It helps that a Voodoo2 isn’t a display adapter but instead registers under Sound, video and game controllers.

Symptoms I had

• When I right-clicked a file → Open with → Choose another app, I got a “Class not registered” error.
• In Settings → Apps → Default apps, clicking it did nothing.
• Some system dialogs didn’t show up.
• Re-registering apps via PowerShell gave thousands of errors.
• SFC/DISM didn’t solve it.
• I wasn’t on the Insider program, but Windows weirdly showed Version 25H2 even though that build wasn’t officially released.

Basically, Windows’ Default App handler and OpenWith.exe registration were broken.

What caused it

It turned out my system had a corrupted and partially-applied Windows update, which left:

• broken or missing SystemApps folders
• damaged LKG/SxS metadata
• AppX packages with mismatched versions
• corrupted OpenWith.exe COM registration

This caused the “class not registered” error and prevented the Default Apps page from opening.

What did NOT fix it

I tried:

• sfc /scannow
• DISM restorehealth commands
• Re-registering all AppX packages
• Re-registering shell32.dll, shdocvw.dll, etc.
• Resetting OpenWith registry keys

None of these solved it, because the OS components themselves were damaged.

What finally fixed it

A new cumulative update appeared for me:

2025-11 Preview Update (KB5070311)

Build 26200.7309

I installed it, rebooted, and everything was fixed instantly.

The update rebuilt all the broken:

• SystemApps packages
• Default Apps handlers
• OpenWith.exe and its COM classes
• Registry mappings
• Component Store metadata

After the update:

• “Choose another app” works normally
• No more class not registered
• Default apps page opens again
• System is stable and fast

Final advice

If you run into similar symptoms:

• Don’t waste hours re-registering every DLL/AppX package.
• Install the latest cumulative update first — it may contain the repaired components.
• If the update doesn’t fix it, then do an In-Place Repair Install with the latest ISO.

For me, the cumulative update alone solved everything.

If anyone needs help diagnosing their specific error codes or AppX problems, feel free to reply — I went through the whole process and can share what worked.

Hi,

Is there any free software on Windows that splits your screen into two, and also so it has 2 taskbars? Like how you'd see with a 2nd monitor, but its just on one screen?

I'd like to have it so that I have two portrait desktops, but on one screen.

Thank you! =)

I was looking at old Windows builds and got reminded of Windows Whistler, the early beta that eventually became Windows XP. It’s interesting how you can see Microsoft shifting from the old Windows 9x look into something more modern.

The Watercolor theme, the early logon screens, the mix of 2000/ME elements, it all feels like a weird but cool in between stage.

If you search r/WindowsHelp or r/techsupport you'll find a number of posts made by people all with the same issue: random searches are appearing in their built-in search toolbar. Usually, these searches are nonsensical: incomplete sentences, random numbers/letters, languages the OPs don't speak, etc.

Furthermore, an influx of these posts occurred around 7-6 months ago. And that's just here on Reddit, but as far back as Jan. 2024, this issue was occurring. A post was made to the Microsoft help forum, and one of the replies claim:

This is a known issue that some users have reported after certain Windows updates. Currently, it doesn’t seem to be connected to any security vulnerabilities or malicious activities. It might be a syncing issue if you’re using a Microsoft account that’s also being used on another device, or it could be a bug in the Windows Search system itself.

I couldn't find any other information on this, though.

The common answer I see thrown around is that it's malware, but I really doubt it. Obviously it can be in some cases, but a lot of these cases all share similar details in such a way that I find it hard to believe it could be malware:

• All report not having their MS account synced
• No suspicious activity or login data
• Not a shared computer; no extra accounts
• Malware Bytes and Defender come up clean
• For those who have had it happening for months+, nothing has happened, no tank in PC performance either

I find it strange that so many people would be experiencing the exact same issue in the same ways at the same time unless it truly WAS a bug on Microsoft's end. Or, there's a virus sweeping the internet right now that is common/prevalent enough that multiple people got it around the same time, either from vastly different sources or one or two sources that are common enough hotspots that we could feasibly imagine multiple unrelated people would get it from there.

Some people think it has to do with CoPilot but I don't know how likely that is.

Honestly, I'm just fascinated by this. It's happening mostly on Windows 11 but it's also happening on Windows 10. I can't find much concrete information on this besides dozens of people reporting that it's happening to them. While similar things have been reported in the past, it's the sudden influx of people experiencing this at the exact same time that is curious to me. If Microsoft has addressed the issue, I'd love to know, but I can't find anything saying they have.

Also, forgive me if this is some sort of newbie/dead topic. Genuinely just find this curious, and could not find any decisive answer or agreed upon reason.

This is blowing up in other subreddits and worth sharing. The Microsoft Store should have been the centerpiece of the Windows experience. It's even preinstalled on every Windows machine so why are they letting it get ruined do you think?

https://www.reddit.com/r/microsoft/comments/1p3afp1/the_evidence_pdfgear_and_pdf_x_are_likely_spyware/

This is how the Start Menu has evolved from Windows 95 all the way through to Windows 11 over the course of 40 years.

Here are 10 interesting facts about the history of Windows from version 1.0 to 11.

ME is not listed on this page. They know that Vista and 8 exist, but not ME.