I tried upgrading one of our test computers here from Win11 23H2 to 24H2 yesterday. Install ran normally, but when I tried to open the settings app afterwards, it just sits there with the gear icon in the middle of the window and eventually disappears. Found the error in the screen shot in the event log. Tried the same upgrade on another test computer with the same result. Ran all the usual DI_SM (why is that command not permitted in here!!!) and SFC checks which found no problems or if they did, the fixes had no effect on the problem. Also ran a few Powershell commands to reset/reinstall the windows.immersivecontrolpanel package, still no changes.

At this point I wanted to narrow down exactly what was causing the problem, so I wiped one of the test computers and reinstalled 24H2 from scratch on it. After doing so, the settings app worked fine. Ran through my usual new computer setup process, testing the settings app after each step. It stopped working as soon as I joined the computer to our local domain. With this new piece of information, I did some more Googling and found someone that had run into the exact same problem back in 2023. The “fix” they found was to disable UAC by using RegEdit to set HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesSystemEnableLUA to 0. I tried that and the settings app now works. Obviously, that’s not a real solution for the problem.

I’ve also tried removing all GPOs that I can (meaning all except domain-wide ones) and that didn’t help. I’m in the midst of looking at the domain-wide policies now, but I don’t even know if I should be looking at an existing policy, or a policy that isn’t being set. Kinda like looking for a needle in a haystack. Also tried it with a local computer admin account and that had the same problem.

Has anyone else seen this and if so, have you found a resolution that doesn’t involve completely disabling an important security feature?

​I tried upgrading one of our test computers here from Win11 23H2 to 24H2 yesterday. Install ran normally, but when I tried to open the settings app afterwards, it just sits there with the gear icon in the middle of the window and eventually disappears. Found the error in the screen shot in the event log. Tried the same upgrade on another test computer with the same result. Ran all the usual DI_SM (why is that command not permitted in here!!!) and SFC checks which found no problems or if they did, the fixes had no effect on the problem. Also ran a few Powershell commands to reset/reinstall the windows.immersivecontrolpanel package, still no changes. At this point I wanted to narrow down exactly what was causing the problem, so I wiped one of the test computers and reinstalled 24H2 from scratch on it. After doing so, the settings app worked fine. Ran through my usual new computer setup process, testing the settings app after each step. It stopped working as soon as I joined the computer to our local domain. With this new piece of information, I did some more Googling and found someone that had run into the exact same problem back in 2023. The “fix” they found was to disable UAC by using RegEdit to set HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesSystemEnableLUA to 0. I tried that and the settings app now works. Obviously, that’s not a real solution for the problem. I’ve also tried removing all GPOs that I can (meaning all except domain-wide ones) and that didn’t help. I’m in the midst of looking at the domain-wide policies now, but I don’t even know if I should be looking at an existing policy, or a policy that isn’t being set. Kinda like looking for a needle in a haystack. Also tried it with a local computer admin account and that had the same problem. Has anyone else seen this and if so, have you found a resolution that doesn’t involve completely disabling an important security feature?   Read More

​