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Create Locally Trusted Host SSL Development Certificates

20/04/2025

Use mkcert to making locally-trusted host development certificates that avoids browser self-certification dialog warning and requires little or no configuration

Install mkcert:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install libnss3-tools
curl -JLO "https://dl.filippo.io/mkcert/latest?for=linux/amd64"
chmod +x mkcert-v*-linux-amd64
sudo mv mkcert-v*-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/mkcert

Install the local CA:

mkcert -install

Generates and installs CA cert/key pair (rootCA-key.pem,rootCA.pem) in system trust store – $CAROOT (defaults to ~/.local/share/mkcert)
Installs local CA in the Firefox and/or Chrome/Chromium trust store (requires browser restart)

Generate certificate and key file for locally hosted website:

mkcert example.org localhost 127.0.0.1 ::1

Creates two files: example.org+3.pem (certificate) and example.org+3-key.pem (private key).

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Enable 3rd Party SSD Trim in MacOS

25/03/2025

Enabling TRIM for third-party SSDs is primarily done through the trimforce command in Terminal. Here’s a breakdown of the process and important considerations:

Understanding TRIM

  • TRIM is a command that allows the operating system to tell an SSD which data blocks are no longer in use and can be erased. This helps maintain the SSD’s performance over time.

Enabling TRIM

  • The trimforce command is the native way to enable TRIM in macOS High Sierra and later versions.

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MAC Terminal command to stop indexing external drive

24/03/2025 
sudo mdutil -i off /Volumes/YourExternalDriveName

Explanation:

  • sudo: This command requires administrator privileges to modify system settings.
  • mdutil: This is the command-line utility for managing the Metadata Server, which handles Spotlight indexing.
  • -i off: This option tells mdutil to turn off indexing.
  • /Volumes/YourExternalDriveName: This is the path to your external drive. You must replace “YourExternalDriveName” with the actual name of your drive as it appears in the Finder or in the /Volumes directory.

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Copy files with rsync on Mac

17/03/2025

Use the power of rsync to ensure file creation dates are preserved whilst copying and the ability to restart if interrupted and automatically skip files which have already been copied

MacOS does come with a version of rsync pre-installed. However, this is normally an ancient version and needs the newer version installed to get the latest features, e.g. preserve creation times option or bug fixes. Here’s how you can typically achieve this on MacOS:

    • Install Homebrew (package manager for macOS) :
      • Open Terminal.

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Manually remove a printer on a Mac

10/03/2025

Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. Open System Settings:
    • Click the Apple menu and choose System Settings.
  2. Access Printers & Scanners:
    • In the System Settings window, click on Printers & Scanners from the sidebar. You might need to scroll down to find it.
  3. Select the Printer:
    • Find the printer you want to delete in the list on the right side of the window.

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Windows Clean Install

26/02/2025

Steps to install a clean copy of Windows 10|11

  1. Audit system set-up by taking screen-shots (Windows Key + Print Screen), e.g. desktop, installed programs, …
  2. If not replacing drive create a System Image Backup to a USB drive and go to step 4
  3. Replace drive
  4. Boot latest Windows 10|11 iso version from USB
  5. Clear drive partitions
  6. Add Microsoft login account
  7. Restore Windows settings, data and apps from Onedrive
  8. Install Windows updates,

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Bypass the windows 11 installation requirements

01/02/2025
  • During the installation process, after confirming the keyboard type or before reaching the screen where it says your PC can’t run Windows 11.
  • Press Shift + F10 to open a Command Prompt window.
  • In the Command Prompt, type regedit and press Enter to open the Registry Editor. Now, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup
  • Right-click on the Setup key, select New > Key, and name it LabConfig. Inside the LabConfig key, create new DWORD (32-bit) Value entries with the following names and values:

BypassTPMCheck and set its value to 1

BypassSecureBootCheck and set its value to 1

Create BypassCPUCheck and set its value to 1

Close Registry Editor and the Command Prompt,

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Windows Slow Down Causes

27/01/2025

Windows Protection

if your computer is experiencing slowdowns, it’s possible that Windows System Protection background tasks are contributing to the issue, as they can consume system resources like CPU and Disk access while creating restore points, potentially impacting your computer’s overall performance, especially if the system is set to create restore points too frequently.

Why System Protection might slow down your computer:

Frequent restore point creation:
If your system is set to create restore points too often,

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Can’t re-enable windows defender interface after uninstalling Norton

27/01/2025

To ensure that another “Policy” has not been set, you should check this key in the Registry

“As an Administrator”

Hkey_Local_Machine\Software\Policies\Microsoft\ and select Windows Defender.

Any key in this folder other than Default is a policy that will affect the function of WD.

Expect to find DisableAntiVirus or DisableAntiSpyware. You can disable either of

these by modifying there Dword from 1 to 0. Do that by right-clicking the key name,

and select “Modify”.

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Samsung QVO vs EVO SSD

21/11/2024

Samsung QVO vs EVO SSD

QVO EVO
Lower TBW Higher TBW
TLC NAND (4 data bits/cell) TLC NAND (3 data bits/cell)
Performance same (4) Performance same (4)

Notes:

  1. The working components of SSDs do not degrade when performing read-only tasks.
  2. TLC NAND – generally speaking,

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