All posts by Ed Tittel

Full-time freelance writer, researcher and occasional expert witness, I specialize in Windows operating systems, information security, markup languages, and Web development tools and environments. I blog for numerous Websites, still write (or revise) the occasional book, and write lots of articles, white papers, tech briefs, and so forth.
Cool Tools, Insider stuff, Recent Activity, Updates, WED Blog, Windows 10, Windows 11

PatchMyPC Home Updater Mini Annoyance

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First things first: I’m a HUGE fan of PatchMyPC’s Home Updater product. Indeed, I got invited to try out the company’s latest version — an app-based implementation that supersedes PatchMyPC.exe — because I’ve written about it often and positively. In the interests of sharing my enthusiasm and support, I also have to report a recent PatchMyPC Home update “mini annoyance.” Let me tell you more…

What Is the PatchMyPC Home Updater Mini Annoyance?

It’s a Store app, so you must call it via the Start menu as “PatchMyPC Home Updater” to launch the program. But it’s NOT available in the Windows Store. Rather you must download it direct from the maker’s website, from the PatchMyPC Home Updater home page. If you try to find it in the MS Store, you get a big fat zip instead. Ditto for a search on “Patch My PC” as it appears here:

Only the website will do: the app is NOT in the MS Store.

Forewarned is forearmed, I guess. But gosh, it’s kind of a minor thing to add an app to the Store, isn’t it? C’mon guys: fix this sooner, rather than later. I applaud the new UI and the switch to a modern app style for this excellent tool. But please: finish the job and put it in the Store. Just sayin…

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Copilot+ PCs, Insider stuff, Recent Activity, WED Blog, Windows 10, Windows 11

MS Sez: Copilot+ PCs 5X Faster Than 2019 Models

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Here’s an interesting MS announcement from last week. I saw it, but didn’t read it all the way through. This morning, I read follow-up coverage (e.g. this WindowsLatest story). It’s entitled “How prepare for Windows end of support by moving to Windows 11 today.” Overall, it’s an eminently predictable bit of upgrade rah-rah. But specifically MS sez: Copilot+ PCs 5X faster than 2019 models.  I translated “5-year old PCs” from the original to get this year.

Weighing Copilot+ PCs 5X Faster Than 2019 Models

It just so happens that this cut-off equates to 10th Generation Intel CPUs (e.g. Comet Lake and Ice Lake). It also hits 3rdGeneration AMD Ryzen models (Matisse and Renoir). I’ve got 4 8th Gen Intel laptops here at Chez Tittel. I’ve also worked with 3 Copilot+ PCs (2 Snapdragon X models, and 1 Intel Aura/Lunar Lake model). My own gut feel, and my ongoing observation of resource intensive tasks — such as disk cleanup, updates, upgrades, big installs, and so forth — absolutely agrees with this claim.

If you dig into the October 31 announcement, you’ll find a section entitled “Benefits of upgrading to Windows 11.” Therein, author and MS EVP/Consumer Chief Marketing Office Yusuf Mehdi avers that when compared to Windows 10, 11 is

  • more sure and trusted
  • better optimized for speed and efficiency
  • better at multitasking
  • more accessible
  • more energy efficient

The 5x speed claim is footnoted to a May 2024 MS Learn item entitled Copilot+ PC performance details. That’s where the 5X claim gets some substance, which turns out to rest on the Cinebench 2024 Multi-Core benchmark. Further investigation shows this to be a 10-minute rendering test using the Redshift engine. Looking at the laptop segment at CPU Monkey, I see the first recognizable Copilot + PC in 17th place, with a value of 1,150 (Apple M2 Ultra (76-GPU) takes 1st place , with a value of 1,918).

Moving Up Probably Means Copilot+

With a handful of older PCs that I’ll need to upgrade in the next year or two, I am thinking about “what’s next” here at Chez Tittel. And indeed, most of what I’m thinking about buying into is Copilot. My first such purchase will probably be a Yoga Slim 7x (blogged July 1, 2024). It’s got a killer screen, runs like a demon, and represents a good value for its cost (~US$1,200 for 16 GB RAM, 0.5 TB SSD, and X1E-78-100 Snapdragon X CPU).

There will be plenty of other models to consider in the months ahead, as the Intel and AMD offerings get fleshed out alongside the earlier ARM Snapdragon X offerings. I’ll be choosing among those, or their successors, in the next year or two as I start upgrade. You should probably be thinking along those same lines. Unless and until something better comes along…

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Insider stuff, Recent Activity, Troubleshooting, WED Blog, Windows 11

Forced 24H2 Upgrade Throws BSOD

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I couldn’t help myself: I HAD to try it. On the Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Ultra, I used the Windows 11 Installation Assistant to bring on the newest version. Alas, my forced 24H2 upgrade throws BSOD with error code 0X85 SETUP_FAILURE. Quick research found an MS Learn article on that very topic. Alas, it also says “a fatal error occurred during setup” and suggests unplugging peripherals and trying again, but provides no real repair advice. You can see my iPhone BSOD photo, skews and all, as the lead-in graphic here.

Bad Cess As Forced 24H2 Upgrade Throws BSOD

Please note: even though the BSOD text reads in part “We’ll restart for you,” I had to toggle the power button to bring the P3 Ultra back to life. Sigh: looks like its Intel i9-13900 Intel CPU is subject to some documented issues. Indeed, I just found an Intel Community post that says if Turbo Boost is enabled in the BIOS, it can crash during the Windows 11 upgrade process.

So I visited Settings > System > Recovery > Advanced Startup and then entered the BIOS. Sure enough, Turbo Mode was enabled, so I disabled same. Now, I’m running the Installation Assistant again. It zoomed through download and verification phases, so the files from the original download were obviously still present. Now it’s doing the GUI install portion …

Is the 2nd Try Charmed, or Doomed?

It took about 10-15 minutes for GUI install to complete. Turning off Turbo Mode notably slows things down. The post-GUI install went much slower, though: it zoomed up to 71% in 5-8 minutes, then took the better part of an hour to work its way to completion and OOBE.

But I’ve now got a working 24H2 installation on the ThinkStation P3 Ultra,  as you can see in the next screencap. It shows Lenovo Vantage device info, above which I’ve positioned Winver output. Then I had to go back into the BIOS and turn Turbo Mode back on. With Turbo Mode restored, the system runs very much faster.

Winver 24H2 in front, Lenovo Vantage Device Details in back.

Now, I have to ask: is this disable/enable in BIOS looming over all future upgrades, or is it just a one-time 24H2 thing? As the clue that pointed me toward this fix came from 22H2, probably not. Another thing for me to remember, in that case…

And isn’t that just the ways things go from time to time, here in Windows-World? You betcha!

 

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Cool Tools, Insider stuff, Recent Activity, WED Blog, Windows 10, Windows 11

PC Manager Gains Advanced Browser Cleanup

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Thanks to a recent story in Windows Latest, I just learned that a new version of the Chinese-built MS store app named PC Manager is out. For those who don’t already know, this tool offers performance boost, health check, storage  and startup cleanup tools, and more. Though I’ve heard from plenty of used inclined to be skeptical, if not distrustful, of this tool, I’ve never had it cause me a problem in the 16 months I’ve been writing about it (here’s my first intro post from July 2023). With the latest 3.14.10.0 release, PC Manager gains advanced browser cleanup tools.

Showing PC Manager Gains Advanced Browser Cleanup

You can see the results of such a cleanup in the lead-in graphic: especially for Chrome, they’re substantial (5.0 GB). Of the 9.7 GB in disk space that the Deep Cleanup tool freed up, 6.84 GB (~70%) comes from this newly-minted browser cleanup facility. IMO, that’s pretty major — especially because web browsers account for plenty of the CPU and memory cycles, and disk and memory space on Windows PCs.

Indeed, Copilot says that on a typical Windows PC, web browsers generally consume around 10-20% of the total runtime resources (CPU, memory, network and storage). I think that’s on the low side, but then I nearly always have 20 or more Chrome, Edge and Firefox processes visible in Task Manager (each), and at least a half-dozen tabs open in all 3 browsers. Seems like double (or more) in my case as compared to Copilot’s estimate.

Whatever your typical usage patterns might be, this newly-added cleanup tool will probably be worth running once in a while. I’m going to try it daily and see if it makes any difference.

Give It a Try?

If you’re not using PC Manager already, this new facility makes it even more compelling. If you don’t have it installed, you can find in the MS Store, or grab it via this MS Store link. Go ahead, check it out. You may enjoy it!

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Backup/Restore, Insider stuff, Recent Activity, WED Blog, Windows 11

Macrium X Next Migration Step: P360 Ultra

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As I manage my small fleet of desktops and laptops lately, I’ve been slowly but surely updating Macrium Reflect. I’m transitioning from version 8 to version X (as in Roman Numeral 10). At this point, I’ve allocated 5 of my 8 licenses for X. Today’s effort for my Macrium X next migration step: P360 Ultra switches a temporary 8 preview version out for the “real thing.”

Taking Macrium X Next Migration Step: P360 Ultra

“What is involved in upgrading” one might ask? I just did one. Now, I can say it requires getting the configuration and schedule right. On the P360 Ultra that meant:

  • switching from a no-longer-attached USB4 NVMe enclosure to an older mSATA NVMe that stays constantly plugged in.
  • Defining a daily backup task, to see how that works out in this situation.

Total time and effort required: about 8 minutes, most of which went to accessing my Macrium Reflect login to grab a 5th license to take the upgrade/install process to completion.

Here’s where things get interesting: Macium X is a LOT faster than Macrium 8. Even on a 10-year-old Samsung EVO 500GB mSATA SSD, X reported whopping I/O performance of: 25.7 Gb/s read and 2.7 Gb/s write. Total elapsed time for the backup was 2:13. And that backup image occupies about 32.8 GB on the EVO500 (D:) drive, as you can see in the lead-in graphic. It’s at least 2:00 faster than version 8.

This has been my experience on all the PCs I’ve upgraded so far. It’s also been blazing fast on new installs on a trio of Copilot+ PCs (two ARM Snapdragons and one Intel Aura model). That provides a sweet reward for the time and effort involved in moving on up to that new version. Good job, Macrium Reflect developer team!!

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Device drivers, Insider stuff, Recent Activity, Troubleshooting, Updates, WED Blog, Windows 11

BIOS Update Demands Cable Switch

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Whoa: this time, things got just a little bit TOO interesting. I’ve got a Lenovo P360 Ultra ThinkStation on loan, and a BIOS update came through today (to version S0JKT2AA). But when I would install the update, the usual BIOS flash screens did not come up after a reboot. It wasn’t until I swapped the graphics cable from the full-size DP to full-size DP port, to a full-size DP (monitor) to mini DP (PC) that the splash screen showed up at boot, and the BIOS flash ran through to completion. Thus, the BIOS update demands cable switch to succeed. Go figure!

How Did I Figure Out That BIOS Update Demands Cable Switch

By watching the post-reboot behavior on-screen, I realized it wasn’t showing me what it was supposed to. Basically, the screen stayed black post-restart until the lock screen for Windows 11 appeared. I knew I was supposed to see the boot-up splash screen (which reads “Lenovo” in white letters on a black background on this device). But instead: nada.

So on a whim, I brought down the video & power cables box from atop my bookshelves. Then, I grabbed a full-size DisplayPort to mini-DP cable and used it to replace the full-size DP to full-size DP I was currently using. Immediately thereafter, I got a splash screen and the BIOS update started processing. It took a while, but it eventually ground through to a successful update.

What About those Intel Graphics?

The next item of business was to get the built-in Intel graphics (UHD Graphics 770) updated. After a handful of failed attempts to get the Lenovo version to run, I visited the Intel DSA (Driver & Support Assistant) and installed that version instead. It worked. You can see the results for my final — and entirely welcome — update check using the Lenovo Commercial Vantage tool as the lead-in graphic above.

That was a wild ride. But indeed, that’s the way things go in Windows-World far too often, based on my current level of interest vs. fatigue. Today, fatigue wins out. Sigh.

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Insider stuff, Recent Activity, Thoughts & concerns, WED Blog, Windows 11

Ongoing Win11 DISM WinSxS Cleanup Issues

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I’ve been writing about this since late 2021 or early 2022 — within months of the initial preview release for Windows 11. Something in the update environment produces ongoing Win11 DISM WinSxS cleanup issues. That is, running /analyzecomponentstore keeps popping up reclaimable packages even after /startcomponentcleanup reports cleanup success. Right now, I see this in almost every version of Windows 11 I have running, which includes:

  • Windows 11 23H2 Production (Build 22635.4435: 13 items)
  • Windows 11 24H2 Production (Build 26100.2161: 2 items)
  • Windows 11 Beta Channel (Build 222635.4435: 13 items)
  • Windows 11 Canary Channel (Build 277729.1000: 0 items)
  • Windows 11 24H2 Copilot+ PCs (26100.2033:  2 items)

You can see this at work in the lead-in graphic. Notice the initial reclaimables count is 16 at the top of that screencap.  After running cleanup, then analyzing again,  that count drops to lucky 13 instead of zero as one might expect. (Note: you may need to right-click the image and open it in its own tab to see that 13 value.) I’ve seen that count as high as 14 and as low as 1 or 2 in various Windows 11 builds over the past 3 years.

Fixing Ongoing Win11 DISM WinSxS Cleanup Issues

As Windows 11 issues go, this one is quite benign. I’m pretty sure that’s why it has been allowed to pop in and out of various Windows versions pretty much since the get-go. That said, one can fix this if one must (and you OCD types know who I mean). How do I know? I’ve done it myself…

You can perform an in-place upgrade repair install to make this issue go away. But it takes time (30 minutes  and counting on my Windows 11 PCs) and the issue keeps coming back after you apply upcoming Cumulative Updates. That’s why I don’t bother with fixing this myself (except when I need pristine screencaps for writing work) anymore. If you must zero this out, use Settings > System > Recovery, then click the “Reinstall now” button under the “Fix problems using Windows Update” heading. Easy-peasey!

There is a spot of forward-looking cheer, too. The current Canary Channel build (277729.1000) does NOT have this issue. Maybe when production catches up that far, it won’t continue. Fingers crossed…

 

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Benchmarking, Copilot+ PCs, Insider stuff, Recent Activity, WED Blog, Windows 11

Strange Yoga Slim 7 USB4 Behavior

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Seems like I’ve been messing about more than usual with USB ports of late. That’s why an apparent anomaly on my latest Copilot+ PC review unit — the Intel-based Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition (15ILL9) — didn’t phase me for long. It delivered mSATA-level CrystalDiskMark results for a known, good, working Konyead USB4 NVMe enclosure. That is, when plugged into the right-side USB-C port. In the left-side port, its outputs ran somewhat under what I originally expected. What gives, you might ask? I’ll make some educated guesses…

More details on Strange Yoga Slim 7 USB4 Behavior

Even the Port 1 (left side) results weren’t fabulous for a USB4 NVMe device, but they’re within the realm of the expected. Here’s where things get interesting though: when I unplugged the enclosure from the left side, and plugged it into the right, the next set was much closer to expectations (and those recorded from the other side). The lead-in graphic shows left-side and right-side CrystalDiskMark results, each where you’d expect them per that ordering. Again I ask: what gives?

I can’t say with certainty, but I can guess with reasonable confidence that the device did not get properly detected the first time I plugged it in. The top 2 rows of CDM values were under 1K at left, and under 200 at right. The bottom 2 rows show random access to 4K segments, and seldom differ much across 5, 10 and 40 Gbps ports.

I do find the write values uniformly disappointing and significantly slower than what I’ve seen from Snapdragon X-based Copilot+ PCs. Could it be that Intel — the co-inventor and a major manufacturer of USB4/Thunderbolt 4 USB-C port controllers — isn’t as good at this as Qualcomm? Perish the thought. I’m thinking it may just be a lesser-grade part that’s not as fast as its Qualcomm counterpart.

Indeed, a quick jump into Settings > Bluetooth & devices > USB > USB4 hubs and devices lists the external NVMe as “Intel – USB4.0 SSD” and bandwidth as “40 Gbps/40Gbps (Gen 3, dual lane).” That’s exactly what it should be. So any performance differences seeming come from the parts themselves.

When in Doubt, Try a Different Device…

Just for grins I tried a different NVMe enclosure and SSD in the right-side port, then ran CrystalDiskMark again. Results initially came in nearly identical. As CDM continued through its read sequence, so did that similarity. Ditto for the write side of things with some slight improvements in the top 2 rows. I can only suggest that Qualcomm USB4 ports and controllers offer more balanced read/write performance than their Intel counterparts and better overall throughput. Isn’t that a surprise!

For those users who need max performance from external USB media, these differences might be worth considering as part of a purchase decision. Others are neither likely to notice, nor care.

 

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Insider stuff, Recent Activity, Remote Desktop (RDP), WED Blog, Windows 10, Windows 11

Possible RDP Session Startup Delay Fix

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I have numerous PCs in my office right now, and a couple more elsewhere in the house. My usual modus operandi is to work from my primary desktop, and use Remote Desktop Connection (and the RDP protocol) to jump onto and work with those other machines. I do this dozens of times daily, as I check various Windows versions, VMs, and more. At least 1 time out of 4, when I start up an RDP connection it sits on the remote PC’s lock screen for some time (minutes, even). Only recently have I researched this, and come up with a possible RDP session startup delay fix. You can see it in the unchecked box at lower left in the lead-in graphic: persistent bitmap cache.

What Is This Possible RDP Session Startup Delay Fix?

Another workaround is to close the opening session, then open it again. This almost always works. But in reading over a set of possible fixes in an April 2024 TheWindowsClub story on this very topic, I came across one I’d neither heard of before, nor tried. So, of course, I tried it: it involves unchecking the “Persistent bitmap caching” entry on the expanded Remote Desktop Connection app’s Experience tab as shown above.

I tried that on a couple of PCs that were showing significant delays in starting RDP sessions just now. And guess what? After that tweak, they opened right up. I’m guessing the delay might come from loading the cache at session startup, which the app uses to speed reproduction of already-known (and cached) screens. So it’s gonna be a tradeoff: faster startup at first, but slower response when screens need to move across the network that would otherwise already be stored.

I’m not sure it’s a total win, but it’s interesting to try such things out and see how they work for you. To me that’s the essence of getting things right in Windows-World — namely finding and using the right controls, to do what you need in a way that you can live with.

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Insider stuff, Recent Activity, WED Blog, Windows 11, Windows Update

24H2 Gets WU Boost

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Here’s something quite interesting. Yesterday, MS published a Windows IT Pro blog post entitled Windows 11, 24H2 improved update fundamentals. It’s worth reading, and makes claims for faster installs and restarts, lower CPU consumption, and smaller update packages in the latest OS version. Today, WindowsLatest  offered some data to back that up, showing that indeed 24H2 gets WU boost going forward. Its findings are interesting, too.

What 24H2 Gets WU Boost Apparently Means

As you can see in the lead-in graphic, WindowsLatest compared results for 2 PCs: one running Windows 23H2 was updated to 24H2 using the March update (it appears as “Well-maintained device”); the other was running 22H2 and had the same 24H2 update applied (it appears as “Outdated Device (18 months)”). In both cases, the numbers are noteworthy, and accord with my own recent experience in installing or updating Windows 23H2 PCs to 24H2 as well.

CPU utilization goes down by around 15% for newer Windows images, and by up to 25% when transitioning from 22H2 to 24H2. Restart times speed up by one-third or more, and installation by 40% or more. Download size also drops by 200 MB, thanks mostly to omitting MS Store app updates from that download package.

The Need for Speed…

This is good news in general for all Windows 11 users. But it’s especially good news for IT pros who typically handle fleet upgrades in time-constrained update windows. Often these fall on holiday weekends to make sure there’s enough time to get through the cycle (and fix any gotchas that pop up along the way, as they sometimes do). Anything MS can do to speed the time it takes to physically process updates also helps shorten the time window necessary to do them at scale. Thus, it’s a nice case of good news all the way around.

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