Category Archives: Insider stuff

SFF Upgrade Opportunities Maximize Value

Last October, I wrote a review of a tiny and terrific SFF PC entitled “P360 Ultra Is Beautiful Inside.” This morning, I’ve been thinking about that review while reading about best of breed small form-factor (SFF) PCs across a broad range of vendors. My conclusion: SFF upgrade opportunities maximize value in a chassis that’s easy to open, access and upgrade. Let me explain…

Buy Low-end So SFF Upgrade Opportunities Maximize Value

In the P360 Ultra, for those who aren’t disinclined to swap out parts, I suggest purchasing a model with the highest-end CPU one can afford (the CPU is not listed as a field-replaceable unit, or FRU — see Manual). Then, one can hold the initial cost down by purchasing minimal memory and storage, and swapping out components purchased separately.

Thus, for example, a minimally configured unit with i7-12700K CPU costs ~US$1,500, while one with an i9-12900 goes for US$1,675. This comes with built-in GPU, 8 GB RAM, and a 512 GB PCIe X4 SSD. Generally, you can purchase additional memory and storage for less than half what the vendor charges (e.g. Amazon sells compatible 2 x 32 GB memory modules for US$260-280, where Lenovo charges US$700). Similarly, you can purchase an excellent 2 TB top-of-the line SSD from Newegg for about US$229, where Lenovo charges US$30 more for a “high-performance” 1 TB SSD.

Things Get Dicier with Graphics Cards

The P360 Ultra uses a special, compact interface to host graphics cards such as the Nvidia T400 4 GB GDDR6, the Nvidia RTX A2000 12 GB GDDR6, and Nvidia RTX A5000 mobile 16GB GDDR6. You can buy the first two of these three on the open market (I can’t find the mobile version of the third for sale anywhere). Lenovo sells the T400 more cheaply than I can find it online, and you may be able to save a little on the A2000 on the open market.

All this said, buying down and self-upgrading remains a good way to buy into an SFF machine. You can decide how much oomph you want to add vs. how much you want to spend, and save vis-a-vis preinstalled prices. Think about it for upcoming desktop/workstation purchases, please.

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Visual Studio Build Tools 2017 Mystery Masticated

This was a weird one. The lead-in graphic shows that although I plainly installed version 15.9.51 of the Visual Studio Tools 2017, it reports in as version 15.8.9. No amount of uninstall/reinstall (aka R&R for “remove & replace”) made any difference. I finally solved my Visual Studio Build Tools 2017 mystery by installing the latest version of Visual Studio Enterprise. (That came free, thanks to my WIMVP privileges and its attendant VS subscription.)

Workaround Solves Visual Studio Build Tools 2017 Mystery

Take another look at the lead-in screencap. It shows me uninstalling version 15.8.9 using Winget. Then I force-install version 15.9.51 explicitly. But even so, Winget list still reports version 15.8.9 as clear and present. Sigh.

Thus, I resorted to a total workaround. Because I have access to a VS subscription — thanks to my 2022 WIMVP status (I’ll be finding out next week if it gets extended for 2023) — I installed a full-blown VS version. This was enough to kill the VS.2017.BuildTools update messages in Winget (at least, after I uninstalled same).

What Gives?

Because I can’t find any definitive explanation, I can only speculate. I’m guessing it’s either (a) a  mistaken version tag  for what is really version 15.9.51 or (b) a unreported install failure that leaves the Build Tools at version 15.8.9. Whatever that case might be, I switched from the free version to the for-a-fee version. That made my apparent problems disappear. I’m grateful!

Sometimes, solving Windows problems requires resorting to creative workarounds. I would definitely include today’s odd situation, and its equally odd solution, in that category.

Happy New Year 2023 to one and all. May the coming year bring you joy, prosperity, good health and plenty of interesting Windows issues to solve (or read about here). Best wishes!

 

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Remote Wi-Fi Driver Update Magic

I remember the networking wars of the late 1980s. That was when Token Ring, ARCnet, LocalTalk and other physical media vied with Ethernet for market- and mindshare. Indeed, I’ve worked with versions of Ethernet all the way back to 10Base2 and 10Base5. Thus, I successfully upgraded the Wi-Fi drivers on my 2018 vintage Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme (running Windows 11) with bemusement and appreciation minutes ago. Based on how earlier Windows versions worked, there was surely some remote Wi-Fi driver update magic involved.

The lead-in graphic is the Intel installer pane that announces a successful Wi-Fi driver install. What’s interesting about this? It’s inside a Wi-Fi based RDP session. I’m working on my production PC via Remote Desktop Connection to the X1 Extreme. It restored itself automatically once the driver install finished. It came back up, even though the connection dropped as that update occurred. No working driver means no Wi-Fi during the switchover from old to new.

What Makes Remote Wi-Fi Driver Update Magic Happen?

Good question! RDP apparently recognizes enough about the dropped session to bring it back to life. And FWIW, that occurs during the first “retry” — by default, RDP attempts resuscitation up to 5 times — without undue muss or fuss.

What makes this noteworthy? I can remember that even Windows 7 could not restore RDP sessions dropped during driver updates. Windows 8 (and 8.1) were hit or miss. It’s only since Windows 10 came along in 2015 (General Availability: 7/29/2015) that this capability has been both mainstream and dependable.

Once upon a time, Wi-Fi driver updates meant the end of open RDP sessions. Recovery was impossible: the only way back in was to fire Remote Desktop Connection up, and start afresh. It’s a small thing, really, but one I’ve learned to appreciate in modern Windows versions.

Thanks IEEE!

Modern Wi-Fi testifies to robust and practiced driver design. Indeed, it keeps working in the face of many predictable difficulties. Replacing drivers is a case in point, but Wi-Fi just keeps on chugging along. And that’s despite various source of interference, occasional hiccups with power, wireless gateways, and more. Having followed the technology as it’s grown and sped up I’m grateful it works well.

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Windows 10 OCD Update Stymied

OK then: this morning I decided to check updates on my Windows 10 production desktop. Despite my December 19 contrary prediction, I found over 10 items that needed updates. But I saw my tendency to Windows 10 OCD update stymied by prior experience. Let me explain, first and foremost, that this means I updated what was either necessary or easy. I left the other stuff alone. Deets follow.

How Was Windows 10 OCD Update Stymied?

The list of items in need of update fell into two broad categories:

1. Items with automatic, built-in or easy update capabilities. These included: SUMO, Notepad++ and VS BuildTools (winget handled these automatically). Others included: Audacity, CPU-Z, GPU-Z, Intel ProSet and Zoom (these either include built-in updates, offer direct update links, or are easy to find online — e.g. ProSet).

2. Items I’ve learned not to mess with unnecessarily. These appear in the lead-in graphic above. SUMo likes to point me at versions of ASRock utilities (e.g. APP Shop) that don’t work with my 2016 vintage motherboard. Nitro Pro gets updated all the time, but the maker sends update notifications only when relevant security fixes are added. That’s not the case for going from version 13.67.0.45 to 12.709.2.40.

This gives me a nice delineation between what I can or must update, and what I can safely skip. Should some security issue pop up for Asrock App Shop, I’ll simply uninstall it: I don’t use it much anyway. And if a security fix comes along for Nitro Pro, the maker will notify me to upgrade and send a link.

Case Closed? OCD No More…

I wish I could claim that will never happen to me again. I have fallen prey to “It must be perfect” in the past. It could happen again in the future. I am hopeful that I can now tell the difference between what’s good enough and the perfect. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

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11 Great Windows 11 Tools

Saw an interesting story at Neowin.net this morning. It’s entitled “Top 11 apps every Windows 11 user should have.” I’m not so sure I agree with various selections — though I do use Start11 on some of my PCs — but I do like the concept. So I used Task Manager’s app history function to view top tools I use frequently. These 11 great Windows 11 tools may not fit “every user,” but I bet many admins and power users will like ’em. For simplicity, I list them in alphabetical order. I also separate built-ins from third-party items.

The List: 11 Great Windows 11 Tools

A couple of initial disclaimers: I’m not talking about everyday apps or applications. I’m talking tools I use to access, find, identify, diagnose, capture and manipulate, or fix and clean up stuff. Items marked with an asterisk cost money; unmarked items are free. The apparently odd numbering reflects alph order split across categories. Sigh.

The Top 11

Built-ins/Native Apps & Applications

3. Notepad/Notepad++: I use the MS built-in text editor for most stuff, but when I want syntax checking and/or line numbers I use the ++ version instead. Both are great.
5. Photos: the built-in Windows app for managing images is what I use to review and perform simple operations on screencaps. These are often essential when writing about or reporting on Windows issues (for Feedback Hub).
6. Snipping Tool: the built-in Windows screen capture tool now includes video recording in some Dev Channel versions. I use it every day to document what I see in my Windows environments.
10. Windows Explorer: I especially like current Insider versions which give this tool tabbed operation. Has to be the MS app I use most frequently and assiduously.
11. Windows Terminal/PowerShell: I can no longer function as a Windows Insider without repeat, daily access to the command line. The Windows Terminal with PowerShell (current version 7.3.1) is my favorite way to start rooting round at the command line.

Third-Party Apps & Applications

1. (Search) Everything: My go-to file finder, this tool is faster, more reliable, and tweaks easier than built-in Windows Search function.
2. Macrium Reflect*: Though I seek a replacement for the free version (EOL on 12/31/2023), it remains my fave backup and restore tool, with super-fast imaging abilities.
4. PatchMyPC: a great, if limited, PC application update tool. It automates updates for everything it recognizes. That’s why I like it.
7. SUMo: KC Software’s excellent Software Update Monitor catches most Windows applications. I sometimes quibble with its findings.I don’t use its auto-update (found only in the for-a-fee version) but it’s a great scanning tool.
8. UnCleaner: Although not updated since 2012, Josh Cell’s UnCleaner still cleans up stuff that other cleanup tools miss. I don’t use it every day, but do use it weekly.
9. Windows Gadgets: Helmut Buhler revisits and recreates this Vista-based environment for modern Windows versions (8GadgetPack). Still my favorite always-visible health indicators.

The Next 5 After That

1. Advanced IP Scanner: my favorite LAN address scanner. It tells me lots, and lets me access more tools and tests than similar tools. Use it regularly for RDP and Printer issues.
2. DriverStore Explorer: A GitHub project,it lists all DriverStore items. Makes it easy to update and/or purge old/obsolete entries.
3. MiniTool Partition Wizard: an excellent tool to manage storage devices and partitions. The fee version adds useful data recovery.
4. PowerToys: This MS GitHub project keeps adding great, free tools to Windows. Hats off to Clint Rutkas and his team, and  volunteers who add “sweat equity” and IP to this project.
5. Remote Desktop Connection/Remote Desktop: (application and app respectively) let me work on LAN PCs from a single desktop.

What Now?

Check those tools out, if not already using them. Each comes with my strong personal recommendation. In fact, I use them all regularly and sometimes obsessively. Thus, trying them out could be a good thing. After you visit one or more of them, I hope you’ll agree!

If you know of others, please post a comment and share them with me here. Remember: cool tools rule!

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2022 Post Holiday Refurb Deals

I’ll admit this up front: I’m a big ThinkPad fan. That’s why I use the Lenovo Outlet for illustrations and examples in this story. That said, there are all kinds of 2022 post holiday refurb deals on PCs, laptops, and more right now. Dell, HP, Microsoft, Acer and most other name brands make corporate leasing deals with big outfits. Often, this involves hundreds to thousands of PCs and laptops. Sooner or later, those machines come back to their makers. Then,  they get cleaned up, refreshed and put up for resale via company outlets. That’s what I’m talking about here.

Shopping for 2022 Post Holiday Refurb Deals

The lead-in graphic represents  a search at the Lenovo Outlet for laptops with i9 or i7 CPUs, listed most expensive first. These are pretty high end machines, in fact. Most are discounted 40-50% off original selling prices, and seriously equipped. They’re still not cheap, but they are eminently work-ready.

I favor mobile workstation models because they include multiple NVMe slots and user-replaceable/upgradable SO-DIMM memory slots. More ports and power, too.

You can “buy down” such machines and then add RAM and/or NVMe storage yourself, to bring prices down a little more still

Note: the average cost savings for RAM and NVMe from buying and installing your own parts is at least 25%, sometimes more. That usually means you can afford more capacity and higher performance if you can handle the DIY part. Personally, I love that kind of stuff…

Stretching Holiday Bucks a Bit Further

This is a good time of year to shop the outlets, because many of them are trying to clear out inventory to close out the sales year. Thus, for example, the prices at the Lenovo Outlet are all knocked down from their usual discounts by 9 to 40% or so.

These machines are great for office or mobile work scenarios, and also as takeaways for family members off at school. My son is using a 2019 vintage Lenovo ThinkPad X390 Yoga as his mobile deck, with a full-powered high end desktop back in his dorm room. The Yoga includes a 4-core/8-thread i7 (9th generation), 16 GB RAM and a 1 TB NVMe SSD. It does the job nicely for his notetaking and mobile communications. Purchased refurb in 2020, it cost just under US$1000. That was about half its original cost.

Lots of other deals like that are available in the wild right now. If you (or a family member) need a laptop, this is a great time to go looking around. Here are some links to help you get started:

Lenovo Outlet
Microsoft Certified Refurbished
HP Business Outlet
Dell Refurbished & Overstock Laptops, etc.
Acer Official Recertifed

If I haven’t hit your favorite laptop or PC vendor, use their name to search for “<name> refurbished outlet.” This should take you where you want to go. Happy hunting!

Hint: When buying anything refurb, there’s no point in purchasing anything except for devices that meet the Windows 11 computer requirements. Older stuff may be cheap, but that’s not a good idea.

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Fixing WADK Upgrade Error 2008

Sometimes, strange things happen when using Winget (the built-in package manager in PowerShell). This morning, I got hit with an error when attempting to upgrade the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (aka WADK). This meant fixing WADK upgrade error 2008. Fortunately, I found a helpful GitHub post that explained how to overcome this issue.

Note: the lead-in graphic shows Winget commands to compare local ADK versions (in the list and show sub-commands) to the most current known ADK package (in the search sub-command).

Steps Toward Fixing WADK Upgrade Error 2008

Turns out the tried-and-true technique for fixing the upgrade error works here, too. First: uninstall the current version. Then, download and re-install that version (see this MS Learn article for that link). After that, all should work as it’s supposed to.

What’s interesting is the size and complexity of this environment. The adksetup.exe file is under 2MB in size, but it’s just a bootstrap loader. It brings in and sets up nearly 2GB of tools and supporting infrastructure. It also takes a while (about 5 minutes going and coming) to remove, then replace, that environment.

Once I worked through the maneuver, WADK no longer showed up in Winget. Nor did error 2008 recur, obviously.

When In Doubt, Remove/Replace Works Well

I’ve learned that when Winget gets wonky, there may be reasons connected to the runtime infrastructure at work in your Windows image. Often, the easiest way to clean that up is to remove the troubled package, reboot, then reinstall. This has bailed me out of difficulties on several occasions. That includes this morning’s encounter with the WADK.

If it works for me, it could work for you, too. As long as you have a fresh backup and can easily restore same, why not? I was covered today by my scheduled 9AM image, so I gave it a shot. It worked!

Going On (Brief) Hiatus

Let me take this opportunity to wish one and all the best possible end-of-year holiday. I’ll be silent here until Monday, December 26, as I take a break to spend time with family and friends. For those who celebrate the holiday: Merry Christmas! Otherwise, enjoy the break.

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Observing EoY Windows Updates

I remember the old Morton salt motto: “When it rains, it pours.” Aside from providing an apt description for today’s weather in Central Texas, it also describes my reaction when running winget this morning. I find myself observing EoY Windows Updates (that’s short for “End of Year”). I’m thinking: lots of software makers are pushing updates now so they can take a holiday break, too.

Mucho Activity While Observing EoY Windows Updates

As you can see in the lead-in graphic — PowerShell snapshot — winget found 10 items in need of upgrade this morning. KC Software’s Software Update Monitor (SUMo) found an additional 10 over and above that number. Items included Zoom, CPU-Z, Ring Central, GeForce Experience, FileZilla, SnagIt, MTPW and more. Wow! Last week was dead quiet by comparison.

Then, I decide to check on other PCs here in the office, beyond my production desktop (i7 Skylake running Windows 10 current version). I don’t see as much activity there, but do find some:

Device                     OS     #Updates
----------------------   ------   --------
P16 Mobile Workstation   Win11P       0
ThinkPad X380 Yoga       Win11D       2
Surface Pro 3            Win10RP      3
ThinkPad X12 Hybrid      Win11D       0
ThinkPad X1 Extreme      Win11P
----------------------   -------   -------
P=Production; D=DevChannel, RP=Release Preview

Upon considering this data, I have to change my initial supposition. While it’s probably true that software makers are pushing a last round of updates out to Windows users, looks like it’s not coming in a total rush this morning. Because I updated all of those other machines Wed-Fri last week, I can say it’s been coming for a while now. Looks like I didn’t get around to my production PC until later, rather than sooner.

More Data Delivers More Insight

This just goes to show that a larger sample size is helpful in making observations about updates more informed and cogent. It’s probably a good idea to schedule one more update cycle before the holidays (if you haven’t done so already). After that, it should be safe to wait until January 3 — or later — to make a next check.

My gut feel is not much will be happening, update-wise, for the rest of the next couple of weeks. I guess that means the EoY break is at hand. Enjoy!

Note: I will be blogging through Wednesday, December 21. I’m off then, but I’ll resume on December 26. Happy Holidays to one and all.

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Thunderbolt Docks Add Helpful Future-Proofing

I’m thinking about what kinds of hardware experiments I’ve conducted over the past couple of years. Especially this year (2022). Along the way, I’ve learned that Thunderbolt docks add helpful future-proofing for home and office users. Let me explain…

How Thunderbolt Docks Add Helpful Future-Proofing

Right now, Lenovo offers what can only be called a “Best Buy” in the arena of Thunderbolt 4 docks. Or maybe a couple of them, as I’ll recount shortly. Called the Universal TB4 Dock, it currently retails for just under US$290. This is about US$110 cheaper than its nearest competitors (e.g. Belkin and CalDigit, among others).

On December 8, I also wrote here about the Lenovo P27-u20 monitor, which includes a built-in TB4 dock. At US$527, with a 4K monitor included in the mix, it too, qualifies as a “Best Buy” IMO.

There is one thing, though: to make proper use of TB4, you also need TB4 peripherals. They will be no more than two years old (TB4 made its debut in H2’2020). There’s a lot of expense involved in climbing this technology bump. But if you’ve got newer peripherals, a TB4 dock is a great way to mate them up to PCs and laptops back to 8th Gen Intel (and equivalent AMD) CPUs. I’ve done that, and it works great.

Try TB3 for a Lower-Budget Approach

For readers who want to extend the life of a Windows 11 capable PC or laptop, it may make sense to invest in Thunderbolt 3 (TB3) instead. Such docks cost as little as US$40 (e.g. Dell refurb), and are readily available new for around or just under US$100. If you’ve already bought into USB-C (3.1 or 3.2 capability) or TB3 peripherals, this is a less expensive way to dock up. Worth researching anyway: I see lots of attractive options at Amazon and other online outlets.

Thanks, Lenovo!

While I’ve got your eye, I’d like to thank the laptop and peripherals teams at Lenovo for their outstanding support. They’ve sent me half-a-dozen different laptops (and one great SFF workstation), multiple docks and the aforementioned monitor this year to review.

It’s been incredibly educational and lots of fun to put different TB4 scenarios together. This lets me understand and measure how they work, and how to make them work best. A special shout-out to Jeff Witt and Amanda Heater for their great help and quick assistance this year (and beforehand). Happy holidays to one and all.

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25267 Last 2022 Dev Channel Build

It’s over … for now, at least. That’s right: the Build 25267 announcement states “This will be our last Dev Channel flight for the holidays.” Hence my title for today’s post: 25267 last 2022 Dev Channel Build. I must say it went pretty smoothly, too: it took under half an hour from start to finish: download, GUI and post-GUI install, and thence to the desktop. Good stuff!

If 25267 Last 2022 Dev Channel Build, Then What?

Enjoy the holidays, I guess. According to the change log, the only noteworthy element is “more rounded corners” for the expanded search results obtained via the taskbar’s search button. The lead-in graphic shows what that looks like. AFAICT, it’s no biggie. Note: I had to fiddle with the screen cap (and blew it up to 150% for improved viewability) so it’s a little fuzzier here than in “real life.”

Poking Around Behind the Scenes

Just for grins, I took a look at the size of Windows.old after this latest upgrade, to get a sense of how big a Windows 11 image is nowadays. On both of my test machine, it came in just over 23GB in size. (One PC is a Lenovo X12 Hybrid Tablet, with 11th Gen i7-1180G7 CPU, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD; the other is a Lenovo X380 Yoga, with 8th Gen i7-8650U, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD.)

It used to be conventional wisdom that a Windows install required 20 GB of free disk space. Now, it looks like 25 GB is probably a safer general guideline. Interestingly, the Disk Cleanup utility reports the size of Previous Windows installation(s) as 15.4 GB, even though a properties check on Windows.old (Build 25262) returns the aforementioned sizes. Cleanup takes a little while, too: about 4 minutes on each test PC or thereabouts.

25267 Last 2022 Dev Channel Build.Windows.old

Note the reported size here is about 9 GB smaller. Interesting…

Marching into 2023

It’s still 17 days off, but 2023 is coming. I imagine we might see resumption of regular flighting the week of January 9. But heck, it’s been a busy, busy year for Windows 11. I count 32 Builds in Update History starting from March 21, 2022. And while I’ve encountered (and reported) occasional issues along the way, most have been minor. And none have stopped me from tracking along with each new Build as it’s emerged. I can only hope next year goes equally well.

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