I've had a Surface Pro tablet for a few years now. It's the one that came after the Surface Pro 4 and before the Pro 6, so maybe it's the Surface Pro 5? It's branded without any numbers.
But hey, it's been by my side for a long time because I find it so useful. It's the most underpowered model. And that's okay. Because it means it has no fan (so quiet), all that battery life lasts so much longer (MONTHS. I'm not kidding. I've gone months without charging it and it's held steady at 80%, once I lock the screen to put it away it uses basically no power at all. Like extreme sleep mode.). And the keyboard doubles as a screen cover, and doesn't need any charging like most iPad cover/keyboard thingys.
And it's fast. Because it runs Windows 10, I can actually use the full version of the remote access software for the electronic patient record system (EPIC) at Addenbrooke's, where I have a lot of my placements.
How much faster? I've normally got the patients records up within seconds in my arm, while the FY1 is still logging in to the big bulky computer that sits on a trolley (workstations on wheels, or WoWs) that they've no doubt had to fight to get ahold of. Which means people are quickly fans, and patients get a better experience because we can actually focus on what's making them ill in the first place.
The face recognition slowdown
One of the things that made this so fast to use (though by no means the only thing!) was how the Windows Hello face recognition using the built-in IR camera would scan my face and log me in within less than a second. It was very fast. I could lock my tablet with the knowledge nobody else would be able to use it, and when I needed it, it was fairly frictionless.
Was. Recently I noticed it was stuck on "Looking for you..." or "Making sure that it's you..." for MINUTES before I realise it's just not doing anything and have to go back to typing in my password.
I missed this speed but I thought it must just be because the tablet is a few years old now, maybe the sensor isn't what it's used to be...
I searched around for a solution but to no avail. Forums these days seem to be filled with people saying they have a similar problem and nobody knows how to solve it. The blind leading the blind. But I've figured out a fix for this and I'm posting it here so anyone else can try this out to get their face recognition back up to speed.
The fix
Turn it off and on again. Not the tablet/computer, but Windows Hello.
Go to Settings > Accounts > Sign-in Options
Click "Windows Hello Face"
Click Remove.
Then enable it again and re-register your face :)
Try it again by locking your screen (WinKey + L) - hopefully this has now made your face recognition super fast once more!
