Synopsis – If your Thunderbolt 3 driver or utility version types are mismatched within a Windows host system, you may receive an error message stating, “Application Cannot run – This Thunderbolt application is not in use anymore and can be safely uninstalled” when attempting to run the Intel Thunderbolt Software management utility or the Intel Thunderbolt Control Center utility. This prevents proper management of Thunderbolt devices on the host system. (This problem does not occur on Apple Mac systems.)In the course of researching and testing the latest Windows Thunderbolt 3 drivers and software, I managed to ‘break’ one of our Windows Thunderbolt 3 test systems to the point where I could no longer run the Intel Thunderbolt Software management utility that controls the authentication and management of Thunderbolt devices.Something ‘breaking’ during testing is not unusual, however the solution was not obvious.
As a result, we wanted to share what we learned to help others resolve this issue should they encounter it.At this time, the problem can be resolved by uninstalling the Thunderbolt Host Controller driver and Thunderbolt Software and deleting the associated ‘nhi’ Windows service and then reinstalling matched versions of the driver and utility. Application Cannot Run error messageAs a result, I attempted to remove both the Thunderbolt driver and software utility from my system and reinstall. But when I did so, I always received the same error message when attempting to launch the Thunderbolt Software.I had not encountered this behavior before, and a quick Google search turned up a potential solution within this Lenovo support forum thread -Within the many posts to that thread, it appeared that others had encountered a similar problem albeit with varying origins. Deleting the ‘nhi’ service.
Image provided by Lenovo.12. Close the Administrative Command Prompt window.13. Check within the Control Panel - Applications and Features to see if there are any ‘Thunderbolt Software’ by Intel entries listed.
This package installs the software (Thunderbolt drivers) to enable the following devices. Thunderbolt (TM) Controller-15EB. Find the latest Thunderbolt™ driver and Thunderbolt™ firmware under the “Driver” and the “Firmware” tab of the product download page. Keep them updated by following the update guide to have the most enjoyable user experience on the Thunderbolt™ ports.
If any our present, uninstall them.14. Now download and install the latest version of the non-DCH version of the Intel Thunderbolt software and Thunderbolt driver from your system manufacturer. If you cannot locate this driver, here is a link to such a driver from Intel -15. Reboot the system.16. Reconnect a Thunderbolt 3 device to the system, and the Intel Thunderbolt Software utility should launch successfully and prompt you to authenticate the device.Although I was happy to be back in business after having gone through the process, I was unsure what had happened so it prompted me to dig a little deeper. For those who are interested in such details, please read onInformation LearnedThe original Intel Thunderbolt Controller driver released when Thunderbolt 3 systems were first introduced was based on a different driver model than Microsoft’s new DCH driver model.
The single driver download included both the driver and software management utility within the package.The new DCH version of the Intel Thunderbolt Host Controller driver (as was provided with the Dell XPS 13 9380 system) is provided separately from the software management utility. The driver is intended to be used in conjunction with the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) version of Intel Thunderbolt Control Center utility, available for download from the Microsoft Store -This DCH driver requirement is called out on the utiltiy’s download page, but it is subtle and very easy to miss (requirement highlighted in the screenshot below). Thunderbolt Control Center Application listing from Microsoft StoreThe non-DCH and DCH driver versions and utilities cannot be mixed. If a system is updated to the DCH Thunderbolt driver, the non-DCH version of the software management utility will most likely no longer work and produce the aforementioned error message or other unexpected behavior.Removing any type of DCH version software driver (not just Thunderbolt drivers) from a Windows 10 system can cause problems. In addition to Thunderbolt drivers, Intel is also starting to provide DCH drivers for Intel graphics adapters. Intel speaks to the potential problems that can occur with their DCH graphics drivers (and DCH drivers in general) in the following links:More information from Microsoft on DCH drivers in general is available here -The ‘nhi’ service refers to the ‘native host interface’ service that is installed in conjunction with the Thunderbolt controller driver. The native host interface (NHI) is used for software protocols and device discovery, and is added to the system during the Thunderbolt host controller driver installation.
A good reference to this (and the lower-level workings of Thunderbolt technology) is available here -Manually attempting to uninstall DCH drivers in the usual/typical manner to rectify this issue (in essence a roll-back) does not work. In order to restore a system affected by this specific problem to a working state, at the time of this writing the procedure described above is necessary.Summary and conclusionThe different driver standards used for the Intel Thunderbolt Controller driver and associated management utilities can cause problems if the different version types are mixed. Should such a condition occur, completely removing the current Thunderbolt controller driver, utility and associated Windows service will allow for the installation of a properly matched driver and utility.Hopefully this information proves useful for others. As always, if you are encountering any problems with your Plugable branded product please reach out to us directly via and we will be happy to assist. The Windows drivers for all Thunderbolt Windows systems are produced by Intel.
While a specific version of this driver may be provided and supported by a system manufacturer, there is nothing that precludes the use of a Thunderbolt driver provided by Intel with a Dell system. To put that another way, the drivers are not system specific. The same CANNOT be said for Thunderbolt NVM firmware updates, they are indeed specific to the host system.That said, we always recommend installing the latest driver version provided by the system manufacturer given that is what they will support.
If the driver from the original manufacturer cannot be located, we provide a link to the Intel driver as a convenience.The situation we documented here was fairly unique given we were manually altering the system, and the key take away in this specific instance is that DCH and non-DCH drivers should not be mixed. We would not expect this issue to occur if the drivers were updated automatically via a system manufacturer’s automated update system or utility, given that the manufacturer should (in theory) have anticipated any such potential problems before pushing the update to customers.E Bailey. Hi David,Thank you for sharing your experience, and for the additional information. Typically we would not expect Windows to automatically install a driver for the Thunderbolt controller within the host via Microsoft/Windows Update when no Thunderbolt devices are connected to the laptop (given that the Thunderbolt controller is not ‘active’ in this state), however it is interesting that your experience differed.
You are of course correct that disabling all network access temporarily can prevent this behavior should it occur. Thanks again for sharing!.Tyler.