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
[Read more…] about Prepping For Major Windows Updates
How-To's
Updating Firmware on Samsung SSDs
There were some recent firmware updates for the Samsung 980 Pro lineup. I updated mine and thought I would pass this along…
Download and install/update the Samsung Magician SSD Management Utility.
Although Magician has several uses, the only thing you really need this utility for is updating firmware (unless you want to go through the hassle of creating a boot disk). Firmware updates for SSDs can resolve performance or security issues.
Tips:
– It is not necessary to have Magician running in the system tray. Right-click on the tray icon and remove from startup.
– It is not necessary to have the SamsungMagicianSVC service running all the time. Set it to Manual:
press the Windows + S key > type services > scroll down to SamsungMagicianSVC and double-click it > change it to Manual (optionally stop it too) > click Apply
– I typically check for updates via Magician every month or so, or when it comes to mind.
– Simply running Magician will let you know if there are updates.
– Standard warning: Firmware updates can go wrong…blah, blah, backup, blah blah. In all these years I’ve never had BIOS or firmware updates go wrong and I’ve done too many to count. RTFM
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Block Windows 11 From Installing
A user contacted me this morning about this.
Use the registry
Copy/paste this into notepad and name it block11.reg ( not .txt):
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate]
“TargetReleaseVersion”=dword:00000001
“TargetReleaseVersionInfo”=dword:00002212
Download it: https://www.tweakhound.com/win10/block11.zip
Stupid Office New Item Menu
MS Office 2019 introduced a new item menu; right-click and empty space in a drive/file/folder and you get this twaddle:
There are registry entries to eliminate these but one or all will come back after Office is updated, especially Access it seems.
[Read more…] about Stupid Office New Item Menu
Reader question about a Linux Mint VM
“But what I want to do is have shortcut on my Win10 desktop to open VMW in full-screen mode, open Linux in full-screen mode, and then autostart Firefox maximized. I’ve been messing around with it for awhile and can get VMW to open full-screen and I can get Firefox to autostart. I can’t get Linux to start full-screen even though I’ve checked the box on the Virtual Machine Settings-Options page.”
[Read more…] about Reader question about a Linux Mint VM
Install And Configure A Linux Mint Virtual Machine
Just a quick how-I-do-it.
I do 80% of my internet activity in my Mint VM.
[Read more…] about Install And Configure A Linux Mint Virtual Machine
UAC – Quick notes on why I disable it.
Original article: Windows 7 UAC – Quick notes on why I disable it. circa 2009
***31 December, 2020
As of today my original article is over eleven years old. Links to sources have disappeared. I updated the links today, mostly to the Internet Wayback Machine archive. I’ve also backed up these sources to PDF and have linked to those where appropriate.
Microsoft introduced User Account Control (UAC) with Windows Vista. Windows 7 has an “improved” version of UAC. The purpose of this short note is to explain why I do not like or use UAC on my own machines (because I get asked so much), it is not to start an argument or to try to convince others to disable UAC.
[Read more…] about UAC – Quick notes on why I disable it.
Tweaking Windows 10 – Version 20H2
TweakHound’s
Tweaking Windows 10
Windows 10 October 2020 Update
A guide to tweak and optimize Windows 10.
Updated as of Windows 10 20H2. Lasted edited as of 30 December, 2020
I would like to thank Ken Rosenstein, Sentwali Lewis, and others for their invaluable help in editing this guide.
tweak – to change slightly, esp. in order to make something more effective or correct.
optimize – get the most out of, make optimal – modify to achieve maximum efficiency in storage capacity or time or cost
“TweakHound.com – Home Of The Original Tweak Guides”
The Windows 10 Pagefile And Running Without One
In 2011 I wrote The Windows 7 Pagefile And Running Without One. It’s been sourced, quoted, and held up as an example these several years. In reviewing possible changes to the upcoming Win10 Tweak Guide revision I decided to revisit this.
[Read more…] about The Windows 10 Pagefile And Running Without One
