There’s a whole lot of Creatives in the Microsoft Surface Answers Forum complaining that after installing Cumulative Update KB4089848 that the pen drags the canvas around instead of drawing. Uninstalling the KB fixes this (and this is the first I’ve seen that functionality changed dramatically after installing a Cumulative update, but you never never know. And now there may be a “fix” to return to “legacy” behavior
If you’re a hard core Windows Insider, you’ll want to be one of the first to know when new Insider Builds are available for download and corresponding blog posts go up. You can always watch @donasarkars Twitter stream (and check the hints that builds are coming in images she posts), but if you have Hue or LIFX connected bulbs, you can use IFTTT to set up an Applet (used to be called a recipe) to get a visual alert.
Dona has graciously agreed to include a new hashtag #flight when she tweets notifications about builds.
It is really easy to set up the IFTTT piece, and you will need to enable the Hue/LIFX integration by signing into your account if you haven’t already connected it to IFTTT.
You read the title correctly. I’ve added a fingerprint reader to my Surface 3. (And you can do this with any Windows 10 device that has a USB port). Windows Hello is a wonderful feature that provides an extra level of protection from prying eyes while traveling. While I’m not necessarily paranoid, I don’t want strangers seeing my password or PIN while I’m lunching and computing. I feel more secure.
While you can purchase a typecover for the Surface Pro 4 (that also works with Surface Pro 3, but this combo has some power management issues), there is no similar option to purchase a typecover with a fingerprint reader for a Surface 3.
Luckily, there’s a way to do this (if you don’t mind using the single USB port on the Surface 3 and tying it up at least while you log in; you can remove and attach this peripheral while Windows is running so for me it is no big deal).
Amazon sells this super tiny add-on fingerprint reader from “Eikon” at a good price. It’s made by Authentech, who made many of the built in fingerprint readers for nearly all the big computer vendors (they were purchased by Apple in 2012).
I attached this device to my Surface 3 (green arrow below) and Windows immediately recognized this device and installed what it needed (red arrow) in a few seconds.
I’m currently using Windows 10 Insider Build 14388, but this device will also set up in a similar manner on Windows 10 10586.xxx.
1. Go to Sign in options in Settings.
2. If you don’t already have a PIN, set one up as this is required to use a fingerprint reader.
3. Windows Hello will change the Require sign-in to Every Time as part of the setup and you will see this when setup is completed.
4. Next, you will need to “enroll” or setup at least one fingerprint; select Get started to launch the wizard.
5. Confirm your PIN when prompted.
6. Follow the prompts to swipe a finger and setup the first fingerprint (and add additional fingers if you wish to do so).
When complete, you’ll be able to log in using Windows Hello.
This is a neat little device and it installs and sets up seamlessly and flawlessly. I recommend it highly.
If you have any questions on this, you can contact me on Twitter @barbbowman or in the Microsoft Surface and Windows/Windows Insider Forums.
There has been a lot of misinformation in the Insider’s Forum (from customers) about the necessary free space to install an Insider’s Build. I decided to take my only low memory device, an ASUS Vivo Tab 8 M81C-B1-MSBK Signature Edition Tablet that I purchased from the Microsoft Store, and test this out for myself. The device is 32GB to start with and was VERY full. A little over 4GB free space was available. Nevertheless, I was able to install an Insiders Build from a mounted ISO and subsequently download and install the latest Fast Ring Insider’s Build from Windows Update.
Here’s how I did all of this:
I used the following procedure to install 14372 from an ISO image. This is the process that should work for folks upgrading from 10586.xxx 1511 to the official release of the Windows Anniversary Update (with a few changes on where and how to get the ISO) with minimal free space.
The first problem is that the default Downloads folder was on C:\ and only a bit over 4GB of free space was available, so I needed to move Downloads to my 128GB microSD card. I wanted to move this at the System level as opposed to just specifying a different folder. The ISO for 32 bit Windows is 3GB+ and to say the least, with only 4+ free, I needed to download to a drive other than C:\.
The process to move the folder is to right click/tap and hold the Downloads Folder and then select Properties, then the Location tab.
Then, select the Move button.
Then, navigate to the alternate or external storage you want to use (in my case it was my 128GB microSD card) and select Apply. A windows will display asking you to confirm the move and ask whether you want to move existing content (which is what you should do). Again, I specified the root drive, but you can easily create a folder and specify it as instead.
Once the default Download folder was moved off the C:\ drive, the next step was to download the 14372 ISO and then mount it. After I ran setup.exe, a message displayed stating more space was needed. Use Disk Cleanup is the default choice, but I selected “Choose another drive or attach an external drive…”
I already had a microSD card with 70+GB free so I used the drop down to select that drive.
Once the D:\ drive was selected, I selected Refresh and the installation continued.
Windows Insider Build 14372 proceeded to install without any issues. Once I had the desktop up, I checked a few things and then opened Disk Cleanup (easily discoverable using Search/Cortana) and used the Advanced button which after a few minutes displayed everything I could delete on the main C:\ drive. I proceeded by selecting “Previous Windows Installations” and acknowledged all prompts.
The Disk Cleanup process gave me a whopping 6GB free.
Next, I opened Settings, Updates and Security, and since this tablet was configured for the Fast Ring, lo and behold, 14385 was offered. And it downloaded and installed beautifully.
Update: I just installed 14388 following basically the same process (run disk cleanup and remove previous Windows installations, insure that the Downloads location is moved to a drive other than C:\ and then install from Windows Update).
This system worked for me and I hope this is helpful. You can reach me on Twitter @barbbowman or in the Microsoft Windows/Windows Insider Forums.
There are a large number of Surface Pro 3 and Surface 3 owners reporting severely slow wireless speeds, limited connectivity and other problems with the new Windows 10 Operating System. These issues are being widely reported on Microsoft’s Community forums, Reddit, and on third party sites. Examples:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Surface/comments/3gbf3o/5ghz_packet_loss/
So far, there’s been no real comment from Microsoft on whether or not they understand the issues or any information on timing of a fix. For some reason, Microsoft will not post the older Marvell wireless driver Marvell AVASTAR Wireless-AC Network Controller: 15.68.3073.151 which some folks report resolves the issue. The driver is available elsewhere on the web, and although it is not legal to redistribute Microsoft software, it’s out there on the web. Some (but not all) customers are reporting relief using the .151 driver. (They need to force install the old driver from device manager using the browse, have disk, let me pick option, and also disable driver updates..). I’ve personally asked that the old driver be posted on the official drivers page at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=38826 and have had only silence as a reply. Quite frankly don’t understand why Microsoft won’t post a driver that is known to help some customers with these issues. Most likely reason is that posting an older driver is admitting the existence of a problem. And it seems to be a marketing mantra to not acknowledge problems until a fix is available.
Given that it took Microsoft 9+ months to fix Wi-Fi driver problems on Windows 8.1, I’m not very optimistic. If you are severely impacted by slow/bad connectivity, you can throw a small amount of money at the problem and buy an external USB Wi-Fi adapter should improve performance on at least the 5GHz band. I currently carry around one from Edimax which is less than $17 on Amazon. It works extremely well on Windows 10.
Should you need to spend money to fix something Microsoft broke? Absolutely not. But given the lack of engagement from Microsoft on this issue, it’s probably the only reliable option.