Category Archives: Windows 11

Mapping Windows Memory Usage

I like to keep an eye on how Windows is using system resources. To that end, I still use Helmut Buhler’s excellent 8GadgetPack utilities. They don’t really tell you anything that Task Manager can’t but you can keep them in view all the time, and they don’t exact much system overhead, either. For a rough and ready picture of what’s up with Windows memory (RAM), those tools (e.g. Task Manager and the CPU Monitor gadget) can tell you how much RAM is on your PC, how much is in use, and how much is free. The gadget also reports page file info: total, free, used as well. But when it comes to digging deeper into how Windows uses memory, the Sysinternals tool for mapping Windows memory usage –namely, RamMap – is what you need. Let me explain…

For Mapping Windows Memory Usage, Try RamMap

If you look at the lead-in graphic, I’ve superimposed the CPU Usage gadget (aka CPU Monitor) at center far right, with the Sysinternals RamMap tool beneath it. This pretty much shows things as they work and contrasts the minimal level of detail available from Task Manager and the Corresponding CPU gadget to the more detailed and nuanced RamMap.

TLDR version: Use Task Manager or the CPU Gadget to get a gross overview of memory and paging file stuff; use RamMap to get more details about what’s consuming memory and what state that memory is in.

In large part differences are a matter of details. Task Manager and the CPU Gadget tell you how much RAM is used (blue numbers under the Used, Free, Total column heads in white: 23.6GB) and free (~8GB). It also tells you that the page file is not in use (yellow numbers right underneath RAM entries). That’s pretty much it.

RamMap, OTOH, provides a lot more memory status categories: Active, Standby, Modified, Modified No Wire, Transition, Zeroed, Free, and Bad (you want to see THAT one in a memory map). You get a much more informed and detailed view here (and under other tabs besides “Use Counts” in the leftmost position, shows by default).

How “Used” and “Free” Fit RamMap Categories

Here’s something worth knowing: Used Memory in Task Manager/CPU Gadget combines the RamMap totals under Active, Standby and Modified. Free memory in Task Manager/CPU Gagdet combines the RamMap totals under the Zero and Free headings.

But when RamMap runs you can also see how those numbers change as processes execute, tasks get handled, services do their thing and so forth. It’s much more detailed and useful if you want that level of detail, especially if you’re hunting a memory leak of some kind.

Good stuff! Grab yourself a copy today (or you can simply run the web-based executable, to make sure you’re always using the latest and greatest version).

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Build 26120.3653 Gains QMR

In the latest 24H2 Beta Build for Windows 11, the OS gains a facility called Quick Machine Recovery. That’s right: Build 26120.3653 gains QMR, ready for test and use after install. Indeed, the lead-in graphic shows commands to set up a QMR test, as documented at MS Learn. (That entire article is worth a quick read for an overview and explanation of QMR’s cloud- and OS-based remediation capabilities).

Testing How Build 26120.3653 Gains QMR

On a suitably-equipped Windows 11 PC, QMR testing must first be enabled. The first of the two commands shown above handles that:

reagentc.exe /SetRecoveryTestMode

Next, you must instruct QMR to take over the PC after the next reboot. That forces QMR into action (otherwise, it kicks in only after some kind of error or boot failure):

reagentc.exe /BootToRe

This instructs the boot loader to hand the next boot over to the Window Recovery Environment. That’s WinRE, the “Re” in the command string at far right. Overall, reagentc.exe handles WinRE configuration and auto-recovery handling. It also lets admins direct recovery operations and customize WinRE images.

QMR Remediation

QMR’s magic comes from its automated ability that — in the words of the afore-linked MS Learn article — “enables the recovery of Windows devices when they encounter critical errors that prevent them from booting.” In fast, QMR can “…automatically search for remediations in the cloud and recover from widespread boot failures…”

FWIW, I see this new facility as a well-crafted Microsoft response to 2 major issues in 2024. First, there was a Microsoft security update (KB5034441) in January of that year, that rendered PCs with smaller UEFI partitions unable to boot. Second, a Crowdstrike update in July left PCs in a “boot loop” unable to start up at all. Both incidents reportedly affected 8M+ Windows PCs, but the latter caused business service interruptions lasting up to 4 days. Many of those PCs ran remotely, inaccessible without some “interesting” boot-strapping maneuvers involving KVM tools (and lots of cursewords, apparently).

Hopefully, QMR will make such debacles obsolete, and provide cloud-based mechanisms to inject remediation automatically as soon as fixes can be concocted. This could be a very good thing. It’s going to take a while before QMR goes mainstream (probably in 25H2) but it should make life easier for Windows admins everywhere.

One more thing: Sergey Tkachenko at WinAero reports “A test patch is expected to be released in the coming days, which will allow you to test the Fast System Restore feature in practice.” That will let admins try out the auto-remediation feature for real.

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Unintended OneDrive Consequences

I have  to chuckle. Working on a Windows 11 revision to a data recovery  story yesterday, I ran into “the law of unintended consequences.” In this case, I switched OneDrive backup on to test the Windows Backup app. In so doing, I picked up some unintended OneDrive consequences. You can see them in the lead-in screenshot.

Overcoming Unintended OneDrive Consequences

Blithely, I started using files for my primary MSA from OneDrive on that test PC. (I chose the snappy and powerful ThinkStation P360 Ultra.) Immediately, it picked up Windows Terminal environment settings from the cloud, not the local PC.

Check the lead-in graphic. The error results from running the cloud-based PowerShell profile. It references supporting infrastructure for the WinGet.CommandNotFound capability. This allows WinGet to suggest a source to install a command that

(a) PowerShell sees as undefined
(b) WinGet recognizes
(c) knows where to find
(d) can install on the user’s behalf

Read the error message beneath the failed import command at Line 8 in that output stream. You’ll see the module named Microsoft.WinGet.Client is not loaded. Translation: that module IS squared away on PC from which  OneDrive supplies shared files.If it gets loaded on this machine, the error won’t recur.

Putting the (Right) Pieces in Place

The next screencap shows what I did to fix this. I looked up the instructions to get Microsoft.Winget.Client loaded. It requires two back-to-back PowerShell commands. The first handles install, the the second import:

Install-Module -Name Microsoft.WinGet.Client
Import-Module -Name Microsoft.WinGet.Client

I ran those commands  on the P350 Ultra. Where requested, I provided permission to access the module gallery for the client module. Next, PowerShell said”Restart Windows Terminal.” After I did that everything worked OK. Here’s visual proof:

What you see is that PowerShell opens normally, with no error messages. Next, you see NeoFetch which shows system and OS info for some nice eye candy. But that last part is proof that unknown command handling is working as it should. I typed ‘vim‘ in at the command line (it’s a well-known text editor popular in UNIX and Linux circles, not installed by default in PowerShell). And you see the results of the Microsoft.CommandNotFound module suggesting WinGet syntax for how to install this tool if wanted.

Problem solved!

 

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Windows 11 25H2 Rumors Aswirl

OK, then: there’s a growing chorus of sources predicting a new version of Windows 11 for the second half of this year, most likely in the fall. And indeed there are lots of Windows 11 25H2 rumors aswirl at the moment including: Windows Latest, Windows Central, Thurrott.com, and more. Indeed, MS has just bumped up Windows version numbering the Dev Channel to 262xx, and Windows watchers everywhere are seeing a new iteration in the offing this fall as a result.

With Windows 11 25H2 Rumors Aswirl, Here’s My Take

Given Microsoft’s annual cadence for Windows 11 updates at present, it’s no great leap of faith to see a new version coming later this year. It’s not at all unreasonable to posit from the recent change in Dev Channel build numbers that this may be the first tangible sign of what lies ahead.

Here’s my question, though: why is this hitting the Dev Channel, and not the Canary Channel? I’m a little confused as to the order and precedence among the Windows Insider channels right now (and I’m not the only one: Paul Thurrot’s afore-linked meditation on Windows in 2025 spends some cycles on wondering some of the same things).

I, too, find it challenging to keep up with 23H2 and 24H2 versions across production/GA releases, plus Canary, Dev, Beta and Release Preview channels. It seems like the Windows desktop is fracturing with lots of loosely connected box canyons that share no clear or common flow. If “a river runs through it,” it’s kinda muddy right now.

Is There Hope of Clarity or Simplification?

Going forward, I’d really like to see the number of separate tracks and trails diminish. It’s hard to keep a mental map of what’s changed where, and how things work in general and specific terms. That’s mostly because there are at least 10 different paths through Windows 11 versions right now, with no clear end to any of them in sight. Presumably, 23H2 needs to fall out sometime, but when?

Inquiring minds — including mine — would like some clarity, please. A road map would be no bad thing, either. Please help, Windows Insider team. It’s getting kinda crazy in here…

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Remove Package Kills Spurious Reclaimables

Over the past year or so, I’ve blogged 7 times about “spurious reclaimables” in Windows 11. They persist in the component store even after DISM /StartComponentCleanup. You can see this in the lead-in graphic. Right now, in fact, the current Beta and GA releases show this behavior. Indeed, it comes from older packages that the preceding DISM command can’t (or won’t) clean out. Reading the CBS.log carefully, someone at ElevenForum  figured out that a single remove package kills spurious reclaimables dead.

Running Remove Package Kills Spurious Reclaimables

A line in the CBS log file that caught long-time member and guru @Bree‘s eye. It showed up in the CBS.log via DISM … /AnalyzeComponentStore. It reads (in part):

Package_for_RollupFix~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~26100.1742.1.10] is a top-level package and is deeply superseded

In the component store, a top-level package is a primary package. It contains all the bit and pieces — namely files, resources, and instructions — to install or enable some specific Windows update or feature. It’s called top-level because it may contain (or be a parent to, in hierarchical terms) other, related packages and features.

What caught Bree’s attention was the “deeply superseded” phrase in the descriptive text. Normally, DISM /StartComponentCleanup doesn’t remove top-level packages from WinSxS. “What if,” he reasoned, “this were removed because of its obsolete status?” And indeed, it turns out that removing this package also removes a child package as well. And these two nogoodniks turn out to be the very same two packages that show up as spurious reclaimables when running DISM /AnalyzeComponentStore.

Doing Away With Deeply Superseded Package

If your Windows 11 still shows 2 reclaimable packages after a successful  DISM /StartComponentCleanup operation, try this DISM command to remove the deeply superseded package (if it’s not the cause, this command will simply fail but won’t harm the component store):

dism /online /remove-package /packagename:Package_for_RollupFix~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~26100.1742.1.10

It worked on all the Windows 11 systems I tried it on, including current Beta and GA releases (5 in all). You can also regain about 1.2-1.3GB of space in the component store by following up with a DISM /StartComponentCleanup command. Cheers!

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New Key Provides Quick Pro Access

I’m still working with — and on — my new Lenovo review laptop. It’s a ThinkPad T14s Gen 5. That’s a Copilot+ PC with an Intel Core Ultra 5 125u CPU, 16 GB RAM, 0.5 TB NVMe Gen4 SSD, and a snazzy touch screen (WUXGA: 1920×1200). Yesterday, I had to correct one of its few as-shipped deficits: it shipped with Windows 11 Home installed. Because I like to use Remote Desktop Access to work on Windows PCs here at Chez Tittel, I needed to switch to Windows 11 Pro. That’s OK: thanks to my MVP VS Subscriptions, a new key provides quick Pro access. How quick? Let me tell you…

How a New Key Provides Quick Pro Access

Windows 11 Home and Pro share the same core operating system files. Indeed, even in a Home installation, Pro features and functions are present if unavailable. That’s why providing a valid Pro key unlocks such features, with no need to download or install new files.

The process took all of 10 seconds, most of which involved communication with the Microsoft Windows activation servers. I typed “Activation” into Settings, then clicked “Activation settings.” This took me to Settings > System > Activation, where I clicked the Change button to the right of the Change product key option. After entering a MAK key for Windows 11 Pro (copied from my VS subscription), the legend immediately changed to Windows 11 Pro. That’s what you see in the lead-in graphic for this story.

The whole shebang took nearly no time at all. And now, I’m happily working with the T14s through Remote Desktop Connection on my left-hand monitor, as I’m typing this blog post in the right-hand one. Exactly what I wanted.

According to Copilot, the same speedy transition applies to other up-licensing as well. With the right key change, it’s just as fast to get to Windows 11 Education or Windows 11 Enterprise versions as well. And FWIW, Windows 10 works the same way. Good-oh!

 

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ThinkPad T14s Gen 5 Intake & First Impressions

Last August, Lenovo sent me a similar ThinkPad. Turns out, it was the Snapdragon X equivalent of what I’ve got now — namely, the ThinkPad T14s Gen 5. This time around, it comes equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 5 125U, 16 GB RAM LPDDR5 RAM, and a 0.5TB Gen4 NVMe SSD. It’s not quite as impressive as its Snapdragon counterpart, but it does come with an online price of just over US$1200 at the Lenovo Store. It showed up yesterday afternoon here at Chez Tittel. Here, I’ll share info about the Think T14s Gen 5 intake & first impressions. TLDR summary: nifty little biz laptop.

Detailing ThinkPad T14s Gen 5 Intake & First Impressions

It’s still a thrill to unbox new Lenovo computers these days, thanks to their all-paper packages designed for quick, easy access. The first thing I noticed was the boot time (after I plugged the 65W USB-C charger in: the unit was at 0% charge). On first boot, it takes less than 10 seconds to get from power on to spinning balls (Task Manager reports “Last BIOS time” at 11.4 second), and less than 10 seconds more to get to the desktop. Closing the lid puts the unit immediately to sleep, and it takes less than 4 seconds to scan me with its IR Windows Hello camera and log me back in when I open it. Good-oh!

My recollection is that the Snapdragon X model was a little bit faster than this Intel Core Ultra 5 125U CPU. That said, the unit is pretty darn snappy, and does everything I ask it to do with verve and dispatch. CrystalDiskMark reports top speeds of ~7 GBps read/~5GBps write from its capable Gen5 SK Hynix SSD (random 4K r/w performance is 409/334 [QD32] and 65/129 [QD1] MBps). That’s on par with my beefiest test laptop — the big and beastly P16 Gen 1 Mobile Workstation.

I used PatchMyPC Home Updater to get most of my typical collection of tools and apps installed. The T14s did a nice job throughout, and the whole process took less than 20 minutes to complete. Then, I went to update Windows 11 24H2, as I’ll recite under the next heading…

Updating Windows 11 24H2 Takes Time

For some odd reason, WU installed a boatload of stuff when I did my usual “first boot” update check — 2 CUs, 23 drivers, the most recent MSRT, and various Defender updates (signatures and platform). This took long enough that it reminded me of pre Windows-7 days when installing Windows took nowhere near as long as catching up the OS image on updates after that first step was over. This was unusual, but not unheard of.

And now, I’ve got this nifty little unit ready to rock’n’roll for further inspection, testing and use. I’m glad to have it because I want to compare OTA Ethernet and GbE network file transfer to Intel’s Thunderbolt Share application. This PC gives me my vital “second Thunderbolt 4 PC” so I can check that out. Stay tuned!

 

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Ghost in the Machine Needs Printout

I have to chuckle when I read about these kinds of things. For much of the week I’ve been reading online (see list of articles near the end) about printers waking up and printing stuff on their own. On  Windows 11 PCs running Build 2263.4825, it seems that those with specific printers may start printing garbage output spontaneously. ICYMI, “ghost in the machine” is a British philosopher’s shorthand phrase for Descartes mind-body dualism. In this case, I’m twisting that metaphor further to impute independent action to a Windows print driver gone wrong. That’s why I aver that the Ghost in the Machine needs printout.

Why the Ghost in the Machine Needs Printout…

Newer printers (mid-2010s and afterward) that support driverless printing technologies such as Mopria  (a printer maker alliance that includes Canon, HP, Samsun and Xerox) and AirPrint (an Apple technology widely used by printer makers, too) also support dual-mode printers. For the ghost to start printing on its own, such devices much support both USB print and IPP over USB protocols (IPP is the Internet Printing Protocol). After updating Windows via KB5050092 (release 1/29/2025) such printers may start spewing pages, no user print requests nor print spooler files needed.

You can read about this specral phenomenon from a plethora of sources including:

BleepingComputer Recent Windows updates make USB printers print random text (March 12)

Windows Forum Windows 11 Printing Glitch (March 13)

PC Gamer Haunted printers turning on by themselves and printing nonsense (March 12)

I’m not the only industry follower who’s picked up on the “ghost in the machine” metaphor, apparently. And you thought Windows was a brute and soulless beast, I’ll bet…NOT! Anybody who works with the OS for any length of time knows full well it’s possessed of a host of spirits that range all the way from the most angelic to the deepest of deviltry. I’ll let you decide how magnificent or malefic this particular haunt might be for yourself.

One more thing: the uber-cutesy graphic that starts off this blog post is Copilot’s response to a prompt that reads “show a PC printer possessed by a ghost.” Another clear case of you get what you pay for, IMO.

 

 

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Copilot UI Goes Native

OK, then: MS just pushed a new Copilot version via the MS Store (1.25023.106.0). After the update, it announces itself anew on the desktop “Hi, I’m Copilot, your AI companion.” And again — as shown in the lead-in graphic — it asks you to set it up with toggles for diagnostic data, auto-start at log in, and the Alt+Spacebar shortcut.

What Copilot UI Goes Native Means

Apparently MS is previewing this new look in at various Insider Preview channels (I see it in the Canary and Beta Channels right now). According to Zac Bowden at Windows Central, this represents a “brand-new Copilot app for Windows 11 that utilizes the company’s native app UI framework for a more cohesive experience.”

Among other things, this includes (all bullet points quoted verbatim from Bowden’s story):

  • a sidebar for different chats
  • mica blur effects
  • native context menus and buttons … more aligned with Windows 11’s design language

FWIW, that sidebar appears to the left in the Copilot Window and shows links to previous chat topics. Interestingly, the new version picks up this info from the online data Copilot maintains about users, so you can see the 20 most recent prompts when you fire up the new version for the first time.

Copilot Is Unable to Explain Itself

Just for grins, I asked Copilot to tell me about its new UI capabilities. It replied by saying it lacked “specific knowledge about my interface or updates…[it is]… designed to work seamlessly with the tools available … to make …. interactions engaging and smooth.” This includes the following items (quoted verbatim):

  • Visual Elements: I can use markdown formatting to structure and present information in an appealing way, such as headings, tables, bullet points and even LaTex for math equations.
  • File and Image Integration: You can upload images or files, and I can understand and describe their content (though I can’t edit images you upload).
  • AI Tools: I have capabilities to search the web for up-to-date information or generate unique, creative images based on your prompts.
  • Language Adaptability: I adapt to your tone and preferences, aiming to feel less like a tool and more like a thoughtful collaborator.

And here’s the image it generated to show those things off, after I asked it to include some text labels in its initial cryptic offering:

Here’s Copilot’s effort to depict its manifold capabilites (note the various misspellings throughout). Sigh.

It did do something more interesting when I pointed those misspelling out and asked it to correct the. Hooray! It’s another rabbit hole.

My only question is: is the gibberish deliberate or accidental? It’s nteresting, though. Bu overall, Copilot still feels more like a tool to me, and less like a thoughtful collaborator. Just sayin’…

Note Added 15 Minutes Later

I now see that the new version is more widely available than I had thought. It’s running on my Windows 10 desktop right now (Release Preview Insider Channel). But it’s that, too, is a Windows Insider item. It’s not coming through on any of my production Windows 11 PCs (currently at Build 26100.3194).

 

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Installing Build 27802 Throws Memory Error

Here’s a new one on me. Last Friday, as I was installing the latest Canary Channel upgrade, the installer threw an error code that I’d not seen before. That code is 0x8007000e; its output from the Microsoft Error Lookup Tool (err_6.4.5.exe) appears as the lead-in graphic above. That error occurred during the GUI portion of the install. And it occurs to me that while installing Build 27802 throws memory error, it might have been because I was running WinGet in parallel, installing other stuff at the same time. I’m guessing was a self-inflicted thing…let me explain.

Self-Inflicted: Installing Build 27802 Throws Memory Error

The recommendation that comes with this error, is to restart the PC and try again. As soon as I did that — without added activity on the side — the upgrade installed successfully with no further errors along the way. As I look back on what got updated during my first botched attempt, I see that some fairly intense items were involved. Most notably, it included Visual Studio, for which a typical install is usually around 50GB in size. I can see where trying to juggle both on a 2021 vintage laptop (Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Detachable Tablet with 16GB RAM) might cause resource issues.

Anyway, the proof’s in the observation that a second attempt worked. That’s probably because I didn’t try to multi-task while the GUI install was underway. The only reason I haven’t done this to myself before is that you can’t do anything to the PC except let the installer run, during the post-GUI phase!

27802 Takes a While to Complete, Too

I couldn’t help but notice — because I perforce went through the process twice on the X12 — that the upgrade process to this latest build takes some time to complete. Normally, a Canary Channel upgrade finishes in under half an hour. This time around, the whole process — including download, GUI install, and post-GUI install — took about 75 minutes to complete from desktop to desktop.

At least I now know I should leave my PCs (mostly) alone while the GUI phase of a Windows upgrade is underway. I wonder what my next creative abuse of the runtime and installer will teach me? There’s always something new and interesting to learn, here in Windows -World!

 

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