Category Archives: Insider stuff

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

Recall Gets October Retry Date

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OK, then. If you’re anything like me, one big impetus for trying out a Snapdragon-based Copilot+ PC was to experience Recall. This tracks all Windows interactions and provides a … wait for it … window into your Windows usage patterns and history. Alas, it also raised severe security concerns. That’s why it got scrubbed just before Copilot+ PCs appeared about two months back (June18). Now, MS says that Recall gets October retry date. It’s explained in a Windows Experience blog post updated today (August 21).

Wait for It Again: Recall Gets October Retry Date

I’m guessing this will coincide with the official public release for Windows 11 24H2, for which Copilot+ PCs are already the standard bearer. The real news is that MS will be offering an opt-in preview of Recall to members of the Windows Insider Program “in the coming weeks” ahead. That means hardy souls — including your humble author — will volunteer themselves to give Recall a try, and see what it can do for them (and report on related slings and arrows encountered).

MS intends to address security concerns as follows: “Recall snapshots will only be decrypted and accessible when the user authenticates,” in keeping with the company’s Secure Future Initiative (SFI). This should be interesting. I can’t wait. Hopefully, Recall will return sooner rather than later. Whatever happens, I’ll keep you posted…

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Hardware Reviews, Insider stuff, Recent Activity, WED Blog, Windows 11

Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Ultra Intake

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When Lenovo asked me if I’d like to review another one of their well-engineered SFF PCs last week, my immediate reply was “Heck yeah!” The ThinkStation P3 Ultra Small Form Factor Workstation showed up lateThursday. I got to unboxing and setup over the weekend. So far, it’s been a gas, but a bit of a mixed blessing. Let me explain…

Working Thru Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Ultra Intake

I’ve looked at a couple of recent Copilot+ PCs (Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x and ThinkPad T14s) and a couple of other late 2023/early 2024 laptops in the last 12 months. All of them included plastic-free packaging.  Thus, I was SHOCKED to see plastic bags and plastic twist ties in the P360 Ultra packing materials. That was my first clue this is no bleeding edge PC.

My next big clue came when I opened Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > USB and found no USB4 hubs in evidence. In fact, I had to revert to the old Thunderbolt Control Center (TBCC) to see (some of) my faster USB4/Thunderbolt4 devices and connections. Here’s a screencap:

My newest USB4 NVMe enclosures didn’t show up in TBCC, but the 2022 Acasis model did. Go figure!

I have two newer USB4/TB4 NVMe enclosures (Konyead and Maiwo models) that don’t pop up in TBCC. Because they DO show up on the Copilot+ PCs in the USB4 hierarchy, and I can observe they run at higher speeds, I know they’re working OK. But it’s a bit distressing to lack the level of insight and monitoring I get on USB4-capable Windows 11 PCs.

Speeds, Feeds, and So Forth…

These are, however, pretty darn minor as quibbles go. The P3 Ultra is a speedy and capable PC in a nicely compact package. Indeed, as equipped, it retails for about US$2,500 so it’s no lightweight by any estimation. Here’s what’s inside:

  • CPU: Intel 13th-Gen/Raptor Lake 19-13900 (24 cores)
  • RAM: 64 GB (2x32GB DDR5-5600 Hynix)
  • OS: Windows 11 Pro Version 23H2
  • Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 770/NVIDIA RTX A2000 12GB
  • Networking: Intel I225-LM 2.5 GbE and I210 GbE,  Intel AX211 Wi-Fi6 adapter (with external antenna)
  • Storage: Hynix OEM PCIe x4/Gen4 2TiB NVMe SSD, 1 open M.2 slot, 1 open SATA slot
  • USB ports: 2xUSB-C/USB4-TB4 40 Gbps front, 2xUSB-A 3.2 back, 1 front
  • 3xDisplayPort 1.2 ports (both miniDP and full-sized)
  • PSU: External 300W power brick

This is a nicely-equipped PC for sure, but its lack of Wi-Fi7, USB4, older DP version (1.2) and packing materials that include a tiny bit of plastic all speak to 2023 standards. And indeed, a quick check on the release date says May 2023. It is what it is, and what it is is a fast and fairly powerful mini workstation. I’m glad to have it here.

Set-up and Intake Process

Once I got the P3 Ultra plugged in and attached mouse and keyboard (included) and wired into a Lenovo ThinkVision P27u-20 monitor the OS came right up into a generic Admin user account. As is my wont I set up my usual MSA as another Admin account. Then came a slew of upgrades and updates, starting with this handful of Quality updates:

Then came a number (8) of driver updates:

I also perforce picked up the latest MSRT when I got the latest quality update. The whole process took about 15 minutes, including reboot and restart. Interestingly, Lenovo Vantage didn’t find anything new to add to the July 2 Intel Chipset update. But it just now found a new chipset and graphics driver so I’m installing them now (total time: 2 minutes plus reboot/under 3 minutes to get back via RDP).

Then I used PatchMyPC Home Updater plus a few manual installs to add 7-Zip, 8GadgetPack, Advanced IP Scanner v2, CPU-Z, CrystalDiskInfo, CrystalDiskMark 8, Everything, FileZilla, Chrome, HWiNFO64, Intel DSA, NotePad++, the NVIDIA (beta) app, Revo Uninstaller, and WizTree to my runtime environment. That took 15-20 minutes in all. I still have to install Macrium Reflect for backup, but I’m mostly ready to start working with and testing this PC. More will come soon, but what I see so far is fast and capable.

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

Windows Sandbox Imposes Interesting Limits

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I read the other day in The Register that MS had dropped a new version of the Windows Sandbox. So naturally, I started messing around with it. I had to abandon a wild idea of using a Sandbox created environment as a base for WinGet export/import operations, too. I’ll explain why shortly. But I gave up because the Sandbox imposes interesting limits on its use, thanks in no small part to the absence of both WinGet and the MS Store from its runtime environment.

If Windows Sandbox Imposes Interesting Limits, Then What?

As you can see from the lead-in graphic, the Windows Sandbox is now available (and gets updates) from the Microsoft Store. One must still use Control Panel > Programs and Features > Turn Windows Features on or off to enable and install Sandbox. But after that, the Store takes over keep it up-to-date. Good stuff!

I quickly discovered that neither the MS Store nor WinGet were available inside the Sandbox. They also resisted my efforts to install and run them. That pretty much nixed my thought to use a Sandbox to make an export template. It’s hard to use WinGet export when the base command is itself MIA. Had to laugh, though…

Let Copilot ‘Splain It for Ya…

On a whim, I turned to the resident AI chatbot to help me understand what was going on. Here’s how it responded to the prompt: “Why is MS Store missing from Windows Sandbox?”

The Microsoft Store is indeed absent from Windows Sandbox. When you’re working within the sandbox environment, software remains “sandboxed” and runs separately from the host machine. Unfortunately, Windows Sandbox doesn’t include the Microsoft Store app or WinGet by default. To install applications, you’ll need to download the latest WinGet package from the WinGet releases page on GitHub1. If you’re specifically interested in using Microsoft Store apps within the sandbox, you can explore alternative virtual environment solutions that allow you to download apps from the Store2. Keep in mind that beginning with Windows 11 version 24H2, inbox store apps like Calculator, Photos, Notepad, and Terminal are also unavailable inside Windows Sandbox, but support for these apps will be added soon3

That pretty much put paid to my templating efforts, but it also taught me a thing or two about what Sandbox can and can’t do. I need a VM to make my vision a reality and will try that approach next. FWIW, I did try to bring WinGet into the Sandbox but kept running into underlying dependencies, also missing. Ultimately, it was more time and effort than I wanted to expend, so I decided to go the VM route instead.

It’s another case of “try it out, and see what happens” leading to a valuable learning experience here in Windows-World. Great fun, too!

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MS Store Splits Updates & Library

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You can tell it’s been a busy week. I just now tried out the new Microsoft Store organization as of version 22407.1401.2.0. In that iteration, MS Store splits updates & library in the left-hand menu, as you can see in the lead-in graphic (lower left). The item is actually labeled Downloads when none are pending. You can see a down-arrow from the cloud symbol in that screencap (above Library) to show that updates are available. This makes it faster and easier to get to updates inside the Store, and to know when to do so. I like it!

When MS Store Splits Updates & Library…

Alas, it also did away with its settings controls inside the Store. No more three dots to the right of the user icon. I couldn’t even get Microsoft Store itself to come up inside the Microsoft Store. Instead I had to use WinGet list “Microsoft Store” inside Windows Terminal/PowerShell to show me which version was running on this Canary Channel PC:

Unable to access “About” info for the MS Store, I got it from WinGet instead.

This is a good change. And I also realized that because the Microsoft Store is pre-installed on modern Windows versions, there’s no “store page URL” available for that app itself. Instead, uninstallling and/or reinstalling requires some PowerShell magic, as explained in this MS Answers tutorial (from the always helpful Andre Da Costa).

That’s probably why I also had to turn to PowerShell and WinGet to obtain the current Microsoft Store version number, too. That’s the kind of thing that keeps life interesting, here in Windows-World.

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

Qualcomm Manages Intel End-Around

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Here’s something interesting to ponder. On my current Copilot+ PC — a nifty Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 — I found myself poking around in Device Manager this morning. After looking around pretty extensively, I wrote some quickie PowerShell to dump all device names into a text file. It confirmed what I’d already observed informally: there’s no mention of Intel (the well-known PC device maker) anywhere therein. Hence my claim that Qualcomm manages Intel end-around in building its latest Snapdragon X PCs. The lead-in graphic confirms my claim, insofar as showing no explicit use of “intel” or “Intel” in Device Manager friendly names.

What Qualcomm Manages Intel End-Around Means

It’s pretty hard to build a complete PC package without buying at least some parts from Intel. Cases in point: AMD-based PCs and laptops. Over the years, I have seen many designs that mixed and mingled Intel and AMD devices along with those from other vendors (e.g.  A-Volute, Microsoft, Realtek, Logitech, and more). That said, I will also note that my 2021 Asrock B-550 Ryzen 7 5800x build also comes up dry on Intel components.

In particular, I’ve seen plenty of AMD laptops and desktops that included Intel Bluetooth, USB and/or Ethernet adapters or controllers (sometimes both) as part of their bills of materials. But wow: Qualcomm seems to have pulled off an entirely Intel-free build capability. I say “seems” because I’m going off text data from Device Manager, not absolute conclusive knowledge.

Grabbing Friendly Device Names to Check for Intel

Here’s the PowerShell I used to create a text file for so-called “Friendly Name” values for devices known to DevMgr. These match the legends it uses to identify devices inside its own listings. Note: you must create the C:\temp directory to ensure the third command creates the output file properly if one doesn’t already exist on your PC.

$devices = Get-PnpDevice | Select-Object -ExpandProperty FriendlyName
$outputFile = “C:\temp\DeviceNames.txt”
$devices | Out-File -FilePath $outputFile -Encoding utf8

Then, you can use notepad (as I did in the lead-in graphic), open DeviceNames.txt in the C:\temp folder and search for the string “Intel(R) ” or “intel(R) ” (note the text-based registered trademark chars at the end of the search string ) to see if the company pops up anywhere. It doesn’t. Amazing!

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Backup/Restore, Insider stuff, Security, WED Blog

CVE-2024-6768 Exposes Scary Windows Vulnerability

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In reading through my usual Windows news and info sources this morning I came across a scary notification at MS Power User. The named item is from the national vulnerability database. CVE-2024-6738 — which makes it item 6,738 for 2024 — comes with scary implications. It’s been reported in some form since last February. It attacks by altering meta-data for Windows base log files (BLFs) and can cause doom loops like those recently experienced from a Crowdstrike update last month. Thus, CVE-2024-6768 exposes scary Windows vulnerability that is hard to fend off and tricky to repair.

BLF Alteration in CVE-2024-6768 Exposes Scary Windows Vulnerability

A base log file (BLF) sits at the heart of the Windows Common Log File System (aka CLFS). As MS Learn’s “Creating a Log File” article begins, it says:

Before you can use CLFS, you must create a log file using the CreateLogFile function. A log file is made up of a base log file that contains metadata, and a number of containers that hold the actual data. On any local file system, containers can be in one or more separate files; on NTFS, containers can be in one or more streams within a file.

The BLF contains key information that describes the associated containers for log data. If the BLF is wrong, the log won’t make sense and cannot be read. This doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it is. Let me explain further…

Several Interesting Copilot Responses…

When asked to describe BLF files, Copilot notes how they’re used:

Usage: These files are crucial for maintaining system stability and integrity. They help manage user-level registry information and other system-level data. For example, the Windows component that writes user-level registry information to the NTUSER.DAT file uses CLFS logging, which involves BLF files1.

Indeed it seems that CVE-2024-6768 wreaks havoc by breaking the base log handler with a bogus “size of data field” value. This kind of error triggers a BugCheck error, and in turn provokes a BSOD.

Further investigation shows that any time a registry change occurs BLF files get updated. They are also essential to system boot-up, application installation and update, as well as system update. To get more details ask Copilot: “When do Windows base log files get written, and when do they get read?” You’ll see what I mean right away.

What Does the Future Hold?

The Fortra release note for this vulnerability shows its history, while a companion research note shows more details. So far, MS has yet to respond. Other than research work, I see no evidence of successful exploits in the wild. That said, this kind of attack is nearly impossible to fix without knowing the exact details of the registry values changed to mung some (or more) specific .BLF file(s).

IMO, this means the only real protection is a recent image backup that will replace the altered Windows image with a known, good working copy. Stuff like this is why I keep such things handy, and make one at least daily. This could get interesting…stay tuned!

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Halfway Chrome Update Foxes Downloads

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Here’s a new one on me. I was trying to grab an email attachment last night from my webmail client and got stuck in a twist. These items normally take an ICS (Internet Calendaring and Scheduling) extension. Repeated downloads included same, but ended with the CRDOWNLOAD. I slowly figured out Chrome couldn’t correctly conclude its normal download process. Further, it seems a halfway Chrome update foxes downloads until it’s complete. Let me explain…

Why say: Halfway Chrome Update Foxes Downloads

If Chrome is running while it auto-updates, it requires user intervention (permission, really) to relaunch. That’s when it finishes its update process. This is depicted in the lead-in graphic, where the user must click “ReLaunch” (weird intercap, BTW) to finish things up. I guess this prevents losing user data on unsubmitted input pages or forms.

As fate would have it, the Chrome instance I was running was waiting for me to ReLaunch to complete its update process. Until that happened, every download failed to complete and ended in the CRDOWNLOAD file extension. As soon as I finished the update, those files disappeared from my download folder and left only a single, correct, valid and working ICS file for my use in Outlook.

Before this happened, I had no inkling this kind of thing was possible. Now I know, and understand that it’s yet another interesting side-effect of self-update behavior. In Windows, things can get a little strange when programs have to change themselves, and then need to transition from “previous version” to “current version” status. This is just another odd and indicative case in point.

Note: Report on recent missed posts

Those of you who follow this blog will note I’ve missed some days lately. Last Thursday, I took the day off to celebrate my birthday. Yesterday, I had a medical appointment occasioned (at least, in part) by all those accumulated birthdays. Indeed, in the months ahead I’ll be missing more days, as I go in for lens replacement surgery to “fix” my cataracts. I’ll keep writing around those little bumps in the road, but wanted to explain recent and upcoming interruptions in my usual daily output. Your good thoughts and wishes will also be gratefully accepted!

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Copilot+ PCs, Device drivers, Insider stuff, Networking, Recent Activity, WED Blog, Windows 11

T14s Mystery Ethernet Controller

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As part of my usual shakedown for new PCs here at Chez Tittel, I went poking around inside Device Manager on the newly-arrived ThinkPad T14s. As it is a Snapdragon X Elite (Copilot+ PC) its networking interfaces come from Qualcomm. The laptop has no RJ-45 port (nor really, any room for one). And yet, a device named “Ethernet Controller” shows up in DevMgr in the always-puzzling “Other devices” category (see lead-in graphic). This has me chasing down this T14s mystery Ethernet controller.

Where’s the T14s Mystery Ethernet Controller?

Nowhere, as far as I can tell. I tried to find a driver for it, and couldn’t. I checked the chip and laptop documentation. I finally “got clue” when I looked in the User Manual under the heading “Connect to the wired Ethernet,” which reads as follows (helpful diagram included):

To connect your computer to a local network, you need a Lenovo USB-C to Ethernet Adapter. Lenovo USBC to Ethernet Adapter is available as an option and shipped with some computer models. You can purchase one from Lenovo at https://www.lenovo.com/accessories.

Shoot, Lenovo’s available model handles up to 2.5 GbE but requires separate purchase for an eminently reasonable US$32 or so. What I still don’t know is if the T14s chassis does include built-in wired Ethernet capability, albeit bereft of an actual link-up (which the illustrated item above nicely remedies). I’ve seen this on other Lenovo laptops (including the X380 Yoga which uses a proprietary laptop port rather than USB-C) so I’m still wondering…

Just Because I Can, Doesn’t Mean I Will

My local wired Ethernet still runs Gbe (1.0 speed, in other words). I’m not yet ready to upgrade my infrastructure to the higher speed. I can use my Starlink GbE dongle (USB 3.0 to RJ-45) instead if I must. That said, the Wi-Fi 7 interface on the T14s runs like a champ on my 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 6) network, so it’s all good right now.

It’s interesting that an Ethernet device shows up at all in DevMgr. I’ve never seen this before on Wi-Fi only laptops. But then, I’m still learning the ins and outs of Snapdragon X ARM-based Windows PCs. Good fun!

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

Dxdiag Shows WDDM Version Info

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Just recently, I’ve seen coverage that proclaims a new Windows Display Driver Model (aka WDDM) is available as version 3.2. That said, it’s currently supported only in Copilot+ PCs running Windows 11 24H2. Since I happen to have one, I wanted to check to see if I needed to update that manually, or if WU/install had done so already. That’s how I learned that the Direct X Diagnostic Tool, aka Dxdiag shows WDDM version info on Windows PCs. You can see the output that confirms 3.2 is running as the lead-in graphic above.

Confirmed: Dxdiag Shows WDDM Version Info

Just for grins, I also ran the diagnostic tool on my Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 1 Mobile Workstation. (Hint: to do that, enter Winkey+R to open the run box, type “dxdiag,” then click Enter.) It’s running Windows 11 23H2 (Build 22631.3958). According to the great ElevenForum.com tutorial from uber-tut-master Shawn Brink “Find WDDM Version in Windows 11” it should be running version 3.2. Yet dxdiag shows 3.1 as you can see here:This is more in keeping with the WindowsLatest story that clued me into this version upgrade’s availability. And indeed, Copilot confirms that it only runs on version 24H2, not on 23H2 (as the afore-linked ElevenForum tutorial asserts). I think I’ll shoot Brink a message to ask for his opinion on this apparent discrepancy. Stay tuned!

But Wait…There’s More!

For further grins, I checked one of my Insider Preview Canary Channel PCs right now, and observed that:

  • This version is part of the 24H2 family (Build 26257.5000)
  • It is not a Copilot+ PC (Intel 8th Gen/Tiger Lake i7-1180G7)
  • It also runs WDDM 3.2, as you can see here:

To me, this indicates pretty unequivocally that 24H2 is the way to get WDDM 3.2. Thus, it shows up on older PCs running 24H2 in the Insider Preview family tree, as well as newer ones with 24H2 pre-installed (right now, that’s only Copilot+ PCs). Go figure!

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NVIDIA Driver Forces POPCNT Support

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Hey! We’ve known it was coming for some time now. In February 2024, Tom’s Hardware reported: “Microsoft’s PopCnt restriction appears to be unbreakable.” This CPU instruction is part of the SSE4.2 Instruction set for Intel processors. It’s SSE4.2a for AMD CPUs, and also present in Snapdragon X as well. Indeed it’s been part of the computing landscape since 2008 for Intel, circa 2009-2010 for AMD, and since inception for ARM (including Copilot+ PCs). But now, with the introduction of version 555, NVIDIA driver forces POPCNT support. How so? Check the lead-in graphic. Windows 10 and 11 systems that lack POPCNT support will BSOD if they install this latest GPU driver version. Ouch!

Sussing Out NVIDIA Driver Forces POPCNT Support

You can read about this in the NVIDIA release notes for 555 (source of the lead-in graphic). It’s entitled “EOL Windows driver support for older CPUs without POPCNT instruction.” That pretty much says it all. The note recommends using Sysinternals Coreinfo to check for POPCNT support. (Indeed, it worked to show such support on the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Copilot+ loaner PC.)

But on Intel and AMD PCs, I found it easier to use Franck DeLattre’s excellent CPU-Z tool to look for the SSE4.2 (or SSE4.2a) instruction set instead. The ARM version of CPU-Z is less than helpful in providing POPCNT info because it doesn’t natively map to any ARM instruction set. Here’s what comes up on my ancient i7 SkyLake desktop (running Windows 10 for lack of CPU support).

Note the “Instructions” entry that reads SSE4.2 (bottom of “Processor” block): that’s what we’re looking for, when using this tool to check for POPCNT support on Intel CPUs. WindowsLatest reports that CoreInfo doesn’t work reliably on all systems, and recommends other CPU check tools besides CPU-Z. Be sure to check it out for those details if one or the other of these tools doesn’t cut it on your rig.

Older PCs: Avoid NVIDIA 555

The real takeaway from this news is that owners of older PCs whose CPUs don’t support POPCNT should avoid updating to NVIDIA driver versions number 555 or greater. Otherwise, they’ll have to boot into WinRE, and use DISM at the command line to uninstall that driver to end a BSOD loop on that machine. You’ve been warned! I’d be inclined to take this as a early indicator that a hardware refresh should be in your future, too…

 

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