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A cheap backup option is the Google Fi “Flexible” plan which generally uses T-Mobile. I keep a Fi Sim card active but pause service every 90 days. Occasionally I will activate it and send a text or make a call. It has “saved” me in Europe but I haven’t had a Verizon outage in the states that I have used it for. But a very cheap backup plan.

Here are the registry entries I’ve used since Win 10 1909 (~12/2019):

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\BackgroundAccessApplications\Microsoft.Windows.Photos_8wekyb3d8bbwe]
“DisabledByUser”=dword:00000001
“Disabled”=dword:00000001
“IgnoreBatterySaver”=dword:00000000

I couldn’t find my original web reference where I found these. They are referenced in https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/remote/remote-desktop-services/rds-vdi-recommendations-2004 .

Best, Phil

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Tom

I’ve been seriously using PowerShell since 2012 to automate tasks in Windows. I have a library of over 20 cmdlets and a 1200 line script I use to wrangle windows to my liking. I began that script in 2015 for Win 10 and, while I think I could do it all from cmd, it would not be simple and would be a lot longer and much harder to maintain. Some examples: uninstalling apps with Remove-AppxPackage, Setting Surface Reduction Rules with Add-MpPreference -AttackSurfaceReductionRules_Ids, Turning on/off Windows Features with Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature, and my favorite, using an array of about 200 elements to add, set, delete registry entries based on build number so it works for 10 & 11. Pretty easy to maintain since the design was to deal with changes.
I’m pretty certain that I couldn’t manage MS 365 Exchange without PS. I have two MS hosted Exchange accounts so all of my & my spouse’s devices have the same mail, calendar, contact view.
Every time one of the seven Windows device in the household reboots a scheduled task (set up by my settings script) kicks off a PS script to save to a networked location things like current build, disk utilization, current versions of key software. Makes it easy without logging in to another machine to know that all is up to date.
I couldn’t/wouldn’t have automated so much with PowerShell. I used to write .bat and 8080 assembler to do stuff. No more.

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doriel, windbg

If you’re using an ASUS router that will support Merlin’s firmware, then see this post about blocking at the router level: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/how-to-block-top-level-domains.79311/ . It works for me testing get.store (an existing domain). (These add-ins are a reason I’ve been using ASUS routers for 10+ years. See, e.g., diversion. I even send contributions to these guys!) -Phil

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rc primak

Maybe disk shows up as “foreign” and needs to be imported: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/disk-management/move-disks-to-another-computer Probably requires rebuilding the Space to put it back afterward. This is for emergency recovery!

My testing was in 2016 or 2017. At my age (mid-70’s) memory half-life is measured in days :^).

-Phil

I don’t have any performance data nor have I ever used RST. In 2016 I read all I could about Storage Spaces and decided to try it with a new build. I have never personally used RST or other hardware based RAID being somewhat leery of hardware or UEFI solutions. There are other commercial software products that do this too.

As for what happened when I upgraded the Storage Space under Win 11: I had the Space running fine with either OS booting (dual boot). Wandering around in the Win 11 Storage Space control panel I came across an item that said something like “click here to upgrade this space for better something.” Knowing full well that I had backups, I clicked. Something happened and all worked fine until I booted back to 10. The space wasn’t there. I could read a disk that had been in the Space but no Storage Space. I know that Storage Spaces writes some data on the individual disks in the pool so I suspect that the format of some of that changed when I upgraded the Space.

Some intelligent writing about using it in a workstation would be nice. Mostly it is seen as something for a Win Server OS and Win Pro isn’t quite the same.

-Phil

I’ve been using Windows Storage Spaces in a RAID 1 (mirrored) mode since mid-2016 about the time I built my first Win 10 machine. It has performed reliably all that time. I currently have it operational on both a Win 10 and a Win 11 machine. Each has 2 (Seagate Iron Wolf Pro) drives. Early on I tested removing a single drive and attaching it via a USB enclosure to see if it was readable. It was. That was an important recovery item for me. Part of the reason for the Storage Space is to improve read access for large files since it is supposed to split the access across devices. That is hard to actually discern but I am pleased with the read performance.

The only issue that I encountered was when I was dual booting one machine between 10 and 11. While on 11, I “upgraded” the storage space and it was no longer accessible as a storage space to 10. Not an issue really since I could recover in a number of ways if I wished. That was about the time I just went to 11 on that machine.

The mirror is not a backup plan. It is, as Will Fastie uses it, a way to keep the machine running even if a disk fails and give me a but of a read performance boost. The two machines have most of their data kept in sync with Resilio and are both backed up nightly with Macrium differentials. One is backed up monthly for a longer term. I use Backblaze for off-site backup (but, of course, not for a bare metal recovery).

-Phil

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roadster1024

I have a Mele Quieter Q2 (https://www.amazon.com/MeLE-Quieter2Q-Dual-Band-Bluetooth-Expendable/dp/B099N957WF/) on which I have JRiver Media Center installed as a media server. It did come with Win 10 Pro and 256GB drive for under $200USD. I run it headless connecting via TeamViewer for what little maintenance it requires. I’ve been running it non-stop for nearly three years and am very pleased with it for this use. It’s a bit slow with Windows update but it serves multiple music streams (and occasional video) just fine. It surely doesn’t take up much space or power! I wouldn’t use it for a “daily driver” because I just have to many apps open at once on a desktop.

-Phil

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wavy

Susan asked about setting up a new O365 Business installation. There’s a lot of settings. Here’s my list:

Set in a configuration file applied at install for all users: Show start screen off in W,X,Pp (this is the “backstage” setting); Autorecover save time set to 3 minutes in W,X,Pp,Pu; Word printing update fields before printing; Disable LinkedIn features; Word prompt before saving normal; Outlook/Calendar no default reminder on new items (I can share my .xml if anyone wants it)

Set by hand user by user:

• Merge c:\O365Install\DisableWNCS.reg to turn off what’s new & coming soon
• (optional if multiple computers in use by user) Point dictionary to onedrive and make it default; copy existing there.
• Office background: None (in File/Options)
• W,X,Pp,Pu Save to computer by default (set one sets all) File/Options/Save
  Show addl places for saving in all
• Word/Advanced (Save) Always create backup copy
• Pub/General Turn off show template gallery
• Outlook/Mail/Check spelling before sending, On arrival only play a sound, always use default accnt, commas separate addresses, mark read when deleted
• Outlook/Calendar Show bell item when reminder
• Outlook/Groups Turn off everything
• Outlook/Advanced Show reminders, Reminder sound
• Outlook/View Use Tighter Spacing
• OWA for each user: Addins. Turn off Action Items, Suggested Meetings, FindTime, Outlook Customer manager, Insights in https://outlook.office365.com/ecp

Edited to add: for a new computer that’s a 1,000 lines of PowerShell and then another checklist of little things, before installing O365.

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Qeyleb, AlexEiffel

This is a Win 11 only issue (not showing up in Win 10). The Macrium issue has been fixed and will be released in an update (I beta tested it for them). I’m still on Win 11 22000.795, could be fixed in this month’s updates? I need to do a feedback hub report for this (I am excited about earth slow down so I can get extra nano seconds to do MS bug reporting ;^)).

glnz – No connection with SteveInWa although I have an Obi device and follow his advice. But since you asked…

This is a bit off topic in this thread but here’s how I use some of the products/services mentioned:

Resilio Sync (free): I have three desktops and 4 portable devices running Windows (10 but I’ve been doing this since XP). My wife has a desktop and 2 portable devices running Windows. My son and daughter each have a portable device running Windows. All of these sync their Documents folder amongst their devices and my three desktops (and the desktops amongst themselves). On the desktops then I have 11 synchronized folders. Here’s why I do it that way: 1) I use Backblaze on one desktop to backup everything to the cloud (a single license). 2) On 2 desktops I take local image backups thus capturing “everything” for “everyone.” 3) I have ready to run machines with all my data in case of a failure. 4) Resilio can run as a service easily on those desktops. 5) If a machine has multiple users, each user has its own sync process. I used the precursors of Resilio (don’t remember how many) and this method has gradually evolved over time to be quite stable.

OneDrive: Sync between Windows, Android & iOS for password management and OneNote sync. We use several shared OneNotes to manage our planning. Also, a convenient way to share photos with others.

Microsoft 365 Business Standard: 2 licenses for Exchange email and desktop Office products. Exchange email makes all these shared devices work between my wife and myself. It is better than any other alternative I’ve found because we’re both very Outlook centric in our workflow. (And Microsoft pricing is very good.)

I don’t use DropBox (unless someone drags me in to getting something there). I don’t use Google Drive (similar reason and why add other products into the infrastructure!). And I’ve never used SugarSync (or a couple of other sync products I’ve looked at and even tried) because what I have has been very solid. I actually pay for some things I use that are free because they are so good (e.g., Merlin router firmware, KeePass, AskWoody…).

[PhilInWA]

I, like many, have used all of the iterations of OneDrive mentioned in this article. There are certain applications for it which I find it quite useful (although I use Resilio for major Windows file synchronization). Three applications I use OneDrive for in particular: sharing files with others, OneNote notebook synchronization, and syncing my password manager file across platforms.

But the reason I write is to note the incongruity in two newsletter articles this week. In this one the solution is to use symbolic links, where as in the later article “All storage is not created equal” by Will Fastie, he points to https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/restrictions-and-limitations-in-onedrive-and-sharepoint-64883a5d-228e-48f5-b3d2-eb39e07630fa?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US&mc_cid=e07ab388a3&mc_eid=b26cf2e144#invalidfilefoldernames

which explicitly states “OneDrive doesn’t support syncing using symbolic links or junction points.” Like many things in Windows, it probably works until it doesn’t… I’m guilty of using things which aren’t documented or I used and they work but in some release they don’t work right anymore and I have to figure out a new way. Ah, Windows…

[edited to add OneNote synchronization – this is really important to me!]

• This reply was modified 4 years ago by PhilInWA.

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glnz

I do this by setting the delivery folder in Outlook Account setting for each email account to the same inbox in my .ost. (I do send one address to a subfolder of that inbox just to keep it separate). If this isn’t clear ask and I’ll do the screen images to show it.

I’ve been using Anveo as a VOIP provider for several years (with an Obihai, now Polycom) Voip box. I pay $2.80/month for incoming + E911 and about $.001/minute for outgoing. They have higher priced monthly plans that include minutes. They well might meet your requirements and existing Cisco ATAs. Also look at Callcentric which is very well regarded VOIP vendor.

Good luck and expect your price to go DOWN! -Phil

P.S. With the Obihai I have a Google Voice number I use for outgoing only, plus my Anveo “landline” and another backup service for emergencies.

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Nathan Parker

For those who use ASUS routers there is an easier way to block “bad” sites by DNS blocking. Use Merlin’s firmware and LonelyCoder’s diversion. This is one reason I stick to ASUS routers supported by Merlin. No extra computer or OS to maintain. See https://www.snbforums.com/forums/asuswrt-merlin.42/ for some detail.

-Phil