Set your Windows 11 PC Network Profile to Private and Make Sure File and Print Sharing is Turned On!

How to ensure your Windows 11 PC's network profile is set to Private (and not Public) and that file and print sharing is turned on!!

1. Check and Set Your Network Profile to Private

• Open Settings:

• Press Windows + I to open the Settings app.
• Go to Network & Internet:
• In the left-hand menu, click on "Network & Internet."
• Choose Your Network:
• Click on "Properties" next to your current network connection (e.g., Wi-Fi or Ethernet).
• Set Network Profile to Private:
• Under "Network profile type," select "Private."
• This setting makes your PC discoverable on the network, which is necessary for File and Printer Sharing.

2. Turn On File and Printer Sharing

• Open Control Panel:

• Press Windows + R, type control, and press Enter.
• In the Control Panel, select "Network and Sharing Center."

• Access Advanced Sharing Settings:

• On the left side of the Network and Sharing Center window, click on "Change advanced sharing settings."

• Enable File and Printer Sharing:

• Expand the Private network profile section.
• Under File and Printer sharing, select "Turn on file and printer sharing."
• Save the Changes:
• Scroll down and click "Save changes."

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Upgrade To Windows 11 ~ With Your Apps and Data Intact!

 Can You Install Windows 11,

Without Losing Apps or Data In The Process? 

Why yes you can! 

Thanks to the Windows Installation Assistant!

I found an article (linked below) while looking into a "surefire" way to upgrade a Windows 10 system to Windows 11, without having to run the risk of needing to reinstall software and applications, or even potentially loose data. Currently, the only guaranteed method to install Windows 11 on your computer without performing a fresh install is by using the Installation Assistant. This tool from Microsoft acts as an update, transforming your existing Windows installation to the newer version without affecting any of the files or applications:

 https://helpdeskgeek.com/windows-11/how-to-upgrade-to-windows-11-without-losing-any-data/

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Scan/Repair Corrupted Windows 10 & Windows 11 System Files

1) Open an elevated Command Prompt:

2) In the command prompt, enter the following commands one at a time. Let each procedure fully complete its process before moving on to the next command/repair.

1. SFC /SCANNOW
2. DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup
3. DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

3) Restart the system and verify repairs were completed successfully.

4) If issues persist after running these repairs, running a repair installation of the Windows Operating System (being sure to retain user data) would be the next step in hopes of repairing the system:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/reinstall-windows-d8369486-3e33-7d9c-dccc-859e2b022fc7#bkmk_reset_windows_10

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How to Create a Local Account When Setting up a NEW Windows 11 Computer

We figured out a way to create a local account on Windows 11 when you are installing a fresh OS or setting up a new system! With this trick, you can steer clear of the Microsoft account requirement for Windows 11!

The easiest way to set up Windows without a Microsoft account is using a "dummy account" that was set up for this exact purpose. You don’t need to open Command Prompt, run commands, or disable the internet connection here. It’s a tried-and-tested method, and it just works without any fuss.

The easiest way to set up Windows without a Microsoft account is using a "dummy account" that was set up for this exact purpose. You don’t need to open Command Prompt, run commands, or disable the internet connection here. It’s a tried-and-tested method, and it just works without any fuss.

Here’s how to go about it:

1. First, connect to the Wi-Fi and proceed with the Windows setup as normal. If you have a wired Ethernet connection, keep it connected.
2. When you reach the Microsoft sign-in screen, enter a@a.com under the email field and click on “Next”. Do not worry, it’s a locked dummy account used for bypassing the Microsoft account requirement.
3. On the next page, enter any password you like just to complete the steps. 
4. Now, click on “Sign in“.
5. Since it’s a locked account, Microsoft will straight away start setting up a local account for you. You will see an “Oops, something went wrong” error, and then you can create a local account on Windows 11. Simply click on “Next”.
6. Now you can now use Windows 11 without logging into a Microsoft account!

*UPDATE* 4-24-2024

The method listed above has been proving more and more ineffective in bypassing the mandatory requirement to set up a new Windows 11 computer, with a Microsoft account. But there's a simple trick for setting up a local account that involves issuing a command to keep Windows from requiring the Internet to install/set up and then cutting off the Internet at just the right time in the setup process. This works the same way whether you are doing a clean install of Windows 11 or following the OOBE process on a store-bought computer.

1. Follow the Windows 11 install process/setup process until you get to the "choose a country" screen:


(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

*Now's the time to cut off the Internet. However, before you do, you need to issue a command that prevents Windows 11 from forcing you to have an Internet connection.

2. Hit Shift + F10. A command prompt appears.

(Image credit: Future)

3. Type OOBE\BYPASSNRO to disable the Internet connection requirement.

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

*The computer will reboot and return you to this screen.

4. Hit Shift + F10 again and this time Type ipconfig /release. Then hit Enter to disable the Internet. Alternatively you could also simply unplug the network cable if that's at all possible.

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

5. Close the command prompt.

6. Continue with the installation, choosing the region. keyboard and second keyboard option.

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

*A screen saying "Let's connect you to a network" appears, warning you that you need the Internet.

7. Click "I don't have Internet" to continue.

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

8. Click Continue with limited setup.

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

A new login screen appears asking "Who's going to use this device?"

9. Enter a username you want to use for your local account and click Next.

You are now setting up a local user account to be used, instead of being associated with a Microsoft Account!

Jon Pienkowski

Pacific NW Computers

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360.624.7379

Test Your Laptop Battery (Windows 10, Windows 11)

Easily test your Windows 10 or Windows 11 laptop's battery with a simple command using the built-in Microsoft Windows Powershell!

1. Open the Windows PowerShell by right-clicking on the Start menu icon and selecting "Windows PowerShell (Admin)" from the menu that appears.
• A pop-up window may ask for permission to make changes to your device; say yes.
2. The blue PowerShell command window will appear. 
3. In the window that opens up, enter:
   

   powercfg /batteryreport /output "C:\battery-report.html"

4. Press Enter to run the command.
5. PowerShell will then tell you the name of the generated battery life report HTML file and where it has been saved on your computer. 
• It should be located at the root of your C:\ drive.
6. You can now close the PowerShell window.
7. Next, open File Explorer and access the C: drive. 
8. There, you should find the battery life report saved as an HTML file called, "battery-report.html"
9. Double-click the file to open it in your default web browser.
10. In the report, find the Design Capacity and Full Charge Capacity of your laptop's battery.
11. Now, using a calculator on your phone or your computer, divide the Full Charge Capacity by the Design Capacity amounts.
12. If the result on your calculator is 0.80 or less, it may be time to replace your battery!

Jon Pienkowski

Pacific NW Computers

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Windows 11 Local Security Authority Protection Is Off & Won't Turn Back On!?

If you have a Windows 11 computer and find that your Local Security Authority protection is turned off, and Windows won't turn it back on, no matter how many times you restart the system. There is a simple registry edit you can make to get things working again!

Hold down the Windows key on your keyboard + R at the same time, this brings up the Run dialog box. Type regedit and hit enter to bring up the registry editor. 

Inside the registry editor, in the list on the left side, navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa

Once there, right-click anywhere on the list on the right side to bring up the context menu. Select New>DWORD (32-bit). Make sure you don't click QWORD (64-bit) by accident. If you're seeing a list that says "Modify" and some other options, left-click anywhere on the white space in the list to deselect whatever is selected there and right-click again.

Now name the new entry "RunAsPPLBoot", then right-click the "RunAsPPLBoot" entry and click Modify. The "Value" box should already be highlighted, enter 2 and click OK. Close the registry editor without modifying anything else, and restart your computer.

Jon Pienkowski

Pacific NW Computers

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Find Your Microsoft BitLocker Recovery Key

So your Windows Computer just recently completed some Windows Updates, or maybe you changed some system settings. But NOW all of a sudden, your Windows computer is asking for a "BitLocker Recovery key" to be able to start your computer!
But you have no idea what BitLocker is, what BitLocker does, nor do you know what to do!

"BitLocker Drive Encryption is a data protection feature that integrates with the Windows operating system and addresses the threats of data theft or exposure from lost, stolen, or inappropriately decommissioned computers."

Which is all fine and dandy if you purposefully set it up, and saved the recovery key information. The BitLocker disk encryption keeps your data safe in the event your computer is lost or stolen. But, more often than not, folks don't even realize that BitLocker is even turned on, and thusly do NOT have any recovery methods ready to go if they were to get locked out!

If your system is asking you for your BitLocker recovery key, the following information may help you locate your recovery key. 

There are several places where your recovery key may be, depending on the choice that was made when activating BitLocker.  If you purposefully turned on BitLocker hard drive encryption, you may have printed out the security key that was created.   Or you may have saved that BitLocker Recovery key information to a USB thumb drive and thusly created a "Recovery USB Key". If so, just use the appropriate recovery method that you have created/saved, to get back into your system!

If you don't have any kind of Recovery Key information backed up or saved, the easiest way to find your BitLocker recovery key is through the Microsoft account you were using on that computer! Your Microsoft account is typically tied to your everyday email address, plus a password that was set up.

So all you need to do is use another computer or a tablet, or even your cell phone, and sign in to your Microsoft account to find your recovery key. This is the most likely place to find your recovery key! 

You can do this by visiting, https://account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey

If you are NOT able to find any sort of recovery key, you would be looking at having to reinstall the Windows Operating System to get the system functional again. But, since the hard drive is encrypted, data backup nor data recovery would be possible.

If we can be of any assistance with this type of problem or issue, please don't hesitate to reach out!

Jon Pienkowski
Pacific Northwest Computers
360.624.7379
www.linktr.ee/pnwcomputers

Fix the "Virus Scan Failed" download error in Google Chrome, and the "Couldn't Download Virus Scan Failed" error in Microsoft Edge

1. Locate the following registry subkeys:
   \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Attachments
2. If you do not see the "Attachments" subkey, create it by right-clicking on "Policies", selecting "New", then clicking "Key", and then typing "Attachments" as the key name.
3. Right-click "Attachments", select "New", and then click "DWORD (32-bit) Value".
4. Type "ScanWithAntiVirus" as the value name, and then press Enter.
5. Right-click the new "ScanWithAntiVirus" DWORD value, and then click "Modify".
6. In the "Value data" box, type 1, and then click OK.
7. Exit the Registry Editor.
8. Restart your computer, and then log back into Windows to have the registry change take effect!

The download error(s) should be now resolved in both Google Chrome and Microsft Edge!

Jon Pienkowski
Pacific Northwest Computers
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360-624-7379

Windows Security Center Stops Working - Windows 11

I have run into a problem repeatedly recently. On a client computer running Windows 11, if I go to open the Windows Security Center, it won't open and I will get the following message/error:

Some websites will recommend the following:

"Go to the Settings. Select App > Apps & features and type in ‘security’ in search menu box. An icon for Windows Security will pop open. From there, click on the options (three dots) and select Advanced options. Now scroll down to Reset section and click on Reset.

You’ll get a confirmation asking if you really want to reset the app, along with your whole app data. Click on Reset to go with it."

However, so far what I have found is that "Windows Security" is not in the application list at all! 

So how can I reset the app?

Well, what I have found was a simple command you can run from the Windows PowerShell (with administrative privileges) that ultimately solved the problem for me, as well as for some of my clients who have run into this same issue as well.

• Using Windows' search, just type in "PowerShell"

• Right-click on its icon, and select "Run as Administrator"

• Next, copy and paste (or type in) the following script:

Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.SecHealthUI -AllUsers | Reset-AppxPackage

• Hit Enter, and you should get a screen like this:

That should do the trick!
Your Windows Security Center should now be working again!

Pacific NW Computers
www.pnwcomputers.com
360.624.7379

Ransomware Infection? This could help!!

Ransomware infections are a very real and very serious problem that general computer users, and businesses alike, should be prepared for!

• First off, the best prevention to start with is to have good security software installed that can protect you from Ransomware infections (such as Malwarebytes Anti-malware, Kaspersky Antivirus, etc).
• Secondly, have a good data backup system in place that follows the 3-2-1 backup rule to keep your data safe! 
• The 3-2-1 backup rule simply states that you should have:
• 3 copies of your data (your main data and 2 backup copies)
• On two different media types (NAS drive and a thumb drive)
• With one copy off-site for disaster recovery (cloud backup, etc).

If you do get hit with a ransomware infection, the website below can help you identify which ransomware you were infected with and if there is a de-encryption tool available to help get your data/files back: https://id-ransomware.malwarehunterteam.com/

Pacific NW Computers

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360.624.7379

Simple Automatic Backup

Quick Computer/Laptop Tip:

If your laptop has an SD card slot and you don't have a data backup system in place, you can use an SD card to set up an automatic backup of your Windows computer!
No clunky external hard drive is needed if you aren't storing a ton of stuff! 

• Snag a compatible 128, 256, or 512GB Class 10 U3 V30 or better SD card off of Amazon
• Pop that little chip into the card reader slot on your laptop.
• Open up the "Backup and Restore (Windows 7)" system utility from the Windows Control Panel. 
• Select the installed SD card as your backup destination and continue with, and complete, the backup configuration! 
• Then just leave the SD card plugged in, and the computer will automatically backup to the installed SD as scheduled!

That's it! 🙌
Easy peasy, lemon squeezy; your data is now automatically backed up! 

Pacific NW Computers

www.pnwcomputers.com

360.624.7379

Upgrade your Windows 10 PC to Windows 11 NOW!

No need to wait for the Windows Update to come along... You can download and install Windows 11 RIGHT NOW!

All you have to do is use Microsoft's Windows 11 Installation Assistant, and you can upgrade your computer today!

You need to make sure your system is compatible and meets the minimum system requirements for Windows 11. You can check your computer's compatibility by using Microsoft's PC Health Check application!

Windows 11 System Requirements:

• Processor 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster with 2 or more cores on a compatible 64-bit processor or System on a Chip (SoC).
• AMD Compatible CPUs
• Intel Compatible CPUs
• RAM Minimum of 4 gigabyte (GB).
• Storage: 64 GB or larger storage device.
• System firmware UEFI, Secure Boot capable. Check here for information on how your PC might be able to meet this requirement.
• TPM Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0. Check here for instructions on how your PC might be enabled to meet this requirement.
• Graphics card Compatible with DirectX 12 or later with WDDM 2.0 driver.
• Display High definition (720p) display that is greater than 9” diagonally, 8 bits per color channel.