Category: Microsoft
Category Archives: Microsoft
Windows 11 ON AMD A4-9125 R3 RADEON CPU 2.3GHZ -compatiblity fix working
! WINDOWS 11 PRO WORKING ON A NON SUPPORTED CPU
[ AMD A4-9125 R3 2.3GHZ CPU – RADEON ]
I attempted to install windows 11 on my pc via the desktop it has the processor stated above and it said it was not compatible and would not let me install it. and made me exit update utility for windows 11.
WORKING FIX : This method worked for me
-install windows 11 22h2 iso onto a usb you will need to find a copy online
-create a bootable usb with anyburn free software found online.
be sure to back everything up as a full reinstall from bios is the only way and you will lose your data.
-once you have created the bootable usb drive you can then proceed to install the os via usb boot method and follow the on screen prompts.
-windows should then install without issue after the final restart if the usb is still plugged in it will take you back to the start of the re install menu if it does unplug the usb and restart your pc
it will then boot to windows 11
-follow the on screen prompts and setup your pc
-once you reach desktop install updates via windows update
-from that point you should be good to go.
Its common knowledge the amd a4-9125 r3 cpu is apparently not compatible with windows 11.
using this method it is as seen below in my photos.
NOTE :ive tested the os over 48 hours without any crash no blue screen or anything
(i take no responsibility for lost / or damaged software / hardware try this at your own risk)
THE PROCESSOR IS ALSO A NON UPGRADEABLE PART THATS FIXED TO THE MOBO THIS IS YOUR EASIEST OPTION FOR A WINDOWS 11 UPDATE I CAN ONLY CONFIRM THIS FOR THIS SPECIFIC PROCESSOR.
RECCOMEDATIONS
AFTER INSTALL WIPE ANY BLOATWARE
SET SYSTEM SETTING TO PEFORMANCE
TURN OFF ALL TRANSPARENCY EFFECTS
AND TURN OFF ALOW BACKGROUND APPS FOR OPTIMAL PEFORMANCE
DISABLE ONEDRIVE IF YOU DONT USE IT
RUN DISK CLEANUP THEN OPTIMIZE DRIVES AND RUN MAINTANENCE.
FINALLY OPEN CMD PROMPT AS ADMIN AND TYPE FOLLOWING COMMAND
SFC /SCANNOW AND PRESS ENTER.
[i hope this helps those who felt left in the stoneage by not being able to update]
KIND REGARDS JORDAN
! WINDOWS 11 PRO WORKING ON A NON SUPPORTED CPU[ AMD A4-9125 R3 2.3GHZ CPU – RADEON ] I attempted to install windows 11 on my pc via the desktop it has the processor stated above and it said it was not compatible and would not let me install it. and made me exit update utility for windows 11. WORKING FIX : This method worked for me-install windows 11 22h2 iso onto a usb you will need to find a copy online-create a bootable usb with anyburn free software found online.be sure to back everything up as a full reinstall from bios is the only way and you will lose your data. -once you have created the bootable usb drive you can then proceed to install the os via usb boot method and follow the on screen prompts.-windows should then install without issue after the final restart if the usb is still plugged in it will take you back to the start of the re install menu if it does unplug the usb and restart your pcit will then boot to windows 11-follow the on screen prompts and setup your pc-once you reach desktop install updates via windows update-from that point you should be good to go. Its common knowledge the amd a4-9125 r3 cpu is apparently not compatible with windows 11. using this method it is as seen below in my photos. NOTE :ive tested the os over 48 hours without any crash no blue screen or anything(i take no responsibility for lost / or damaged software / hardware try this at your own risk)THE PROCESSOR IS ALSO A NON UPGRADEABLE PART THATS FIXED TO THE MOBO THIS IS YOUR EASIEST OPTION FOR A WINDOWS 11 UPDATE I CAN ONLY CONFIRM THIS FOR THIS SPECIFIC PROCESSOR. RECCOMEDATIONSAFTER INSTALL WIPE ANY BLOATWARESET SYSTEM SETTING TO PEFORMANCETURN OFF ALL TRANSPARENCY EFFECTSAND TURN OFF ALOW BACKGROUND APPS FOR OPTIMAL PEFORMANCEDISABLE ONEDRIVE IF YOU DONT USE IT RUN DISK CLEANUP THEN OPTIMIZE DRIVES AND RUN MAINTANENCE. FINALLY OPEN CMD PROMPT AS ADMIN AND TYPE FOLLOWING COMMANDSFC /SCANNOW AND PRESS ENTER.[i hope this helps those who felt left in the stoneage by not being able to update] KIND REGARDS JORDAN Read More
Can’t get student benefits using Microsoft ambassador account as well university email
Hi, I have recently on boarded as a micro soft learn ambassador. I have ambassador account and I need a free student service to complete my ambassador on boarding. However, I am not able access the student benefits to continue my on boarding. I even tried with my university email but the result is same.
While using my ambassador account it says: Unable to confirm your University ID
While using my college email: Unable to confirm your University ID
Now, in this situation, I don’t know how to use student benefits and continue my Microsoft learn ambassador journey.
Hi, I have recently on boarded as a micro soft learn ambassador. I have ambassador account and I need a free student service to complete my ambassador on boarding. However, I am not able access the student benefits to continue my on boarding. I even tried with my university email but the result is same.While using my ambassador account it says: Unable to confirm your University IDWhile using my college email: Unable to confirm your University IDNow, in this situation, I don’t know how to use student benefits and continue my Microsoft learn ambassador journey. Read More
我的网站没有在必应当中展示
问题是由供应商:(翁嘉莉)在其他论坛建议我来此发表!
问题是
域名:dwo.cc
买来后一直无法收录
进入必应站长后台就是显示:必应可以识别经过检查的 URL,但出现了一些导致无法编制索引的问题。我们建议你按照必应网站管理员工具准则增加索引编制的机会。
但是实时URL显示该 URL 可以由必应编制索引 只要该页面通过了质量检查,并且必应对其进行了索引编制,它就可以显示在必应搜索结果中
已经申请了多次编制,且只爬取,不索引
通过 https://www.bing.com/webmasters/help/webmaster-support-24ab5ebf 反馈就是一直没回复或者没后续
谷歌和百度之类都是正常收录
我给他的回复是:这个问题比较常见,但是并没有什么好的处理方法,只爬取,不索引!我也在其他必应的论坛发表过问题,但是至今未能解决,发就邮件就是回复例如:A:这个我们无法拿到具体数据请找B,B:我们不是这个产品的,我们没有具体后台数据!就类似这样子踢皮球,以至这个问题现在还存在!
希望在此能解决这个问题
问题是由供应商:(翁嘉莉)在其他论坛建议我来此发表!问题是域名:dwo.cc买来后一直无法收录进入必应站长后台就是显示:必应可以识别经过检查的 URL,但出现了一些导致无法编制索引的问题。我们建议你按照必应网站管理员工具准则增加索引编制的机会。但是实时URL显示该 URL 可以由必应编制索引 只要该页面通过了质量检查,并且必应对其进行了索引编制,它就可以显示在必应搜索结果中已经申请了多次编制,且只爬取,不索引通过 https://www.bing.com/webmasters/help/webmaster-support-24ab5ebf 反馈就是一直没回复或者没后续谷歌和百度之类都是正常收录 我给他的回复是:这个问题比较常见,但是并没有什么好的处理方法,只爬取,不索引!我也在其他必应的论坛发表过问题,但是至今未能解决,发就邮件就是回复例如:A:这个我们无法拿到具体数据请找B,B:我们不是这个产品的,我们没有具体后台数据!就类似这样子踢皮球,以至这个问题现在还存在! 希望在此能解决这个问题 Read More
Server 2025 Core ADDS DC, Network Profile Showing as “Public” and not as “DomainAuthenticated”
OS: Windows Server 20225 Standard Core (no GUI), build 26085.1
Role: ADDS, DNS
ForestMode: Windows2025Forest
DomainMode: Windows2025Domain
Platform: Hyper-V guest
When standing up a clean Windows Server 2025 using server core and configuring it as a domain controller, the network category (profile) always shows as “public.”
A clean load of Windows Server 2022 with server core as a domain controller has the same behavior. However, in Server 2022, the fix is to add DNS as a required service to the nlasvc (Network Location Awareness) service. Once that is done, the network category reflects “DomainAuthenticed” and persists between reboots.
In Server 2025, the nlasvc service does not have the same requiredservices as Windows Server 2022, and it does not start automatically. Even after configuring the nlasvc service the same way it is in Server 2022 and adding DNS as a required service, the network category still reflects “public.” The only way to get the network category to properly reflect the “DomainAuthenticated” status is to disable and reenable the network adapter after each reboot.
OS: Windows Server 20225 Standard Core (no GUI), build 26085.1Role: ADDS, DNSForestMode: Windows2025ForestDomainMode: Windows2025DomainPlatform: Hyper-V guest When standing up a clean Windows Server 2025 using server core and configuring it as a domain controller, the network category (profile) always shows as “public.” A clean load of Windows Server 2022 with server core as a domain controller has the same behavior. However, in Server 2022, the fix is to add DNS as a required service to the nlasvc (Network Location Awareness) service. Once that is done, the network category reflects “DomainAuthenticed” and persists between reboots. In Server 2025, the nlasvc service does not have the same requiredservices as Windows Server 2022, and it does not start automatically. Even after configuring the nlasvc service the same way it is in Server 2022 and adding DNS as a required service, the network category still reflects “public.” The only way to get the network category to properly reflect the “DomainAuthenticated” status is to disable and reenable the network adapter after each reboot. Read More
My PC freezes when I watch video/stream in browsers
Hello, I have had this problem since I bought my PC approximately 8 months ago. It happens that my PC freezes when I watch videos in browsers. Whether it is any video on YouTube, Twitch, or any other playback, the video loses the audio at some point, and if I don’t close it quickly, my PC freezes completely. Sometimes, it just freezes without allowing me to close the browser. It happens in different browsers, too, like Microsoft Edge or Chrome. I play video games requiring a lot of hardware, which doesn’t happen to me. I am very stressed because the only solution is to press the shutdown button until the PC turns off completely. I have tried everything: updating video drivers, Windows, playback troubleshooting, SFC file checker, and DISM commands. I have found people with the same problem but need help finding a precise solution. Could you help me? I leave you the information about my system below. You will realize it is not a hardware problem; my PC is relatively new.
Processor 13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-13700HX 2.10 GHz
Installed RAM 32.0 GB (31.7 GB usable)
Device ID 3756210D-B353-4711-B28E-63A88B004F24
Product ID 00342-21076-98457-AAOEM
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
GPU
Display 1 Intel(R) UHD Graphics
Display 2 NVIDIA Geforce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU
Hello, I have had this problem since I bought my PC approximately 8 months ago. It happens that my PC freezes when I watch videos in browsers. Whether it is any video on YouTube, Twitch, or any other playback, the video loses the audio at some point, and if I don’t close it quickly, my PC freezes completely. Sometimes, it just freezes without allowing me to close the browser. It happens in different browsers, too, like Microsoft Edge or Chrome. I play video games requiring a lot of hardware, which doesn’t happen to me. I am very stressed because the only solution is to press the shutdown button until the PC turns off completely. I have tried everything: updating video drivers, Windows, playback troubleshooting, SFC file checker, and DISM commands. I have found people with the same problem but need help finding a precise solution. Could you help me? I leave you the information about my system below. You will realize it is not a hardware problem; my PC is relatively new. Processor 13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-13700HX 2.10 GHzInstalled RAM 32.0 GB (31.7 GB usable)Device ID 3756210D-B353-4711-B28E-63A88B004F24Product ID 00342-21076-98457-AAOEMSystem type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processorGPUDisplay 1 Intel(R) UHD GraphicsDisplay 2 NVIDIA Geforce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU Read More
WINDOWS 11 WORKS ON NON SUPPORTED PROCESSOR AMD A4-9125 R3 RADEON 2.3GHZ PROCESSOR
! WINDOWS 11 PRO WORKING ON A NON SUPPORTED CPU
[ AMD A4-9125 R3 2.3GHZ CPU – RADEON ]
i tried to install windows 11 on my pc with the processor stated above it said it was not compatible and would not let me install it
FIX : install windows 11 22h2 iso onto a usb you will need to find a copy and create a bootable usb with anyburn free software be sure to back everythinbg up and a full reinstall is the only way you will lose documents
proceed to install the os via usb boot method and follow the on screen prompts
windows will install without issue and then you can do a update via windows update to go to the next version of windows
this is really simple
its common knowledge the amd a4-9125 r3 cpu is not compatible with windows 11. using this method it is as seen below in my photo
ive tested the os over 48 hours without any crash no blue screen or anything
‘
IF YOU WANT TO UPGRARDE YOU NON COMPATIBLE DEVICE TO WINDOWS 11 TRY THIS METHOD
(i take no responsibility for lost / or damaged software / hardware try this at your own risk)
JUST PUTTING IT OUT THERE THAT THIS IS POSSIBLE
THE PROCESSOR IS ALSO A NON UPGRADEABLE PART THATS FIXED TO THE MOBO THIS IS YOUR ONLY OPTION TO GET WINDOWS 11
cpu specs also below you get random spikes but weirdly it DONT EFFECT the operation and/or load times of the pc its fast even when at at %100 spike not sure why as of yet
KIND REGARDS JORDAN
! WINDOWS 11 PRO WORKING ON A NON SUPPORTED CPU[ AMD A4-9125 R3 2.3GHZ CPU – RADEON ] i tried to install windows 11 on my pc with the processor stated above it said it was not compatible and would not let me install it FIX : install windows 11 22h2 iso onto a usb you will need to find a copy and create a bootable usb with anyburn free software be sure to back everythinbg up and a full reinstall is the only way you will lose documents proceed to install the os via usb boot method and follow the on screen promptswindows will install without issue and then you can do a update via windows update to go to the next version of windows this is really simple its common knowledge the amd a4-9125 r3 cpu is not compatible with windows 11. using this method it is as seen below in my photoive tested the os over 48 hours without any crash no blue screen or anything’IF YOU WANT TO UPGRARDE YOU NON COMPATIBLE DEVICE TO WINDOWS 11 TRY THIS METHOD(i take no responsibility for lost / or damaged software / hardware try this at your own risk) JUST PUTTING IT OUT THERE THAT THIS IS POSSIBLETHE PROCESSOR IS ALSO A NON UPGRADEABLE PART THATS FIXED TO THE MOBO THIS IS YOUR ONLY OPTION TO GET WINDOWS 11 cpu specs also below you get random spikes but weirdly it DONT EFFECT the operation and/or load times of the pc its fast even when at at %100 spike not sure why as of yet KIND REGARDS JORDAN Read More
Examining the Deception infrastructure in place behind code.microsoft.com
The domain name code.microsoft.com has an interesting story behind it. Today it’s not linked to anything but that wasn’t always true. This is the story of one of my most successful honeypot instances and how it enabled Microsoft to collect varied threat intelligence against a broad range of actor groups targeting Microsoft. I’m writing this now as we’ve decided to retire this capability.
In the past the domain ‘code.microsoft.com’ was an early domain used to host Visual Studio Code and some helpful documentation. The domain was active until around 2021, when this documentation was moved to a new home. The site behind the domain was an Azure AppService site that performed the redirection thus preventing existing links from being broken.
Sometime around mid-2021 the existing Azure AppService instance was shutdown leaving code.microsoft.com pointing to a service that no longer existed. This created a vulnerability.
This situation is what’s called a dangling subdomain which refers to a subdomain that once pointed to a valid resource but now hangs in limbo. Imagine a subdomain like blog.somedomain.com that used to handle a blog application. When the underlying service is deleted (the blog engine) you might update your page link and assume the service has been retired. However, there is still a subdomain that pointed to the blog entire, this is now “dangling” and can’t be resolved.
A malicious actor can discover the dangling subdomain. Provision a cloud Azure resource with the same name and now visiting blog.somedomain.com will redirect to the attacker’s resource. Here they control the content.
This happened in 2021 when the domain was temporarily used to host a malware C2 service. Thanks to multiple reports from our great community this was quickly spotted and taken down before it could be used. As a response to this Microsoft now has more robust tools in place to catch similar threats.
How did it become a honeypot?
Today it is relatively routine that MSTIC takes control of attacker-controlled resources and repurposes these for threat intelligence collection. Taking control of a malware C2 environment for example enables us to potentially discover new infected nodes.
At the time of the dangling code subdomain this process was relatively new. We wanted a good test case to show the value of taking over resources over taking them down. So instead of removing the dangling subdomain we pointed this instead to a node in our existing vast honeypot sensor network.
A honeypot is a decoy system designed to attract and monitor malicious activity. Honeypots can be used to collect information about the attackers, their tools, their techniques, and their intentions. Honeypots can also be used to divert the attackers from the real targets and to waste their time and resources.
Microsoft’s honeypot sensor network has been in development since 2018. It’s used to collect information on emerging threats to both our and our customers environments. The data we collect helps us be better informed when a new vulnerability is disclosed and gives us retrospective information on how, when and where exploits are deployed.
This data becomes enriched with other tools Microsoft has available and turns it from a source of raw threat data to threat intelligence. This is incorporate into a variety of our security products. Customers can also get access to this via Sentinel’s emerging threat feed.
The honeypot itself is a custom designed framework written in C#. It enables security researchers to quickly deploy anything from a single HTTP exploit handler in one or two lines of code all the way up to complex protocols like SSH and VNC. For even more complex protocols we can hand off to real systems when we detect exploit traffic and revert these shortly after.
It is our mission to deny threat actors access to resources or enable them to use our infrastructure to create further victims. That’s why in almost all scenarios the attacker is playing in a high interaction, simulated environment. No code is run, everything is a trick or deception designed to get them to reveal their intentions to us.
Substantial engineering has gone into our simulation framework. Today over 300 vulnerabilities can be triggered through the same exploit proof-of-concepts available in places like GitHub and exploitdb. Threat actors can communicate with over 30 different protocol and can even ‘log in’ and deploy scripts and execute payloads that look like they are operating on a real system. There is no real system and almost everything is being simulated.
Even so it’s important that in standing up a honeypot on an important domain like Microsoft.com that it wasn’t possible for attackers to use this as environment to perform other web attacks. Attacks that might rely on same origin trust. To mitigate this further we added the sandbox policy to the pages which prevents these kinds of attacks.
What have we learnt from the honeypot?
Our sensor network has contributed to many successes over the year. We’ve presented on these at computer security conferences in the past as well as shared our data with academia and the community. We incorporate this data into our security products to enable them to be aware of the latest threats.
In recent years this capability has been crucial to understanding the 0day and nDay ecosystem. During Log4shell incident we were able to use our sensor network to track each iteration of the underlying vulnerability and associated proof-of-concept all the way back to GitHub. This helped us understand the groups involved in productionising the exploit and where it was being targeted. Our data enables internal teams to be much better prepared to remediate and provides the analysis for detection authors to improved products like MDE in real time.
The team developing this capability also works closely with the MSRC who our track our own security issues. When the Exchange ProxyLogon vulnerability was announced we had already written a full exploit handler in our environment to track and understand not just the exploit but the groups deploying it. This situational awareness this enables us to give clearer advice to industry, better protect our customers and integrate new threats we were seeing into Windows Defender and MDE.
The domain code.microsoft.com was often critical to the success of this as well as a useful early warning system. When new vulnerabilities have been announced, threat actors can often be too consumed with trying to use the vulnerability as quickly as possible than checking for Deception infrastructure like a honeypot. As a result, code.microsoft.com often saw exploits first, many of these exploits were attributed to threat actors MSTIC already tracks.
What happened next?
The code subdomain had been known to bug bounty researchers for several years. When receiving reports for this domain these would be closed to let them know they had found a honeypot.
In the past we’ve asked these security professionals to refrain from publishing the details of this service is in effort to protect the value we received from it. We’ve also understood for a while that this subdomain would need to be retired when it because well know what was behind it.
That time is now.
On the 25th April an uptick in traffic to the subdomain and posts on Twitter showed that domain was being investigated by a broad groups of individuals. We don’t want to waste effort researchers put into finding issues with our production systems so it was decided that the truth would finally be revealed and the system retired.
The timeline below gives an order of events from our perspective. It’s unknown exactly how the full exploit URL for our server ended up in Google search database, but it looks like this and the associated discovery on Twitter/X culminated in almost 80k Wechat exploits in a 3 hour period. it’s unlikely the Google crawler would have naturally found the URL. Our current theory is that a security researcher found this and submitted a report to Microsoft. As part of this process either the Chrome browser or another app found this URL and submitted it for indexing.
March 2024
WeChat exploit appear in Google search results for the first time
15th April 2024
Sumit Jain posts a redacted screenshot of a exploit mitigation, some debate occurs about whether the domain is the code subdomain.
21st April 2024
Google trends show that many people are now search for this domain
24th April 2024
We start to notice a significant uptick in traffic to the subdomain
26th April 2024
We are handling 126 thousand times more requests than average
By 26th April we were handling ~160k requests per day, up from the usual 5-100. Most of these requests were to a single endpoint handling a vulnerability in the Wechat Broadcast plugin for WordPress (CVE-2018-16283). This enabled anyone to ‘run’ a command from a parameter in the URI.
Looking at these URI’s we found 11k different commands being run. Most of these pushed a message by some group or another stating that the site had been hacked by them. As this was a simulation, this did not happen.
Removing these messages gives a clearer picture of the kinds of commands people were entering.
Most commands entered were Linux recon commands. These attempted to find out what the system was, what files it contained and more broadly what value it was to Microsoft. The next biggest group were running command, these ranged from basic Linux commands like ‘whoami’ but a few enterprising folks went on to run scripts of various languages.
Most people who interacted didn’t get further that the Wechat exploit. Over the three days that infosec Twitter took interest 63 different exploits in total were triggered. The biggest surprise to me was that most researchers stuck to HTTP, only three groups probed the other ports and even fewer logged into the other services that were available.
Some of the best investigation came from @simplylurking2 on Twitter/X who after finding out the system was a honeypot continued to analyse what we had in place and constructed. First constructing a rick roll and then a URL that when visited would display a message to right click and save a payload.
With such a lot of information now publicly available the usefulness of this subdomain has also diminished. On April 26th we replaced the site with a 404 message and are working on retiring the subdomain completely.
Our TI collection is undiminished, Microsoft runs many of these collection services across multiple datacentres. Our concept has been proved and we have rolled out similar capabilities at higher scales in many other locations worldwide. These continue to give us a detailed picture of emerging threats.
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
What these requirement for Excel 2019 certified exam really means?
I am thinking about taking an Excel 2019 certified exam proctored by Microsoft.
But I can’t make up what the following instruction really means. Can anyone kindly clear up what it means? What identification documents are they talking about?
Take a clear photo of your identification documents. This step is required for validating your identity at the time of testing. If the photo isn’t clear, the proctor won’t allow you to take the test. There are no exceptions to this rule
Also can’t have System Test for Certification online. It’s not working. How do I know my system is compatible?
Do I need to install Excel 2019 if I decide to take the test online staying from home?
I am thinking about taking an Excel 2019 certified exam proctored by Microsoft. But I can’t make up what the following instruction really means. Can anyone kindly clear up what it means? What identification documents are they talking about? Take a clear photo of your identification documents. This step is required for validating your identity at the time of testing. If the photo isn’t clear, the proctor won’t allow you to take the test. There are no exceptions to this rule Also can’t have System Test for Certification online. It’s not working. How do I know my system is compatible? Do I need to install Excel 2019 if I decide to take the test online staying from home? Read More
The generated files are mysteriously deleted
I developed an application that, after running on a Windows computer, generates some files. The files are saved to an internal shared server running Windows Server 2012. However, occasionally, some files are mysteriously deleted after the program runs. Not all generated files are deleted. I initially thought they were being deleted as viruses, but disabling security protection on the Windows server did not help.
Could you please help me explore the possible causes and solutions?
I developed an application that, after running on a Windows computer, generates some files. The files are saved to an internal shared server running Windows Server 2012. However, occasionally, some files are mysteriously deleted after the program runs. Not all generated files are deleted. I initially thought they were being deleted as viruses, but disabling security protection on the Windows server did not help. Could you please help me explore the possible causes and solutions? Read More
Microsoft Defender will not let me log in on Windows 11
I have a subscription to the Personal Microsoft 365 plan which includes Microsoft Defender. When I try logging into Microsoft Defender on my Windows PC, I receive an error message stating “Couldn’t sign in to Microsoft Defender. Something went wrong-please try again later”. I have been having this issue for several months now. I have recently contacted Microsoft Tech support who just directed me to this community. The tech support representative mentioned that others may have experienced similar issues as mine. I would appreciate if anyone could advise.
My PC is running Windows 11 and is up to date on updates. All of my 365 applications are also up to date. I have also tried running the repair tool on Microsoft Defender in addition to uninstalling and reinstalling the application.
The tech support representative mentioned something to me about the issue could be because I am using a personal email account for my login for Microsoft Defender. I did not fully understand why that would be the issue. I would like to note that I have no issue logging into Microsoft Defender on my Android phone. The problem appears to only occur on my PC and only for the Microsoft Defender app. All other apps that come with my 365 subscription use the same login and appear to be working fine.
I have a subscription to the Personal Microsoft 365 plan which includes Microsoft Defender. When I try logging into Microsoft Defender on my Windows PC, I receive an error message stating “Couldn’t sign in to Microsoft Defender. Something went wrong-please try again later”. I have been having this issue for several months now. I have recently contacted Microsoft Tech support who just directed me to this community. The tech support representative mentioned that others may have experienced similar issues as mine. I would appreciate if anyone could advise. My PC is running Windows 11 and is up to date on updates. All of my 365 applications are also up to date. I have also tried running the repair tool on Microsoft Defender in addition to uninstalling and reinstalling the application. The tech support representative mentioned something to me about the issue could be because I am using a personal email account for my login for Microsoft Defender. I did not fully understand why that would be the issue. I would like to note that I have no issue logging into Microsoft Defender on my Android phone. The problem appears to only occur on my PC and only for the Microsoft Defender app. All other apps that come with my 365 subscription use the same login and appear to be working fine. Read More
Azure Data Factory CDC-Update and Delete of a row
Team,
I am exploring Azure Data Factory CDC and I am unable to figure out if there is a way to do update and delete of a row.
In the properties, I can see it has updateable and upsertable, any idea how to set this from the ADF UI?
Please let me know if it is possible.
Thanks
Team,I am exploring Azure Data Factory CDC and I am unable to figure out if there is a way to do update and delete of a row.In the properties, I can see it has updateable and upsertable, any idea how to set this from the ADF UI? Please let me know if it is possible.Thanks Read More
SharePoint document embeds stuck on Sign In screen [worldwide bug + reproducible]
Iframe embeds of SharePoint documents (Excel, PowerPoint, Word etc) show the “Sign In” screen regardless of access permissions. Clicking sign in opens a popup, authenticates, closes popup, and no redirection occurs.
Console shows request errors for /_api/contextinfo and /_api/web/Language
This bug is global/worldwide and is not due to any local setup or tenant configuration. Has been introduced in the past few days. Same bug described here: Unable to Embed SharePoint Document.
Steps to reproduce:
1. Chrome or Edge: open any SharePoint document (Excel, PowerPoint, Word).
2. File, Share, Embed.
3. Copy-paste the iframe embed code into a new JSFiddle.
4. Click “Sign In”.
5. Open dev console to see the errors.
Seems to work in Firefox, so could be a Chromium issue.
Is there an official method to report bugs to Microsoft or are these forums the only option?
Iframe embeds of SharePoint documents (Excel, PowerPoint, Word etc) show the “Sign In” screen regardless of access permissions. Clicking sign in opens a popup, authenticates, closes popup, and no redirection occurs. Console shows request errors for /_api/contextinfo and /_api/web/Language This bug is global/worldwide and is not due to any local setup or tenant configuration. Has been introduced in the past few days. Same bug described here: Unable to Embed SharePoint Document. Steps to reproduce: 1. Chrome or Edge: open any SharePoint document (Excel, PowerPoint, Word).2. File, Share, Embed.3. Copy-paste the iframe embed code into a new JSFiddle.4. Click “Sign In”.5. Open dev console to see the errors. Seems to work in Firefox, so could be a Chromium issue. Is there an official method to report bugs to Microsoft or are these forums the only option? Read More
Microsoft Teams SMB at the Microsoft 365 Community Conference (Apr 30-May 2, 2024)
Join product leaders from our Teams SMB team at the Microsoft 365 Community Conference in Orlando, FL, April 30 – May 2, 2024.
The following sessions will be tailored to the SMB audience:
Microsoft Teams: Small business’s big partner in success with Abhijat Kanade and Arun Das | Thursday, May 2, 8:00am – 9:00am
Learn about the Microsoft Global Community Initiative, SMB Community, and M365 Champions Programs with Tiffany Lee | Tuesday, April 30, 8:00am – 9:15am
All conference sessions and event details can be found here on our Teams blog: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-teams-blog/microsoft-teams-at-the-microsoft-365-community-conference/ba-p/4105608
We hope to see some of you there! Please come back to this forum to chat with us after the conference!
Join product leaders from our Teams SMB team at the Microsoft 365 Community Conference in Orlando, FL, April 30 – May 2, 2024.
The following sessions will be tailored to the SMB audience:
Microsoft Teams: Small business’s big partner in success with Abhijat Kanade and Arun Das | Thursday, May 2, 8:00am – 9:00am
Learn about the Microsoft Global Community Initiative, SMB Community, and M365 Champions Programs with Tiffany Lee | Tuesday, April 30, 8:00am – 9:15am
All conference sessions and event details can be found here on our Teams blog: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-teams-blog/microsoft-teams-at-the-microsoft-365-community-conference/ba-p/4105608
We hope to see some of you there! Please come back to this forum to chat with us after the conference! Read More
How To Fix QuickBooks Might Run Slowly in Multi-User and Single-User Mode
QuickBooks is a powerful tool for managing finances, but it can be frustrating when it runs slowly, whether in multi-user or single-user mode. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the reasons behind slow performance in QuickBooks and provide detailed solutions to help you resolve this issue and optimize your workflow effectively.
Understanding the QuickBooks Multi-User Mode isn’t working:
Slow performance in QuickBooks can manifest as delayed response times, sluggish navigation, and overall system lag, impacting productivity and efficiency. Whether you’re operating in multi-user or single-user mode, encountering slow performance can be a significant hurdle in completing your accounting tasks.
Reasons for QuickBooks Multi-User Mode not working:
Insufficient Hardware Resources: QuickBooks requires adequate hardware resources, including RAM, CPU, and disk space, to operate efficiently. If your system lacks sufficient resources, it can lead to slow performance, regardless of whether you’re operating in multi-user or single-user mode.
Large Company File Size: As your company file grows larger with extensive transaction histories, attachments, and data, QuickBooks may take longer to process information, resulting in slow performance. Large company files can significantly impact performance in both multi-user and single-user modes.
Network Congestion (Multi-User Mode): In multi-user mode, network congestion can occur when multiple users access the company file simultaneously over the network. This congestion can lead to delays in data transmission and processing, causing slow performance for all users accessing the file.
Software Configuration Issues: Incorrect or outdated software configurations, such as network settings, firewall configurations, or QuickBooks preferences, can contribute to slow performance in both multi-user and single-user modes. Misconfigured settings can impact data transmission and processing, leading to sluggishness.
Solutions to QuickBooks Might Run Slowly in Multi-User and Single-User Mode:
1. Upgrade Hardware Resources:
Ensure that your system meets or exceeds QuickBooks’ recommended hardware specifications for optimal performance. Upgrade RAM, CPU, and disk space as needed to provide sufficient resources for QuickBooks to operate efficiently in both multi-user and single-user modes.
2. Condense Company File:
If your company file has grown too large, consider condensing it to reduce its size and improve performance. QuickBooks offers a condense data utility that removes outdated transactions and reduces file size without compromising data integrity, benefiting both multi-user and single-user modes.
3. Optimize Network Infrastructure (Multi-User Mode):
In multi-user mode, optimize your network infrastructure to reduce congestion and improve data transmission speeds. Upgrade network switches, routers, and cables, and implement Quality of Service (QoS) settings to prioritize QuickBooks data traffic, minimizing slowdowns for all users accessing the file.
4. Review and Optimize Software Configuration:
Review and optimize software configurations, including network settings, firewall configurations, and QuickBooks preferences, to ensure optimal performance. Disable unnecessary features, adjust caching settings, and update software components to eliminate potential bottlenecks in both multi-user and single-user modes.
5. Implement Regular Maintenance:
Perform regular maintenance tasks, such as data verification, rebuilding, and optimization, to keep your QuickBooks company file healthy and optimized for performance. Use the Verify Data and Rebuild Data utilities to identify and repair data integrity issues, benefiting both multi-user and single-user modes.
Conclusion:
Encountering slow performance in QuickBooks can be frustrating, but understanding the reasons behind it and implementing effective solutions can help you optimize performance in both multi-user and single-user modes. By upgrading hardware resources, condensing company files, optimizing network infrastructure, reviewing and optimizing software configuration, and implementing regular maintenance, you can improve efficiency and productivity in your accounting processes. With careful attention to optimization strategies, you can ensure smooth operation of QuickBooks, whether you’re working alone or collaborating with others in a multi-user environment.
QuickBooks is a powerful tool for managing finances, but it can be frustrating when it runs slowly, whether in multi-user or single-user mode. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the reasons behind slow performance in QuickBooks and provide detailed solutions to help you resolve this issue and optimize your workflow effectively.Understanding the QuickBooks Multi-User Mode isn’t working: Slow performance in QuickBooks can manifest as delayed response times, sluggish navigation, and overall system lag, impacting productivity and efficiency. Whether you’re operating in multi-user or single-user mode, encountering slow performance can be a significant hurdle in completing your accounting tasks.Reasons for QuickBooks Multi-User Mode not working: Insufficient Hardware Resources: QuickBooks requires adequate hardware resources, including RAM, CPU, and disk space, to operate efficiently. If your system lacks sufficient resources, it can lead to slow performance, regardless of whether you’re operating in multi-user or single-user mode.Large Company File Size: As your company file grows larger with extensive transaction histories, attachments, and data, QuickBooks may take longer to process information, resulting in slow performance. Large company files can significantly impact performance in both multi-user and single-user modes.Network Congestion (Multi-User Mode): In multi-user mode, network congestion can occur when multiple users access the company file simultaneously over the network. This congestion can lead to delays in data transmission and processing, causing slow performance for all users accessing the file.Software Configuration Issues: Incorrect or outdated software configurations, such as network settings, firewall configurations, or QuickBooks preferences, can contribute to slow performance in both multi-user and single-user modes. Misconfigured settings can impact data transmission and processing, leading to sluggishness.Solutions to QuickBooks Might Run Slowly in Multi-User and Single-User Mode: 1. Upgrade Hardware Resources:Ensure that your system meets or exceeds QuickBooks’ recommended hardware specifications for optimal performance. Upgrade RAM, CPU, and disk space as needed to provide sufficient resources for QuickBooks to operate efficiently in both multi-user and single-user modes.2. Condense Company File:If your company file has grown too large, consider condensing it to reduce its size and improve performance. QuickBooks offers a condense data utility that removes outdated transactions and reduces file size without compromising data integrity, benefiting both multi-user and single-user modes.3. Optimize Network Infrastructure (Multi-User Mode):In multi-user mode, optimize your network infrastructure to reduce congestion and improve data transmission speeds. Upgrade network switches, routers, and cables, and implement Quality of Service (QoS) settings to prioritize QuickBooks data traffic, minimizing slowdowns for all users accessing the file.4. Review and Optimize Software Configuration:Review and optimize software configurations, including network settings, firewall configurations, and QuickBooks preferences, to ensure optimal performance. Disable unnecessary features, adjust caching settings, and update software components to eliminate potential bottlenecks in both multi-user and single-user modes.5. Implement Regular Maintenance:Perform regular maintenance tasks, such as data verification, rebuilding, and optimization, to keep your QuickBooks company file healthy and optimized for performance. Use the Verify Data and Rebuild Data utilities to identify and repair data integrity issues, benefiting both multi-user and single-user modes.Conclusion:Encountering slow performance in QuickBooks can be frustrating, but understanding the reasons behind it and implementing effective solutions can help you optimize performance in both multi-user and single-user modes. By upgrading hardware resources, condensing company files, optimizing network infrastructure, reviewing and optimizing software configuration, and implementing regular maintenance, you can improve efficiency and productivity in your accounting processes. With careful attention to optimization strategies, you can ensure smooth operation of QuickBooks, whether you’re working alone or collaborating with others in a multi-user environment. Read More
Reducing the Environmental Impact of Generative AI: a Guide for Practitioners
Introduction
As generative AI’s adoption rapidly expands across various industries, integrating it into products, services, and operations becomes increasingly commonplace. However, it’s crucial to address the environmental implications of such advancements, including their energy consumption, carbon footprint, water usage, and electronic waste, throughout the generative AI lifecycle. This lifecycle, often referred to as large language model operations (LLMOps), encompasses everything from model development and training to deployment and ongoing maintenance, all of which demand diligent resource optimisation.
This guide aims to extend Azure’s Well-Architected Framework (WAF) for sustainable workloads to the specific challenges and opportunities presented by generative AI. We’ll explore essential decision points, such as selecting the right models, optimising fine-tuning processes, leveraging Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), and mastering prompt engineering, all through a lens of environmental sustainability. By providing these targeted suggestions and best practices, we equip practitioners with the knowledge to implement generative AI not only effectively, but responsibly.
Image Description: A diagram titled “Sustainable Generative AI: Key Concepts” divided into four quadrants. Each quadrant contains bullet points summarising the key aspects of sustainable AI discussed in this article.
Select the foundation model
Choosing the right base model is crucial to optimising energy efficiency and sustainability within your AI initiatives. Consider this framework as a guide for informed decision-making:
Pre-built vs. Custom Models
When embarking on a generative AI project, one of the first decisions you’ll face is whether to use a pre-built model or train a custom model from scratch. While custom models can be tailored to your specific needs, the process of training them requires significant computational resources and energy, leading to a substantial carbon footprint. For example, training an LLM the size of GPT-3 is estimated to consume nearly 1,300 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity. In contrast, initiating projects with pre-built models can conserve vast amounts of resources, making it an inherently more sustainable approach.
Azure AI Studio‘s comprehensive model catalogue is an invaluable resource for evaluating and selecting pre-built models based on your specific requirements, such as task relevance, domain specificity, and linguistic compatibility. The catalogue provides benchmarks covering common metrics like accuracy, coherence, and fluency, enabling informed comparisons across models. Additionally, for select models, you can test them before deployment to ensure they meet your needs. Choosing a pre-built model doesn’t limit your ability to customise it to your unique scenarios. Techniques like fine-tuning and retrieval augmented generation (RAG) allow you to adapt pre-built models to your specific domain or task without the need for resource-intensive training from scratch. This enables you to achieve highly tailored results while still benefiting from the sustainability advantages of using pre-built models, striking a balance between customisation and environmental impact.
Model Size
The correlation between a model’s parameter count and its performance (and resource demands) is significant. Before defaulting to the largest available models, consider whether more compact alternatives, such as Microsoft’s Phi-2, Mistral AI’s Mixtral 8x7B or similar sized models, could suffice for your needs. The efficiency “sweet spot”—where performance gains no longer justify the increased size and energy consumption—is critical for sustainable AI deployment. Opting for smaller, fine-tuneable models (known as small language models—or SLMs) can result in substantial energy savings without compromising effectiveness.
Model Selection
Considerations
Sustainability Impact
Pre-built Models
Leverage existing models and customise with fine-tuning, RAG and prompt engineering
Reduces training-related emissions
Custom Models
Tailor models to specific needs and customise further if needed
Higher carbon footprint due to training
Model Size
Larger models offer better output performance but require more resources
Balancing performance and efficiency is crucial
Improve the model’s performance
Improving your AI model’s performance involves strategic prompt engineering, grounding the model in relevant data, and potentially fine-tuning for specific applications. Consider these approaches:
Prompt Engineering
The art of prompt engineering lies in crafting inputs that elicit the most effective and efficient responses from your model, serving as a foundational step in customising its output to your needs. Beyond following the detailed guidelines from the likes of Microsoft and OpenAI, understanding the core principles of prompt construction—such as clarity, context, and specificity—can drastically improve model performance. Well-tuned prompts not only lead to better output quality but also contribute to sustainability by reducing the number of tokens required and the overall compute resources consumed. By getting the desired output in fewer input-output cycles, you inherently use less carbon per interaction. Orchestration frameworks like prompt flow and Semantic Kernel facilitate experimentation and refinement, enhancing prompt effectiveness with version control and reusability with templates.
Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)
Integrating RAG with your models taps into existing datasets, leveraging organisational knowledge without the extensive resources required for model training or extensive fine-tuning. This approach underscores the importance of how and where data is stored and accessed since its effectiveness and carbon efficiency is highly dependent on the quality and relevance of the retrieved data. End-to-end solutions like Microsoft Fabric facilitate comprehensive data management, while Azure AI Search enhances efficient information retrieval through hybrid search, combining vector and keyword search techniques. In addition, frameworks like prompt flow and Semantic Kernel enable you to successfully build RAG solutions with Azure AI Studio.
Fine-tuning
For domain-specific adjustments or to address knowledge gaps in pre-trained models, fine-tuning is a tailored approach. While involving additional computation, fine-tuning can be a more sustainable option than training a model from scratch or repeatedly passing large amounts of context via prompts and organisational data for each query. Azure OpenAI’s use of PEFT (parameter-efficient fine-tuning) techniques, like LoRA (low-rank approximation) uses far fewer computational resources over full fine-tuning. Not all models support fine-tuning so consider this in your base model selection.
Model Improvement
Considerations
Sustainability Impact
Prompt Engineering
Optimise prompts for more relevant output
Low carbon impact vs. fine-tuning, but consistently long prompts may reduce efficiency
Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)
Leverages existing data to ground model
Low carbon impact vs. fine-tuning, depending on relevance of retrieved data
Fine-tuning (with PEFT)
Adapt to specific domains or tasks not encapsulated in base model
Carbon impact depends on model usage and lifecycle, recommended over full fine-tuning
Deploy the model
Azure AI Studio simplifies model deployment, offering various pathways depending on your chosen model. Embracing Microsoft’s management of the underlying infrastructure often leads to greater efficiency and reduced responsibility on your part.
MaaS vs. MaaP
Model-as-a-Service (MaaS) provides a seamless API experience for deploying models like Llama 3 and Mistral Large, eliminating the need for direct compute management. With MaaS, you deploy a pay-as-you-go endpoint to your environment, while Azure handles all other operational aspects. This approach is often favoured for its energy efficiency, as Azure optimises the underlying infrastructure, potentially leading to a more sustainable use of resources. MaaS can be thought of as a SaaS-like experience applied to foundation models, providing a convenient and efficient way to leverage pre-trained models without the overhead of managing the infrastructure yourself.
On the other hand, Model-as-a-Platform (MaaP) caters to a broader range of models, including those not available through MaaS. When opting for MaaP, you create a real-time endpoint and take on the responsibility of managing the underlying infrastructure. This approach can be seen as a PaaS offering for models, combining the ease of deployment with the flexibility to customise the compute resources. However, choosing MaaP requires careful consideration of the sustainability trade-offs outlined in the WAF, as you have more control over the infrastructure setup. It’s essential to strike a balance between customisation and resource efficiency to ensure a sustainable deployment.
Model Parameters
Tailoring your model’s deployment involves adjusting various parameters—such as temperature, top p, frequency penalty, presence penalty, and max response—to align with the expected output. Understanding and adjusting these parameters can significantly enhance model efficiency. By optimising responses to reduce the need for extensive context or fine-tuning, you lower memory use and, consequently, energy consumption.
Provisioned Throughput Units (PTUs)
Provisioned Throughput Units (PTUs) are designed to improve model latency and ensure consistent performance, serving a dual purpose. Firstly, by allocating dedicated capacity, PTUs mitigate the risk of API timeouts—a common source of inefficiency that can lead to unnecessary repeat requests by the end application. This conserves computational resources. Secondly, PTUs grant Microsoft valuable insight into anticipated demand, facilitating more effective data centre capacity planning.
Semantic Caching
Implementing caching mechanisms for frequently used prompts and completions can significantly reduce the computational resources and energy consumption of your generative AI workloads. Consider using in-memory caching services like Azure Cache for Redis for high-speed access and persistent storage solutions like Azure Cosmos DB for longer-term storage. Ensure the relevance of cached results through appropriate invalidation strategies. By incorporating caching into your model deployment strategy, you can minimise the environmental impact of your deployments while improving efficiency and response times.
Model Deployment
Considerations
Sustainability Impact
MaaS
Serverless deployment, managed infrastructure
Lower carbon intensity due to optimised infrastructure
MaaP
Flexible deployment, self-managed infrastructure
Higher carbon intensity, requires careful resource management
PTUs
Dedicated capacity for consistent performance
Improves efficiency by avoiding API timeouts and redundant requests
Semantic Caching
Store and reuse frequently accessed data
Reduces redundant computations, improves efficiency
Evaluate the model’s performance
Model Evaluation
As base models evolve and user needs shift, regular assessment of model performance becomes essential. Azure AI Studio facilitates this through its suite of evaluation tools, enabling both manual and automated comparison of actual outputs against expected ones across various metrics, including groundedness, fluency, relevancy, and F1 score. Importantly, assessing performance also means scrutinising your model for risk and safety concerns, such as the presence of self-harm, hateful, and unfair content, to ensure compliance with an ethical AI framework.
Model Performance
Model deployment strategy—whether via MaaS or MaaP—affects how you should monitor resource usage within your Azure environment. Key metrics like CPU, GPU, memory utilisation, and network performance are vital indicators of your infrastructure’s health and efficiency. Tools like Azure Monitor and Azure carbon optimisation offer comprehensive insights, helping you check that your resources are allocated optimally. Consult the Azure Well-Architected Framework for detailed strategies on balancing performance enhancements with cost and energy efficiency, such as deploying to low-carbon regions, ensuring your AI implementations remain both optimal and sustainable.
A Note on Responsible AI
While sustainability is the main focus of this guide, it’s important to also consider the broader context of responsible AI. Microsoft’s Responsible AI Standard provides valuable guidance on principles like fairness, transparency, and accountability. Technical safeguards, such as Azure AI Content Safety, play a role in mitigating risks but should be part of a comprehensive approach that includes fostering a culture of responsibility, conducting ethical reviews, and combining technical, ethical, and cultural considerations. By taking a holistic approach, we can work towards the responsible development and deployment of generative AI while addressing potential challenges and promoting its ethical use.
Conclusion
As we explore the potential of generative AI, it’s clear that its use cases will continue to grow quickly. This makes it crucial to keep the environmental impact of our AI workloads in mind.
In this guide, we’ve outlined some key practices to help prioritise the environmental aspect throughout the lifecycle. With the field of generative AI changing rapidly, make sure to say up to its latest developments and keep learning.
Contributions
Special thanks to the UK GPS team who reviewed this article before it was published. In particular, Michael Gillett, George Tubb, Lu Calcagno, Sony John, and Chris Marchal.
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
Convert Teams Calling to Zoom Phones
I am working on converting over Teams calling to Zoom for the firm that I work for. I was able to configure Zoom to allow the integration with Teams, and the app was added successfully. Where I’m running into issues is when we are making audio and video calls it’s still defaulting to Teams calling and we’re unsure as to why.
To be clear, here are some screenshots of the phone icons that need to default over to Zoom instead of Teams:
Is it possible to have these icons default to Zoom instead of Teams?
I am working on converting over Teams calling to Zoom for the firm that I work for. I was able to configure Zoom to allow the integration with Teams, and the app was added successfully. Where I’m running into issues is when we are making audio and video calls it’s still defaulting to Teams calling and we’re unsure as to why. To be clear, here are some screenshots of the phone icons that need to default over to Zoom instead of Teams: Is it possible to have these icons default to Zoom instead of Teams? Read More
Join the Fabric Partner Community for this week’s Fabric Engineering Connection!
Maya Shenhav will provide an update on Power BI Mobile followed by special guest presenters, Raghu Ramakrishna and Josh Caplan, who will discuss Microsoft’s vision of an open data lake ecosystem, topic of their recent whitepaper, “Open lakes, not walled gardens.”
The Fabric Engineering Connection is a weekly call held in the Fabric Partner Community Teams Channel exclusively for partners. Hear directly from Fabric product engineering teams about upcoming features, ask questions, and provide feedback.
To join these calls (as well as watch recordings of previous calls), please join the Fabric Partner Community Teams Channel by completing the participation form at https://aka.ms/JoinFabricPartnerCommunity.
Maya Shenhav will provide an update on Power BI Mobile followed by special guest presenters, Raghu Ramakrishna and Josh Caplan, who will discuss Microsoft’s vision of an open data lake ecosystem, topic of their recent whitepaper, “Open lakes, not walled gardens.”
The Fabric Engineering Connection is a weekly call held in the Fabric Partner Community Teams Channel exclusively for partners. Hear directly from Fabric product engineering teams about upcoming features, ask questions, and provide feedback.
To join these calls (as well as watch recordings of previous calls), please join the Fabric Partner Community Teams Channel by completing the participation form at https://aka.ms/JoinFabricPartnerCommunity. Read More
removing data that doesn’t appear in another spreadsheet with a common dataset
Hi.
I’ve got two different spreadsheets (On my mac) that have data sets arranged in rows.
The sheets have one common column, “column 10” for simplicity, but “sheet A” has 5000 rows of data, and “sheet B” has 65.
How can I isolate the rows in “sheet A” that have the identical data in “column 10” as “sheet B” ?
Hi. I’ve got two different spreadsheets (On my mac) that have data sets arranged in rows. The sheets have one common column, “column 10” for simplicity, but “sheet A” has 5000 rows of data, and “sheet B” has 65. How can I isolate the rows in “sheet A” that have the identical data in “column 10” as “sheet B” ? Read More
How to Fix QuickBooks is Operating Slowly in Multiuser Mode
Operating QuickBooks in multi-user mode offers the advantage of collaboration but can sometimes lead to performance issues, causing frustration and hindering productivity. In this guide, we’ll explore why QuickBooks may operate slowly in multi-user mode and provide comprehensive solutions to help you optimize its performance effectively.
Understanding the QuickBooks is Operating Slowly in Multiuser Mode:
QuickBooks operating slowly in multi-user mode is a common concern among users, particularly in environments with multiple users accessing the same company file simultaneously. This sluggishness can manifest in various ways, including delayed response times, slow loading of data, and overall system lag. Understanding the reasons behind this issue is crucial for implementing effective solutions.
Reasons for QuickBooks is Operating Slowly in Multiuser Mode:
Network Congestion: When multiple users access QuickBooks simultaneously over a network, it can lead to network congestion, especially if the network infrastructure is not optimized for high traffic. This congestion can result in data packets being delayed or lost, leading to slow performance.
Insufficient Hardware Resources: QuickBooks requires adequate hardware resources to operate efficiently, especially in multi-user environments. Insufficient RAM, CPU power, or disk space can bottleneck performance, causing slowdowns when multiple users access the company file concurrently.
Large Company File Size: As the company file size grows, QuickBooks may take longer to process transactions and retrieve data, particularly in multi-user mode. Large company files with extensive transaction histories or attachments can contribute to slow performance, especially on systems with limited resources.
Software Configuration Issues: Incorrect or outdated software configurations, such as outdated network drivers, incompatible firewall settings, or misconfigured QuickBooks preferences, can impact performance, causing slow operation in multi-user mode.
Solutions to QuickBooks is Operating Slowly in Multiuser Mode:
1. Upgrade Hardware Resources:
Ensure that your hardware resources, including RAM, CPU, and disk space, meet or exceed QuickBooks’ recommended specifications for multi-user environments. Upgrading hardware components can significantly improve performance and responsiveness, especially for larger company files.
2. Optimize Network Infrastructure:
Optimize your network infrastructure to reduce congestion and improve data transmission speeds. Consider upgrading network switches, routers, and cables to support higher bandwidth and prioritize network traffic for QuickBooks communication. Implementing Quality of Service (QoS) settings can help prioritize QuickBooks data packets over other network traffic.
3. Condense Company File:
If your company file has grown significantly over time, consider condensing it to reduce its size and improve performance. QuickBooks offers a condense data utility that removes outdated transactions and reduces file size without compromising data integrity. However, make sure to create a backup of your company file before condensing it.
4. Optimize QuickBooks Preferences:
Review and optimize QuickBooks preferences to ensure optimal performance in multi-user mode. Disable unnecessary features, such as automatic updates or background processes, that may consume system resources. Additionally, adjust settings related to data caching and file operations to improve efficiency.
5. Implement Regular Maintenance:
Perform regular maintenance tasks, such as data verification and rebuilding, to keep your QuickBooks company file healthy and optimized for performance. Use the Verify Data and Rebuild Data utilities to identify and repair data integrity issues that may contribute to slow performance.
6. Monitor and Troubleshoot:
Monitor QuickBooks performance regularly and troubleshoot any issues promptly. Use performance monitoring tools to identify bottlenecks and pinpoint the root causes of slow performance. Additionally, keep QuickBooks and related software up to date with the latest patches and updates to address any known performance issues.
Conclusion:
Optimizing QuickBooks performance in multi-user mode requires a proactive approach, addressing hardware, network, and software-related factors that may impact performance. By upgrading hardware resources, optimizing network infrastructure, condensing company files, optimizing QuickBooks preferences, implementing regular maintenance, and monitoring performance, you can improve efficiency and productivity in your accounting processes. With careful attention to optimization strategies, you can ensure smooth operation of QuickBooks in multi-user environments, facilitating seamless collaboration among users while minimizing slowdowns and disruptions.
Operating QuickBooks in multi-user mode offers the advantage of collaboration but can sometimes lead to performance issues, causing frustration and hindering productivity. In this guide, we’ll explore why QuickBooks may operate slowly in multi-user mode and provide comprehensive solutions to help you optimize its performance effectively.Understanding the QuickBooks is Operating Slowly in Multiuser Mode: QuickBooks operating slowly in multi-user mode is a common concern among users, particularly in environments with multiple users accessing the same company file simultaneously. This sluggishness can manifest in various ways, including delayed response times, slow loading of data, and overall system lag. Understanding the reasons behind this issue is crucial for implementing effective solutions.Reasons for QuickBooks is Operating Slowly in Multiuser Mode:Network Congestion: When multiple users access QuickBooks simultaneously over a network, it can lead to network congestion, especially if the network infrastructure is not optimized for high traffic. This congestion can result in data packets being delayed or lost, leading to slow performance.Insufficient Hardware Resources: QuickBooks requires adequate hardware resources to operate efficiently, especially in multi-user environments. Insufficient RAM, CPU power, or disk space can bottleneck performance, causing slowdowns when multiple users access the company file concurrently.Large Company File Size: As the company file size grows, QuickBooks may take longer to process transactions and retrieve data, particularly in multi-user mode. Large company files with extensive transaction histories or attachments can contribute to slow performance, especially on systems with limited resources.Software Configuration Issues: Incorrect or outdated software configurations, such as outdated network drivers, incompatible firewall settings, or misconfigured QuickBooks preferences, can impact performance, causing slow operation in multi-user mode.Solutions to QuickBooks is Operating Slowly in Multiuser Mode:1. Upgrade Hardware Resources:Ensure that your hardware resources, including RAM, CPU, and disk space, meet or exceed QuickBooks’ recommended specifications for multi-user environments. Upgrading hardware components can significantly improve performance and responsiveness, especially for larger company files.2. Optimize Network Infrastructure:Optimize your network infrastructure to reduce congestion and improve data transmission speeds. Consider upgrading network switches, routers, and cables to support higher bandwidth and prioritize network traffic for QuickBooks communication. Implementing Quality of Service (QoS) settings can help prioritize QuickBooks data packets over other network traffic.3. Condense Company File:If your company file has grown significantly over time, consider condensing it to reduce its size and improve performance. QuickBooks offers a condense data utility that removes outdated transactions and reduces file size without compromising data integrity. However, make sure to create a backup of your company file before condensing it.4. Optimize QuickBooks Preferences:Review and optimize QuickBooks preferences to ensure optimal performance in multi-user mode. Disable unnecessary features, such as automatic updates or background processes, that may consume system resources. Additionally, adjust settings related to data caching and file operations to improve efficiency.5. Implement Regular Maintenance:Perform regular maintenance tasks, such as data verification and rebuilding, to keep your QuickBooks company file healthy and optimized for performance. Use the Verify Data and Rebuild Data utilities to identify and repair data integrity issues that may contribute to slow performance.6. Monitor and Troubleshoot:Monitor QuickBooks performance regularly and troubleshoot any issues promptly. Use performance monitoring tools to identify bottlenecks and pinpoint the root causes of slow performance. Additionally, keep QuickBooks and related software up to date with the latest patches and updates to address any known performance issues.Conclusion:Optimizing QuickBooks performance in multi-user mode requires a proactive approach, addressing hardware, network, and software-related factors that may impact performance. By upgrading hardware resources, optimizing network infrastructure, condensing company files, optimizing QuickBooks preferences, implementing regular maintenance, and monitoring performance, you can improve efficiency and productivity in your accounting processes. With careful attention to optimization strategies, you can ensure smooth operation of QuickBooks in multi-user environments, facilitating seamless collaboration among users while minimizing slowdowns and disruptions. Read More
Windows Update is Stuck
Yesterday I resetted my pc. When I booted it up again it was on 22h2. And it didn’t show any updates for 23h2. So, I joined the insider program to be on a newer version. I updated it to insider preview (10.0.22635.3500). Today in the morning I received (10.0.22635.3566) insider preview. So, I clicked on update. It got stuck. To fix it I tried to pause the updates. It’s stuck at pausing updates.
Yesterday I resetted my pc. When I booted it up again it was on 22h2. And it didn’t show any updates for 23h2. So, I joined the insider program to be on a newer version. I updated it to insider preview (10.0.22635.3500). Today in the morning I received (10.0.22635.3566) insider preview. So, I clicked on update. It got stuck. To fix it I tried to pause the updates. It’s stuck at pausing updates. Read More