BitLocker

BitLocker: How to Protect Yourself Even If You Don’t Use It

Many Windows users (including me) run local accounts and never intentionally enable BitLocker. But Windows updates or certain system events may suddenly ask for an encryption key — even if BitLocker was never turned on.

To avoid getting locked out, you can generate and save your BitLocker recovery key without actually encrypting your drive.

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Step 1 — Open BitLocker Settings

Press WinKey, type Manage BitLocker, and open it.

Select Turn On BitLocker for your system drive.

Don’t worry — we’re not going to let it encrypt.

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Step 2 — Save Your Recovery Key

Windows will ask where to save the key. Choose one of the following:

• Save to a flash drive
• Print to PDF

You cannot save the .txt file to the encrypted drive itself.

Store the key somewhere safe and not on the drive you’re protecting.

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Step 3 — Cancel Encryption

After saving the key, cancel the encryption process.

Windows may leave your drive in a strange state:

• If Explorer shows an unlocked padlock icon
• BitLocker thinks encryption is “starting”

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Step 4 — Clear the Limbo State

Open CMD as Administrator and run:

manage-bde -off C:

This forces Windows to “decrypt” the drive, even though it wasn’t encrypted. After a while, the padlock icon disappears.

I keep my recovery keys in my password locker. I don’t encrypt my drives — I just want to be prepared in case Windows decides to demand a key.

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Optional — Disable BitLocker via Registry

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\BitLocker

Set the DWORD to 1 to disable BitLocker.

This does not guarantee protection from unexpected Windows behavior, but it reduces the chance of surprise encryption.

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Final Thoughts

You now have your recovery key. You’ve done what you can to protect yourself from Windows suddenly demanding it.

Winget Stuff

 

Winget: The Windows Power‑User’s Secret Weapon

Winget is one of those tools that quietly transforms how you manage software on Windows. If you’ve ever wished updating apps felt more like Linux package management—fast, predictable, scriptable—Winget is exactly that. And yes, it’s built by Microsoft.

What Is Winget?

Winget is the Windows Package Manager, a command‑line tool that lets you search, install, upgrade, and manage software without hunting through websites or installers.

Checking for Upgrades

Open Command Prompt:

• Press the Windows key
• Type cmd
• Press Enter

Then run:

winget upgrade

If Winget is installed, you’ll see a list of applications that have updates available.

To upgrade everything at once:

winget upgrade --all

Running CMD as Administrator reduces the number of approval prompts you’ll see.

Going Full Savage Mode

If you want Winget to update everything silently—no prompts, no confirmations—run CMD as Administrator and enter this single line:

winget upgrade --all --include-unknown --silent --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements --disable-interactivity

This is the “I don’t want to babysit updates” mode. It’s powerful, so use it intentionally.

Installing New Software

Search for a program:

winget search 7zip

You’ll get a list of matching packages. Pick the one from a Winget source (usually obvious), then install it:

winget install 7zip.7zip

Pinning Apps You Don’t Want Updated

If you want Winget to skip a program during upgrades:

winget pin --add my.program

Repeat for each app you want pinned. Winget will remember your pins and skip them during upgrades.

When an Upgrade Fails

Sometimes an app won’t update even though it appears in the list. This is usually temporary—metadata updates, installer changes, or source sync delays. Try again next time; it often resolves itself.

Final Thoughts

Winget is one of the most underrated tools in Windows. Whether you’re casually updating apps or automating your entire software stack, it gives you control and consistency that GUI installers never will.

Installing Linux On Old PC - Avoiding UEFI

I'm leaving this here for now just for reference.

Forget installing Mint on old hardware.

Installing Linux On Old PC - Avoiding UEFI

Why? Because your BIOS doesn't handle UEFI but current installs default to it.

In the Linux live system open Gparted and partition the destination to msdos and fomat ext4

On install: 

Select "Something Else": In the installer type selection, DO NOT choose "Erase disk".  Choose "Something Else" (Manual Partitioning). 

Assign the Partition:

Click on your existing ext4 partition.

Click Change.

Set Use as: Ext4 journaling file system.

Set Mount point: /.

Ensure the Format box is checked

Bootloader Location:

At the bottom, ensure "Device for boot loader installation" is set to /dev/sda (the drive itself), NOT /dev/sda1. 

Ignore the Warning:

When you click "Install Now", it will warn: "No EFI system partition was found."

This is expected. Click Continue. 

Sadly it probably will not boot but at least it is installed correctly.

Fix Grub

sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt

(Note: Since you have only one partition, your root is /dev/sda1. If you have a separate /boot, mount that too, but usually not needed for single partition setups).

Reinstall GRUB to the MBR:

sudo grub-install --boot-directory=/mnt/boot /dev/sda

Crucial: Notice the command ends with /dev/sda (the drive), NOT /dev/sda1 (the partition).

If successful, it will say Installation finished. No error reported.

Generate the Config:

sudo mount --bind /dev /mnt/dev

sudo mount --bind /proc /mnt/proc

sudo mount --bind /sys /mnt/sys

sudo chroot /mnt

update-grub

exit

Reboot: Remove the USB and restart.  

Oh No! I don't have an account.

Restart and hold Shift (or press Esc) to see the GRUB menu.

Select Advanced options for Linux Mint.

Choose the line ending with (recovery mode).

In the menu that appears, select root (Drop to root shell prompt).

You will be at a command prompt like root@mint:~#.

2. Create Your User Account

Once you have the root prompt (#), run these commands (replace yourname with your desired username):

Create the user and home directory:

adduser -m yourname

(Follow the prompts to set a password and fill in details. You can press Enter to skip details).

Give yourself admin (sudo) privileges:

usermod -aG sudo yourname

(Note: On some older Mint versions, the group might be admin instead of sudo. If sudo fails, try usermod -aG admin yourname).

Fix Ownership (Critical): Since you installed as root, your home folder might be owned by root. Fix this:

chown -R yourname:yourname /home/yourname

Reboot:

reboot

You should now be able to log in as yourname with full admin rights.

Autohotkey V2 Stuff

 #Requires AutoHotkey v2.0 (required)

#SingleInstance Force

::h::hello (hello with following space)

:o:h::hello (hellow no following space)

:*:h::hello (immediate hello no space)

::h::hello{!} (treats ! as literal character)

^!d:: {

    CurrentDateTime := FormatTime(, "yyyy-MM-dd")

    Send(CurrentDateTime)

}   

^!0:: {

    CurrentDateTime := FormatTime(, "dd-MM-yyyy")

    CurrentDateTime := StrUpper(CurrentDateTime)

    Send(CurrentDateTime)

;pin unpin window to top

}

^Space:: {

    WinSetAlwaysOnTop "TOGGLE", "A"

}

Stream & Cast From PC To TV

Stream Cast PC to TV Miracast

Win + k

  Roku

  Firestick

  Most TV brands

Google TV & Android cast with browser

  Chrome 3 dot menu upper right

  Brave 3 dot but in "share & save"

Group Policy Stop Windows Update From Auto Downloading and Installing Updates

 gpedit

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update > Manage end user experience

MX Linux Again

A little, abandoned Pentium was sitting in the corner of the closet. Perfect for MX Linux.

It has been a while so this reference looks good.

https://computingforgeeks.com/things-to-do-after-installing-mx-linux/

Let's do this . . .

Winget Commands

 

Winget Stuff

Things you need to know:

Things you don't want to upgrade:

Serious blocking:

winget pin add TrackerSoftware.PDF-XChangeEditor --blocking

Casual blocking:

winget pin add CodeJelly.Launchy

Did it work:

winget pin list

 

Let's do it:

"winget upgrade" produces a list

"winget upgrade --all"

If "winget upgrade --all" doesn't work, probably the upgrades shown are not "proven" yet.

 

The best upgrade command:

winget upgrade --all --include-unknown --silent --accept-package-agreements  --accept-source-agreements --disable-interactivity

 

Installing several at once:

winget install first.one second.one

With ids in a string add the conditions to the end of the string

 

Uninstalling:

If programs installed as user, use cmd non-admin. If all users use cmd admin

 

List all your installed programs:

winget export -o "%USERPROFILE%\desktop\apps.json"

Portable Apps Bat File

If I get on someone else's PC I need apps they don't have. Here is a partial (growing) list.

Some are curls and some open download links if curl doesn't work.

Copy the text and make a .bat file.

(For install on D change first 6 C notations to D)

Curl Portable Apps

@echo off

rem 7zip Install

winget install -e --id 7zip.7zip --source winget

mkdir C:\Portable\Excluded

mkdir C:\Drivers\Benchmarks

mkdir C:\Desk

mkdir C:\Pictures\Wallpaper

mkdir C:\"Program Archives"

cd /d C:\Portable

echo Free PC Audit

curl.exe -s -L -O https://www.misutilities.com/freepcaudit.exe

echo Notepad Classic

curl.exe -s -L -O -A "Mozilla/5.0" -e "https://win7games.com" "https://win7games.com/download/notepad.zip"   

echo Unzipping notepad.zip

https://win7games.com/download/notepad.zip   

"C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe" x "notepad.zip" -o"Notepad" -y -bd && del "notepad.zip"

echo WindowsUpdateMiniTool

curl.exe -s -L -o "WindowsUpdateMiniTool.zip" "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0BwJH2CazcjsINFZFc1pVdk9mNHM" 

echo Unzipping WindowsUpdateMiniTool.zip

"C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe" x "WindowsUpdateMiniTool.zip" -o"WindowsUpdateMiniTool" -y -bd && del "WindowsUpdateMiniTool.zip"

echo Windows_Repair_Toolbox

curl.exe -s -L -O "https://windows-repair-toolbox.com/files/Windows_Repair_Toolbox.zip" 

echo Unzipping Windows_Repair_Toolbox.zip

"C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe" x "Windows_Repair_Toolbox.zip" -o"Windows_Repair_Toolbox" && del "Windows_Repair_Toolbox.zip"

echo WirelessNetworkWatcher

curl.exe -s -L -O "https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wnetwatcher.zip" 

echo Unzipping wnetwatcher.zip

"C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe" x "wnetwatcher.zip" -o"wnetwatcher" -y -bd && del "wnetwatcher.zip"

echo WiseDiskCleaner

curl.exe -s -L -o "WDCFree.zip" "https://downloads.wisecleaner.com/soft/WDCFree_11.1.6.832.zip" 

echo Unzipping WDCFree.zip

"C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe" x "WDCFree.zip" && del "C:\Portable\WDCFree.zip"

echo HWINFO

curl.exe -s -L -o "hwi_822.zip" "https://sourceforge.net/projects/hwinfo/files/Windows_Portable/hwi_822.zip/download" 

echo Unzipping hwi_822.zip

"C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe" x "hwi_822.zip" -o"hwinfo" -y -bd && del "hwi_822.zip"

echo Volumouse 64

curl.exe -s -L -O https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/volumouse-x64.zip

"C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe" x "volumouse-x64.zip" -o"volumouse-x64" -y -bd && del "volumouse-x64.zip"

echo Portableapps

curl.exe -s -L -o "PortableApps.exe" "https://sourceforge.net/projects/portableapps/files/latest/download"

echo UltraVirusKiller

curl.exe -s -L -o "UVK.exe" "https://www.carifred.com/uvk/UVKPortable.exe"

echo Revo Uninstaller

curl.exe -s -L -O https://sourceforge.net/app/revo-uninstaller-portable/files/windows/RevoUninstallerPortable_2.4.1.paf.exe/

echo these open browser to download

echo Safe Mode Launcher

start https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/safe_mode_launcher.html

echo I hate the Portableapps splash screen on their programs.

echo 1. In app folder copy .ini file and paste in root of folder.

echo 2. Rename the .ini same name as program

echo 3. Open .ini and change DisableSplashScreen=true

Pause

The New APK Post

SmartTube 

Downloader 79015

Stremio

Available on Play Store. Don't need much else.