Category Archives: Windows 11

Cool Tools, Insider stuff, Tips, Tricks and Tweaks, WED Blog, Windows 10, Windows 11

Why Give PowerToys Admin Access?

February 8, 2023 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

I found myself looking at a suggestion from PowerToys on a test PC yesterday. It popped up when I opened Windows Terminal as Administrator, as per usual practice. It warned me that Fancy Zones and other PowerToys tools might not work properly unless I gave PowerToys admin access, too. Hence the question: Why Give PowerToys Admin Access?

Why Give PowerToys Admin Access?
Because other apps use it…

I turned to MS Learn. There I found an item entitled PowerToys running with administrator access. It pretty much explained everything. Here are the salient points from its second heading:

PowerToys only needs elevated administrator permission when interacting with other applications that are running in administrator mode. If those applications are in focus, PowerToys may not function unless it is elevated as well.

These are the two scenarios PowerToys will not work in:

Intercepting certain types of keyboard strokes

Resizing / moving windows

Seems pretty straightforward to me, and makes perfect sense. Here’s how to get to admin mode in PowerToys from its default “Running as user” mode.

Making the Switch: User to Admin

You must open PowerToys in admin mode to switch to admin mode. If PowerToys is running, right-click its taskbar icon and select exit to terminate its runtime instance. Next, right-click the PowerToys icon in the start menu, and select “Run as administrator.” In Settings, Administrator mode, move the “Always run as administrator” slider from off (as shown in the lead-in graphic) to On. That’s it!

Now, you can run some of your tools and programs in admin mode without warning messages from PowerToys (or concerns that its tools might not work as they’re supposed to). I like it, and I like ready access to simple, intelligible explanations as to why things must change to work properly.

One More Thing: v0.67.1 Is Out

As I write this item, MS has just released PowerToys update to v0.67.1. While you’re poking around inside Settings/General click the “Check for updates” button. If your PC isn’t yet caught up to this latest version, it’ll take care of it for you. Or, try this command

Winget upgrade Microsoft.PowerToys

if you prefer. Cheers!

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

PowerToys Application versus App

February 6, 2023 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

I’ll be darned. This has been going on for awhile, but I just recently learned about it. If you look, you too can find a September 18, 2021 Thurrott.com story. It says: PowerToys are now available in the MS Store. I spent some time this weekend switching over from the GitHub version (installs as an application) to the Store version (installs as an app). This led me to considering the differences between PowerToys application versus app.

Switching from the application version to its app counterpart is also neither documented nor obvious. Neither installer knows about the other, so it doesn’t clean up old stuff from “the other fork,” either. Let me explain later on here…

Understanding PowerToys Application versus App

In Windows, Applications live in two primary folder trees. 32-bit applications (of which there are fewer and fewer, now that Windows 10 is mostly 64-bit, and Windows 11 completely 64-bit) live in:

C:\Program Files (x86)

Their 64-bit counterparts, alternatives, or replacements live in:

C:/Program Files

Apps live in their own corner of the preceding folder tree — namely:

C:/Program Files/WindowsApps

Distinguishing Application from App

The only way you can tell if you’re running an application or app version of PowerToys is by where it lives in your Windows installation. If it shows up in Programs and Features, it’s an applicatioon. If it shows up under Installed Apps in Settings, it’s an app. Otherwise, they look — and behave — identically.

You can see the Settings-based App info to the left, and the Programs and Features-based Application into at the right, in the lead-in screencap above. Same name, same size, same version, same date.

So why go with the app version rather than the application one? Two primary reasons I can think of:

1. Apps get updated via the Microsoft Store automatically. You have to use the Update function inside PowerToys Settings/General to update the application version.

2. Apps are supposedly more secure than applications, because they run within a sandboxed environment. FWIW, I haven’t seen or read about that playing into the presence or absence of security exploits.

Making the Application to App Switch

First, visit Programs and Features and uninstall PowerToys there (or use your favorite third-party uninstaller: e.g. Revo Free). Then visit the Microsoft Store, search for PowerToys and install the version that comes up there (v.0.67.0 as I write this). Done!

If you try to install the app without removing the application, you’ll end up running both side-by-side. It’s much easier to follow an “out with the old (install), in with the new (install)” approach. How do I know this? I went the other way at first and had to clean up the resulting overlap. Save yourself that trouble, please!

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

PowerToys v0.67.0 Gets Quick Launch

February 3, 2023 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

Here’s a nice little tweak for a great set of useful tools. That’s right, the venerable PowerToys v0.67.0 gets Quick Launch in that release. You can see what you get by default on the left of the lead-in graphic. At right, you can see what comes up under the “More” selection scrolled to the top.

What Makes PowerToys v0.67.0 Gets Quick Launch News?

You’ve always been able to launch individual PowerToys using key combinations, once those tools are enabled. You can find those various key combinations (aka “shortcuts”) in the PowerToys documentation files (right-click PowerToys, choose Documentation from the resulting pop-up menu).

What’s new here is that you need now simply left-click PowerToys and the Quick Launch menus shown above become available. This is a great boon to me, because it means I don’t have to learn or remember the various keyboard shortcuts anymore. It takes fewer clicks and key presses, too. Always good! Be sure to check this out for yourself after you update to v0.67.0.

Installing PowerToys…

If you don’t have them already, you don’t need to grab PowerToys from GitHub unless you want to. GitHub does, however, remain the only source for the Preview version of PowerToys. Instead, you can grab the stable version of PowerToys from the MS Store. That’s what I did on the test machine where I captured the screencap(s) above. I couldn’t believe this PC didn’t already have it installed, but it gave me a terrific opportunity to take the MS Store install path. Works like a charm!

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

Frustrating Firefox x86 Follies

February 2, 2023 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

Oh boy! I just shot myself rather nicely in the foot but managed to call back the bullet. Let me explain, in the context of unfolding and frustrating Firefox x86 follies here at Chez Tittel. The lead-in graphic for this story shows two entries for Firefox as you can see in the red outline box. Therein hangs this particular tale…

Fixing Frustrating Firefox x86 Follies

I noticed this earlier this week when, after updating Firefox x64 on my production PC, I noticed a second copy still running the previous version. WTF? Using SUMO to show me the containing folders for each instance I saw what was up. One 64-bit copy is running in the Program Files folder tree. More interestingly, a second 64-bit copy is running in the Program Files (x86) folder tree. WTF again?

Nothing loath, I went into Explorer and deleted the Mozilla Firefox folder from the (x86) folder tree. This is the shooting myself in the foot part. Turns out that particular instance has all of my favorites, stored passwords, and yada yada yada. The true x64 instance is a “clean install” — but not in a good way. Sigh.

I called the bullet back by opening the Recycle Bin and restoring the entire, just-deleted Mozilla Firefox folder. I see that I can export all my stuff from one instance and then import it into the other. As soon as I have time to figure all that stuff out I can grab my “vital stats” from the x86 instance and make ready to transfer it into the x64 instance. Then, I should be able to safely delete the x86 instance without losing my valuable accreted data. Sigh again.

This Raises an Interesting Question…

What I really want to know is: how did an x64 instance of Firefox wind up in the x86 folder? I’m pretty sure that’s another self-inflicted wound. When I updated the trailing second instance earlier this week, whaddya bet it was a now-obsolete 32-bit instance for which only a 64-bit instance can serve as an update? Sigh one more time, and wonder why Firefox let me do this to myself. Go figure!

Alas, that’s the way things go for me sometimes in Windows-World. I’m just glad I was able to figure out and recover from my own foible without losing too much time or wasting too much effort.

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

Updating WingetUI Brings Follow-On

January 31, 2023 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

I have to laugh. When I wrote yesterday about Winget moving up to version 1.4, I should’ve known it would carry items in its wake. Hence my update to the GUI front-end for Winget this morning — namely, the Github project known as WingetUI. I might have guessed, but did not, that updating WingetUI brings follow-on packages in its wake.

Instead I simply fired off the update process for WingetUI this morning, and moved onto another open window. I was happily surfing some traffic at ElevenForum.com when outta nowhere an install window for the Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable popped up on my screen. You can see the trace it left behind in “Programs and Features” (dated 1/31/2023) in the screencap above.

If Updating WingetUI Brings Follow-On, Then What?

I guess it makes sense that if Winget is updated, WingetUI should follow suit. I’m not sure if the new C++ Redistributable is a natural consequence of the update, or just a coincidence. But gosh! I’m of the opinion that if one program needs to install other stuff so it can work, it should at least notify you beforehand. Or even, ask permission.

But what do I know? Thus, I was a bit taken aback when the install window for the C++ Redistributable popped up today. It seemed kind of random and unexpected to me. Maybe it’s my fault for covering up the WingetUI install window with something else. Maybe it’s just one of those things that sometimes happens when you update software here in Windows-World. You tell me!

Cool Tools, PowerShell, Recent Activity, WED Blog, Windows 10, Windows 11

Obtaining Winget Version Info

January 30, 2023 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

A couple of weeks ago, a new version of Winget popped up on Github. Pretty much since then, I’ve been slowly but surely making sure all 11 of my Windows PCs are running this latest and greatest version (e.g. 1.4.10173). For me that naturally raised the question: How does one go about obtaining Winget version info? That led me back into the MS Learn documentation, about which I’ll now report.

Obtaining Winget Version Info Is Dead Easy

Turns out that winget is just another package, like all the others that the tool can download, install, upgrade, delete and otherwise manage. Thus a simple and basic winget command told me what I wanted to know:

winget –info winget

The lead-in graphic for this story shows this command and its resulting output. Note the first line after the command reads:

Windows Package Manager v1.4.10173

That matches the “Latest” version number at Github, so it’s the most current version around AFAIK (not counting previews). And indeed, I’m pleased to report that using standard winget upgrade commands has ensured that winget is current on all my PCs.

More than One Path to Enlightenment

I also noticed that winget syntax errors will report the version running before conveying its error message info. Thus, omitting the dashes before “info” in the preceding command will also tell you its version number (after which a pageful of syntax guidance follows). I guess you could deliberately mistype a command to produce the version number. But heck, I’d rather do it the right way if I can remember how.

One More Thing: Winget -v

Turns out that Winget -v (or -version) will produce just the info needed in compact readable form. Thanks to Demetrius Nelson (@DenelonMs) for pointing this out to me on Twitter! Why didn’t I think of that… Here ’tis:

Hmmm. It doesn’t get any easier than this.
Moral: RTFM (with more care)!

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

Obvious Fix Addresses 0xC1900101 Install Error

January 26, 2023 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

I run two Dev Channel test PCs. Yesterday, the Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Hybrid failed to upgrade to Build 25284. And it threw a familiar error code — one I’d just written about on ElevenForum just two days ago. Fortunately, the obvious fix addresses 0xC1900101 install error, as I will explain. But gosh! What a coincidence to have dispensed advice about this error only to experience it myself shortly afterward.

What Obvious Fix Addresses 0xC1900101 Install Error?

First let me share the text from my ElevenForum post (from which a screencap appears above):

Check out this MS Learn article: it asserts that an incompatible driver is present when this error code presents: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-client/deployment/windows-10-upgrade-resolution-procedures

So what I did next was to review all of the device drivers on the problem PC, and to upgrade those that weren’t current. To that end, I used a 3rd-party tool from IObit called Driver Booster (available in both free and for-a-fee versions). It found over 20 drivers in need of updating, and I updated all of them.

Long story short: two reboots later (one from the drivers the program found, another from a Lenovo Vantage update) I retried the 25254 install. And this time it completed successfully, sans the driver-related error. As I poke around online, I also see this is a fairly common install error where the obvious repair strategy is most often effective.

Shoot! It’s nice when things work the way they’re supposed to. Luckily, that does happen here in Windows-World from time to time.

Cool Tools, Insider stuff, PowerShell, WED Blog, Windows 10, Windows 11

Winget Install Technology Hiccup

January 25, 2023 Ed Tittel 2 Comments

When I ran Winget to check for updates on the Lenovo P16 Workstation yesterday, something interesting happened. As you can see in the lead-in graphic, Winget found 2 packages in need of update. But it installed only one of them upon command. I discovered why when I attempted to force install the missing item. Indeed it produced what I’m calling a Winget install technology hiccup. Let me explain…

Overcoming the Winget Install Technology Hiccup Is Easy

The error message that resulted when I tried to force install RingCentral told me everything I needed to know. It reads:

A newer version was found, but the install technology is different from the current version installed. Please uninstall the package and install the newer version.

So that’s exactly what I did in the next two commands shown–namely:

winget uninstall ringcentral

winget install ringcentral

Luckily for me, the simple name “ringcentral” is sufficient to identify the unique and actual package name (“RingCentral.RingCentral”). Otherwise, I’d have been compelled to use that full, complete nomenclature to pull off the remove/replace maneuver that saw the hiccup overcome. That happens when multiple packages share common nomenclature, and a unique string for the desired package must be fully specified.

In this case, everything was easy-peasey. Just the way I like it: hiccup fixed!

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

Intel Drops iGPU OEM Warning

January 24, 2023 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

Once upon a time, the Intel Driver & Support Assistant (IDSA) used to warn laptop owners about its built-in GPU driver updates. There’s even an Intel Support Note on this topic. It reads in part “Installing this graphics driver from Intel may overwrite customizations from your … OEM.” Recently, Intel drops iGPU OEM warning. Why? Because it’s been reworked NOT to overwrite customizations. No more need, no more warning, I guess.

When Intel Drops iGPU OEM Warning, Then What?

If you look at the latest finding inside the IDSA in the graphic up top, you’ll see the warnings are gone. Nothing loath, I tried it out on my Lenovo ThinkPad X380 Yoga Dev Channel test laptop. It spun away for a bit before throwing up a “Begin installation” pane from the installer.

Next, it displayed the phases it would walk through, starting with a huge honkin license agreement to which installers must accede before the process gets underway. Click “I agree” to continue, as I just did.

Setup says it will install a driver and a graphics command center, after which one clicks start. Install shows progress bars for said driver and command center, with an option to “Show details” (lists changes as they’re made including registry entries, installing files, and so forth). Driver install takes several minutes to complete.

A reboot is required for changes to take effect. Once I had done so, I didn’t find the Intel Graphics Command Center (IGCC) installed. Thus, I visited the Microsoft Store to download and install same. It had me uninstall the apparently now-unnecessary Intel Graphics Control Panel.

Post Reboot, Things Get Interesting…

Once the PC restarted, the unit booted normally (the shut-down phase, when it was presumably writing new driver stuff did take a bit longer than usual). After the reboot the graphics look and work enough like the preceding iteration that I can’t see or tell anything different.

But when I tried to open the IGCC, it hung in “loading mode” (a line of balls moving from left to right at the bottom of the window). It never went anywhere. Turns out running two user sessions, each trying to start up IGCC isn’t a good idea. As soon as I killed one, the other started working. From there I was able to explore and play with the IGCC without further difficulty. Looks like I’ll have fun digging in and learning more. Stay tuned: I’ll report back.

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

Dev Channel 22H2 Notepad Gets Tabs

January 23, 2023 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

Another small step for a Windows app, another instance of tabbing inside its window. With Build 22623, Windows 11 Dev Channel 22H2 Notepad gets tabs. You can see them in the lead-in screencap. There, I’ve got a trio of program output files open: dberr.txt, ar.txt, and dxdiag.txt. (That last item shows DirectX detections for one of my Dev Channel test PCs.)

Good! Dev Channel 22H2 Notepad Gets Tabs

I manipulate a lot of text files in my work, across simple notes, quotes, log and trace files, program outputs, and more. I really appreciate the ability to open a single instance and multiple tabs to bounce around among them. It had been a “minor irritant” to have to right click on the Notepad icon and force it to open a fresh instance when I wanted multiple text files open at the same time.

This latest change makes all that fooling around moot. Now, I can open as many text files as I’m likely to use without issue. In practice, I seldom have more than 5 or 6 open at any given moment. It seems like this latest version of notepad has no problems with that. (MS Store identifies it as version 11.2212.33.0 with an 8/5/2019 release date; latest update occurred on 1/20/2023.)

Not As Much Notepad++ Now…

Multi-tabbing is just one of the many cool things that the Open Source Notepad++ (GNU General Public License) can do. I also like its automated formatting, language sensitive auto-completion, search and smart editing functions. But I won’t have to switch to it anymore simply to use multiple tabs for open text windows. I’m convinced that’s a good thing.

On your Dev Channel Windows 11 PCs, Notepad should auto-update to the latest (tabbed) version through the Microsoft Store. If not, visit that app, click the Library item on the left margin and force all updates to be applied. That should do it!

Why Give PowerToys Admin Access? Because other apps use it…