Windows 10 Notes
General Preparation
Windows 10 Clean Install Instructions
- When performing a clean install of Windows 10, use the Windows 7 license key printed on the computer or from your "Windows Anytime Upgrade" purchase receipt. Windows 10 will recognize it as a valid license.
Product Key .vbs script (save to Desktop then run):
Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
MsgBox ConvertToKey(WshShell.RegRead("HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\DigitalProductId"))
Function ConvertToKey(Key)
Const KeyOffset = 52
i = 28
Chars = "BCDFGHJKMPQRTVWXY2346789"
Do
Cur = 0
x = 14
Do
Cur = Cur * 256
Cur = Key(x + KeyOffset) + Cur
Key(x + KeyOffset) = (Cur \ 24) And 255
Cur = Cur Mod 24
x = x -1
Loop While x >= 0
i = i -1
KeyOutput = Mid(Chars, Cur + 1, 1) & KeyOutput
If (((29 - i) Mod 6) = 0) And (i <> -1) Then
i = i -1
KeyOutput = "-" & KeyOutput
End If
Loop While i >= 0
ConvertToKey = KeyOutput
End Function
Make a bootable USB drive:
Pre-install and backups
Use Belarc Advisor to get an inventory of programs on the computer
For Microsoft Office:
- Note the current software key
- Reinstall office with the MS Office .iso installation file
- Use the same software key on the same hardware when the new OS is installed
Backup user data
- Copy every user's C:\Users\* folders to a USB drive or 2nd hard disk
- Take screenshots of the following:
- Desktop to restore look and feel after installation
- Installed programs (check one by one) to capture their specific settings
- Firefox, Thunderbird, WinSCP, Canoscan Toolbox, Crashplan, VirtualBox
- Any programs that run at startup
Installation
Use ISO boot instructions listed above
Post-install Cleanup
Mostly compiled 23 April 2016
Network
- Set IP to static address if needed
- Disable IPv6 if needed
- Test that you can browse network devices
2nd Hard Drive not recognized - Follow these steps
Enable Remote Desktop for Windows 10 Pro:
- The RDP feature is disabled by default
- To turn the remote feature on, type: remote settings into the Cortana search box
- Select Allow remote access to your computer from the results at the top
- System Properties will open to the Remote tab
Need to use xfreerdp for Remote Desktop Connection from Linux
- xfreerdp –no-nla -z -x m -x 80 -f XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:3389
Add shortcuts to start menu:
- First create a shortcut to the program you want to add
- Right-click, send to Desktop
- Drop shortcuts into the Roaming folder at %appdata%\Microsoft\WIndows\Start Menu\Programs
- This allows the item to appear in the "All Apps" menu
- Drag it from the list to anywhere on the start menu
- See this post and this post for more info
Restore File Explorer to Taskbar
How to Make Windows Photo Viewer Default image viewer
Add Shortcut to Internet Explorer:
- Right-click on Desktop, choose New > Shortcut
- Choose Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe for the program to run
- Give the shortcut a name
- After it's added to the Desktop, right-click and choose Add to Start Menu
Turn on Backups:
- UPDATE: Consider using Synctoy to perform backups to a 2nd hard disk
- Start > Settings > Update & Security (recovery, backup)
- Left sidebar, click Backup
- Choose a disk for the backups
- Toggle on for "Automatically backup my files"
- Click More options
- Choose how often to backup files (Daily)
- Choose how long to keep backed up files (1 month)
- Adjust folders as needed
- AppData
- Downloads
- Favorites
- Contacts
- Desktop
- VirtualBox VMs
- .VirtualBox
- Pictures
- Documents
- Camera Roll
- Videos
- Saved Pictures
- Music
To restore a file:
- Start > Settings > Update & Security (recovery, backup)
- Left sidebar, click Backup
- Choose More options
- Under Related Settings > Restore files from a current backup
- In the resulting window (Home - File History) navigate to the date you want to look for the file
- Highlight the file you want to restore and then click the green arrow
Disable Auto Restart:
- On 16 August 2018, followed https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/954195-nine-ways-to-stop-block-or-disable-windows-update-in-windows-10/ with the following steps:
- Drill down to Administrative Template > Windows Components > Windows Update
- Edit Windows Update option
- Set to Enabled and choose option 2 "Notify for download and auto update"
- Click Apply
- Review that these settings now appear in the Control Panel > Update and Security > Windows Update > Advanced Options
The following procedure seemed to work, October 2016:
I made changes recently. Windows 10 downloads updates, applies them, says it will reboot, but it does not. I hate the threat that it's going to reboot, but I guess the settings I have applied are preventing it. Here's what I did... 1) Run 'gpedit.msc' 2) Under "Computer Configuration" -> "Administrative Templates" -> "Windows Components" -> "Windows Update"... 2a) Select "Configure Automatic Updates", select "enabled", select "4 - auto download and schedule the install", check "install during automatic maintenance" and select a time to install. I also checked "install updates for other MS products" 2b) Under "No auto-restart when logged on users for scheduled automatic updates" select "Enabled" 3) Run "gpupdate /force" This seems to work for Windows 10 Pro, which is what I'm using. I guess if you are running Windows 10 (whatever "home" is called), you're hosed.
Windows 10 stops responding when trying to unlock screensaver:
- Could not find exact problem through web search
- Identified all "apps" or programs that I did not want and I uninstalled them
- The problem seemed to occur after the large "service pack" type installation that occurred in October, 2016
Startup Programs:
- Press Windows Key + R to open the run dialog. Then type:
shell:Startup - This will open your startup folder. Simply drag your shortcut created earlier into this folder.