The WinSxS Folder
The topic of the Windows Side-by-side assembly folder (aka WinSxS or Component Store) has been the source of much discussion and misinformation since it first appeared in Windows Vista.
Overly simplified, the WinSxS folder is the folder that holds the Windows Component Store. The Windows Component Store holds files that are “used to support the functions needed for the customization and updating of Windows.”
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How-To's
Windows 11 Disk Cleanup
First Things First
On modern systems with SSD’s, cleaning your drives IS NOT A PERFORMANCE TWEAK unless your drive is near full. SSDs do not get fragmented and Windows not only periodically cleans system files but also automatically optimizes drives (TRIM).
You clean a drive to reduce its size resulting in quicker backup and recovery and a smaller image.
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Using the portable version of Wise Disk Cleaner (WDC)
Although I’m showing WDC for this guide, this is meant to show you how to create a sort of toolbox for your PC.
I’m using Start11 for this guide. I use it on all my Windows machines. It’s a paid program. No, I don’t get a cut.
This is long. If you get confused, please see the pictures below.
I keep a folder of portable tools that I use on every system. From there I create a menu I can access by either my start menu (via Start11) or the system tray.
Once I setup the portable apps and their shortcuts, I can update all the folders on all my machines regularly because I keep my folder structures the same across machines (via SyncToy).
I going to use Wise Disk Cleaner as an example
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Core Parking
I’ve been perusing the web and came across several articles and forum posts discussing the Core Parking tweak. Folks seem to still be misinterpreting what it actually does and sometimes posting the wrong instructions.
I thought I would try and set things straight.
I would appreciate some feedback on this article, does it make sense, did I get something wrong?
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Enroll In Windows 10 ESU
The Windows 10 ESU enrollment notification finally showed up on my main computer. I’ll show you how the official process went for me and a way to force enrollment using only a local account.
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Fixing Microsoft’s KB5034441 Charlie Foxtrot
Back in January I mentioned that there was an issue installing the Windows 10 KB5034441 update. This update provides an update to the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). The update fails for most people with error 0x80070643. The excuse given was, “update requires 250 MB of free space in the recovery partition to install successfully”. It failed on the 6 computers I have running Win10.
At the time I said about this, “here is a “fix”, I tried it and it works. HOWEVER, I DO NOT recommend it at this time. Give Microsoft time to see if they can fix this.”
Welp, according to Neowin, “Microsoft has acknowledged that an automatic resolution for this issue will not be released and as such, the only way to fix this is manually.”
That’s just friggin’ great. A perfect example of the downfall of Microsoft. Create a problem due to poor quality control and then refuse to fix it. This has left the non-Geek out there to try and do a geeky exercise that could render their computer unbootable. Thanks Microsoft!
Here’s how to fix it…
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ExpressVPN On Linux Mint
I use ExpressVPN on my Samsung Galaxy phone, PCs, and streaming devices.
I also use ExpressVPN in my Linux Mint virtual machine. Although there is a browser extension that allows you to control ExpressVPN, I prefer to use command line. I’ll cover the basics, a full tutorial is here: How to set up and use the ExpressVPN app for Linux.
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Audio Tricks – dBpoweramp CD Ripper, Rip As One
dBpoweramp is my favorite audio conversion and CD ripping software. This article will show you the very useful “rip as one” function.
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Audio Tricks – Using Audacity To Trim Music
I’ve been using Audacity for many years. From creating audio, to mixing, to editing it has been an essential tool for me.
I’d like to show you how this tool can be of use to the average user. I’m going to give a very quick example of using Audacity to trim music.
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Prepping For Major Windows Updates
It’s been a while since I’ve written about this and with Win10 22H2 coming soon I thought I would post this for new readers.
In the past I used Service Pack updates as an excuse to clean, tweak, and organize my computers as if it were a new install. Gone are the days of Service Packs as Microsoft has moved to a yearly major feature update (version 20H2, 21H1, etc.).
The end result for me is the same and I employ the same strategy as I did before.
* A note before we start, all my “backups” are disk images using a Macrium Reflect Free bootable USB drive.
See: Using Macrium Reflect Boot Media and Macrium Reflect Boot Disk In Action
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