If you’ve noticed that some of your games on Windows 10 have been particularly unresponsive in the last week, you aren’t alone. Microsoft confirmed that a recent Windows 10 update, patch KB4482887, introduced a bug that dramatically increased lag. Don’t sweat it, though. Microsoft has, thankfully, dealt with the issue quickly in a new patch, KB4489899, which reportedly fixes the issue.

Windows 10 users may soon notice their hard drive storage organised a bit differently.

There's a lesson almost everyone learns the hard way. Having a tried and tested backup regime is critical for protecting your data. But if you haven't yet learned that lesson, and you were one of the unfortunate people who were smashed with the recent Windows 10 update that deleted files then you'll be looking for file recovery options.

Here are the steps you need to take - before and after disaster strikes.

Microsoft just snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, and is delaying its Spring Creator's Update (codenamed Redstone 4) due to a bug that resulted in an increase in Blue Screen of Death crashes. Luckily, the issue was spotted in an Insider build of Windows 10, specifically build 17133, meant for developers and not public consumption. Thank goodness for nerds, am I right?

It’s timely that Microsoft has released a massive slew of updates to the Windows 10 Creators Update. With Petya striking overnight, attacking unpatched systems with a nasty bit of ransomware, it’s worth taking this update as it includes a bunch of fixes.

With Windows 10 now receiving biannual updates, keeping up with changes is quite challenging. The Windows Insider program allows you to receive previews of upcoming updates like the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update which is expected during our Spring. I've been living on the edge and running updates from the Fast Ring of the Windows Insider program. A new update, Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 16226 for PC, was made available today and it promises to fix a number of issues from the last release and add some new features.

If you have a Ryzen CPU or Intel Kaby Lake and haven't wanted to upgrade to Windows 10, there's a chance you might be locked out of future Windows updates and need a creative workaround. Luckily one exists, and all the digging around the dll files has already been done for you.

Windows Update is frustrating as shit at the best of times. Windows 10 updates are even worse. Windows 10's big-ass Anniversary Update? That takes the cake.

Some of Samsung's laptops quite deliberately break the option to have Windows automatically update itself.

We've all been there: You go to shut down your machine, but you see that dreaded Windows Update icon that means your computer might stay powered on, installing updates for the next 20 minutes. If you want to shut it down immediately, you can trick it by going to the lock screen first.

Make no mistake -- running Windows Update is an essential part of keeping your PC secure. But there's nothing more annoying than Windows suddenly deciding that it's going to install an update and shutting everything down in front of your eyes without so much as a dialog box appearing. Here's how to stop that happening.

Windows XP Service Pack 3 has been out since April, but it's only now being widely pushed out onto Australian desktops via Windows Update, meaning that pretty much everyone is going to have to deal with it regardless of their geek status. For most people, that means a hefty download (60MB or more) and the usual delays and reboots to have a fully-patched PC. But what if the service pack doesn't install? Read on for our guide to fixing some common SP3 problems.

Windows only: We know it's kind of pathetic to get all excited about something as mundane as a service pack—yet here we are, hearts all a-patter because XP SP3 and Vista SP1 have been unleashed on Windows Update and at the Microsoft Download Center. Get thee to patching your PC! Why should you? Our complete field guide to XP Service Pack 3 holds all the answers.

Windows only: WinUpdatesList, a free utility for Windows, lets you see what updates your system has grabbed during its existence, and provides quick links to Microsoft Knowledge Base articles related to each one. Why would you use this instead of heading to the Windows Update server, you ask? If you're without internet and want to see which update borked your system, perhaps, or if you want to pre-download and slipstream updates into a custom-made Windows install CD. Since it's a self-contained app, no real installation is required, so use and discard at your discretion. WinUpdatesList is a free download for Windows systems (except Vista). WinUpdatesList

As anyone who's reinstalled Windows XP knows, there have been a lot, and I mean a lot, of updates issued for the operating system, and waiting for them to install (/restart/install/restart) can be laborious, to say the least. Luckily, one helpful soul has done the good work of compiling all the patches made to Windows XP since Service Pack 2 was released and creating a tool to make an XP install CD that contains all those changes. You download the roughly 50 MB file, point a utility at your install CD's i386 directory, then wait for it to make you a new folder you can burn to disc. We've pointed out other offline updaters in the wake of the dearly departed AutoPatcher, but this one seems to grab more than just security updates and could save some serious time. RyanVM's Windows XP Post-SP2 Update Pack