Tag: windows 10

How to disable the HP Insights Analytics Service on Windows

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

HP Insights Analytics Service is a service that runs on many HP devices by default. It may run, even if you install Windows 10 or 11 from scratch. It is usually an effective way of reducing bloat that manufacturers of PCs like to add to their devices.

A quick check of the Windows Task Manager returns several HP processes. Among them is HP Insights Analytics Service. The service’s actual name is HP Touchpoint Analytics Service.

It is set to run automatically on Windows start and is set up to collect and submit Telemetry data to HP.

HP says that it is using the data to improve its products and services. It may also use the data to troubleshoot issues that users experience, and to give personalized recommendations.

It is recommended to keep this enabled if you are communicating or may communicate with HP support.

Find out if HP Insights Analytics Service is running

HP Insights Analytics Service
  • Press the keys Ctrl-Shift-Esc simultaneously to open the Windows Task Manager.
  • The service is listed as one of the processes.
  • You may also switch to Details on Windows 11 devices to check if TouchpointAnalyticsClientService.exe is running.

The directory of the process is C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\hpanalyticscomp.inf_amd64_b76d40fc96db3872\x64

How to disable the service on Windows

Disable HP Insights Analytics Service

You can disable the process on your Windows device in the Services Manager. Here is how that is done:

  1. Open the Start menu.
  2. Type Services.msc.
  3. Run the Services result.
  4. Scroll down to the letter H in the management window.
  5. Double-click on HP Insights Analytics.
  6. Activate the stop button to stop the process from running.
  7. Switch the startup type to disabled.
  8. Restart the PC.

Note: the stop option kills the process on the running machine. You can verify this in the Task Manager of the operating system.

Closing Words

There is a chance that the service is going to get enabled again. This may happen after updates or when other HP software runs.

Do you check Services or Processes regularly to make sure that no unwanted programs run on your devices?

Windows updates

Microsoft is tight-lipped about Windows 10 update extensions for consumers

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Yesterday, Microsoft announced the price that organizations have to pay to extend Windows 10 support after October 2025. What Microsoft did not say was how much consumers will have to pay to keep their Windows 10 systems supported.

The Windows 10 operating system will reach end of support in October 2025. This means, that Microsoft won’t release security updates or any other form of update for the operating system after end of support.

There is a way out though. Extended Security Updates allow organizations and home users to continue using a patched system. Microsoft established ESU when its Windows 7 operating system ran out of support in 2020. Organizations could extend support by up to three years through extra payments.

To extend Windows 7 support, they had to pay $50, $100, and $200 in the first, second, and third year. Consumers were ignored back then, as Microsoft did not make an Extended Security Updates offer.

Windows 10: extended security updates

Microsoft announced that Windows 10 would also get Extended Security Updates. Unlike Windows 8, which ran out in 2023 and did not receive any, Windows 10 is widely used.

It is the most used Windows operating system today and hundreds of millions of users will still use it in the second half of 2025.

Extended Security Updates are available for organizations and consumers this time.

Microsoft announced the price that organizations have to pay yesterday. The company bumped the price significantly to $61, $122, and $244 respectively. Summed up, it means that organizations have to pay $427 to extend Windows 10 for three years for a single machine.

Other options are available, but they depend on the use of update management systems or Microsoft 365.

And consumers?

No information was provided. Price and conditions are unclear. Microsoft provided the following comment:

Final pricing and enrolment conditions will be made available closer to the October 2025 date for end of support.

It is almost certain that Microsoft knows the conditions and set the price for extended security updates for consumer machines already.

Keeping customers in the dark may give Windows 11 a push. Most Windows 10 customers are probably unaware of ESU and that the option will become available in 2025.

These may update their machines to Windows 11, if compatible, or even buy a new PC with Windows 11 as a consequence.

If Microsoft would tell them now that they could extend support for their current machine by up to three years, for this much, it would certainly slow down Windows 11 adoption further.

Consumer pricing is a wildcard. Clearly, Microsoft won’t charge consumers more than it charges organizations. Apart from that, anything is possible. From doubling the price each year or a fixed sum per year, to linking ESU to a Microsoft 365 subscription.

Would you pay for extended security updates for Windows 10? If so, what is your limit?

How to sign out users when Windows shuts down

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

If you share a Windows PC with others, you may have noticed that users may appear as signed in after you log in to the operating system. A click on the Start button and another click on the user profile icon may reveal this.

Should not Windows sign out users when the system is shut down? Windows used to to this prior to the release of the Fall Creators Update for Windows 10.

When you shut down Windows then, all users were signed out automatically. You may have gotten a prompt reminding you that users were still signed in, but you could shut down the system and all signed in users were signed out as part of the process.

This changed with the release of the Fall Creators Update for Windows 10 in 2017. All Windows releases since then behave in the same way, including Windows 11.

Microsoft’s explanation for the feature

Updates for Windows require user specific processes that need to run before the installation of the update completes. These require that users are signed-in.

Previously, users had to wait for the completion of these processes after update installations.

Winlogon automatic restart sign-on is the official name of the feature introduced in the Fall Creators Update. Microsoft describes what it does in the following way:

When Windows Update initiates an automatic reboot, ARSO extracts the currently logged in user’s derived credentials, persists it to disk, and configures Autologon for the user. Windows Update running as system with TCB privilege initiates the RPC call.

In other words: Windows copies the current user’s credentials, copies them to disk and enables automatic sign-in for the user. The user will be signed in automatically after the final update reboot. The device is locked to protect the user’s session.

Managed and unmanaged devices are treated differently. Managed devices need TPM 2.0, SecureBoot, and BitLocker. Device encryption is used on unmanaged devices, but it is not a requirement.

How to sign out all users on shutdown in Windows

Windows Sign-in options

Microsoft introduced a new option in the Fall Creators Update that triggers the functionality. It is enabled by default.

Here is how you change the behavior on Windows 11:

  1. Select Start and then Settings.
  2. Go to Accounts.
  3. Select Sign-in options.
  4. Scroll down to “additional settings”.
  5. Toggle “Use my sign-in info to automatically finish setting up after an update” to Off.

The path is slightly different on Windows 10 devices. You need to go to Settings > Accounts > Sign-in Options instead. There you find the preference under Privacy.

All users are signed out when the system is shut down from that moment forward.

Group Policy

You may also make the change to the configuration using the Group Policy Editor (not on Home editions, and requires Windows 10 version 1903 or newer):

  1. Open Start.
  2. Type gpedit.msc and load the Group Policy Editor result.
  3. Go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows sign in Options.
  4. Double-click on Sign-in and lock last interactive user automatically after a restart.
  5. Set the policy to Disabled.
  6. Close the Group Policy Editor.
  7. Restart the PC.

Registry

You can also make the change in the Registry. This works on Home editions as well:

  1. Open Start.
  2. Type regedit.exe and select the Registry Editor result.
  3. Confirm the UAC prompt with “yes”.
  4. Go to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
  5. If the Dword DisableAutomaticRestartSignOn does not exist, do the following:
    • Right-click on System and select New > Dword (32-bit) Value.
    • Name it DisableAutomaticRestartSignOn.
  6. Double-click on DisableAutomaticRestartSignOn and set its value to 1 to disable the feature.
  7. Restart the PC.
Inplace Upgrade Helper

Inplace Upgrade Helper: Windows tool to switch between Windows editions

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Inplace Upgrade Helper is an open source tool designed to help Windows users move between different Windows 10 and 11 editions.

The Windows edition, e.g., Home or Pro, determines whether certain features are available or not. A common example is that Home editions lack access to the Group Policy Editor.

Windows includes options to switch editions. In best case, all you need to do is open Settings > System > Activation, click on the “change” button next to Change product key, and type or paste the new key.

This process works well when you upgrade from a less expensive version. Upgrades from Home to Pro should work this way. You may still run into issues sometimes. While this happens often when you downgrade Windows to another edition, e.g., from Pro to Home, it is not uncommon that you run into issues when you try to upgrade the edition.

Inplace Upgrade Helper

Inplace Upgrade Helper supports all major versions of Windows and many special editions. Besides Home and Pro, it also supports Enterprise, Education, IoT Enterprise, Windows 11 SE CloudEdition, or Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2021.

The open source tool includes four different methods to change editions in Windows 10 and 11. These are:

  • Using slmgr.
  • Running an in-place upgrade using setup.exe.
  • Running an in-place upgrade of any edition of Windows. This method blocks any “firmware-embedded keys” of the current edition.
  • Running a forced in-place upgrade to keep all apps and settings.

While that may sound complicated, it is not really. All you need to do download Windows installation media and extract it on the local system. You may use WinRAR for that or most file archivers.

Download the latest version of the Inplace Upgrade Helper tool and place it in the same directory as setup.exe.

Right-click on Inplace_Upgrade_Helper.bat and select “run as administrator” to start it.

From there it is just a matter of selecting the desired edition, e.g., 2 for Pro, and then the upgrade method, e.g., f for forcing the upgrade or k for trying to install the update using slmgr.

As always, it is recommended to create a backup of the system drive before you make any changes to the operating system.

Note that the tool does not activate Windows. It merely switches the edition.

Closing words

Trying Windows’ built-in option to change the key and edition is the best option if you upgrade from Home to Pro. The open source tool may be useful if you run into issues when you try to switch editions.

Now You: which edition of Windows do you run, if any? (via Deskmodder)

WingetUI 3.0 Stable is now available

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

A new version of WingetUI, a universal UI for package managers, is now available. WingetUI 3.0 features a fully redesigned interface that the developers promise is more responsive and visually pleasing.

Packages should load faster under in the new version, and the application’s package importing and exporting functionality has also been improved.

You can check out my review of WingetUI to find out more about the software. Only this much: the app gives you access to several popular package managers, including winget, but also others such as Chocolatey. You may use these to install new programs on Windows machines, upgrade installed programs, and also uninstall applications.

These operations work in batch mode or for individual apps.

Note: the application will be renamed to UnigetUI in the future. This is done to reflect that it supports multiple package managers and not just winget.

WingetUI 3.0

WingetUI 3.0

The latest version of the open source tool requires .NET 8. Missing components will get installed on Windows machines during installation.

The new interface looks different when compared to the old. The main access points were moved from the top to the sidebar. There you find the options to discover packages, view installed packages and package bundles, check software updates, and more.

Some sections displays filters when opened. When you launch discovery, which you use to find new apps, you get a list of filters to customize the output. These allow you to change the search mode and filter by package manager.

It still takes just a couple of clicks to install one or multiple applications. The assortment of optional actions does not appear to have changed and is still displayed at the top. You may use them to install apps as an administrator or skip integrity checks. These may still look confusing to new users, as only a few have text labels. You may hover over them to get a tooltip though.

One of the best features of winget, and thus also WingetUI, is the ability to upgrade all supported applications at once. WingetUI checks for updates on launch and displays all of them in the update section.

Closing Words

The new version of WingetUI worked well during tests. It had a slight display problem on a laptop that used the recommended 200% scaling. If you check the screenshot, you will notice that the sidebar’s scrollbar overlaps it slightly.

Other than that, it worked well during tests. You may still use winget for all the operations, but this requires running commands from Terminal. Also, you do not get extra access to other package managers and tools.

In closing, WingetUI 3.0 improves the application further without taking anything away from it. You can download the latest version from the project’s GitHub repository.

Slow

Does it work? Trick promises to speed up folder opening in Windows’ File Explorer

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

We have probably all been there. The gigantic folder full of — insert a data type here — is taking ages to display all files that it contains. It does not matter if we are talking about pictures, videos, audio files, documents, or a mix of files.

Sometimes, File Explorer seems to take ages to open large folders on Windows devices. While this is caused by hardware limitations at times, a slow CPU, a tiny amount of RAM, or a slow hard drive may be blamed, it is sometimes Windows that is causing the delay.

Microsoft introduced folder types in earlier versions of Windows. The main idea behind the feature is to display data in specific ways. A folder full of images shows thumbnails of these images, which many users like.

To get there, File Explorer needs to analyze the files. If it finds a dominating type, it may set the folder to that type. Problem is, this analysis is automated and it takes time.

A solution (via Deskmodder) that promises to fix the issue has been making the rounds lately. It blocks this auto discovery from happening basically.

The solution

This solution is not new and it may come as a surprise to some that it is making the rounds again. Then again, these tricks rarely get old, but new generations may not know them at all.

About 14 years ago, I published several articles on the matter. Fix slow folders in Windows 7 recommended changing the folder type to “general items” to avoid any loading issues.

I mentioned the trick that is now making the rounds in the same year. Back in August 2010 I explained how you could enable a single view mode for all folders in Windows Explorer to speed up the loading of files and folders. Windows Explorer is the previous name of File Explorer in case you are wondering.

Registry Editor: set folder type to unspecified
File Explorer Slow Folders tweak

This tweak still works in Windows 11. Here are the steps:

  1. Open the Start Menu, type regedit.exe, and press the Enter-key on the keyboard.
  2. Confirm the prompt by selecting Yes.
  3. Paste the following path into the address field in the Registry Editor window, or go there manually: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell
  4. Check if FolderType exists. If it does not, right-click on Shell and select New > String value. Name it FolderType.
  5. Double-click on FolderType and set its value to NotSpecified.
  6. Close the Registry Editor.
  7. Restart the Windows PC.

The effect

The change sets the default folder type for all folders to general. In other words, File Explorer does not need to parse the files in the folder anymore to determine its type. This should speed up the opening of folders.

You may still customize certain folders by changing their folder type.

To answer the question: yes it does work in many cases. While it cannot do anything about hardware-related slowdowns, it will speed up the loading of large folders on Windows.

Several programs are available that help you do that. You may use Nirsoft’s ShellBagsView or the free software WinSetView for that. The latter comes with options to reset the views to their defaults as well.

Closing Words

If you experience issues opening folders on Windows regularly, then you may want to give this tweak a try. It may resolve the issue on your end and there is little drawback to the method.

Now You: did you know about this tweak?

PC Gaming

NVIDIA App: new unified app for NVIDIA graphics cards

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

NVIDIA unveiled the NVIDIA App yesterday. The new application is available as a beta release at the time of writing. It promises to unify functionality that NVIDIA’s current generation of programs offer.

The company plans to replace these programs, notably GeForce Experience, NVIDIA Control Panel, and RTX Experience, with this one in the future.

The public beta of the NVIDA app is available already. It does not include all features yet. NVIDIA notes in the announcement that it does include “many of the top features” from the existing apps already.

NVIDIA App system requirements

The beta application is compatible with Windows 10 and 11 operating systems only at the time. It requires 600 MB of disk space, 2 GB of RAM, and the GeForce 551.52 or later driver.

The app has the following CPU and GPU requirements:

GPU:

  • GeForce RTX 20, 30, and 40 Series GPUs
  • GeForce GTX 800, 900, 1000, 1600 Series GPUs
  • GeForce MX100, MX200, MX300, 800M, and 900M GPUs

CPU:

  • Intel Pentium G Series, Core i3, i5, i7, or higher
  • AMD FX, Ryzen 3, 5, 7, 9, Threadripper or higher

The NVIDIA App: functionality

NVIDIA App graphics settings

One of the core features of the app is the discovery and installation of drivers and related NVIDIA software. It allows users to install the latest graphics card driver on their devices and also other NVIDIA software, including GeForce NOW or NVIDIA Broadcast.

Driver releases provide summaries of new features and fixed issues. These help users find out more about a release without having to read the full documentation.

All driver related articles are accessible from a single entry point in the NVIDIA app.

NVIDIA App Drivers

The NVIDIA App introduces a new game overlay, which provides access to “gameplay recording tools, performance monitoring overlays, and game enhancing filters”. Filters include new filters powered by AI, but these are limited to GeForce RTX users and about 1200 games at the time.

Filters like RTX Dynamic Vibrance or RTX HDR promise to improve the visual quality of games using AI.

Microsoft is also working on integrating AI into Windows to improve graphics. Called Super Resolution, it promises to improve performance and visuals of games on Windows devices.

Gamers get a new performance overlay, which they may customize. They may add or hide certain performance metrics in the new software.

There is also the new GPU Control Center. This allows users to tune games and driver settings from a single location. Customizations support making global changes and also specific changes to specific applications or games.

Other options include signing-in to redeem bundles and rewards. NVIDIA says that this is optional.

The future

NVIDIA is working on integrating features of the NVIDIA Control Panel that are not yet available in the NVIDIA App. The new app will also get features from GeForce Experience and RTX Experience. These include GPU overclocking and driver rollback options.

The classic NVIDIA programs remain available throughout the beta period. NVDIA appears to have plans to drop support for these apps eventually, but has not yet announced an end of support date.

Some features won’t make the cut. NVIDIA lists Broadcast to Twitch and YouTube, Share Images and Video to Facebook and YouTube, and Photo Mode 360 & Stereo captures specifically.

Closing Words

The new application promises to unify NVIDIA’s offerings for Windows. It is too early to say how good it really is at this point. It should be clear that it will include Telemetry as well. NVIDIA will likely continue to release standalone drivers for its graphics cards.

How to zoom in on any video in Windows

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Windows users have several options when it comes to zooming in on any video. This guide lists two of the best options to zoom videos on Windows. The first works for any local video file, the second for any video that you play on Windows.

Zoom is a useful feature to enlarge an entire video or part of it. It is ideal for looking closer at details in a video among other things.

It may come as a surprise, but many video players do not support zoom at all, or only in a way that is not very useful.

The new Media Player in Windows does not support zoom. The classic Media Player does, but it is only a matter of time before it gets removed. Popular apps like VLC Media Player support zoom functionality, but it too is lacking.

There is one video player on the other hand, that supports zoom in a user friendly way. All you have to do is hold down a key to draw a rectangle around the area that you want to zoom in. Or, and that is another option, you may tap on a key on the keyboard to zoom in or out at any time. Very convenient.

Zoom in on any video using PotPlayer

PotPlayer is a free media player for Windows. You can download it from the developer website or the Microsoft Store.

The media player is powerful; it offers lots of features and options. While that is great, it may also discourage some users.

PotPlayer supports major video formats out of the box. Just install the app on your device and make it the default media player to get started.

Videos play in windowed mode by default, but you may change that if you want. You can use zoom in and out functionality right away by pressing 9 or 1 on the numerical keypad.

A tap on 9 zooms in on the entire video. You may press 5 at any time to reset the zoom level.

To get the rectangle zoom option, do the following:

  1. Select PotPlayer in the top left corner and then Preferences from the menu. You may also press F5 directly to open the options.
  2. Switch to the Mouse tab in the Preferences.
  3. Check “Activate Alt, Ctrl, Shift + Mouse Drag to Pan, Zoom and Stretch the image”.
  4. Select OK to complete the process.

Once done, hold down one of the modifier keys, e.g., Ctrl, before drawing a rectangle on the video to zoom in that specific area.

You may then hold down the Ctrl-key while using the Numpad keys 2,4,6, and 8 to move around on the screen. Note that the zoom level is extreme, and that you may get better results using the Numpad to zoom in on a video.

Using the built-in Magnifier tool to zoom in on videos

Magnifier is a built-in accessibility tool that you may run with the keyboard shortcut Windows-+ (Windows-key and Plus-key). It opens the Magnifier interface, which you may use to change the zoom level and make some other changes.

You may want to open Start > Settings > Accessibility > Magnifier first to customize the zoom level. It defaults to 100% steps, which may be a bit much. You may change the steps on the page and make some other adjustments as you see fit.

Note: To exit Magnifier in Windows, press the Windows-key and the Esc-key at the same time,

Magnifier zooms in anywhere on the screen. This makes it a good tool for zooming in on videos. Just play a video in a browser or locally, and use Magnifier to zoom in or out while the video plays or is paused.

Now You: do you use zoom functionality on your systems?

Uninstalr review: powerful Windows software uninstaller

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Uninstalr is a free Windows software uninstaller. You may download a portable version or installer from the developer website. It runs on Windows 7 and newer versions of Windows.

The application supports several features that are often only found in commercial uninstallers: monitor software installations, deep cleaning, batch removals of apps and support for a variety of software stores and distribution platforms.

Uninstalr: the basics

Windows software uninstaller Uninstalr

The Windows software uninstaller scans the system on start. This may take a moment, depending on the number of installed programs and the system’s performance.

The list includes installed programs but also leftovers from apps that were previously installed on the device.

Tip: open the program preferences first and uncheck the automatic system restart option after software uninstallations.

Each program is listed with its name, developer, size on disk and type. Filters at the top give you options to create custom lists. You may display only leftovers or only programs from Steam, among other options. Microsoft apps are hidden by default, but you may enable these as well.

Removing programs is easy. Select one or multiple of the listed apps with a left-click and activate the uninstall button afterwards. You may also select “show data” first. Show data lists all found locations, files, folders, and Registry, of the selected apps.

The program lists the information when you active the uninstall option. The removal deletes the programs entirely from the system. It is recommended to restart the Windows PC afterwards.

Core features of the Windows software uninstaller

Uninstalr’s core feature is the removal of one or multiple programs from Windows PCs. Additionally, it supports monitoring software installations for easier cleaning in the future.

Using the program is simple. Run it, wait for the scan to complete, and select apps to remove. This process worked well during tests.

I still recommended that you create a system backup of the main partition for safety reasons.

Besides cleaning leftovers from the Windows PC, you can also use it to find and uninstall large programs. Note that the sort options appear bugged at the time. The sort by size option did not work correctly during tests. It allows you to sort apps by size.

Select “New Software Monitoring” in the interface to monitor a software installation. The Windows software uninstaller monitors installs automatically at this point.

It lists the program when you run its installer. Note that this does not work for portable apps. Some installations were not detected by the application either while running. Still, you do benefit from the leftover scan option in any event.

Should you use Uninstalr immediately?

Should you use Uninstalr immediately to remove Windows programs, or the default Windows uninstaller first?

This depends. If you used uninstaller to monitor software installs, then you may use the program immediately for the removal. if you did not, use the Windows tool first and then Uninstalr to take care of leftovers.

You should not run into any issues removing apps with Uninstalr directly either.

Comparison to WinGetUI

WinGetUI is a user interface for winget. It allows you to install and uninstall Windows software. A core difference between the two apps is that WinGetUI does not scan for leftovers.

It is still useful, for instance for installing programs on Windows or removing bulk programs. After using it to remove apps, you may want to run Uninstalr to benefit from its leftover removal functionality.

Closing Words

Uninstalr is a powerful software uninstaller for Windows. The program is ideal for removing leftover files and Registry entries from already removed software installations or portable app installations.

Windows 10 issue: File system error (-2147219196)

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Some Windows 10 users reported issues with certain apps on their devices that refused to launch. Users noticed that default apps would not launch anymore on their systems or crash shortly after launch. Some received the error message File system error (-2147219196), others no error at all.

One user reported the issue on Microsoft’s official Answers forum. The thread blew up quickly. 380 users confirmed that they had the “same question”, and 524 replied to the original message.

The thread starter noted that Microsoft’s official Photos app would crash a few seconds after launch on a Windows 10 system. Double-clicks on photos returned the error message File system error (-2147219196) instead of a view of the selected image.

File system error (-2147219196)
source Richard / Microsoft Answers forum

The apps, including the Photos app, were all native apps of the operating system. Even Microsoft’s Feedback Hub app, used to report feedback and issues, did not work anymore on affected devices.

To sum it up: affected users are no longer able to launch (select) native Windows 10 apps on their devices.

Bug hunting

Users reported the issues elsewhere, including on Microsoft’s Answers forum. There, it quickly became clear that the issue could not be resolved easily. Rollbacks of updates and even reinstallations of Windows did not resolve the issue for affected users.

More and more reports poured in and some users managed to find commonalities. It became clear quickly that the issue affected older systems only. Devices with Intel Core 2 Duo and and Quad processors, as well as older AMD Athlon chips were affected, while devices with newer processors were not. All of these processors shared another commonality, the lack of support for SSE 4.2.

Tip: you can use the free program Glow to list hardware information.

Windows 10’s list of officially supported processors does not include Core 2 chipsets. Microsoft did not introduce barriers in Windows 10 to prevent the installation of the operating systems on devices with unsupported hardware.

The company introduced compatibility blocks in Windows 11. The operating system cannot be installed on devices with unsupported processors, at least not without hacks.

Any attempt to install Windows 11 on a device with an unsupported processor is blocked.

Windows 10 gets installed on devices with unsupported hardware. It may run a bit slower, but that seems to be the only sideeffect.

Microsoft is working on a solution

Microsoft employee Mahmoud G Saleh confirmed the issue and revealed that Microsoft is working on a resolution.

He wrote:

Hi, the Visual C++ team has identified the problem as a regression in the vclibs framework package that the Photos app and other apps depend on. The problem affects computers with older hardware (that do not support SSE 4.2 instructions). Microsoft is currently working on validating a solution and it’s expected to rollout to affected customers soon.

He confirmed that the issue is caused by a regression in a framework package, and that devices with processors that do not support SSE 4.2 instructions are affected.

Saleh posted the information on February 2, 2024. It is unclear when Microsoft is going to roll out a fix to affected users.

Good news is that Microsoft is working on a fix. Bad news is that it is unclear when the fix will be released.