Category: General

5 portable Apps that will save your time on your computer!

Paul
Picture by Gerd Altmann on Pixabay

Give it a chance

So you have a client who has some computer problems, and you don’t know what to do?  I am here to help you with that problem.  It can’t be easy for some to know exactly what you might need for those uncertain times.   There are multitude of problems that you’ll see in your computer technician job that will need to be resolved.   Here is a little bit of a list of apps that I use on a daily or weekly process to repair and upgrade systems.  Some of these will help me fix problems or even problem solve the answer.

Sysinternals Suite

Process Explorer

This bag of applications brought to you by Microsoft is the cream of the crop.   If you haven’t downloaded the who suite of tools from sysinternals.  You really should  do it now.   I really like the process monitor and process monitoring tools to help me see what might be wrong with a system.   It’s got a whole lot of apps to use when you need to either kill an app.   I could go on and on about this pack of apps from Microsoft but it is definitely a grab bag for me.  This is something that I have on my USB for when I might need it.

CloneZilla

Clonzilla Live CD/USB

Another great app that you can load on your USB and use it when you need to copy partitions or even whole drives from one drive to another.   It is a free utility that you can use on any system.  You’ll just need to create a bootable USB.   I use the app call YUMI to create a multiboot usb and put all my favorite and important ISO on the USB for when I need them.

Portable Apps

Portable Apps

This is another one that I put on my USB just to be cautious and know that I don’t have to use anything on a system that I might not trust. They’ve got a slew of apps that you can use for everything that you might need. What I like about portable apps is they even have antivirus and password generators. They have a lot of what I will use from time to time because they just make it easy to scan an infected system from my usb without having to load the antivirus before boot. They have some great tools all around and You should check them out.

RevoUninstaller Portable

This is great utility to remove all the crap that any system that you buy from a store or even from Amazon will be removed without much effort from you.  You can run this off a USB or even install it and remove all the stuff that gets loaded on from the Acer, Dell, or other OEMS.   It helps me out really well because I have seen clients systems speed up by removing all the annoying programs that aren’t even being used.

Windows Offline update (WSUS)

Windows offline Update (WSUS)

Let’s face it, if your client hasn’t updated their system for quite some time or the system in question doesn’t have a way to update because of no internet this is the best solution for you.   Download the updates and put it on a USB.   Most of the time, it will be a good around 20gb or 30gb depending on which windows updates you get from Windows 7 to Windows 10, you will have each one being like 3gb or 4gb a piece.   It actually helps me when it comes to updating a client’s computer without having to wait for it to download the updates.   I can just update and reboot.  This has been a great time saver for me when it comes to being a computer technician.

What’s your favorite portable app or even just an app that you use on a regular basis.  I’d like to hear what yours is and why.  Why not leave a comment and tell others and help others who might not know of a good app to use.

Amazon’s New World Makes your Graphics Processing Units a Brick!

Paul

New World and a NEW GPU!

According to reports from what I’m seeing,  Amazon’s New World MMO is bricking people Graphics cards.  I haven’t even tried this game on my system nor will I because I have other important things going on.  JayzTwocents on twitter said:

Fixing the MMO

Just cap your Frames Per Second to 60 or 70 at the most. It seems most are saying that is how to prevent the extra power draw from to your Nvidia 3060 or High GPU’s and stopping them from become bricks. Although it’s not just Nvidia but also AMD that seems to be having the problems. There are a few older cards that are also having problems with this but not to that extreme of bricking it. You should however be careful with this game and others and watching your heat and power draw using the MSI AfterBurner utility. Please don’t overclock your GPU while playing this game. Keep it at it’s defaults, that way you will less likely have issues.

Don’t be like other guys:

I think I’ll wait!

It’s time to put that on the burner. I won’t say I haven’t thought about trying this game when I first heard about it but I have been rather busy the last few weeks with school and about to move into my new place. I thought I would wait and maybe try it out later this year.   In any case, I am a little bit worried that if I did, my 1660 super would be fried.   So I am going to wait and see what Amazon does when it finally does fix this bug if it is one or fix this issue.   Happy Gaming all!

Find your inner voice to writing essays and papers

Paul

Writing? Yeah.

 

Staring at a blank page

We’ve all done it, at one time or another.  We’ve stared at a blank piece of paper or even a blank screen and asking ourselves “What am I going to write about?” I even imagine most people who are new this have a cold sweat or even feel anxious about even attempting the essay.   This is a common problem in colleges because more the half the students are new and inexperienced.   I have even done it, it can seem daunting to come up with a topic or even come up with what the professor wants you to do.  If you didn’t at least stop and ask yourself this every time you tried to write a essay, I’d be worried.   When you start the process of writing an essay, how can I find my inner voice to use for writing.   I’m going to talk about some of this and help students create their inner voice and bring it out.   It’s not as easy as it sounds, it can sometimes seem down right hard because you’ve never done it.   This, I suspect, will bring you out of your comfort zone and that might be a little or a lot difficult depending on how you feel about writing.

Close your eyes

If you’re a really good at typing on the keyboard, then this will be almost as easy as walking.   The problem is that most like to look at the screen or even the keyboard to write because they want to make sure they are spelling the words the right way.   I find sometimes I can listen to my inner voice and it helps me to let the words flow as I am writing, it has to be a skill but it is a good way to get the essay started.   It allows the mind to do start the process of writing a good essay.   When we do this we allow words to flow and it can be a very relaxing and enjoyable way to at least start the process.   It however can also be very inconvenient at times when you have to type a essay in class.   I’ve found this still works really well and allows my thoughts to be put onto the screen.

Start a diary

Self talk is necessary for creating that inner voice.   If you haven’t started this it might be helpful when it comes to writing essays.   This allows trains your mind into allowing your thoughts to be put onto paper or screen.   I originally started my blog as a way to be a diary.   However, lately, I have used it for much more than that.  I can share my experiences and my thoughts on a subject with much more vigor.   I love to share my opinions and hear what my audience has to say about the subject.    When I write on my blog I am free and I can express my thoughts and desires in ways I never knew I could when I was young.

Start a blog

We’ve all have our own passions and that can be anything in life.   I dare not even try to imagine what people are passionate about.   I do however find that when you’re passionate about something, people around you also will be encouraged.  There are three good blogging sites out there that are free to use and you can start writing and trying to get out of your comfort zone.   These sites are:

All of these are free for those who might want to try their hand at blogging.   I know there are even more but these are just a few that I’d suggest.   Personally I use WordPress and have loved it since the day I started using it but that is just me.

Our inner voice

It can’t be said that no one has an inner voice.   It’s there we just have to learn to listen for it and bring it out.   Once you find your inner voice, you just might be amazed at how much it has to say.   There are days I am sure that my inner just be quiet.   Then I started blogging or writing and it calms my inner voice right down.   I find that i do way better with writing then I used to because of my inner voice.   It’s a part of me and it drives me.   It helps me to get through those essays that we will always have in our college classes.   Have you heard your inner voice?  Is it a narrative?  is it augmentative?  or maybe it’s analytical?   Once you learn to harness your inner voice, those essays will come even easier than before.

How to Convert your Windows 10 from MBR to GPT

Paul

Securing Windows 10

It’s complicated is what I’ve heard from people all around the world. The idea that We have to figure how to turn our Windows 10 into a secure boot, can seem difficult at best. Just like Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) isn’t always labeled right in the bios and that can be hard to find.   It seems that all the motherboard manufacturers wanted to make it extremely difficult for anyone who might want to enable or disable UEFI to be able to do it.   Then add on to the fact that the Motherboard manufacturers also made it hard to figure out how to turn on TPM in the bios also.   Can seem quite maddening to most because each manufacturer didn’t just call it TPM or UEFI.   Some of them Call it PTT (The intel Platform Trusted Technology) or even the AMD which is called fTPM(Firmware Trusted Platform Module).   Although the AMD version is a whole lot easier to understand since it does say TPM.  Intel on the other hand can be hard to find or even know what PTT stands for unless you google it.

Checking your system

The first step you should always do is make sure you can do this in the first place.   If you haven’t read my other post about this, I’d go over there and check to make sure you can do this in the first place.   As of currently Microsoft has stated that the requirements are the same for the previous few weeks.   So I don’t know if they will change when the final release comes out but it could very well change.

Have backups

Before I talk about the upgrading or updating your boot system to allow you to boot into Windows 10 Secure boot.  I’ll make this statement, please consider backing up all your important files that you might want to keep to a USB Flash Drive or even portable HDD or a HD that you can unplug from the bios to keep your important files safe while the upgrading of Windows 10 is being done.    What you do after this is on yourself and no one else.

can you upgrade to secure boot?

If you have checked the previous post and turned on what you can besides secure boot, but you know you have it.  You’re pretty much set to upgrade Windows 10 from Master Boot Record (MBR) to GPT(GUID Partition Table).  The process for converting your Master Boot record is relatively simple but will require you to boot into a Windows 10 on a USB!  Once you have done that you will then want to get to the command prompt the easiest way is to hit Windows+S and type in cmd then right click run as administrator.  Now you’re at the command problem.  Now is where the fun starts.

Type in :  mbr2gpt.exe  /allowFullOS /convert

Let it do it’s conversion and once done you’ll need to reboot but before you try to log into Windows again, you’ll need to go into the bios and enable secure boot.   Depending on how much Windows 10 needs to go through a new startup process will depend on the way GPT was converted.  It may take a few minutes even on the fastest system for Windows 10 to fully boot or it could be just as quick as before.   Once Windows 10 is booted, I suggest verify all your files are there and that everything is working correctly.   You might need to update software but that shouldn’t be to much a problem.   After That if you are on the Windows Insider Program than go check for updates and Windows 11 should be able to install.  If it still says you can’t upgrade I’d go back and check Whynotwin11 and Find out if you haven’t enabled TPM or what version of the TPM it is.   Other than that you should be set to go.

Enjoy Windows 11 Preview builds.   

 

5 Tips and Trips to Writing an Essay Outline

Paul

Writing

 

Writing Essays

We’ve all been there and it can be very hard not to look at the essays we have to write and just get overwhelmed.   These are what every student in any class is probably going through.  We can do only so much but here are some of my greatest tips for those who are beginning the process of making an essay.   I’ve learned these from writing my blog (check my profile out for my blog) and I am going to share with you what I know.   You’re probably wondering how you can come up with some easy ways to write that much needed essay and not know where to start.

Break the Essay down

This is the easiest part of the whole essay outline.   You’ve got to think what you want to convey and then come up with ways to keep the readers wanting to continue to read your essay.   Funny antecedents  or even funny notions, can keep that reader wanting to continue to read that essay.   Find ways you can relate to the reader or people.   It’s a tricky little step because there are no two people who are the same but that can also help you.   Figure what you want to say and break it down into paragraphs and figure out how you want to approach the problem.

Title each paragraph

Here is another great tip, if you want to make an impact and keep the reader coming back, then make titles that communicate what you are going to say in each and every paragraph.   The reader will want know where you’re going and it makes it easier for the reader to keep up with what your are trying to convey.   Remember the reader may not know nothing about what you are wanting to talk about so you have to be especially clear on communicating the ideas, thoughts, and even motives of the essay.   Draw the reader into what you are talking about and make them a part of the reading experience.   This way, the reader more involved and you create a connection with the reader.

Write the beginning Sentence

This is the most important step.   When you write your essay, you should write the beginning sentence to draw the reader into essay paragraphs.   Remember the first step is to use the Why are you writing the essay and come up with other reasons why you are writing the paragraph.   When you do you will bring in even more responses to your essay.   Draw the reader into making the a personal journey into what your writing.   Once you do that you will make the reader want to keep reading.

Write a quick about what the paragraph will be about

This is another good important step because you want to be able to come back to the paragraph and not forget what you wanted to talk about.   Let’s face it, we are all human, and we’ll not remember what the paragraph was going to be about.   So jot down a quick note about what the paragraph was going to be about.   One or two sentences is really all you need to come back to figuring out what the each paragraph is about.   We are all busy but this will help you to keep on track when writing the esssay.

Write a strong conclusion

Writing a strong conclusion will help you to end the essay on a good note.   Readers don’t like it when you just stop in the middle of the essay.   Why would you want to leave your readers on a cliffhanger?   Are you going to make another essay?  If not, we have to come up with a way to create a awesome conclusion and that makes the reader say ‘um’ and create a good breaking point to allow the reader to come up with their own conclusions.   Some ways you can come up with a good conclusion is to talk about what you have seen or maybe even what you are thinking at the end of the essay.   Make it be something that helps relate the reader to your way of the thinking, or your augment.  When you do that, the reader is more likely to leave on a good note or a happy note.   They may not agree with you but they will at least respect you for what you have said.

Do you agree or disagree?  Do you have your own ideas for writing the essay outline?   You got any tips or tricks that you want to share? I’d like to hear about it and leave a comment or two.