Current Events > Trying to install Steam on my laptop. Windows won't let me.

(+) Yeah! (+)

I downloaded the setup client from the website and went to run it. The Microsoft Store came up and told me it was time to update, otherwise it wouldn't let me run applications that aren't on its storefront. It had a blurb at the bottom directing me to see how I could run unverified apps, and the rundown is that I'm in "S Mode" and S Mode isn't allowed to run unverified apps. The only way to exit S Mode is to update the Microsoft Store.

So my options are to either update the app store, or update the app store.

Okay, they want me to use the Microsoft Store to download apps. They win. I search for Steam.

They don't have Steam on the Microsoft Store.

I'm hesitant to update because it phrases the update as "keep getting app recommendations", which means they're recording my information and using it to sell me shit. I understand that it's Windows and that it's par for the course as PC operating systems get gutted to become more like phone interfaces, but the less of that in my life, the better. At the very least, I should be able to install my own fucking applications without physically being stopped by Microsoft in order to update their app store I don't use so it can continue to track my data.

I just want to see if Valheim will run on this budget laptop from 2015.

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oh?

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On your PC running Windows 10 in S mode, open Settings > Update & Security > Activation.

• Find the Switch to Windows 10 Home or Switch to Windows 10 Pro section, then select the Go to the Store link.
• Note: Don't select the link under Upgrade your edition of Windows. That's a different process that will keep you in S mode.
• On the page that appears in the Microsoft Store (Switch out of S mode or a similar page), select the Get button. After you confirm this action, you'll be able to install apps from outside the Microsoft Store.

Assuming you have already read this. Just get out of S mode and download steam with a web browser like normal.
For what its worth my friend plays it on a budget laptop with integrated graphics from 2019 and it barely chugs along on lowest. Game has simple graphics/textures but I guess there is a lot going on under the hood that is yet to be optimized.

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Sorry, I'm really fucking tired right now. It's switched out, and I can't get into S Mode unless I update my PC. It's basically telling me to install PC updates before it'll let me install applications.

The issue is that the updates I need to install aren't downloading. I've restarted my PC twice for unrelated reasons, and while it did install a quick update initially, it hasn't installed anything else. When I go into Windows Update with the instructions that Back_Stabbath provides, the top update is stuck at 0%.

Like, all I wanna do is install Steam so I can play Valheim. Windows can't let me install my own apps unless I install updates that aren't downloading? What the fuck.

Edit: tried to run Sign of the Sojourner, I got it in that racial unity and justice itch.io pack a while back. Same thing - I can't run it until I update my shit. What the fuck.

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Windows saving you

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can you use the browser version of steam

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I had to take a bunch of laptops out of S mode that my company bought last year so people could work from home when the pandemic first started. I forget exactly how it was done, but I think I just had to register a Microsoft account and then do it from the store. I think Back_Sabbath's post is pretty spot on. I think S mode is stupid though.

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What the hell is S-mode

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It's 9am on a Sunday. I threw on some tunes, I've got stuff on my laptop that I get nostalgic for, and I'm gonna grab a nap.

The battery on this laptop is fried, and the charger is fraying around the entry plug. I ordered a new charger last night, but until then I have to be vigilant about the charger in case it decides to fuck up.

The update I need is taking ages to download - like, about 40 minutes for 10%. So I'm gonna roll the dice on this one. The Wye Oak cover of We Belong just came on, so I'm gonna vibe to that for a while

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I'm back with a new problem.

I'm trying to download the 1903 update. I'm using the update assistant. It's downloaded, so it breezes through that part, but the updating portion slows to a crawl around 80%. After that, it takes about an hour or so to hit 100%.

The problem occurs after my laptop restarts. That's when the update really begins. It gets to around 30-50% and then my laptop shuts down on its own.

Sometimes a computer will restart multiple times during an update, sure. But my laptop isn't restarting. It's shutting down completely.

So when I go to turn it back on, I have to sit through 10 minutes of a "Removing changes to the OS" screen, at which point it spits me back out at my homepage. I'm still at update 1803, and I still can't run my own applications.

This process has failed me twice now. I'm on my third attempt. The installation is up to the "updating" part and it's stuck at 84%, and it'll be at least another hour before it gets to the end of this phase. Then my laptop will restart, and I'll basically have to roll the dice on whether it'll shut down or not.

I can't stress enough how much this is pissing me off. Computers need updates to address functionality issues and security updates and shit, sure, but I can't at all justify why I can't install the fucking Steam client or run game setups without an update. I could understand if Steam had functionality issues with an outdated version of Windows, and the issue was on their end - but this is Windows refusing to let me install new applications without an update. It'll let me use the Microsoft Store to do so, but it doesn't have the fucking app I want to install. It just sits there and goes "uh-uh, sweaty, U need a system upgwade uwu" and puts me through an entire weekend of this horseshit.

Please tell me this is a known issue, and I can fix it before I have to do this over again.

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Honestly, I don't recall having to install an actual update to get out of S mode, but I could be wrong. I swear I remember it being something like flipping a switch.

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Well, I am a fucking moron.

I went into Apps and clicked "allow apps from anywhere", and that did the trick.

fwiw, the option it was on before was "warn me about unverified apps", not "only allow apps through the app store". Microsoft was still strongarming me, but this is all on me and I feel really fucking stupid.

I think the main lesson I'm taking away from this is that if I ever get another computer, I'm either keeping on top of updates the entire time or I'm installing custom firmware or some shit to prevent Microsoft from fucking me in the ass with this. Or maybe I'll try Linux out or something. This is getting way out of hand.

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nfearurspecimn posted...

What the hell is S-mode

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As an epilogue for this cluster fuck I've been through - my laptop can run Valheim, but it's completely unplayable. It froze on the title screen, on the character creation screen and when I created a new world. Then when the game itself loaded up, the frame rate was sub-10fps.

No joke, after I landed, the frame rate was roughly 1 frame per second. The game would literally only move once every second. So yeah, this was all for nothing and I can't play Valheim.

I might try and get back into Wurm Unlimited to make some lemonade out of this whole situation. And at least now I can play those games from the itch.io racial justice and unity bundle.

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