Once upon a time, the Windows Control Panel was an easy to navigate set of icons that consolidated in one place all of the administrative tasks we would need, both as an end user and as a desktop administrator. Things change, systems evolve. The Control Panel that we knew in Windows XP evolved, through Windows … Continue reading The Dangling Control Panel
Yes, it has actually happened. The title of this article is a callback to The Sounds of Music. My ex-girlfriend (who will not be reading this article) would be proud. On October 4th I wrote an article called Windows 10 1809: What's New. I was all excited. Two days later I wrote 1809 Recalled. Microsoft has since … Continue reading How Do You Solve a Problem Like Windows 10?
By now, it is likely that I do not need to explain to you that a hardware driver is a piece of software that allows your computer (through the operating system) to communicate with a hardware component. You know that, right? Good. You are ready to install a new operating system on your computer. You do … Continue reading Drivers? Drive Me!
You were all excited to upgrade your existing Windows 10 installation to the Fall 2018 update. On October 2nd you downloaded the bits to Version 1809. You installed it, using the same in-place upgrade process you have been using for years. You realize that you have lost data... crucial data... a lot of it. You … Continue reading Does Microsoft Listen?
I have been writing about Windows to Go (WTG) since Windows 8 was in beta, and I have not stopped because frankly, I think it truly is an amazing tool. I have never really gone without a WTG key, but there have been times when it has been much more important… namely, when I was … Continue reading Windows To Go: State of Mitch’s Union
This week many users were working on their computers and received a Blue Screen Of Death. It started happening right after a Windows Update cycle, so it stood to reason... right? Wrong. In this particular case, a vendor driver (I believe it was with HP) started causing issues. Not good... but not catastrophic. Why am … Continue reading BSOD Issue: Nothing to do with Windows Updates
Before anyone gets upset, let me be clear that there is no issue with Facial Recognition in Windows 10... at least, not that I am aware of. It is not a security flaw; rather, it is a usability issue that I have with the functionality. I have several computers that I use on a regular … Continue reading Face Recognition Issue in Windows 10
It was launched on October 2nd, but word is that Windows 1809 has been recalled due to bugs. I downloaded it on Tuesday, but it is not currently available, so I have to advise all of my readers to hold off deploying it until Microsoft rereleases it. Microsoft has a tradition of launching major releases … Continue reading 1809 Recalled
Last night I was pleased to hear that, as predicted, Windows 10 version 1809 dropped at the Microsoft Surface event in New York City. While it may or may not be available for you via Windows Update this morning, I downloaded the ISO yesterday and went right to work. Well, to be more specific, I … Continue reading Windows 10 1809: What’s New
I was bulk-creating users for a test environment today, and in doing so, I borrowed a script from an article online, which set the password for all users to 'Pa$$word' I usually use a variation on the same for test environments, but I opted to leave this one as it was. The script worked. A … Continue reading A PowerShell Gotcha
Okay, I know the grammar in my title is terrible, but I know so many people (including myself) who have had a number of frustrating issues that arose from Microsoft’s April patch cycle. I will not go into all of them, but one in particular has been annoying me of late. Okay… but this is … Continue reading April Updates Bring May Frustrates
“How do I delete old users from a Windows 10 computer? I log in as an administrator, navigate to c:\Users\, and delete their tree.” NO! In fact, HELL NO! There are several reasons why you might want to delete a user profile from a computer. ranging from termination of employment to reallocation of systems to… … Continue reading Deleting User Profiles
Renaming servers is a snap with PowerShell!
You’ve configured Folder Redirection in Group Policy, and it works as expected… as long as you are connected to the network. As soon as you disconnect, things stop working. That may be a real inconvenience if you are redirecting your Photos, but if you have redirected your Desktop folder to a network share, there is … Continue reading Offline Files: Groan!
A lot of changes have been made to Windows 10 over the nearly three years since its release as the last desktop operating system that Microsoft would be releasing. Some of those changes have been substantive, others purely cosmetic. Over the last few versions, they have done quite a bit to remove any of the … Continue reading What’s My WiFi?
