Windows 10 - Controlling Automatic Update

I'm currently running Windows 7 but I'll probably get a new PC with Windows 10 Pro this year. I've heard horror stories about automatic updates with Windows 10 happening at unpredictible times and causing big problems so I'm trying to understand them. This question implies you can "defer" them but was a little unclear about defer them to exactly when, or how long? Likewise the suggestion about Active Hours was a little unclear about how rigorously Microsoft follows it, i.e., if I say my "active" hours are 8AM to 6AM, does that guarantee that updates will only happen between 6-8AM?

I do professional video production so I'm often in the middle of big projects with tight schedules, and my PC is often running long multi-hour exports or conversions. Overnight I'm often running batch-jobs, complete backups, malware scans or de-frags. So an unscheduled reboot or interruption could be disastrous.

How do I exercise precise control over this risk? I'd be perfectly happy to run an Update every single day as long as I could start it manually to make sure that no backups, exports, de-frags are running at the time.

macos - How do I install Windows on a Mac using Boot Camp?

I need to install Windows on my Mac. I have read that I need to use Boot Camp to do this. However, when I tried, I got the following error on the first step:

The startup disk must be formatted as a single Mac OS Extended (Journaled) volume or already partitioned by Boot Camp Assistant for installing Windows.

battery - When should I charge my laptop?

I was wondering how often should I charge my laptop?

I have heard that using my charger plugged in will cause the battery to heat up and reduces battery life. Thus I've decided to stick to using my battery, since it is here for a reason. (my battery is built-in, non-removable).

However, I am not sure when I should charge my laptop, and do I charge it to 100%?

Should I charge my laptop only when the battery dies out (0%) or is there a reasonable point I can let it run down to? (10% or something?)

My Battery: 47WHr battery; 6-Cell Li-Polymer (built-in)

installation - Installing Windows 8 using an existing key

Is there an option to enter an existing Windows 8 license key in the Upgrade Assistant?

I bought the License during my first try, but it got stuck at 62% when readying devices so I had to restore my Windows 7. Now when I run the assistant again I have only one option to buy a new License (again).

UPDATE: I found out there are to different executables, Windows8-Upgrade-Assistant.exe and Windows8-Setup.exe (I got the second one via a link from the email I received with my key).

Windows8-Setup.exe gives me the option to download Windows8 install and create an ISO or USB Drive but both options fail with this message: "Sorry, something happened and we couldn't finish creating the ISO. Restart Setup and try again."

Answer

Frank, you should be able to use an existing product key.

According to this and the images and comments here, you should be prompted to enter a Windows 8 Product Key.


You should be prompted for a key. Try using your Windows 7 key, at which point you should/may be prompted for the upgrade. If that doesn’t work, then you can reinstall Windows 7 with the key, then upgrade directly from there.


Choosing a Linux distribution

Dangerous territory with this question so please try to be impartial and instead focus on what to look for when choosing a Linux distribution.

I'm completely new to Linux. I thought it'd never happen but I need to have a Linux box to play with and I have a spare fanless Atom PC (32-bit only).

I'll be using the machine as a non-commercial hobby server, the trouble is, I don't even know how to compare Linux distributions and why people pick one over another.

If anything, I want to have an easy install from USB stick.

My question is: what do you look for when choosing a (free?) Linux distribution for a server?

If you can, please explain what sorts of things actually differ between one and another without saying which you think is better, just the facts.

The way I see it, Linux as a server is just an SSH console and I find it hard to imagine what could be different between one and another.

linux - How to make Alt+Shift act like AltGr with xmodmap?

I just swapped from Windows and I was used to using Alt+Shift to type special characters such as |@#~½¬from the number row, but it only works with Alt Gr on Ubuntu. It's not in the settings either so I figured xmodmap is the way to go. But the only way to make it work I've found is by remapping every single special character, like keycode 21 = equal plus equal plus semicolon colon.

Is there any way of copying Alt Gr to Alt+Shift?

Answer

I've come to the conclusion after hours of trying that it is not possible with Autokey, xmodmap or setxkbmap to copy AltGr to Alt_L and Shift_L.

• Autokey doesn't allow a shortcut like Alt+Shift, since it also needs another character. Alt, Shift, Control... only count as combinations with other keys and they won't work by themselves




• xmodmap should have worked with xmodmap -e "keysym Meta_L = ISO_Level3_Shift" but it only assigns the function to Alt_L, Shift_L does something similar, typing different special characters. Besides, when this is activated, these keys will only work for that purpose (You can't do Alt+Tab etc)




• setxkbmap should have worked too with setxkbmap -option Meta_L:ISO_Level3_Shift but it apparently does nothing. When tested with xev it does change the input key but it's something different from ISO_Level3_Shift

Windows 10 can't see SSD in Disk management but it's visible under Device Manager & BIOS

I have a new Samsung 860 EVO SSD, removed one of the working drives and connected the SSD instead. I see the SSD in the BIOS and under Disk Drives in Device Manager but it's not visible at all under Disk Management and File Explorer. No visible meaning not even as an unallocated drive or a drive needing formatting or needing a drive letter.

I went through the suggestions of running the Memory Diagnostics utility and uninstalling the 'Standard SATA AHCI Controller' from the device manager. Rebooted and noticed the AHCI controller is back. Maybe Windows needs it.
The boot drive is a regular hard drive.
I will try placing the boot drive and the SSD in different SATA ports.

Any other suggestions on how to troubleshoot this?

Answer

It seems there's a bug where Windows 10 doesn't recognize the SSD if it's not formatted. I used a third party tool formatter and then it showed up in Disk Management.