Posts

  • EpicInstaller on Windows Server 2022/2025 and Windows 10/11 (error 2738)
    Since Microsoft deprecated vbscript.dll in October 2023, several installations, including the Epic Installer, have encountered significant issues. Users attempting to install the Epic Installer are frequently met with the error message: “The error code is 2738”. This error is particularly frustrating as the Windows Eventlog does not provide any helpful information, making troubleshooting more challenging.…

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  • Error “Group(s) not found: ui (via –with)” installing PrivateGPT 0.4 on WSL
    Note: the below assumes you already have followed any other guide, but you have gotten an error up to that point. The below will pick up directly where you left off in the your original guide. As of a few days ago, when you try to install PrivateGPT with Poetry on WSL following various guides,…

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  • Automatic Subtitle creation and translation (to English) with OpenAI’s Whisper
    I’ve been having the issue over the last decades that the available subtitles from the well known sites are quite often not suitable for the videos that I have saved locally. Often downloaded videos, especially from YouTube, don’t have sub-titles, which is a requirement in my household, as we speak different languages. (A guide on…

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  • Automate downloading of Youtube Channels with YT-DLP and PowerShell
    Watching or listening to Youtube playlists can be very frustrating with all the ads that are being thrown at you and this seems to have gotten worse over the years. A way around this is to download your favourite Youtube playlists. You can import these into your media-server, like Emby or Jellyfin, and watch the…

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  • Re-Encode h264/x264 to h265 without noticeable quality loss with PowerShell and FFmpeg
    Over the years I’ve gathered a lot of videos from various sources. Some of these are uncompressed and take up various gigabytes of space, each! Even though storage is getting cheaper, I don’t really want to spend €200,- (each) for 16TB spinning disks, so the answer is High Efficiency Video Coding, or HEVC/H265. Do note…

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  • Install Private-GPT 0.2 on Windows Server 2019/2022
    Total time is about 30min, depending on your hardware and internet connection. This will install PrivateGPT on a Windows 2019/2022 machine and run everything (including the LLMs) locally. After installation, no further Internet connection required for most operations.
  • PrivateGPT: ImportError: docx2txt is required to read Microsoft Word files
    When trying to interact with Microsoft Word files, PrivateGPT throws out an error and does not want to parse it:ImportError: docx2txt is required to read Microsoft Word files: pip install docx2txt When actually installing docx2txt with pip, the error is still there. For some strange reason, PrivateGPT is still recommending pip, while it has moved…

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  • Folder backups with PowerShell
    Why pay for an expensive backup solution in your home-lab when you can install PowerShell for free? The script below will handle simple backups for you. You only have to add it to the Windows Scheduler or create a Cron job. This Script’s features: – Replicates a Source directory to a destination to be specified…

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  • “We couldn’t update system reserved partition” error when Installing/Upgrading Windows 11 Insider Preview
    Caution: This may cause your system to hang on boot. I must admit, I haven’t done a fresh install of this system since upgrading to Windows 10 1903, moving the NVMe drive from an older laptop to this machine, updating the OS about every week to the latest version of the Insider Preview in the…

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  • Drivers Windows XP x32 for Gericom X5-Force 1830
    In the late 1990s and early to mid-2000s Gericom released various laptop models and was fairly popular in western Europe. These laptops were sold under the brands Gericom (mainly Germany), Advent (mainly in the UK and Ireland) and in Spain under a brand named Hundyx. (I’ve restored one Pentium III model of this brand a…

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  • Synology NAS: A data write error occurred while generating the usage report.
    This happens only when the NAS is connected to domain with multiple domains in the forest and after the upgrade to DSM version 7.1. The default Management Mode setting is “Trusted Domains” with all domains in the forest selected. To resolve the issue with the reports, change this setting to “Single Domain with OUs”.
  • Veeam warning: “Unable to initialize indexing: mlocate was not found” on Ubuntu Server 22.04
    After playing with Veeam 11 for a bit, I decided to get my Linux Docker physical host on the backup schedule. The hardware is getting older (Some would call it vintage or just plain ancient as it’s a 2nd gen i7, but it gets the job done) and it won’t last forever. The onboarding of…

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  • Windows 98 issues on a Dell Latitude D600
    Windows 98 Setup Freezes when “Setting up programs on the Start Menu” When installing Windows 98 SE on a Dell Latitude D600, the installation freezes at the point after it finishes “Setting up programs on the Start menu” but before it installs Help. Rebooting the laptop does not help. It does a Scandisk, continues to…

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  • Emotet malware botnet is back
    The Emotet malware botnet is back and running one again almost ten months after an international law enforcement operation took its command-and-control servers earlier this year in January.
  • Chrome can now hide the padlock
    As of the latest beta today it seems that Google Chrome has the option to no longer display the padlock that shows if a website is is actually SSL encrypted. Even though I like the little indicator, with everything going on, less is more, so less clutter is better in my opinion. Here is how…

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  • Update or Install missing drivers on Windows Server Core 2016/2019/2022 for free
    Install Drive Easy Free from:https://www.drivereasy.com/download-free-version/ Start DriverEasy from “C:\Program Files\Easeware\DriverEasy\DriverEasy.exe”
  • LeMenu 3.1 (1988) – Installation on Dosbox
    As the name suggests, LeMenu is a menu making package that includes a directory manager. Menus and sub-menus can be created, you can run Batch-files from the menu directly as if these were normal programs and even a basic activity log is kept. The menu itself supports up to 4 different levels and can hold…

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  • Windows NT4 / 2000 Server and Workstation on a 2019 Hyper-V Cluster
    Sometimes it’s necessary to install an old Operating System, but you really cannot (or don’t want to) get the old hardware out, even if it would still work.I was in such a position that I had to install Windows 2000 Server. After locating the installation media, I decided it was a good idea to get…

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  • Windows ME on Dosbox ECE, even on Raspberry Pi4b
    If you search the web you’ll find a lot statements that the installation of Windows Millennium or Windows ME on Dosbox is just not possible, that it will not work, that it will not even complete setup, no matter what.I wouldn’t be writing this if I hadn’t found differently. Nowadays it is indeed possible to…

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  • Synology Drive App for Windows 10 does not connect
    When trying to connect, the app displays a message: Connection fail. Check your network settings and try again. The solution to this is that next to port 5000 and 5001, the port 6690 also has to be opened to the Synology NAS. If this port is not opened, the Windows app will fail. The Android…

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  • Force Remove Host from SCVMM 2016/2019 & Hyper-V Console
    To remove from SCVMM: Open PowerShell with administrative credentials: PS C:\> $Credential = Get-Credential PS C:\> $VMHost = Get-SCVMHost -ComputerName “<Hostname of Server here>” PS C:\> Remove-SCVMHost -VMHost $VMHost -Credential $Credential The Get-Credential cmd-let will open a prompt in which you have to supply credentials with the rights to remove the host. In the second…

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  • Compact a Dynamic VHDX with DiskPart
    VHDX files can take up a lot of unnecessary disk-space, especially if the disk is used for a lot of writes. A dynamic vdisk expands, but does not automatically compacts again.
  • Extract various archives with PowerShell
    Nowadays, instead of using .zip, .rar or .7z files, I find myself using virtual harddrives (.vhdx) more and more as it’s so much more convenient. However, extracting large amounts of compressed files, can be a very time consuming endeavor. Here a quick and dirty PowerShell script to do this. I’ve added a check for determining…

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  • Install BicBucTriim on Synology NAS
    How to install BBS on a Synology NAS: Start Putty and log on with SSH to the NAS. (To enable SSH, this needs to be configured in the DSM Control Panel) cd /volume1/web wget http://projekte.textmulch.de/bicbucstriim/downloads/BicBucStriim-1.5.0.zip unzip Bic* mv Bic* bbs chown -R http:http bbs chmod 774 <name of the Calibre library folder here> // rwxrwxr–
  • Command & Conquer – Play in Dosbox
    When Command & Conquer was released in 1995 and its companion with a different tone Command & Conquer: Red Alert in 1996, it was something of a revolution in the RTS game play. Of course Dune II had been released a few years before, also developed by Westwood studios, setting the tone for many RTS…

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  • Disable the Download Maps Manager Service
    The Download Maps Manager (MapsBroker) service is not started and is causing alerts in the Server Dashboard. This service just starts on demand and is normally not running. There are various ways to disable the service, as on a server it’s very rare that the Mapsbroker service is actually used.
  • Ubuntu displays print_req_error: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0
    With a new install as a virtual server, Ubuntu repeatedly displays the error: print_req_error: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0 The reason is the virtual server does not have a floppy drive. To resolve: # sudo rmmod floppy # echo “blacklist floppy” | tee /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-floppy.conf # sudo dpkg-reconfigure initramfs-tools The message should now be gone…

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  • Windows 10 1809 (October) update – SNMP missing
    SNMP is still available, but now it can be found under: “Start” –> “Settings” –> “Apps” –> “Apps & Features” –> “Manage optional Features” –> “Add a Feature”
  • Report on BlueScreen (BSOD) events and stop codes with PowerShell
    A PowerShell script to report on all BlueScreen events and stop codes from the Windows Event Log on a specific server can be a useful tool for system administrators to troubleshoot and prevent future system crashes. This script will query the System Event log for events related to bug checks (BlueScreens) on a local server…

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  • Windows 10: Set search results default to detail view
    For some reason Microsoft seems to think that “Content” view for search results is the best view. This goes for “generic” folders in general, but me for content view is a view that I’d rather see go completely from Windows. Unfortunately I for me there is no easy setting to change this. This means it’s…

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  • My Dosbox setup
    I’ve been a big fan of Dosbox ever since I found out about it in 2004. Dosbox has been around since 2002, I just didn’t find out about it until later. At the time virtualisation was still in its infancy and virtualising MS-Dos to play old games on was not that easy and fairly memory…

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  • Active Directory: Best Practices for Internal Domain and Network Names
    Introduction When planning for a new Active Directory (AD) or upgrade AD, or merging AD one of the topics that will get on the table is planning DNS. DNS is the Domain Naming system, used to translate names into network (IP) addresses. Certainly this is the case if you need to plan for integration with an extranet, DMZ…

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  • Caesar IV – Runtime error on Windows 10
    When trying to run the Steam version of Caesar IV on Windows 10, a runtime error will pop up and will close the game. The Eventlog gives this: Before immediately going for the refund, there are a few things that can be done to get this working. (this does not have to be done in…

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  • 216.146.35.35 & 216.146.36.36 added as primary to your DNS settings
    With the update to their client version 5.3.1 for Windows, DynDNS sets the first to entries in your local DNS to 216.146.35.35 and 216.146.36.36. Unfortunately this causes the machine the DynDNS client is installed on to fail to contact any other server within the local network up to giving login issues over RDP if this…

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  • Camera Raw filter in Photoshop CS6 and above
    Click File -> Open As and select Camera Raw. Instead of opening a separate filter, it will open an editor. Here you can edit the image and click Done when finished.  
  • Install an Off-the-Shelf Hard Drive in an Xbox 360
    Since the day of the Xbox 360 release, storage space for the device has been overpriced beyond belief. OEM 250GB HDD models still cost $110! A 250GB hard drive should not destroy my wallet, Microsoft. Storage space, especially on HDDs, is cheap. You can buy a removable 2TB external for only $40, so it’s a little beyond my comprehension to see how they calculate their MSRP to…

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  • Fix Your Photo Scans Professionally Using Photoshop
    In this photo scanning guide, you’re going to learn how to: Make your image colours look natural and less dull and flat Get rid of dust scratches without taking away detail Make blurry photos look sharper and more defined But if you’re not sure what the actual problems are when scanning photos, then how are…

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  • Sharpen Photo Scans Using Photoshop So They Don’t Look Blurry And Flat
    After reading these tips, you’ll learn how to do this with your photo scans:
  • Fix Photo Scans Dust Scratches Rips Using Photoshop
    After reading these tips, you’ll learn how to do this with your photo scans:
  • Fix Faded Photo Scan Colours So They Look Natural Using Photoshop
    What you’re going to learn to do after reading these scan tips:
  • Xk3y Install Guide
    How to install the Xk3y set
  • Monitoring for WMI corruption issues and rebuilding WMI
    Background WMI is a Windows OS component that is present on every Windows server and PC WMI corruption can cause failures that include failure to apply Group Policy Some organizations rely upon Group Policy to secure servers, secure group membership to groups with elevated rights, and to provide the working environment for interactive Remote Desktop…

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  • Slipstreaming Service Pack 4 into Windows 2000
    When installing Windows 2000 (and also Windows NT4 or Windows XP/2003 or even MS Office versions), it’s usually easier and less error-prone to install the OS with the latest service-pack or SP already slipstreamed into the installation media. Quite often this will resolve driver issues which may cause Blue Screens of Death during installation.This guide…

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