Windows Archives

How to shutdown Windows 10 without applying updates

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Although most of Windows 10 keeps getting better with every iteration, some things just never change. Windows Updates are one of those. They always want to download and install when we really don’t have the time or the battery power.

What’s worst, Microsoft have removed the graphical option to simply shutdown the system – and all we’re left with are two choices: “Update and shutdown”, or “Update and restart”.

What if all we want to do is to shutdown or restart WITHOUT applying those updates? Perhaps we’re out and about, running on an already near-depleted battery? Or we’re in a hurry and would like to leave the update for when we have more time, or a power outlet?

Fear not, there is a way to do these things – even if they don’t come up in the Start menu anymore.

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What’s the difference between the Logitech M325 and the M325c

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The Logitech M325 and M325c are both wireless USB mice. Their design appears to be identical (except for the many different colourful variations of course), and their prices vary from anything between $12 and $60 – depending the layout and seller. Even the packaging is identical. So what’s the difference between these two models? Is … Read more

How to check which web server is running on a domain

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Sometimes we must know what web server is running on a particular domain. Usually web hosts should be able to tell a client this, but if the client is afraid to ask, there is a way to ask the web server directly for this information.

Just to clarify: the web server is the process that serves files (HTML, PHP, ASP, images, etc) from a remote machine to your local web browser. The most likely choices in this day and age (2017) are Apache, NGINX or IIS. The latter is used by Windows servers, and the two former are used by Linux servers. There are other web servers too, such as lighttpd, but they’re used less commonly.

By asking the web server for this information, we can tell exactly who’s serving those files.

How to ask the Web Server

Let’s open a Terminal or Command Line Prompt window and utilise the good old fashioned Telnet protocol. Replace yourserver.com with the actual domain in question:

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How to fix “connected to WiFi, but can’t see the Internet” on Windows 10

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For the last few days I had a very interesting (read: ultra annoying) issue with Windows 10 on my Surface Pro. No matter which network I was connecting to, I could never see the internet anymore.

Logic dictates that there was perhaps an issue with the router, but since it happened on other networks as well, this couldn’t have been the case. I could even ping the router, but no matter what else I tried, Windows didn’t see the internet.

Finally I came across this Microsoft Support Article that suggested several things, among whose suggestions were to reset the TCP/IP stack and to renew the IP address. Sounds like fun I thought and went to work.

Here’s how I could solve my internet issues:

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How to fix problems with Logitech Unifying Receivers

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screen-shot-2016-11-04-at-17-12-10I’ve recently bought a new Logitech K360 keyboard for my HP Z600 workstation. I also had a Logitech M325 mouse, both of which came with Unifying USB receivers. I could plug both receivers in, and both devices would work great.

However, I heard good things about these little receivers and wanted to free up a USB port, and thought I’d connect both devices to the same receiver. Apparently you can connect up to 6 devices to one receiver and store any spare ones inside the mouse or keyboard. Being an all-efficient belt-and-braces kinda guy, I tried my luck.

Turns out it was relatively easy to pair both devices to the same receiver, thanks to a small piece of software that can be found here, along with instructions on how to use it:

It all worked fine on my Windows 10 machine, until I wanted to use the mouse (not the keyboard) with my Mac. I know, it’s exotic, and perhaps I should have just bought another mouse. But there’s only so much space on my desk, and I really don’t need more clutter in front of me for just an occasional switch.

I regretted pairing both devices to the same receiver and wished I hadn’t done that, for this very eventuality. So now I had to figure out how to UN-pair both devices again and put them back to how things used to be (before I started messing with them).

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How to setup Plesk Mail in Mozilla Thunderbird for Windows

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In this episode I’ll show you how to setup Plesk Mail in Thunderbird for Windows. Unlike most email clients, Thunderbird can figure out the correct settings by itself – something neither Outlook nor Mac Mail can do. Therefore, the real magic with Thunderbird is figuring out how to get to the account settings. To do … Read more