Category Archives: Recent Activity

24H2 Adopts Energy Saver

Battery Saver is out, and Energy Saver is in for Windows 11 version 24H2. You can see the new power management capability in Settings > System > Power & Battery in Build 26100 on Copilot+ PCs. For example, see the top elements in the lead-in graphic. When 24H2 adopts Energy Saver, this does come with some behavioral changes, too. Read on for more info and an MS Learn link.

When 24H2 Adopts Energy Saver, Then What?

Good question, and one that MS addresses directly in an MS Learn article entitled Energy Saver (dated 6/24/2024). Basically Energy Saver kicks in at a certain level of remaining battery capacity, and restricts Windows 11’s ordinary behaviors to — wait for it — save energy. Note: here’s a shout-out to Mayank Parmar at Windows Latest for bringing this to my attention.

Energy Saver Particulars

Check out the MS Learn article for all the details, but here’s a thumbnail summary of how Energy Saver works:

1. It kicks in when remaining charge levels dip to a certain level. It’s user-settable, and defaults to 30% (see lead-in graphic).

2. Users can turn Energy Saver on or off via Quick Settings in the system tray as needed. MS recommends enabling Energy Saver all the time. It can even be set to work when a laptop is plugged into AC.

3. When Energy Saver is on, users cannot change power mode in Settings. Display brightness is reduced by 30% (users can toggle this setting, and OEMs can alter this value). Transparency effects for window backgrounds are disabled.

4. For unplugged devices with charge levels below the energy saver threshold, these other behaviors will manifest:

a. MS apps — e.g. OneNote, OneDrive, Phone Link, and so forth — may not sync to save energy.

b. Background apps will not run in the background unless specifically enabled. Certain app categories are exempted (e.g. VoIP) to preserve communications.

c. Non-critical Windows update downloads are blocked, but update scans still occur.

d. Telemetry is (mostly) blocked except for critical items (e.g. census data).

e. Task scheduler ignores IdleSettings and MaintenanceSettings, and runs tasks only if a user is logged on.

For all the details, please consult the MS Learn article. This will change how Windows behaves when PCs update to 24H2 and beyond, so these alterations are worth pondering. For further details on energy saver status tracking see the MS Learn item for SYSTEM_POWER_STATUS. Cheers!

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First Look: Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6

Well, then. A scant few days after I requested access to the business side of Lenovo’s current Copilot+ PCs, the ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 showed up via FedEx. In fact, the driver was blocking my driveway when I returned home from a visit to the eye doctor on Wednesday. Work life and deadlines being what they are, I’m just now getting around to intake, setup and fooling around with this new machine. That means it’s a first look Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 report.

The First Look: Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6

I really like how Lenovo has totally minimized packaging. There were two papier-mache molds to cradle the laptop, a single cardboard box for the brick and power cord, and a paper-covered twist-tie for the latter, all inside a small cardboard box. A folded set of start-up instructions occupied less than a typical 8.5×11″ sheet of paper. Plus an environmentally friendly fiber (paper) bag to protect the laptop inside its cradle: 5 items in all. Great!

Lenovo has also completely digitized its user manuals now, and they’re readily available through the Lenovo Vantage app. Here’s a nicely labeled “front view” of the screen and deck of the T14s.

First Look: Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6-frontview width=

It’s easy to see what is where in this text-free diagram.

Here’s how this unit came equipped:

  • CPU: Snapdragon X Elite X1378100 3.4 MHz Oryon processor
  • RAM: 32 GB of LPDDR5X-8448MHz memory (soldered)
  • SSD: 1 TB PCIe Gen 4 M.2 2242 (!) NVMe SSD
  • Display: 1920×1280 (Full HD) touchscreeen
  • Windows 11 Pro version 24H2 Build 26100.1150 (after update)
  • Other cool/interesting elements: Windows Hello IR camera, fingerprint sensor, presence sensing, intelligent cooling
  • 2xUSB-C (USB4 40Gbps) ports, 2 USB-A (5Gbps) ports, lock slot, nano-SIM tray, HDMI, mini-RCA audio jack port
  • Qualcomm FastConnect 7800 Wi-Fi 7 network adapter (GbE requires USB dongle for wired connection)

Bluetooth on this device works like a champ. Got my Logitech Ultrathin Touch mouse hooked up right away, ditto for the iPhone 12. I used a Thunderbolt 3 dock to link up a recovery disk UFD and an external USB4 NVMe in a fast enclosure. Surprisingly, it shows support for 40Gbps capability all the way down the device chain:

That’s pretty good,  for 4-5 year old Thunderbolt 3 dock. I’ll follow up with throughput and backup times in an upcoming post.

So far, so good…

I’m still getting things set up and configured the way I like them. But this is a sweet little unit, if somewhat chunkier and less vivid that the stunning high-res OLED display on the Yoga Slim 7x it’s replacing. I do like the added RAM, the inclusion of Windows 11 Pro (I had to upgrade from Home on the other unit to use RDP), Wi-Fi 7, and a bigger SSD (1.0 TiB instead of 0.5 TiB). More  will follow as I have time, but I very much like what I see, and what this laptop can do, so far. Stay tuned: more is coming…

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Finally Windows 10 Copilot Is Here

I’ve been waiting for some time for the Copilot facility to make its way onto my Windows 10 desktops since last November. That’s when MS made the first Preview available to versions 21H2 and 22H2. Since then, I’ve read numerous other announcements of its increasing spread and reach into the dominant Windows desktop OS. But not on my PCs or VMs, it seems. That all changed when Copilot hit the MS Store a couple of months back. Now, finally, Windows 10 Copilot is here for anybody who wants it — including me!

Finally Windows 10 Copilot Is Here
… and RUNNING!

I’m absolutely delighted to be able to interact with Copilot in a clear and well-understood way. That it’s now “just another app in the Store” makes it ever so much more approachable and easy to install and run. The only minor glitch I’ve run into from this Copilot avatar is obtaining version info. There’s supposed to be an about field under the App Settings heading. But I get an Edge page of app info instead, sans version number.

That’s OK though: I can visit the app’s Store page or use WinGet list Copilot to elicit that info. As you can see, the latter command provides that info on demand, no scrolling nor much reading needed:

There it is in clear form: my Win10 production PC is running the latest and greatest 1.0.4.0 version of Copilot (from the MS Store).

Copilot on 10 versus 11

So far, I really can’t tell much (or any) difference between Copilot on the two prevailing Windows OS versions.  Even on the brand-new Copilot+ PC that showed up at my doorstep yesterday: a ThinkPad T14S Gen 6 there aren’t easy, available ways to take advantage of the unit’s AI-oriented CPU, GPU and NPU capabilities just yet. Can’t wait to see how that will all unfold later this year, though, when 24H2 comes out “for real” — and hopefully, with readily usable Copilot+ features and functions. We’ll see: I’m certainly standing by!

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Fighting MS Phone Link

It’s been an interesting morning. I’m heading to a medical appointment this afternoon to tackle a recent vision problem. So I’m going through new patient intake for a specialist first visit. Part of that intake asked for photos of my medical insurance cards. So natch, I wanted to transfer them from my iPhone 12. “That’s easy,” I thought, “I’ll use the Phone Link app.” Famous last words: once I got it set up and running, it lacked phone/file access. So I plugged a Lightning-to-USB cable between the P16 and the phone and got it handled. But I found myself fighting MS phone link for much of that way.

Fighting MS Phone Link: One Step Forward,
N Steps Back

Getting the phone link working was a bit more challenging than I’d expected. Because I’d set this phone up with the P16 long, long ago, I struggled to make a connection at first. I ended up scrubbing the device definitions inside Bluetooth on the PC/Windows side, and forgetting the PC on the iOS side. Only then was I able to set up a new, virgin working connection via Phone Link.

Then things got interesting: I could see notifications and phone stuff, plus music files, but no photos (or other file system stuff). I eventually used the USB-A to Lightning charge/data transfer cable to create a file system connection between the two devices. After another round of permissions (let the PC see the iPhone, let the iPhone see the PC), it showed up in File Explorer on the P16. Then I was easily able to move my ID card photos from phone to PC.

Once iPhone shows up as a drive-level volume in Explorer, everything else is just navigation.

Eventually, I got what I needed. But wow! It took me an hour or so longer than I planned to get through all this stuff. And I won’t even bother to mention the weird behavior from the so-called Patient Portal in providing my medical history. That’s a whole ‘nother can of worms altogether. But it’s not Windows related as far as I can tell so I’ll skip those gory details. But hey: it really is just another day in Windows-World. Sigh.

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Win11 Beta Shows Inactive Jump Lists

Here’s an interesting one: In its latest incarnation in Build 22635.4000, Windows 11 Insider Preview shows new behavior. Here’s what its announcement blog calls this: “showing jump lists when you hover your mouse cursor over apps on the taskbar that have jump lists and are inactive.” That’s quite a mouthful, so I’m compressing that to say that the latest Win11 Beta shows inactive jump lists instead. Hope that makes sense. Take a look at the lead-in graphic…

What Win11 Beta Shows Inactive Jump Lists Means

What you see in the lead-in graphic, from left to right, is the result of hovering the mouse over the following apps on the taskbar:

  • Chrome
  • Edge
  • File Explorer
  • Microsoft Store

As you can see, this approach works for apps that are closed (“inactive”) and gives you access to stuff you’ve visited or used lately, plus standard menu options. I hope that MS decides to keep this capability, because it’s actually quite useful. In other words: I like it.

Don’t Take My Word for It…

If you’re running the latest Beta channel build for Windows 11 Insider Preview, it’s worth checking out for yourself. If not, it may even be worth firing up an instance — perhaps in a VM — to see it in action. Indeed, of all the UI tweaks I’ve seen showing up (and sometimes leaving) various Insider Preview builds in the past year or two, this one is among the most appealing and obviously useful.

If you need to set an instance up to check it out, your best source is UUPdump.net. Here’s its “Latest Beta Channel” page to make that super easy to grab and build. Warning: this process can take up to an hour, including download time and ISO construction time. Cheers!

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Intel 13-14 Gen CPU Issues Unfolding

In tech news over the past 2-3 weeks, there’s been some serious CPU stuff revealed. As updated in this recent Windows Central item, PCs with Intel’s 13th and 14th generation CPUs (Raptor Lake and Raptor Lake Refresh, respectively) are prey to a microcode bug. Units with a TDP of 65W or greater can run excessive voltage under some conditions. This can cause crashes and BSODs. On July 26, in fact, Tom’s Hardware reported a scary observation. It said “13th Generation Raptor Lake processors have a return rate [4X] higher than … the previous generation”  (copy abbreviated). There’s the basis for my claim to see Intel 13th-14th Gen CPU issues unfolding.

What Intel 13-14 Gen CPU Issues Unfolding Means

If you’ve got PCs or laptops with such CPUs inside, you’ll need to keep an eye on them. Intel plans to issue a microcode fix sometime soon. When it’s available, you’ll want to schedule that update sooner rather than later. I’d also recommend that owners think about  underclocking as a form of insurance against possible problems that normal voltage level operations might otherwise cause.

Indeed, for those with 13th Gen Raptor Lake devices, you’ve been dodging trouble for some time now. The already-cited Tom’s Hardware story, mentions that “the first sporadic reports of CPU crashing errors surfaced in December 2022 and grew to a crescendo by the end of 2023.” You’ve been warned!

For more info on underclocking, this wikiHow Tech story “Underclock Your Computer Hardware: 2 Easy Ways” looks like a good place to start.

No Raptor Lake Exposure Here…

I have to chuckle as I report that the PCs and Laptops at Chez Tittel aren’t subject to this reported exposure. Because its worst-case consequences could require replacing a CPU, that’s a very, very good thing. I was concerned about my workhorse test PC, a well-equipped Lenovo P16 Mobile Workstation Gen 1. But a quick trip to CPU-Z (which you can use on your PCs to suss out relevant details) showed it running an Alder Lake 12th Gen Intel CPU. I was totally relieved to see that this morning (see lead-in graphic).

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Copilot+ PCs Bring Better USB4 Support

When I went to build recovery media for the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x Copilot+ PC last week, I dropped a Belkin TB3 dock into one of its 3 USB-C ports. Why? Because I needed a USB-A port into which to plug the Mushkin Atom UFD I targeted for that purpose. The lead-in graphic shows the dock at the “other end” of USB4 host router 1 (right-click the graphic and open in its own tab to see the whole thing). The next screencap shows the Hardware tab from Properties for that recovery drive (E:). Thus, I claim that Copilot+ PCs bring better USB4 support because until USB4 hubs and devices appeared in settings, users had to run a separate (and less informative) Thunderbolt app from Intel to see what was what. This has improved!

Copilot+ PCs Bring Better USB4 Support.e-drive-hwprops

The Mushkin E: drive is an older USB 3.0 Atom device.

So What If Copilot+ PCs Bring Better USB4 Support?

Though I’ve yet to see any laptops or PCs endowed with USB 4 2.0 (you can see version 1.0 in the lead-in graphic) this is now part and parcel of Windows 11 as well. It will also allow channel speeds to double from 40 Gbps (which 1.0 supports) to 80 Gbps (2.0 only, and primarily limited to video links). This probably doesn’t matter much right now, given that these top-of-the-line versions aren’t yet widely available. But for those who need the speed, this will matter once the peripherals and docks gain USB4 2.0 support.

I’ve got a Qualcomm Copilot+ Developer Kit SFF PC showing up here at Chez Tittel in the next day or two (today, even, maybe). I’ll be quite curious to see what Settings > Bluetooth & devices > USB > USB4 hubs and devices has to tell me about what’s inside and the docks and other devices I plan to hook up. Indeed, I’m going to start with a Lenovo P27u20 monitor, with its integrated TB4 docking capability. Hopefully, it will not only provide a great display, but also the means to hook up my keyboard and mouse. Stay tuned! These USB4 adventures will continue…

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Disappearing Printer Gets IP-based Fix

This weekend, we went out looking at new housing developments. To prepare for our quest, I went to print street addresses for model homes in Liberty Hill and Georgetown (two small towns north of here). But when I tried to fire off a print job to the Samsung networked printer next to my desk, Devices and Printers told me it was offline. I’ve learned to recognize it as a sign of driver corruption, so my disappearing printer gets IP-based fix. Let me explain…

Why Say: Disappearing Printer Gets IP-based Fix?

My Samsung ML 2850 is old enough that it does not support the Microsoft Universal Print drivers. I have to load a bespoke device driver to make it work. In turn, that means automated discovery of this network attached printer doesn’t work right, either. That’s why you see the IP address info for the device below in the lead-in graphic (courtesy of Advanced IP Scanner). I use the Add a Printer option that depends on its IP address instead.

The drill is familiar and runs something like this:

1. Notice the Printer is offline
2. Basic troubleshooting doesn’t help
3. Right click the icon in Devices and printers, select delete
4. Use the Add a printer dialog to start the process going
5. Click the “Printer I want isn’t found” option
6. Click the use IP address or hostname on the next pane
7. Use the printer’s IP address to install the current driver

This actually takes longer to explain than it does to execute. But it does work, and it seems I have to do this once every three months or so. I guess that’s the outcome of using a 10-year-old printer (that still works like a champ, BTW). Windows has left it behind, but it still keeps chugging along. Kind of like your humble author, I guess…

Windows 11 Proves More Friendly

Just for grins, I tried discovering the Samsung ML 2850 from a Windows 11 host on the same network. At first, it couldn’t see that device, either. But when I clicked the radio button labeled “My printer is a little older. Help me find it.” the Samsung device did turn up. I had to know enough to select the Microsoft PCL6 Class driver (which handles the interface between the Samsung and the Universal Printing stuff). But once I did that, everything worked as it should. Seems like MS has made Windows 11 rather more printer friendly than I expected (and friendlier even, in this case, than Windows 10). A pleasant surprise indeed!

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Restoring Start11 Start Button Proves Tricky

I have to laugh! I’ve been mucking around with start menu and taskbar settings lately, working on a story for Tom’s. In the process I managed to switch my start button logo on a test machine. When I reinstalled Start11v2 on that PC, I said to myself “No prob: I’ll just use the Start Button item in the left-hand controls to restore the old start button.” But restoring Start11 Start Button proves tricky, because it’s missing from the Start 11 gallery of StartButtons, as shown in the lead-in graphic.

Why Restoring Start11 Start Button Proves Tricky

Fortunately, the Stardock developers also include a “Download” button on the same page where you can pick from its start button icon gallery. This takes you to the Start Menu Buttons Gallery page at WinCustomize.com. There, I had to flip through to page 5 (of 50!) where I found what I was looking for:

And sure enough, it did the trick! Even though it leaves me wondering why Stardock doesn’t include the Windows 11 default start button by conscious, deliberate choice, it’s always nice to find a way to get where you want to go. Problem solved, and my test PC is back to where it should be, and working as I want it to. Isn’t that just how things go sometimes in Windows-World, where one change often leads to another? Or, where a change that produces the desired effect also causes something else that’s less desirable? Sure enough: it’s true.

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Calc Key Follies Fixed

Here’s an interesting one. I have a Microsoft Comfort Curve 4000 ergonomic keyboard (and two more in my parts closet: I LIKE them). Lately, though, when I press the “Calculator” (Calc) key on the very top row of long, narrow silver keys at furthest right something odd occurs. Calc shows me a “blank face,” as you can see in the lead-in graphic. Basically it’s just a big blue block of nothing much. Attend, and I’ll explain I I got these Calc key follies fixed.

For the record, I don’t *want* to see the blank face of Calc. I want to see the keypad so I can use the darn thing, like so:

Multiple Methods Get Calc Key Follies Fixed

I discovered these methods partly by searching the web, and partly by experimentation. There are three of them, to wit:

Method 1: Close Calc, then hit the Calc key again. This one’s my favorite so it’s my go-to now. It involves the lease effort and goes fastest.

Method 2: Open the Calc app from the Start Menu. Even though pressing the Calc key shows a blank face, visiting the Calculator app through Start always works. It takes added mouse clicks, though. Until I figured out Method 1 by experimentation, this was my go-to method.

Method 3: Go to Settings > Installed Apps, click on the ellipsis for Calculator, Click the Advanced Options button, scroll down to Reset, then click the Repair button. That’s 5 mouse clicks and a bit of scrolling. Waaaaaaay too long for me, but it does do the trick. But then the question is: why does this condition keep coming back, even after an app reset? I think I know the answer: read on, please.

Special Keys Require a Custom Driver

The Comfort Curve 4000 keyboard has a whole row of elongated, narrow silver keys that use special, driver-based, context-sensitive macros. These do things like jump to the home screen, open a search window, open email, access the volume controls (up and down), and so forth. And yes, at far right you can see the Calc key that’s been acting up lately. They occupy the top row from left almost to the numeric keypad at right, as shown here:

My best guess is that something in the driver is losing its proper connection to the Calc app so that when the key is pressed once, it gets close to launch but not all the way there. Fortunately, it’s relatively easy to get the Calculator working as I’ve described.

But gosh, aren’t these little foibles fascinating? It’s a bit of a pain to run into them, true. But it’s a blast to figure out what’s happening and why, and then to find fixes or workarounds. Just another day here in Windows-World!

 

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