Downgrade Windows 10 22h2 To 20h2

[Lorin Mandaloniz]

German]There are reports, that Intel Management Engine is causing issues during update installation in Windows 10 version 2004 / 20H2? A German blog reader pointed me to this issue, because updates are dropping a bluescreen PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA (update error 0x800F0845) during installs on machines with certain chipsets. The cause seems to be the Intel Management Engine.

German blog reader Manuel W. contacted me in early February 2021 via email and shared his observations. He has the problem under a Windows 10 version 2004 that he can no longer install updates since September 2020. He wrote:

His various repair options, which he carried out, unfortunately remained without success. In the meantime Manuel has found some articles about this problem in the net, so he is not alone with the error. Manuel wrote about this:

It mainly affects z97/h97 chipsets, I myself still own a z97 from MSI with an Intel i7 4790k. Installing the Intel management driver downgrade or update also ends with the same BSOD. One could almost believe that the access is denied.

When it tries to do the monthly November incremental, and/or does the feature update to 20H2, the update begins and installs and after 30% when the computer restarts, it begins the reboot sequence and then I get a blue screen with a page fault error. It would do the typical two-boot try and then do the automatic repair and uninstall the update and I would be back to my desktop.

This user describes his problems in detail in the thread and names the Intel Management Engine as the cause. According to the user, deactivating and then reactivating it in the device manager also ends in a BSOD. For some users who describe the problem on the web, a reinstallation of Windows 10 does not work either. Manuel states that this is also the case for him.

Managed to go back to a windows 10 from July 2020 and slowly worked my way through driver updates with Driver Booster. I managed to stabilize my install at version 2004 with several updates, but version 20h2 still won't reach completion and cause BSOD.

Ditto: Spare PC here for my kid to game on. Have just got this computer working again (now frightened to reboot) after 14 solid days trying to install windows 10 update which gave a thousand BSoD's to do with the Intel Management Engine Interface (What blew it was Windows 10 wanted a reboot just when I had tried to update the Intel MEI that also required a reboot, and that DESTROYED this PC (Z97 MSI) for weeks as it ran worse than something from the early 1990's and then went into boot loops what felt like maybe ten-thousand times. Complete re-installs did nothing to help, as going back to the UPDATE of Windows 10 again repeated the DESTRUCTIVE cycle after I spend dozens of hours slowly re-installing all his programs and games. EVENTUALLY yesterday, during a BSoD loop, a Windows message popped up and told me there was a serious error they recovered, and with one more complete re-install (after I had tried a new PSU, a different GPU, a different SSD, a HDD & an M.2 and even put on a new CPU cooler, and swopped the SSD cable [just in case] [and even bought a new Windows 10 key]) it now seems to be working fine. I am older and greyer then two weeks ago, and it is a good job Bill Gates never walked past my house or he would have been in a ditch.

EDIT

I still cannot find anywhere to update the BIOS.

Japanese MouseComputer MSI Z97-S01

Currently I am accepting the little Intel yellow triangle there.

After the disappointment that is Windows 11, I migrated my systems over to Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC. I appreciate the long-term feature stability and general lack of monetization "features" that have been plaguing later versions of Windows 10/11. I think that this is the way to go for many of us tech type folks, especially for business systems, so I wanted to write up some information about it. (I have much to say specifically about my problems with Windows 11... over here.)

The Windows long-term service channel is a version of Windows that is updated much less often than the general consumer version of Windows. The idea is to maintain feature stability for fixed-function devices. It was previously known as LTSB (long-term service branch).

Windows 10 was given a major "feature upgrade" once every six months. Starting with Windows 11, Microsoft is settling into a once-per-year pattern with feature upgrades. Windows LTSC is refreshed only once every three years. Since 2016, the schedule has been roughly aligned with Windows Server releases, and Windows LTSC often shares the same base as the corresponding version of Windows Server (same binaries, updates, etc.).

Microsoft is settling into a three-year cycle for LTSC releases, so the next release is due in late 2024, and will probably be based on Windows 11. (Note that even though LTSC 2019 and LTSC 2021 are "named" two years apart, they were released three years apart.)

Windows LTSC is currently available in two editions: "Enterprise" and "IoT Enterprise". The two editions are functionally equivalent, and in fact you can switch between the two just by changing the product key. They differ in terms of how you obtain a license for them, and in how long they are supported.

Ordinary Windows 10 releases were only supported for 18 months (or 30 months for Enterprise/Education editions, for fall releases). Windows 11 releases are supported for 24 months (36 months for Enterprise/Education editions). This means you are expected to be moving forward to the newer versions regularly. Windows LTSC releases are supported for five years (Enterprise, 2021 and later) or ten years (IoT Enterprise, and Enterprise releases prior to 2021).

Unlike ordinary Windows 10/11, Windows LTSC licenses are good only for a particular version of Windows LTSC. To upgrade to a newer version, you will need to obtain a new license for that version. On the possible positive side, you will never be pressured by Windows alerts to upgrade to a newer version.

Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC can be obtained via a Microsoft volume licensing agreement. If your business has a software licensing agreement with Microsoft, then you can probably get a license through there.

Purchasing volume license licenses through a Microsoft "partner", you may have to buy five licenses of "something" because that is the minimum to qualify as a volume license customer. You could purchase one Windows 10 LTSC license and then four cheap "Microsoft Identity Manager" licenses.

Product keys for either edition are available through a Visual Studio subscription (yearly, not monthly). Also, Microsoft Action Pack includes licenses to run Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC on up to ten PCs. These are licenses for a specific use; Visual Studio keys are supposed to be used for application development and testing purposes only, and this page describes how Microsoft Action Pack works.

Users of Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 can upgrade in-place to Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2015. From there, they can upgrade in-place to any later Windows 10 LTSC release. (A license is not technically needed for LTSC 2015 if you are just using it as a stepping stone, but you will need the install media.)

Yeah 1809 until 2028 I believe. If you notice it's just one game that's from an MS studio that is version specific, --typical MS tactics-- I definitely would pass on that if I didn't already have a newer version. I have FH4 and played it a lot for a week or so but have not been back so FH5 not a priority. They also do the "DX12 only" nonsense in some games that aren't MS, wrc10, probably get some money from MS for that bit of nonsense. Just buying new equipment was the reason I have a newer win10, I still have 1809 LTSC on my M4600 backup and that's no heavy gaming rig obviously. I have had the updates turned off on 1809 and this version, Home 2004, with no problems for years. Eventually I think I'll put LTSC 1809 on here if I hit some major problem or move to a new main rig.

Win LTSB/LTSC is the answer to those of us that loved Windows SteadyState or Embedded. A lot of the same stuff like the write filter so you've basically got a decently bulletproof windows to use when that's active. I know it was even virus proof in the xp and win 7 days, but not so sure about 10--I haven't been running it long enough to determine.

I used to be in corporate IT and had access to all manner of media and licenses, but now I'm a lowly 'home user' and I presume I'm stuck with Windows 10 Pro unless I'm willing to pay for extra licenses (and pay more than once, by the sound of it).

To be honest, I've been using Win 10 Pro for over 5 years and it's been remarkably stable. I don't use the 'store', don't use 'cortana', and it seems pretty stable. MS keep nagging me to switch to a Microsoft Account, and that's pretty much the extent of my struggles with it.

Do we know if the scheduler for Alder Lake will be making its way to LTSC at some point? It's absolutely silly to ask, and given LTSC doesn't get feature updates I don't think it'd get it, but doesn't hurt to ask.

ITD support isn't required to run Windows on Alder Lake. You can make due with Windows 10 as is just fine for the most part. Doing a little copy/paste from another post I made recently, which includes some links for context:

Windows 10 schedules below normal priority processes on E cores only by default. Ways around this are: App developers can update their app to accommodate for this behavior; configure affected processes to run at "normal" priority instead of "below normal" or "low"; or, use the "High performance" Windows power profile which does not have this scheduling behavior.

Oh, I also wanted to mention that the Intel Alder Lake game dev guide has a direct (but vague) reference to thread director being (partially) backported. You can just search the page for "backport" to find it.

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