Here are the apps that could block you from upgrading to Windows 11 version 24H2

Windows 11 version 24H2, which is coming later this year and is currently available in the Windows Insider program, is a big system update, unlike version 23H2. Naturally, Microsoft wants to ensure the operating system works well on supported hardware and does not cause trouble for customers. For this reason, Microsoft will block devices with incompatible software, hardware, or drivers from getting to the new version.

German blog Deskmodder has dug into the appraiser.sdb file in build 26100 and discovered that Microsoft expanded it with new programs that could theoretically block you from getting to Windows 11 version 24H2. The list includes apps like StartAllBack and ExplorerPatcher, which Microsoft recently blocked on 24H2 builds.

• ConisioAdmin.exe (Solidworks PDM)
• EaseUS Disk Copy.exe (EaseUS Disk Copy Application)
• ep_dwm.exe (ExplorerPatcher) Included since 22H2
• iCloudServices.exe (iCloud files shared in Explorer via WhatsApp) from 23H2
• RadeonSoftware.exe (AMD GPU perf settings) From 23H2
• StartAllBackCfg.exe (StartAllBack) Included since 22H2
• Multi-mon + Copilot (Microsoft)
• MergeSdb (Microsoft)
• Intel IntcOED.sys (Intel)
• Intel IntcAudioBus.sys (Intel) (%WinDir%\System32\drivers\IntcAudioBus.sys)
• Realtek 8192su Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter (Realtek) (%WinDir%\System32\drivers\RTL8192su.sys)

It is worth noting that Microsoft can block specific versions, such as the Windows 7 version of VLC. Therefore, newer versions of those apps may work just fine on version 24H2. Usually, the company notifies users about major update blocks in its official documentation, and Neowin constantly keeps an eye on it to report to you on time.

Also, we are still months away from the public release of Windows 11 version 24H2, so expect Microsoft to ship many bug fixes and patches (they are definitely needed).

While software blocks are not hard to bypass (you can always update to a newer version or uninstall the problematic app), hardware blocks are more difficult to deal with. Version 24H2 will be the end of the road for those running Windows 11 on very old computers whose processors do not have the SSE4.2/4a instruction set (including the POPCNT instruction).

We have a separate article describing how to check if your PC has the necessary instructions to run Windows 11 version 24H2, so go see it out if you plan to use the OS on unsupported hardware.