Windows 10

This All-In-One System Rescue Toolkit Automatically Repairs Your PC

By Lifehacker on at

We highlighted Paul Vreeland’s System Rescue Toolkit a few months ago, but now he’s built a new, “lite” version that packs most of the same tools and can automatically run against and repair common Windows problems for you. If you liked the original, you’ll love this.

The beauty of the original was that it offered a number of great utilities to help you troubleshoot your system if you had PC problems, without a whole bunch of trial versions, bloated utilities, or “we found X errors now call me to fix your computer” demos. The Lite version dials some of those tools back and makes the scan and repair process automatic, so you can use the toolkit, walk away and grab a bite to eat, and, hopefully, come back to a repaired and functioning Windows system—or at least some more information about what you should do next if the toolkit couldn’t fix your problems. He notes:

The Lite version of my toolkit runs all of the autoFIX steps from “Automatic Mode” found in the full version. You do not have to be a techie to use it! No technical expertise is necessary because all the repair tasks are run automatically! These repair steps include:

  • CPU/Cooling Test
  • Memory Test
  • Hard Drive Test
  • Windows Security Centre Check
  • Anti-Virus and Anti-Malware Scans
  • Reset Windows Networking
  • System File Checker
  • Disk Cleanup and Defrag

Best of all, it’s completely free (although Paul does accept donations to maintain the project.) Hit the link below to try it out yourself.

AiO-SRT Lite | Paul Bryan Vreeland

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Microsoft Desktop App Converter Now Available For Download – MSPoweruser

Desktop App Converter tool (Project Centennial) is now available for download from Microsoft. This new tool allows developers to convert their desktop app to a Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app. It converts a desktop Windows installer such as MSI or exe to an AppX package that can be deployed to a Windows 10 desktop.

Some of the benefits of converting your classic desktop app.

  • Your app’s installation experience is much smoother for your customers. You can deploy it to computers using sideloading (see Sideload LOB apps in Windows 10), and it leaves no trace behind after being uninstalled. Longer term, you’ll also be able to publish your app to the Windows Store.
  • Because your converted app has package identity, you can call more UWP APIs, even from the full-trust partition, than you could before.
  • At your own pace, you can add UWP features to your app’s package, like a XAML user-interface, live tile updates, UWP background tasks, app services, and many more. All of the functionality available to any other UWP app is available to your app.
  • If you choose to move all of your app’s functionality out of the full-trust partition of the app and into the app container partition, then your app will be able to run on any Windows 10 device.
  • As a UWP app, your app is able to do the things it could do as a classic desktop app. It interacts with a virtualized view of the registry and file system that’s indistinguishable from the actual registry and file system.
  • Your app can participate in the Windows Store’s built-in licensing and automatic update facilities. Automatic update is a highly reliable and efficient mechanism, because only the changed parts of files are downloaded.
  • Download it here from Microsoft. Read the MSDN documentation about this tool here.

Source: Microsoft Desktop App Converter Now Available For Download – MSPoweruser

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Windows 10 How To: Manually Trigger Reserved Windows 10 Update

Windows 10 is rolling out today in several countries across the globe in a phased roll out. If you’re one of those users who reserved it on Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1, and don’t see the update notification, there’s a good news for you. You can manually start the download by following a few simple steps (via Windows Central). As a disclaimer, this trigger should start the update but may not.,

Before you kick off, make sure you’re ready to install the Windows 10 upgrade. You can check out our guide on how to prepare your system for Windows 10. Next, make sure your system can automatically download and install Windows Update. After you’ve enabled automatic Windows Update, open Command Prompt as an administrator and type “wuauclt.exe /updatenow”. This should start the Windows 10 download on your system.

Source: Windows 10 How To: manually trigger reserved Windows 10 update

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Your Free Windows 10 Upgrade is Here

So are you ready yet to upgrade. Personally I can’t wait but I will be cautious about upgrading my work PC. Of course that’s a company decision. But I will be upgrading the laptops at home. Just have to pry them out of the hands of the owners first.

Of course I will promise them that I won’t break it with the upgrade. Please Microsoft don’t let me down I will never hear the end of it.  At least there is a rollback option but a time limit of 30 days. Why a time limit at all. Guess Microsoft doesn’t want you to go back and I’m pretty sure that I will stick with Windows 10. The preview has been very interesting and much more like the windows that people are used to but with a lot more added bells and whistles.

Should be fun trying to convince the family. But you never know they may want to upgrade anyway. Hopefully.

Here are a few links from the BBC about what they think of Windows 10 and an interview with Satya Nadella.

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What’s the deal with Windows 10 for the Non-Technical Friend

The calls are starting to come in, as I, like you, Dear Reader, am the head of IT Support for my friends and family. You’d think my cell phone was an IT helpline, and my email is filled with Word documents with pasted in screenshots along with subject lines like “Is this safe?!?!?” and “What’s the deal with Windows 10?”.

Anyway, Window 10 is coming soon, and this little icon (the Windows icon) is stating to show up in folks’ taskbars. For the techies, it’s called GWX (Get Windows 10) and it’s there to prep your machine and possible download Windows 10 if you want to reserve a spot. It’s added by KB3035583.

image

If you click it, you’ll get this screen where you can add your email and when July comes around your system will start downloading Windows 10 automatically.

You may also see this in Windows Update if you run Windows Update manually as I do.

Windows 10 is coming soon

You get to decide when you want to install it, it’s not automatic.

Free Upgrade to Windows 10

The important part you and your non-technical friend should know and explore is the “Check your PC” section. Click the “hamburger” menu in the upper left corner, then click “Check your PC.” Here’s mine. Looks like I need to update or uninstall one program that isn’t yet compatible, but my devices (video, usb stuff, etc) are cool.

Windows 10 will work on this PC

There’s a great FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) on Windows 10 here that you should check out.

Here’s my personal translation/take on the most important parts:

  • Windows 10 upgrades start July 29th and you can choose to upgrade for free until July 29, 2016 so no rush. If you want wait and see, you can.
  • The upgrade is free for that period (July 29th 2015 until 2016, a year later). Upgrading after July 29th, 2016 will cost something.
  • You can upgrade machines running 7 and 8.1.
  • You machine should have these specs, which are pretty low and reasonable. Most anyone with a running PC can upgrade.
  • Yes, Solitaire and Minesweeper and Hearts will be removed BUT you can download the new versions of Solitaire and Minesweeper free in the Windows Store. They are pretty nice versions.
  • You’ll move to either Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro, according to this table:
    What Windows 10 version will I get?
  • You apps will keep running. I’m running all sorts of apps, many quite old, on Windows 10 and I have had no issue. The Compatibility Wizard still exists, though, so you can “lie” to really old apps and tell them they are running on Windows 95, or whatever. Just right-click the App that isn’t working and click “Troubleshoot Compatibility,” or right-click, Properties, then Compatibility. I haven’t had to do this myself, yet, so consider this a rare thing.

So far it’s been pretty interesting and I think that if non-technical friend liked Windows 7 and tolerated Windows 8 that they will like Windows 10. I’ve been doing “Windows 10 Build to Build” upgrade videos over at my YouTube and I would love it if you’d subscribe to my YouTube as well.

It’s amazing that Windows 7 users and Windows 8 users will all be able to upgrade and come forward to a single version of Windows. As a developer (both web and apps) it’ll be nice to have people on an “evergreen” Windows where I can do things like Feature Detection and not think as much about versioning.

versioning.

Source: What’s the deal with Windows 10 for the Non-Technical Friend – Scott Hanselman

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