Category Archives: Windows 11

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

Checking Target PC Windows 11 Readiness

September 7, 2021 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

I’ve found 3 tools useful in checking my PCs — mostly laptops — to see whether or not they’ll run Windows 11. When it comes to checking target PC Windows 11 readiness, I turn to one of:

1. Microsoft’s PC Health Check* (re-released August 30). Its output serves as the lead-in graphic for this story from my 2018 Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme (8th gen i-7 CPU, etc.)
2. GitHub project WhyNotWin11
3. GitHub/ElevenForum project Windows 11 Compatibility Check

Please note: Microsoft’s tool is currently available only to registered members of the Windows Insiders program. Knowing that some readers may not want to register simply to get the tool, I also provide links to the other two as alternatives.

Checking Target PC Windows 11 Readiness Is Easy

PC Health Check is the only one of the three that needs installation. It downloads as a Microsoft self-installing file (extension: .msi). Of the other two tools, one runs straight from the executable download (WhyNotWin11.exe). The other consists of a batch file named Win11CompChk.bat: it runs in an administrative command prompt.

Of these three tools, all do an adequate job or better. Were it not for the Insider program membership requirement, PC Health Check would get my highest accolades. That status won’t last long though: it should soon go into general release (probably no later than the official GA date for Windows 11 itself, October 5).

Right now, WhyNotWin11 gets my top vote because it requires no installation, runs quickly, and delivers accurate results.

Win11CompChk.bat has a few rough spots still, but experienced users can steer around them pretty easily:

For one thing, it treats support for WDDM 2 as a must-have (it’s only required for those who want to wirelessly project to an external monitor).
For another thing, it won’t pass Secure boot capable systems unless secure boot is turned on (both other tools pass systems, whether or not secure boot is enabled or disabled, so long as it’s present).

Be sure to check them out, and see which one(s) you like best. Cheers!

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

Windows 11 Dev Channel Goes Nickel

September 3, 2021 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

Just yesterday, September 2, the MS Windows Insider team re-forked the Beta and Dev Channels for Windows 11. The Windows 11 Dev Channel goes Nickel. Thus, it picks up a new release branch where experimental features not tied to specific upcoming releases can be exposed and explored. Note the major Build number in the lead-in graphic. It jumps to 22449, far ahead of other build numbers of any sort.

The Beta Channel, on the other hand is still tied to 21H1 and Build 22000. As the upcoming Windows 11 release date — October 5 — edges ever closer, that should remain constant. Beta will be the focus for bug hunts and ongoing fixes. The run-up to that GA date (32 days away as I write this story) should be interesting.

Finally, these two release forks now diverge. I predict Beta will continue to track “the next, upcoming Windows 11 release.” Dev will show us what’s possible but not inevitable for future releases .

When Windows 11 Dev Channel Goes Nickel, What to Expect?

MS has already warned Insiders about future Dev channel releases. They will be less stable and more subject to gotchas and bugs. The 22449 release blog says (emphasis mine):

These builds are from the earliest stage in a new development cycle with the latest work-in-progress code from our engineers. These aren’t always stable builds, and sometimes you will see issues that block key activities or require workarounds while flighting in the Dev Channel. It is important to make sure you read the known issues listed in our blog posts as we document many of these issues with each flight.

And please: if you participate in the Dev Channel, I urge you to follow Microsoft’s advice. That is: “read the known issues” as each new upgrade emerges. More than once, I’ve been bitten because I jumped first, and read the issues list second. Thus, I’ve learned from first-hand experience, little of it positive, to heed that warning.

I’m glad to see this happening. I look forward to what emerges in Dev Channel releases going forward. That’s why I joined the Insider Program to begin with. It’s why I look forward to bashing bugs, reporting (and learning from) issues, and making things work. For some of us in Windows-World — including me — this passes as entertainment!

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

Managing Windows 11 Defaults Gets Tricky

September 2, 2021 Ed Tittel 4 Comments

Oho! I just learned something interesting from Martin Brinkmann over at Ghacks.Net. It seems that in Windows 11, MS has re-jiggered the way default application selection works. In Windows 10 one could grab an application and associate it with all typical file or link types in one go. Alas, managing Windows 11 defaults gets tricky, because you must now choose them one at a time.

MS also supplies various defaults by default so to speak, which explains why Microsoft Edge shows up so persistently when opening web-related file types. Thus, for example, I count 22 such entries in Settings → Apps → Default apps → (Browser name here). I chose Google Chrome as my example in the lead-in graphic above. If you really want to make Chrome the overall default, you must jump into each of the 22 associated file or link types and pick Chrome from the pick list for each one.

Why Say: Managing Windows 11 Defaults Gets Tricky?

Maybe I should have said “labor intensive” instead. But “tricky” makes for a more compelling headline, so I’ll admit to taking just a wee bit of artistic license here. Truth is, as long as you know that this is how Windows 11 works, it’s the kind of thing you need to do once for those applications you want to make default when Microsoft supplies something different. This takes time and a little effort, but it’s not the end of the world as we know it by a long shot.

I’m hoping Nir Sofer reads this blog post, though, and whips out a Windows11Default tool to help automate this task. Seems like it should be fairly straightforward for someone with the right understanding of Windows internals to make this happen. I see a fascinating thread on this topic in the Spiceworld Forums that explains that GPOs and an XML file can do the trick. I’ll be noodling around with this for a while and see if I can figure something further out. Hopefully, Windows 11 and 10 work the same way in this regard. Stay tuned, and I’ll find out…

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

Out-of-spec PCs Lose Windows 11 Eligibility

September 1, 2021 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

We knew it was coming, but not when it would come. Just today (September 1) out-of-spec PCs participating in the Dev or Beta Insider Preview channels found out. They’re seeing a “Sayonara” message in Windows Update, Windows Insider Program settings pages. The lead-in graphic above shows what that says, as out-of-spec PCs lose Windows 11 eligibility.

Why Do Out-of-spec PCs Lose Windows 11 Eligibility?

It’s a matter of MS policy, based on a desire to boost security for users of the new OS . It also means MS can count on more advanced graphics functionality, 64-bit operation, and other odds and ends designed to improve the overall user experience.

In a recent Tweet, Paul Thurrott summed this up humorously as “Thanks for Testing Windows 11, Now Leave…” Senior Program Manager of the Windows Insider Team at MS Brandon LeBlanc responded with “We communicated this would be the case back via this blog post on June 24th…” (Note: I’ve provided links to both tweets and that blog post so readers can see for themselves what’s at issue.)

I Hate to Say It, But “I told you so!”

Just the other day I raised the question of why somebody would want to push their luck on an out-of-spec PC when updates could go bye-bye at any time. I have refused to play that game wishing to avoid the uncertainties involved. Now those crows have come home to roost. Good thing I’m still planning to refresh the hardware on my production PC before October 5 to make it fully compliant, eh?

Sure, it’s fun to try to run a new OS on old hardware. At TenForums, for example, the Let’s run Win10 on really really old hardware thread currently runs to 93 pages, with a total of 928 posted items therein. People obviously enjoy this kind of challenge. But MS is forcibly asserting that those who want to mine this vein will have to do so without support from the company, including access to Windows Update. I predict this is going to get a lot more interesting in the months ahead, as creative people purposely beat their heads against a wall somewhere “because it feels so good when they stop!”

And indeed, that’s life for a certain obsessed element of the population here in Windows World. Why else would one find ongoing stories about running Windows 10 (and even 11) on now-ancient Windows Phones (e.g. this Lumia 950 XL item at The Verge)? Good for them, but this is not my thing, not by a long shot!

Note Added September 2

Windows Insider Program Manager Brandon LeBlanc has clarified that out-of-spec PC will receive CUs until October 5, but no further upgrades to new Windows 11 versions. On and after that date, out-of-spec PCs running Windows 11 will be asked to downgrade to the Windows 10 Insider Preview Release Preview channel via a clean install of the appropriate OS image.

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

Windows 11 Release Commences October 5

August 31, 2021 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

It’s not often I’ll just lift a headline from the Windows Blogs as my lead graphic. But today is a notable and valid exception. You can read Microsoft’s own words on this for yourself: Windows 11 available on October 5. The biggest take-aways from this promise are pretty interesting. But when Windows 11 release commences October 5, I suspect we’ll be learning more about what all this really means.

Windows 11 Release Commences October 5 via Trickle-Out

As with other Windows feature upgrades in recent memory (back to 1909 and perhaps earlier), WU will offer the upgrade to the safest machines first. Over time, it will expand the scope of its offer. But that offer will NOT include machines that don’t meet Windows 11 system requirements. In fact, here’s what WU tells me on my Insider Preview Surface Pro 3 under the Windows Insider Program heading:

With its 4th-generation Intel CPU, the Surface Pro 3 does not meet Windows 11 CPU requirements.

WU Should Provide Upgrade Status Info to All

By the time October 5 rolls around — usually called the GA date (for General Availability) — some broader Cumulative Update (CU) will add compatibility checks to all older and still supported Windows releases. These will inform users about their PC’s eligibility for a Windows 11 upgrade. I imagine the language will be same as in the 21H2 Insider Preview screencap shown above.

I guess it’s nice to know that GA is coming soon. As I write this post, it’s exactly 32 days in the offing. I need to accelerate my production desktop refresh plans. I imagine I’ll order those parts today. Just another glorious day, here in Windows-World!

Benchmarking, Recent Activity, USB devices, WED Blog, Windows 10, Windows 11

HDD Still Claims Price-Performance 2.5″ Crown

August 27, 2021 Ed Tittel 1 Comment

For laptops and portable applications, 2.5″ drives still rule. Once upon a time, hard disk drives (HDDs) owned this space, both in terms of capacity and price performance. But with a 2.5″ 8TB Samsung QVO drive readily available on Newegg for US$700, HDDs no longer own the capacity crown for this space. But 8TB for $700 translates into US$87.50 per TB. The same outlet offers the 5 TB 2.5″ Seagate Barracuda for US$147.59, or US$29.52 per TB. That’s nearly 3 times lower on a per-TB cost basis (2.96 to be more precise). And that’s why HDD still claims price-performance 2.5″ crown.

How HDD Still Claims Price-Performance 2.5″ Crown

Why do mechanical hard drives still deliver better price-performance than SSDs? Because of the costs of materials and manufacturing. HDD manufacture is a mature industry and does not depend on riding the curve for IC mask sizes, scaling and so forth. SDDs on the other hand are made of chips, and that’s a challenging technology wave to ride, and a very competitive marketplace in which to compete right now. Chip shortages may not last forever, but they affect all chip-dependent industries right now, including SSDs.

That said, the form factor on the Seagate 5TB drive is outside the envelope for use inside many laptops (its 15mm height makes it “too fat” to fit; ditto for most external USB-A or USB-C drive enclosures). I’ve owned a couple of these drives and they make excellent backup and external storage devices for the half-dozen-plus laptops I keep around. A 2TB Samsung QVO goes for US$170, and is only 7mm tall (as are all capacities in this line). Thus “laptop suitability” also goes to the more expensive SSD drives.

The Tide Is Turning Toward SSDs

As far as laptops and tablets go, I don’t see much future for HDDs any more. At best, they will make useful portable or compact external storage units for mobile use. Inside the laptop itself, though — except for so-called “portable workstations” — there’s little room for drives that can’t max out capacity in the 7mm 2.5″ form factor. I guess one can hope for a next-gen technology breakthrough in platter density that will let HDDs catch back up with flash RAM chips. But I’m not holding my breath waiting for that, either. IMO the future — even for storage — is entirely solid state, not mechanical.

Hardware Reviews, Recent Activity, Updates, WED Blog, Windows 10, Windows 11

GPU Buying Circus Resumes Briefly

August 26, 2021 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

Those who need to know were probably already paying attention. Those who don’t, however, may find this story to be an odd mix of bemusement and horror. Around midnight last night, would-be GPU owners looking for reasonable prices started lining up at Best Buy outlets around the USA. At 7:30 this morning, the company started handing out tickets to the first 100-200 people in line. What were these people lining up for? The latest installment, as the GPU buying circus resumes briefly — long enough for the company to sell through its allotment of 17,000 30xx GPUs. Models include 3070, 3080 and even a few of the seldom-seen 3090s.

Why and How the GPU Buying Circus Resumes Briefly

Every now and then Nvidia teams up with Best Buy to release a fixed lot of graphics cards for sale to the public. These may be purchased at the maker’s MSRP. Otherwise, GPUs available for purchase through typical outlets — Newegg, Amazon, CDW and so forth — routinely sell for 2 or more times those prices. On eBay, the multipliers get even larger.

Why is this happening? There’s still a shortage of GPUs on the marketplace even though China has basically shut down its mostly coal-powered coin-mining operations. Those operations have moved elsewhere — some even to the USA — and are still buying huge numbers of GPUs. By holding these sales at Best Buy from time to time, Nvidia is helping a small percentage of gamers and PC enthusiasts buy equipment that’s otherwise too pricey to contemplate.

Why Am I Telling You This?

I’ve written recently about upgrading one of my desktops to a Ryzen 5800X CPU on an Asrock B550 Extreme4 motherboard, with 64 GB RAM, a fast NVMe SSD, and so forth. What’s missing from this configuration is the GeForce 3070 or 3070 Ti that would typically be part of such a refresh. I’ve got a second machine I’ll be rebuilding in similar fashion before the end of September.

Right now, I’m running older Nvidia GeForce 1070 Ti models on both of those PCs. (FWIW, these sell for US$800 on Newegg right now; I paid about US$400 for them 5-6 years ago.) I had briefly considered leaving the house at 4 AM this morning to line up for a shot at a card at my local Best Buy. But then I realized that if I’m not willing to wait 6 hours in line for Aaron Franklin’s world-class BBQ here in Austin, I’m not willing to do likewise for a GPU, either. It’ll just have to wait. Prices should come down sometime in the next 6-12 months. Or, I’ll wait for a windfall of some kind, hold my nose, and pay US$1,400 for a GPU that should cost US$600. Two of them, in fact. Sigh, and sigh again.

Note: Here’s a shout-out to Tom’s Hardware (for whom I write regularly about Windows OS topics) whose story clued me into this circus: Best Buy Restocks 17,000 Nvidia RTX 30 Series GPUs Tomorrow, August 26. It’s what prompted me to write this story.

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

Check Windows TPM Status 2 Ways

August 25, 2021 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

What with Windows 11 looming ever closer on the horizon, more Windows 10 users will want to check TPM status on their PC. TPM is, of course, the Trusted Platform Module that provides hardware-level credential caching and encryption to protect systems from snooping and takeover. Today, I’ll show you how to check Windows TPM status 2 ways. One way uses a PowerShell cmdlet, the other way runs a Microsoft Management Console snap-in (an .msc file).

How to Check Windows TPM Status 2 Ways

Naturally, both methods require admin privileges. That is, you must run the cmdlet in an Administrative PowerShell session. Alternatively, you must be logged into an administrative-level account to access the proper MMC snap-in.

Way 1: PowerShell

Prosaically enough, the necessary cmdlet is named get-tpm. As its name portends, it provides detailed information about the presence and state of TPM on the target system upon which it is run. Go ahead, take a look:

Note all the details about TPM presence and status. Source: my i7-6700 PC, which has no TPM.

Way 2: Run TPM.MSC (MMC Snap-in)

To take this path, simply type tpm.msc into the run command box or the Windows search box. It does not provide as much detail as the PowerShell cmdlet, but it is a little faster and easier to run. That said, here’s what its output looks like:

The TPM plug-in for the MMC just provides basic presence/absence information, though more data appears when a TPM is present (see next screencap below)
[Click image for full-sized view.]

TPM Info from Win11-Ready System

For comparison purposes here’s a side-by-side rendition of the PowerShell cmdlet (left) and MMC snap-in (right) from my 11th generation Lenovo X12 Hybrid Tablet PC. It meets the Windows 11 hardware requirements and tells its story about the TPM capabilities present on that machine. Note: 11th generation Intel CPUs provide TPM 2.0 emulation in firmware, rather than in a separate TPM chip.

Click image for full-sized view.

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

New BIOS Defaults Target Windows 11

August 24, 2021 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

In the process of bringing up a B550 motherboard with AMD Ryzen 5800X CPU, I found myself wondering about Windows 11 hardware requirements. Specifically about Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 support, both mandatory to meet those requirements. Looks like Asrock, and probably other mobo makers, are thinking along those lines, too. On August 6, that company released version 2.10, in which that new BIOS defaults target Windows 11. The lead-in graphic specifically states “Enable AMD CPU fTPM in BIOS default.”

Things Get Easier When New BIOS Defaults Target Windows 11

Before flashing the mobo to the new BIOS I’d started messing with the firmware TPM (fTPM) settings therein. Amusingly, to flash the BIOS one must first disable fTPM settings. More comforting, the post-update version enables fTPM by default and no longer requires such contortions for subsequent re-flash operations.

I just learned some new and interesting factoids about the Ryzen 5800X CPU — namely:

The part has a TDP of 105W, well within my new build’s power budget of 750W.
The part runs a Vermeer core at 3.8 GHz with 4MB of cache.
Memory speeds of up to 3200 MBps DDR4 are supported. I purchased 2667 to save a little on cost.

When to Take the Upgrade Plunge

The current build is running Windows 10 21H1 Build 19043.1165. I plan to keep it at the current Windows 10 production build level until MS formally releases Windows 11 upgrades via WU. If this PC doesn’t get an offer by the time an official ISO appears, I’ll download same and forcibly upgrade that PC through an in-place upgrade. I paid good money to make the machine ready for Windows 11. Thus, I want to take it to Windows 11 as soon as a production version is available.

Next, I’ll be planning my own production desktop upgrade. Before bringing the 5800X/B550 build up, I’d been thinking about taking the other desktop down the Intel upgrade path. But now, seeing how fast and fluidly this system runs, I’m increasingly inclined to do the same thing again inside my bigger Rosewill Blackhawk case. I still have a month or so in which to make my buy. Count on me to keep you posted in the interim. Cheers!

Output from the WhyNotWin11 program after flashing the BIOS shows the system 100% ready for Windows 11.
[Click image for full-sized view.]

Benchmarking, Hardware Reviews, Recent Activity, WED Blog, Windows 10, Windows 11

New NVMe System Delivers Formidable Punch

August 23, 2021 Ed Tittel Leave a comment

The electrician visited our house early today to fix some switches. He also helped us find a GFI plug we didn’t know we had (duh!). He had to turn off power at the breaker box momentarily, so all the PCs went down. I took that opportunity to pop the case on the new Ryzen 5800X build. I moved the NVMe SSD from the M.2.2 slot to the M.2.1 slot. That’s when I learned this new NVMe system delivers formidable punch power, I/O-wise. Let me explain.

If New NVMe System Delivers Formidable Punch, How So?

We’re talking about the transition from PCIe x3 to x4, along with a new generation of SSD controller technology here. The lead graphic shows CrystalDiskMark 8.0.4 results from my 2016 vintage i7-6700 system left and the 2021 vintage Ryzen 5800X system right. The underlying NVMe drives are Samsung 950 PRO 512GB left, and Sabrent Rocket Q 2TB right. The speed increase ranges from 1876.41 vs. 3444.19 (upper left), or 1.83x, to 124.9 vs. 226.81 (lower right), or 1.75x. The biggest differences occur in the upper right cell, and the one beneath it. Those ratios are 2.13 and 2.12, respectively.

Thus we’re talking about a speed boost ratio for I/O in the neighborhood of 7/4 at the slowest and 15/7 at the fastest. In roundish numbers, say 2:1. That’s pretty decent. I daresay it’s a big enough difference to be noticeable. I can tell the difference in ways that range from working with the filesystem, to performing backups, to running applications, and more.

Where Value Sits…

I’m still learning how the new system works, and what it can really do. I just ran WhyNotWin11 on the PC and it doesn’t have TPM turned on. I just checked the Asrock website. Happily it provides instructions on how to turn on fTPM in BIOS for that motherboard. It’s a single, simple option, so I’ll take care of it the next time I reboot. Then, the system should be ready for Windows 11.

Switching the NVMe from the M.2.2 slot to the M.2.1 slot delivered the promised speed increase. It also made the 2 previously blocked SATA devices on that machine visible. So far, it’s been a peach to work with. The speed and capabilities of this current-gen Ryzen processor definitely impress. I am indeed inclined to think the upgrade was worth the cost. I’m still waiting for Nvidia 3070 cards to come down in price before endowing that PC with more graphics oomph, though.

Stay tuned. I’ll report in on system temps and stuff, and take a few pics of the build later this week. Should be fun!