Chipp.in Tech News and Reviews

O&O AppBuster: uninstall locked Windows apps

Posted on November 12, 2023November 12, 2023 by Martin Brinkmann

O&O AppBuster is a free application by O&O Software GMBH. The program enables Windows 10 and 11 users to uninstall apps that Microsoft does not want users to remove from the system.

While some apps are critical components of Windows, the same can’t be said for all locked apps. Apps like Photos, Phone Link, Game Bar or Tips can’t be uninstalled from the Settings app.

PowerShell has long been the primary option to remove locked apps on Windows 10 and 11. It is a great option for system administrators and experienced users. You may check out my guide on uninstall the Photos app on Windows 11 as an example.

Regular Windows users may not feel comfortable enough running commands from PowerShell.

O&O AppBuster comes to the rescue. It has an easy-to-use interface to remove locked apps. Other features include mass removal of apps, including third-party apps, and more.

Tip: check out our review of O&O ShutUp10++ as well. This free program may improve your privacy.

O&O AppBuster: an overview

You can run the application right after the download. An installation is not required. The application has a clean interface that lists all installed apps and programs immediately.

The program lists all applications with their name and publisher, installation date, status, storage and also the number of users it is available for. A click on a column header at the top allows users to sort the list accordingly.

This is a handy option to sort by installation date or storage.

The Desktop and Windows tabs at the top lead to filtered listings:

Desktop lists all user-installed programs.
Windows lists all native apps and Store-installed apps.

A search allows users to find specific apps next to these. The search matches the name and publisher, which is an excellent option to quickly find multiple apps.

Using the program to remove Windows apps

One of the main applications of O&O AppBuster is the removal of native Windows apps. While Microsoft is making progress in this regard, by unlocking more apps for removal, it continues to lock some.

It is a welcome change of course, but slow-paced and not complete. O&O AppBuster supports other features that make it a good choice. First, by supporting mass uninstalls. Second, through an optional safety feature that relies on System Restore.

Here are the required steps to remove native Windows apps:

Select Actions > Create a System Restore point to create a restore option.
Pick “yes” when asked whether you want to create a system restore point.
Switch to the Windows tab in the program interface.
Check any of the apps that you want to remove.
Activate the “Remove” button once done.
O&O AppBuster displays a prompt immediately afterwards with three options:
- Current user — removes the app(s) only for the logged in user
- All users — removes the app(s) for all users that exist consequently.
- Computer — removes the apps from the entire machine.
Select yes after you have made the selection.
At this instant, O&O may display a prompt to create a system restore point. This happens only if you have not created one previously.
Select Close to complete the removal.

Other features of O&O AppBuster

The program supports a number of other features furthermore. While the main focus is on the removal of Windows apps, it may also be used for other purposes.

You can use it to uninstall Win32 programs. This works a bit differently as the default uninstaller is spawned each time.

You need to be careful here, as some installers may prompt for a reboot.

Mass removal of apps and programs is a useful feature of the program. Just select all of them and hit the remove action afterwards.

Closing Words

O&O AppBuster is a useful program for Windows. It offers an elegant option to remove system apps from Windows as well as regular desktop programs.

Integration of System Restore ensures that you can go back to a previous state. Mass uninstalls is another useful feature, as it speeds up the process significantly.

Now You: do you keep or remove native Windows apps on your devices?

How to make files unrecoverable on decommissioned hard drives

Posted on November 11, 2023November 11, 2023 by Martin Brinkmann

Hard drives may become obsolete from time to time. Maybe your are switching to a new PC or replaced a hard drive with a new one. You may also sell a PC or laptop, or hand it over to someone else.

Data on hard drives may be recoverable, even if you format the hard drive. Windows suggests quick format by default. While that is super speedy, it also leaves the files untouched on the hard drive. Anyone with the right tools may recover the files. Files may contain sensitive information. They may range from personal photos and videos to bank account statements, emails, receipts, letters or your browsing history.

You may want to protect the files in most cases. The best option is to never give away hard drives or other storage devices. This may not be viable in many cases, though.

A full format may work in some cases, but there is an even better option. One that ensures that data can’t be recovered, even with professional tools.

This solution relies on encryption.

The process

The main idea is to encrypt the entire hard drive to protect all data. You’d then run a second full encrypt on the drive afterwards to prevent brute force attacks.

Here is what you need:

VeraCrypt, an open source encryption software.

You may also use other encryption tools if you prefer those. Note that the following steps apply to any drive that is not the system drive (the drive with the operating system).

Make sure the hard drive is connected to the PC. Here are the required steps:

Start VeraCrypt.
Select Volumes > Create New Volume from the menu at the top.
Pick Encrypt a non-system partition/drive and select Next.
Confirm the UAC prompt on Windows.
Keep “Standard VeraCrypt volume” selected and activate the Next button again.
Activate “select device” and pick the drive that you want to erase all data on and protect. Select Next afterwards.
Keep “Create encrypted volume and format it” and select Next on the next screen,
Pick an algorithm, any will do, and select Next. Tip: you may run a quick benchmark to find out which runs well on the device.
Select Next on the Volume Size screen.
Type a secure password. You don’t have to remember it. Use copy and paste if you like.
Check the “use PIM” option to add even better protection.
Select the Next button.
Type a PIM. The default value is 485. Selecting any other number makes recovery attempts difficult. Select Next to continue.
If the PIM is larger, confirm the message with OK.
Move the mouse around in the window to create randomness. Select Next once the status is green.
Confirm that all data on the selected drive will be erased with a click on the Yes button.
Wait for the process to finish.

Note that full formats may take a while to complete. It depends largely on the speed of the drive. The following screenshot was taken from a full format of an external hard drive.

Now repeat the entire process. You can change the format type from Full Format to Quick Format under Volume Format to speed up the process.

Protecting data on an entire PC / laptop

The process is somewhat different if you plan to sell or hand over an entire PC. This requires a system encryption, which VeraCrypt supports.

The process is nearly identical. Here are the main differences:

Select System > Encrypt System Partition / Drive in VeraCrypt.
The process of encrypting the system drive is identical, with one notable exception:
- VeraCrypt wants to run a test to make sure that the operating system boots fine after the drive has been encrypted.
Once you have encrypted the system partition with a strong password and PIM, initiate a reset of the system if you use Windows.
- In Windows 11, go to Settings > System > Recovery > Reset this PC > Reset PC.
- Follow the instructions. Make sure you select to keep no files or other data.

Resetting is important, as it ensures that Windows can be booted. That is all to the process.

You may soon create 7-zip and Tar archives in Windows 11

Posted on November 9, 2023November 9, 2023 by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft is working on adding support for creating 7-zip and Tar archives in Windows 11. The feature is in testing in the latest Canary build of Windows 11.

Microsoft expanded support for different archive types in its Windows 11 operating system in 2023. Previously, Windows users could only extract ZIP archives or compress files using Zip.

An update added extract support for formats such as Rar, Tar or 7z, but not support for creating archives other than Zip. The Moment 4 update for Windows 11 version 22H2 added several features, including Windows Copilot.

All features were included in the 2023 feature update for Windows 11, Windows 11 version 23H2.

Compressing and unpacking files in Windows 11

It is actually pretty easy to use the functionality. Right-click on a supported archive and you get the option to extract its contents on the device.

A right-click on any file displays the “compress to Zip file” option currently, even if the selection is already an archive.

As is the case with many native Windows features and tools, they are somewhat limited. While you can create archives, you don’t get options to configure advanced options.

There is no option to password protect files, change dictionary sizes, create recovery files or change the compression level. Similarly, extracting files is limited to selecting a target location.

Another issue that users of third-party archivers may have noticed when using the native extraction and compression functionality is that the performance is slower. It takes longer to extract files and also longer to compress them.

This may not be a problem for many Windows 11 users. If you use the functionality once or twice a week, you may not have a problem with its performance.

It is convenient after all that the functionality is baked in.

Creating Tar and 7z archives

The latest Windows 11 Canary build introduces support for creating Tar and 7z archives. Microsoft revealed the new functionality in the official release notes:

[ADDED] We’ve added support for creating 7-zip and TAR archives in addition to ZIP.

Microsoft changed the “Compress to Zip file” in File Explorer to “Compress to”. Selecting this option displays all supported formats: Zip file, 7z file and Tar file.

These work identical. Select the desired format and then wait for Windows to create the archive in the same directory.

Rar support is missing, notably, from the list of supported formats. Microsoft did not mention why it did not add support for the format.

Microsoft uses the open source libarchive for the functionality. This library does not support rar writes, which may explain the absence.

Closing Words

Microsoft is making the handling of archive formats comfortable on Windows 11. Users may now extract lots of formats without installing third-party software. Support for compressing files to 7z and Tar is also a welcome addition.

The functionality won’t keep advanced users from installing and using third-party apps. These offer better functionality and performance. Also, support for formats is still limited in comparison.

Is security a problem? More users may find the option to extract archives, which may tempt malicious actors to spread malware using archive formats.

It is a possibility and it will be interesting to see how Microsoft will react to potential threats.

Now You: native or third-party, how do you like your compression software?

Beware: Human reviewers may access your Google Bard conversations

Posted on November 8, 2023November 8, 2023 by Martin Brinkmann

Tools like Bing Chat, Windows Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude or Google Bard have seen a rise to prominence this year. These advanced chatbots promise to deliver information to users who chat with them. While you can’t ask them anything, as some content is locked down, you can get answers and information about lots of things.

Ask about the Mona Lisa or the Hallgrímskirkja and you get a good overview of these items, usually. You may get instructions on fixing PC issues or your car, and even medical advice is not out of the question.

There is always the chance of hallucination, which more or less refers to it returning content that is not true. Still, many tech companies are pushing AI like crazy. Microsoft, for example, added Bing Chat to Windows and several other company products.

Google Bard and Human Reviewers

Google confirmed on the Bard Help website that human reviewers may look at conversations. Feedback from Bard users plays an important role in improving Bard, but Google says that this is not enough. Human reviewers are “a necessary step of the model improvement process” according to the company.

The reviews, ratings and rewrites of human reviewers helps Google improve the quality of its generative machine-learning models”.

Google explains that conversations that human reviewers access are unlinked from Google accounts. Furthermore, random samples are picked for human review and “only a portion of all Bard conversations are reviewed”.

While that sounds reassuring, it is clear that input from human users of Bard may reveal their identity. Google recommends to users that they don’t reveal anything in conversations with Bard that they don’t want human reviewers to potentially have access to.

To Google’s credit, it highlights the fact that human reviewers may access conversations on the Bard website prominently.

What Human Reviewers do

Reviewers look for “low-quality, inaccurate, or harmful” Bard responses according to Google. Once identified, evaluators suggests higher-quality responses. These are then used to “create a batter dataset for generative machine-learning models”.

In other words, Google is using human reviewers to improve Bard’s responses to user queries.

How to prevent the sharing with reviewers

Google Bard users have just one option to prevent the sharing of their conversations with human reviewers. This requires disabling the Bard Activity. Here is a step-by-step guide on disabling Bard Activity:

Open the Bard Activity website on Google’s My Activity hub.
Activate the toggle to turn off Bard Activity on the page that opens. Note that you may also delete existing conversations while there.

Note that Bard activity won’t be saved to the Google account anymore. In other words, you can’t access conversations from one device on another when the feature is disabled.

The deletion doesn’t affect conversations that has been reviewed by human reviewers already. Google retains that data and related data for up to three years according to the privacy information on the Bard Help website.

Related information may include the language, device type and location info according to Google.

Closing Words

The advice to never include personal information that could be traced back to you is as old as the Internet. While this limits some conversations with AI, it is still sound advice.

Bard users who want to include personal information in their conversations may want to turn off Bard Activity first, as this prevents access for human reviewers.

Now You: do you use AI tools?

BleachBit Review: free up disk space by deleting temp files

Posted on November 7, 2023November 7, 2023 by Martin Brinkmann

BleachBit is a free program for Microsoft Windows and Linux devices that helps users delete temporary files to free up disk space. Often compared to CCleaner, BleachBit has not gone down the route of commercialization.

The program is free and does not contain locked tools that need to be unlocked with a purchase. Users on Windows may download and run a portable version, if they prefer that.

BleachBit serves several purposes: from freeing up disk space to removing traces of files for privacy.

This review looks at the features and functionality, but also how the software compares to CCleaner, which is still the most popular cleaner on Windows.

BleachBit: the interface

BleachBit’s interface is streamlined. The app may take a moment to load. Once loaded, it displays supported cleaning locations in a sidebar on the left. This includes, usually, one or more web browsers, the operating system and some other apps.

A click on an entry expands the selection. You can select any category or entry to get a description; useful, in case you are unsure if you should delete found data.

Selecting an entire category may sometimes include sensitive or important information. When you select a browser, BleachBit informs you that passwords may also be removed. The option to ignore certain data types is provided.

One useful feature of BleachBit is its preview option. Select preview to check the selected locations for temporary files without running any cleanup operations. BleachBit returns the number of files and the disk space that it will free when you run it for real.

All files are listed by the app, which can be intimidating at first. A click on clean deletes the selected files and frees up the disk space.

BleachBit features

BleachBit’s main focus is web browsers, the operating system, and several core apps, e.g., Windows Defender or Explorer on Windows.

Before you run the program, you may want to open the Settings with a click on the BleachBit icon and the selection of preferences. There, you find several interesting options:

Enable overwriting file contents to prevent recovery.
Disable confirmations before deleting.
Disable Dark Mode.
Download and use community cleaners using winapp2.ini. Note that you need to restart the application to include the extra cleaners.
Add custom cleanup files or folders.
Whitelist files or folders to avoid deletions.

It is highly recommended to enable the winapp2.ini option, as it extends BleachBit significantly.

A click on the BleachBit icon displays additional options. These include options to delete files or folders permanently, wipe free disk space, and to display system information.

Comparison to CCleaner

BleachBit lacks many of the extra tools that Avast added to CCleaner. While some users may miss those options, others may like the program’s focus on cleaning. With winapp2.ini loaded, BleachBit does not have to hide behind CCleaner when it comes to the cleaning part.

Free users especially may like the approach, as they won’t run into “please upgrade to use this tool” messages when they use the application.

To sum it up, if you are just interested in the cleaning bits, then you may prefer BleachBit because of its lack of fluff.

Closing Words

BleachBit is a useful tool to delete temporary files on supported operating systems. Its effectiveness increases with the addition of additional cleaners, but it does get more complex at the same time.

Still, if you want to delete temp files quickly, BleachBit is an excellent option for that job.

Now You: do you use a cleaner?

Google Play to highlight apps with independent security reviews

Posted on November 6, 2023November 6, 2023 by Martin Brinkmann

Starting with apps in the VPN category, Google’s Play Store is soon highlighting apps with independent security reviews.

The company announced the change on the official Google Security blog. Google Android users who visit Google Play to browse for apps may open the data safety section for security and privacy information.

There, they will soon find the new independent security review label. Google plans to roll this out to apps in the VPN category first.

Google explains that VPN apps handle “sensitive and significant amount(s) of user data”. This makes them an excellent category to introduce the functionality.

Independent Security Reviews banner on Google Play

A new Independent Security Review banner is already displayed to Android users who search for VPN apps on Google Play. The banner, displayed beneath a list of advertisement for VPN apps, informs users about the security feature.

The banner lists the associated badge and includes the following description:

VPN apps with this badge in the Data safety section have been independently validated against a global security standard.

A link opens the website of the App Defense Alliance that lists all VPN apps with the badge. Only eight VPN apps are on the list currently. They are:

Aloha Browser + Private VPN
ExpressVPN: VPN Fast & Secure
Google One
NordVPN: private & secure VPN
Private Internet Access VPN
SkyVPN – Fast Secure VPN
Tomato VPN | VPN Proxy
vpnify – Unlimited VPN Proxy

A tap on any app and the selection of Data safety displays the new badge, provided that the app has undergone the security validation by App Defense Alliance’s global security standard. Those without it have not, but that does not mean that they have not passed other security audits.

What this means

Google highlights VPN apps that have passed the security validation on Google Play. The badge is not displayed on the apps’ main page, however, and it is easily overlooked in the data safety section.

Apps that passed validation meet “industry mobile security and privacy minimum best practices” according to Google. The badge does not “imply that a product is free of vulnerabilities” though.

To sum it up: the badge highlights that apps have passed independent security reviews, which is a good thing. Other apps, without the badge, may also have passed security audits. Some of these audits may have been more thorough than the one required to get the badge on Google Play.

Verdict

The new badge is a welcome addition to Google Play as it may help users pick a VPN app. While there are other criteria, such as features and performance, security is without doubt important.

That Google displays ads for VPN apps before the Independent Security Reviews badge is a problem. The listing in Data Safety makes sense, but Google might want to consider adding the badge to an application’s main page as well.

All in all, it is a welcome addition on Google Play. Users may still want to research VPN providers before installing any of them on their Android devices.

Now You: do you use VPN apps on your mobile devices?

YouTube’s ad blocker crackdown has an impact on content blockers

Posted on November 4, 2023November 4, 2023 by Martin Brinkmann

Google’s crackdown on ad blockers on YouTube started in early August. The company began tests that informed a small percentage of users with ad blockers that “ad blockers were not allowed on YouTube”.

In August, things heated up as Google started to display the prompts aggressively to users with ad blockers. Two months on and it is now confirmed that Google is cracking down on the use of content blockers on YouTube globally.

Ad blocking was always a cat and mouse game on the Internet. As ad blockers evolved and started to gain tractions, sites and publishers began to develop countermeasures. Some introduced paywalls, others modified ads on their sites or used different techniques to display ads even on systems with ad blockers.

Developers of ad blockers reacted to these changes, and the whole thing began anew.

Impact on YouTube users

Google’s crackdown seems to have a severe impact on users who use ad blockers. It appears that a portion of users who use ad blockers on YouTube have uninstalled them to continue watching videos at the site.

While uninstallations have increased, installations of ad blockers have increased as well. A report from Wired includes quotes from several companies that produce content blockers.

The makers of AdGuard, a popular blocking tool with 75 million users, including 4.5 million paying customers, saw uninstallations jump from about 6000 per day to 52,000 in October. Installations surged to about 60,000 installations as well, levelling the number of installations and uninstallations. The paid version of AdGuard was not affected by this, according to the company.

Munich-based Ghostery noticed up to five times the installs and uninstalls throughout October, according to the report. Most users, when asked for the reason for uninstalling the extension, stated that it was not working anymore on YouTube.

Why installs and uninstalls are surging

Ad blocker users who run into issues on YouTube have just a few options. They can follow Google’s advice and turn off the ad blocker. This allows them to watch YouTube videos with ads.

Another option is the purchase of YouTube Premium, but this comes at a monthly cost. Google announced an increase in the price as well recently.

The third option is to try different content blockers to find one that works. Users evaluate different content blockers until they find one that works or until they give up.

This explains the increase in uninstalls and installs at the same time. Even top of the line content blockers, like uBlock Origin, may fail to block ads on YouTube for a short period of time.

Well maintained content blockers and filter lists are updated frequently to react to changes that Google introduced on YouTube. It is still a cat and mouse game, and will continue to be one.

You can check out my guide on watching YouTube videos without ads here. It offers several options besides using content blockers. All of these methods work, but they may have disadvantages.

Now You: do you visit YouTube regularly?

Netflix announces new Binge Ad format, Sponsorships and Downloads

Posted on November 3, 2023November 3, 2023 by Martin Brinkmann

Netflix users may subscribe to the service for $6.99 per month, but the caveat is that the plan includes ads. The company published One Year Into Netflix Ads this week on the official blog to look back and into the future of ads on the platform.

According to the post, Netflix’s Standard with Ads plan has reached 15 million global monthly active users already. This may not look like much, when compared to the 247 million total subscribers, but the number is growing significantly.

Netflix has a partnership with Microsoft Advertising to deliver adverts to viewers. The company announced a number of new features and changes for advertisers and also for users subscribed to the ad-powered plan.

Binge Ad format and sponsorships

Netflix plans to introduce the binge ad format in the first quarter of 2024. Netflix customers who watch four episodes of a show in a row will get the fourth episode ad-free.

It is unclear if this new format will impact the overall time that advertisement plays per hour on Netflix.

Sponsorships are already available in the United States. Netflix plans to expand these globally in 2024.

Three types of sponsorships are available: title, moment and live sponsorships. Here is what they represent:

Title sponsorships are tied to specific titles.
Moment sponsorships allow advertisers to tap into local holidays.
Live sponsorships are available for live events, such as Netflix’s live sports event, the Netflix Cup.

Other advertising changes

Netflix announced a number of additional changes. New playtimes are available for ads. The service started with 15 and 30 second ads initially. Advertisers may now book 10, 20 and 60 seconds ads globally as well.

Also new are new advertising categories, including dating, pharma and enhanced financial services.

Another change affects the features of the Standard with Ads plan. Netflix notes that it includes 1080p quality now, lets users watch two concurrent streams and that downloads will also become available.

Netflix writes:

All members of the ad-supported plan will be able to download their favorite series and movies, making Netflix the only ad-supported streamer to offer downloads.

Netflix does not explain how this is going to work. It is likely that ads are downloaded along with series and movies. Downloads are a welcome feature, as it gives subscribers the option to watch content while offline, e.g., while travelling.

All paid Netflix plans support downloads once the change lands.

Closing Words

The advertising gamble along with the crackdown on password sharing seems to pay off for Netflix. These helped the company certainly increase its subscriber count.

Whether it is a good strategy in the long run remains to be seen. Netflix announced price increases in several regions recently, but only for ad-free plans.

Clearly, most of the changes benefit Netflix and advertisers only. The new binge watching format sounds like a nice improvement. The majority of changes focus on expanding ads on Netflix.

It looks as if Streaming Services are dying to lose customers

Posted on November 2, 2023November 2, 2023 by Martin Brinkmann

Streaming services have turned the wrong way in the past couple of years. While ad-powered plans are the big thing currently, there are other developments that many customers may not like. These push more and more customers to other options, including P2P.

Netflix started to push its ad-powered plan earlier this year and many streaming services have followed already or will follow Netflix’s example. Customers pay less for the subscription, but they have to watch advertisement instead.

It seems to be a lucrative deal for streaming services, as more and more start to push advertising on the platform. Netflix and Disney+ customers pay less when they sign-up for the ad-powered plan. Amazon sneaked in a little price hike, as it announced that all Prime Video users would get ads, unless they added an ad-free add-on to their plan for some extra Dollars.

Too many streaming services are a problem

Streaming services promised to do better than cable and regular TV offerings. Tune in whenever you want and watch as much as you want. The price was relatively low in the beginning and there were only a few services. Content was not spread across numerous services.

Movies and TV shows went an entirely different route than music. If you subscribe to a music streaming service, you will get access to the same catalog, with a few notable exceptions.

For TV shows and movies, things are not as customer friendly. Star Wars is exclusively available at Disney+, Netflix has Stranger Things, and HBO has The Wire. If you want the full catalog, you need to subscribe to a dozen or so services.

If you subscribe to all, you end up paying as much as you would for cable in the United States. One option to overcome this is to hop between streaming services frequently. Subscribe to Netflix for a month, watch everything you want, then switch to another service, and so on. You pay for a single service per month and still get to watch all the new content that is released per year. Only downside is that you may have to wait a month or two before you can finally watch something.

Ads are a major problem

Advertisement is another major problem. Many streaming services have ad-powered plans already or plan to introduce them. Some even push ads for all subscribers, unless they pay more to get rid of ads again.

Ads are the cheapest option when it comes to subscriptions, but this comes at the cost of having to watch ads every hour. Things go back fullcircle to TV, where you also have to sit through ads to watch shows and movies.

Amazon plans to introduce even more ads to users of its Fire TV offerings. These are already focused on pushing Amazon content. Soon, they will also deliver contextual sponsored tiles to customers.

Piracy is booming again

P2P networks, the Usenet and other services are seeing a revival. This seems to coincide with the networks push against password sharing, price increases and the introduction of more and more ads and ad-powered plans.

One study from the UK saw a “notable increase in piracy levels over the past two years” and that a declining trend seen in earlier studies appears to be reversing.

There are several reasons for the revival. First, because price increases make streaming services a luxury good. While some may be fine with viewing ads to get a discount, others won’t be.

Second, because of what individual streaming services offer. If you go to a torrent site, you find almost every show or movie there. If you go to any streaming service, you find some shows and movies there only.

Closing Words

The attractiveness of streaming services is going down, especially for users who can’t keep up with the constant price increases and users who want access to all content. Ads may work for some to mitigate these price hikes, but they are a no-go for others.

As the attractiveness off streaming services is going down, it is the reverse for other options. One of these options is P2P; it will continue to rise, provided that streaming services don’t reverse their course.

It is probably inevitable that streaming services will lose customers in the medium to long run. Prices continue to increase, ads continue to be pushed and content continues to be spread across a dozen or so services.

Now You: what is your take on this?

Quickest Way to upgrade to Windows 11 version 23H2

Posted on November 1, 2023November 1, 2023 by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft released the 2023 feature update for Windows 11 yesterday to the public. It is already available via Windows Update, but only if the device meets all hardware requirements and has no known issues.

Most Windows 11 devices can be upgraded via Windows Update immediately. The situation is different for devices that don’t meet the minimum system requirements. These devices can’t be upgraded via Windows Update. The feature update is not offered there and won’t be in the future.

This leaves other options to install the update. I published a guide on Ghacks about this, which you may want to check out. There is, however, an even easier and quicker option to upgrade to Windows 11 2023 Update.

This method works for all devices running the latest version of Windows 11, no matter if they are compatible or not.

Preparations

The method does not require a lot of preparations, ISO images or huge update downloads. In fact, there is only one requirement, one that all devices can meet easily.

Requirement: install the October 31 update for Windows 11 on the device that you want to upgrade to Windows 11 version 23H2. KB5031455 is offered via Windows Update to all systems.

Just go to Start > Settings > Windows Update, check the “get the latest updates as soon as they are available” option and hit the “check for updates” button.

The preview update should be offered to you now. Note that a newer update may be offered, depending on when you follow the instructions.

You may also download the update from the Microsoft Update Catalog website. Make sure to select the right version.

Install the Enablement Package

There is just one additional step to upgrade to Windows 11 version 23H2. Download the enablement update KB5027397 using the links below:

Run the downloaded file and wait until the update installation ends. A restart of the system is the last required step.

This process has no system requirements check, which means that it will work on all devices, including unsupported ones.

Select Start, type winver and press the Enter-key to display the new version of Windows in a small popup after the restart.