Microsoft Is Pushing the PC Health Check App to Windows 10 Machines
Microsoft is no stranger to frustrating OS updates after years of rolling out unblockable OTAs for Windows 10. Now there’s a new update rolling out, and this one adds a new app to your machine. Don’t want it? Tough, you’re getting the Microsoft PC Health Check app regardless of whether or not you’ve expressed interest in Windows 11.
Ostensibly, the Health Check app tells you about the status of your PC, links to important settings, and helps you plan your upgrade to Windows 11. It’s that last item that probably encouraged Microsoft to push the app to everyone. The Windows 11 functionality is listed right at the top. One click, and you can find out if your PC is compatible.
Making sure your PC is compatible is more important than it was for past Windows Operating Systems, as Microsoft has narrowed the OS’s hardware support with mandatory features like TMP 2.0 and a modern CPU. However, checking these things only takes a few minutes, and then you’re left with an app you’ll probably never open again.
The PC Health CHeck app will arrive on Windows 10 systems as part of the KB5005463 update. Once it’s installed, you can’t even roll back the change. You can uninstall the app, but it will come back. You can, however, block the installation as long as you don’t mind mucking around in the registry. You can head into the registry editor and navigate to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PCHC], and then find “PreviousUninstall.” Change the value to “1,” and Windows won’t install the app again the next time you check for updates. Alternatively, you can ignore the app. It won’t run in the background or collect your data — but this is more about the principle.
This is probably just one of many ways Microsoft is going to try and nudge people toward upgrading to Windows 11. The software launched earlier this month on new PCs, and as a free upgrade for some Windows 10 users. Existing machines will be upgraded slowly, so most people haven’t gotten a prompt to upgrade yet. However, Microsoft says this process is intentionally cautious. PCs will be upgraded in batches while Microsoft monitors any problems that arise. If you wait for Microsoft’s prompt, you might not have Windows 11 until next year. If you’re itching to upgrade though, you can manually install the update on a compatible system by heading to Microsoft’s site and getting the installation assistant.
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