Raspberry PI stuff doesn't have enough content to publish yet. But the primary objectives for the platform will be a NAS server attempt. I'm curious if I can get a gigabit ethernet with USB 3.0 speeds of data service out of one. There are also alot of Amateur Radio applications like the DV-Mega that I plan on working with as time permits.

Tools:

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Note - I only put up links that are free of spyware and malware. I have personally downloaded these tools from THESE EXACT links and use them on my network.

This is an older version of Real VNC - it works. The newer versions require registration. Yuk. Click HERE to download it. Or you can go here: https://archive.realvnc.com/download/personal/ and grab it if the URL will still resolve. REMEMBER you will have to open port 5900 for VNC to work. And when you want to connect to a remote machine, you have to specify the ip address of their router - not their computer. The port forwarding will send the request to the computer. Make sure VNC can also work through your windows firewall...

I found a fantastic resistor color band calculator that can perform reverse calculations... Click HERE.

A really good hex editor - Hxd - Freeware Hex Editor and DIsk Editor

A old but great multi-tool with ftp - Total Commander [ZIP, ARJ, LZH, RAR, UC2, TAR, GZ, CAB, ACE archive handling]
Mostly recommended for the ftp interface and ease of operation - esp for website management.

Test pixel params on your monitor for ghosting and other stats. Cool.

Microsoft File Checksum Integrity Verifier main resouce link HERE.
Use this to get the MD5 or SHA1 cryptographic hashes for files for verification of originality or authenticity.
You can also directly download the KB841290 version HERE.
This will run a windows installer/extractor tool - choose a location in your path if you like, or in a utility forlder
where you keep command line usage tools. This only work on the command line.

WinDirStat is a drive/storage visualization tool for showing data structure allocation.
It will break down your directory tree to the final file to show usage across all drives or a single drive.
You can also download my last installed version HERE.

Applications:

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AVG Free (Antivirus) installer (from May 2022). Works with Win 7 64 bit. Click HERE to download the zip file.
Please note: if you want the instructions for disabling AVG's services look further down on this page for the details.

Burn bootable USB drives from an ISO file with Rufus 2.1

SSH and Telnet. Download PuTTY HERE.

Etcher Portable - burn Raspberry Pi image (.img) files to SD Card. Get it HERE. SD Card formatter - Click HERE for the ZIP file
Win RAR 4.2 archiver/compresion utility - get it HERE

Screen/Display/Window capture tool - EXCELLENT.
OBS Studio ~ If you want to make a YouTube video capture of your screen and audio, this has to be the best way to go. It's Open Source and easy to set up with tons of tutorials - Download the 17.0.2 ZIP HERE - or get the Windows Installer 17.0.2 EXE HERE. * OBS Studio ~ Download the 18.0.1 ZIP HERE - or get the Windows Installer 18.0.1 EXE HERE.
Or go to the OBS Studio website HERE.

LibreCAD is an open source 2D drafting program. Excellent. No overkills with straight forward design approach for any 2D plan you would conjure. You can download it from HERE - This is my last download and the version I am using now. Stable running version.
* or go to the LibreCAD website to check for the latest version HERE.

Intel H310 Chipset - where is it?

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I had an ASRock H310CM motherboard / specifically the Intel H310 chipset and needed the drivers to fix a Win 10 device manager error: "PCI Data Acquisition and Signal PRrcessing Controller" --- so I went looking for it, and to my dismay went down a rabbit hole. In said rabbit hole I encountered a fellow looking for realted Win 7 answers on the intel community forums and read a reply from a fella that was giving advice, as follows:

"Well, there might be some Windows 7 packages available, but it's certainly not a complete set. No one in their right mind is installing Windows 7 these days regardless."

That forum thread is HERE if you care to read it.

Which was not only uncalled for but also untrue as most of you know I run Win 7 Ultimate on an i9 with 64 gb ram and an RTX 2080 ti. Either way, the new Win 10 machine with the error is a build for someone else and I just needed the chipset softs for my those reasons when I ran across this and found it unsettling. For the record, Win 7 support still exists and will for years to come. Just because Microsoft said they don't support it anymore doesn't mean they don't support it anymore. Duh. It runs modern 8th and 9th generation CPUs just fine folks. You just need to know how to do it.

Anyway - here are the softs for the intel H310 for download:
Click HERE for the Chipset INF Utility [SetupChipset.exe]

Primarily for Intel® Chipset Products, this utility version 10.1.18716.8265 installs the Windows* INF files. See detailed description to find out if you need this file.

Click HERE for the Intel® Management Engine Driver for Windows 8.1* and Windows® 10 [ME_SW_1909.12.0.1236.zip]

Provides Intel® Management Engine Driver for Windows 8.1* and Windows® 10 Supporting 6th,7th and 8th Generation Intel® Core™ Processor Family (Sky Lake,Kaby Lake and Kaby Lake R).

Click HERE for the Intel® Management Engine Driver for Windows 7* [ME_SW_1909.12.0.1237.zip]

Provides Intel® Management Engine Driver for Windows 7* for 6th,7th and 8th Generation Intel® Core™ Processor Family (Sky Lake,Kaby Lake and Kaby Lake R). Please NOTE THAT IT DOES support those generations.

Alternatively you can go get them here: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/133348/Intel-H310-Chipset

Please note there is a pull-down that doesn't work for filtering the downloads by OS. All three are listed by default and the pull-down doesn't really do anything.
I hope that helps someone. And for the record = run whatever operating system you want and let everyone else believe what they will. Most follow the dumb ass rhetoric that updates are essential and that failing to do that is super bad. My question is, if they can't get the OS updated the first few times and completed what's the point? Sounds to me like they just keep adding bugs.

STOP Windows 11 !

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This is the companion guide for my YouTube video on how to completely disable Windows 10 updates so you don't get upgraded to Windows 11 by force of Microsoft. Click HERE to watch that video if you like.

** UPDATE 10/15/2021 ** I have written batch files that will automate the first part of this if you want to use them. Click HERE to download the .zip archive that has the batch files and a readme file with instructions on how to use them.

You will be doing three primary things. 1) Disable Windows Update Service, 2) Disable the Windows Update Orchestrator Task, and 3) Disable Windows Update Medic Service. You will need to use command line tools and the registry editor to complete these steps.

A] Begin with a fresh reboot of Windows 10.
B] Close any background applications that might complain while you are working. Some antivirus programs might see you performing administrative tasks and think it isn't with your direction. All of your changes are administrative and not considered hacking or cracking. And you can reverse the changes if you like.
C] Next, create a restore point on your computer. This is in case you goof up, so you can go back in time to where you started. If you don't know what restore points are, or how to use are create one, please watch a video or read up on it. It's simple and easy to do.
D] Now you need a command prompt. At the START button, type "cmd" and notice the icon appear to run the program. RIGHT click the cmd icon, and select "Run as Administrator" - Windows will ask you for permission to continue. Say yes.

It will be helpful to have a larger command prompt viewing area. Type in the following command and press enter:

type in: mode 160,50

E] You need to navigate (change directories) to where the Update Orchestrator folder (directory) is located. You will have a prompt that reads something like: C:\> or Perhaps C:\Windows\System32>

Type as follows and then press enter:

type in: cd\Windows\System32\Tasks\Microsoft\Windows

The "cd" command changes directories (like opening a folder) ~ Your prompt should now read: C:\Windows\System32\Tasks\Microsoft\Windows>

F] You can now execute a command to take over control of the Update Orchestrator. Type in the takeown command as follows and press enter:

type in: takeown /F UpdateOrchestrator /A /R

You should see a SUCCESS notification(s).

G] Now modify discretionary access control list to make changes. Type as follows and press enter:

type in: icacls UpdateOrchestrator /grant Administrators:F /T

You now have access to this folder and all of its contents. Change directories into the UpdateOrchestrator folder. Use the CD command again to do this, by typing as follows and press enter:

type in: cd UpdateOrchestrator

You need to create a directory here to copy files. Use the "make-directory" command to do this. Type as follows and press enter:

type in: mkdir BACKUP

Here is a screen shot of what you will be looking at to help give you an idea if you are in the right place (click to view full screen in a new tab):


As you can see there are files in the BACKUP folder. We have to change directories again. To make that happen you have to move into the BACKUP folder. Type as follows and press enter:

type in: cd BACKUP

Now copy the files. Type as follows and then press enter:

type in: copy ..

It should show files copied. This action copied the files from the previous (one level up) directory [UpdateOrchestrator] into the your current position [BACKUP]. Now you can return to the previous directory and erase the original files. To do that we use the CD command again. Type as follows and press enter:

type in: cd ..

Your prompt should now look like: C:\Windows\System32\Tasks\Microsoft\Windows\UpdateOrchestrator>
To verify the files were copied type in the list directory command DIR as follows and press enter:

type in: dir

Refer to the above screen shot and see if it is similar to the same contents. Variations of Windows 10 change over time as it is deployed from the first day of release to more current versions. Just check to see that there is a strong similarity. Next, we can erase the files in our current location (director). Type in as follows, press enter, and confirm with Y for yes:

type in: erase .

H] Alright. That was a big step to getting things done. Next we move on to renaming some files. We need to be in a different directory for that. Type in the follow CD command and press enter:

type in: cd\Windows\System32

Your prompt should look like C:\Windows\System32>

I] Once again we are going to take ownership of some files in this directory. Type in the following command and press enter:

type in: takeown /F uso*.* /A /R

You should see several lines that read SUCCESS. Now we modify acceess control for these. We have to do it for every file that was just modified one at a time. To get a clean list of the files type in the following two commands and press enter after each one:

type in: cls
type in: dir uso*.*

You now have a list of the files you will be working with. Here is another screen shot of what you will be looking at to help give you an idea if you are in the right place (click to view full screen in a new tab):


You should see five files all starting with the letters "uso" and we have to rename them. But first we have to use the icacls command on each one of them. Perform the following commands in sequence, pressing enter after each command:

type in: icacls usoapi.dll /grant Administrators:F
type in: icacls UsoClient.exe /grant Administrators:F
type in: icacls usocoreps.dll /grant Administrators:F
type in: icacls usocoreworker.exe /grant Administrators:F
type in: icacls usosvc.dll /grant Administrators:F

For each command entered you will see a notification that says "Successfully procesed 1 files; Failed processing 0 files". If you see a failure, check your spelling and try again. You now have access to change these files... so now we will rename them to something that Windows 10 doesn't recognize. By doing this we render the Update Orchestrator further useless. In the same way you used icacls command, use the rename command. Type in the following in sequence, pressing enter after each line:

type in: rename usoapi.dll usoapi.dl_
type in: rename UsoClient.exe UsoClient.ex_
type in: rename usocoreps.dll usocoreps.dl_
type in: rename usocoreworker.exe usocoreworker.ex_
type in: rename usosvc.dll usosvc.dl_

You are about 2/3 complete with the entire process. The next step is to perform the same operations on the Update Medic Service. First we will use takeown, then icacls, then rename on these files. Let's get a clean listing of the files we will be working with. Type in the following two command pressing enter after each:

type in: cls
type in: dir waas*.*

J] Refer to the last example image to see if you have the files listed that all begin with the letters "waas" ~ then type in the takeown command as follows and press enter:

type in: takeown /F waas*.* /A /R

You should see several lines that read SUCCESS. Now we modify acceess control for these. We have to do it for every file that was just modified one at a time. To get a clean list of the files type in the following two commands and press enter after each one:

type in: cls
type in: dir uso*.*

You now have a list of the files you will be working with. Refer to the last screen shot above of what you will be looking at to help give you an idea if you are in the right place (click to view full screen in a new tab):
type in: icacls WaaSAssessment.dll /grant Administrators:F
type in: icacls WaaSMedicAgent.exe /grant Administrators:F
type in: icacls WaaSMedicCapsule.dll /grant Administrators:F
type in: icacls WaaSMedicPS.dll /grant Administrators:F
type in: icacls WaaSMedicSvc.dll /grant Administrators:F

You now have access to change these files... again, we rename these files to something that Windows 10 doesn't recognize. This renders the Update Medic Service further useless. In the same way you used icacls command, use the rename command. Type in the following in sequence, pressing enter after each line:

type in: rename WaaSAssessment.dll WaaSAssessment.dl_
type in: rename WaaSMedicAgent.exe WaaSMedicAgent.ex_
type in: rename WaaSMedicCapsule.dll WaaSMedicCapsule.dl_
type in: rename WaaSMedicPS.dll WaaSMedicPS.dl_
type in: rename WaaSMedicSvc.dll WaaSMedicSvc.dl_

K] Now we have to go and stop these services if they are running from the intial boot when we started. They could still be active since they were on by default. You have to run the Windows 7 Control Panel that is still present in Windows 10. From the start menu, type in "control" and you will see the search reveal the Control Panel program. Click on it. A window will open and one of the programs is called Administrative Tools. Click and run it. Once it opens you will see a list of configuration and setting programs. One is called Services. Run that program as well. The Services viewer will show an alphabetical listing of all service routines running or not running in the background. We need to locate three and attempt to disable all of them. If you encounter one or more that won't disable that's okay. But make the attempt. Look for the followin in the list:

Update Orchestrator
Windows Update
Windows Update Medic Service

Double click the line for each of these. A properties dialog window will open and you will see the "Startup Type" where there is a pull-down menu. The menu lists four options: Automatic (Delayed Start), Automatic, Manual, and Disabled. Change all three to Disabled, click Apply and press OK. If you get a permission error it's okay, just cancel that one and move on to one that will allow you to proceed. When you have done all three we can move onto editing them permanently.

L] Nearly done. Two things left to do. We need to make changes in teh registry editor. At the start menu, type type in "regedit" and look for the program to run from the search, click it. It is a good idea to make a backup of the registry first. Click File, then Export. Find a folder you are comfortable with such as My Documents and give the File Name something meaningful like regbackup1 and click on Save. If you want to restore the registry to the current version you can import the saved file.

You are going to edit the entries for Update Orchestrator and Update Medic Service. Use the tree of information on the left hand side of the registry editor and navigate to these locations:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\UsoSvc
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WaaSMedicSvc

We are going to change a couple of variables that lock the Startup Type into disabled. The rules for this are goverened as follows:

For Startup type: Disabled, set Start to 4 and DelayedAutostart to 0
For Startup type: Manual, set Start to 3 and DelayedAutostart to 0
For Startup type: Automatic, set Start to 2 and DelayedAutostart to 0
For Startup type: Automatic (Delayed Start), set Start to 2 and DelayedAutostart to 1

In the registry list, click on UsoSvc and the variables for that entry will appear on the right side pane of the viewer. Locate the key called "Start" and double clock it. Change the value to 4 and press OK. Next locate the key called "DelayedAutoStart" and doible click it as well. Change it to 0 [zero] and press OK.

Now for the Medic Service... locate in the left hand list the WaaSMedicSvc entry from above and click it. The variables will for it will again appear on the right. Locate the "Start" key, double click and change to 4. Click OK.

Close the registry editor and then, YOU ARE DONE!

M] Restart your Windows 10 computer, return to the Service program from Administrative Tools in the Control Panel and see if all three of the nasty serivces aren't disabled! I hope this helps someone, please share with others if you found it useful.

Firefox Fix:

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Mozilla Firefox ~ DISABLE Auto Update Prompt: This tutorial shows you how to stop FireFox from updating, and also from reminding you every time your run the application.

1) Locate the installation folder.
example: c:\program files\mozilla firefox
It will look something like this:



2) Create a new folder here called "distribution"
either right click in explorer and create new folder
or use mkdir to make a directory.

3) Create a text file in the "distribution" folder called "policies.json"

4) Add the following lines of code to the file.
You can literally copy paste this, or you can download
the file you need by clicking HERE. Note: This is a zip compressed file. Extract the policies.json file from it.

{
  "policies": 
    {
       "DisableAppUpdate": true
    }
}

Example:



5) Almost done...

Disable Mozilla Maintenance Service in the services manager: Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services Or type in "services.msc" and press enter in the run editbox on the task bar.



Note that it may say Manual, Automatic, Disabled or Enabled.
Double click the line and change the pull-down menu where it says STARTUP TYPE to Disabled. Click Apply and OK.

6) Add a key to the registry. Run regedit from the taskbar.



Navitgate to:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Mozilla\Firefox

Add a new 32-BIT DWORD value and name it "DisableAppUpdate"
So, right click in the right pane and select NEW->DWORD (32-bit) Value Give it the name "DisableAppUpdate"
Double click the name.
Assign the Hexadecimal value 1 to it.



And then close the registry editor.

7) Restart your computer.

8) Run Firefox.