For me the last Windows 10 update also introduced some changes for display. I was playing Desperados III without issues and after the Windows updated I can't watch at this game anymore. Same graphical settings etc. No idea what's happend.
Update from Win11 21H2 to Win11 22H2 leads to eye strain
CorvusCorax Is it Windows 22H2?
Staycalmsyndrome Where security/patches updates fall in?
Quality updates?
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12 days later
I'm not a Win user, but in theory you can block updates by blocking the DNS name for the Win update url.
(Open wireshark, press check updates, then sniff for the URL. Blackhole it with 127.0.0.1 in /etc/hosts (this path is for linux tho))
I've been trying a few Windows laptops after failing miserably with Mac OS since 2018. Same issues most people describe, difficulty focussing on text, off-centre movement detected, dry eyes , strain and headaches.
I took delivery of a HP Spectre 14 last week running W11 21H2 and installed ditherig and all was good, even had banding on the default wallpaper which is nice to see ;-) . The Spectre also uses DC dimming and felt pretty good, way more tolerable than recent Macs. I then restarted and unwittingly picked up 22H2 and boom, eye strain within 10 minutes and the usual symptoms as above. First I down-revved the video driver from 30.1 to 27.x with no effect. Rolling back fixes this for now. Had similar things with the Mac. My trusty 2017 Kaby lake MacBook is nowhere near as pleasant to use on recent versions of the OS. Would love to know what's going on.
Also as a footnote. The spectre demonstrated pretty well to me that different browsers render differently with Edge being way nicer than Firefox (and slightly better than Chrome) when it came to reading the BBC news using all 3 for comparison.
And the struggle continues
5 days later
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CRoebuck I then restarted and unwittingly picked up 22H2 and boom, eye strain within 10 minutes and the usual symptoms
Same thing here. Last Friday a reboot of my business laptop was forced for the recurring monthly installation of security patches. At restart I immediately developed eyestrain and neck pain. Today I checked and verified that, once again, an upgrade to Windows 22H2 passed through, most likely together with the security patches. The third attempt of Microsoft to sneakily upgrade my Windows after I have deactivated automatic upgrades.
I just reversed the install of the package but it will take a while before I can judge if my laptop is usable again. My eyes, neck and upper back are screwed and will be so for many hours, potentially a couple of days. I hope nothing else was upgraded (graphics drivers etc).
5 days later
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My laptop rebooted again and reinstalled version 22H2. Really annoying but at least this time - for reasons I do not know as it is the same update as last week! - Windows Update Settings showed that my device was up to date, so I could pause updates until April. I uninstalled version 22H2 probably for the fifth time. Since then in the morning when I open the lid I find the screen in BIOS mode and I am asked if I want to continue to boot. No idea why. The keyboard is also illuminated and the fan is often on, which was not happening before (any suggestion?). Once the laptop has rebooted, the version is 21H2.
Answering here @ryans 's question from another thread, my laptop's display adapters are Intel UHD Graphics and NVIDIA Quadro P520. The PC on W10 22H2 (OS Build 19045.2486) I can use without excessive "eye damage" mounts Intel UHD Graphics 630 and NVIDIA GeForce GT 730. I shall say that I use this PC to run a piece of equipment, so I do not do any prolonged reading and I do no browsing at all. It also took me a while to adjust. There is another PC that bugs me but I can now handle without long-term damage. I thought it was on 22H2 but it is on 1909 and the display adapters are Intel UHD Graphics 630 and NVIDIA GeForce GT710.
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I claimed win too early.
Is this going to happen every second day now? In theory, updates were blocked until Apr 5 but my laptop shut down and installed version 22H2 anyhow.
Does anyone know how to stop this?
Also, looking at the list of the restore points, why is the description of the "event" different from time to time, although the "event" was always the install of the KB5015684 package? Any input is appreciated, thanks!
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AGI If you can't block windows updates on the machine, i would suggest blacklisting windows update URLs within your router firewall. An updated list can be found here.
Staycalmsyndrome I have administrator rights on my business laptop but bypassing my IT Admin without his approval may lead to unpleasant scenarios. I am afraid this is not a solution for me but thanks for letting me know. It could apply if I decided to buy a private PC or laptop!
AGI Try using this bat script to disable the updates, this is what i use and ive never had a problem with updates coming back. https://wtools.io/paste-code/bKom
This is not pertinent to version 22H2, so I will keep it short. In the last 7-10 days I have used for many hours per day a PC with Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC, Version 1809, OS Build 17763.2366. The display adapter is Intel UHD Graphics 630 and the monitor is an Asus VA24EHE. This setup is so bad that I not only have eye strain and the feeling my eyes and face are swollen, I even feel disoriented when I stand and walk away from the station. Sort of dizziness/vertigo and additional flashes in my eyes. I should note that I have pushed myself to work in quite dim conditions as there has been little sunlight coming thru these days and I have opted for keeping off the super-bright and flickering LED overhead lighting. Symptoms are different to the ones caused by 22H2 but I would not be able to tell what is worse.
6 days later
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I was using Win11 21H2 as good as always with my Dell P2317H from 2016. I bought a S2721DGF, returned, after a S2421HN and returned again and after a P2423D and returned again. Three very different monitors from 2020 to 2022 and all of them caused eye strain, fatigue, difficult to focus and all the stuffs that everything here knows well. This is the topic https://ledstrain.org/d/2134-i-dont-know-what-to-do-and-feeling-that-im-running-out-of-options
So, I bought a LG 29UM69G from 2017 and it worked very well like my P2317H. Yesterday I update the Windows to 22H2 and boom my eyes got tired quickly with some eye pain. I've tried to update my RX 6600 videocard, adjust ClearType but it still weird. It's not pleasant and easy to focus just staring at the screen like was with the monitors that I returned.
That is bizarre. I thought it was red phosphor from NanoIPS, after flickering, after antiglare screen and other stuffs and was a relief find a monitor that I could use and after a Windows update, not changing graphic card, driver, monitor and nothing more this bizarre thing happens.
7 days later
ryans Only 11. 21H2 was fine until change monitors. With the last monitor that was fine I tried to update to 22H2 and everything that was good became bad. I tried to change AMD driver update (Microsoft recommendation) and no changes. I rolled back and everything came back to normal. Bizarre.
After that I changed the RX 6600 for a RTX 3070 and no problem. The change of Windows version caused more trouble than changing graphic card (hardware) and driver (software) and that's crazy. They did something really bad that is hard to explain.
I had problem with current monitors with 21H2 but old monitor with 22H2 was unexpected. Trying to find reasons about monitors causing strain is more pausable than trying to understand what they did in the system that also causas strain, even with a perfect fine monitor for our eyes.
I was testing Win11 today on the Steam Deck. 21H2 not 22H2 since you all hated the current release so much.
It was so-so. Useable, but not better or the same as my current Intel setup with 10. Maybe sub-optimal drivers (very possible), or sub-optimal video-out on the dock for it (also possible).
The user interface however is awful, if there is a choice and it not imposed on you, I don't know why anyone would want to use 11 over 10.
8 days later
I had used the OS below quite comfortably for a while.
Edition Windows 10 Pro
Version 21H2
Installed on ‎11/‎08/‎2022
OS build 19044.1889
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.4180.0
Last weekend I was forced to install four new updates:
- KB5015684
- KB5023696 (showing as Security Update in the Control Panel)
- KB5022502
- KB5020872 (generating the entry "Servicing stack 10.0.19041.2664" in the Control Panel)
The OS changed to
Edition Windows 10 Pro
Version 22H2
Installed on ‎11/‎08/‎2022
OS build 19045.2728
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.4190.0
I uninstalled update 1., as already done in the past multiple times, and got back to Version 21H2. However, this time Build and Experience did not return to the state prior to the installs.
OS build 19044.2728
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.4190.0
I proceeded to uninstall KB5022502, but there were no changes to Build and Experience. Also, to my surprise, a new update was installed in the process, namely, KB5015730 from August 9 2022. I uninstalled this one too. Again the uninstall was not a mere uninstall. The update was replaced by an older update (KB5004331 from August 11, 2021). I had never noticed this before, that an update is replaced by another update upon uninstall.
Since my goal was to restore the 21H2 Build and Experience prior to the forced installs and given that it is not possible to uninstall Servicing stack 10.0.19041.2664, I proceeded to uninstall KB5023696 (Security Update). Finally the Build reversed to 19044.1889 but the Experience did not change.
A week after my eyes still hurt like hell without any sign of improvement. A couple of questions. It looks like new security patches generated a new Build. What are "Servicing Stack" and Windows Feature Experience Pack? Can these affect the visual experience? Is there a way to restore an old Experience Pack? Thanks.
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Just confirmed that servicing stack updates are irreversible. They should not affect image rendering.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/update/servicing-stack-updates
Servicing stack updates improve the reliability of the update process to mitigate potential issues while installing the latest monthly security update release and feature updates.
- Once a servicing stack update is installed, it cannot be removed or uninstalled from the machine.
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I ended up doing a system restore. The laptop rebooted and showed the warning below (I am not surprised as a year ago attempts to recover from an unwanted BIOS update always miserably failed).
Perhaps the only positive thing is that the Experience of the OS went back to what it was before the most recent updates.
Edition Windows 10 Pro
Version 21H2
Installed on ‎11/‎08/‎2022
OS build 19044.1889
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.4180.0
However, the service stacking installed in the last bundle of updates is still in the control panel. I do not get it.
Opera and Firefox, which I installed after creating the restore point, have not disappeared, and I get a few errors/warnings (for example, Skype is not working anymore). The taskbar does not look as before the updates either (there are some Bing icons to the right of the Type here to search field).
It looks like the recovery of the system occurred only partially and not in a clean manner. I am given the option to undo the restore and I may take it after playing around a bit more and checking whether the system has become smoother on my eyes or not.
I should mention that prior to doing the system restore I scanned all the programs and drivers that could be affected. The list was infinitely long. There were so many recent updates of drivers of any sort that I was completely oblivious of, including from HP and NVIDIA. I am not an expert but I worry that all those sub-updates contained in the update package may screw up the screen and not fully reverse even if the Build and the Experience go back to what they were.
What do you guys reckon? Have you tried to undo updates by using an old restore point, and were you successful? Thanks.