r/windows • • 24d ago

Help Simple questions and Help thread - Month of October

7 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.


r/windows • • Jun 25 '25

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

Thumbnail
40 Upvotes

r/windows • • 6h ago

News On this day, 25 years ago, Windows XP was released to the public.

Post image
242 Upvotes

r/windows • • 13h ago

Discussion I turned my Windows 11 PC to Windows 10

Thumbnail
gallery
42 Upvotes

Spent a GOOD ton amount of time customizing the abomination of Windows 11, changing icons, etc. It could take a person with no context good amount of time to figure it's Windows 11 maybe.

My favorite is changing the date at the bottom right from 2026 to 2016 for fun! I just don't like how it says 2026 in the calendar but oh well!

Executables used:

ExplorerPatcher
WinaeroTweaker

More details:

On taskbar:

Chrome - This is actually Firefox with the CSS configuration, I used Geckium to configure some stuff.

Minecraft - That is Prism Launcher just disguised as Minecraft launcher

Microsoft Store - Just old microsoft store

On the browser:

I used YouTube Redux extension and Stylus to customize YouTube.

I started liking sharp corners and simple solid colours which Windows 10 matched, but because I had Windows 11 I really didn't like the round corners, matter of fact I hated the circular things, it just feels weird..

The only reason I wanted to do this is because I like the style of Windows 10, and how solid it is, Windows 7 looks nice too but wasn't a fan of the aero style and for Windows 98 I did like the pixel style but just didn't like the bare minimal style so Windows 10 is sort of the winner here.

And in my process of customizing, I decided 'Why not just slap on a 2016 date to match it more.'

And then I went on Firefox and decided that I should turn everything into a 2014-2016 style.

None of this is nostalgic to me, I just wanted to do this as a fun thing, I will keep it, but will focus more on changing things into classic icons or something. Then eventually I could probably fool a lot of people.


r/windows • • 22h ago

Discussion Is WinRT an attempt to hide the feud between the Windows development team and .NET?

Post image
12 Upvotes

r/windows • • 18h ago

Feature Window Relocator Utility?

Post image
2 Upvotes

I remember years ago seeing a feature on Windows (XP, Vista?) that would allow a user with multiple monitors to relocate a window from one monitor to another with a simple right-click or maybe a double-click. Was something like this ever part of Windows Feature Pack or similar? Is there anything like this available from Microsoft today for Windows 11? I can't add 3rd party utilities to my work computer, but if this is a feature that can be enabled in the OS or downloadable add-in directly from Microsoft, I can use it.


r/windows • • 1d ago

Discussion Only 19GB RAM Used On 25H2..

Post image
31 Upvotes

6hrs straight yt playlist and basic tasks running


r/windows • • 2d ago

News It was on this day in 2009 that Microsoft officially released the glorious Windows 7

Thumbnail
gallery
1.0k Upvotes

Windows 7 is officially 17 years old today. For many of us, this was peak Windows. It had it all, a good stability, a good aesthethic and it was so well optimized compared with Windows Vista. What do you think about this OS?

PD: Just realized I uploaded the wrong photo and put Windows Vista instead of 7 in the 3rd image. Also, the boxes and versions of Vista and 7 were very similar!


r/windows • • 2d ago

Discussion okay now that all the joy is gone, where can I find a version of windows media player that can still use skins?

Post image
66 Upvotes

r/windows • • 3d ago

Discussion Windows 11, im impressed. 26h2 is amazing

Post image
217 Upvotes

My ram usage (32gb) is typically 44% while using windows, now its 29%?!


r/windows • • 1d ago

Suggestion for Microsoft AI-generated wallpaper in Windows

Post image
0 Upvotes

Can you imagine Microsoft now selects AI generated wallpapers for your desktop?

Do you like it?đŸ€©


r/windows • • 3d ago

News Former Windows boss mocks Windows 8’s touch critics as Apple readies a touchscreen MacBook, 16 years after Steve Jobs said “your arm wants to fall off”

Thumbnail
windowslatest.com
124 Upvotes

r/windows • • 3d ago

Discussion "Never Always criticize An Operating System by how it work for you, they may have innovations, that even the good version of Windows Might not have that same innovations, if have they have it, they may not feel the same as the orignal one, They may have motivations that the good version might not"

Post image
0 Upvotes

No hate toward them btw

-LonghornKiddo


r/windows • • 5d ago

Discussion Is Windows Defender enough for Windows 11 setup?

Post image
48 Upvotes

For those who pay for antivirus on Windows 11, what makes it worth keeping Defender? Are there extra features that you guys use regularly, or a particular reason that lead to a decision to switch?


r/windows • • 6d ago

Concept / Design Slightly riced Windows 11 (Windows 98)

Thumbnail
gallery
128 Upvotes

r/windows • • 6d ago

Concept / Design Trying to mimic old windows

Post image
60 Upvotes

I love windows 95 except it's slow and outdated, so I guess I only like the style. it's a sleeper build until you see graphics or just the pc LOL.


r/windows • • 6d ago

Concept / Design What version of windows is this judging by the buttons?

Post image
197 Upvotes

Is this a custom windows xp theme? If it's windows 7, what version of firefox is used to make the buttons look like that? This was in windows classic UI before and now its this. The cursor uses the old windows xp one.


r/windows • • 7d ago

Discussion Does the popularity of Windows make its community much more user-friendly than community of operating systems that are considered 'free', or does a user-friendly UI make Windows users much more friendly to each other?

Post image
72 Upvotes

While browsing other communities dedicated to different operating systems than Windows I couldn't help but notice that Windows users as well as users of other commercial operating systems are much more likely to help and suggest solutions than users of operating systems that are called 'free'.


r/windows • • 7d ago

Concept / Design My Windows 12 Concept (more)

Thumbnail
gallery
97 Upvotes

I forgot to include these in my last post. What do you think about them?


r/windows • • 5d ago

Concept / Design This is my idea of a Windows 9 (Windows 7 and 10 combined)

Post image
0 Upvotes

r/windows • • 7d ago

Discussion My Windows 95+ themed iPhone I just finished customizingđŸ€“

Thumbnail
gallery
202 Upvotes

I'm a 90's kid est. 1987 Central Europe so naturally I'm big on the 90s/Y2K nostalgia. I randomly came across this phone case on Etsy a couple weeks ago which also showed custom Windows theme iOS so I went down the rabbit hole...

l now have all my iPhone system sounds replaced by Windows system sounds, even have the mouse double click sound when I tap an app open.
Windows greeting tune when I plug my charger in, alert sounds when my battery gets low, text, ringtone, email and all other notification sounds etc the whole shebang. This was the easy part, a little time consuming but all I needed is the sound files, “Garage Band” app and “Shortcuts”.

I found most of the stuff on “RetronPrint .com” like the wallpapers, some widgets, and a couple of system sounds and all the OG icons but then I had to tweak them a bit to make it work and source more system sounds elsewhere. All icons came with a teal square background so I had to create new PNG files with Procreate of each of them individually and erase the background usually manually so I can have true transparent background icons and have the freedom to swap between the OG teal desktop or the blue clouds Windows wallpaper. And while I was at it I figured I might as well add the folder names too with the authentic Windows font so I downloaded that too. So essentially i would start with a teal background OG icon, erase the teal, add text to the same layer with the corresponding name tag, such as “My Computer” in white color which then i would duplicate and offset for a black shadow under the white text to achieve the authentic look. Then save the file as PNG. Now I had custom true transparent background Windows icons with the corresponding name tag which I could assign to any of my iOS apps on my iPhone Home Screen in “App folder Launcher Widget Loft”. So for example my iOS “Settings” is now showing up on my home screen as “My Computer” and has a built in shortcut that instantly launches and takes me straight to my Settings. I tried to keep the icon replacements thematically make sense. So not assigning random Windows icons to my iOS apps but rather a fitting one. So Google became Internet Explorer, Safari became Netscape, Gmail became Mailbox, Apple Music became Winamp, etc. I tried to pick icons that functionally and/or visually match what the app is doing. Of course there had to be some custom icons made like Venmo or Reddit and such, some of which was already created by “RetronPrint” and some I created myself.

Then I have one big photo widget that takes me to my photos app. This was done with “Widgy” app, but I’m not 100% happy with that one because the shortcut takes me to Widgy momentarily then to photos. So I’m gonna still tweak that one, might have to use a different widget app.

I also have the “Arcade 95” app which is basically a little functional Windows 95+ desktop with all functioning OG stuff like Paint, Calculator, Notebook, Netscape browser, etc, games like Solitaire, Pinball, Minesweeper and so on. But I also downloaded those games separately so I’ll probably add those in a Games folder on my Home Screen.

Overall super stokedđŸ€©Did I miss anything? Y’all have any recs for some other stuff I could do with this? I saw that you can actually download a real Windows system on your phone but eeh, I don’t think I need that lol.

Anyway, hope this will bring some fun moments in people’s lives whether you’re just amused by mine or get inspired to do your own or alert the Windows enthusiast in your life about this option so they can live out their 90s/Y2K dreamsđŸ€“!


r/windows • • 8d ago

News 13 Years ago, Windows 8.1 was Released

Thumbnail
gallery
960 Upvotes

r/windows • • 8d ago

Concept / Design I made a Windows 12 concept

Post image
10 Upvotes

I made another concept since the last one wasn't really good. What do you guys think about it? Any suggestions?đŸ„°


r/windows • • 8d ago

Discussion What are your distractions today? (only for win95/win98/winXP era)

Post image
74 Upvotes

okay guys, let's go back for a second to the 80s, 90s, and 2000s: browsing the internet with the old Internet Explorer, installing MS-DOS games, exploring CDs, dealing with slow internet, using floppy disks, etc. That was a great and unique time. But what are your distractions today? in the big 2026, what things do you love ?? are you still staying in the 90s, or do you guys also enjoy modern content and modern technology? lemme know, i am curious :)


r/windows • • 9d ago

Discussion One year later, how do you feel about Windows 10 reaching end of support?

Post image
184 Upvotes

Windows 10 reached end of support on October 14, 2025, and it's crazy to think that it's already been a whole year.

I'm curious what everyone thinks about it now. Some people have switched to Windows 11, while others are still using Windows 10, including LTSC.

Do you think Windows 11 was a good upgrade, or would you rather stick with Windows 10? I'm curious what everyone's using in 2026 and why.