PC stuff (2)

Next PC runs dual OS. 

(1) One is Windows 10 (64 bit).  Another is Linux.  So needs more RAM:  8+ GB.  Bought (on 1/30/2020 from amazon.com) 480GB SSD for OS (cloning C: on 2/22/2020).  Partition:  360 GB for Windows 10 and 120GB for Linux. 

Note: when cloning, set Drive to letter O, E or any non-D letter.  Don't select D. 

Can files saved by Linux be accessed and read by Win7?

How to Get Windows 10 for Free (or Under $30)

Buy Windows 10 Professional OEM Key from kinguin

Download KMSpico 11 Final Windows 10 Activator [2020]

How trustworthy is KMSpico?

How to Activate Windows 10 for Free [HWID] - may be a ransomware.

8/10/2020: I used HWID ( F:\2020August_Win10_install\thk.003mk6_pw\hwid.kms38.gen.mk6.exe ) to activate Win10.  Although ClamWin detects it as ransomware, I have no problem until now.

In early 2021, I cannot load Win10 so no more dual boot.  Win7 32bit is still running. 

6/19/2021
Uncle Jim upgrades my old AMD laptop.  Take out old 250GB HDD.  Replace with 60GB SSD ($15).  Install Light Ubuntu 18.04? (lubuntu?) on it.  Also install Word and Excel equivalents and the game Battle of W???

How to ignore Windows 11 system requirements By Alan Dexter (10/11/2021)

The latest Rufus 3.16 beta build (via Computerbase [in German]) introduces a new 'Extended' installation mode for Windows 11 that allows you to tweak the install at the ISO burning stage to essentially turn off some of the annoying system requirements for Microsoft's latest OS.

Specifically, this Beta allows you to ignore the demand for TPM 2.0, Secure Boot, and the minimum requirement for 8GB of system RAM.

This 'Extended' mode is still in Beta, so you won't find it on the main download page, but rather on the Other versions (GitHub) and Other versions (FossHub) pages instead. 

Once you've downloaded the beta release, grab the Windows 11 ISO image as normal, and you'll be able to select Extended Windows 11 Installation in the 'Image option' box.

That's it. After creating the bootable USB stick as normal, you won't have to worry about whether the machine you're installing it on has TPM 2.0 support, Secure Boot, or enough memory. 

Rufus is a world famous free tool for helping users format and create bootable USB flash drives, including USB pen drives/keys, memory sticks, and more. Rufus is a wonderful burning tool for users of previous versions of Windows operating systems; it assist uses to burn ISO image in simple steps without charging any fees.

Rufus Version 3.16 Beta 2: A Good Burning Tool for Windows 11

Recently, Rufus released a new version (the Version 3.16 Beta 2) to contain the “Extended' Windows 11 support. Since then, it can be a wonderful burning tool for Windows 11.

In the past, it’s troublesome for systems to bypass some Windows 11 requirements, such as the TPM requirement. But with the release of the Rufus latest version, bypassing these requirements of Windows 11 becomes an easy job. Users are allowed to burn ISO image Windows 11 on even unsupported systems. Now, I’ll introduce Rufus Version 3.16 Beta 2 to you and shows you how to use it to burn Windows 11 ISO image.

TPM 2.0

If you choose to install Windows 11 on a device that does not meet these requirements, and you acknowledge and understand the risks, you can create the following registry key values and bypass the check for TPM 2.0 (at least TPM 1.2 is required) and the CPU family and model.

• Registry Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup\MoSetup
• Name: AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU
• Type: REG_DWORD
• Value: 1

April 03, 2022:  How to upgrade to Windows 11 without TPM 2.0 (and why you shouldn't)

7/18/2022: How to Bypass Windows 11's TPM, CPU and RAM Requirements

Sep. 22, 2022: Is Microsoft cracking down on Windows 11 updates for unsupported hardware? | ZDNET

History:

1/20/2023	Note: Win11 bootable SD is at home. Win10 bootable SD is lent to Terri Chu with USB adapter.
12/26/2022	Plug into USB 2.0 port at the rear of Dell.  Then I can see the Win11 USB bootable SD (on USB adapter) on boot list. I boot from the USB.  Then has storage drive cannot be found problem.  It is the same problem while installing with DVD. Solution: "For the Intel CPU platform, you need to manually install Intel Rapid Storage Technology (IRST) driver during the Windows installation process."  src Driver files are in: F:\SW\rufus\Intel Rapid Storage Technology (IRST) driver\RST_V19.1.0.1001_PV\ After installing it during the Win11 installation, I can see my 330000MB partition (SSD480_1).  Then Win11 is successfully installed and I get dual boot as the 2022 Christmas gift. In install IRST, there are 2 files.  Just pick the first one (something Controller).  The second one is Managed Controller, may be better than the first one and may work too.  But I just picked the first one and it works.
12/25/2022 Prepare Win11 installation on Dell	Convert 480GB SSD to GPT partition style by DiskPart.  Create a 330000MB partition: SSD480_1; drive I. Download Win11 ISO to F:\SW\ where F is the 3TB Western Digital HDD.  File is: Win11_22H2_English_x64v1.iso Create USB installation SD card with Rufus (rufus-3.20.exe).  Label is Win11_64bit_bootable.  Restart machine and go to Boot menu by pressing F2. Fail to have a clean installation of Win11 from bootable SD card (via the front reader), USB or DVD.  Even disable Secure Boot, I still get the same error while installing with bootable DVD.  The only option is running the setup from the USB drive or mounted DVD drive (mounting the ISO).  But it is not a clean installation; it is to upgrade from my Win10 on C to Win11 (still on C).  Not dual boot. Notes: 1. My Dell may not support USB Booting.        Step 1: In BIOS, go to Boot Options and check Boot Priority.        Step 2: If you see the USB boot option, your computer supports USB booting. If the option isn’t there, it doesn’t this boot type. 2. Rufus relies on an advanced feature, called UEFI:NTFS. With UEFI:NTFS, Rufus does allow seamless boot of an NTFS partition from a pure UEFI system. In other words, despite what you may have heard, you are NOT limited to only using FAT32 when booting UEFI. If needed, you can actually boot from NTFS (at least, if you created the drive using Rufus). Plus, Rufus does have logic to detect the presence of a >4GB file in an ISO, and select NTFS by default as the file system when that is the case. So, all you had to do was rely on Rufus to pick the best set of options for you, and just give it a try. When Windows can’t boot from USB, you need to make sure your bootable USB drive is formatted in the FAT32 file system if your computer supports UEFI and you are attempting to install Windows in UEFI mode. That is, you cannot use a USB drive with the NTFS file system to boot and install Windows in UEFI mode.  src 2b.  But someone has different suggestion: 1. Should Windows 10 Use Bootable USB FAT32 or NTFS? It should use NTFS. NTFS is the default file system for Windows 10. This is because it has no file limitations and supports file compression. It's unlike FAT32, which limits a single file to 32GB. Therefore, you should use NTFS for your Windows 10 bootable USB drive to ensure the system successfully installs. 3. Most UEFI systems only provides boot support from a FAT32 partition, and cannot boot from NTFS partitions.  src TODO: rebuild bootable SD with (1) FAT32 partition and (2) 'Windows To Go'. Good resource:  https://www.dell.com/community/Inspiron-Desktops/Dell-Inspiron-3881-not-able-to-boot-from-USB/td-p/7809398                             https://www.dell.com/community/Precision-Fixed-Workstations/Precision-3640-No-USB-Boot-Option/td-p/7882070 TODO: buy a good-branded USB of 16GB from Micro Center.  Create a bootable from it.
12/25/2022	I mount the Dual! DVD9 ISO with Power2Go. Then set region code of this virtual drive to 3 (HK and East Asia Region). So the maximum number of allowable change down from 5 to 4 on this virtual drive.  But I don't expect this change is also applied to my physical DVD drive D. Why? After the DVD drive D region code is set to 3, I still have the same problem playing Dual! DVD9 with VLC. I can play Dual! DVD9 with VLC on the old Win10 machine (Winnie using it). SATA on my Dell: 1. DVD 2. 3TB HDD 3. 1TB HDD 4. 480GB SSD (for Win11) 5. Empty
12/24/2022	Probably the DVD drive on my Dell use RPC-2 firmware.  On some RPC-2 drives, it enforces region coding on the hardware, which doesn't allow raw access to the drive unless it perform a region check. However, the libdvdcss in the VLC needs raw access to the DVD drive to crack the encryption key. Therefore, VLC won't play region DVDs except DVDs from the same region of the DVD drive. On some other RPC-2 drives where raw access is allowed, VLC can brute-force the region coding, but that can take quite a long time.  src So the DVD drive may not be able to play some DVD, e.g., the Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure on DVD9 disc.
12/2022	The old Win7 32bit PC will be given to Jackson.  I keep:    - DVD drive:  ASUS 24X DVD Burner Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS    - video card: SAPPHIRE Radeon R7 350 DirectX 12 100385L 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0. The stuff on the old PC: - CPU: AMD FX-6300 Vishera 6-Core 95W (4/3/2017) - PSU: Antec VP-450 450W ATX 12V v2.3 (6/2015) - Support DDR3 2100(OC)/1866(OC)/1800(OC)/1600(OC)/ 1333/1066/800 non-ECC, un-buffered memory.  I have 2GB DDR3 x2 RAM. - Motherboard: Asrock 970 EXTREME3 R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD - case: Antec 300 Illusion? not sure.  (black color; ATX mid tower)
12/11/2022 Sun	Wi-Fi router is broken.  Start my Gigabit Network Revolution. 1. Spectrum out.  Verizon FIOS $49.99/month for 300 Mbps. 2. Buy TP-Link router supports gigabit, Wi-Fi 5 (ac) and dual band.  It also supports WPA3.     TP-Link AC1900 Wireless MU-MIMO WiFi Router (Archer C80) 3. Replace CAT.5 cables by CAT.5e. 4. Not to use nyc.rr.com email addresses.  Use email address from HostMonster.
12/3/2022 Sat	The Dell Precision PC arrives. It is up and running. OS: Win10 64bit Pro (Includes Windows 11 Pro License) CPU: Intel Core i7-12700 processor (25MB Cache, 12 Core (8P+4E), 2.1GHz to 4.9GHz (65W)) TDP SSD: 512GB PCIe NVMe Class 40 M.2 SSD (Form factor: M.2 2280 - a module 22 mm wide and 80 mm long)  info DVD: 8x DVD+/-RW 9.5mm Optical Disk Drive PSU: 500W Platinum PSU, DAO, 92% Efficient, 80 Plus Platinum Power supply connector:   - Two 4 pin connectors for processor   - One 8 pin connector for system board   - One 6 pin and one 2 + 6 pin connectors for graphic card Memory: 16GB, 2x8GB, DDR5 up to 4400MHz UDIMM non-ECC memory (mobo also supports 4000 and 3600MHz) Video Card: AMD Radeon Pro WX3200 - Dedicated Memory Size: 4 GB; 4x Mini-DisplayPort 1.4. Dell Services:Extended Service: Basic Onsite Service Extension, 24 Month(s) I think mine is 3660 not 3650. Front: 1. Optical disk-drive 2. Power button with diagnostic LED 3. Hard-disk drive activity light 4. Universal audio jack 5. USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) port 6. USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) port with PowerShare 7. USB 3.2 Type-C Gen 2 (10 Gbps) port 8. USB 3.2 Type-C Gen 2x2 (20 Gbps) port with PowerShare 9. SD 4.0 card reader Rear: Note: 6 is Two USB 2.0 (480 Mbps) ports with SmartPower. YouTube video:  <1> It says: [it] is equipped with front-accessible bays, making management easy and convenient, and gives users secure removable storage options (one lockable 3.5” or 2.5 front-accessible HDD bay). Precision 3660 Info:    Removable power supply: Use the release to easily remove the power supply.    Integrated Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 with vPro.  Not true?!   Precision 3650 Tower Service Manual Precision3650_spec_mynote.html
11/28/2022 Mon	Win7 32bit PC is broken. Buy a new PC from Dell (US$ 1,259.72). Order Number: 571274651
11/20/2022 Sun	I created bootable USB drive for Windows 11 with Rufus (rufus-3.20.exe).  I got error:    So I build the USB with the following option:  - Under the “Partition scheme” section, select the MBR option.  - Under the “Target system” section, select the BIOS (...) option. I use the bootable USB drive (in fact, it is SD card attached to USB SD card reader) to install on the 2 home computers: Winnie PC: Installed Win11 22H2 successfully and activated with my key (a digital license) under my Microsoft Account (with my Gmail account).  The version installed is Win11 Home.  Dual booting Win10 and Win11. My home PC/Workstation: Win11 Pro is successfully installed on the 360 GB partition and activated with a digital license without Microsoft Account.  It seems MS recognizes my existing Win10 (or Win7?) license.   Dual booting Win7 and Win11.  See myWin11_note.txt in F:\myDoc\ Both are clean installation; not upgrade from Win7/Win10.  But somehow MS recognizes the license key so activation is automatic without my intervention.  For Win10 64bit, the 480GB partition is new without any Windows installed before.  MS recognizes the license key probably because it is linked to my Microsoft Account.  But the Win7 32bit case, Idk.  Probably the 360GB partition already has an activated Win10 64bit license key (though the Win10 64bit is broken and cannot be booted up).
11/19/2022 Sat	Try installing the Win11 22H2 ISO on J (after converting to MBR, it changes to I) Drive (Kingston 500GB SSD $30).  I set the disk to GPT partition style.  But get error:   "Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk is of the GPT partition style" So change back to MBR:   Step 1. Turn off the PC and put in the Windows installation DVD or USB.   Step 2. Boot the PC from the DVD or USB.   Step 3. In Windows Setup, press "Shift + F10" to start Command Prompt.   Step 4. Enter the following command in order:     diskpart     list disk     select disk # (# is the numeric id of the disk) (in my case, it is: select disk 0)     clean     convert gpt       or     convert mbr (in my case, it is mbr!)     exit   Step 5. Close Command Prompt. Then fail in the step of copying files from the DVD-9 (DVD DL); get stuck at 64%, possibly due to my defective DVD drive cannot read data from the DVD-9. Suggestion: use Rufus 3.19 or install from USB. Note: 1. How to Bypass Windows 11's TPM Requirement Using Registry Hacks 2. DiskPart is a text-mode command interpreter. This tool enables you to manage objects (disks, partitions, or volumes) by using scripts or direct input at a command prompt.
9/24/2022 Sat	Realize that upgrading using iso file needs 64GB storage space.  The SSD only has 40GB (if it means free space, then there is only a few GB!).  So it will be a problem. Resource:   How to install Windows 11 when there's not enough free space on your main drive (10/2021)   How Much Space Does Windows 11 Take Up? (11/2021) Decision:  Not upgrade Win10.  Buy a new computer with Win11. Or Build a new computer with at least 256GB SSD as system disk.  Use the Win11 22H2 ISO to install (or Rufus 3.19).  Get activated by HWID  or other tools.      Bought 10 DVD+R DL.  Burn Win11 22H2 ISO to it.
9/23/2022 Fri	Download Win11 22H2 English version ISO file (5+GB) to Win10 64bit computer.  I can successful mount it.  TODO: buy a DVD+/-R(W) DL (9.4GB) and burn it. Add AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU to Registry. Confirm I have TPM 1.2 (by runnng tpm.msc).  I don't have TPM 2.0. TODO: write down my Windows  product key.
6/1/2022	WD Blue 4TB Desktop Hard Disk Drive - 5400 RPM SATA 6Gb/s 256MB Cache 3.5 Inch ($65)
2022 4 19	8GB RAM added to Win10 64bit ($27.61)
2022 Jan/Feb	Radeon HD 5450 (1GB) is given to Jackson.
early 2021	I cannot load Win10 so no more dual boot.  Win7 32bit is still running.
8/10-11/2020 (Mon)	on my Win7 32bit computer I installed Win10 64bit on the 320GB partition on SSD as dual boot.
4/3/2017	on my Win7 32bit computer:  AMD FX-6300 Vishera 6-Core 95W replaces the old CPU
3/25/2017	on my Win7 32bit computer: Take out Radeon HD 5450. Installed SAPPHIRE Radeon R7 350 DirectX 12 100385L 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0.
7/2016	Upgrade from Win7 64bit to Win10.  A clean install without retain any file on C drive.

HDD:

(1) WD Blue 4TB Desktop Hard Disk Drive - 5400 RPM SATA 6Gb/s 256MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD40EZAZ
$69.99 + $10 off w/ promo code MDSBS24263, limited offer + Free Shipping
newegg

(2)

MBR vs. GPT:
1. 64-bit Windows 11, 10, 8/8.1, 7, and Vista all require a UEFI-based system to boot from a GPT drive.

2. In short: MBR is good for older operating systems; GPT is more suitable for modern computers.

3. To cut to the chase, GPT is best. It's a must-have if your drive is more than 2TB and/or if you're using Windows 11. GPT is more corruption-resilient and has better partition management. It's the newer and more reliable standard.

4. When should you use MBR, then? Really, only if you want to run old operating systems.

src: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/mbr-vs-gpt/

What Is CSM In Your BIOS And What Is It Good For?  src

1. CSM is a component of your UEFI firmware.

2. BIOS and UEFI are both low-level software that run checks on your Hardware and then hand the boot process over to your operating system when you turn your computer on.

3. UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) started to replace BIOS as the startup firmware in 2007 because of BIOS’ severe limitations. The system that a conventional BIOS uses to access your hard drive or SSD, called the master boot record (MBR), could only handle partitions smaller than 2 TB. 

4. The vast majority of modern computers now use UEFI rather than a traditional BIOS – though it’s still referred to as BIOS in most cases. To circle back to the original question of this article: With the transition from traditional BIOS to UEFI, a new parameter called CSM was introduced.

5. CSM stands for compatibility support module.

6. What Is CSM?

It’s an optional tool included in the UEFI firmware that allows legacy BIOS compatibility.

CSM offers backward compatibility by booting the machine as if you were running a legacy BIOS system.

It also allows you to use older operating systems that don’t support UEFI. You create the legacy BIOS compatibility by emulating a BIOS environment that’s compatible with your current operating system.

If your computer is relatively new and came with Windows pre-installed, CSM would have most likely been disabled by default.

You don’t need to enable it unless you want to install an older operating system that doesn’t support UEFI – or if you’re trying to boot from an old storage drive that you recently hooked up, that already has an OS installed, for that matter.

7. How Do I Know What Boot Scheme My PC Is Using?

Click the ‘Windows’ search key on your computer and launch (type in) ‘System Information’.

Now find ‘BIOS Mode’ and it will say either UEFI or Legacy next to it.

• If it says UEFI, your BIOS actually is UEFI and the CSM option in your BIOS is off (otherwise you couldn’t have booted an OS in UEFI Mode)
• If it says Legacy, your BIOS is either somewhat old-ish, or you most likely have a UEFI BIOS with the CSM option set to enabled/legacy

8. My Win7 32bit machine.  Probably Legacy,  Most likely an old BIOS.  Under Win7 32bit, you cannot see the info about it.  Try to see it while running Win11 64bit. 

    Winnie Win10 64bit machine.  It is Legacy because the CSM option is enabled in the UEFI BIOS.   

Note: