Insider stuff, Recent Activity, Remote Desktop (RDP), WED Blog, Windows 11

Another Take On Failed RDP Login Fix

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Last Friday, I packed up the tiny but nifty Lenovo ThinkCentre Neo 50q to ship it back to North Carolina. Then, I stood the small but mighty ThinkStation P3 Ultra Gen2 up in its place. When I tried to RDP into that machine to catch it up with changes since it went dark in early January, it wouldn’t let me log in with my usual MSA. “I’ve seen this before,” I thought, as I recalled my Feb 19 blog on this very topic. That previous fix had changed the folder name for my user account and I wanted to avoid that on the P3Ultra2 if possible. So, I took another take on failed RDP login fix and came up with something better. Let me explain…

Details: Another Take on Failed RDP Login Fix

The P3 Ultra2 had been healthy after its identity‑stack cleanup, TPM reseal, and scheduled‑task repairs. Local login worked. The system was stable. Nothing in the logs suggested trouble. But RDP refused to authenticate. Every attempt failed with the same unhelpful message: “The credentials did not work.” The username was correct. The password was correct. The account was enabled. The SID matched. The machine was healthy. Yet RDP would not accept the credentials under any circumstances.

When this kind of failure presents, there’s usually some mismatch between the local Windows identity and the identity info RDP uses for remote validation. TL;DR version: that was exactly what went wrong.

Why Correct Credentials Failed RDP Validation

The key understanding requires knowing how RDP handles MSAs. When a user signs into a Windows PC locally, her or she can use Windows Hello, a PIN, or security tokens. That said, RDP cannot use any of these for remote login validation. Indeed, RDP requires a local NT password hash stored in the SAM on the target PC. If no such hash exists, RDP can’t validate user login input, even if the supplied password for an MSA is correct and current.

Here’s what went wrong on P3Ultra2: the MSA acccount had never generated a local password hash. From the first login, Windows 11 used Hello-based authentication. Alas, that means the SAM never got a password hash for that account. Locally, things worked as expected (because Hello could — and did — work with cloud based authentication). RDP could find no password hash and thus could not authenticate.

The Fix Is In, and Dead Easy

All I had to do was to sit down in front of the P3Ultra2 and force it to use the password for a single login. I did so at the lock screen by clicking the password icon (middle position in lead-in graphic) and then typing in the account password.

As soon as I did that, Windows automatically generated the NT password hash for that MSA. With that value now available, RDP immediately opened its remote access doors on my next try to get into P3Ultra2 through the Remote Desktop Connection App. Problem solved.

Sometimes, problems in Windows-World are huge and hairy. Sometimes, they’re astoundingly simple — as long as you can figure out what’s really going on. This particular RDP thing fell into the latter category. I’m glad I now understand, and gladder still it’s fixed.

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Fixing Failed MSA Remote Login

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Every so often, I run into Windows 11 behavior odd enough to make me scratch my head. Occasionally, I’ll observe that my Microsoft Account (MSA) logins work perfectly at the local console. But they fail constantly if used within Remote Desktop Connection. The error? A familiar one: ‘Your credentials did not work. The logon attempt failed.’ Today, I’ll explain what worked for me when fixing failed MSA remote login.

In the meantime, I’d been working around this issue by setting up a Local account named “LocalOnly.” You can see it mentioned in the lead-in graphic for this blog post. If my upcoming technique doesn’t restore your MSA’s remote access as it did mine, you can use a local account to remote into a balky remote host if your MSA won’t work.

Refusal of Known, Good, Working Login

You may see this message while trying to RDP into a Windows 11 machine using an MSA. If so, you know how frustrating it is. Especially when you know those credentials are correct, and you can use them locally, no problem. What gives?

As it turns out, the answer lies in a complex and sometimes fragile identity stack that underpins Windows 11’s user authentication . Let’s unpack what’s going on under that hood.

Windows 11’s identity model for MSAs is built on three interdependent layers:

  1. SAM (Security Account Manager) – The local account database. It stores user SIDs (Security Identifiers) & basic account metadata.
  2. WAM (Web Account Manager) – The token broker that handles cloud authentication for MSAs. It’s responsible for storing and refreshing tokens so services like RDP can validate your identity.
  3. Ngc (Next Generation Credentials) – This layer handles Windows Hello and TPM-tied credentials, like PINs & biometric logins.

When all these layers are working and cooperating, things go swimmingly. Sometime though, particularly on Insider builds where MS is messing with this identity stack, things can get weird. Over time changes can mean an MSA works locally but not remotely.

A Swicheroo Is Key to Fixing Failed MSA Remote Login

Here’s what was happening on my ThinkPad X380 Yoga. I could log in locally using my MSA. But RDP logins would consistently get refused with the error message that serves as the lead-in graphic. After ruling out more obvious causes (e.g. network issues, RDP settings, firewall rules) I thought about the situation. Because local login worked, SAM and Ngc layers were probably OK. That presented WAM as a likely cause.

The fix, then, was simple. I rebuilt the WAM token cache, to make sure all pieces harmonized. Here’s what I did:

1. Log in locally using MSA
2. Visit Settings > Accounts > Your info
3. Change to “Sign in with a local account instead”
4. Sign out, or Reboot PC
5. Login locally using local account name/pwd
6. Visit Settings > Accounts > Your info
7. Change to “Log in with a Microsoft account”
8. Reboot PC

The switcheroo undid the link between the MSA and the account, made it local, then re-established a new connection. That completely rebuilds the whole infrastructure, including the WAM.

After that switcheroo (MSA > Local > MSA) RDP worked fine from my Flo6 primary desktop into the X380. The odds are good this technique will work for you, if you get caught in this situation. Here in Windows-World, a switcheroo sometimes works wonders. It did here, anyway!

 

 

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AMD Gets New Chipset Driver

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Here I go again. I read this morning on Neowin that AMD had dropped a new version of its chipset drivers, including the B550 in my Flo6 and RyzenOfc desktops. Time for an upgrade! I found what I needed at the Chipset Driver Release Notes 8.01.20.513 page (a 62.5MB download named amd_chipset_software_8.01.20.513.exe). After applying that file, AMD gets new chipset driver upon reboot. What happened on my ASRock system was a little more vexing…and complicated. Let me explain…

After AMD Gets New Chipset Driver, Comes a Reboot

The UEFI on my ASRock B550 Extreme4 motherboard is a little tetchy. Whenever the firmware or drivers get touched (updated or replaced), it tends to hang on a black screen after a reboot intended to flush out old stuff and bring in new. Sure enough, that’s what happened after the AMD chipset installer fired off a restart with my express permission.

I had to do a deep cold start to bring the motherboard back to life. That meant:
1. Hold the power button down until the system turns off
2. Turn off the PSU
3. Hold the power button down another 10-15 seconds to discharge any capacative devices
4. Turn off, then unplug the power cord from the PSU
5. Wait 2-5 minutes for everything to turn itself completely off
6. Plug the PSU back in, turn on its power switch
7. Use the front power switch to start the PC back up
Fortunately, that worked and the unit came back to life.

Checking the Install

I’m learning to make doubly-darned sure that an update actually gets applied, thanks to some recent misadventures with Secure Boot. I visited Device Manager and made sure no yellow triangle warnings popped up, nor did anything appear under the always-annoying “Other Devices” heading.

At Copilot’s urging, I also checked the install dates for all of my AMD drivers. Copilot also confirmed that those dates matched the latest ones in the afore-linked release note (and hence, should be current).

I used this handy PowerShell one-liner to elicit the data shown in the next screencap:

Get-WmiObject Win32_PnPSignedDriver |   Where-Object { $_.DeviceName -like “*AMD*” } |  Select-Object DeviceName, DriverVersion, DriverDate

Here’s the resulting output:

After checking these against the release notes, reported dates = current dates.

It looks like the chipset update got properly applied. Copilot tells me other UEFIs will reboot after a chipset update without the 7-step polka the ASRock board needed. I wish I had another AMD system around here to verify that claim. But here in Windows-World we don’t always get what we want. Good enough for now, I guess!

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Secure Boot Recovery Means New Media

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Here at Chez Tittel, I’ve been on something of a Secure Boot tear lately. Late last week, it dawned on me that this might require a change in recovery media, too. I checked: it does. Indeed, MS spells out the notion that secure boot recovery means new media in a couple of MS Learn Documents:

Basically, this boils down to the following data points, all of which determine whether or not recovery media will work properly after enabling Secure Boot:

  • Recovery media must use MS-signed UEFI bootloaders
  • Bootloaders signed with a certificate trusted in db
  • Bootloaders signed with the old 2011 CA blocked in dbx
  • Updated WinRE images (incl. new recovery media) signed with the 2023 CA

What Secure Boot Recovery Means New Media Comes Down to…

Simply put: once a PC has secure boot enabled and reports the presence of CA 2023, it needs matching secure boot media for recovery and repair. Older media won’t work because it lacks the new CA 2023 certificate. Bootloaders will fail, and/or WinRE won’t run. This will provoke a “Secure Boot violation” error or “invalid certificate” message in the bootloader. Sounds bad, eh?

The fix is easy, as long as you’ve turned Secure Boot on, and have installed the CA 2023 certificate (Garlin’s scripts at ElevenForum do this job nicely). With all these pieces in place, your current runtime meets the afore-stated requirements. Then, you can use Windows built in “Create a recovery drive” feature to build new recovery media to match this new state. Done!

Here in Windows-World when things change the supporting infrastructure must change to follow suit. Today that means generating fresh, new recovery media to match Flo6’s “secure boot on, CA 2023 installed” state. Takes only a few minutes, but means that future recovery efforts are far more likely to succeed. Good-oh!

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Copilot Amazon Differ on TB5 NVMe Availability

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I’m prepping for an AskWoody  story about RAID 1 setups on Windows 11. It had me popping open my half-dozen or so NVMe enclosures yesterday to see what I had at my disposal. Among my inventory, I found two identical NVMes (ideal for a RAID 1 test). I also found a Crucial T705 1TB PCIe x5 drive, which isn’t suited for any of my enclosures. It really needs Thunderbolt 5 or USB4 v2.0 to exceed the 40 Gbps speed limit that TB4/USB4 imposes. Imagine my surprise when Copilot said no such enclosures were available, while Amazon showed me at least half-a-dozen products for sale right now. Hence my claim that Copilot, Amazon differ on TB5 NVMe availability.

If Copilot Amazon Differ on TB5 NVMe Availability, Try Evidence

I work with Copilot near daily, especially on understanding and fixing Windows problems, issues and misconfigurations. Warnings about AI hallucinations are always worth remembering with Copilot. Why? Because it has repeatedly shown itself to be wrong or — as in this case — misinformed.  I reproduce Copilot’s response to my correction in which I provide the simple Amazon search that showed me 6-plus TB5 capable NVMe enclosures for sale at US$190 and up.

One big problem I see with AI information is that it includes no shades of grey. If Copilot and other AI interfaces could include confidence levels or probability of correctness, that might help. But no: Copilot, Google AI, Grok and so forth put forward their information as gospel truth. There’s a huge gap between Copilot’s initial flat statement that no TB5 NVMe enclosures are available, and its later correction to “TB5 NVMe enclosures exist, but most are early‑generation products whose real‑world performance is currently limited by host support and certification status.” Big difference!

As Always, Proceed with AI Cautiously

I don’t use or act on AI provided info unless and until I can confirm it through at least one (preferably, two or more) reliable public sources. This little “No it’s not; Well, yes it is…kinda/sorta” encounter demonstrates pretty well why that’s so. Indeed, for testing purposes I plan to buy one of the very enclosures Copilot told me yesterday didn’t exist. Today, it’s a different story!

Isn’t that just the way things go here in Windows-World sometimes? But at least, I’m going to be able to see if TB5/PCIe x5 Gen5 technology lives up to its billing when the Acasis enclosure shows up. If things work as reported, I’ll have an external USB drive that’s as fast as the internal drive on my production desktop.

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Secure Boot Report Card Perfected

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On February 4th, I recounted the Secure Boot status of my local fleet, along with machines possessing CA 2023 secure boot certificates. At that time, I had 3 of 11 PCs with no CA 2023 secure boot certs. One also couldn’t enter UEFI with Secure Boot enabled. My secure boot report card is now perfected. All 11 machines have secure boot enabled AND CA 2023 certs in their credentials stores.

How Did I Get Secure Boot Report Card Perfected?

Short answer: time, effort and (in one case) a hardware purchase. Now for a somewhat longer answer. Both holdout machines with SB enabled, but no CA 2023 present were two ThinkPads. First, the X380 Yoga, a 2018 vintage 7th-gen Intel-based laptop. Second was X12Hybrid, a 2020 vintage 10th-gen Intel based tablet.

The same fix worked for both machines. The inestimable long-time member at ElevenForum.com named @Garlin has a terrific thread. It’s entitled garlin’s PowerShell scripts for updating Secure Boot CA 2023. It includes a script named Check_UEFI-CA2023.ps1. If you run that script it not only tells you if the CA 2023 cert is present or absent. If CA 2023 is absent, it also provides two commands to put it in place. That worked for both of my ThinkPad holdouts.

Note: The lead-in graphic for this story shows the following:
1. Invocation and output from the Check script just mentioned.
2. Execution of the reg edit and scheduled task to add CA 2023.
3. Final check string to show CA 2023 is present in the SecureBoot UEFI db (database).

The Third Holdout Proves a Bit Trickier

The old NVIDIA GeForce RTX 1070Ti installed in the upstairs ASRock B550/AMD Ryzen 5 5800X desktop named “RyzenOfc” wouldn’t enter UEFI with Secure Boot enabled. Turns out the firmware on its older GPU just couldn’t coordinate with TPM changes. I bought a Gigabyte RTX 5060 because it was compact enough to fit the smallish RyzenOfc Antec A-201 case. That got me back into UEFI where I could install the default keys and get secure boot working properly.

After that, the same Garlin script cited above also got CA 2023 into the credentials store on RyzenOfc. It’s taken a good chunk of the last two weeks, and cost me a chunk of change — I also bought a new mouse and keyboard that skips USB enumeration issues and Fn key gotchas in getting to UEFI, plus the GPU — to finish this journey.

Just for grins I checked CA 2023 status on the ThinkPad P16 Gen 3 that showed up on Monday. It didn’t have the new certs, either, so I fixed it with commands from the Garlin check script, too. All good!

But at last, all my machines are Secure Boot enabled with the CA 2023 certificate installed in that environment. What a long, strange trip that turned into. I’m glad it’s over, and I learned a LOT along the way. I also heartily recommend the Garlin scripts to anybody facing uncertainty or issues in getting CA 2023 Secure Boot certs onto their PCs. Great stuff!

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P16 Gen3 Firmware Update Hangs

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Imagine my excitement when I got a brand-new Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 3 Mobile Workstation delivered to the door yesterday.  It’s an absolute beast of a machine (more on that below), huge and powerful. As part of my usual intake routine, I apply all pending updates. Alas, one of them — the P16 Gen3 firmware update — hangs during its install. I have to take drastic measures to finish things up. Let me explain…

If P16 Gen3 Firmware Update Hangs, Then?

The system wouldn’t reboot after the UEFI itself got updated. It was stuck, unable to go forward or go back. So I exercised the nuclear option when it comes to laptops lost in limbo.  I unplugged the battery and waited for it to drain completely, as evidenced by the power button and ESC key lights that stayed on late into the night last night.

The update completed successfully after that: I’m now running N4FET47W (1.28) dated 1/23/2025. But it took some doing to get there. Lenovo Vantage downloaded the update but was unable to install it. I also tried Lenovo System Update, which is usually better at handling firmware stuff, but no dice there, either. Finally, I visited the Lenovo Support pages, plugged in the serial number, and got a standalone flash installer named n4fuj05w.exe.

Starting UEFI Update Is Good, Finishing Is Better

The installer does its initial thing inside Windows getting the UEFI, Intel Management Engine (ME), and other update elements unpacked and ready before it reboots the machine. Then the flash installer takes over. That’s what hung on me.

Initially, Copilot advised me to remove the back deck of the unit and unplug the battery to force a cold reboot quickly. But this laptop costs over US$9K and the back deck didn’t want to come off. I had to use more force than I was comfortable exercising just to get the back edge to lift a little. Copilot yammered on I should keep trying and that the unit is notorious for tight clips and challenging extraction.

Nope! I also knew that draining the power over time would achieve the same end, with no danger of scratching the finish. So I waited overnight instead.

Getting Going On Intake

Now that the updates are all in place, WU is happy, winget’s been satisfied, and the Store is caught up, I can pay attention to the machine itself. I’ve got all my apps and tools installed, and am ready to report on what I see about this monster of a laptop.

Here’s a quick summary of key components:
• It’s NOT a Copilot+ PC
• Intel Core Ultra9 275HX (8P-Cores, 16 E-Cores, 24 threads)
• 128 GB DDR5 UDIMM RAM
• Intel integrated graphics Arc Xe‑LPG Graphics (64 exe units)
• NVIDIA RTX Pro 5000 Blackwell Generation (ADA arch, 7,424 CUDA cores, 16GB GDDR6, 58 3G RT cores, 232 4G Tensor cores)
• 4TB SAMSUNG MZVLC4T0HBL1-00BLL (SSD)

Pretty serious complement of components, eh?`

Here are the ports provided on the unit, listed by side as left, back and right:
LEFT (from front, items listed back to front)
• 1xSD slot (full-sized)
• 1xThunderbolt 4 (USB-C) up to 40 Gbps, DP1.4, USB4 compatible
• 1xUSB-A 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
REAR (left to right, looking at rear)
• RJ-45 2.5GbE
• HDMI 2.1
• 2xThunderbolt 5 (USB-C) up to 80 Gbps, DP2.1, USB4 compatible
RIGHT
• Kensington lock slot
• 1xUSB-A 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)

Most notably, this P16’s got Thunderbolt 5 and USB5 (aka 4.2) support! Now I’ll finally be able to test TB5/USB5 stuff.  The internal SSD — a PCIe x5 Samsung model — reports speeds over 11,000 for 1GB block transfers in CrystalDiskMark. A USB4 drive attached to the high-speed USB-C port clocks in over 6,000. It’s the fastest USB I/O I’ve ever seen. Cool!

From the Belly of this Beast

Weighing in right at 6.5 lbs (2.95 kg) this is a massive monster of a laptop. But if you need lots of horsepower, capability and connectivity this could be your mobile workstation, too. Lenovo tells me its MSRP is ~US$9,200. You’ll need some serious financial backing to make this baby yours, too. So far, I like it a lot!!!

 

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CU Aftermath: One TPM Update Elicits WTF?

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Microsoft’s February 2026 cumulative update, KB5077181, brought most Windows 11 25H2 systems up to build 26200.7840. At least, that’s what I was expecting. But as I rolled out the update across a mix of systems here at Chez Tittel, I noticed something odd. My Lenovo ThinkPads and an ASUS Zenbook A14 quietly updated and rebooted into 26200.7840. The DIY desktop (built on an ASRock motherboard with a Ryzen 5800X) threw a TPM warning and required multiple reboots after a forced cold startup. You guessed it: that one TPM elicits WTF as I must respond to “Update Y/N” for things to proceed.

One TPM Update Elicits WTF, Others Don’t

Let’s unpack what happened. First, the update itself. KB5077181 is a standard cumulative update, but it also includes boot-chain changes that affect Secure Boot and TPM values. On systems with stable firmware and well-behaved TPM implementations, these changes get absorbed quietly. That’s what happened on my Lenovo and ASUS laptops. They rebooted twice and landed on build 26200.7840 without a peep. Copilot tells me that the first reboot is for a servicing stack update, the second for the aforementioned CU.

The ASRock-based Ryzen system, aka “Flo6,” had a different reaction. Upon reboot it froze on a black screen. After I cycled power and forced a cold boot, it presented a UEFI-level prompt. That prompt  warned about changes to the TPM and Secure Boot configuration, and asked me to enter “Y” to confirm, or “N” to deny. This signals that the Platform Configuration Register 7 (PCR 7) that tracks Secure Boot components has detected a change. The system requires manual confirmation to proceed and reseal the TPM, followed with an additional reboot. But man, is that a cryptic message or what? (It appears as the lead-in graphic above.)

Why this discrepancy? It comes down to platform differences. OEM systems like Lenovo and ASUS laptops benefit from tightly integrated firmware, drivers, and update pipelines. Their UEFI implementations are mature. Also, their TPM and Secure Boot configurations get validated against Microsoft’s updates. Thus, they handle PCR changes gracefully and typically reseal the TPM silently with no user intervention.

The ASRock Difference

ASRock, on the other hand, does things differently. Though their firmware is functional and generally reliable, but it’s not as polished or tightly integrated as enterprise-grade or premium OEM systems. ASRock tends to use more standard, out-of-the-box AMI firmware. It offers only minimal validation for Secure Boot and TPM changes. Combine that with AMD’s fTP (known to be more sensitive to boot-chain changes than Intel’s PTT), and you get a prompt for TPM confirmation after updates like KB5077181.

You Get What You Pay For

That’s not to say ASRock is bad. For enthusiasts and DIY builders, their boards offer decent value and performance. But when it comes to firmware maturity and seamless integration with Windows security features, they’re noticeably behind the big OEMs.

The takeaway? Platform matters. As Windows continues to evolve its security posture, particularly around Secure Boot, TPM, and boot checks, users should expect some variation in how different systems respond to updates. OEM systems generally offer a smoother ride. DIY builds like my ASRock-based Flo6, appear to need more attention and manual intervention.

For those who live in the trenches of Windows-World, it’s just another reminder of how things sometimes work, or not. The best antidote is to know your hardware, expect the unexpected, and keep recovery media handy, just in case something goes awry. I’m glad I didn’t need recovery for this update. Indeed, I started wondering when I had to cycle power for a cold start, and an extra reboot to get to the desktop.

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Zotac 4070 Shows Up Munged

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Got an email last night from the USPS, informing me that the Zotac 4070 card I ordered would be delivered by 6:30 PM. This morning I walked to the mailbox to retrieve that item. As you can see in the edge-on photo, the 800-lb gorilla had his way with the card during shipment. The front plate is badly bent. Worse, the right-hand fan (from the top) doesn’t spin freely, as it properly should. I’m asking for a refund, as the Zotac 4070 shows up munged.

If Zotac 4070 Shows Up Munged, Now What?

I’m ordering a replacement card. Given the issues finding a performance GPU that’s also compact, I’m “trading down” to get a 5060 model for my next try. I just ordered a Gigabyte RTX 5060 Mini from Amazon, for delivery tomorrow. In the meantime, I’m fighting with the vendor platform — Mercari, in this case — for a refund. Somehow, the sale shows as completed even though I hadn’t even had the card in my hands for 18 hours when that status made itself known. I’m hoping I’ll get the purchase price back, but I have a bad feeling…

As I opened the package, in fact, I saw the front plate had been savaged in transit. “That can’t be good,” I thought. It wasn’t. Gosh only knows what hit this unit, but it literally looks stepped on. I can only hope I’ll get a refund: we’ll see about that.

Tomorrow Is Another Day

Amazon will put the next candidate in my hands tomorrow morning. I’ve never had trouble with their delivery resulting in damage of any kind, let alone the mauling that the Zotac card took en route. Fingers crossed that I can get it installed, and Secure Boot working, on the upstairs B550/5800X PC. These things happen here in Windows-World. Several lessons learned from this encounter, none of them good. Sigh, and sigh again…

 

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So Long Samsung ML-2850

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Over the weekend, I saw a story at Tom’s Hardware that reported MS is phasing out V3 and V4 printer drivers.  “Hmmm,” I thought, “I bet this means my 2009 vintage monochrome laser printer is included.” Copilot confirmed that it’s time to say so long, Samsung ML-2850. It runs V3 printer drivers and MS is halting support for same, like now.

Succession Plans After So Long, Samsung ML-2850

The printer still works fine. And it still works — for the time being, at least — with Windows 11. But it’s just a matter of time before it won’t work any more. That might hit as early as whenever 26H2 hits public release. Or it might last as long as 27H2. But its days are now officially numbered.

Here’s my plan: I’m going to use up the laser cartridge(s) I have at my disposal. When the ML-2850 runs out of toner, it’s toast. At that point, I’ll drop it off at Goodwill, where I routinely recycle my used electronika.

How long does that give this device to remain in use here at Chez Tittel? I might print 100 pages of output a month on this printer, max — probably less. So it could be 6 months or more  before I pull the plug and pack it off to Goodwill. Let’s see what happens, shall we?

But Wait, There’s More…

My Dell 2155cn is also facing obsolescence, but it qualifies as a V4 driver, not V3. So I’ve probably got another year or two before it, too, goes off to Goodwill for lack of driver support. What will I buy next? I’m thinking something like the HP M455dn, which is a low-end business class networked color laser printer that retails for US$550-800 depending on bells and whistles. Or whatever its equivalent may be when I exhaust my final set of CMYK cartridges for that printer (I’ve got a set of spares, and CMY all ahow 100% in the Dell Printer Hub’s toner status display, with B at 80%).

I’ve got at least 2 years left on that printer, it seems. Then, I’ll buy another. Interesting note: it will probably be the last printer I ever purchase, seeing as how the Samsung has lasted 17 years, and the Dell more than 13. It seems that obsolescence comes calling long before the hardware itself runs out. That was also the case for my Apple LaserWriter 1, purchased in 1985 and still running like a champ when I gave it away in 2005. For all I know, it’s still running today — that thing was built like a battleship.

MS Changes Its Tune (Added 2/25/26)

The news is out all over the place that MS is NOT dropping support for older V3, V4 printers and their drivers. Looks like they’re just limiting what OEMs can do to update or improve such drivers. The roadmap page that had promised deprecation is changed. At Windows Central, Zac Bowden quotes MS as follows:

“Windows has not ended support for legacy printer drivers. If your printer works with Windows today, it will continue to work, and no action is required,”

I guess that means this was a false alarm, of sorts. I’m still planning to retire the Samsung and Dell printers, and replace them. But the urgency is definitely dialed down. Change is the unvarying attribute of life here Windows-World. In this case, change is good!

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