Newsletter Archives
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Opal becomes Obsidian
HARDWARE DIY
By Will Fastie
In this final article about building my new Windows 11 PC, I reveal a surprising change.
It’s taken quite a long time for my new Windows 11 PC to get to the point when it could become my daily driver. I admit to some sloth. Worse, I confess to some confusion.
Nonetheless, the unexpected delay in the project has been a worthwhile learning experience.
Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.30.0, 2023-07-24).
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Firmware and drivers
PATCH WATCH
By Susan Bradley
Why are drivers and firmware so important?
Once upon a time, you would set up a computer and any display adapter driver or firmware would be automatically installed to match the hardware. More than likely, you would not install new drivers for a long, long time.
But now with both Windows 10 and 11, I annually review drivers and firmware as the Windows feature releases come out. I go through certain steps and processes to rule out issues that might have been triggered by out-of-date drivers, especially if I’ve encountered side effects that I can’t otherwise explain.
Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.14.0, 2023-04-03).
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MS-DEFCON 4: Win11 22H2 not ready for prime time
ISSUE 20.13.1 • 2023-03-28 By Susan Bradley
March updates are ready. Windows 11 22H2, not so much.
It’s time to install the updates for the March releases, and that’s why I’m lowering the MS-DEFCON level to 4. There are a few issues out there, but most appear to be plain old low-risk bugs — things that used to be caught in Microsoft’s beta testing. As usual, it seems we’re the beta testers.
I have several Windows 11 22H2 deployments in active use. If you are not an advanced user, are relatively new to the Windows platform, or are really into rounded corners and having to click several times to build shortcuts on your desktop, you might be tempted to forgive Microsoft for some of these cosmetic bugs.
Anyone can read the full MS-DEFCON Alert (20.13.1, 2023-03-28).
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Opal: The Update
HARDWARE DIY
By Will Fastie
It hasn’t gone as smoothly as I had hoped.
Maybe I’ve just been lucky. Maybe I’m getting older and slower. Or dumber. Whatever it is, I’ve run into some problems getting Opal up and running.
I’ve done the basic configuration steps and I’ve installed Windows 10 Pro. The computer is running fine. The UEFI BIOS sees all the hardware and I think I’ve done the RAID 1 configuration correctly. So what’s the problem?
Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 19.01.0 (2022-01-03).
This story also appears in the AskWoody Free Newsletter 19.01.F (2022-01-03). -
Opal: Physical assembly – the case
HARDWARE DIY
By Will Fastie
Obviously, everything ends up going into the case.
Last week, I discussed the assembly steps necessary to prepare Opal’s new motherboard. That process included installing the processor, the cooler’s mount, the RAM, and the SSD. Now it’s time to talk about getting the motherboard into the case, along with all the other components that make up the system.
Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.41.0 (2021-10-25).