Monday, July 17, 2023

Google Chrome suddenly not working in Windows 10/11

Problem:  Chrome starts, then immediately closes.  You can see the window momentarily.  Usually and suddenly manifests on a kids laptop that had no prior issues whatsoever.

No error messages.  Can still see some Chrome-related process running in Task Manager, but nothing useful.  Reinstall doesn't help.  Chrome works fine on other devices.  No known issues with connectivity, cache / hard drive space, etc.  Edge works.  Firefox will not work.


Solution:  Your child(ren) probably got involuntarily signed up for Microsoft Family Safety, which can block all browsers other than Edge.

•  Go to the Family Safety parental / Family Organizer account.  If you don't know what that is, try here.

•  Click your kids account.

•  Go to "Content Filters".

•  Be sure you're on "Web and search".

•  Turn OFF the "Filter settings / Filter inappropriate websites and searches" feature.

 

Several things baffle me about this, including:

•  Why or how this feature suddenly starts working without any changes to the Family Safety account settings; and

•  Why Microsoft does not provide any kind of error or troubleshooting message when blocking Chrome.  People are just supposed to know this... HOW??? Via divine intervention?

Thank God I ran into this post almost immediately in my searching, or else it would have been another hours-long saga to figure out just what the hell was going on. So maybe that part was divine intervention.  I'll take it regardless.

Honestly, Family Safety should be my go-to for all things going wrong at this point - it's a ******* disaster.  The Synology router I've been using for years has been flawless, Family Safety is just a dumpster fire.  I'm taking my kid off of MFS at the earliest possible opportunity.

And once again, a big you-know-what to Microsoft for shoving this shit down people's throats with zero notice or support.  I've seen 13-year-olds that can code better than you.  Put up a goddamn error message like it's this millennium, you infuriating wankers.

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