Debian Linux

I gave Debian Linux live a shot and was impressed with the easy connection to a Windows network.

Debian does not contain the wifi drivers of Linux Mint so that could be frustrating if running live.
Here is how to look for the drivers:
https://packages.debian.org/stable/kernel/
Use novice users would not expect wifi drivers to be in the kernel section.
Once in the kernel section use cntl-f and search for your wifi adapter's name.

Open that and search again for specific model

Once you have verified the correct driver'a name you can install it through terminal.

apt-get install firmware-iwlwifi

AOEMI Backupper

AOMEI Backupper is my current favorite for making a a restore image of my system drive.
http://www.backup-utility.com/free-backup-software.html

I keep the images on the second hard drive in the same machine if available.

AOMEI allows you to make a boot rescue ISO. I keep that on the same folder as the backups. When the PE environment is made from the same machine you are going to boot to, it might make a difference. For instance you can choose from legacy or UEFI boot. I had it offer to install specific drivers on certain machines.

If I try keeping the ISO somewhere else I will never be able to keep track of it. In the worst case I can always build another boot disk on another machine and probably get it to work.

A couple reminders:
1. AOMEI must be started as admin to attach the image if you wish to view or manipulate the image.
2. System backup only creates an image of the OS partitions. If you have moved your user files, you will need to back them up separately.

VLC and Chromecast

VLC nightly builds:
http://nightlies.videolan.org/

Do this:

It connected for me but didn't really work yet.

BehindTheOverlay (Stop Those Annoying Popups)

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/behindtheoverlay/ljipkdpcjbmhkdjjmbbaggebcednbbme?hl=en

SyMenu (Tips and Tricks)

12-07-2023 Version 8 is out. Size is larger and takes longer to update and I've had it fail and needed to try it several times before success. It may be better to leave well enough alone and keep v7 until you need a new setup.

Go to "Options>Events and uncheck Check Version" to bypass update for SyMenu.

***Also on high definition monitors the scaling is terrible and you need to apply this setting:

Go to "Options>General>Do This for High Definition Screens

I have gone to SyMenu for portable programs and left Liberkey. At first I was having trouble with "installing" it (of course it does not literally install) because Windows antivirus was interfering. That has stopped.

Adding PortableAppsSuit is done like this. Just "install PortableAppsSuite and move it to the SyMenu directory. You then have to add it through Symenu config but that is standard stuff.

I'm no expert and SyMenu has more depth than this but for now this worked great. I'm not all that fond of PortableApps being a submenu and needing to remember what is in there.

I decided to create my every changing list of containers for the menu.

When updating or deleting programs, Symenu creates a backup of the program. This can make Symenu huge if these are not deleted.

More to come maybe ...

Kaspersky Rescue Disk "Data Base Corrupted" Fix

This is the solution: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zhc65_7dfgY

Some things I ran into:
1. Finding the Kaspersky directory took some hunting.
2. Deleting brought "Trash is full"
    A. Make a folder and move everything there.
    B. Better yet just go to settings on the file manager and add the delete button.

It worked great.

Avast (Giving It A Try)

I am a big fan of Microsoft Security Essentials even though it ranks on the bottom of such programs. I don't get viruses and Essentials does not bug me. I finally gave in and decided to give Avast another try. If it is intrusive, I will go back to Essentials.

 Essentials remained installed so I uninstalled it. Defender in Win10 is reported to turn off when Avast is installed.

You may wish to turn off sounds.

Lazesoft Windows Repair Disc

I have not used this but it may come in handy at some point for password recovery or fixing boot. There are other ways to do those things but this program seem comprehensiive.

http://www.lazesoft.com/

USB Drive Eject Problems

See This

Use Process Explorer and do this:

At least you will know what program or process is holding things hostage.

Galaxy S7 - Keep Your S6

My new Galazy S7 is great but I have not yet found anything worth upgrading from the S6.
The screen is super sensitive and you can not hold the S7 without activating something by accident.

I put a cheap case on it which took care of the accidental activation problem. I the case keeps you from touching the beveled edge of the screen.

 I also grabbed a cheap glass protector which may reduce the screen sensitivity too much. Still trying it out. The glass protector did  fit very well and the case did not push it up.

I do like that the S7 can add an extra SD card up to 200 GB. I just grabbed a 64. They are cheap.

I'm always on the latest Galaxy because someone down the food chain needs to upgrade but the S6 is every bit as good as the S7 from what I see so far.

Everything Search Is Still Essential

Everything Search is a program I use every day, several times each day.

I love portable programs but I install Everything Search as a service and assign a hot key (alt-s).
(otherwise UAC will ask for approval at each start).

This baby sees everything if run as Administrator. If you need to edit host file or find some *.ini file that is hidden in AppData, just use ES and open the file in Notepad.

Speaking of UAC:
If you have Everything Search set to run at startup, UAC will likely complain.

ES has two everything.ini files.
One is in Program Files\Everything\everything.ini.
One is in %appdata%\everything\everything.ini

I closed Everything Search
I renamed the .ini in the Program Files folder to everything.ini.back
When I restarted ES it created a new .ini and no UAC alerted.
This was surprising because I should have done both.

I don't think you can have run as Admin set in options without having UAC complain.
If you need the Admin to view areas not accessible, just change it in options. Usually you
don't need the Admin option for daily use.

Info Select Is Back and It Is Portable

Sometime before 911 I abandoned Info Select, my favorite note taking, quick search program because it continued to bloat, charge for updates and suffer incompatibilities with new versions of Windows. I have mourned the loss and have never found a suitable replacement.

Today, as I have repeatedly done over the years, Googled for an Info Select replacement. Apparently when the programming rats abandoned the sinking Info Select ship, they did not drown but swam to shore and produced All My Notes.

I wish there was a cloud based app like this but I have not found one to compare. The search function is incredible. Categorizing may be handy but really not necessary. Just get the information in and let the search find it instantaneously.

Maybe I will hate it when I start using it again but I'm giving it a shot.

Torrent World

Brave is a browser with built in torrent downloading. It is portable.

Find it all ...
Tor Browser

KAT address on Tor.
http://lsuzvpko6w6hzpnn.onion/

(When you tell Tor Browser to "install", it simply makes a folder for the program. Tor Browser is a stand alone - portable browser.)

This is your window to the "Deep Web".

SSD Alignment and Provisioning

(I stopped the first test midway due to painful slowness)

After installing my new bargain basement ($49.99 after rebate) OCZ Trio N150 240GB, the read speeds were abysmal. I used AOMEI Backupper to clone the current OS.

First I fixed "over provisioning", which is simply leaving 7-10% unallocated space on the hard drive. I did not screen shot the results but it improved 10 to 20 MB/s. There is some controversy to this.

Then I fixed the alignment. I used AOMEI Partition Assistant to fix the alignment. The results were impressive. Minitool Partition Wizard also works for alignment.

This was done in my bottom feeding $250 Dell Optiplex 7010 Mini Tower i5. Dell disabled RAID in BIOS so I question if a PCIe NVMe would boot. Decided simple SATA SSD was sufficient.

SATA Internal Drives Showing As Removable

Add a new "Multi String Value" called "TreatAsInternalPort" to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\storahci\Parameters\Device
with the values "0|1|2|3|4|5|" (the | symbolizes a new line)

Windows 10 If You Must

This does a good job of explaining new features

Here are some new touch pad moves.

Creating a local account. (In case you regret doing the whole Microsoft log in thing) Hey, I get it.

Things I like about Win 10
Touch pad gestures are great if (and only if) the touch pad is equally great.
Screen dimming is shamefully easy from the notification area.
Window snapping might even be useful now.
I've never been fond of multiple desktops but now we have them and they work well.
Command prompt has been brought out of the stone age.
You can now print to PDF naively. Saves installing Bullzip or Cute.

Things I hate.
The insanely irritating audible notifications were annoying and a secession to turn off.
Cortana is useless for Google users (maybe any users) and extra weight on the system.
I have already had 2 or 3 lock-ups and needed hard shut down. Not looking good.
Wow, copying files from USB Hard Drive drove it crazy. Hope it's not a bad port..
The wireless mouse lagged at grabbing and moving windows. Turning off the touch pad delay fixed.

This serialize registry edit made auto-start programs load faster.

Trouble Activating Go Here

My New Acer Predator Place

Acer Predator 17 G9-791

Wow, is this thing beautiful. I wish I had ordered 980 video and 32 RAM instead of 970 and 16 RAM.

I'm finally leaving my beloved Gateway P-7811FX bought in 2008. It still works great but one of the photo processing programs I use bogs it down when I use multiple filters. Maybe I just wanted a new one.

Mine came with a Liteon M.2 SATA 128 boot drive which has good (not great) read but poor write speeds. Support tells me I have an M.2 PCI slot somewhere. I found it. They are stacked one above the other.

I see a Samsung 950 Pro in my future.

If I had ordered 32 GB Ram I could have gone 64 without taring the whole thing apart. Now I can only go to 32 without taring it apart. If I have to open it up I will need to replace all the ram to go 64. Gaming only benefits to about 8/16 but rendering benefits to 64.

The reason I wish I had gone 980 video is the video can not be upgraded.  I'm no big gamer but 980 may have helped with rendering and Photoshop.

I needed to do move research before pushing the buy button but I do not regret buying.

This thing stays drastically cool and quiet.

The audio is outstanding.

The keyboard layout is pleasingly standard so few surprises there. The control/fn keys are switched from what I'm accustomed to. That will take some training. Very pleasing key strokes.

Touch pad is great and the best I have ever had.

IPS screen is beautiful of course.

Support gave me this phone number for RAM purchase 800-999-4409. I would like to find the same Hynix modules if possible. I called and talked to a nice guy named Mark at Capital Data. He is calling back with a price. $69 per 8GB. I don't think so. (I bought the Kingston and they worked.)

Memory Purchase Kingston recommendations. They use Hynix chips on some modules so maybe ... This is why I looked at Kingston. $32.05 for 8GB
Crucial Memory
Disassembly
Detailed Review
Samsung Software
Predator Support 866-517-2237
http://go.acer.com/predatorchat