Category Archives: Backup/Restore

Backup/Restore, Device drivers, Insider stuff, Recent Activity, USB devices, WED Blog

Considering USB4 External Media

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It’s a classic trade-off in more ways than one: cost versus speed. I’m prepping for an AskWoody story about external media on Windows PCs. For me, the big trade-off when considering USB4 external media is higher prices for higher performance. “How much higher?” you ask: that’s what I’m in the process of figuring out right now.

Whole Device Chain Counts When Considering USB4 External Media

Every step in the device chain counts when going for the speediest external Windows media. The starting point from the PC end is the USB port itself. Ideally, it should be USB4 or Thunderbolt 3/4, and support 40 Gbps throughput. Next comes the cable: it should be labeled USB4, Thunderbolt 3 or 4, or 40 Gbps. Next comes the storage device. For me, that mostly means an enclosure housing an NVMe SSD. That enclosure should be USB4 or Thunderbolt 3/4, and the NVMe should be Gen 3 (PCIe x3) or higher.

At every step you pay more to attain the current pinnacle of performance. (I’ve not yet seen any 80 Gbps devices, but they’re coming. Copilot tells me Intel’s 14th Gen HX-series mobile CPUs “are starting to support this technology. “) A quick search at Amazon tells me you can’t buy USB5 cables, docks, and so forth yet. My best guess: we’re looking well into 2025 before it goes mainstream.

Right now, the jump from USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) to USB4 (and TB 3/4 equivalents) is getting cheaper, but still costs. You’ll pay US$46 for the cheapest USB4 M.2 enclosures right now (more like US$75 and up for other options). That’s double the cost — or more — of USB 3.2 Gen 1 devices (UASP: see below). Cables cost US$2 to $10 more for faster varieties, which isn’t too punitive. You can’t take advantage of anything faster than Gen 3 NVMes. Thus, you can buy 1 TB for US$55-80, and 2 TB for US$93-130 or so.

The “big spring” comes from the cost of either buying (for laptops and so forth) or installing (for desktops with open PCIe slots, and ASUS is the only vendor I can find who makes one for US$126) to gain a USB4 40 Gbps port to plug into. My testing so far shows this DOES make a difference, and often offers better performance than older and rarer Thunderbolt 3 or 4 capable USB-C ports.

For Me, Backup Is the Killer App

I’m always messing with PCs, so I need to back up frequently in case I shoot myself in the foot and have to replace a mangled installation. It happens to me at least 1-2 times a week in my testing and research, so this is no joke. I find the cost of USB4 external storage worthwhile because it drops the time to make a complete image backup into the 2-4 minute range. It takes anywhere from 7-24 minutes to back up to UASP-capable external storage. This equates to USB 3.2 Gen 2 10 Gbps capability. It shows up with max read/write speeds in Cystaldiskmark in a range from 1000-1100 MBps.

If you look at the lead-in graphic, which comes from NirSoft’s USBdeview, you can see it references the UASPStore.sys driver and service. I’ve actually found this to be a clearer way to recognize when a USB 3.x port can provide somewhat higher speeds. If your USB 3.x ports are older (and slower) they’ll usually show a USBstor.sys driver instead (and max speeds in CrystalDiskMark in the 400-500 MBps range).

You pays your money, and you takes your chances. That’s how things go with external USB-attached Windows storage — and much else in life!

 

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Backup/Restore, Insider stuff, Recent Activity, WED Blog

Restored P16 Needs PowerShell Catch-up

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Here’s something I’d never noticed before. If you’ve read yesterday’s blog post, you already know I ended up restoring the ThinkPad P16 yesterday after ascertaining Windows 11 backup fails to deposit a list of removed applications following “Reset this PC.” What I didn’t know then, but I know now, is that the restored P16 needs PowerShell catch-up to finish the job. Let me explain…

Why Say: Restored P16 Needs PowerShell Catch-up?

Imagine my surprise when running PowerShell on the restored P16 this morning, to see version 5.1 come up as the default. Then, imagine my further surprise to observe:

  • No version 7.4.5 present on the install
  • Windows Terminal NOT selected as default terminal app
  • No OhMyPosh present to gussy up the WinTerm UI
  • No other PS customizations present: e.g. WinFetch (as shown in the lead-in graphic to give PS something to display)

All this is, of course, easily fixed. And it took me less than 5 minutes to take care of all this stuff. But I learned a valuable lesson, one that I’ll take to heart going forward. It is: even an incredibly fast and convenient image restore using Macrium Reflect doesn’t completely restore absolutely everything. When invoked as a cure-all or a way to recover from a (failed) experiment, there’s still some clean-up needed.

Plus çe Change

I have to observe in this context that the same is true for an in-place repair install (aka IPRI). Once it’s done, one must re-set File Explorer Options and a few other odds’n’ends that the Windows Installer resets during its OS replacement operations. The more things change, the more they stay the same!

Here in Windows-World, it’s always something. Today, it’s understanding that an image restore may not completely put PowerShell back where it came from. I wonder: what will it be tomorrow?

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Backup/Restore, Insider stuff, Recent Activity, USB devices, WED Glog, Windows 11

Windows 11 Backup Request

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I have a modest request to make of Microsoft, where Windows 11 is concerned. Its new-to-11 Windows Backup facility uses Reset this PC as the basis for a new Windows image. It then rejiggers the Start Menu to show you which apps and applications need to be reinstalled. Hence my Windows 11 backup request. I see no file on the desktop or in the User’s folder hierarchy somewhere that lists  “missing” stuff.

What About My Windows 11 Backup Request?

According to the Answers.Microsoft.com something like this may be available in a file named removedapps.html. Or  perhaps “Removed apps.html” (with an internal space). If so, one could parse this data in PowerShell. Then, WinGet could reinstall most such things. (WinGet says it knows about 6,575 packages as I write this blog via (Winget search –source winget “”).count  .)

I’ve just made a Macrium Reflect image backup of a test PC, and I’m now going to restore that PC using Windows Backup. I’ll see if an html file shows up in the desktop (or somewhere else: e.g. windows.old) afterward. Let’s see…

Further Ruminations on Removed Apps

Turns out that when you go into this process, Reset this PC shows you the list of apps that need to be reinstalled. It also states “This list of apps will be saved to the desktop after reset.” That should do it.

List shows first 11 of 26 items, but does NOT allow text copy.

Just for safety’s sake, I screen-grabbed all items since this window doesn’t support text grab of the list contents. Good thing I did: when the machine booted, I could not find a file anywhere on the system that matched the string search “remo*app*.html” anywhere. Just for grins I also searched on *.html to look for all files dated today (September 9). Nothing relevant to removed apps there, either.

When in Doubt, Restore the Macrium Image

I eventually got back to where I started by disabling secure boot, booting into the Macrium Rescue media, then restoring the backup I made just before starting down this path.  Note: my PC wouldn’t boot from Macrium Rescue media unless I undid secure boot. Hey MS! Please fix this apps list issue: it makes Windows 11 Backup much less attractive or workable the way things currently stand.

The eventual part came from having to figure out I needed to turn off Device Guard before Secure Boot could itself be turned off. Then I had to steer around BitLocker stuff (a key is necessary before you can read an encrypted drive like the P16’s: I didn’t care because I was going to rewrite the whole shebang anyway). Then I had to wait for the backup to complete, go back and turn Secure Boot and Device Guard back on, enter the recovery key, and resume. Sheesh! A lot of time and effort to find out if Windows 11 Backup writes an app list to the desktop (or elsewhere). Too bad it does not…as far as I can tell.

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CVE-2024-6768 Exposes Scary Windows Vulnerability

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In reading through my usual Windows news and info sources this morning I came across a scary notification at MS Power User. The named item is from the national vulnerability database. CVE-2024-6738 — which makes it item 6,738 for 2024 — comes with scary implications. It’s been reported in some form since last February. It attacks by altering meta-data for Windows base log files (BLFs) and can cause doom loops like those recently experienced from a Crowdstrike update last month. Thus, CVE-2024-6768 exposes scary Windows vulnerability that is hard to fend off and tricky to repair.

BLF Alteration in CVE-2024-6768 Exposes Scary Windows Vulnerability

A base log file (BLF) sits at the heart of the Windows Common Log File System (aka CLFS). As MS Learn’s “Creating a Log File” article begins, it says:

Before you can use CLFS, you must create a log file using the CreateLogFile function. A log file is made up of a base log file that contains metadata, and a number of containers that hold the actual data. On any local file system, containers can be in one or more separate files; on NTFS, containers can be in one or more streams within a file.

The BLF contains key information that describes the associated containers for log data. If the BLF is wrong, the log won’t make sense and cannot be read. This doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it is. Let me explain further…

Several Interesting Copilot Responses…

When asked to describe BLF files, Copilot notes how they’re used:

Usage: These files are crucial for maintaining system stability and integrity. They help manage user-level registry information and other system-level data. For example, the Windows component that writes user-level registry information to the NTUSER.DAT file uses CLFS logging, which involves BLF files1.

Indeed it seems that CVE-2024-6768 wreaks havoc by breaking the base log handler with a bogus “size of data field” value. This kind of error triggers a BugCheck error, and in turn provokes a BSOD.

Further investigation shows that any time a registry change occurs BLF files get updated. They are also essential to system boot-up, application installation and update, as well as system update. To get more details ask Copilot: “When do Windows base log files get written, and when do they get read?” You’ll see what I mean right away.

What Does the Future Hold?

The Fortra release note for this vulnerability shows its history, while a companion research note shows more details. So far, MS has yet to respond. Other than research work, I see no evidence of successful exploits in the wild. That said, this kind of attack is nearly impossible to fix without knowing the exact details of the registry values changed to mung some (or more) specific .BLF file(s).

IMO, this means the only real protection is a recent image backup that will replace the altered Windows image with a known, good working copy. Stuff like this is why I keep such things handy, and make one at least daily. This could get interesting…stay tuned!

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Macrium Reflect Update Ructions

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I’m feeling a bit out of sorts this morning. I’ve just finished updating the mostly excellent Macrium Reflect backup/restore software on my production PC. Because I use Reflect on numerous PCs here at Chez Tittel, I sometimes get bollixed keeping track of what’s what. Reflect got an update on May 14 (release notes). I’ve been catching up here since returning from vakay last Monday. Along the way, I’ve encountered what I have to call Macrium Reflect update ructions. Let me explain…

What’s Causing Macrium Reflect Update Ructions?

Macrium Reflect (which I’ll abbreviate as MR going forward) is good about announcing updates, and warning users to install them. Every now and then, though, one of its updates requires users to reboot the PC after it’s done. I understand perfectly well this means they’ve made changes in code that hooks into the OS. A reboot lets those hooks get detached from old running stuff and re-plumbed into its new replacements. Perfectly sensible.

But what irks me is that their release notes and update notifications say nothing about “reboot required” or “no reboot required.” I don’t like it that I get to the end of an update process and then get informed the PC needs an update before it can take full effect. Sigh.

Why Reboot Timing Matters…

Here’s the thing: If they warned me a reboot would be needed  I’d say “OK. I’ll do this later when I’m getting ready to step away from the PC for a while.” But when I’m working full-bore with two or three browsers, Outlook, Word, and Explorer all open in multiple tabs or windows, password managers enabled, and so forth, I don’t want to “Hold everything!” to reboot right away. It takes a good 5 minutes to shut everything down, reboot, then wind everything back up to return to the status quo. But if I don’t reboot, I sometimes notice laggy performance. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

Please, MR developers (Paramount Software): provide a “reboot after install” warning as part of the notification and/or release notes info. It’s much more convenient to know what’s coming, and to be able to plan accordingly. ‘Nuff said, I hope!

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Backup/Restore, Cool Tools, Recent Activity, WED Blog, Windows 10, Windows 11

Restore Point Pros & Cons

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By default, Windows 10 and 11 both turn on restore points (RPs). These may be used to return an OS environment back to a prior state. The OS typically shoots one RP daily, and takes one as it starts the WU process. In addition, app developers may include taking an RP snapshot early on during their own install processes. All this said, there are plenty of Restore Point pros & cons.

What Are Restore Point Pros & Cons?

These days you reach Restore Points through the System Protection tab in the System Properties window in Control Panel. Interestingly enough, you have to navigate through Settings > System to get there. Once you find what you’re looking for (see lead-in screencaps) you can enable or disable RPs, and also allocate a maximum percentage of the system/boot disk which these system snapshots can occupy.

RP Pros

RP’s positives include the following:

  • Convenience and ease of use: you can create an RP manually with a few mouse clicks, and it takes little time to complete one. It’s also fairly easy to revert to a Restore Point using either Windows built-in tools or one of my faves (it’s an oldie, but a goodie): System Restore Explorer. It tool 33 seconds to create one on my i7Skylake desktop, and 1:05 to restore same on that PC.
  • Provides a simple layer of system protection: can easily revert Windows to undo update, app or application, and driver changes. This is faster — but more limited in scope — than even the fastest image backup restore. As a knock-on effect: this can also undo software or library conflicts (after adding an app or application, or a new .NET version, or something else that’s similar).
  • Some cleanup when removing new software: This might be somewhere between a pro and a con.  Restoring an RP does result in removal of executable files and dlls added when installing apps. But shortcuts, preferences, and other files (including home folders — e.g. inside C:\Program Files or C:\Program Files (x86)) remain intact.

RP Cons

By contrast, RP’s negatives include:

  • No antivirus protection: restoring an RP won’t necessarily eliminate triggers for or stealth executables that cause malware infections. Thus malware can return even after using an RP.
  • No data file backup: RP copies the contents of the system volume shadow using the Volume Shadow Service (aka VSS). This does not include data files by intention. So RP provides no data restore capability (see the note at the end of this story for a 3rd-party tool that does provide such capability, however).
  • New user accounts are not protected by RP: if you define a new user account after the point in time at which an RP shapshot is created, those accounts will no longer exist when that RP is restored. That said, the User files for that account will persist. IMO, this is a kind “worst of both worlds” situation. Sigh.

My Net-Net Is: Don’t Rely Solely on RPs

Reading through the previous plusses and minuses, it’s pretty easy to see that  RPs can have value in a limited set of circumstances. But they’re no substitute for a recent image backup, and they’re no panacea for solving non-trivial Windows issues or problems.

I don’t use RPs much myself anymore myself (though I did in the Vista and Windows 7 eras). These days I rely mostly on in-place upgrade repair install for semi-serious to serious troubleshooting, and a clean install (or image restore) for outright system failures and boot problems. It’s also my repair of last resort when nothing else will produce a working Windows instance. Go figure!

Note Added March 19: More Madness

I got a comment from TenForums.com and ElevenForum.com regular “Old Navy Guy” (ONG) this morning reminding me that the NirSoft ShadowCopyView tool does allow users to view and copy certain data files from a VSS snapshot. This *does* allow access to user files and folders and adds to what you can recover from such a snapshot.

I totally forgot about this tool, and am glad to be reminded of same. More important, I’m grateful to have the chance to point this out to you, dear reader — and to make that tool known and possibly useful for you. AFAIK, this capability applies only to files and folders in the Users folder hierarchy, so if you keep stuff on a data drive — as I do — it won’t help much, or at all. But it could still be helpful nevertheless. Cheers!

Note Added March 21: Including Other Drives

Another Homer Simpson moment has come and gone for me. ONG commented again to remind me that ShadowCopyView does data drives, too. I initially wondered how VSS could accommodate drives other than the C: (boot/system) drive where the OS and other key stuff lives. Then it hit me: you must enable RP protection on those drives, too. Here’s an illustrative screencap:

Restore Point Pros & Cons.ddarrow

Turn on Protection for the D: drive so it gets VSS snapshots, too.

Maybe there’s more to this protection scheme than I originally gave it credit for. It took 12 seconds to capture an RP for my C: drive and 13-14 seconds for my D: (Data) drive on a Lenovo ThinkPad X380 Yoga. WizTree says C: contains ~80GB of data, while D: contains ~400GB. So it is indeed remarkably fast. And with VolumeShadowCopy providing access to contents, it provides workable file and folder level access to bring back items one-at-a-time or as portions of a target drive’s file hierarchy. Good stuff!

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Backup/Restore, Cool Tools, Insider stuff, Recent Activity, WED Blog, Windows 11

Toughbook System Disk Explored

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Examination of the disk layout and structure for the Panasonic Toughbook proved both interesting and informative. I used the free version of DiskGenius.  With the Toughbook System Disk explored — it appears as Disk 0 (HD0:) — I observed an interesting and useful disk layout, as you can see for yourself in the lead-in graphic above.

Reporting on Toughbook System Disk Explored

There are five (5) partitions on this disk, as follows:

1. EFI Partition (260 MB)
2. Microsoft Reserved (MSR: 16 MB)
3. WindowsBitLocker Encrypted (NTFS: 450.7 GB)
4. Recovery (WinRE: 990 MB)
5. OEM Recovery (OEMRCV: 25.0 GB)

What makes this disk layout interesting is that Partition 5 is basically a map and a replacement for all partitions. It includes a complete version of Windows 11 (Media.1) . It also uses SWM files (partial WIM files, and something new to me) to offer a variety of install and image files from which to build appropriate replacement images.

This feeds into a BIOS level repair utility from Panasonic that can rebuild the disk from scratch, in much the same way that the WinRE utility typically supports a “Factory reset” capability. This one, however, will work even in the absence of a working Windows image. Indeed, Panasonic also offersRecovery Media to perform the same function without reading anything from Disk 0 (via download, as explained below, or for purchase through the website).

Partitions 1-4 are basically a standard Windows 11 disk layout. Partition adds Panasonic’s own twist to this scheme, and provides an alternate means to reset a Toughbook to factory defaults that include this OEM partition. WinRE will rebuild the disk, but will leave this ultimate partition (5) alone.

Insights from Manuals and More

in a section entitled “About the Partition Structure” the Operating Instructions manual says:

Do not add or delete partitions in Windows 11, as the Windows area and recovery partition must be adjacent to each other in Windows 11.

I also found a link to Panasonic Japan for a Recovery Image Download Service. There I found links to an instruction manual and a recovery disk creation utility. Note: access to a valid model and serial number for a Toughbook PC is required to download and use this tool. Section 3.2  explains the recovery process which drives Panasonic recovery from a BIOS selection “Recovery” that rebuilds all partitions on the system disk.

Good to know!

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Bringing Up 2TB NVMe Proves Challenging

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About a week ago, I picked up an on-sale SSD, mostly so I could do some off-the-cuff price/performance testing. I’ve got plenty of 1TB models here at Chez Tittel. Suprisingly, bringing up 2TB NVMe proves challenging as I fight with cables, connections and ports to get it recognized and formatted in Windows. Let me explain…

Why Bringing Up 2TB NVMe Proves Challenging

From the get-go, I had problems getting the SSD recognized in Disk Management. There could have been numerous factors involved:

  • Power draw from a big NVMe
  • My attempt to start in a CalDigit TS4 hub
  • The el-cheapo NVMe enclosure I used
  • The USB-C cable between enclosure and port

By the time I did get things working, I had changed all of those things (except the first, which comes from the SSD itself). I ended up working from a USB 3.0 port in my desktop PC instead of a TB4/USB4 port on a CalDigit TS4 hub. Then, I switched from a US$18 Fideco to a US$70 Sabrent EC-NVMe SSD enclosure (I have two, and both work quite reliably). I went from a TB3 rated USB-C cable to a TB4 rated one.

Though it took me the better part of an hour to work through all those changes, I finally got to the point where I could see and set up the NVMe drive inside Windows. Once that was done, I plugged it into my Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Mobile Workstation.

The Price/Performance Story

There’s still something hincky with this set-up or with the SSD itself. I didn’t get very good numbers out of CrystalDiskMark (lower numbers than many HDDs, in fact). But when I ran a full backup in Macrium Reflect, it created a 62GB image file in 06:33.

Bringing Up 2TB NVMe Proves Challenging.cdm

These numbers are about 20% of what I get from Gen4 (PCIe x4) NVMes in this same enclosure.

That’s a data rate of around 9.45 GB per minute (161.5 MBps or 1292 Mbps by my reckoning). It’s about one-third the speed of an image backup to a fast NVMe in the same enclosure. But faster NVMes cost more (a Crucial T700 goes for US$340; a Teamgroup Z540 for US$260; a Samsung 990 Pro for US$150), too.

One more thing…

On the theory that even the Sabrent enclosure is old enough to be overwhelmed by a 2TB NVMe drive, I swapped it into a 2022=vintage Acasis TB4 NVMe enclosure. And whereas the drive had been unrecognizable in a TB4 port before this switch, it now came up. Then look at the difference in the CDM numbers it now produces (funny thing: the other enclosure produces better random R/W numbers, this one is emphatically the other ‘way round). And in this enclosure Macrium Reflect finished in 02:21 rather than 06:33 (that’s on par with other, faster NVMes in the same enclosure).

Emphatic block block differences in the Acasis enclosure!!!

One lesson I take away from this is that it’s important to remember that bigger capacity means a bigger power draw. Therefore, older and slower enclosures are less likely to provide the handling that bigger, newer NVMe SSDs need. I confirmed this by loading up the Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus that had been in the Acasis enclosure into the Sabrent enclosure: results were typical for a UASP NVMe (just over 1 Gbps for bulk transfers; better overall random R/W). That’s good to know!

All in all, I’m fine with what I’m getting from my US$84 outlay. I am looking for a capable enclosure that’s cheaper than the Acasis TB-401U (still costs US$140 on Amazon). This US $23 Sabrent USB-C 3.2 10Gbps model looks pretty good. I’ll follow up with its results when it shows up later this week…

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Seeking Free Windows Backup Satisfaction

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As of December 31, 2023, Paramount Software — the maker of Macrium Reflect — will no longer update its freeware version. I’ve been a long-time fan of this software. It has bailed me out of countless jams, many self-inflicted or the results of experiments gone bad. But I feel compelled to recommend a free backup tool to users, thinking that not everybody can (or wants to) pay for Windows backup. That’s why I’ve been seeking free Windows backup satisfaction for most of 2023. So far, I’m not too thrilled with what I’m finding outside the Macrium umbrella.

Still Seeking Free Windows Backup Satisfaction

As I often do when I’m looking for good software in some category, I turned to Tim Fisher at LifeWire. His 32 Best Free Backup Tools story, last updated in September 2023, certainly covers a lot of options. But now that MS has thrown ReFS volumes into the mix with its inclusion in the Dev Home utility for Windows 11, the number of suitable options drops precipitously. (Macrium Reflect, for example, supports ReFS only in its Server versions, which are not free. Many other tools on Tim’s list likewise omit ReFS in free versions.)

Tim’s #1 ranked choice is EasUS ToDo Backup which indeed comes in a free version that includes ReFS support. I’ve been messing about with it and it does the job. But gosh! The free version is chock-full of constant, annoying and even intrusive ads, ads, ads. Honestly, I *hate* it. And FWIW, Susan Bradley at AskWoody recommends buying a license if you use this product anyway. I have to concur, if only to make the darn thing SHUT UP already.

The Slot Remains Open…

As I dig through Tim’s sizable collection of possible Macrium Reflect replacements, I’ve yet to find something obvious to fill its slot. Val Potter at ComputerWorld gave me the option of recommending a paid-for tool instead when I revise my story on Windows Backup sometime soon. I may stick with Reflect anyway just because I know from long and sometimes hairy experience that it works, works, works.

If you have any suggestions for a killer free Windows backup app that’s neither Macrium Reflect nor EasUS ToDo Backup, please use the contact form here to drop me a line. I’m open to suggestion!

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Post-Update Reboot Restores Snappy Response

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Hah! I should’ve known. I downloaded and installed KB5029331 on my production Windows 10 PC yesterday. When I sat down and started working this morning, I noticed two things. First, a notification popped up to remind I had to reboot. Second, this PC was running much slower than usual with lots of screen stuttering (jerky video updates). I’m happy to report, however, that a post-update reboot restores snappy response.

Why Post-Update Reboot Restores Snappy Response

The install process can’t really complete until the system can work on itself, so to speak. That is best accomplished using the Windows Pre-installation Environment (WinPE) to — as this MS Learn article puts it — “Modify the Windows operating system while it’s not running.” In the meantime, until you reboot, there’s a bunch of dangling stuff left hanging that will only be resolved the next time Windows gets to take a timeout to finish the update job that installing a cumulative update (CU) sets in motion.

And indeed there are some pretty significant changes in this update to Windows 10. Among other things, I see that the new Windows Backup shows up as “Recently added” (see lead-in graphic above, top left). I’m a little disappointed that this new facility lacks an image backup capability, though. As far as I can tell it backs up Settings, Preferences and User files only. Looks like it’s not about to replace my daily full image backups using Macrium Reflect 8. Too bad!

Side note: the new Backup takes a while to complete, too, I fired it up when I started this blog post. As I publish and promote it, it’s still doing its thing . I can’t readily tie it to a process in Task Manager, Details view, either — hmmm. This will require further investigation!

Back to Work!

The good news is that my aging but still capable i7-6700 Skylake PC (32 GB DDR4, 0.5TB Samsung 980 Pro SSD) immediately returned to its usual snappy performance after the reboot was concluded. No more lagging or jerky video. As I said at the outset, I should’ve known this could happen and rebooted before I quit for the night last night. Luckily for me, the update process took less than 8 minutes to complete, all told. And now, I’m returning to my usually scheduled activities..

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