I admit it: I’m something of an SSD nut. I’ve been fascinated with these solid-state alternatives to spinning media since they first appeared in the mSATA days. Indeed, I acquired my first SSD in 2008, in the form of a SATA based Intel X25-M. I jumped on the mSATA bandwagon early in 2011, about two months after Intel dropped its M.2 SSD 310. Over the past decade and more, I’ve spent far too much time wondering if the latest performance boost is worth the typical doubling in cost over previous generations that vendors exact for riding on the bleeding edge. Here’s what I think…

When Pondering Performance Premiums, Don’t Forget Price

I bought a very nicely priced Samsung 990 EVO Plus 4TB Gen4 NVMe to include in my current desktop build earlier this summer. It set me back just over US$200. I was just reading about a new offering from Lexar — the NM1090 Pro 4TB — that costs “just $360” in the words of that story’s title. The difference is what got me thinking about today’s musings.

The thing about leading edge hardware is the whole device chain. That means it’s not just the drive itself in this case, but the slot into which it plugs, the bus upon which it rides, and the motherboard that houses all the pieces and their connections. Here at Chez Tittel, I have perhaps one or two systems — both laptops — that could use the Gen5 high-speed capabilities the Lexar drive can deliver.  I own neither of them (one is on loan from Lenovo, the other from Dynabook).

Getting There from Here Is More Than a Ride

Taking full advantage of the leading edge means a leading edge rig in which to house a leading edge drive. Right now, building such a system would cost me over US$2,000 (maybe even over $3K if I want to max out on the GPU side, too).

My strategy is to hang back one generation when building, because I can get reasonable performance for half the cost of buying into whatever the state of the art might be at purchase time. Of course, that means my build will be obsolete a bit sooner, but gosh: saving 50% lets me buy in more often at a lower overall cost. I happen to think that’s the right way to go.

Here in Windows-World, buyers can do as they like. I’d rather stretch my dollars a bit further, and use them more sparingly. But then, I’m not a gamer, nor do I run many applications where my productivity is diminished because I can’t operate at max bandwidth. What’s your take?

Just had a new piece come out over at AskWoody. It’s entitled Reinstall now — Windows recovery’s secret sauce.  As the title should lead you to expect, it’s about the new feature in Windows 11 that first appeared generally in 23H2, Build22631.3447. If you visit Settings > System > Recovery, you’ll find a “Reinstall now” button under the heading “Fix problems using Windows update.” Once that story went live, it immediately became obvious that numerous Windows 23H2 and 24H2 users had applied the updates that should have resulted in the button’s appearance. But, for a variety of reasons, it did not. Although I haven’t seen this happen personally, I have no trouble believing it, especially given my long history in chasing new Windows 11 features. Let me explain…

Gradual Rollouts and Chasing New Windows 11 Features

Apparently, this button has been part of what MS sometimes call a Controlled Feature Rollout (CFR). In the MS update blogs, it often refers to these as “gradual rollouts.” My special case for Murphy’s Law when it comes to the arrival of new stuff is “If it’s on gradual rollout, my PCs will be among the last to get it.” I’ve also seen this same phenomenon with regard to Quick Machine Recovery, where my older PCs and laptops didn’t get the feature, while my newer ones did. In fact, Intel 12th Gen (Alder Lake) and Ryzen 7 (Zen 4) is as old as such machines get that reliably offer QMR, and its test scenario.

That said, I just fired up a 2018 vintage ThinkPad X1 Extreme (8th Gen Intel CPU) and the “Reinstall now” button appears where it should. So either MS has pushed out this feature as far back as I can see (I don’t have any 7th Gen machines to check) and it really is generally out there, or my AskWoody readers are unlucky enough to own PCs or laptops that are still on compatibility holds for “Reinstall now” for some reason or another.

Note: MS has been busy, because the lead-in graphic from the 8th Gen X1Extreme also shows the QMR facility is now available there. It’s been a long time coming, but it just made it to the older machines recently. Good-oh!

Other Reasons Reinstall Now Might Be MIA

The other cool thing about the AskWoody forums is the weight of expertise that flows like honey from its knowledgable members. You’ll see this only display if you read the Comments on my article.

Among the useful possible obstacles that have emerged from discussion include:

• For “Reinstall now” to work, reagentc /info needs to show its status as enabled, so that the feature can contact Windows Update and then hand off control to the recovery image it downloads.
• Numerous GPOs can block or stymie the appearance of “Reinstall now” on Windows PCs and laptops. The threads mention a good handful of same, with the general observation that managed PCs in workplaces and schools are likely to fall under those policies. Also, at least one of AskWoody‘s own recommended end-user policies for Windows 11 could also get in the way.
• Patch Lady and AskWoody Editor-in-Chief Ssuan Bradley pointed to an MS Learn Q&A item Win 11 Doesn’t Show Reinstall Now, Fix Problems Using Windows Update Greyed Out. This includes useful tips and tricks for fixing the issue.

As always it’s fascinating to see how entirely predictable problems lead various communities to offer support, information, suggestions and fixes. Given that at least half-a-billion users run Windows 11, pretty much every feature is likely to hit a snag for some user(s) on some PCs and laptops. Here in Windows-World, I enjoy learning from such experiences. They’re often better experiened with sympathy second-hand, than with frustration and discomfort first-hand.

MS canceled the old Windows Insider MVP program as of the end of 2023. I had apply for the Microsoft MVP instead, and got awarded an MVP (Windows) in 2024. I’ve just finally understood — thanks to Copilot — that the cycle runs from July 1 of one year to June 30 of the next. Yesterday, got email saying I’d been awarded the Microsoft MVP (Windows) 2025. I’m pleased and relieved to make the cut for another year. The lead-in graphic sums things up nicely.

Beyond the Microsoft MVP (Windows) 2025 Award

How did qualify for this award? I submitted an application around the start of 2025. It summarized my activities with Windows during  2024. They included:

• 200-plus blog posts here at edtittel.com. [Average frequency just over 4 days a week, all year long.]
• 3-plus dozen articles on Windows topics for online publications in 2024. Outlets included ComputerWorld, Tom’s Hardware, AskWoody and TechTarget. [Average frequency just over 3 pieces per month.]
• Online participation at Tenforums and Eleven Forum
• Ongoing social media interactions with the WinGet, PowerShell and PowerToys teams
• Daily posts on Windows topics including blogs, observations, news and administrivia on X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Blue Sky, and Mastodon [Average frequency 10 items daily.]

Frankly, I’m glad the MVP team at Microsoft decided my level of activity was enough to qualify me for another year. I’ve been doing pretty much the same thing since I got the award through an old friend and former WIMVP in 2018. I hope to keep at it for some years yet, until I’m ready to retire “for real.” Indeed I’d be happy to keep at it for another decade or longer. We’ll see: the spirit is willing but I’ll have to see how the flesh holds up.

Learn More About Microsoft MVP

Visit the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional home page for more information about the program, including how to nominate somebody for this award. You can also learn how you yourself might qualify for same. And you can look up profiles for the current crop of MVPs, including yours truly, should you be so inclined. Glad to be a member of this select community, arguably one of the key cornerstones of Windows-World.

Out of the blue, Sharp/Dynabook PR contacted me via email a couple weeks back. When asked if I’d be interested in obtaining and reviewing an eval unit I said “Heck yeah!” So I’m now working my way into a snazzy little Portege X40-M2 14″ laptop. As I grind through my usual process, let me report here on the Dynabook X40-M2 intake process. TLDR version: nice little machine, modestly equipped, but not Copilot+ capable.

Working through Dynabook X40-M2 Intake

The box showed up here at Chez Tittel a couple of days back. After the obligatory “box wipe” (looks like they get to some pretty gnarly locations from there to here), I unboxed the X40-M2. It gets points for simple, easy packaging. But I was surprised to see that Sharp/Dynabook still uses plastic foam to cushion the laptop inside its otherwise mostly-cardboard innards. There were a few plastic bags and untagged sheets of plastic-like material here and there, too.

Initial set-up was dead easy. The default login lacked a password — typical for review units — and I got right to work. It is running Windows 11 Pro Build 26100.4351 and showed up more or less fully updated. A new BIOS for this unit just released on 6/16, so I got a chance to explore the various Dynabook utilities en route to updating same. Easy-peasey, mostly, and not a lot of crapware anywhere.

Basic Specs, Speeds, Feeds and More…

According to the dynabook Service Station app, here’s rundown of this specific laptop:

• CPU: Intel Core Ultra5 225U (Arrow Lake, 12 cores: 2 P-cores, 8 E-cores, and 2 Low-power E-cores; 14 threads total)
• RAM: 16 GB  (2X8GB DDR5-5600 SoDIMMs)
• Graphics: Intel Graphics (built into CPU)
• Ports: HDMI, GbE (RJ-45), 2xTB4/USB-C (40Gbps), 2xUSB-A (5Gbps), 3.5mm audio, microSD,
• Display: 2560×1440, True Color
• Wi-Fi: WiFi7 BE-201 adapter
• Dimensions: 313x222x19mm (12.33″x8.73″x0.73″)
• Weight: 3.17 lbs/1440g

The enclosure is sturdy and strong, made of alulminum alloy in a grey-blue finish inside and out. It’s a fingerprint/smudge magnet, but cleans up easily with a microfiber cloth and some elbow grease.

Great Little System, But…

As compact thin-and-light laptops go, this one’s strong, portable and reasonably capable. The unit as configured lists on the dynabook site for US$1249. I saw other prices online as much as US$200 less (e.g. Best Buy). But for somewhat less money (around US$980) I recently purchased a Snapdragon X thin-and-light with 1TB instead of 500GB of storage and a brighter, more vibrant OLED display. That meant the other unit is Copilot+ capable and ready to deliver Recall, enhanced Studio Effects, Click to Do, and more. This laptop, however worthy on its own merits, can do none of those things. That said, if you need a solid, dependable and portable business PC sans bells and whistles, this is a good choice.

About that Intake Process

I ran into some interesting behaviors during intake. I had to watch what I did remotely versus at the laptop’s keyboard (e.g. Intel Driver & Support Assistant) because some things worked well locally but not so well remotely. I also couldn’t get the Wi-Fi to work with my Asus 802.11ax router on the 5GHz channel, though it worked swell at 2.4Ghz (go figure). Otherwise, I got up all of my apps and applications without issue.

On an ergonomics/usability note, I did have to watch my cursor positioning pretty closely when navigating various UIs (e.g. Dynabook utilities, Settings, PatchMyPC, and so forth). Otherwise, a click on the touchpad wouldn’t fire off the action I was trying to provoke. I may need to mess around with touchpad settings to better suit my visual acuity and navigation style.

Though the Samsung OEM NVMe unit is PCIe 4 Gen 4, its speeds were somewhat underwhelming (CDM sez: 5000read/4000write on big blocks|.450read/350write on random 4K blocks). No hardware encryption support, either. But the unit is now up and running, and operating well on my LAN. I’ll look forward to sharing more info over the next couple of weeks. Cheers!

OK, then. Yesterday I blogged about seeing no upgrade to WinGet until after a PC restart. It turns out that is indeed one way — but not the only way — to ensure that WinGet will upgrade itself from one version to the next. In this case it was moving from Version 1.25.340.0 to 1.25.390.0.  Why did I restart? Because I closed, then re-opened Windows Terminal several (3) times with no intervening change in WinGet versions. Thanks to feedback from WinGet team lead Demitrius Nelon and Senior Software Engineer John McPherson, I now know why restart guarantees WinGet upgrade. I also know why a restart may not be needed, and about possibilities for upgrade hangups. Let me explain…

Here’s Why Restart Guarantees WinGet Upgrade

Thanks to an invitation from the development team, I’m a member of an MS Teams chat called “WinGet Community.” I posted info about my observations and a link to yesterday’s blog there, and got some useful and interesting information from the aforementioned folks that provide a pretty detailed explanation of what I experienced, and why it happened.

First, here’s how Demitrius responded to my report and inquiry:

Hey Ed (Guest), when WinGet is updating “packaged” applications (MSIX Installer), it’s using deferred registration. It may take a few moments for the registration to complete before WinGet is updated (App Installer package) when WinGet is the thing currently running updates . That means WinGet essentially needs to completely finish what it’s doing before the delayed registration happens. A reboot which requires a user to log in (and that triggers the “registration” part of the MSIX lifecycle) will ensure all MSIX packages are up to date. In some cases there may be a few second delay when winget upgrade –all was used to update WinGet itself.

I’ll talk with the team to see if there is a reasonable way to diagnose this a bit better, and if the performance is suffering, we might need to look into some other “special” handling for this specific scenario.

We were hoping to avoid any logic in WinGet like “if package == foo” then do something special.

In some cases, a user may be actively running an MSIX package GUI based application. WinGet could upgrade the package to a newer version, but it wouldn’t be applied until the currently running instance was restarted.

That’s why the message is “Restart the application to complete the upgrade.”. We just don’t know if the application is running or not. In the case of App Installer / WinGet, a user could be in the middle of installing a sideloaded application which also could have it “tied up” from having the latest version registered for the user.

Restart application should not mean “reboot”. Some applications specify a reboot is required, and that’s when WinGet would display “reboot required”.

So essentially, what Demitrius is saying is that WinGet waits until all other pending package updates finish before allowing its own registration to change and its own update to complete. I was probably not waiting long enough for all the pending items to complete. That said, he also explains cases where such completions might not happen until (or rather, after) a restart occurred.

And Then, There’s a COMplication possible…

John McPherson observes further that:

Note that all packaged processes must terminate for the next process launch to then register the new version.  So any outstanding COM objects keeping the server alive will block that.  This could be due to PowerShell cmdlets and the GC not running due to no memory pressure.  Or it could be other services on the machine using COM.

So it appears there could be stuff running in the background that might stymie WinGet’s own auto-upgrade. Thus, it sounds like a restart is a reasonable workaround if and when WinGet attempts to upgrade itself, reports success, but the version number doesn’t increase. Waiting isn’t an unreasonable thing to do, but if the wait gets too long, a restart will force the WinGet upgrade to go through.

Thanks, guys, for the great information and explanations. It’s good to know what’s going on behind the scenes when WinGet handles multiple updates in a single go. In yesterday’s case, 5 items were upgraded, including WinGet itself, but also OhMyPosh, Teams, WinScript, and more. Of that batch, I’m pretty sure WinScript has interesting COM connections. Thus, I can speculate that the old three-fingered-salute (a restart, in this usage) resolved a stuck situation. As the old saw goes: “There’s no school like the old school.”

Whoa! Things are getting pretty esoteric. Via Reliability Monitor, I just got caught in a File Explorer AppHangB1 AppHang81 gotcha. But first, let me explain that following last Fall’s cataract surgery, I can’t see the fine print without my reading glasses anymore. I cheerfully confess I can’t see the difference between the “B1” and the “81” parts of those Problem Event Names in ReliMon unless I put my glasses on. So I have to laugh.

Overcoming Explorer AppHangB1 AppHang81 Gotcha

I looked up the error code — which I initially read with the “81” suffix — using Copilot. I immediately wondered why it had two paragraphs about the same topic (see below). Then it hit me: I needed better visual acuity to see and understand what Relimon and Copilot were trying to tell me.

Upon closer examination “8” and “B” are close, but NOT the same!

Once IDed, It’s Neither Scary nor Well-Lit

Further research into these AppHangB1 and AppHang81 errors isn’t terribly helpful. From what I can tell, this happens sometimes and may or may not be fixable using standard troubleshooting techniques:

• Apply pending updates
• Run System File Checker (sfc/scannow)
• Disable Third-Party extensions (NirSoft ShellExView is a common culprit)
• Try a clean boot
• Check Event Viewer for more details

If the error kept recurring, I might be inclined to go to such lengths. But over the entire ReliMon window (30 days) it’s happened exactly once, 10 days ago. I’ll keep an eye out. If it happens again, or starts to repeat, I work my way through that standard sequence. Right now, I’ll treat it as a one-off and scratch my head.

Looks like I need to remember to don the old reading glasses when trying to decode fine-print info like ReliMon’s error details. I’ve got the screen jacked up to 125% magnification but sometimes, that’s not enough. Is this the OS’s way of telling me that Windows 10/11 is “no country for old men?” I hope not…

As you may know I just resumed work after a 9-day hiatus over the weekend. As part of my catch-up process I’ve been using WU, WinGet, PatchMyPC Home Updater, Intel DSA, Snappy SDIO and some other odds’n’ends to make sure all 10 of my available Windows PCs (and an equal number of VMs) are all caught up and current. Call a 2025 fleet preparations maneuver, as I expect to return to mondo crazy work levels next week.

What’s Involved in 2025 Fleet Preparations?

Basically, this involves running various update checks to make sure what’s running is at current release levels. Here’s what I observed for the aforementioned tools while working through that process on my decade of physical PCs:

WU: no major pending updates, routine Defender stuff, one restart
WinGet: it found anywhere from 4 (low) to 11 (high) pending updates in need of handling
PatchMyPC: Managed the 8GadgetPack to GadgetPack switchover, also updated FileZilla on some PCs
Intel DSA: Found pending Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Intel graphics updates for most machines
Snappy SDIO: did the trick to upgrade Bluetooth on one PC where DSA kept trying and failing to complete. Go figure!

I also found some new updates via Lenovo Vantage, primarily for newer PCs (2022 or after). Surprisingly the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen8 (2018 vintage) also got some unexpected updates as well.

The whole thing took me the best part of a day to work through. But now, I feel Windows-Ready for 2025.

What’s Next?

On those PCs that don’t get backed up automatically, I’ll make sure there’s a final Windows image for 2024 before we slip into 2025 at midnight tonite. Happy New Year, everybody!

Now that I’ve used the “oh-my-posh enable upgrade” command to enable auto-upgrades on my various production and test PCs, I need to know how to check which version I’m running. Indeed, I’m conducting what I call an “OhMyPosh version check plus” on those machines, to make sure everything is up to snuff. Along the way, I’ve learned a few things…

Conducting OhMyPosh Version Check Plus

The — version parameter shows which version of OMP is currently running, as you can see in the lead-in graphic. This confirms that the “enable upgrade”  command is working and that I’m running the most current version. You can always double-check by visiting the OMP GitHub repository and matching up with its latest release info.

You can see that the “Latest” version value matches what’s installed.

I really, really appreciate all the great work that developer Jan DeDobbeleer has done to make this environment attractive, stable, and easy to use. All I can say is keep up the good work!

Holiday Check-Out Starts Tomorrow

I’m taking some time away from blogging and work to enjoy the end-of-year holidays with my family. That starts tomorrow. I’ll be back on December 28, ready to bag and describe Windows issues and answers as they strike me. Let me wish you and yours the best of times, ample relaxation, and lots of good eats as we go off to do our own things until then. Cheers!

If you look over my blog posts for the past few days, you’ll see I was trying to get the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme (2018 8th-Gen i7, etc.) from 23H2 to 24H2. I provide a list of links and capsule summaries to those item below. But the reason I’m puzzled is that manually applying KB5046633 took me from Build 22635.4460 (23H2 Beta) after which using the Installation Assistant took me to Build 26100.1742 (24H2 GA/Production). That’s supposed to be impossible. Thus, it’s got me pondering apparent Windows 11 build fork jump that somehow occurred.

Installer Oddity Has Me Pondering Apparent Windows 11 Build Fork Jump

I didn’t think the installer let one jump from Insider Preview versions (Beta Channel, in this case) to GA/Production images. But something I did — I think it’s the manual application of KB5046633 — let that happen. Once I got there, though, I was stuck. I couldn’t repair install my way to either the current GA Build (26100.2314) or its Beta Channel counterpart (22635.4510).

I can only surmise that I somehow slipped a version check. It might have happened when using the afore-linked KB item. Or, it could’ve happened when running the Windows 11 installation assistant after that. Truth to tell, I was relieved when my final repair operation hit a dead end, and the Windows Installer basically forced me to clean install Windows 11 from scratch.

Factor 1: Multi-Version Manual KB Installs

Indeed, KB54046633 works on both 23H2 and 24H2 based Beta Channel versions. The upgrade path from one to the other doesn’t necessarily need the full-blow installer (including the Installation Assistant). Indeed, Copilot tells me that when I applied KB5046633 it could’ve upgraded me from 23H2 to 24H2. But it did not.

Factor 2: Using the Windows 11 Installation Assistant

When I ran the assistant, that’s when the fork jump actually occurred. And again: I didn’t think it was supposed to work at all, let alone the way that it did. That’ s how I found the X1 Extreme enrolled in the Beta Channel but showing a GA/Production Build number.

The moral of this story is to limit yourself to the kinds of upgrade techniques you elect to use. Thank goodness these were all well-backed-up, non-essential machines. This could turn into a real snake pit for those not aware of such potential pitfalls. Me: I enjoy fallling into them, and then figuring out how to get to a better place. Thus, I hope you can learn from my mistakes … errrrr … adventures here in Windows-World.

Here are links to my previous blogs in this series with capsule summaries:

• Nov 12 X1 Extreme Still Gets No 24H2 Offer: explains that this 2019 vintage laptop is still on some kind of update hold
• Nov 13 X1 Extreme 24H2 Beta Pickle: Explains the sequence of updates that got me from a 23H2 Beta Build to a 24H2 GA Build
• Nov 14 MSA Switch Brings Standard 24H2 Aboard: Explains how changing to a non-registered MSA produces only clean install option for 24H2.

Gosh this has been interesting and educational, too.

I knew it remains a possibility. And I’ve seen it myself, from time to time. But this morning, I got slapped in the face with it: Copilot still hallucinates occasionally. I’m assembling parts to migrate my production desktop over from a 2016 vintage i7 Skylake desktop rig. I’m moving to a snappy 32-core Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Ultra. I need a lot of storage for that setup, so I asked Copilot the question in the lead-in graphic: “What’s the highest-capacity 2.5″ hard disk available right now?” I was stunned by the answer at at first, then…

Showing Copilot Still Hallucinates Occasionally

I’ve got a couple of Seagate 5TB HDDs here at Chez Tittel. I purchased them 3 years ago. At the time, they were the biggest 2.5″ drives available. And as it happens 5TB Seagates are STILL the biggest 2.5″ models for sale today.

Follow the link to the Tom’s story cited in the Copilot response. Then jump to Amazon for that Seagate IronWolf Pro 20TB item. Guess what? It clearly says “CMR 3.5 inch SATA 6 Gb/s, 7,200 RPM, 256 MB Cache” in laying out that drive’s specifications. It’s not a 2.5″ drive, period.

The good news is: if I want to use a 5TB 2.5″ HDD in this rig, I’ve already go two of them. The bad news is they’re pretty slow, as old-fashioned mechanical storage media can’t help but be. But there’s another hope!

Given the 5TB Limit, I consider 4 TB NVMe

Gosh, there’s not much capacity difference (25% figuring up, and 20% figuring down) between a 5 TB HDD and a 4 TB NVMe SSD. I’m coming around to the idea that I should buy a 4 TB NVMe for my second storage slot in the P3 Ultra. Decent models are available for around US$300, while the 5TB Seagate HDD costs US$233 or so. This provides roughly 10X the speed for 130% of the price. That’s a good trade-off. I’m still thinking but now I know how I’m leaning.

In the meantime, keep checking those blithe and speedy Copilot answers carefully. You wouldn’t want to be misled. Here in Windows-World it’s smart to stay skeptical, and double check what AI tells you.