We fixed an issue resulting in the “New snip in X seconds” options in Snip & Sketch not working.

Known issues

[REMINDER] When upgrading to Windows 11 from Windows 10 or when installing an update to Windows 11, some features may be deprecated or removed. See details here.

Start:

In some cases, you might be unable to enter text when using Search from Start or the Taskbar. If you experience the issue, press WIN + R on the keyboard to launch the Run dialog box, then close it.

Taskbar:

The Taskbar will sometimes flicker when switching input methods.

Dragging an app icon to rearrange it in the Taskbar will result in the app launching or minimizing.

Settings:

When launching the Settings app, a brief green flash may appear.

When using Quick Settings to modify Accessibility settings, the settings UI may not save the selected state.

File Explorer:

The new command bar may not appear when “Open folders in a separate process” is enabled under File Explorer Options > View.

exe crashes in a loop for Insiders using the Turkish display language when battery charge is at 100%.

When right clicking the desktop or File Explorer, the resulting context menu and submenus may appear partially off screen.

Search:

After clicking the Search icon on the Taskbar, the Search panel may not open. If this occurs, restart the “Windows Explorer” process, and open the search panel again.

When you hover your mouse over the Search icon on the Taskbar, recent searches may not be displayed. To work around the issue, restart your PC.

Search panel might appear as black and not display any content below the search box.

Widgets:

Widgets board may appear empty. To work around the issue, you can sign out and then sign back in again.

Launching links from the widgets board may not invoke apps to the foreground.

When using the Outlook client with a Microsoft account, Calendar, and To Do changes may not sync to the widgets in real time.

Widgets may be displayed in the wrong size on external monitors. If you encounter this, you can launch the widgets via touch or WIN + W shortcut on your actual PC display first and then launch on your secondary monitors.

After adding multiple widgets quickly from the widgets settings, some of the widgets may not be visible on the board.

Store:

The install button might not be functional yet in some limited scenarios.

Rating and reviews are not available for some apps.

Windows Security

Device Security is unexpectedly saying “Standard hardware security not supported” for Insiders with supported hardware.

“Automatic sample submission” is unexpectedly turned off when you restart your PC.

The Bug Bash has started!
Our first Windows 11 Bug Bash will run from July 7th through July 14th. Throughout the Bug Bash, we’ll be posting Quests in Feedback Hub covering different areas of Windows 11. You can help make Windows better for everyone by trying them out and sending feedback. For more details about sending actionable feedback, please see here.

Important Insider Links
You can check out our Windows Insider Program documentation here, including a list of all the new features and updates released in builds so far. Are you not seeing any of the features listed for this build? Check your Windows Insider Settings to make sure you’re in the Dev Channel. Submit feedback here to let us know if things weren’t working the way you expected.

If you want a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel, head over to Flight Hub. Please note, there will be a slight delay between when a build is flighted and when Flight Hub is updated.

Thanks,
Amanda & Brandon
Click to expand...

Source: Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22000.65

ISO download: Select language for Cumulative Update for Windows 11 (10.0.22000.65) amd64

Tutorial: UUP Dump - Download Windows Insider ISO

Windows 10: How to enable the search widget in Windows 11 Insider Preview Builds for testing

How to enable the search widget in Windows 11 Insider Preview Builds for testing

How to enable the search widget in Windows 11 Insider Preview Builds for testing

How to enable the search widget in Windows 11 Insider Preview Builds for testing

How to enable the search widget in Windows 11 Insider Preview Builds for testing - Similar Threads - enable search widget

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25231 enables the Tablet-optimized taskbar on all...

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25217 adds support for developers to test 3rd party widgets

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25201 brings an expanded view to the widgets board

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25174 introduces a Game Pass widget

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25140

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25120 introduces a search bar on the desktop

Windows 11 Insider Build Preview

How to Get Windows 11 Insider Preview Build Now

insider preview builds