Category Archives: Windows 11

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

RingCentral Requires In-app Upgrade

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In checking over my mini-fleet (1 dozen) of Windows PCs this morning, I came across an interesting winget gotcha. The tool cheerfully informed me RingCentral needed an upgrade. But neither a general upgrade (winget upgrade –all …) nor a targeted upgrade (winget upgrade RingCentral.RingCentral-v …) did the trick. Today, at least, it seems that RingCentral requires an in-app upgrade to bring itself up to snuff.

Why RingCentral Requires In-App Upgrade Is Anybody’s Guess

The whole story plays out in the lead-in screencap. It shows winget upgrade, as it includes RingCentral in its list of item in need of same. Then it shows the general upgrade (winget upgrade –all –include-unknown) updating 2 of those 3 items (excluding RingCentral). Then it shows a general RingCentral command (winget upgrade RingCentral.RingCentral), and a version specific invocation both failing with “No applicable upgrade found.” (If you can’t see it as-is, open the lead-in graphic in its own tab, please.)

So I opened the app and — guess what? — it cheerfully updated itself as part of its startup behavior. I searched the RingCentral knowledge base for insight, but found none.

Installed Apps Tells a More Nuanced Story…

In checking the target PC (one of my road laptops: a Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Mobile Workstation) I found not one — but TWO — instances of RingCentral installed on that machine.

RingCentral Requires In-app Upgrade.2instances

In addition to version 23.1.31.7242 — which winget told me I needed — I also found version 23.2.21.7380. Interesting!

I uninstalled the older version, and RingCentral no longer needs an upgrade but still launches. But alas, it no longer shows up in winget, either. Even more interesting. So I just went into the app and made sure it is working (it is) and that it’s running the advertised most current version 23.2.21.7280 (it is).

But winget still shows “No installed package found matching input criteria.” Looks like this version does not register with winget. It doesn’t show up in SUMo, either. But the 23.1.31.7242 version DID show up in “winget list ringcentral” in the earlier screencap. So I think we’re dealing with something new from the developer for which a winget package is not yet defined. Again: interesting! My first time to see something like this.

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Windows 11 User Count Tops 1B Worldwide

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This news comes from the Microsoft Windows Blogs dated May 26. It’s entitled “Delivering Delightful Performance for More Than One Billion Users Worldwide.” That’s the day after Build 2023 concluded, and the first time that MS has publicly disclosed user count data for Windows 11 in about a year. It’s also the first time they’ve proclaimed that the Windows 11 user count tops 1B worldwide.

These are the four instances in the afore-linked item where the “billion” word occurs:
1. In the title of the blog post, as quoted in the preceding ‘graph
2. In a sentence that reads (in part) as “... with over one billion users and a rich PC ecosystem…”
3. Diagnostic data includes “…over 70.4 billion scenario performance data points per year.”
4. Final paragraph, penultimate sentence reads (in part) “…thanks to our Windows Insider community for helping us continue to improve Windows for the over one billion users worldwide.”

What Windows 11 User Count Tops 1B Worldwide Means

According to Statista, as of June 2023, the company expects a ratio of 68.6% for Windows 10 vis-a-vis 18.12% for Windows 11. Thus, if there are 1 B Windows 11 users, there must also be  around 3.78 B Windows 10 users. To me this means one of two things:

(a) The ratio of visitors that Statista tracks doesn’t accurately model the Windows population of active users
(b) Microsoft’s claimed 1 B figure does not translate to active users 1-to-1 (makes sense, given that one active user can run multiple instances of the OS, especially VMs)

In January 2023, for example, Jason Wise reported at EarthWeb that MS claimed 1.4 B active devices running Windows 10 and 11 monthly in January 2022. They use this data, plus additional insights, to assert that “Windows, new versions and otherwise, run on more or less 1.6 billion devices around the world” as of January 2023.

Even assuming a monthly growth rate of 3% that puts the global Windows population at 1.85 B in May, 2023. How can there be at or over 1 B Windows 10 users and a similar number of 11 users with a total that’s arithmetically lower? Something here doesn’t make sense…

It should be interesting to see the pundit corps chew this over. Stay tuned, and I’ll keep you posted…

Note Added 1 Hour Later…

It’s got to be devices, counting both physical and virtual machines as individual devices. I use 10 PCs here at my house, and I have at least another dozen VMs across various Windows versions at my disposals. That’s over 20 “devices” but only one user. That leaves room for a tangible “muliplier” between users and devices, IMO.

 

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Old-School Gadgets Still Rule

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I read a Windows Latest story yesterday with interest and bemusement. It proclaims that MS is “bringing … Vista-like gadgets to Windows 11…” Of course, these are widgets (not gadgets, per se) and I don’t see them in the same light, either. I’m still happily using Helmut Buhler’s excellent 8GadgetPack, as you can see in the lead-in graphic. For me, these old-school gadgets still rule — as they have done on my desktops since Vista appeared in early 2007 (16 years ago).

Why Old-School Gadgets Still Rule

The range of still-available gadgets is large (61 total on the “Add Gadget” display). It offers elements for time, CPU, GPU, storage, and networking status and activity. Lots of pop-ups for news, weather, games, media and other interesting services. There’s more here, in fact, than I want or need on my desktop.

Here are the four elements I use all the time on nearly all of my Windows 10 and 11 PCs and laptops (they appear in-line at the right-hand side of my left-screen’s desktop; here I stack them 2×2):

Clockwise from top left, these are:
1. Clock gadget: shows machine name and time (with seconds)
2. Control gadget: provides ready access to shutdown and restart, even in RDP sessions (very handy)
3. Network Meter: shows int/ext IP addresses, in- & out-bound network activity (on graph and numerically)
4. CPU Usage: shows overall CPU and memory consumption, along with per-core activity levels.

So far, I haven’t seen Windows 11 widgets that come close to matching this kind of capability with minimal overhead and effort required for installation and use. I’ll keep my eyes on widgets as they develop and evolve. But so far, the old-school gadget still beats the new-school widget three ways from Sunday. Stay tuned: this may change!

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Canary Dev Gain Enhanced Webp Support

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Here’s an interesting change in the bleeding edge versions for Windows 11. Indeed, Canary Dev gain enhanced Webp support for images of that type. It does require visiting the MS store on one of those platforms to download and install the Webp Image Extensions app shown in the lead-in screencap. After that, a number of interesting options present themselves. Let me explain … and illustrate!

What Canary Dev Gain Enhanced Webp Support Means

Thanks to Sergey Tkachenko at WinAero, I learned about this yesterday. What I didn’t realize was how widespread webp support has already become across the Windows 10 and 11 landscape. As you can see, the following image — prosaically named bunny.webp — shows up just fine inside WordPress (and by extension, most web browsers).Canary Dev Gain Enhanced Webp Support.bunny

Say hello to bunny.webp!

Indeed, it turns out that in addition to Photos and Edge, webp also works in Corel PaintShop, Snagit Editor, Paint, IrfanView (though I did have to download and install a plug-in DLL for Webp) and more. And it worked on Windows 10 as well as 11. It’s just that the Windows Photos app (and possibly Edge for some users) couldn’t handle webp before installing the afore-mentioned Store app “Webp Image Extensions.”

What Is Webp Anyway?

Webp is yet another compact, accurate image format. A Google design, it made its debut in 2010 but didn’t go widely public until April 2018 (when the vendor released a stable “supporting library” for the format — See Wikipedia). Looking at the bunny above, I see that Webp has some characteristics in common with the XML-based SVG graphics format. That said, it also supports captured photos, animation, tiling, advanced meta-data and more.

Visit Google’s WebP page for the official line on this format, which is gaining wider acceptance and use. As Google explains “WebP is a modern image format that provides superior lossless and lossy compression for images on the web. Using WebP, webmasters and web developers can create smaller, richer images that make the web faster.”

This was an interesting exercise for me, and a good learning experience. Worth digging into for IT and web professionals alike, if you haven’t dug in here already…

Note: Webp does NOT work in Photos in Windows 10 or Window 11 (versions with numbers lower than those for Canary or Dev channels, 25357 and 23451, respectively). Outside the OS umbrella, though, Webp seems to work in browsers and image apps and applications of all kinds.

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P16 Manifests LSASS Bug

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The Windows Local Security Authority Subsystem Service, aka LSASS, handles security policy enforcement for that OS. With KB5023706 (installed on 3/14) on my mainstream Windows 11 PC, some have shown interesting side-effects. My P16 manifests LSASS bug shown in the lead-in graphic.

Basically, it falsely asserts that LSASS protection is turned off (see text in red box). How do I know it’s actually running? As I searched the System log in Event Viewer, I found a message indicating the “LSASS.exe (process) was started…” as part of that system’s last boot-up. According to this discussion of that very issue at BleepingComputer.com, this indicates that LSASS protection is enabled and working as it should be.

P16 Manifests LSASS Bug.evt-viewer

The Event Viewer (System Log) reports a successful start of LSASS.exe as part of the OS boot-up process. It’s working!

What To Do If Your P16 Manifests LSASS Bug

Of course, this applies to all Windows PCs of all kinds. That said, the afore-linked BleepingComputer story explains a couple of Registry hacks that will fix such spurious notifications. MS will probably get around to fixing this sooner or later. Meanwhile, I’m not concerned about false security flags. Indeed, I’m content to wait until it’s corrected in some future update.

It sounds like a serious error. And it would be a major security hole, if the notification were true. But since it’s simply a false positive, and I’ve proved to myself that things are working as they should be, I’ll live with it.

This problem has been in play for some while now (BleepingComputer reports it goes back to January 2023). If I search for “Local security authority protection is off” at ElevenForum.com, I see hits as far back as March 1, 2023, on this topic. All are unanimous in flagging this as a false positive not worth corrective action.

But that’s the way things sometimes go here in Windows-World. Take it under advisement if you see the “Yellow bang!” in Windows Security on your Windows 11 PC. Cheers!

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Winget Just Keeps Chugging Along

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I’ve started a new writing and editing gig with TekkiGurus.com. I’m contributing 3-4 articles a month on Windows 10 and 11 topics, and providing input and feedback on their overall desktop OS coverage. Just recently, I started a series of stories for them on the Winget package manager for Windows. I’ve been using it daily for about a year now, and  I have to observe that Winget just keeps chugging along — and getting better all the time.

What Winget Just Keeps Chugging Along Means

Take a look at this morning’s results on my Windows 10 production PC (see lead-in graphic above). It just updated VS Enterprise 2022, TeamViewer, and Chrome, in under 2 minutes with only minimal effort from yours truly. I seldom encounter winget issues — and when I do, they’re nearly always easily resolved.

What continually suprises me is that using winget for updates is often faster than the in-app (or in-application) update facility itself. Visual Studio 2022 made an interesting case in point just now, when it updated that hefty environment (nearly 400 MB to start it going, and over 150 packages as the process worked to completion). It finished in well under 2 minutes on this aging desktop PC (i7 SkyLake, 32 GB RAM, 500 GB Gen 2 PCIe SSD).

Where Winget Falls Short Is Not Its Problem

I do still use other tools to keep my apps and applications updated. But that’s not winget’s fault. As I discuss in my March 17 post here, winget relies on developers to provide package manifests for their software so that it can do its install/update/query/uninstall things.

The list of items for which I have to use other tools includes some apps or applications that seldom get packages (Kindle, Zoom, Box, Dropbox, and others) or that have none (AFAICT). I encourage all developers who don’t already update winget manifests as they push updates to get in that habit.  (See this MS Learn item “Create your package manifest” to dig into that semi-automated YAML and PowerShell-based process.) It will make everybody’s lives easier in the Windows admin world — including mine! ‘Nuff said…

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Missing Advanced Startup Gets Explained

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Here’s a real Homer Simpson moment for you: Doh! I just figured out why I can’t find the Advanced Startup option on some of my Windows 11 PCs (see lead-in screen-cap, then compare to the next one below). It came when I checked a reference on running that ability from the command line. Simply put: the missing Advanced Startup gets explained as a local-remote distinction. It shows up when accessing a device directly, but not via Remote Desktop.

Now you see it, now you don’t (vice-versa, actually…)

Quick Note Means Missing Advanced Startup Gets Explained

I referred to a pureinfotech story to figure out how to get to advanced startup when it didn’t show up as in the lead-in graphic. Turns out the explanation appeared in a “Quick Note” in a discussion of accessing Advanced Startup via Settings → System → Recovery. It reads:

Quick note: The Advanced Startup option in the Settings app isn’t available through a Remote Desktop Connection.

And wouldn’t you know it? I was accessing a test PC via RDP (Remote Desktop Connection) at the time. Sure enough, as soon as I broke the remote session and logged into that same machine via the local keyboard, the Advanced Startup entry made itself available. Doh again!

Command Line Method Works Remotely, Tho…

The old standby shutdown command at an administrative command prompt still works, even in a remote session. For the record, that syntax is:

shutdown /r /o /f /t 00

Those switches work as follows:
/r  Restarts the computer after shutdown
/o  Goes to Advanced Boot options menu
/f   Forces running applications to close sans user warnings
/t   Waits 0 seconds before restart (works immediately)

So now I finally understand why the Advanced Startup item under Recovery sometimes goes missing on me. It MUST be run locally to work. Can I get one more Doh!?

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Pet Peeve: Upgrade Walls Around Free Versions

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I was checking upgrades over the weekend (part of my daily routine, in fact). I found myself having to search for a specific version of a favorite app. Why? Because the developer erected upgrade walls around free versions of the app. It’s just a “little reminder,” I guess, that users should support developers by paying for what they use.

Why Put Upgrade Walls Around Free Versions?

Basically, the developer steered its “manual update” capability into the purchase dialog for the same program’s for-a-fee version. I have the paid-for version on my production PC, in fact. But I don’t pay for the instances I run on my test PCs (which vastly outnumber my home desktop and traveling “work laptop” — by 5 to 1). It just ticks me off when the developer leads users down a road with no obvious access to downloading the free version through the application’s own built-in update facility. Am I wrong to feel that way?

I don’t think so. But in this case, I had to remember that the name of the free version includes “lite” in its name (cute). Then, I had to Google the name of the application with that string in its name to get to the right download page. Not too challenging, but at least mildly vexatious, IMO.

The Pecuniary Imperative

Sure, developers need income to justify their time and effort spent in creating and maintaining their offerings. But do users need to be reminded that they could pay for the for-a-fee version each time they update (or upgrade) its free counterpart? Depends on who you ask: some developers obviously feel that the answer to that question is “Hell, yeah!” As for me, I just find it somewhat annoying.

Sigh. That’s just the way things go in Windows-World sometimes. Thanks for letting me vent…

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X390 Network Return Requires Discovery Tweaks

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Son Gregory is back from college for the summer, bearing his Lenovo ThinkPad X390 Yoga laptop. Its 8th-gen i7-8565U CPU, 16 GB RAM, and 500 GB Intel SSD are entirely adequate for his mobile computing needs. But I couldn’t see his device on the LAN when he first joined back in. Indeed, an X390 network return required discovery tweaks to make itself entirely visible. A couple of quick, minor toggles in “Advanced sharing settings” made everything OK.

Understanding X390 Network Return Requires Discovery Tweaks

I’m still getting used to digging into Advanced sharing settings inside the Windows settings app. That’s where I made sure the following toggles were in the “On” position:

Once I made sure discovery was working, Presto! the X390 (computer name = “DinaX390” as shown in the lead-in graphic) appeared. Sometimes, it’s the little things that mean alot.

The X390 Gets a Thorough Once-Over

I’m glad to see the machine is running Windows 11 22H2 (Build 22621.1702). SUMo also gives its paltry 17 identifiable programs a clean bill of health, update-wise. I have to say that it looks like Gregory took excellent care of his laptop while away at school. Good for him!

Now that it’s showing up inside Advanced IP Scanner, I can see what it’s doing on the network, too. All’s well that ends well.

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Intel DSA Version Confusion

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OK then, I’m back in the office after a 10-day hiatus. Natch, after meeting today’s writing deadlines, I started updating all 11 of my Windows PCs. Along the way, I found myself caught up in Intel DSA version confusion for that company’s Driver & Support Assistant software.

Look at the lead-in screencap. The Intel download page shows version 23.2.17.8 is the latest and greatest version. Yet the details for the download file show it as version 23.1.9.7. And indeed, when you install or repair DSA using the file the lower-numbered version is what’s installed. Go figure!

Overcoming Intel DSA Version Confusion

After handling over 100 updates, the Patch Tuesday and incidental WU stuff, I didn’t want to find myself troubleshooting a bogus update problem. But that’s what I’ve got going on. Until Intel puts the update for version 23.2.17.8 in the “Latest” position on its download center, there’s not much I can do to fix this.

C’mon Intel: please fix this issue so OCD updaters — like yours truly — can get caught up. I’ve already got 23.1.9.7 (the version that actually appears in the Properties window for the 23.2.17.8 download) installed. I can’t catch up until the right file gets posted to the download center.

It’s Always Something, Right?

Just goes to show you that here in Windows-World there’s always some kind of gotcha lurking to make life more interesting. In some cases, my issues are of my own making. In this particular case, it looks like something odd is up with the Intel download page itself.

Just for grins, I went to an alternate download source. Much to my surprise, that installer shows the correct version number for this file, to wit:

Intel DSA Version Confusion.alt-source

An “alternate download source” DOES have the right file.
Go figure again!

I wish I knew how the other source got the right file, when I couldn’t grab it myself directly. As Mr. Churchill said of Russia, that makes this “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” I don’t know whether to laugh, or cry.

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