- Windows 11 has a new preview build on the Dev channel
- It introduces proactive memory diagnostics that aim to fix problems that cause your computer to crash.
- Microsoft has also closed a security hole in File Explorer, but not everyone is happy about it.
Windows 11 just got some great new testing changes – one of which might help make your computer more reliable – and Microsoft has also fixed the security issue.
Let's start with new pre-build released on the Dev channel, where Microsoft added a feature called “Proactive Memory Diagnostics”.
Here's how it works: The idea is that if your computer experiences what Microsoft calls an “error check,” a crash that causes the system to freeze and reboot (usually with Black screen of deathnew color of this terrible error) – after the next restart, you may receive a notification asking you to run a quick memory scan.
This memory diagnostic process will run the next time you restart your computer. The downside is that it can take about five minutes, but on average it's less, Microsoft assures us. If the scan finds a memory problem, Microsoft will try to fix it – and you'll receive a message informing you of any successful resolution.
By eliminating the underlying memory problem in this way, you can hopefully make your system more reliable in the future. But if you don't want to wait for the scan to complete the next time you restart your computer, you can always opt out of this feature after a complete system crash.
Another useful change in pre-build 26220.6982 is the “copy and search” capability, which does what it says on the tin. This means that if you copy any text in Windows 11, a so-called “paste highlight” (highlight) will appear in the search box on the taskbar. Click on the glitter and the text you just copied will be automatically pasted into the search field.
So, this is a shortcut to find what you just copied, saving you the hassle of pasting it into a box on the taskbar. Sounds like a valuable time saver.
With this preview release, Microsoft has also reintroduced fancy animations (transitions) when hovering over groups of apps in the taskbar, a feature that had previously been paused.
Windows Studio Effects can now also use an alternate camera besides the main webcam on Copilot+ PCs with Snapdragon and AMD CPU, whereas previously this was only allowed on Intel– laptops with power supply.
Another recent development – this time in the production version of Windows 11 (24H2 and 25H2) rather than in testing – is that Latest Windows ReportsMicrosoft has disabled the preview pane in File Explorer for files downloaded from the Internet.
So, if you click on a downloaded file, such as a document, instead of previewing the text inside the document in the preview pane on the right, you will get this message: “The file you are trying to view may harm your computer. If you trust the file and the source you got it from, open it to view its contents.”
As Microsoft makes clear, the reason for blocking is that the file could potentially be dangerous. Why? This only applies to files you've downloaded from the Internet (as opposed to files created locally on a PC), and Microsoft took this step after discovering a vulnerability that an attacker could exploit through the Explorer preview pane.
So, that's protection from that, but Microsoft also told Windows Latest: “If you're confident in the security of both the file and its source, you can remove the internet security block.”
Analysis: safe, no regrets
Windows Latest is not too impressed with the new block of downloadable files in Windows 11 Explorer. This is because it pretty much spoils the convenience of quickly viewing a file, given that you have to click three times to manually remove the protective block. (Right-click the file, select Properties, then click the Unblock box.) This is more confusing than just opening the file, so you might want to just do that instead.
However, I don't think Microsoft had much of a choice since the security vulnerability was discovered. It's best not to risk your Windows 11 computers being compromised, even if it's unlikely. I think the wisest decision here is to be safe rather than sorry: just open the file if you're sure about it.
Windows Latest has a Powershell command that allows more advanced Windows 11 users to bypass this security block, but I wouldn't recommend using it.
I'd really like to see the new proactive memory diagnostic feature in action, as long as it's not disabled during testing. This could fall into one of two categories: it could be a really useful way to make your Windows 11 PC more stable (fingers crossed), or it could be one of those processes that very rarely actually makes a difference. Obviously it's too early to call, but I'm hopeful, and it's certainly a good idea in theory – not that Windows 11 will freeze much anyway (in my experience, this happens extremely rarely).
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