Windows 10: Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25120 introduces a search bar on the desktop

Microsoft has released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25120 to users in the Dev Channel. It introduces a search bar on the desktop



What's new in Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25120


The Redmond company is calling it a "lightweight interactive content". Why not call it what it is, that is a desktop widget. You will need to reboot the computer after installing the update to trigger the search bar. Users can paste a URL in it, or type in their query to perform a web search via Bing (via Microsoft Edge?)

Image credit: Microsoft.

Microsoft says that the search bar isn't available for everyone just yet, as it is being A/B tested. The search widget may be rolled out on a wider scale if it receives positive feedback from users. I'm not a fan of the giant Bing search bar, but does this mean more desktop widgets are on the way? I miss the Windows 7 gadgets, they were really cool.

How to disable the desktop search bar in Windows 11


Not a fan of the new search bar on the desktop? You can remove the widget quite easily. Right-click on the desktop, select "Show more options", and click on the "Show Search" option to toggle it.

Microsoft is offering Build 25120 for ARM64 devices.

Fixes in Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25120


The Suggested Actions feature which debuted a week ago, in Build 25115, has been updated to support more date and time formats. It should now work more reliably. Viewing the battery usage graph will no longer crash the Settings app. The Wi-Fi section in the Quick Settings panel is faster to display available wireless networks. Text on the Task Manager's performance page is now readable when a contrast theme is active. Windows Update will not stall or roll back updates for users who have WSA enabled on their computer.

Known issues in Windows Insider Preview Build 25120


Games that use Easy Anti-Cheat may crash or cause a blue screen of death on your PC, with a bug check. The issues related to Live Captions which were present in the previous build remain unfixed in the current build. You can read the announcement article at the Windows Insider Blog, for more details.

My Windows Update got stuck at 99% downloaded, and wouldn't progress. I didn't have WSA enabled. A few others seem to have had this issue. I also had an Update Stack Package version 922.415.111.0 failing to install with an error code 0xc4800010. The issue is, this stack update had been installed successfully in the last week of April, but Windows 11 wanted to re-download it, and failed every time it tried to install it. I'm not sure about this, but the stack update bug may have corrupted the Windows Update files, which maybe why the Build update wouldn't get past 99%.

This had been happening for the last few Insider Builds, but usually I got around it by restarting the VM and checking for updates again, running Disk Cleanup to delete the update files, or by resetting the Windows Update components. None of these steps fixed my issue in the last build, I even deleted the SoftwareDistribution and Catroot2 folders, but ended up upgrading the OS manually using an ISO that I downloaded from UUdump.

The same issue occurred today with Build 25120, so I clean installed it using the previous build's ISO, after which the VM was able to download the Build 25120 update and install it. If you're facing similar issues, you can download the current build's ISO directly from Microsoft, take a backup of your data, and clean install the operating system.

Do you like the new search widget?

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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...

 

Cannot Active Insider Preview Program After Reinstall

Hi,

Failure to activate the Insider Build Preview can be caused by a change on your device configuration or a possible corrupted component. To isolate your concern, we'd like to ask the following:

• Which Windows build version is running on your device? You can type
  winver in the search box and press Enter to help you identify the build.
  
• Are you getting any error messages?
• What are the troubleshooting steps that you've performed?

In addition, we suggest that you check the Feedback Hub for related submission regarding the builds that were affected by some activation reported issue. Confirm if the build that you're trying to activate is one of the affected
builds and check the comment section for suggested solution.

We'll appreciate if you can send us an update.

 

Introducing Windows 11

How to download Windows 11 on PC​

First of all, remember that this is a test version of Windows 11: that is, it will definitely have bugs and instabilities, just so that Microsoft receives feedback from millions of PCs to make all the adjustments to the system. Avoid installing on your primary machine (or partition).
To download Windows 11, you must be currently using Windows 10 on your computer. So just follow these steps:

1. go to Settings > Privacy > Diagnostics and Feedback and activate the Optional diagnostics data option (this is mandatory in Windows Insider);
2. then follow the path Settings > Update & Security > Windows Insider Program ;
3. click Start Now ;
4. choose a Microsoft account (or login) and follow the instructions .

If you prefer, you can do a clean install by downloading the Windows 11 ISO image from the Microsoft website ; in this case, you must also be an Insider member.
Windows 11 Preview runs on my PC?​

There are two different scenarios to be able to test the upgrade:

• if you were already part of the Insider program as of June 24, 2021, you can install Windows 11 even on incompatible hardware;
• if you are entering the Insider program now , your computer must have compatible processor and TPM 2.0 module.

If you were not an Insider before and you have an Intel or AMD processor released before 2017 , the system will display the following message:
Your computer does not meet the minimum hardware requirements for Windows 11. Channel options will be limited.
In this case, you will be able to install future previews of Windows 10, which will continue to receive updates and support until October 2025.
If you were an Insider before June 24, Microsoft will make an exception . However, the company "recommends that PCs meet all hardware requirements for the best experience when using Windows 11 builds in the Insider Preview." Here's how to know if your PC meets the minimum requirements to run Windows 11.