Windows 11: Change boot logo

It all started with me wanting to change the boot logo of my Windows 11 computer.

The EFI (extensible firmware interface) is a protected, FAT32-drive with a size of 100 mb that usually is invisible to you in the file explorer. You can however see the partition in Disk management which you access as administrator through the program called Computer Management. At the end of the blog post I will show you how you can access it through PowerShell if you are curious. Always treat this partition with great respect.

My research led me to HackBGRT and here you are offered software that temporarily maps your EFI drive so that you can change the boot logo for one of your own.

How to design the logo

The requirement for the logo is that you have a 200 x 200 pixel image in the format of a 24-bit BMP image. It requires the name splash.bmp and that is has a black background if you want to achieve a "transparency effect", since the boot up background on most computers is black. 

In my experience it was better to have an icon that was wide on top of the square background, rather than trying to have a square icon as the image still became stretched out.

Use HackBGRT to change boot logo

1. Download the .zip and extract it in a suitable folder.
   
   
2. Perform a backup of your system through a system restore point, this is because changes in the EFI can destroy your boot up process.
   
   
3. Make sure that you've created the image and placed it in a folder that you remember. You also need Paint installed on your computer.
   
   
4. Run setup.exe in the HackBGRT folder, accept the UAC prompt and then press I to install the logo.
   
   
5. Close the "readme.txt" that pops up, this will now open Paint. Using Paint now go to file and select open.
    
6. Now you should have a file explorer window from Paint open. Navigate to your custom logo location, copy it, navigate to "This PC" and you should find a new A: drive. Navigate to the following: A:\EFI\HackBGRT and then paste the custom logo. You are prompted to replace existing file in destination, confirm to continue.
   
   
7. Close Paint, exit the setup.exe window and then restart your computer to see if it work.

To restore your logo back to the original you run setup.exe and use R instead. 

Access the EFI through PowerShell

First we need to turn the EFI partition into a visible drive so that it becomes easier to work with.

1. Open an elevated PowerShell window (run as administrator)
2. Write Diskpart to activate the Diskpart program within PowerShell
3. With Diskpart now running use the command and write list disk. This displays your available disks. Take note of with number your main disk has, usually 0.
4. In order to target the right disk, write select disk 0 and get confirmation.
5. In order to target the EFI partition we need to identify it. Write list partition and take note of the number, it is labeled as system type and has the size of around 100 mb. In my case it is partition number 1.
6. To target the EFI partition we now write select partition 1 and get confirmation.
7. In order to actually turn it into a visible drive write assign letter=E or another letter that is not in use.
8. Write exit in order to leave the Diskpart program in the command line.

Continue in the elevated PowerShell window in order to navigate to the EFI drive, you can't access it through the file explorer as it is a FAT32 drive and regular access permissions doesn't seem to work there.

1. Now that you know that the E: drive is the EFI you can use it for the following command.
2. Write Set-Location "E:\EFI\" in order to step into that location.
3. Write Get-ChildItem to list which subfolders exists within that location.
4. Continue to explore subfolders using Set-Location and Get-ChildItem or their aliases sl and gci both which are easier to write but not recommended to use in scripts that are shared.
5. Write exit to close the PowerShell window when you are done looking around. 

ChatGPT: Generating business ideas

As the rest of the internet citizens I've started looking into ChatGPT and the Bing AI more and more.

Today I wanted to see how it can help me generating business ideas, in this case I used videos on YouTube as an example.

The content

In essence I sent three prompts to it that covered the basics. My first prompt was:

I want to create a five part series (each episode around 15 minutes) on youtube.

The course will be about Powershell and target towards beginners.

Give me 5 topics that these 5 episodes could be about.

My reasoning behind this was that it had to be a reasonable amount of work for me as a person, you might have a full time job or family to take care of for example. I also used something that interests me as a central topic for the video lessons and I made sure to be specific with my target audience.

ChatGPT generated 5 different lesson ideas that I then can curate and improve upon, depending on what I would like to teach and my skillset.

These are the lessons that was suggested to me:

Episode 1: Introduction to PowerShell - In this episode, you could cover the basics of PowerShell, including what it is, why it's important, and how to use it. You could also introduce the PowerShell console and some basic commands.

Episode 2: Variables and Data Types in PowerShell - This episode could cover how to use variables in PowerShell and the different data types that are available. You could also demonstrate how to manipulate variables in PowerShell, such as performing arithmetic operations and string concatenation.

Episode 3: PowerShell Cmdlets - In this episode, you could introduce PowerShell cmdlets, which are pre-built commands that can be used to perform specific tasks in PowerShell. You could cover some common cmdlets and demonstrate how to use them.

Episode 4: PowerShell Scripts - This episode could cover how to create and run PowerShell scripts, which are collections of PowerShell commands that can be executed as a single unit. You could demonstrate how to create a simple script and run it from the PowerShell console.

Episode 5: PowerShell Modules - In this final episode, you could introduce PowerShell modules, which are collections of related cmdlets, scripts, and other assets that can be shared and reused. You could cover how to find and install modules, as well as demonstrate how to use some common modules for tasks such as managing Active Directory or working with Azure resources.

The recording and editing software

In order to do the recording I need software that is free and can add voice over later on in the editing phase. After specifying my requirements to ChatGPT it brought me a suggestion of a software I hadn't heard about before. It is called OpenShot and I downloaded it and I'm going to test it during the day. This is what ChatGPT had to say about it:

One free video editing software that you can use to record your PowerShell lessons and add a separate voiceover track afterwards is OpenShot Video Editor.

OpenShot is a free and open-source video editing software that offers a variety of features, including the ability to add multiple audio and video tracks, transitions, effects, and titles. It supports many popular audio and video formats, so you should be able to import your recordings without any issues.

To add a separate voiceover track, you can simply record your audio separately using a microphone or audio recording software, then import the audio file into OpenShot and place it on a separate audio track. You can then adjust the volume levels and timing to sync the audio with your video footage.

Overall, OpenShot is a good option for beginners who are just getting started with video editing and want a user-friendly interface that is easy to learn.

Monetizing a YouTube channel

It had been a while since I saw the requirements to monetizxe your channel on YouTube. ChatGPT summarized the requirements like this:

- You need 1000 subscribers.

- You need 4000 of watched time in the past year.

- You need to meet the Terms of Service and other agreements of the community.

And this is how you start monetizing the channel:

- Go to the YouTube Studio dashboard.

- Click on "monetization" in the left sidebar.

- Follow the steps to accept the conditions of the YouTube Partner Program (YPP).

- You need an AdSense account and like it to your channel, this will give you payment for ads that are viewed on your videos. You will receive payments when your application is approved.

You can also earn money on YouTube through merchandise, affiliate marketing, sponsors and YouTube Premium revenue.

Review: NOS K-600 Gaming Keyboard

Overview

Recently my second hand bought NOS K-200 Mini broke when I was vacuuming it and a key broke when I tried to remove it so I had to buy a new for my computer. 

First I went and got a NOS C-650W Compact it had smooth key presses and an option for wireless connection. However, it was missing easily accessed keys that I usually use when I play World of Warcraft, so I returned the keyboard and finally got myself a NOS K-600 Keyboard Core RGB. Which is also the keyboard I will review.

It uses a fixed cable to power itself which leads into a regular USB-connector, which I use connected to my Surface Dock 2. The response time is great and it's not excessively noisy when writing, but it is noisier than C-650W for sure and the key presses aren't as smooth. Compared to K-200 it is a bit smoother in both noise and key presses. Furthermore the keys are relatively elevated, compared to flatter keyboards.

The keyboard is pretty much a full size keyboard, it has a numpad, a media control and some quick access buttons top left. I saw a similar model where these hotkeys were too closely located to the "esc" button. Which can cause issues in gaming if you accidentally start up other programs.

A unique feature for this keyboard is the phone holder at the front, it can keep my Xiaomi Redmi 10C standing up right (but it seems to struggle a bit). I can unfortunately not have the phone sideways due to the case I use for the phone.

RGB light and functions

The keyboard also has a RGB backlight which both looks good and helps you to navigate when it's dark in the room. You can use the Fn combined with the following buttons to control the light.

M1 = constant or pulse light.

M2 = to choose either left or right moving waves of light.

M3 = toggle between fixed lights, such as cyan, violet, pink, white, red, yellow, greenish yellow ("chartreuse") and green.

M4 = change between different pulses of color.

Combine Fn with the arrow keys to control intensity of the light and the speed of the pulses.

The media center has the classic "stop", "previous track", "next track" and "play/pause" icons. It also has a scrolling wheel that allows you to increase and decrease the volume. I like that feature a lot, it's easier to use than repeatedly pressing a volume up/down button. 

There is also a way to program your own light setup using the G1 button (PgUp).

If you press Fn + Windows Key, you lock the key. Press the combination again to unlock it.

You can switch WASD for arrow keys using Fn + W, and once more to turn the function off.

Overall impression

The keyboard measures 45 cm wide and close to 18 cm long, including buttons its almost 4 cm tall on the tallest place. There is a lot of extra unused space on the keyboard and it could in my opinion be flatter.

It has a nice feel to it though, combining the classic "plastic" feel of office keyboards, with the functionality and looks of a gaming keyboard. From a writing point of view I transitioned to it easily, likewise with the gaming.

It costed roughly 500 SEK and you get what you pay for so to speak, overall a decent keyboard that performs well and takes up a bit of space.

Review: Microsoft Edge

So it is time to take a look at  Microsoft Edge and give it a chance as my daily driver browser.

I'm traditionally and since many years a avid Firefox user. It has been my primary web browser since many years now, it feels like I have used Firefox for the past 10 years at least.

Design, speed, privacy has been a few of the keywords that made me choose Firefox above Chrome, until recently it has been my go to browser in my private life. For work I've used Microsoft Edge for the past three to four years. Let's be honest, a lot of the reason why I've stuck with Firefox is also habit.

Some things I liked with Firefox, that is not necessarily exclusive to that specific browser is the sync between computer and phone. It also has a generally nice password manager that is easy to use. It also felt good standing up to the big corporations. As of late I also discovered the nightly version, which basically keeps the browser with the latest consumer available updates at the expense of a few bugs (but seeing as it is my private browser it doesn't impact my browsing experience).

I'm not leaving Firefox, but I might be moving over to Microsoft Edge and here is why:

With the recent rise of AI-based search engine improvements for Bing, it has created a really nice search experience. This in conjunction with the Microsoft Rewards has become a feedback loop. I use the search more and sometimes make use of the AI chat to get the right information. From the reward redeeming page I could calculate (based on one product) that 145 points equals 1 SEK. Remember that you also get points from searching in your phone, the easiest way to get points is to just make Bing your default so that the point keeps stacking up "passively".

Since I am making it my main browser I also had to import favorites and passwords, something which you easily do these days. Remember to also start syncing your data so that it is accessible in your phone.

Converting to a new browser religion also includes using the mobile app. Here I opted for the dev channel, simply out of curiosity. This is also where I have had the most issues with Microsoft Edge. The starting page is giving me the wrong temperature unit (showing Fahrenheit when I want Celsius) and there are also no extensions for the phone app. Which means that you can't use an adblocker like you can on Firefox mobile. So Firefox mobile is still my go to app when it comes to listening to long Youtube videos. On the computer there are a few addons and themes for the Edge browser, but you can also use the Chrome Web Store since the addons and themes are compatible with the chromium based browser Edge.

It also feels better when the choice is mine, and it is not a preloaded default. Setting Edge as my default and go to browser was my decision. So far I'm giving it 8/10 compared to 10/10 for Firefox. It seems marginally lighter on the resources as well.

Hope you found the review interesting, thank your for reading it.

Review: Deltaco Smart Home

Making your home smart is fun but not necessarily needed, at least yet. Bringing new functions and perhaps efficiency to your daily life is a welcome bonus.

While we could spend an entire post discussing different automation ideas and the future of the smart home, this post is meant to simply review the products of the manufacturer Deltaco that I'm currently using.

The camera SH-IPC09 is the latest addition. I bought it on the second hand market for close to half the price. I was happy with the image quality, it also offers unique mounting methods, for example with a magnet socket. The camera uses an internal battery that seems to have a fantastic battery life and it's easy to connect to when not at home.

The door sensor SH-WS02 is a device consisting of two parts essentially (+ a part that keeps the sensor on the wall). The sensor reports whenever the magnet and the sensor is separated or close to each other. You can set this up for simple notifications or more advanced triggers such as turning the lights on.

The smart plug SH-PS01 is a socket that you put in the electrical sockets in the wall for example. It allows you to remotely turn the electricity on or off. You can also use it with additional triggers.

In my collection I also use regular smart bulbs, I found these to perform best with white light (both warm and cold). The colors are great but a bit weak in their output. You can schedule these lights and use triggers with them as well. 

One thing that you have to keep in mind is that the devices across the board are reliant on wifi. I changed network SSID (the name displayed in the list of available networks) and then I had to reconfigure them. A simple task, but noteworthy nonetheless.

It's also important to keep device compatibility in mind, the Deltaco products are in large compatible with Google Home and based off of Tuya protocol which means Tuya can control the devices, but not necessarily the other way around.

I have yet to test all the functions when being away from home, but the camera has performed above expectations. Management is done through the phone app (in my case Android).

Tech: A few thoughts on the current state of AI

The essential caveat

At this point in time, and at least in my filter bubble, there has been a lot of discussion about ChatGPT, GPT-3.5, the advancements in AI and of course the implications on humanity.

It takes a while for a person to build their own opinion and I can't say that I have fully made up my mind either. It feels like it would not be wise to take a definite stand as I simply can't know everything there is to know about AI.

The meta perspective

AI technology is not something new and nor are chatbots. Back in the days of MSN messenger for example, there were rudimentary chatbots such as SmarterChild. 

However, ChatGPT and the like offers a richer experience, the simplest of chatbots can be a "if then clause" while ChatGPT can create solid content. 

Even if technology is new, useful and cool, such as AR glasses or VR headsets they don't necessarily get adopted by everyone. There is for example a price threshold keeping people out of the VR market. Sometimes the product is impressive but simply not useful.

The mainstream use of horses was replaced with cars and trains one might say and we never went back to the older generation of technology so to speak. In the same manner I believe that these advanced chatbots will replace certain segments of the world and reinforce others.

So from a meta perspective, we might see a wider adoption rate as long as the products are free, useful and easy to use. To at least some this will be a tool to have in the toolbox and a skill to become better at.

In order to not fall behind in the rapid development of tech we need to at least use the tech as regular people, not necessarily do the programming ourselves. Ask yourself in what area of your life you can use this as a tool.

AI generated text and images

There has been AI generated images circulating the internet before and now it has reached the mainstream (again). People are rushing to explore the technology and some even try to cut out a business using this technology.

It is impressive how good some results are but it also stands clear that we still can spot the difference between what is computer generated and not. 

In regards to the role in academics we might see a conflict between the old ways and the new ways, yet new technology won't just disappear because the old ways wills it. Some might struggle a bit and focus more on detecting the use of AI while others will embrace it and make it a part of learning.

There is great the debate about how the future will look like, will AI take over? We do not know, but we see more and more how we integrate the technology into our lives and society. Not learning the basics of complementary AI is to isolate yourself from what is to come and truly make yourself vulnerable.

Those that take part and try things out will be more comfortable with the technology and will have an easier time telling the difference between the bad and the good tech.

The future

Let's say your are using this technology, perhaps just asking the chatbot to solve programming challenges or enhance your browsing experience. You are outsourcing a part of your mental activity, just like we've outsourced calculations, navigation, memories and other things that once were a natural part of our day to day lives. Don't forget that we've outsourced cleaning and washing with the helps of machines before the advanced chatbot era. Will we end up with more sparetime? What will be the next thing that we outsource? What will become of us?

We can also ponder the technological development - what happens when computers become even more efficient - such as the quantum computer, or if we attach the AI to robotic bodies that can do more than just write words and create images? What role will these things have in our ambition to move into space on a greater scale?

Windows 11: Unsupported Hardware

One of the challenges when installing Windows 11 is meeting the hardware requirements, the download itself is quite easy.

Installing Windows 11 comes with requirements such as having a compliant CPU, having secure boot and TPM 2.0.

There are many ways in which you could bypass these if you run so called unsupported hardware.

In my case the computer didn't meet any of the requirements mentioned above, but the saving grace is perhaps a good amount of storage and an i7 processor. Things could be worse I guess. 

After trying some registry modifications I was close to giving up, but eventually I found a way that worked. My HP Elitebook 2540p managed to get Windows 11 installed, despite 4GB of ram it is running surprisingly well. Even the battery life seems to have gotten better.

So this is how I installed Windows 11 on my 2540p:

 

First download the English International version of the ISO here.

 

I made sure I had downloaded the latest Rufus software to create my USB and I used a USB-drive with at least 32GB of storage. 

In Rufus I then had the option to bypass TPM check and the like, so I used these options to ignore the requirements that kept me from just installing the regular Windows 11 ISO.

After flashing the drive with the modified ISO I could then install it on my PC the usual way, but I had to activate UEFI. After that I only had to configure Windows the usual way.

Using a legit Windows activation key I was then able to use the computer normally and even perform Windows Updates. There wasn't really any bugs and only some niche settings were locked due to the old age of the computer. To some degree I even experienced better user experience with Win11 than Win10.

Live OS: Running Kali Linux from USB

When you run an operative system from a USB drive it can be referred to as running a live OS.

The OS then uses the hardware from the computer and can also save settings on the USB. When your data is saved between reboots it is called persistence. 

I used the Kali Linux Live ISO from this page. It is a 64-bit version.

First time I attempted to flash the .iso I used the tool Balena Etcher, it worked just fine until I tried to download and update packages using sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade as it was complaining about storage. I was a bit perplexed as I had at least 50 gb available.

After a while I figured out that the flashed Kali Linux Live image only was partitioned to a small part of the USB drive.

So I downloaded and ran Rufus instead, which allowed me to reserve even more "usable" space for my OS on the USB drive. This time I started running the updates and the upgrades in the terminal and it worked perfectly fine.

With both Balena Etcher and Rufus my settings were saved as I changed the looks of the OS. Keep in mind that when you boot from the USB you will get the option to start a session which will not be saved, or a persistent session which will indeed save your changes.

When you do live booting from a USB, you sometimes need to turn of the secure boot in your computers BIOS. You do that by entering the BIOS/UEFI as the computer starts up and asks you to press one of the f-keys.

Apart from now being able to use almost any computer, only by carrying your USB with you, you can also access the files that you would typically access from Windows. Thus allowing you to rescue files for example if the Windows system breaks down.

Currently I keep a USB with software that is good to have, such as a few browsers, PowerShell 7 and the like, along with a drive containing a Kali ISO that can be installed on a computer and a drive with Kali for live booting.

Windows: Clearing cache, temp files and logs

As a follow up to my previous maintenance post here are a few more advice that will help you clear out some cache primarily, it's not a way to clear much space. You might save up to a gigabyte depending on how long your computer has run without maintenance. Also check out my other post about maintenance.

The script goes as following and can be run by a normal user, it does not force the computer to delete anything that requires admin permissions in other words. So if an admin runs the script it will be even more powerful.

It will clear up logs and temp files, and then also clear the recycling bin. After which it will also clear up some cache.

$ErrorActionPreference = "SilentlyContinue"

Write-Output "Clearing DISM log..."
Get-ChildItem -Path C:\Windows\Logs\DISM | Remove-Item -Recurse

Write-Output "Clearing CBS log..."
Get-Childitem -Path C:\Windows\Logs\CBS | Remove-Item -Recurse

Write-Output "Clearing C:\Windows\Temp"
Get-ChildItem -Path C:\Windows\Temp | Remove-Item -Recurse

Write-Output "Clearing C:\...\AppData\Local\Temp"
$User = $env:username
Get-ChildItem -Path C:\Users\$User\AppData\Local\Temp | Remove-Item -Recurse

Write-Output "Clearing recycle bin"
Clear-RecycleBin -Force

Write-Output "Clearing DNS cache"
Clear-DnsClientCache

Write-Output "Resetting Microsoft Store"
wsreset
Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 700
Stop-Process -name "WinStore.App"

At the end of the script, Microsoft Store will pop up, I've included a line in the script that closes the app again, to leave the user with a more hands off execution.

You can also delete these items manually. For a manual cleanup you can also go to C:\Windows\LiveKernelReports\ and look for big .dmp files. These are dump files and can be investigated in case of a system crash for example. If you have no need to inspect these files you can delete them. I would avoid any folders or other files personally.

Enjoy!

Registry: Show detailed Windows messages

Whenever you turn your computer on or off you can see messages such as "updating, please don't turn your computer off" at the boot screen.

Sometimes your computer can get stuck here or it takes a long time and you might wonder what is happening. Using the registry you can enable more detailed status messages at the boot up or restart.

Create a .reg-file with the following information:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]

“verbosestatus”=dword:00000001

Now you can see what the computer is doing when it previously only would indicate that it was working.