halohalo

After December 2025 Patch Tuesday, Windows Defender on 1607 can't download definition update when WU is disabled. But offline update still works.

Without the spec of your SDD, it is hard to find reasonable explanation because the performance of SDD could be affected by many factors. Latest version of Windows 10 may try to activate OneDrive on booting. If you use MSA, you also spend more time on booting. So I will use local account and don't connect to internet before the boot process is completed.

My latest hardware and driver combination of desktop PC. Intel Core i5-10400 ASUS Rog Strix Z490-F Gaming BIOS 3201 (modifying SGX and aperture size and make these options available, Intel GOP driver 1112) Intel ME 14.1.75.2420 Chipset INF Utility (10.1.18793.8276) Intel Graphics DCH drivers (31.0.101.2111) Intel Display Audio (10.27.0.14) Intel Network Adapter driver for Windows 10 (30.5) Intel Serial IO driver (30.100.2020.7) Intel Management Engine Interface driver (1937.14.0.1350 released for DELL Vostro 3590, then replacing MEI driver with latest 2512.7.3.0 at device manager) Intel SGX driver for Windows (2.15.100.4) Realtek HDA driver for Windows Vista/7 (6.0.9239.1) I've tried replacing processor microcode from FC to 100, then I found I screwed up the playback again. I also updated the firmware of Pioneer BDR-UD04 from 1.11 to 1.14. The patch is available from I-O DATA. I thought it may solve the problem that BDR-UD04 spent too much time identifying specific UHD Blu-ray disc, however it didn't solve the problem. Furthermore, BDR-UD04 becomes more sensitive to heat after updating to 1.14. Anyway, my BDR-UD04 spent too much time identifying Aniplex PMMM Beginnings and both PowerDVD 20 and 22 showed same error message 31001. But Aniplex PMMM Eternal and Rebellion have no problem. I guess I will need different ODD. ------ I solved the problem by using BDR-UD04FAL with firmware 1.21 instead of old BDR-UD04. Besides, I also solved the issue that Audigy Rx can't play Dolby TrueHD tracks on Aniplex UHD blu-ray discs by spending less time on menu.

I've tried installing KB5068781 on 21H2 Home edition and failed. Unlike LTSC, it seems that 21H2 Home edition also requires ESU activation just like 22H2. Although it is possible to display ESU activation option on 21H2 by Regedit, Microsoft only provides ESU activation service for 22H2 so I can't complete ESU activation on 21H2. Without ESU activation, the installation will be ended by WindowsWcpAIFailure3 and CbsPackageServicingFailure2. The default value of ESUEligibility is 1, and ESUEligibilityResult is 3. To display the option, the value of ESUEligibility should be 2, and ESUEligibilityResult should be 1. Anyway, the last CU for 21H2 Home edition is KB5066791, but KB5069340 for WinRE is still compatible. Finally, KB5071959 for 22H2 can replace KB5066791 on 21H2, but consumer ESU is still unavailable.

DXVK 2.7 or later requires VK_KHR_maintenance5, which is not supported by R535. Combining Vulkan beta driver 538.42 with latest PB driver 539.56 is a workaround, but it is not a perfect solution because graphics driver may crash at specific scene during gameplay. When I played RE:2, graphics driver kept crashing if Claire entered interrogation room. Another bad news is NVIDIA uses driver version instead of release date to show RTX driver search result. So the search result will not show old production branch anymore. I don't understand why NVIDIA made the mistake, because NVIDIA should know GRD and PB have different support policy.

Official link: https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5695/kw/windows 10 NVIDIA will support Windows 10 with GRD and Studio drivers until October 2026. After October 2026, Windows 10 driver support will transition to a quarterly security update through October 2029. --------- Maxwell, Pascal, and Volta GPUs will only receive driver updates for critical security items beginning October 2025 and continuing through October 2028. https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5676/kw/windows 10/related/1

Microsoft removed Windoews To Go feature since Windows 10 version 2004. Maybe you can install latest version of windows 10 using 3rd party utilities, but it does not mean you won't have any problem.

To enroll the consumer ESU program, Microsoft account is required and must be an administrator account. Users can use existing ESU license on up to 10 devices. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-10-consumer-extended-security-updates-esu-program-33e17de9-36b3-43bb-874d-6c53d2e4bf42

Intel discontinued SGX Attestation Service on April 2, 2025. So it is impossible to complete first SGX online verification using PowerDVD. According to the information from Blu-ray.com, a PowerDVD user failed to complete the SGX verification after replacing CPU. https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/developer/archive/tools/sgx-attestation-service-utilizing-epid.html https://www.cyberlink.com/support-center/faq/content?id=29776

And Microsoft will provide Security Intelligence Updates for Microsoft Defender Antivirus on Windows 10 through October 2028.

Microsoft still tries to encourage upgrading to Windows 11, so there is no reason to stop the activation for Windows 10 now. The real problem is you may not be able to find out Windows 10 compatible driver for new PC, because some devices only have Windows 11 driver.

I found no problem using latest ASUS BIOS 0066 for NUC 10 and latest BIOS 3201 with ME firmware 14.1.75.2420 for ASUS Z490 motherboard. Intel released latest ME driver 2514.7.16.0. However, PowerDVD 22 can't support latest AACS, which means someday playing UHD Blu-ray discs with unsupported AACS2 will be a problem. Another bad news is Pioneer sold PDDM and stopped making ODD.

I uninstalled Microsoft Edge and didn't have any WebView updates downloaded. The view of calendar in 21H2 Home didn't change even with latest CU installed.

Microsoft already ended upgrading from Windows 8 to 10. You can upgrade Windows 8 to Windows 10 version 1607, but you can't pass online verification so you have to use outdated 1607 offline.

If you checked my FurMark2 benchmark score record, you should know the impact of graphics driver security updates usually can be ignored if there is no critical compatibility issue.

UE4 created new precompiled shader files for different graphics card, which means I have to experience shader compilation stutters again. So I copied and renamed the old precompiled shader files. Now I can play P3R at 120 fps instead of 90 fps.

Microsoft added Intel 8th~10th generation processors because the old support list didn't reflect accurate offerings. Anyway, the support list will be continually updated.

I've upgraded to GeForce RTX 4070. Ray tracing cores work using Vulkan. Latest NVIDIA control panel shows RTX super resolution option, but HDR option is greyed out because 1607 does not support Windows HDR. Before R570, IoOpenDriverRegistryKey is optional, so I need to bypass related version check codes to make Ada Lovelace GPU work on 1607. I also combined Vulkan drivers from Vulkan beta driver 553.40, but Vulkan 1.4 drivers from beta driver 553.68 are also compatible. My FurMark2 benchmark score using 553.62. https://gpumagick.com/scores/877639

You can upgrade to 24H2. The problem is Intel dropped support before Windows 10 reaches EOS. Intel won't fix vulnerabilities after June 30, 2025.

Latest list of Windows 11 version 24H2 supported Intel processors removes 8th-10th Gen processors, so OEMs have to use 11th Gen processors or later to make new 24H2 compatible devices. MS didn't explain why these processors were removed from the list. However, Intel didn't release 24H2 compatible graphics drivers for 7th-10th Gen processors. Besides, Intel 8th-9th Gen processors will reach ESU on June 30, 2025. So it is a reasonable decision. But I will use Windows 10 21H2 until EOS. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/minimum/supported/windows-11-24h2-supported-intel-processors https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000022396/processors.html

I tried to overwrite OS version to 1803 instead of 1709 and bypass related check codes. Now I can run simple Vulkan demo using 556.12, but Furmark2 benchmark still crashed. I guess if I want to run OPENCL in 556.12, I have to find out a solution to make CUDA 12.5 work first. Besides, Vulkan supports NVIDIA Optimus, so I can run simple demo using 566.45. My FurMark2 benchmark score using 553.62. https://gpumagick.com/scores/843394

I did more tests on different driver branches. 556.12: CUDA, OPENCL, Vulkan are broken, but OpenGL, D3D9.0c and D3D11 are fine. 561.09 and 566.45: Installation completed without error message, and NVIDIA control panel works fine, but 1660Ti shows blank screen. My FurMark2 benchmark score using 556.12. https://gpumagick.com/scores/804274

The minimum version requirement of driver branch R570 is 1803, because 1709 and earlier versions do not support the function IoOpenDriverRegistryKey. Besides, NVIDIA no longer supports 21H2 for professional graphics cards. Latest HDA driver is still compatible with 1607, but R570 no longer provides 32-bit HDA driver.

NVIDIA released latest security updates 553.62 and 539.19 for Quadro. But NVIDIA is not ready to release latest R570 driver before the release date of GeForce 50 series, so there is no latest security updates for GeForce on Windows. Even the information of upcoming updated driver version is unavailable.

Intel released latest ME driver 2451.7.6.0. The bad news is MEI drivers for windows 7 were removed, so 2413.5.67.0 is the last version which supports Windows 7. I also downloaded latest BIOS 0066 for NUC 10 and latest ME firmware 14.1.75.2420 for ASUS Z490 motherboard, maybe I will check the compatibility with UHD Blu-ray playback someday.