Cool Tools, Insider stuff, PowerShell, Recent Activity, Updates, WED Blog

Busy Week Brings 9 WinGet Updates

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It’s been a busy week, so I’ve been doing stuff more, and playing less with Windows. How do I know? I just ran WinGet on my production desktop and it tossed up a new personal high. That’s right: my busy week brings 9 WinGet updates to my Windows Terminal PowerShell session. You can see the intro part in the lead-in graphic. Wow!

When Busy Week Brings 9 WinGet Updates, Install Them

So that’s what I’m doing right now, as I write this blog post. The whole 9 items took about 2 minutes to complete. It brought 8 successes and one failure. Because I have numerous M365 components open right now, the M365 Apps for Enterprise install failed. That’s probably because I’m using a different subscription version tied to a different MSA. The one I’m using cheerfully reports itself all caught up.

It’s the one I’m NOT using that reports itself out-of-date (which is perfectly OK, because I’m not using it. Maybe I should remove it?) Isn’t it funny how using multiple MSAs in a Windows PC can occasionally make life interesting when you login with one such account, and use assets tied to another such account?

It’s All Part of Windows’ Inestimable Charms…

Learning where the eccentricities reside or potholes lie, and steering around them, gives me countless opportunities for learning and enjoyment when it comes to working with Windows. But less so than usual this week: I’m busy. In fact, I need to go do some paying work as soon as I’m done here. Cheers!

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Insider stuff, Recent Activity, WED Blog, Windows Update

22635.3430 Post-Reboot Black Screen Fix

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Here’s an interesting item. Yesterday was Patch Tuesday for April. As per normal due diligence, I updated my various Windows 10 and 11 PCs. When I tried to remote into the production PC (ThinkPad P16 Gen1 Mobile Workstation) it showed me a black screen. Fortunately, I was able to come up with this 22635.3430 post-reboot black screen fix: Ctrl+Alt+Esc launched Task Manager. Then I was able to run Explorer.exe. After that, the desktop and all came up normally. Weird!

After the 22635.3430 Post-Reboot Black Screen Fix…

The system seems to be working properly. Nor is reliability monitor showing an error in its output for today. Whatever caused this strange pause in screen output during startup seems to have been benign (no errors) and purely transitory (I can’t make the system do it again).

After I did get to the desktop I installed a handful of winget updates, plus Intel DSA updates for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Iris Xe. This made another reboot mandatory. After that second reboot, all worked as it should have. So whatever caused my initial black screen was apparently a one-time hiccup.

The DISM /cleanup-image Report

I try to run dism /cleanup-image /analyzecomponentstore any time I install a CU. This time it quite startlingly shows 16 (!) reclaimable packages. Based on recent experience I’m guessing 13 of them are bogus (that’s a recurring number). Check it out!

What’s more the cleanup fails with error 6824 “another transaction is depending on the fact that this property will not change.” I’ve learned this means it’s time for a repair install based on recent experience.

Methinks something went awry with the latest CU KB5036992. I wonder how many others will report similar difficulties. In the meantime, I’m off to fix this, and move on. This time, I will have to use UUPDump.net, too. Sigh. The new way in Canary and Dev versions “Fix problems using Windows Update” is ever so much easier…

Note Added +3Hrs: IPRI Does It!

An indeed, though it takes quite a while to work through all the steps, building an ISO for 22635.3430 from UUPDump.net, mounting same, and running install from setup.exe gets rid of the high count for reclaimable packages (including “the bogus 13”). Here’s what I get from
dism /online /cleanup-image /analyzecomponentstore
after in-place repair install and its final reboot:

22635.3430 Post-Reboot Black Screen Fix.IPRI

After the IPRI, reclaimables drops to zero.
[Click image for full-size view.]

Fixed! Now I need to figure out how to report this on Feedback Hub.

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Cool Tools, Recent Activity, Troubleshooting, WED Blog, Windows 10

Recent Windows 10 Uncommonly Reliable

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It’s my habit to drop in on the built-in Reliability Monitor tool in Windows from time to time. That gives me a rough and ready read on how well — or badly — the focus system is doing. I usually launch this tool by typing “Reli” into the search box, but you can launch it from the Run box or the command line by typing perfmon /rel. If you examine recent history from my production PC, it should be obvious why I  say “Recent Windows 10 uncommonly reliable.” In other words, nothing to see here, folks. That’s good!

Fingers Crossed: Recent Windows 10 Uncommonly Reliable

Noticing that things are going smoothly is one thing. Talking about it — and risking some kind of jinx — is entirely another. So I’m tempting fate here, but I must also observe that:

  • I actively run the target system at least 9 hours a day (weekdays) and at least 6 hours on off days
  • I’m not hesitant about installing or changing stuff around as I’m researching software, tools, scripting, and OS configurations
  • I take a complete image backup at 9 AM every morning (7 days a week) so I’m always prepared to restore same should I shoot myself (or my PC) in the foot
  • It’s been a busy 18 days since my last critical error on March 28. I replaced the CyberPower UPS software that day because the old version kept crashing. The replacement has been quiet since.

Gosh, it’s nice to see my trusty old (closing in on 8 years: i7-6700 Skylake, Z170 mobo, 32 GB RAM, NVIDIA RTX 3070Ti GPU) desktop still chugging along so well. I know I’ll need to replace it soon, but I feel little pressure or need to do so immediately, in the face of these recent Relimon results. Jinx factor aside, that is…

Alas, as I know only too well, this could change in a moment. Good thing I’ve got a 2021 vintage B550 mobo with 5800X Ryzen CPU, 64 GB RAM, and so forth, already put together and ready to drop in should the need arise. But I still don’t feel a pressing need to migrate just yet. Stay tuned…that will no doubt change!

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MS Store 22043 Speeds Things Up

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I just read online that MS is pushing a new and faster version of its Microsoft Store out through the Insider Preview hierarchy. Figuring out which version I was running on my Canary Channel test PCs showed me that (a) I was running the new version, and (b) that indeed, MS Store 22043 speeds things up notably. Good stuff. The lead-in graphic shows the version number after the app restarted itself following that upgrade.

If MS Store 22043 Speeds Things Up, Then What?

On both of my Canary Channel test PCs (Lenovo Thinkpads: X12 Hybrid Tablet/11th Gen i7 and X380 Yoga/8th Gen i7) , the store was uniformly quicker than before the upgrade. Search times were shorter, update downloads and installs quicker, and navigating around the UI snappier. It still takes a while to download app info in the Library view (but not as long a while as before).

There’s even a new “What’s new…” page that explains new features and improvements in the MS Store, to wit:


Interesting stuff! Thanks to Sergey Tkachenko over at WinAero, whose MS Store story this morning clued me into this new regime.

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Dropbox Drops Gentle Reminder: RTFM

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I have to laugh. I’ve been trying to get a beta version of Dropbox installed on my Windows 10 production desktop this morning. Trying, and failing, with nothing to show in Reliability Monitor, either. Then I decided to read the whole article about the new beta, which appeared on MSPowerUser on April 1 (no joke, alas). In a manner of speaking, Dropbox drops gentle reminder RTFM (read the fabulous manual).

Here’s what it says:

Note: Windows 10 users will need to uninstall earlier Dropbox desktop applications before installing the updated version to ensure optimal performance.

Guess what I didn’t do before trying the install? You got it in one: I did not first remove the old version before overlaying the new one. Sigh.

Heeding When Dropbox Drops Gentle Reminder: RTFM

Creature of habit that I am, I used winget uninstall Dropbox.Dropbox to remove the old version. Worked like a charm. Then I re-tried the Dropbox 196.3.6883 Offline Installer.x64.exe installer file. It too, then did its thing. And it took its sweet time, too.

But when all was said and done Dropbox came up just fine in Windows 10. It was smart enough to keep the old version’s login data, too, so I was able to get in and start working just like the old version. But by looking at the program’s about info I can see I’m running this latest (beta) version. Problem solved. Like I said: RTFM.

It never hurts to know precisely what you’re doing, before you start doing it. Otherwise, like me sometimes, you’ll have to figure it out as you lurch from one step to the next. Sigh again…

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

Beta Channel Sign-up Spawns Bogus Reclaimables

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“Hey, wait a minute,” I thought to myself, “I’ve been here before.” Indeed I reported in June 2023 about “13 spurious reclaimables” in a different Windows 11 installation. This time, the same thing showed up when I switched my Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme over from production Windows 11 (Build 22635.2274) to the latest Beta Channel release (Build 22635.3420). No sooner did I run dism /online /cleanup-images /startcomponentcleanup than it threw the error shown in the lead-in graphic. What you can’t see is that my beta channel sign-up spawns bogus reclaimables — 13 of them, to be more exact. Yikes!

Fixing Beta Channel Sign-up Spawns Bogus Reclaimables

For this version of Windows 11, I had a trick up my sleeve. This build includes the ability to repair a “hinky” Windows installation by repair installing the current version (aka “upgrade repair install” or “in-place upgrade repair install” in the can familiar to readers of TenForums and ElevenForum tutorials and advice).

This
Invoking this option downloads the files for the running Windows version and re-installs the OS, using files from WU instead of local copies to try to fix things. In my case it worked. You can see the successful outcome in the next screencap, which shows zero bogus reclaimables in either of the two dism /online /cleanup-image
/analyzecomponentstore entries it shows. Good-oh!

To me, this proves the value and convenience of this new Windows 11 facility. Previously I’d have had to visit UUPdump.net, create an ISO script, then download all this stuff myself. Now, Windows does it on its own automatically. I think it’s great, and it fixed my problem, too.

The last time I ran into this problem I had to perform an in-place upgrade repair install to clear out the bogus reclaimables, too. If you ever find yourself in this boat, be aware that this technique has fixed this problem for me every time it’s happened on one of my PCs. Hopefully, it can do the same for yours.

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WingetUI Announces UnigetUI Name Change

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Though you can use it nicely with the Windows Package Manager, aka WinGet, WingetUI also works with other package managers. As you can see on its GitHub page, WingetUI also works with Scoop, Chocolatey, Pip, Npm, .NET Tool and the PowerShell Gallery. That’s a whole heap of package managers, and helps to explain why WingetUI announces UnigetUI name change in the app right now (see the lead-in graphic for same).

How WingetUI Announces UnigetUI Name Change

When I fired up WingetUI yesterday — for the first time in a couple of weeks, I cheerfully confess — the lead-in graphic popped up on my upstairs Windows 11 test PC (Asrock B550 mobo, Ryzen 5800 CPU, 64 GB RAM, Nvidia 1070TX GPU, etc.). In that little explainer, Marti Climent makes it clear that while WingetUI was initially designed to work only with Winget, it now covers numerous other package managers as well. Hence, the name change.

Of those other package managers, I’ve messed with Scoop and Chocolately. I’ve also turned to PowerShell Gallery on many occasions (though I’d call it a package repository more than a package manager, even though WingetUI/UnigetUI has worked with it for some while now).

WinGet CLI vs. WingetUI/UnigetUI

When I first discovered WingetUI I found it compelling and interesting because I was still learning the intricacies of WinGet commands and their sometimes convoluted syntax. But these days, I’m pretty darn comfortable with WinGet. Thus, I don’t find myself using WingetUI as much as I once did. Nevertheless, it’s a worthwhile tool that’s worth getting to know.

Indeed, I wrote a story about WingetUI for TekkiGurus last August (part of a 4-part Winget series). If you’re curious to learn more about either or both of these topics (Winget and WingetUI/UnigetUI) be sure to check them out. [Note: you’ll find links to the other 3 elements of the WinGet series if you visit the WingetUI story linked above.] Cheers!

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Windows 11 Insider Preview Channel Switching

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OK, then: I HAD to do it. I read this morning that MS is releasing a redesign of the  All Apps aspect of the Start menu in the Beta Channel. Naturally, I kicked one of my production laptops upstairs to join the channel to see that change for myself. Along the way I got to remember (or relearn) what’s involved in Windows 11 Insider Preview channel switching. (Hint: no remote control needed.)

Getting Into Windows 11 Insider Preview Channel Switching

It’s been a while, so I had to go through the motions to remember them. First, I had to join that PC to the Insider Preview program. Then I had to select my Insider Preview channel — Beta, in this case. Then I had to restart the PC and run WU again. In fact, I had to do that twice (run WU, that is — only 1 restart required at that point). And finally, as you can see in the lead-in graphic:

  1. The Update Stack Package that makes the Insider Preview installable
  2. The actual Insider Preview package itself (Build 22635.3420)

Of course once all that stuff gets installed, I’ll reboot again and go through the post-GUI installer stuff. That’s what actually upgrades the OS from the current production version 22635.3374) to the aforementioned Beta build.  When all that’s done I can go look for the new Start menu All apps stuff. As is typical, this takes a while (I’m about 12 minutes into the process and “Installing” for the OS is at 35% complete right now. Thus, it could be another 20 minutes before it’s done.) In the meanwhile, I’m standing by… And indeed it took a total of about 26 minutes to go from start to desktop for that process.

What About All Apps?

It’s another one of those things where MS may still be testing internally only, or doing another of its gradual rollouts. Thus, you guessed it: I still get the left-justified all apps list on my freshly-upgraded test PC. I can’t say I’m surprised, but it’s always disappointing to go looking for something new only to see the “same old, same old.” Sigh.

Of course, I’ll keep checking back and see when the switchover happens. Stay tuned: I’ll keep you posted…

Note Added 1 Hour Later

As I continue catching up with Windows news, I see over at NeoWin that a vivetool hack is required to enable the All apps grid in the latest beta version. I don’t do that on my beta machines to keep them in line with MS releases (it’s an MVP thing). So I guess I’ll have to wait awhile. Rumor has it this might hit “for real” on Patch Tuesday (April 9). We’ll see!

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Digesting WinGet Updates Gets Interesting

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I just noticed something odd about my latest WinGet update cycle. It worked just fine but threw a “Failed in attempting to update the source: winget” error before proceeding. When I check version info on WinGet itself it shows version v1.7.10861. Running winget show Microsoft.AppInstaller (the app name for the environment that includes WinGet) it shows version v1.22.10861.0. When I attempt to update it comes back “No available upgrade found.” When I run another general update check, it says “No installed packages…” meaning “Nothing to see here!” This makes me thing that digesting WinGet updates gets interesting — some of the time, at least. Let me explain…

Digesting WinGet Updates Gets Interesting.store-info

Note App Installer got “Modified yesterday” (that’s an update)!

IMO Digesting WinGet Updates Gets Interesting

When I check the MS Store, I see that it updated App Installer just yesterday. This is the first time I’ve run Windows Terminal and Winget since that update. Methinks it may take an exit-restart maneuver after the update for the new stuff to take effect.

To test my theory, I fire off a new instance of Windows Terminal/PowerShell and run winget upgrade –all –include-unknown again. This time it repeats the “No installed package…” message. That lets me know things are all caught up. No mention of “Failed in attempting to update the source: winget,” either.

That may not prove my theory, but it certainly adds it a bit more credence. How did I figure this out? On my Windows 10 PC, I actually updated Microsoft.AppInstaller as part of the sequence that stated with “Failed in attempting to update the source: winget.” That got me to thinking that a winget self-update might temporarily throw off the access to its source. And, by golly, I think that may just explain what’s going on here. As I said before: it’s interesting!

 

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Windows 10 Lockscreen Follies

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OK, it may be another case of: gradual rollout, I’m on the tailing end. Or it may be something is misbehaving. I’m trying out the new Lock Screen behaviors in Windows 10 Build 19045.4239. I can see the weather bug, and I can turn on the “other lock screen apps” but none of them show up. Right now, I’m updating a VM on another PC so I can take screencaps to show what’s happening. Hence my assertion I’m engaging in Windows 10 lockscreen follies. Fun, actually!

What Windows 10 Lockscreen Follies Tell Me…

I’m a great believer in trying out and observing new stuff as it shows up in Windows. I’ve learned that I don’t understand things anywhere near as well when reading about them, as I do when installing or setting them up, then using them. There’s something about the actual experience that improves my apprehension and comprehension. Plus, I like to tinker with stuff (to the point where I’ll try to break things so I can learn how to fix them).

Once I confirmed I was indeed running 19045.4239 I started playing with the lock screen settings. Again, I can see the background coming from Spotbright, and the weather info. And again, I cannot see status from the other apps I’ve chosen for display. Homer Simpson moment hits: I bet they have to be RUNNING to show something. …goes off to try … doesn’t seem to help (nor does placing the open app window on my #1 screen, which also might be a factor).

Trailing Behind the Gradual Rollout…Again

Looks like I’ve got all the controls up and going, but they’re not doing anything. But about “more content” on the lockscreen, the announcement says “This feature might not be available to all users because it will roll out gradually.” Based on my nearly unbroken record in avoiding the front ranks during such times, I’m guessing it will make its way to my lockscreens later, rather than sooner!

Stay tuned, I’ll keep you posted. The Lord only knows why, but I’m starting to like the idea of a status-filled lockscreen…

 

 

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