New PC Build Possibility

CPU      Ryzen 5 7600 $183

Mobo    MSI MSI B650M Gaming Plus WiFi 6E $183

Cooler  Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE $35

RAM    32GB Corsair Vengeance DDR5-6000 CL30 $183

NVME 1GB TEAMGROUP T-Force CARDEA A440 $90

183

183

35

183

90

674

Rufus and Windows 11 Upgrade

Once the Rufus drive is created, there is no need to boot from the drive to upgrade.

Navigate to the Rufus drive and run setup.exe

For a clean install, booting to the Rufus drive is required.

Run Fido Script

Run PowerShell as Admin

Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope Process

iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://github.com/pbatard/Fido/raw/master/Fido.ps1'))

Updating Windows 10 Caution with Flyby11

10-22-2025 Update:

I just cloned a Win 10 Legacy on MBR to a GPT disk.

I "Disk Cloned" with AOMEI Backupper Free. No, I didn't use "System Clone" - Pro only.

To my shock: I ended up with UEFI partition and GPT. How great is that?

I had to use "One Time Boot" and choose UEFI. Doubted it would work.

All I have to do is change BIOS to UEFI Boot.

I'm saving the original in case I was dreaming or it was only a demonic deception.

My 15th Win10 to 11 update on unsupported hardware. It didn't work.

The BIOS was set to Legacy and the disk was MBR.

All the AI advice was that this was my problem

I finally got it all converted and working and then it died. Wouldn't boot to BIOS.

So, I was dealing with a hardware failure issue also and didn't know it.

It may not have had anything to do with the MBR partition.

But I learned a lot about UEFI and GPT conversion along the way.

I checked my previous machines that I had updated.

I has successfully updated to Win 11 on MBR machines.

I has Win 11 on GPT booting Legacy.

Both of which the AI told me was not possible.

It's all possible but the best practice is UEFI & GPT

I challenged Copilot. He smiled and said Microsoft doesn't publicize that it works but carries risk.

I will convert to GPT before updating in the future.

If you don't care about saving the install and info just skip the cloning.

*Interesting. My own office machine Boots Legacy but is Partitioned GPT

I will just run "mbr2gpt /convert /allowFullOS" and change BIOS to UEFI Boot

Plan going forward:

Always check first.

Win + R msinfo32 look for BIOS Mode

If Win 10 is installed as Legacy BIOS it's on MBR disk

Clone the disk to another MBR disk

Remove the original and install the clone

Boot the clone

mbr2gpt /validate /allowFullOS

if passes

mbr2gpt /convert /allowFullOS

Switch BIOS to UEF

- Use bcdedit to confirm UEFI entries

bcdedit /enum firmware

- Use diskpart to confirm partitions

Cmd

diskpart

list disk

select disk 0

list partition

Now you should be able to update to Windows 11

I'm going to do it manually but here is a bat

Bat for conversion

@echo off

setlocal enabledelayedexpansion

:: === CONFIG ===

set LOGDIR=%~dp0logs

set TIMESTAMP=%DATE:/=-%_%TIME::=-%

set TIMESTAMP=%TIMESTAMP: =_%

set DISK=0

set VALIDATE_ONLY=1

set CONVERT_NOW=0

set POSTCHECK=1

:: === PREP ===

if not exist "%LOGDIR%" mkdir "%LOGDIR%"

set VALIDATE_LOG=%LOGDIR%\validate_%TIMESTAMP%.log

set CONVERT_LOG=%LOGDIR%\convert_%TIMESTAMP%.log

set POST_LOG=%LOGDIR%\postcheck_%TIMESTAMP%.log

echo === MBR2GPT Conversion Script ===

echo Disk Target: %DISK%

echo Logs will be saved to: %LOGDIR%

echo.

:: === VALIDATE ===

if "%VALIDATE_ONLY%"=="1" (

    echo Running validation...

    mbr2gpt /validate /disk:%DISK% /allowFullOS > "%VALIDATE_LOG%"

    if %errorlevel% neq 0 (

        echo Validation failed. See %VALIDATE_LOG%

        goto :EOF

    ) else (

        echo Validation passed. See %VALIDATE_LOG%

    )

)

:: === CONVERT ===

if "%CONVERT_NOW%"=="1" (

    echo Running conversion...

    mbr2gpt /convert /disk:%DISK% /allowFullOS > "%CONVERT_LOG%"

    if %errorlevel% neq 0 (

        echo Conversion failed. See %CONVERT_LOG%

        goto :EOF

    ) else (

        echo Conversion succeeded. See %CONVERT_LOG%

    )

)

:: === POST-CHECK ===

if "%POSTCHECK%"=="1" (

    echo Running post-conversion checks...

    echo === Disk Layout === > "%POST_LOG%"

    diskpart /s "%~dp0diskcheck.txt" >> "%POST_LOG%"

    echo === BCD Entries === >> "%POST_LOG%"

    bcdedit /enum all >> "%POST_LOG%"

    echo Post-check complete. See %POST_LOG%

)

echo.

echo === Done. If conversion was successful, reboot and switch BIOS to UEFI. ===

endlocal

goto :EOF

:: === diskcheck.txt ===

:: Save this in the same folder as the batch file

:: Used by diskpart to log partition layout

:: Contents:

:: select disk 0

:: list partition

:: exit

Here is a post audit bat script

@echo off

setlocal enabledelayedexpansion

:: === CONFIG ===

set LOGDIR=%~dp0audit_logs

set TIMESTAMP=%DATE:/=-%_%TIME::=-%

set TIMESTAMP=%TIMESTAMP: =_%

set DISK=0

:: === PREP ===

if not exist "%LOGDIR%" mkdir "%LOGDIR%"

set PART_LOG=%LOGDIR%\partitions_%TIMESTAMP%.log

set BCD_LOG=%LOGDIR%\bcd_%TIMESTAMP%.log

set SECURE_LOG=%LOGDIR%\secureboot_%TIMESTAMP%.log

echo === Post-Conversion Audit Script ===

echo Target Disk: %DISK%

echo Logs saved to: %LOGDIR%

echo.

:: === Partition Layout ===

echo Logging partition layout...

echo === Disk %DISK% Partition Layout === > "%PART_LOG%"

diskpart /s "%~dp0diskcheck.txt" >> "%PART_LOG%"

echo Done. See %PART_LOG%

:: === BCD Entries ===

echo Logging BCD entries...

bcdedit /enum all > "%BCD_LOG%"

echo Done. See %BCD_LOG%

:: === Secure Boot Status ===

echo Checking Secure Boot status...

powershell -command "Confirm-SecureBootUEFI" > "%SECURE_LOG%" 2>&1

echo Done. See %SECURE_LOG%

echo.

echo === Audit Complete. Review logs for EFI partition, BCD boot type, and Secure Boot status. ===

endlocal

goto :EOF

:: === diskcheck.txt ===

:: Save this in the same folder as the batch file

:: Used by diskpart to log partition layout

:: Contents:

:: select disk 0

:: list partition

:: exit

Compare Hash With Powershell

Insert actual values over the ( ) locations. Remove the ( )

Place it all in a hash.ps1 file and run. 

$h='(put hash here)';$f="$env:USERPROFILE\Downloads\(put file name here)";if(Test-Path $f){$a=[BitConverter]::ToString([System.Security.Cryptography.SHA256]::Create().ComputeHash([System.IO.File]::OpenRead($f))) -replace '-','';"Hash: $a";if($a -ieq $h){"✅ Match"}else{"❌ Mismatch"}}else{"❌ File not found"}

I had Copilot make this and haven't tried it yet.

GtkHash portable is what I would probably use or ShareX

Bypass OOBE Windows Install

I plan to add to this list.

My list of ways to do it.

Probably the easiest.

Set up for work or school. Any domain name works.

    Works on Pro

or

use Rufus

or

Developer Console open CMD

Secondary Keyboard Screen

ctrl + shift + j

enter this command

WinJS.Application.restart("ms-cxh://LOCALONLY")

Esc

or

Create a file oobebypass.txt containing

reg add HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OOBE /v HideOnlineAccountScreens /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Place the file next to the Win11.iso on the flash drive.

During Win 11 fresh install

Shift + F10 at region screen to open cmd.

If the flash drive is E:

cd to E: and run notepad.exe open oobebypass.txt

copy the command.

Return to cmd and paste the command.

or

Create a file oobebypass.reg containing:

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OOBE /v HideOnlineAccountScreens /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Place the file on the flash drive next to the Win11.iso.

During Win 11 fresh install

Shift + F10 at region screen.

If the flash drive is E: type the following cmd

E:

reg import oobebypass.reg

or

Copy this to an oobebypass.txt

Place it on the flash drive next to Win.iso

Run notepad in CMD and load the txt file to copy\paste the commands.

Region Screen

Shift + F10

net user "YourUserName" * /add

net localgroup administrators "youraccountname" /add

net user "YourUserName" /active:yes

net user "YourUserName" /expires:never

net user "Administrator" /active:no

net user "defaultUser0" /delete 

Now type REGEDIT to open the registry editor and navigate to:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OOBE 

Delete DefaultAccount registry entry keys

"DefaultAccountAction"

"DefaultAccountSAMName"

"DefaultAccountSID"

Rename LaunchUserOOBE to SkipMachineOOBE

Set value to 1

shutdown /r /t 0

My Favorite

25H2 Enablement Package

https://pureinfotech.com/windows-11-25h2-enablement-package-iso-direct-download/

PDF Add PNG Image Signatures

 My current go to is PDF24 Creator. Foxit Reader is just too bloated.

Ventoy On Secure Boot

I turn of secure boot in every BIOS. However, some do not show that setting.

Here is an option that has worked for me.

Boot the PC and launch Boot Selector (F8, E12 or look it up)

Select the Ventoy disk

If you get an error, select any key

It can look confusing

Enroll Key From Disk

VTOYEFI

Enroll This Key

Continue

Yes

Reboot

Ventoy should boot.

List of AI LLMs Free Access

Web Hosted AI LLM Free Access

Some require login. Using Google is easiest.

Available AI Platforms:

• Grok
• ChatGPT
• Claude AI
• DeepSeek
• Google Gemini
• Google AI Studio
• Kimi
• Meta AI
• Perplexity AI
• NotebookLM
• LMArena
• Nano Banana 
• Hugging Face (go to spaces)
• Pi AI (Could be interesting. I didn't want another logon)
• Copilot (It's on Windows. Why not use it? It's great for Windows settings and scripting.)

Important Notes:

Most require a login. Without a login, no chat history exists.

I have an Android phone and use Gmail on PC. Google is already signed in for me so everything just works. 

Blogger Post Prompt

Blogger Format HTML

Remove the HTML document structure (DOCTYPE, html, head, and body tags) that Blogger doesn't need. Use only the essential HTML formatting that Blogger can handle - headings, paragraphs, lists, and links. Encode links to open in a new tab.