Microsoft is embarking on a new journey to enhance the user experience for Windows 11, introducing a feature that prompts users to conduct a memory scan following a blue screen of death (BSOD). This initiative aims to bolster system reliability by addressing potential memory issues before they escalate into significant problems.
Proactive Memory Diagnostics
Whenever a device encounters a bugcheck—a critical error that the operating system cannot recover from—users will receive notifications upon logging in. This proactive memory diagnostics feature is designed to identify memory issues that could lead to instability, ensuring a smoother computing experience.
Currently, this feature is not available for ARM64 devices or systems protected by Administrator Protection or BitLocker without Secure Boot. Amanda Langowski, the lead for the Windows Insider Program, explained, “We’re introducing a new feature that helps improve system reliability. If your PC experiences a bugcheck (unexpected restart), you may see a notification when signing in suggesting a quick memory scan.”
Should users opt to run the scan, the system will schedule a Windows Memory Diagnostic scan to occur during the next reboot, typically taking five minutes or less. If any memory issues are detected and resolved, users will receive a notification after rebooting.
During this initial testing phase, all bugcheck codes will trigger a notification for the Windows memory diagnostics. Microsoft is currently investigating the relationship between operating system crashes and memory corruption, with plans to refine the targeting to a more limited set of errors in the future.
The rollout of this feature is now underway for Windows Insiders in the Dev and Beta channels, specifically for those who have installed Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26220.6982 (KB5067109) and Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.6982 (KB5067109).
In addition to this memory diagnostics feature, Microsoft has also begun testing new connectivity capabilities for its AI-powered Copilot digital assistant. This expansion allows Copilot to connect with Outlook and Gmail accounts, as well as third-party services such as Google Calendar and Google Drive. Just a week later, the company unveiled Copilot Actions, a feature enabling AI agents to perform tasks on local files and applications.
According to Microsoft, each Agent Workspace, where Copilot Actions execute tasks, operates as a Windows Remote Desktop child session, rather than within a Windows Sandbox or as a virtual machine. This approach aims to streamline the interaction between users and their digital environments, further enhancing productivity.
