For the ones that are certain a windows update is to blame. There should be quite a few sandboxing apps where you can apply the update and see exactly what changed.
Update from Win11 21H2 to Win11 22H2 leads to eye strain
Staycalmsyndrome
is this still working?
I have tried it on my thinkpad and now it says update is paused until 2050. If the updates are paused, how can the Drivers/MS Store/Defender be updated?
Defender updates separately. At least mine does.
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Moe3224 Drivers also autoupdate separately and are difficult to disable in newer versions of Windows. Maybe this .reg key will help:
reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DriverSearching" /v "SearchOrderConfig" /t REG_DWORD /d "0" /f
reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DriverSearching" /v "DontSearchWindowsUpdate" /t REG_DWORD /d "1" /f
reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DriverSearching" /v "DriverUpdateWizardWuSearchEnabled" /t REG_DWORD /d "0" /f
reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\PolicyManager\current\device\Update" /v "ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate" /t REG_DWORD /d "1" /f
reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\device\Update" /v "ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate" /t REG_DWORD /d "1" /f
reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\WindowsUpdate\UX\Settings" /v "ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate" /t REG_DWORD /d "1" /f
reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate" /v "ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate" /t REG_DWORD /d "1" /f- Edited
Sunspark you might attract attention from your I.T. staff (they can receive logs saying which device has what updates)
You were rite. I got "caught" and had to hand over my laptop, which was updated to
Edition Windows 10 Pro
Version 22H2
OS build 19045.2965
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.19041.1000.0
Useless to say that I am not going to uninstall updates anymore, so I'd better adjust.
So far it has been hell. I never had migraines before, only twitching, eyestrain and neck pain. I had to take ibuprofen the last two nights to calm my headache down. The headache affected two distinct areas, between the bottom of my head and my neck, and above the left eye, which is my weak eye. The pain around the eye was of the throbbing type. I also had nausea. But the worst problem is that I instantly feel extremely fatigued and slow, minutes after staring at the screen.
It is hard to put in words what the screen feels like. I perceive the image as unsteady, as if it was generated by the superposition of multiple layers. My eyes are like overloaded. Less than a year ago I could use this laptop without problems, it is hard to believe it is the same hardware.
A couple of questions. I noticed that the IT staff did not bother updating the BIOS version and that there is a firmware update pending. Any chance updating everything may make the screen smoother?
Is PWM directly/indirectly affected by OS updates or is solely an hardware parameter? Thanks.
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AGI A couple of questions. I noticed that the IT staff did not bother updating the BIOS version and that there is a firmware update pending. Any chance updating everything may make the screen smoother?
Is PWM directly/indirectly affected by OS updates or is solely an hardware parameter? Thanks.
Sucks that you got called in, though it was pretty inevitable. At least it took awhile.
Yes, it is entirely possible that a firmware update may make the screen smoother, I have observed this with an old video card. My opinion, given that you're suffering already and going back isn't an option anymore you might as well try it and see how it goes. It's not going to be worse at this point and might be better. You won't be able to roll-back though.
However, before doing that, there is something you can try.. try f-lux or night light and make the screen orangey-reddish, also at the same time, turn on greyscale-mode in the windows settings colour filters.. that should give you a warm white point without any other colours. See if doing that first helps make it more comfortable. Night light is built into Windows, I think f-lux's tonal balance is better. In lieu of using either, you can also go into the video driver settings and just simply lower the G and B sliders and it will do the same thing (but still also turn on greyscale). The theory here is that maybe you're being oversaturated.
PWM is both. It can be off in hardware but turned on by software. Sometimes it's other stuff, for example In linux kernel 6.6 for Intel, they're going to turn on panel self-refresh. It was off for many years because it was so buggy it couldn't be used, only in Windows. Will be interesting to see how that goes.
That reminds me, if your screen is PWM, if at 100% it is too bright but lowering it causes PWM, one way you can work around that is leave it at 100% but again, go into the video driver properties and lower the R G B sliders, say to 50%.. this will 'dim' the screen, but the backlight will still be at 100%, presumably not as much PWM but not so glaring.
6 days later
Hi guys, I noticed that there are those who experienced the problem of Windows 11 in terms of headaches and eyes, so it turns out that I also suffer from this since I upgraded my computer from Windows 10 to Windows 11, I felt a strange feeling and noticed that Windows 11 was doing this to me, so I decided to switch to Linux. (This is my personal computer. It contains an nvidia geforce rtx 3060 graphics card) Six months later, I received a Dell laptop from work with Windows 11 and what can I say except that the first few weeks with the computer (whether it is from the computer screen or an external screen) I had a nightmare, I didn't know how to solve it. I must mention that Linux does not give me this problem. (The computer is a dell precision 5570 and contains an nvidia RTX A1000 graphics card).
I tested Windows 11 on the same screen I tried Linux on so it's not the screen for sure. I tried a few things:
I tried using black and white colors but it didn't help.
I tried using a high contrast theme and it reduced the headaches but was still a bit of an eyesore.
Then I found something interesting in the settings. I entered:
settings -> about -> advanced system settings -> click under performance settings -> and choose under visual effects "adjust for best performance".
This solution removed everything for me, as if I were using Windows 10.
The problem is, it worked on the work laptop but not on the personal computer on which Windows 11 and Linux are installed. I still had eye pain but not like before the change I made, the pain was much weaker.
I just wanted to share what I found, I don't know yet what causes my PC to still be in pain compared to the laptop that has nothing. Maybe it will help to find where the problem is or what the solution is.
I attach pictures to visually show what I changed:
I was running Windows 10 2004 for a while which was comfortable without problems on a Quadro RTX 4000 and even with the disable updates script it auto updated to Version 22H2 and i noticed eyestrain again. I got fed up with standard version of Windows and installed Windows Server 2022 which is based on 21H2 and so far this is the absolute best modern version of Windows 10 ive tried. Unfortunately Microsoft made it so consumer NIC's built into the motherboard need a slight driver inf mod to work but that only takes a few minutes https://blog.workinghardinit.work/2017/06/19/installing-intel-i211-i217v-i218v-i219v-drivers-windows-server-2016-eufi-boot/ and if your not running a Nvidia Quadro/A Series or Radeon Pro card the consumer card drivers need some tweaking to get installed on Server 2022.
Jack One point of clarification, the 2004 you were using (vibranium) and the desktop 21H2 are a different codebase. Server uses iron for the codebase which was only used for 10X and server.
Maybe I'll try it down the road on the Deck if I can get the drivers to install and if they ever put out a hardware accelerated windows video driver.
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Hey - perhaps not very pertinent to this thread and perhaps the nth red herring, I removed my Ocushield screen protector and it seems that my eyestrain has significantly diminished. I wonder if the problem is that the protector, which I bought solely to block the blue light and stop the glare, is also a privacy filter. This last feature appears to give more problems than benefits, as I cannot even see the edge of the screen neatly without shifting my head! Has anyone experienced the same?
23 days later
New updates.
For a few days on
Edition Windows 10 Pro
Version 22H2
OS build 19045.3324
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.19041.1000.0
I had adjusted to the previous build quite nicely and I have hit rock bottom again. Honestly, I did not think a tweak of the version could make such a big difference in terms of eye strain and all the other symptoms. I was being too optimistic.
I wonder if there is ever going to be an end or if there is no limit to worse.
13 days later
New update. My eyes are frying and my spine is on fire. My hope of developing immunity is a chimera.
Edition Windows 10 Pro
Version 22H2
Installed on 26/07/2023
OS build 19045.3448
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.19044.1000.0
You could give the server edition a try.
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I have had some success with ghost spectre potato edition 1703. Its an old version.
Some other versions may work and most phone home services are removed. There's a toolbox on the desktop to block updates
https://ghostspectre.the-ninja.jp/1703.PATATO.X64.html
Perhaps newer versions might work for you - https://ghostspectre.the-ninja.jp/20H2.X64.html
Thanks guys. It is a business laptop. I have already been caught uninstalling updates. It is adjust or die now.
If the display is not matte, get a plastic matte protector film, and put it on. It might change things up for you.
6 days later
Staycalmsyndrome As what I understand, the only updates that are done in windows update settings are quality and feature updates? The rest(Drivers/MS Store/Defender Updates will work as normal) are done in the background?