Solved Windows 11 on MSI Katana 15 HX B14WXGK laptop (Debloating vs clean installation)

My wife recently bought an MSI Katana 15 HX B14WXGK laptop. see specs here:


It is a 14th generation Intel Core-i9 HX system with 32GB RAM and 1TB NVMe and it came with Windows 11 Home 24H2 preinstalled. First I installed the 25H2 Enablement Package to switch version to Windows 11 25H2. Then I downloaded latest Intel graphics and nVidia graphics drivers and also run MSI application to check and upgrade the rest drivers. It also found a new UEFI firmware version (aka BIOS) and upgraded that too. Then I wanted to install a standalone version of Microsoft Office and I had to remove all Office 365 preinstalled versions to avoid any conflicts. They had ten or more different languages and each one took some time to uninstall. After all this time I was wondering if it would be faster to just format the laptop, reinstall Windows 11 and then the drivers and the apps I wanted. Probably it would be, but it is my wife's new laptop and would freak out if I formatted it, so I decided to keep the original Windows installation and just uninstall whatever I didn't want. Admittedly a clean installation would be faster.

Bug report: While I was installing Adobe Audition CC 2015 it also installed PX Engine which includes an DVD lower filter for better compatibility when opening CD/DVD. When it was time to restart the laptop, I had a very nasty surprise! After all these hours the laptop would not load windows, the error message was that the file C:\Windows\System32\drivers\PxHlpa64.sys could not load or missing (boot loop issue). Trying to boot in Safe Mode also didn't work and I saw the same error. The only thing that worked was to boot in Command Prompt and the run Explorer to load File Explorer and navigate to the folder and rename the file. Then I ran Regedit to load Registry Editor and delete the lower filters from a specific key. See instructions below:

How to fix boot loop Error file C:\Windows\System32\drivers\PxHlpa64.sys is missing after installing AdobeAudition CC 2015:


> Open File Explorer, go to C:\Windows\System32\drivers, rename PxHlpa64.sys to PxHlpa64.sys.old

> Open Registry Editor, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > System > CurrentControlSet > Control > Class

> Right-click: 4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318 > Click Export to backup the registry key.

> After that, double-click CDROM class: 4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318

> Delete LowerFilters.

> Close Registry Editor and restart the PC.

Other than this bug which I fixed without affecting Adobe Audition functionality, this is a great laptop. I just wanted to post this for reference of how to fix the bug and help others with the same issue.