Cool Tools, Insider stuff, Networking, Troubleshooting, WED Blog

RDP Strangeness Requires Dogged Pursuit

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There have been plenty of reports about weird Remote Desktop access issues and Windows 11 of late. Search Google for “RDP issues with Windows 11 updates” to see what I mean. Until this morning, I remained blissfully beyond that fracas. Then I had to jump through a bunch of hoops to RDP into my Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Ultra. Indeed, overcoming this RDP strangeness requires dogged pursuit, as I will now explain. By which I mean: I’m again able to use the Remote Desktop Connection (RDC, aka mstsc.exe) to get into that machine.

Overcoming RDP Strangeness Requires Dogged Pursuit

I considered this as a kind of real-time troubleshooting exercise. Here’s that I did to get my connection working:

1. Opened RDC using the plain vanilla machine name: TSP3Ultra. RDC couldn’t find it.
2. Used Advanced IP Scanner (AIS) to scan my LAN and show me the currently active machine names in use. Tried TSP3Ultra.lan instead, then also tried TSP3Ultra-4314.lan. RDC couldn’t find either one.
3. Used AIS with a right-click to run RDC directly against its IPv4 address (192.168.1.249). RDC still couldn’t find it — this almost always works, so I knew I had a real problem, not just a naming issue.
4. Rebooted the TSP3Ultra, and tried again. It came up with a different IPv4 address this time (192.168.1.99) and RDC worked via a new machine name AIS showed: TSP3Ultra-5815.lan.

I’m now successfully remoted into the previously inaccessible PC, and glad of it. My next move would have been to start uninstalling recent WU updates, one at a time, until things started working again. I’m glad I didn’t have to take things that far.

What’s Causing Remote Desktop Strangenesses?

I wish I could say definitively. All I can do is to point at the changing names for the target device that AIS shows me over time. That makes me thing something interesting is up with machine name resolution on my LAN. Copilot says machine names of the form <name>-nnnn.lan occur when NetBIOS name resolution seeks to resolve conflicts arising from duplicate names.

We can see the IP address changed upon reboot, so I’m thinking it relates to IP address leases that change over time. The machine name, of course, stays the same, but when the IP address changes the DHCP server has to give the same device a new auto-generated name to avoid conflicts from the still-present (but expired) address in the name table.

I’ve witnessed that such things age out after 24 hours or so. Then the plain machine name will work with the new IP address unadorned. It’s just another thing to love about Windows networking, and the occasionally strange behavior of network names and addresses. Thus, it’s wise to prepare for your own dogged pursuits when that happens!

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Incase Relaunches DBM Line

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We knew it was coming. 15 months ago (January 2024) I blogged about how Incase was taking over the old Microsoft desktop products for ongoing resale. That line is named “Designed by Microsoft” (DBM, get it?) and is now for sale in the marketplace. Featured on the incase.com home page, you can get a good taste of that stuff from the lead-in graphic. And it explains why I aver that “Incase relaunches DBM line.”

Why Say: Incase Relaunches DBM Line?

DBM means Incase has a line of mice and keyboards, plus other accessories (e.g. headphones) that MS used to build until late 2023 and then abandoned for Surface-branded items. Lots of people took exception, including yours truly. Indeed, I was delighted that Incase wisely chose to license those designs and re-issue them . Prices are a bit higher than I remember them in 2023. That’s when I purchased these last Microsoft-branded items:

  • 2  Comfort Curve 4000 keyboards
  • 2 Basic Optical Wired Mouse v2.0
  • 2 Mobile Mouse 4000

I still have one of each left in its original box, ready to use when the current avatar starts to fade or fail.

A New Day for MS-Branded Peripherals

But now, there’s no need to hoard — nor pay outrageous eBay prices — to obtain these old familiar and (IMO at least) beloved desktop appurtenances. You can just visit the Incase site and buy them direct. I assume they’ll partner up with other typical sales channels (e.g. Best Buy, Walmart, Target and so forth) to get them out there in large numbers at competitive prices.

I’m glad to see them back. And here’s a shout-out to Paul Thurrott himself, whose blog post yesterday brought Incase DBM device availability to my attention. Thanks, Paul! I’ll also cheerfully admit that I’m completely hooked on my Comfort Curve 4000 keyboard and haven’t found another that comes close to matching its fit for my flying, or sometimes fumbling, fingers. Long may it wave!!!

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

Snipping Tool Text Extractor Rollout

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Windows certainly has its weird and wonderful ways. I was forcibly reminded just now, when looking on a Canary test PC to see if the next Text Extractor tool was on my Snipping Tool toolbar. While you can see it in the lead-in graphic for this story, I couldn’t see it on my PC right away. At first, understanding that MS is conducting a new Snipping Tool Text Extractor rollout, I thought I might be on the outside, looking in. Not so: let me explain…

Working Thru Snipping Tool Text Extractor Rollout

When I first checked the app and saw the toolbar unchanged, I jumped to the assumption that my PC wasn’t in the first rollout cohort. Then I remembered: Snipping Tool is a Windows Store app. So I went to the store and clicked on the Downloads button. Nothing had been updated since 4/14 (two days ago), so I clicked the “Check for updates” button.

Guess what? There was indeed a new version of Snipping Tool ready for download. Once that step was complete, and a quick install later I saw what MS announced in its April 15 blurb. Yes, Virginia: there is now a text item in the Snipping Tool toolbar. Again you can see it in the second from right position in the intro image. MS even provides an intro blurb to tell you what this toolbar element does.

I checked it, and it works as advertised. Makes the steps involved in grabbing text from an image and dropping it into a file ever so much easier and faster. Thanks, MS for giving us something many of us can use and enjoy (your humble author included). Visit the MS Store on Canary and Dev Windows 11 PCs and you, too, can partake of this neat new feature. Cheers!

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Device drivers, Insider stuff, Recent Activity, Thoughts & concerns, WED Blog

Why Run NVIDIA Studio Driver?

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The question in the blog post title — namely: “Why run NVIDIA Studio driver?” — means considering the alternative. That’s the Game Ready Driver, which gets updates 2 or more times every month. Look at what new Game Ready Drivers bring to the party. New games (and game versions) keep coming out, and GPU drivers need matching tweaks. Thus, the answer is “To play (new or updated) games.”

I just saw news that NVIDIA had released new cards (and drivers, presumably). Checking the NVIDIA app, I quickly saw no new Studio version available. But a new version of the NVIDIA app installed itself when I went to check. Indeed, its “About “banner headlines this blog post.

Why Run NVIDIA Studio Driver — Not?

If you don’t game, you don’t need to track the game-focused updates. Game Ready Driver users get new bells and whistles (NVIDIA calls them “optimizations and performance enhancements”) and a faster update cadence. Studio driver users get more stability and reliability, including more “extensive testing with professional software to ensure consistent performance.”

Interestingly enough, PCs can switch between the two drivers at will to exploit those trade-offs as they see fit. Because I don’t game (at least, not the kinds of games a GPU can impede or assist), I choose stability and reliability over optimizations and performance enhancements.

Indeed, I’ve been bitten when I’ve succumbed to the temptation to switch from Studio to Game Ready drivers upon various occasions. If you run this Google Search, you’ll see that I’ve blogged about NVIDIA stuff (drivers mostly, though occasionally about the app and its GeForce Experience predecessor) 9 times in the past year. That makes it a pretty regular thing for me to watch and report about.

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

Reinstall Now Builds Current Images

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Last Wednesday, I blogged that a repair install for Windows 11 unsticks WU. As I think about what that really means, I want to emphasize that using Settings > System > Recovery > Reinstall now does something remarkable. That is, Reinstall Now builds current images for whatever version Windows Update is serving at the time. It used to be only UUPDump.net could do that, by slipstreaming all the latest updates into the base Windows image (24H2 in this case).

How To See That Reinstall Now Builds Current Images

If you look at the Settings > System > About info that appears in the lead-in graphic, it tells pretty much the whole story needed for evidence. You can see it shows version 24H2, Build 26100.3775 with an install data of 4/9/2025. That’s the very day I ran the repair install, and the build number matches what follows in the wake of the latest CU (KB 5055523 — see the parenthetical phrase at the end of that title).

What makes this facility remarkable is that UUPDump.net has to build a Windows image for the baseline release, then apply as many updates — the latest security, cumulative and servicing stack items — as it needs to bring the image current. This requires some time-consuming DISM manipulations that can take an hour to complete. Interestingly, the WU facility handled the entire repair in about 35 minutes.

I still recommend UUPDump.net as a way to create an ISO for some specific (and non-current) Windows Build. But if you need to repair a current version, it looks like built-in Windows 11 recovery really is your best choice. Good to know! That’s why I’m telling you…

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

Leave Post KB5055523 Inetpub Folder Alone

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I’d seen reporting on this yesterday, along with blithe assumptions about related cleanup (deletion). Today, MS has published a CVE-2025-21204 security note that explains what’s going on, and specifically advises users to leave post KB5055523 Inetpub folder alone — and intact.

Here’s a direct quote from the afore-linked source:

After installing the updates listed in the Security Updates table for your operating system, a new %systemdrive%\inetpub folder will be created on your device. This folder should not be deleted regardless of whether Internet Information Services (IIS) is active on the target device. This behavior is part of changes that increase protection and does not require any action from IT admins and end users.

Note: KB5055523 is a security update for Build 26100.3775 (production level Windows 11 24H2) released as part of the Patch Tuesday collection on April 8, 2025.

Why Leave Post KB5055523 Inetpub Folder Alone?

It’s part of the infrastructure upon which MS relies to fend off the named vulnerability. In other words, if the folder is present, MS can use it to protect against potential attacks. MS is sometimes fond of leaving folders behind in the wake of various installs (especially feature upgrades). Anything not needed is usually fair game for Disk Cleanup or the Windows Store PC Manager app.

That said, some OCD-friendly Windows users (you know who you are) relentlessly clean up things just because they must. This is apparently a case that flies against that impetus. MS, in this particular case, says “Leave it alone.” I guess I shall, and you probably should, too.

Though the Inetpub folder is empty after the update runs (see next screencap) it is meant to be and stay there. You’ve been warned! Indeed, as you can see, it’s properties are also set to “Read-only.”

The ‘Read-only’ status signals weakly that this item should stay put.

Final Warning: Don’t!

I’ve seen various online sources assert that it’s OK to delete this folder because it caused no observable ill effects on their test PCs. If what MS says about Inetpub’s presence or absence on a PC is true, you don’t want to sight what could happen if it were to be deleted. Let this particular sleeping critter keep snoozing, please.

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PowerToys ComPal Error Comes & Goes

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I have to laugh, and with genuine joy. Last week, Clint Rutkas and the PowerToys team dropped a new Command Palette with v0.90.0 of that app. Shortly thereafter, I noticed an error window on the desktop of my only remaining Windows 10 PC after startup (see lead-in graphic). Upon visiting GitHub PowerToys bug reports, I saw multiple reports that others were seeing the same window. Just now, v0.90.1 hit the Internet, and the error appears no more. That’s why I’m saying: “PowerToys ComPal error comes & goes.” That’s good!

Why PowerToys ComPal Error Comes & Goes

I see this quick fix as abundant evidence that things are working as they should. Here’s a typical if somewhat idealized sequence of events:

1. A new release appears (v0.90.0 PowerToys in this case)
2. Users install and run same, and report issues and errors
3. A next release appears (v0.90.1 this time ’round) with at least some issues and errors fixed (“Class not registered” goes away)

I have to hand it to Mr.  Rutkas and the rest of the PowerToys team. They’re unusually responsive to input, feedback and issue reports. When I saw the new release was already in the pipeline, my first thought was “I bet the error message goes away.” And indeed it did.

GitHub showed me as many as a dozen different error reports around the error message shown at the head of this story. Apparently, lots of people run PowerToys on Windows 10, and lots of people noticed the error.

GitHub Tells the Story

If you check the v0.90.1 changelog, you’ll see this somewhat opaque entry: “#38531 – Fixed an issue where Command Palette was attempting to install dependencies that already existed.” That would be my best guess for what caused the error message to appear. Fixing that would obviously also do away with the error message.

Gosh, it’s nice when things work the way they’re supposed to. PowerToys is always a pleasure to use. It’s even better that the dev team is obviously listening (and sensitive) to user input and reactions. Again: keep up the good work, folks!

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

Repair Install Unsticks WU

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For the past 5 weeks or so, I’ve been working with the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen5 laptop. For the last two weeks, updates have been stuck, with an error code that indicates file download issues. The usual repair techniques haven’t helped, either — namely run the troubleshooter or the reset & re-register Windows Update components. So this morning, with a new cumulative update out, I installed the latest Windows 11 24H2 repair version. That built-in repair install unsticks WU and catches me up with pending stuff, as you can see in the lead-in graphic.

Repair Install Unsticks WU Trades Time vs. Convenience

The problems with the afore-mentioned techiques (troubleshooter, reset&re-register) is that they take multiple steps and a bit of effort. Double that when, as often happens, remediation is also needed. It took a while to click Start > System > Recovery > Reinstall now and then work through that process. But the details took care of themselves and I didn’t have to do anything except fire it off to make it work.

In the end, this turned out to be easier and less vexing than the other techniques. Its results were also immediately apparent, and entirely positive, once completed — as you can see in the lead-in graphic. That said, Update History does become a little opaque when you conduct this repair. Here’s what it says now:

It doesn’t show the problem CU installed and running. It simply shows that “Windows 11, 24H2 (repair version)” got installed today. Of course, that means the installer used the latest version of the Windows image — including those problem CUs — as the install base. So really, it’s all fixed now. You just have to know what this reference means.

And ain’t that just the way things go here in Windows-World? The problem may be solved, but a hint of mystery — or is it confusion? — remains. Cheers!

Note Added 4 Hrs Later: Get-Hotfix Tells the Story

Reading through ElevenForum.com threads just now, I learned that running Get-Hotfix in PowerShell will shows installed KBs from a repair install image, to wit: This shows that various updates and security updates are indeed present in the newly repaired image. The current build number for that PC — 26100.3775 — also shows that KB5055523 has been applied. Good stuff…

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Download MS 50th Anniversary Wallpapers

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Last week — April 4, to be precise — Microsoft celebrated its 50th anniversary. Amidst the hoopla and the celebration, the folks over at the Windows Experience Blog  released an item entitled Windows wallpapers worth celebrating. There, you’ll find a link for a ~24MB download named 50th-windows-wallpapers.zip. That’s right: you can download MS 50th anniversary wallpapers, if you like, and add them to your collection. You can see the contents of the ZIP folder as the lead-in graphic courtesy of File Explorer.

Download MS 50th Anniversary Wallpapers ZIP Archive

What you get is a collection of 8 different wallpapers, each in 4K and wide-screen formats depending on your display preferences. Some of these items are game-themed: Mahjong and Solitaire (e.g. Klondike) inspired ones. Some of them feature tulips (light and dark themed). Others give the same light/dark treatment to Windows icons and logos. It’s a fun set of items. If you want to put them into rotation with other such images, put them into your Slideshow folder and they’ll enter that lineup.

I have to laugh. When I went to show off these wallpapers, I got icons instead of images in File Explorer. Turns out one of my View settings in Folder Options had ticked “Always show icons, never thumbnails.” Unchecking that box let me capture the screenshot you see at the head of this blog post.

Here in Windows-World, it’s always something, right? Cheers! And congrats, I guess, to MS for surviving half a century in this rough and tumble world. Indeed, things have been a bit more rough lately than many of us would like, speaking both as an industry observer and a Microsoft stockholder. Sigh.

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Dell Updates Replaces Power Plan

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Yesterday afternoon, upon returning from a lovely drive into the Texas Hill country “the Boss” remarked that she now had to power on her Dell Optiplex D7080 to wake it from sleep. “Hmmm” I thought to myself “I bet something changed with sleep/wake/hibernate.” It sure did: a recent item via Dell Command Update installed and selected a “Dell” power plan. Alas, when Dell updates replaces power plan, their chosen alternative forced use of the power button to initiate wake. Easily, easily fixed: read on for those details, please…

When Dell Updates Replaces Power Plan, Switch Back

As you can see in the lead-in graphic, there’s a new power plan in the mix. It’s named Dell and it had been selected by default after some recent item ingested through the Dell Command Update utililty. To inspect the contents of a power plan in PowerShell, two commands are needed: the first provides a list of all plans, the second inquires about the contents of a specific plan through its GUID. Those commands are:

powercfg -list
powercfg -query <GUID>

Fortunately, the list output includes both human readable names and GUIDs so I was quickly able to get the deets for the Dell power plan. And sure enough, as I suspected, it had a setting for hibernate after 1 hour of idle time. That was the key!

Wake from Hibernate Requires a Poke

A poke of the power button, in fact, which was just what the boss didn’t like. So, as you can see from the lead-in graphic, I switched her back over the the High Performance plan she’d been using before Dell Command Update made that switch. It doesn’t include hibernate, and it wakes on keypress or mouse click from sleep. That’s what she wanted. And now, that’s what she’s got.

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