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windows_annoyances

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This page last changed 2022.03.15 07:47

Windows Annoyances

An incomplete list. Note that some come from old notes and may no longer work or be applicable.

An External Hard Disk is Corrupted

You have a hard disk plugged into a USB port and you find that it cannot be read. This happened in August 2020 and we suspect it was due to brownouts.

This is what I did.

  1. Plug HDD into Linux machine.
  2. Run gparted and look at the drive. See a !, right click and Information
  3. See: messages saying drive is having trouble and we should run chkdsk /f in Windows
  4. Remove HDD and plug into windows. Using File Explorer, determine which drive letter it is, as it will show up shortly after you plug it in. For us, it was H:
  5. Run MSDOS box (Start and run cmd)
  6. Execute command 
    chkdsk H: /f

    (Where H: is the HDD as we determined above)

    • This will likely take some time.
    • After it finishes, it is OK to run it a second time

Set to allow Remote Desktop

  1. Control Panel > System > Change Settings
  2. Remote tab
  3. Under Remote Desktop, select “Allow remote connections to this computer” and check the “Allow connections only from computers running Remote Desktop with Network Level Authentication (recommended)”. 

What time is it on remote machine?

  • net time \\machinename
  • To set this machine's time to match remote machine's time
  • net time \\machinename /set

Set to use NTP

NTP=Network Time Protocol

  1. Click on the clock in lower-right corner
  2. Change date and time settings…
  3. Internet Time
  4. You should see: “This computer is set to automatically synchronize with 'time.windows.com'. Otherwise:
  5. Start > gpedit.msc
  6. Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Windows Time Service > Time Providers
  7. Configure Windows NTP Client (Enabled, NtpServer “time.windows.com,0x9”, Type NT5DS; other values 2, 15, 7, 3600, 0.  Apply.
  8. Enable Windows NTP Client; Enabled.  (Do NOT enable the NTP server.)

HP Laptops Security Issue

Published 08 March 2022. https://www.tomsguide.com/news/hp-bios-uefi-updates-0322

There are 16 security flaws. At least 5 business computers are affected; how many and which consumer laptops are affected hasn't been specified yet.

From this site:

How to update your HP BIOS/UEFI firmware

HP has made patches available to fix all these flaws. But because we don't know exactly which consumer models are affected, you'll have to check your machine yourself by going to the HP software-and-drivers support page.

Once there, either type in your device's serial number or let the HP support website detect your model. From there, the support site will walk you through the download-and-installation process. HP has further BIOS-update instructions here.

Windows 11 Keyboard Shortcuts Actually Worth Using

From LifeHacker

Just getting up and running with Windows 11? It’s worth committing these keyboard shortcuts to memory:

Windows + A Opens the Quick Settings panel where you can control wifi, Bluetooth, Airplane mode, brightness, media, and more.
Windows + C Opens the Chat feature in Microsoft Teams, if that’s your thing.
Windows + N Opens the notifications and calendar panel.
Windows + W Slides in the new widgets panel.
Windows + Z Open the new Snap Layouts feature that helps you quickly snap multiple windows in a grid format.
Windows + Alt + Up/Down Arrow A new shortcut that quickly snaps the selected window to the upper or lower half of the screen.
Windows + D Show or hide the desktop. (Showing the desktop will instantly hide all running windows, and you’ll only see the desktop wallpaper and your icons.)
Windows + Tab Opens the new virtual desktops interface that shows all open windows in the current desktop. You can switch to a different desktop from the bottom.
Windows + Ctrl + D Add a new virtual desktop.
Windows + Ctrl + Left/Right Arrow Switch between virtual desktops.
Windows + Ctrl + F4 close the current virtual desktop.
Windows + H Start the new voice typing feature.
Windows + K Directly jump to the Cast feature in Quick Settings

And the old favorite

Windows + EOpen the file manager

Find Your Windows 10 Product Key

Sometimes you want to know your op system's product key. Here's how. (Thanks, Drew)

To find your Windows 10 product key using the Command Prompt, you’ll need to open the command line application with administrative privileges. To do this, type “cmd” in the Windows search bar.

Once open, copy and paste the following command and then hit the Enter key: 

wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey

The 25-digit product key will then appear.

Open Command Prompt as Administrator

From How-To Geek

1 via Start
  • Start
  • Type “command”
  • Right-click on the Command Prompt result and select “Run as administrator”
  • Choose “Yes” to the User Account Control popup
2 via Run window
  • Windows-R
  • Type “cmd”
  • Press Ctrl+Shift+Enter
3 via Power Users
  • Windows-X or right-click the Start button
  • Choose “Command Prompt (Admin)”

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windows_annoyances.txt · Last modified: 2022.03.15 07:47 by Steve Isenberg