When I reboot, Windows automatically changes the bluetooth device choice
to the choice it seems to prefer - so I often must go in and change it
back to my manual choice. It's quite annoying. How can I prevent Windows
from auto changing the bluetooth device choice from its pre-existing
setting?
Thanks.
Bill S.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Sat, 9/26/2026 5:38 PM, bilsch01 wrote:

When I reboot, Windows automatically changes the bluetooth device choice to the
choice it seems to prefer - so I often must go in and change it back to my manual choice. It's quite annoying. How can I prevent Windows from auto changing
the bluetooth device choice from its pre-existing setting?

Thanks.
Bill S.

https://community.intel.com/t5/Wireless/Bluetooth-only-works-after-restart/m-p/505594

"Holy cow, this thing worked!! By disabling the fast start option
(provided in the link), the bluetooth component works all the time.
"

Fast Start, hibernates just the kernel+drivers, which are reloaded
as a blob the next time the computer starts. Without that setting,
the kernel loads, then the driver loads, which takes slightly longer.

If the machine has an SSD, eMMC, or NVMe (all use flash storage),
the startup speed is such, you hardly need Fast Start any more
and it can be turned off.

Otherwise, none of the other web pages Google fed me,
remotely appeared to keep anything set up as it was.

*******

I did a quick test. I set up my Bluetooth speakers as the sound output
(instead of RealTek analog). I played a selection from my "music collection" (maybe eleven tracks). Next, I exited the music player, and rebooted the system.

When Windows 11 Home came back up, the Bluetooth speakers were still selected. I opened the music player and selected the same track, and it played through the speakers OK. I did not have to pair the speakers again, nor connect
the speakers again. It worked with no additional effort.

This system doesn't have Fast Start turned on.

[ Before I could do this test, the battery on the speaker was flat,
and half an hour of recharge fixed that, and then I could do some testing. ]

Paul

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 9/26/2026 6:50 PM, Paul wrote:

On Sat, 9/26/2026 5:38 PM, bilsch01 wrote:

When I reboot, Windows automatically changes the bluetooth device choice to the
choice it seems to prefer - so I often must go in and change it back to my >> manual choice. It's quite annoying. How can I prevent Windows from auto changing
the bluetooth device choice from its pre-existing setting?

Thanks.
Bill S.

https://community.intel.com/t5/Wireless/Bluetooth-only-works-after-restart/m-p/505594

"Holy cow, this thing worked!! By disabling the fast start option
(provided in the link), the bluetooth component works all the time.
"

Fast Start, hibernates just the kernel+drivers, which are reloaded
as a blob the next time the computer starts. Without that setting,
the kernel loads, then the driver loads, which takes slightly longer.

If the machine has an SSD, eMMC, or NVMe (all use flash storage),
the startup speed is such, you hardly need Fast Start any more
and it can be turned off.

Otherwise, none of the other web pages Google fed me,
remotely appeared to keep anything set up as it was.

*******

I did a quick test. I set up my Bluetooth speakers as the sound output (instead of RealTek analog). I played a selection from my "music collection" (maybe eleven tracks). Next, I exited the music player, and rebooted the system.

When Windows 11 Home came back up, the Bluetooth speakers were still selected.
I opened the music player and selected the same track, and it played through the speakers OK. I did not have to pair the speakers again, nor connect
the speakers again. It worked with no additional effort.

This system doesn't have Fast Start turned on.

[ Before I could do this test, the battery on the speaker was flat,
and half an hour of recharge fixed that, and then I could do some testing. ]

Paul

Thanks for the response, but will you tell me how to turn off fast start
(or is it fast startup). How do I turn it off, please tell me.
Thanks.
Bill S.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 9/26/2026 6:50 PM, Paul wrote:

On Sat, 9/26/2026 5:38 PM, bilsch01 wrote:

When I reboot, Windows automatically changes the bluetooth device choice to the
choice it seems to prefer - so I often must go in and change it back to my >> manual choice. It's quite annoying. How can I prevent Windows from auto changing
the bluetooth device choice from its pre-existing setting?

Thanks.
Bill S.

https://community.intel.com/t5/Wireless/Bluetooth-only-works-after-restart/m-p/505594

"Holy cow, this thing worked!! By disabling the fast start option
(provided in the link), the bluetooth component works all the time.
"

Fast Start, hibernates just the kernel+drivers, which are reloaded
as a blob the next time the computer starts. Without that setting,
the kernel loads, then the driver loads, which takes slightly longer.

If the machine has an SSD, eMMC, or NVMe (all use flash storage),
the startup speed is such, you hardly need Fast Start any more
and it can be turned off.

Otherwise, none of the other web pages Google fed me,
remotely appeared to keep anything set up as it was.

*******

I did a quick test. I set up my Bluetooth speakers as the sound output (instead of RealTek analog). I played a selection from my "music collection" (maybe eleven tracks). Next, I exited the music player, and rebooted the system.

When Windows 11 Home came back up, the Bluetooth speakers were still selected.
I opened the music player and selected the same track, and it played through the speakers OK. I did not have to pair the speakers again, nor connect
the speakers again. It worked with no additional effort.

This system doesn't have Fast Start turned on.

[ Before I could do this test, the battery on the speaker was flat,
and half an hour of recharge fixed that, and then I could do some testing. ]

Paul

I'm wasting lots of time. Please tell me how to shut off 'fast startup'
or whatever it's called. Try telling exactly how.
Thanks

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

ÿÿÿ Paul

I'm wasting lots of time. Please tell me how to shut off 'fast startup'
or whatever it's called. Try telling exactly how.
Thanks

open the Control Panel ....

Hardware and Sound ....

Power Options ....


Change What the Power buttons do ....


then its at the bottom in "shut down settings"


but you will probably have to have to go up a bit and press the blue
"change settings that are currently unavailable" hyperlink thingy



--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 9/30/26 3:54 AM, Abandoned Trolley wrote:

ÿÿÿ Paul

I'm wasting lots of time. Please tell me how to shut off 'fast startup'
or whatever it's called. Try telling exactly how.
Thanks

open the Control Panel ....

Hardware and Sound ....

Power Options ....

Change What the Power buttons do ....

then its at the bottom in "shut down settings"

but you will probably have to have to go up a bit and press the blue
"change settings that are currently unavailable" hyperlink thingy

Isn't fast startup a bios thing? Or do I have the wrong words.

--
Mint 22.3, Thunderbird 153.3.1esr, Firefox 156.0.1
Alan K.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

but you will probably have to have to go up a bit and press the blue
"change settings that are currently unavailable" hyperlink thingy

Isn't fast startup a bios thing?ÿ Or do I have the wrong words.

a lot of BIOS (bioses / biosen ?) have am option called "FastBoot" - I
dont know what it does either

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

bilsch01 wrote:

I'm wasting lots of time. Please tell me how to shut off 'fast startup'
or whatever it's called. Try telling exactly how.

Have you tied to do this: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=how+to+disable+Fast+Startup+on+Windows+11&ia=web

--
Regards
Arkadiusz 'Black Fox' Artyszuk

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Abandoned Trolley wrote:

a lot of BIOS (bioses / biosen ?) have am option called "FastBoot" - I
dont know what it does either

https://www.cgdirector.com/what-is-fast-boot-in-bios/

--
Regards
Arkadiusz 'Black Fox' Artyszuk

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 9/30/26 9:18 AM, Abandoned Trolley wrote:

but you will probably have to have to go up a bit and press the blue
"change settings that are currently unavailable" hyperlink thingy

Isn't fast startup a bios thing?ÿ Or do I have the wrong words.

a lot of BIOS (bioses / biosen ?) have am option called "FastBoot" - I
dont know what it does either

Yes, that's the term. Different things, not what they are talking about.

Fast Boot in my terminology is windows booting from something like a cache. The point I
hear in complaints is that it isn't a clean boot since it uses cached items, code and
settings.
I turn it off for Linux, but that was well over a year ago when I bought this new PC.

--
Mint 22.3, Thunderbird 153.3.1esr, Firefox 156.0.1
Alan K.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 2026-09-30 14:18, Abandoned Trolley wrote:

[Two levels of attribution have been snipped by others: Alan K &
Abandoned Trolley]

but you will probably have to have to go up a bit and press the blue
"change settings that are currently unavailable" hyperlink thingy

These instructions, now snipped beyond usefulness were correct in
Abandoned Trolley's original post.

Isn't fast startup a bios thing?ÿ Or do I have the wrong words.

Most BIOSes do have some similarly named option, but it does something
else, see below ...

a lot of BIOS (bioses / biosen ?) have am option called "FastBoot" - I
dont know what it does either

Usually it reduces the self-testing done before trying to boot an OS.
For example, it may reduce or skip any sort of memory testing.

--

Fake news kills!

I may be contacted via the contact address given on my website: www.macfh.co.uk


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Wed, 9/30/2026 1:34 AM, bilsch01 wrote:

On 9/26/2026 6:50 PM, Paul wrote:

On Sat, 9/26/2026 5:38 PM, bilsch01 wrote:

When I reboot, Windows automatically changes the bluetooth device choice to the
choice it seems to prefer - so I often must go in and change it back to my >>> manual choice. It's quite annoying. How can I prevent Windows from auto changing
the bluetooth device choice from its pre-existing setting?

Thanks.
Bill S.

https://community.intel.com/t5/Wireless/Bluetooth-only-works-after-restart/m-p/505594

ÿÿÿ "Holy cow, this thing worked!! By disabling the fast start option
ÿÿÿÿ (provided in the link), the bluetooth component works all the time.
ÿÿÿ "

Fast Start, hibernates just the kernel+drivers, which are reloaded
as a blob the next time the computer starts. Without that setting,
the kernel loads, then the driver loads, which takes slightly longer.

If the machine has an SSD, eMMC, or NVMe (all use flash storage),
the startup speed is such, you hardly need Fast Start any more
and it can be turned off.

Otherwise, none of the other web pages Google fed me,
remotely appeared to keep anything set up as it was.

*******

I did a quick test. I set up my Bluetooth speakers as the sound output
(instead of RealTek analog). I played a selection from my "music collection" >> (maybe eleven tracks). Next, I exited the music player, and rebooted the
system.

When Windows 11 Home came back up, the Bluetooth speakers were still selected.
I opened the music player and selected the same track, and it played through >> the speakers OK. I did not have to pair the speakers again, nor connect
the speakers again. It worked with no additional effort.

This system doesn't have Fast Start turned on.

[ Before I could do this test, the battery on the speaker was flat,
ÿÿ and half an hour of recharge fixed that, and then I could do some testing. ]

ÿÿÿ Paul

I'm wasting lots of time. Please tell me how to shut off 'fast startup' or whatever it's called. Try telling exactly how.
Thanks

First of all, control panels might not be running at the moment.
When control panels appears, it can be pinned on the tool bar by right
clicking the icon on the taskbar and selecting "pin to taskbar".

To get control panels, right click the Start icon (four blue panes),
select Run, and enter "control.exe" to start it. Now, you will
have some control panels to work with.

Start : Run : control.exe

An article for the thing, is here.

https://www.elevenforum.com/t/turn-on-or-off-fast-startup-in-windows-11.1212/

On that web page, look for the Power Options picture.
"Choose what the power buttons do"

https://www.elevenforum.com/attachments/fast_startup_system_settings-1-png.7120/

The Fast Startup tick box is in the next picture, and it is unticked here.

https://www.elevenforum.com/attachments/fast_startup_system_settings-2-png.7121/

Naturally, the dialog box does not have to look like that, depending
on what you've switched off since installing Windows 11. What that picture
is showing, is a setup where Sleep and Hibernate are working, so all the
boxes are on offer. For example, mine at the moment only shows "Sleep" and "Lock"
and the other tick boxes are missing. Do not panic if that is the case,
as if the Fast Startup tick box is missing, it *cannot* Fast Startup then :-) Since I have only "Sleep" and "Lock", my Fast Startup is off.

For some reason, I did not see your post until just now. And we're on
the same server too.

Paul

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:

On Wed, 9/30/2026 1:34 AM, bilsch01 wrote:

[...]

I'm wasting lots of time. Please tell me how to shut off 'fast
startup' or whatever it's called. Try telling exactly how. Thanks

First of all, control panels might not be running at the moment.
When control panels appears, it can be pinned on the tool bar by right clicking the icon on the taskbar and selecting "pin to taskbar".

To get control panels, right click the Start icon (four blue panes),
select Run, and enter "control.exe" to start it. Now, you will
have some control panels to work with.

Start : Run : control.exe

Of course that method works, but it's simpler and more natural (i.e.
you don't have to know the control.exe name) to type 'Control Panel' in
the search box on the Taskbar (or in the search box of the Start menu if
you have no search box on the Taskbar).

[Fast startup specifics deleted.]

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 9/30/2026 12:54 AM, Abandoned Trolley wrote:

ÿÿÿ Paul

I'm wasting lots of time. Please tell me how to shut off 'fast
startup' or whatever it's called. Try telling exactly how.
Thanks

open the Control Panel ....

Hardware and Sound ....

Power Options ....

Change What the Power buttons do ....

then its at the bottom in "shut down settings"

but you will probably have to have to go up a bit and press the blue
"change settings that are currently unavailable" hyperlink thingy

Thanks, you solved the present problem: fast startup is unchecked after reboot.
But the question in my original post is still unsolved: When I reboot, I
now see that BOTH blue tooth devices are connected (including the device
that was not selected before rebooting) and, worse, that one is also
being given priority for some reason. Thus I still have the original
problem.
I know, this sounds like I'm crazy.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Wed, 9/30/2026 6:05 PM, bilsch01 wrote:

On 9/30/2026 12:54 AM, Abandoned Trolley wrote:

ÿÿÿ Paul

I'm wasting lots of time. Please tell me how to shut off 'fast startup' or whatever it's called. Try telling exactly how.
Thanks

open the Control Panel ....

Hardware and Sound ....

Power Options ....


Change What the Power buttons do ....


then its at the bottom in "shut down settings"


but you will probably have to have to go up a bit and press the blue "change settings that are currently unavailable" hyperlink thingy

Thanks, you solved the present problem: fast startup is unchecked after reboot.
But the question in my original post is still unsolved: When I reboot, I now see
that BOTH blue tooth devices are connected (including the device that was not selected before rebooting) and, worse, that one is also being given priority
for some reason. Thus I still have the original problem.
I know, this sounds like I'm crazy.

It's the Bluetooth that is crazy.

I have two battery operated Bluetooth speakers
(each is a Stereo device).

Both claim to be paired right now.
But only one can "Connect" at a time.

This is a limitation of the sound mixer having one
(stereo) output, and the bluetooth profile supporting
one audio sink at a time. I was not able to connect
both audio devices (and have the same audio signal
over both). Only one will enter the Connect state.

I presume the workaround, is to take the "Connect" one
showing in Settings : Bluetooth & Devices : Devices
and disconnect it. Then connect the one you really wanted.
That's not really all that convenient.

It seems easy for Bluetooth stuff to get "confused".
I don't know what I could recommend as far as a solution
to the problem. It makes note that both the items are
"Paired", and it probably tries to connect both of them.

There is Troubleshooting for Bluetooth, but it is unlikely
to identify corner cases, and it would just (dully) address
basic pairing and basic connecting.

There is another option here, but I don't really think
this will be any better than the Fast Startup thing.
The article is a little unclear as to whether this
is just Pairing related, or both Pairing&Connected related.

https://www.ninjaone.com/blog/enable-or-disable-bluetooth-quick-pairing/

These things would be less likely to happen, if we were
still using third party BT stacks.

If you disable too much stuff, then you'll have to Pair
and Connect, each time after you boot. Which isn't
all that nice.

*******

OK, now I fire up the CoPilot and give your question a whirl.

********************** CoPilot Question ***********************

A user has a windows 11 computer, a Bluetooth interface on the PC,
and two audio devices. Both audio devices are in the paired state.
When the computer is rebooted, both audio devices try to enter
the Connect state. But only one peripheral device can be
successful for the audio profile, and the wrong device is the
one that is actually connecting.

Is there sufficient control, somewhere, in the settings, so
that the user can specify that only the desired device
enter the Connect state ? Is this really caused by Swift Pairing,
or is the root cause of the rush to connect, caused by
something else unseen. Fast Startup has already been disabled,
so the computer is booting kernel and drivers from scratch.

********************** CoPilot Answer ***********************

**Short answer:**
No ? Windows 11 does *not* give you enough control to tell the
OS "only connect to Device A, never Device B" at boot.

And no ? this is **not** caused by Swift Pair. The root cause
is the **Bluetooth stack?s automatic profile-reconnection logic**,
which is surprisingly aggressive and not user-configurable.

Let me walk you through what?s actually happening, why Windows
behaves this way, and what *real* control you do have.

---

## Why both devices rush to connect after reboot
When Windows boots, the Bluetooth stack does the following:

1. Enumerates all paired devices
2. Checks which devices advertise **ReconnectInitiate** for the **A2DP** or **HFP** profiles
3. Attempts to restore the last-known audio routing
4. Accepts the *first* device that successfully negotiates the audio profile

This is **device-driven**, not Windows-driven.
Most Bluetooth audio devices aggressively initiate reconnection
as soon as they see the host come online.

Windows does *not* have a priority list.
It simply accepts whichever device completes the profile handshake first.

---

## Is Swift Pair responsible?
No.
Swift Pair only affects *initial pairing* and user notifications.
It has **zero involvement** in reconnection behavior.

Even if Swift Pair is disabled, devices will still attempt to reconnect automatically.

---

## Why Fast Startup being disabled doesn?t change this
Disabling Fast Startup ensures the kernel and drivers load fresh - good call. But Bluetooth reconnection happens **after** the stack initializes, and
the behavior is identical whether the boot is "cold" or "hybrid".

So your issue persists because the reconnection logic is independent of Fast Startup.

---

## Is there a Windows setting to control which device may auto-connect? Unfortunately, **no**.
Windows 11 provides *no* UI or registry setting to:

- Prioritize one audio device over another
- Block auto-connect for specific devices
- Force a device to remain "paired but not connectable"
- Delay reconnection attempts
- Require manual connection only

The OS treats all paired audio devices equally.

---

## What *can* you do? (Realistic options)

### **1. Disable "Auto-connect" on the device itself (if supported)**
Some headphones/speakers allow:

- "Auto-connect off"
- "Multipoint off"
- "Connect only when powered on"
- "Manual connect only"

This is the *best* solution - but many devices don?t offer it.

---

### **2. Remove the unwanted device?s A2DP/HFP services**
This is a hack, but it works:

1. Open **Device Manager**
2. Expand **Bluetooth**
3. Find the unwanted device
4. Right-click --> **Properties**
5. Go to **Services** tab
6. Uncheck **Audio Sink**, **Handsfree**, etc.

This keeps the device *paired* but prevents it from being eligible for audio connection.

Windows will not auto-connect to a device that has no audio services enabled.

---

### **3. Use a Bluetooth dongle dedicated to the "wrong" device**
If you isolate the unwanted device on a separate adapter:

- It will auto-connect to *that* adapter
- Your main adapter remains free for the desired device

This is surprisingly effective.

---

### **4. Use a startup script to disconnect the unwanted device**
You can run a PowerShell script at login:

Get-PnpDevice -FriendlyName "DeviceName" | Disable-PnpDevice -Confirm:$false Start-Sleep -Seconds 2
Enable-PnpDevice -InstanceId "DeviceInstanceID" -Confirm:$false

This forces the device into a paired-but-disconnected state.

---

### **5. Use Bluetooth Tweaker (third-party)**
This tool allows:

- Blocking auto-connect per device
- Forcing manual connect only
- Editing profile priorities

It?s the closest thing to the missing Windows feature.

---

## Root cause summary
The ?rush to connect? is caused by:

- The **devices** initiating reconnection
- Windows accepting whichever device completes the handshake first
- No priority or per-device auto-connect controls in Windows
- No involvement from Swift Pair
- Fast Startup being irrelevant

---

## If you want, I can help you:
- Identify which device is initiating the connection first
- Determine whether your devices support disabling auto-connect
- Build a PowerShell script to force the correct device to connect
- Show you how to disable audio services for the unwanted device

Just tell me which two devices you?re working with.


********************** End: CoPilot Answer ******************

Now, that's a much better answer than I could come up with,
because it mentions Bluetooth Tweaker. There is a picture
here of the "Allow this device to connect" tick box. This is
a payware, with a limited trial period.

https://www.thewindowsclub.com/how-to-check-bluetooth-codec-in-windows

# The claimed software download page is here.

https://www.bluetoothgoodies.com/tweaker/download/

You can check the price of the item when you get there.

Paul

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

I didn't used to have such a big problem using Bluetooth.
I can't fix the problem I originally posted about.

Thanks everybody that wrote in to help.
Bill S.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 10/08/2026 5:21 AM, bilsch01 wrote:

I didn't used to have such a big problem using Bluetooth.
I can't fix the problem I originally posted about.

Thanks everybody that wrote in to help.
Bill S.

I to would like to thank everyone who responds to post on this news
group. My only problem in that sometimes I get more information about my problem than I need. But that is OK as it gives me a better
understanding of the situation.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Thu, 10/8/2026 9:12 AM, knuttle wrote:

On 10/08/2026 5:21 AM, bilsch01 wrote:

I didn't used to have such a big problem using Bluetooth.
I can't fix the problem I originally posted about.

Thanks everybody that wrote in to help.
Bill S.

I to would like to thank everyone who responds to post on this news group. My only problem in that sometimes I get more information about my problem than I need.ÿ But that is OK as it gives me a better understanding of the situation.

Backgrounders should not come solely from LLM-AI.
Backgrounders should come from people, because people think
differently than machines do. People don't have the same high speed
pattern matching features, but they also tend to "think in parallel"
and consider more aspects than the LLM-AI sometimes do.

I spent most of the morning, slogging through useless marketing
articles, hoping and praying for tiny techie tidbits. Did not
get what I was after. If I ask the LLM-AI, I *will* get the answer,
but it cannot draw the diagrams I need to illustrate how a thing
works. The LLM-AI does not want to draw technical diagrams
particularly. I cannot get the Microsoft Word version of
an answer, only the Notepad version :-)

One of the LLM-AI leadership people, has gone off to work on an
"image-based" LLM-AI, but until a model comes out, we don't really
know what this will produce. LLM-AI already know how to draw pictures,
but will the new machine concept have "a better imagination" ?
Hard to guess how that one will turn out.

Paul

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)