Category Archives: Insider stuff

Insider stuff, Recent Activity, WED Blog, Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows OS Musings

Windows 11 Build 22509 Control Panel Changes

December 3, 2021 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

It’s been a long time coming, and it could still be some time coming yet. But Windows 11 Build 22509 Control Panel changes show the shape — if not the ultimate destination — of things to come. The lead-in graphic for this story shows Control Panel (CP) from Windows 11 left, and Windows 10 right. (Right-click the image and select “Open image in new tab” or equivalent to see it in its full glory.) Careful examination of the image shows items missing from 11 include Administrative Tools and Windows Tools. The new look includes more modern icons and rounded corners, too.

What Windows 11 Build 22509 Control Panel Changes Presage

The loss of Administrative Tools and Windows Tools is no big thing. Administrative Tools is a portmanteau in File Explorer that leads to a bunch of stuff easily accessible through other means. It includes:

A lot of this stuff is seldom used, and all of it is easily accessible by name, through God Mode, and other means…

Same thing goes for Windows tools, which provides access to 36 items ranging from Character Map to WordPad (in alphabetical order), with considerable overlap with the previous Administrative Tools item. IMHO, neither of these leaving CP is a loss, let alone a great one.

Look for Increasing Vanishment Ahead

Long term the impetus seems clear. MS will move more stuff out of CP and under Settings. Ultimately, CP might disappear completely. But that’s probably a long-term phenomenon at least a few years into the future, if not further out that that. According to WindowsLatest, the next Windows 11 Insider Preview Dev Channel update will do away with still more CP elements. It should be interesting to see which ones go away, and in what order.

As this stuff starts falling out of CP, count on me to keep you informed. I thrive on this kind of administrivia, and revel in sharing it with my readers — that means you! Stay tuned, and we’ll all keep up with the incredible shrinking collection of Control Panel elements.

Insider stuff, WED Blog, Windows 11

MS Store Gets App Version Info

December 2, 2021 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

Who knows why, but the latest Windows 11 Insider Previews add a minor but welcome new bit of information to Store app listings. It’s hard to believe, but up until those latest releases, the “Additional Information” for apps did not include version number info. As you can see inside the red box in the lead-in image, MS Store gets app version info going forward. If you check the same data in Windows 10 Store, you won’t find that “installed version” field.

If MS Store Gets App Version Info, Then What?

It’s another way to get ready, app-focused info in Windows, but only for Insider Preview users of Windows 11. What about everybody else? Good question! A little research turned up other ways to get app version information, including:

Run the “Programs and Features” item in Control Panel (you can simply type the name into the search box, and it should come up as a selectable option). This shows version info for all .exe applications as well as Store apps, but it’s all mixed together.
Open an administrative command prompt and navigate to “C:\Program Files\WindowsApps.” List the directory’s contents. Note that the version number appears, bracketed by underscore characters, right after the initial app name string.

Other methods exist, including a variety of PowerShell scripts. See this CodeTwo blog post for a good example. It’s entitled How to quickly check software versions, and worth a visit.

Frankly, I’d be happy to see this showing up in all Windows 10 and 11 versions. That said, this could easily remain a Windows 11-only kind of thing. We’ll see: stay tuned!

Insider stuff, Recent Activity, WED Blog, Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows OS Musings

Modern Windows Service Tweaking Is Counterproductive

November 28, 2021 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

I’m a regular at ElevenForum.com and TenForums.com. I try to read all new threads there daily, but probably average two out of three over the long haul. This morning, I saw a post at ElevenForum entitled “Services to Disable Windows 11.” My immediate response was “Why bother?” These days, Windows is self-tuning and runs pretty lean — especially Windows 11. That’s why I assert “Modern Windows Service Tweaking Is Counterproductive.”

More on Why Modern Windows Service Tweaking Is Counterproductive

One especially interesting analysis in response to the original poster’s list of prospective services to disable is especially illuminating. It comes from long-time Guru-level user @Bree, who says:

If you open Resource Monitor, look at Services on the CPU tab and sort by Average CPU, then you’ll find that of your list SysMain has the highest CPU use – of less than 0.2%. In fact my total CPU use by all running services is just 2%.

The general point is that while it’s theoretically possible to trim down the default set of services and processes to lighten the Windows load, the gains are small. In addition, turning things off that Windows thinks should be turned on can occasionally cause stability problems (read the whole thread for more details).

The Black Viper Perspective on Tweaked Services

BlackViper.com has been active on the Internet recommending such tweaks since the days of Windows 95/98. The last set of such tweaks for Windows 10 on his site is for version 1803 (as in March, 2018, almost four years ago). There are no such tweaks for Windows 11, period. To me, this says even a long-time, professional-grade tweaker no longer finds it worthwhile or rewarding to do this kind of thing with modern Windows versions. I couldn’t agree more, and stick by my title for this piece! ‘Nuff said.

Insider stuff, Recent Activity, Tips, Tricks and Tweaks, WED Blog, Windows 10, Windows 11

Laughing Off Black Friday Deals

November 23, 2021 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

Yes, I could have waited, as it turns out. I bought an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X from Amazon in September. I paid around US$394. Today, Black Friday prices are out and it’s on sole for US$341. Difference: US$53. All in all I could’ve saved around US$200 on my whole basket of parts. Not bad for a $1,200 buy. But laughing off Black Friday deals is part of making a buy decision. That said, there are some pretty good deals happening right now. If you are in the market for PCs or parts, it’s the best time of the year to buy.

Spending Earlier Means Laughing Off Black Friday Deals Now

But it also means I should look around and see what kinds of deals I can find right now. I’ve been lusting for a Caldigit Element Thunderbolt 4 hub (4x Thunderbolt 4/4x USB 3.2 Gen 2, 60W charging). But as you might expect with leading/bleeding edge technology items, it’s still at its MSRP of US$250.

OTOH, SSDs and HDDs are indeed showing up at bargain prices. Thus, for example I see a Hynix 1 TB NVMe for US$130 and a Seagate 5TB 2.5″ HDD for US$124 (5400 RPM). IGN.com has a nifty story on Black Friday Deals that’s worth a look. You can expect other websites to offer Black Friday rundowns through the weekend. If you’re in the market — or just thinking about some tech buys — you won’t be sorry if you take some time to look around and see what kinds of deals you can find. Shop till you drop, dear Readers — this the season!

Note Added Nov 29 (Cyber Monday)

No deals on the Caldigit Element hub today, either. But I still might go ahead and spring for one. I’ve got three laptops with Thunderbolt 4 ports that I can’t yet fully exercise until I get some compatible peripherals. A perfect excuse for paying list price, yes?

Backup/Restore, Insider stuff, Recent Activity, Updates, WED Blog, Windows 10, Windows 11

Macrium 8 Free Makes Normal Upgrade Appearance

November 18, 2021 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

OK, then: it’s finally making its way into the general Windows user population. I’m a zealous advocate of Paramount Software UK Ltd’s excellent Macrium Reflect Free backup/restore tool. Over the past 10 days or so, the company has now up-versioned that Free version from 7 to 8. This week, Macrium 8 Free makes normal upgrade appearance, via the tool’s built-in update facility. In fact, the lead-in graphic for this story shows a Notification that an 8-version update is available.

Good News for 7 Users: Macrium 8 Free Makes Normal Upgrade Appearance

A Macrium Reflect 8 Free download has been available for some time now through Softonic. It also showed up on the Macrium site a couple of weeks ago. But this development is nicer, because it means Reflect 7 users get an upgrade to Version 8 without requiring them to find, download and install the new version manually. Now, it’s simply part of the program’s own routine upgrade behavior.

For most users, the Free version is all they’ll ever need for home or small office use. Note: the commercial Free license limits the number of instances to 10 per location. Version 8 builds native Windows 11 rescue media, even though Win10 equivalents still work. I particularly like the program’s boot repair facility, its VSS repair and recovery, and its ability to boot backups as Hyper-V VMs.

Why Buy Reflect 8 Workstation?

Personally, when something as good and reliable as Macrium Reflect comes along, I believe in supporting its maker with an outright purchase. I have a 4-pack Reflect 8 Workstation license, and I run Reflect Free on the other 7 machines currently resident here at Chez Tittel. All are test/experimental machines I use for research and writing about Windows stuff.

I strongly recommend Macrium Reflect, in either free for for-a-fee versions. It’s the only backup tool I’ve ever used — and I’ve used many of them over the years — that’s never failed to restore and repair my Windows PC when they encounter difficulties. I blush to confess that many of those issues are self-inflicted, but this tool gives me the courage to try crazy stuff with Windows, knowing that I can fix it if it breaks on me.

Insider stuff, Recent Activity, Software Reviews, Tips, Tricks and Tweaks, WED Blog, Windows 10, Windows 11

Dell Display Manager Pops Outta Nowhere

November 12, 2021 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

OK, then. Yesterday, I fired up a local account on my production PC while investigating the new Firefox Store app’s behavior. When I did so, that account asked me if I wanted to install Dell Display Manager. That explains this story’s title: Dell Display Manager pops outta nowhere. I’d never heard of it before, nor seen it mentioned in other Dell apps. (For example, Dell Update Control or Dell Support Assistant, both familiar because the Dell Optiplex 7080 Micro that’s a family daily driver PC at our house.)

Good News When Dell Display Manager Pops Outta Nowhere

“OK,” I said to myself, “let’s give this a shot.” That turned out to be a good move. It’s kind of a pain to use the monitor’s own built-in control buttons to manage brightness, contrast, color profiles and so forth. The Dell Display Manager (which I’ll call DDM going forward) does all this on the Windows desktop. Much, much easier and more user-friendly.

My only question is: Why hadn’t I heard of this tool sooner? As a regular at TenForums and ElevenForum, people talk about monitors a lot. And some of those folks are also MVP-equivalent on the Dell forums as well. Yet I managed to remain not-so-blissfully unaware of the tool until now. And to think I’ve been buying Dell monitors since the mid-to-late 1990s!

If You’ve Got Dell Monitors, Use DDM

The home page for the utility includes a download link for the tool. It’s entitled “What is Dell Display Manager?” and provides a useful and informative overview of its capabilities. As the page says, the tool is for standalone monitors only and “is not applicable to laptops.” Indeed, they have different display management tools. But since we currently have 4 Dell monitors here at Chez Tittel, this ends up being a useful and valuable item for my admin’s toolbox. If you’ve got Dell monitors, but didn’t already know about (or use) DDM, do yourself a favor and grab a copy today. You won’t be disappointed. Good stuff!

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

WU Reset Tool Works on Windows 11

November 8, 2021 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

I’ve been a member over at TenForums for almost 7 years now. In fact, I joined up on November 14, 2014 shortly after the first Technical Preview emerged. This weekend, I was relieved to discover that the batch file Shawn Brink created as a WU reset tool works on Windows 11, too. (The preceding link goes to a tutorial that provides a download and explains how to use it to reset Windows Update, or WU).

It’s a Relief that WU Reset Tool Works on Windows 11

My Lenovo ThinkPad X380 Yoga test machine would start downloading updates from WU just fine. But part-way through the download process, progress would stop. Eventually, I would get an “Update failed…” error message, with a Retry button. After several tries, each with its own similar failure, I knew sterner measure were needed.

I actually keep the batch file from the afore-linked tutorial on my shared desktop in OneDrive. It’s called

Reset_Reregister_Windows_Update_Components.bat

and it does a thorough reset of the Windows Update environment. It begins by halting all update-related services, then it empties all folders where recently-downloaded update files reside, checks (and if necessary resets) various WU-related registry settings, then restarts those same services. A reboot follows next, after which one can try one’s luck with WU again.

So I ran the batch file in an administrative cmd prompt on the affected machine, let it do its thing, then restarted that PC. Presto! After restarting, my next update attempt succeeded. I wasn’t 100% sure it would work on Windows 11 because the tool was built for Windows 10. But to my great delight and relief, it set the Windows Update environment back to working order. And thus, I was able to catch that machine up with the current state of the Dev Channel.

Should you ever find yourself in a similar situation, I recommend the tool and its accompanying tutorial highly. Find it at TenForums as Reset Windows Update in Windows 10. Hopefully, Mr. Brink will soon do a run-through to create a Windows 11 specific version. Should that occur, I will add a link to that version here as well.

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

Unusual Windows 11 Update KB5008295

November 5, 2021 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

Recently, some Windows 11 Beta and Preview Channel Insiders reported certain misbehaving apps. Affected apps include Snipping Tool, Touch Keyboard, Voice Typing, the Emoji Panel, Getting Started, Tips and (for those who use it) IME UI. When launched, they produce this error message: “This app can’t open.” Turns out MS let a certificate expire. Alas, those apps check that certificate and won’t run if it’s expired. This unusual circumstance prompted an unusual Windows 11 update KB5008295, released November 5.

Explaining Unusual Windows 11 Update KB5008295

In my experience, the update installs quickly and requires no restart upon completion. The lead-in graphic shows an updated Release Preview PC’s Update history. There, it’s simply labeled “Update.” Surprisingly, this update doesn’t increment the build number, either.

Those running Windows 11 Insider Preview in the Beta or Release Preview channel should watch the aforementioned apps. If you see “App can’t open” you need the update. Visit WU, download and install KB5008295. From all after-action reports so far, it fixes this particular problem.

Indeed, MS closed its release blog for this update with the following text:

Please note: After installing KB5008295, the build number will not be revised or show as updated in “winver” or other areas in the OS. To confirm this update is installed, please check Settings > Windows Update > Update history.

That’s why the WU history list for Quality Updates from my test machine appears as the lead-in graphic for this story, in fact. Use it if you need it; leave it if you don’t.

When Will KB5008295 Hit the Public Release?

As usual, non-Insiders must wait for this update to trickle down to them. Educated guess: look for it in the upcoming November 9 Patch Tuesday CU. That seems quite likely AFAIK.

On the other hand, it might take longer. If the patch itself causes issues, it won’t arrive until they’re fixed, too. That’s the nature of the update game, where it never pays to replace one problem with another.

Insider stuff, Recent Activity, Updates, WED Blog, Windows 10, Windows 11

Windows Web Experience Pack Mysteries

November 4, 2021 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

Recently, Microsoft Store has installed a new app on all of the Windows 11 machines I’ve checked. It’s named the Windows Web Experience Pack. It only has the name in the Description field, is categorized under “Utilties & tools,” and the support and website URLs on its store page link to Microsoft.com. So when, I say I’ve encountered some Windows Web Experience pack mysteries, I’m not kidding. In fact, it’s definitely more mysterious than not.

A List of Windows Web Experience Pack Mysteries

1. You can’t find this utility with a search. I tried.
2. Check out the whole Store page. There’s a Windows 10 logo in the Screenshots pane. System Requirements, however, specifically state “Window 11 version 22000.20 or higher.” WTF?
3. No description or working links for documentation. A search at docs.microsoft.com turns up zilch, as well.
4. When you click on the “Open” link on the Store page, nothing happens. Nothing shows on the Processes or Details tabs in Task Manager either (at least, not as far as I can tell).
5. WinAero puts things best when it stays “Because there is no official word from Microsoft on what WWEP does, we can only speculate that this component is responsible for updating core web components in the OS used by Store apps.”

We know it’s something aimed at all Web browsers, because otherwise it would be Edge-focused and -specific. But beyond that we don’t much about it all. It’s a “mystery pack” much like the Recent Windows Feature Experience Pack and the Online Service Experience Pack introduced earlier this year.

One Mystery Resolved

Turns out you can also find the Web Experience Pack in Windows 10. Here’s a link to that Store page. Its system requirements are 2004/19041.0 or higher. Thus, it obviously originated with Windows 10. I think that explains the logo at the top of the Windows 11 version’s Store page. Somebody copied it over from the Windows 10 version and changed nothing except for the system requirements. Even the reviews for both versions include all the same stuff.

What About the Others?

Good question! I’ve got my curiosity up now, so I’ll keep digging around. But these “packs” seem extraordinarily opaque to those outside the inner circle of Windows architects and developers. This is definitely another case of “wait and see how it all turns out.” Stay tuned: I’ll keep you posted.

Note Added November 4

One of my WIMVP buddies — Shawn Keene — informed me that you can simply type “web” into the Run box (WinKey+R) and it will open File Explorer to that folder automagically. I tried it. Sure enough: it works. Use this as your shortcut for exploring. Thanks, Shawn.

Insider stuff, Recent Activity, Tips, Tricks and Tweaks, WED Blog, Windows 10, Windows 11

Windows Wallpapers Live Elsewhere

November 3, 2021 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

Here’s something I didn’t know, that you may not have known, either. Wallpaper images for both Windows 10 and 11 live in a separate folder hierarchy under C:\Windows\Web. That hierarchy appears as the lead-in graphic for this story. The parent folder spec is C:\Windows\Web. In Windows 11 each of the four subsidiary folder contains 2 or more images, all suitable for wallpaper use. When I say Windows wallpapers live elsewhere, I mean they live in their own private directory, as indicated.

If Windows Wallpapers Live Elsewhere, Visit Them

I spelunked around the four-folder hierarchy and found 37 images therein. Many of them are based on those twisting laminar surfaces that have come to stand for Windows 11. I copied all of them into a single directory so I could find them all in one place. The next screencap shows a listing of those images by filename. You’ll probably want to set a similar view to Extra Large or Large icons, so you can identify them by visual content (I did it this way for compactness).

What to do With Windows Wallpapers

Overall, they’re an astonishing collection of images and graphics. Microsoft operates an image service named Spotlight, that curates over 4,000 high-quality professional images of nature, cities, objects, and more. All of these work well for desktop backgrounds and lockscreen images. I have an older app from Timo Partl (no longer in the Store, alas) that does a great job of visiting the Spotlight connection and downloading anything I don’t already have locally to a target directory. For those of you who, like me, like lots of variety in your lockscreens and backgrounds, this provides a trove of beautiful eye-candy of amazing variety and great quality.

I’m adding these wallpapers to that collection. I assume that means they’ll show up occasionally, as the forces of random selection dictate. Check out the 11 wallpapers and feel free view them as and when you like. Cheers!

Note Added Nov 4

I got a great tip from my fellow WIMVPs about this–namely Shawn Keene. He observes that if you open the Run box (WinKey+R) and type “web” into the box, then hit OK, it will open a fresh instance of File Explorer to that directory. Very handy!