8 ms·

I see this statement repeated often but I have never had this happen - not even once. I use Windows Pro and don’t do anything special either, I just apply Windo

I see this statement repeated often but I have never had this happen - not even once. I use Windows Pro and don’t do anything special either, I just apply Windows updates. If this is happening, I wonder why it is not happening to me.

kijin 5y ago
I use the Professional edition too, and Windows resets my default image viewer and PDF viewer every now and then. Not sure if it's related to Windows updates, though. IIRC the resets are correlated more with one of those apps updating itself and Windows no longer trusting it with the defaults it had been previously granted.
- minhazm 5y ago
  Just speculation but perhaps the way the installers work makes it appear to Windows that the app was uninstalled first and then a new version is installed. If it looks like it was uninstalled then I can see why Windows might change the default.
  - cm2187 5y ago
    That’s a tempting explanation except that in my case it appears after OS upgrades.
  - kymaz 5y ago
    Which feels quite amateurish and thus ridiculous for Microsoft. Like, they invent a new app store in Windows 10 and they still can't even be bothered to implement a working update routine that isn't infuriating to end users?
- fomine3 5y ago
  Possibly old app changed association directly. It it's done, association is reset. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17946282/whats-the-hash-in-hkcu-software-microsoft-windows-currentversion-explorer-filee https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17946282/whats-the-hash-...
Rd6n6 5y ago
I dual boot. Once a year or so, windows update trashes my boot loader and makes me do a grub repair in order be able to boot into ubuntu again. It’s inconvenient for me, but amateur Linux users could really panic and think it was Linux’s fault
- andrewmackrodt 5y ago
  This used to happen to me with the quarterly? version increments but hasn't been the case for a couple of years now. I even upgraded from W10 to W11 and was pleasantly surprised that grub was left intact, i.e. as the default boot manager.
- ac29 5y ago
  Are you using MBR/BIOS boot? Windows seems to leave UEFI stuff alone.
tester756 5y ago
Same here
gigel82 5y ago
Same, I never had Windows Update change defaults. This is one of those urban legends that is only very loosely based in fact (KB3135173 back in 2016 indeed had a bug that reset defaults, afaik it never happened since) but keeps persisting. It's the same with ads; everyone claims Window 10 shows ads but I never saw any ads and I doubt it even has the capability of downloading and displaying random ads. It does occasionally show "recommendations" for using its apps (like Edge or Teams) and I guess if you squint really hard you could call those "ads", but I never saw an actual advertisement for some 3rd party website or product or anything of the sorts. Yes, Windows 10 is bloated and the fact MS refuses to release a SKU with fully opt-out telemetry is bad, but this kind of hyperbole rubs me the wrong way.
- ziml77 5y ago
  > I guess if you squint really hard you could call those "ads" I don't think those are nearly as bad as ads for third party products and services, but they're still ads.
- admax88qqq 5y ago
  There 100% are ads for third party apps in the default start menu. I've seen ads for Bejeweled, Farmville, and Twitter, before I disabled them all.
  - gigel82 5y ago
    You'd have to stretch the definition of ads quite a lot for those to fit. At worst, they'd be bloatware (but IIRC they're not even pre-installed apps, just stubs that link to the store that you can simply remove permanently). Still in bad taste and those should not show up especially in Pro SKU. An ad would be a banner that shows up when you open the Start menu with "meet singles near you" or "try ubereats" or "buy Chevrolet cars" or some other bullshit of that sorts.
    - design-material 5y ago
      No. A third-party paying to have a small poster ('Tile') that shows + links to their product is the very definition of an ad.
drdaeman 5y ago
I honestly don't remember any details but this had happened to me once, about 1.5 or 2 years ago, where a major W10Pro update had somehow reset the default browser to Edge. It was just a normal bi-annual update, however it could be that I've installed manually using Windows Update Assistant without waiting for the normal rollout.
lithium_throw 5y ago
It happens for me every re-boot - my browser is re-set to the "recommended default".

kijin 5y ago

I use the Professional edition too, and Windows resets my default image viewer and PDF viewer every now and then. Not sure if it's related to Windows updates, though. IIRC the resets are correlated more with one of those apps updating itself and Windows no longer trusting it with the defaults it had been previously granted.

minhazm 5y ago
Just speculation but perhaps the way the installers work makes it appear to Windows that the app was uninstalled first and then a new version is installed. If it looks like it was uninstalled then I can see why Windows might change the default.
- cm2187 5y ago
  That’s a tempting explanation except that in my case it appears after OS upgrades.
- kymaz 5y ago
  Which feels quite amateurish and thus ridiculous for Microsoft. Like, they invent a new app store in Windows 10 and they still can't even be bothered to implement a working update routine that isn't infuriating to end users?
fomine3 5y ago
Possibly old app changed association directly. It it's done, association is reset. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17946282/whats-the-hash-in-hkcu-software-microsoft-windows-currentversion-explorer-filee https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17946282/whats-the-hash-...

Rd6n6 5y ago

I dual boot. Once a year or so, windows update trashes my boot loader and makes me do a grub repair in order be able to boot into ubuntu again. It’s inconvenient for me, but amateur Linux users could really panic and think it was Linux’s fault

andrewmackrodt 5y ago
This used to happen to me with the quarterly? version increments but hasn't been the case for a couple of years now. I even upgraded from W10 to W11 and was pleasantly surprised that grub was left intact, i.e. as the default boot manager.
ac29 5y ago
Are you using MBR/BIOS boot? Windows seems to leave UEFI stuff alone.

tester756 5y ago

Same here

gigel82 5y ago

Same, I never had Windows Update change defaults. This is one of those urban legends that is only very loosely based in fact (KB3135173 back in 2016 indeed had a bug that reset defaults, afaik it never happened since) but keeps persisting. It's the same with ads; everyone claims Window 10 shows ads but I never saw any ads and I doubt it even has the capability of downloading and displaying random ads. It does occasionally show "recommendations" for using its apps (like Edge or Teams) and I guess if you squint really hard you could call those "ads", but I never saw an actual advertisement for some 3rd party website or product or anything of the sorts. Yes, Windows 10 is bloated and the fact MS refuses to release a SKU with fully opt-out telemetry is bad, but this kind of hyperbole rubs me the wrong way.

ziml77 5y ago
> I guess if you squint really hard you could call those "ads" I don't think those are nearly as bad as ads for third party products and services, but they're still ads.
admax88qqq 5y ago
There 100% are ads for third party apps in the default start menu. I've seen ads for Bejeweled, Farmville, and Twitter, before I disabled them all.
- gigel82 5y ago
  You'd have to stretch the definition of ads quite a lot for those to fit. At worst, they'd be bloatware (but IIRC they're not even pre-installed apps, just stubs that link to the store that you can simply remove permanently). Still in bad taste and those should not show up especially in Pro SKU. An ad would be a banner that shows up when you open the Start menu with "meet singles near you" or "try ubereats" or "buy Chevrolet cars" or some other bullshit of that sorts.
  - design-material 5y ago
    No. A third-party paying to have a small poster ('Tile') that shows + links to their product is the very definition of an ad.

drdaeman 5y ago

I honestly don't remember any details but this had happened to me once, about 1.5 or 2 years ago, where a major W10Pro update had somehow reset the default browser to Edge. It was just a normal bi-annual update, however it could be that I've installed manually using Windows Update Assistant without waiting for the normal rollout.

lithium_throw 5y ago

It happens for me every re-boot - my browser is re-set to the "recommended default".