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Operating Systems

How to Convert Windows Server 2022 from Evaluation to Full Edition

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Motivation:

  • You installed Windows Server 2022 Evalution and now want to upgrade to the full edition.
  • However, when you tried changing the product key through the Activation settings, you encountered an error.

Solution:

  1. Open Command Prompt (Admin).
  2. Execute the command below. 
    Dism /online /Set-Edition:ServerStandard /ProductKey:XXXX-XXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX /AcceptEula
  3. Restart your computer.
  4. Open Command Prompt (Admin) again.
  5. Execute the commands below. 
    slmgr.vbs /ipk XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
slmgr /ato

 

Technologies

How to Install Only Outlook from Microsoft 365 Suite

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Problem:

  • You already have Office 2007 with license key. However Office 365 email service does not work with Outlook 2007.
  • You have to use Outlook 365 to connect to Office 365 email service.
  • However you still want to use Word, Excel and Power Point 2007 because you do not have to log in Office 365 account for activation and you want to avoid accidential uploading files to your Office 365 account.
  • You also still want to use Word, Excel and Power Point 2007 because of their speed and the ability to paste an image to center of a slide.
  • In summary, you wish to install Outlook 365 only.

Solution:

  1. Download Office Deployment Tool.
  2. Extract the exe file to C:\Users\admin\Downloads\O365. (Replace admin with your Windows username.)
  3. Copy configuration-Office365-x64.xml to outlook.xml.
  4. Modify the content of the outlook.xml file as below. 
    <Configuration>

  <Add SourcePath="C:\Users\admin\Downloads\O365" OfficeClientEdition="32" Channel="Current">
    <Product ID="O365ProPlusRetail">
      <Language ID="en-us" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Access" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Bing" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Excel" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Groove" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Lync" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="OneDrive" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="OneNote" />
      <!--  <ExcludeApp ID="Outlook" /> -->
      <ExcludeApp ID="PowerPoint" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Publisher" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Teams" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Word" />
    </Product>
  </Add>

  <!--  <Updates Enabled="TRUE" Channel="Current" /> -->

  <!--  <Display Level="None" AcceptEULA="TRUE" />  -->

  <!--  <Property Name="AUTOACTIVATE" Value="1" />  -->

</Configuration>
  5. Open Command Prompt (Admin).
  6. Execute the commands below. 
    cd C:\Users\admin\Downloads\O365
setup.exe /download outlook.xml
setup.exe /configure outlook.xml
  7. If you have any issues with the steps then recheck Microsoft guide.
  8. You may also use online Office Customization Tool to to create a configuration file and download it for using with the Office Deployment Tool.

Increasing Classic Outlook font size:

  1. On the File tab, choose Options > Mail.
  2. Under Compose messages, choose Stationery and Fonts.
  3. On the Personal Stationery tab, under New mail messages or Replying or forwarding messages, choose Font.
  4. Refer to Microsoft guide for more information.

Creating Classic Outlook signatures:

  1. On the File tab, choose Options > Mail.
  2. Under Compose messages, choose Signature.

 

Tech Devices

How to Sync Content between your MacBook and iPhone over Wi-Fi

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Motivation:

You want to sync content between your MacBook and iPhone over Wi-Fi.

    Solution:
    1. Connect your iPhone to your MacBook using a USB or USB-C cable.
    2. In the Finder on your MacBook, select iPhone in the Finder sidebar.
    3. Click General tab in the button bar.
    4. Select the Show this iPhone when on Wi-Fi checkbox.
    5. Click Sync button.
    6. Unplug your iPhone from your MacBook.
    7. Restart both devices.
    8. From now on, when your iPhone and MacBook connect to the same Wi-Fi you will see your iPhone device in the Finder sidebar, and you can sync content between them without having to use a cable.
    9. Sometimes if your MacBook cannot find your iPhone then just restart your MacBook and it will find your iPhone device again.

     

     

    Tech Devices

    How to Transfer Data from iPhone to iPhone without using iCloud

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    Motivation:

    You want to transfer all your data from your old iPhone to your new one without using iCloud.

    Prerequisites:
    1. Your iPhones must run iOS 16.2 or later (i.e. iPhone 5S or later)
    2. Your iPhones must have Bluetooth enabled.
      Solution:
      1. Plug your old and new iPhone in.
      2. Place them next to one another.
      3. Turn on your old iPhone, connect to the Internet, enable Bluetooth.
      4. Turn on your new iPhone.
      5. On your new iPhone, choose your language, then select your country or region, then tap on Continue on Apperance screen.
      6. On your old iPhone, you should see a pop-up screen asking if you want to ‘Use your Apple ID [[email protected]] to set up your new iPhone’. Tap Continue.
      7. Pick up your old iPhone and position the camera view so it overlaps with the circular blue pattern that appears on your new iPhone. Aternatively you can select manual authentication and enter code generated on your old iPhone to your new iPhone.
      8. On your new iPhone, follow the instructions on the screen to transfer data from your old iPhone to your new iPhone.
      9. The transfer process is complete when you see Transfer Complete message on your old iPhone.
      10. It will then take some time to download apps to your new iPhone.
      11. On your old iPhone, open Microsoft Authenticator app if you are using it. Open Settings. Then enter your personal Microsoft account to act as your Recovery account. Then enable iCloud Backup.
      12. On your new iPhone, delete Microsoft Authenticator app. Then reinstall it. Open MS Authenticator app. Select Restore from backup option. Log in your personal Microsoft account. For some accounts, you may need to manually tap Action required  and follow the instructions to complete the transfer.
      13. On your old iPhone, open Google Authenticator app if you are using it. Tap three bars on the top left. Then tap Transfer accounts. Then tap Export accounts. Tap Next.
      14. On your new iPhone, open Google Authenticator app. Tap three bars on the top left. Then tap Transfer accounts. Then tap Import accounts. Tap Scan QR code. Hold your phone on the QR code on your old iPhone for a minute.

       

       

       

       

      Software Construction

      How to Use MSBuild

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      1. Fixing “Microsoft.WebApplication.targets was not found” issue.
        • Download vs_BuildTools.exe.
        • Open Command Prompt.
        • Execute the command below. 
          vs_BuildTools.exe --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.
Workload.WebBuildTools --passive
        • Open .csproj or .vbproj file using Notepad.
        • Find Project element and set 
          <Project DefaultTargets="Build" ToolsVersion="17.0">
        • Find VisualStudioVersion element and set 
          <VisualStudioVersion Condition="'$(VisualStudioVersion)' == ''">17.0</VisualStudioVersion>
        • Find Import Project=”$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32) … Microsoft.WebApplication.targets text and set 
          <Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath32)\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v17.0\WebApplications\Microsoft.WebApplication.targets" Condition="false" />

           

         

        2. Finding build errors.
        • Execute the command below. 
          "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\BuildTools\MSBuild\Current\Bin\MSBuild.exe" /property:Configuration=Release "YourSolution.sln" -restore -p:RestorePackagesConfig=true > Build.log

           

        • Open Build.log file and search for “errors” text.

         

        Technologies

        How to Log in Windows Safe Mode

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        Motivation:

        • You get a blank screen after installing graphic driver on Windows 11 (e.g. Intel HD Graphics 520 graphic driver).
        • So you want to log in Windows safe mode to remove or disable the installed graphic driver.

        Solution:

        1. Turn on your computer.
        2. When you see the Windows logo and circle progress, press the Power button and hold it for 10 seconds. You computer will be turned off.
        3. Turn on your computer again.
        4. When you see the Windows logo, if you do not see Preparing Automatic Repair or Please Wait message then press the Power button and hold it for 10 seconds again.
        5. Repeat the 3rd and 4th step until you see Preparing Automatic Repair or Please Wait message.
        6. Click Advanced options button.
        7. Click Troubleshoot button.
        8. Click Advanced options button.
        9. Click Startup Settings button.
        10. Click Restart button.
        11. Press number 4 or number 5 to enter Windows safe mode.

        Solution for graphic driver issue:

        This solution is useful when you want to use your computer as a server without proper Intel HD Graphics 520 graphic driver and control your computer via remote desktop connection.

        1. Log in Windows safe mode without networking.
        2. Install the latest graphic driver.
        3. Open Device Manager.
        4. Disable graphic driver.
        5. Log in Windows normal mode.
        6. Open Device Manager.
        7. Right click your display adapter and select Update driver.
        8. Select Browse my computer for drivers option.
        9. Select Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer option.
        10. Select Microsoft Basic Display Adapter.
        11. Enable graphic driver.
        12. Restart your machine.

         

         

        Technologies

        How to Combine an Image and Audio File to Video File

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        Motivation:

        • You have a JPG and WAV file. You want to combine them to a FLV file in order to upload it to YouTube without losing audio quality.
        • You have a JPG and MP3 file. You want to combine them to a MP4 file in order to upload it to YouTube.

        Combining JPG and WAV to FLV:

        1. Download ffmpeg.
        2. Unzip the downloaded package to C:\Users\admin\Downloads\ffmpeg-7.0.1-essentials_build folder.
        3. Copy your image.jpg and audio.wav file to C:\Users\admin\Downloads\ffmpeg-7.0.1-essentials_build/bin folder.
        4. Open Command Prompt.
        5. Execute the commands below. 
          cd C:\Users\admin\Downloads\ffmpeg-7.0.1-essentials_build\bin
ffmpeg -r 1 -loop 1 -i image.jpg -i audio.wav -acodec copy -r 1 -shortest -vf scale=1280:720 output.flv
        6. Open output.flv file to verify result.
        7. Upload ouput.flv file to YouTube.

        Combining JPG and MP3 to MP4:

        1. Download ffmpeg.
        2. Unzip the downloaded package to C:\Users\admin\Downloads\ffmpeg-7.0.1-essentials_build folder.
        3. Copy your image.jpg and audio.mp3 file to C:\Users\admin\Downloads\ffmpeg-7.0.1-essentials_build/bin folder.
        4. Open Command Prompt.
        5. Execute the commands below. 
          ffmpeg -loop 1 -framerate 1 -i image.jpg -i audio.mp3 -map 0 -map 1:a -c:v libx264 -preset ultrafast -tune stillimage -vf fps=10,format=yuv420p -c:a copy -shortest output.mp4
        6. Open output.mp4 file to verify result.
        7. Upload output.mp4 file to YouTube.

         

         

         

        iOS Programming

        Xcode Tips

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        1. Get 5.5 inch iPhone screenshots for submission

        • Open Xcode.
        • Go to Settings > Platforms.
        • Click + button.
        • Click iOS… menu item.
        • Select iOS15.5 Simulator.
        • Click Download & Install button.
        • Go to Windows > Devices and Simulators.
        • Click + button.
        • Enter iPhone 8 Plus to Simulator Name.
        • Select iPhone 8 Plus for Device Type.
        • Select iOS 15.5 for OS Version.
        • Click Create button.