TweakHound

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Windows 7

My Home Server – Windows 7

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Here is my current setup. I will be attempting to switch over to a Linux server setup in the near future (just because).
This machine was my secondary workstation and has been repurposed for my home server.
This is a quickie article. No hand holding. If you do not know your way around Windows this article is not for you.
[Read more…] about My Home Server – Windows 7

Profound Post

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I don’t post in forums much. I don’t comment in posts much either. I may scan through comments on non-political type posts. There are a few places where most comments are level headed. Askwoody.com Forums is one such place. Once in a while a comment truly impresses me.
A comment by user Canadian Tech is an example. I’ve no idea who he is. I don’t necessarily agree with everything he said but his argument is solid, well reasoned, and well written. If he isn’t a tech writer he should be.

Get Rid Of SMB1 In Windows 7

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A reader was confused by all the steps in Microsoft’s How to enable and disable SMBv1, SMBv2, and SMBv3 in Windows and Windows Server.
Should he use PowerShell, Registry Editor, Group Policy? Should he disable it on Client or Server or both?
Because it is a security risk, it is important to ditch SMB1 on all platforms.
You should get rid of both the client and server.
In Windows 7 I do this via PowerShell. It is fast and easy.
You must run PowerShell as Admin.

Press the Windows + R keys > type powershell (press the Enter key)
> copy and paste the following command:
Set-ItemProperty -Path “HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters” SMB1 -Type DWORD -Value 0 -Force
> now press the Enter key
> copy and paste the following command: sc.exe config lanmanworkstation depend= bowser/mrxsmb20/nsi
> now press the Enter key
> copy and paste the following command: sc.exe config mrxsmb10 start= disabled
> now press the Enter key > Reboot

———-
Windows PowerShell
Copyright (C) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

PS C:\Users\Eric> Set-ItemProperty -Path “HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Service
s\LanmanServer\Parameters” SMB1 -Type DWORD -Value 0 -Force
PS C:\Users\Eric> sc.exe config lanmanworkstation depend= bowser/mrxsmb20/nsi
[SC] ChangeServiceConfig SUCCESS
PS C:\Users\Eric> sc.exe config mrxsmb10 start= disabled
[SC] ChangeServiceConfig SUCCESS
PS C:\Users\Eric>
———-

Tuesday Random Stuff…

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Installing Windows 7 From Scratch
Woody Leonhard has a chuckle at Microsoft’s “convoluted technique for installing Windows 7 from scratch“.
Best to follow his advice.

Firefox 52 Released
Download 32-bit(en-US)
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Release Notes

O&O ShutUp10 Updated
Version 1.4.1387 – released on 07.03.2017
Following settings were changed:
– Setting “Do not display last users on lock screen” was removed as some users had problems accessing their system
Following errors were fixed:
– Dialogue boxes were defective in high contrast mode
– Crash when clicking links where Google Chrome is set as the standard browser
– Problems detecting some Windows 10 OEM versions
– Notifications that some settings are managed by the organisation did not disappear after applying factory settings
– Factory settings revised
Available in English, German, French, Italian and Russian

Linux Swap Partition
Red Hat Blog – Do we really need swap on modern systems?
“How much swap is recommended nowadays?
This depends on the desired behaviour of the system, but configuring an amount of 20% of the RAM as swap is usually a good idea. More details are in this solution document.
Can I run without swap? Is further tuning possible?
Systems without swap can make sense and are supported by Red Hat – just be sure the behaviour of such a system under memory pressure is what you want. In most environments, a bit of swap makes sense.”

Cleaning Up The Script

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In my post Blocking Windows 7 Telemetry I provided a script to remove Windows 7 telemetry updates. This was done in haste from an older script and I have now cleaned it up.
One poster in the AskWoody lounge stated certain updates were no longer there. I asked him to provide some documentation so I could verify his statement and he did not.
So, I had to dig in and find the answer myself. I checked a few of the KB articles for the updates and there weren’t any notices about updates being removed or superseded. That is par for the course for Microsoft.
[Read more…] about Cleaning Up The Script

Fix – Windows 7 Update Not Working

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Microsoft broke Windows 7 update. Whether or not it was intentional…
Purported solutions to this problem abound.
I keep getting asked about it so here is my solution.
I have used this exact method on dozens of Windows 7 installs and it has worked.
I cannot guarantee it will work for you.
winup23456
[Read more…] about Fix – Windows 7 Update Not Working

Remove software related to the Windows 10 free upgrade offer

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Microsoft has a new Windows update that removes most GWX stuff from Windows 7 and 8.1.
“This update removes the Get Windows 10 app and other software related to the Windows 10 free upgrade offer that expired on July 29, 2016. ”
KB3184143 – Remove software related to the Windows 10 free upgrade offer

This update replaces the following previously-released software:
KB 3035583 — Update installs Get Windows 10 app in Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 SP1
KB 3064683 — Windows 8.1 OOBE modifications to reserve Windows 10
KB 3072318 — Update for Windows 8.1 OOBE to upgrade to Windows 10
KB 3090045 — Windows Update for reserved devices in Windows 8.1 or Windows 7 SP1
KB 3123862 — Updated capabilities to upgrade Windows 8.1 and Windows 7
KB 3173040 — Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 SP1 end of free upgrade offer notification
KB 3146449 — Updated Internet Explorer 11 capabilities to upgrade Windows 8.1 and Windows 7

Like everything else Microsoft does these days this is incomplete. Geeks have done their own research and come up with there own list to uninstall.
I did this via a Batch file, Remove And Block GWX In Windows 7. I included the updates I thought were important to remove. I’m going to revise it one more time this evening.
See this MDL forum thread for a bigger list: MDL – Remove Telemetry and Windows 10 Related Updates from Windows 7