Thursday, September 23, 2021

What is dynamic locking in Windows 10?

 It is a security feature that locks up your computer/laptop when you are away (out of the Bluetooth range) from the computer. You can use this feature with your Bluetooth-enabled SmartPhone, Bluetooth headset, etc.

It is possible to lock the computer with Windows Key+L but the dynamic key can be useful when you forget to log out or go to sleep.

The "Dynamic Locking" feature is by default inactivated but you need to activate it.

Here are some screens that may be useful to you. I have paired my Samsung smartphone with my laptop.





What version of Windows 10 are you running on your laptop/PC presently?

 You can find it in Settings/System. Go to the very bottom of this page and look up About.

There are issues in everything, and here is a link to resolved issues for the above version:

Saturday, September 18, 2021

How to fix the error, "Error writing to temporary file. Make sure your temp folder is valid"?

 This is quite a frequent error many folks are confronted with while installing some new software.  I encountered this problem trying to install Android Studio on my Windows 10 (x64).

What is Windows 10 controlled folder access?

Controlled folder access is an anti-ransomware feature in Windows 10 that helps protect your file system on your computer from modification by suspicious or malicious apps (especially ransomware). You should find this in "System Protection"

Controlled folder access in Windows Security reviews the apps that can make changes to files in protected folders and blocks unauthorized or unsafe apps from accessing or changing files in those folders.

Access the relevant feature page in the Control Panel as follows:

Select Start  > Settings  > Update & Security  > Windows Security > Virus & threat protection.

In Virus & threat protection settings, select Manage settings.

Under Controlled folder access, select Manage Controlled folder access.

Although I could have looked through other options for managing, I wanted something which was quick to test my hunch but it cannot be a permanent solution.

I took a calculated risk. chose to switch the access to OFF temporarily. I then initiated the install process for the Android Studio and when it was installed, I switched the protection ON. 

I did not get any more notifications and the software was installed successfully.

What folders are protected?

In the above image, you can click on Protected folders to review them. Here is a partial list.



Tuesday, August 24, 2021

How do you edit Windows 'hosts' file in Windows 10?

 Windows 'hosts' file contains mappings of IP addresses to hostnames.

You can find the file in the Windows System32 folder if you run your DOS program with administrative privileges as shown.

You can open this file with Notepad also run with administrative privileges. There is another 'hosts' file related to iCalendar.

It is just a text file that you can edit and save with your changes.


More here:

https://hodentek.blogspot.com/2009/07/in-vista-home-premium-computer-name-is.html


You can also use the "Hostsman" application to edit the "hosts" file:

https://www.abelhadigital.com/hostsman/#downloads

Saturday, August 21, 2021

Is there a DNA based vaccine for the COVID-19 virus and its variants?

 One more arrow at the heart of this Wuhan virus.


"BENGALURU, Aug 20 (Reuters) - India's drug regulator has granted emergency use approval for Zydus Cadila's COVID-19 vaccine, the world's first DNA shot against the coronavirus, in adults and children aged 12 years and above." - Reuters

This is the second homegrown vaccine ( Zycov-D  ) made by the generic drug maker Cadila Health Care of India. The first one, also approved is the Covaxin. It is a needle-free vaccine that does not need very low temperatures. The late-stage trial had 28000 participants with about 1000 in the lower age group (12 to 18).


https://www.zyduscadila.com/



More here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-57774294 

https://www.axios.com/india-first-dna-covid-vaccine-f07c5105-893c-473f-8c60-8b5aaef28e5a.html

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/india-approves-zydus-cadilas-covid-19-vaccine-emergency-use-2021-08-20/

Thursday, August 19, 2021

Thursday, July 29, 2021

Is it possible to convert from .json format to .xlsx format?

 The easiest way to do this is to use Windows Powershell as described here. It is enough if you convert .json to .csv. File format .cssv can be opened with EXCEL and saved.

This is the .json file:

============

{

   "Name": "James Bond",

   "Age": "35",

   "Profession": "Professional Killer",

   "Location": "London, UK"

}

===================

This file, JamesBond.json  is saved on my desktop.

Let us say that is the code you need to convert to from .json to .csv format

Create the above text in Notepad and save it with the extension .json (default is .txt for Notepad)


Open the Windows PowerShell ISE




Type in the following code (try to see what else you can convert from and convert to in the above images):

Get-Content C:\Users\TestUser\Desktop\JamesBond.json | ConvertFrom-Json|ConvertTo-Csv

Run the code in the Windows PowerShell ISE

You will see this result:

==========================

"Name","Age","Profession","Location"

"James Bond","35","Professional Killer","London, UK"

---------------------------------

You get the answer as shown. 

This is in CSV format and this can be opened with EXCEL.


This can be saved as .xlsx or various other formats.