Disable Windows 10 Update Pesky Notifications

On Win7, here are steps I did to remove this painful Win10 update notification that kept popping up due to an implicit (not invited) windows update, Accidentally enabling Windows Update caused MS to install this pesky troll on my machine and Im sure U may encounter the same (I am not sure if Win8 although I assume is the same) on a Win8(.x) box:

1. Go to C:\Windows\System32\GWX take ownership to urself/admin account
2. Set permissions to Full Control Everyone
3. Kill any GWX.exe process via task manager or akin,
4. Rename the folder C:\Windows\System32\GWX to C:\Windows\System32\GWX.old\
5. Delete the Tasks under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Schedule\TaskCache\Tasks
- backup of course this reg key
- search for *gwx*
- delete subkeys
See here for more details
6. Delete C:\Windows\System32\GWX.old\

Online Encrypt - Decrypt Tools

Need to quickly encrypt a message with decrypt options for later with multuple algorithms?
Check this:
http://www.tools4noobs.com/online_tools/decrypt/

Write to Event Log: Examples in C#, CMD, SQL, PS1, WMI

Couple ways to log to event log, then we can use simple filtering and alerts in EvtViewer to create a quick and dirty notification sub-system in case we dont have time to implement notifications in an app or we are using an existing app such as a COTS product, See here

Log to Event Log using:

CMD 
using eventcreate:
eventcreate /ID 755 /L APPLICATION /T INFORMATION  /SO BACKUP /D "My first log"

C# System.Diagnostics

 System.Diagnostics.EventLog.WriteEntry(source,
                        message,
                        ConvertTraceType(type),
                        eventId);

c# MS App Blocks

Logger.Write(message, LogSources.CheckSource(source), Priority.Normal, eventId, type, title, dictionary);

Logger.Write(ex, LogSources.DefaultSource(), Priority.High,
                    eventid, TraceEventType.Error, title , dictionary);

PS check source, create 

if ([System.Diagnostics.EventLog]::SourceExists($mysource) -eq $false) {
    [System.Diagnostics.EventLog]::CreateEventSource($mysource, "Application")

}

PS  log

Write-EventLog -LogName "Application" -Source $mysource -EntryType Information -EventID 100 -Message "Start logging!"

Write-EventLog –LogName Application –Source “My Script” –EntryType Information –EventID 1
 –Message “This is a test message.”

WMI

strEventDescription = "Payroll application could not be installed on " _ 
    & objNetwork.UserDomain & "\" & objNetwork.ComputerName _ 
        & " by user " & objNetwork.UserName & _
            ". Free space on each drive is: " & strDriveSpace
objShell.LogEvent EVENT_FAILED, strEventDescription

SQL (T-SQL)

  DECLARE @msg VARCHAR(100) 
    SELECT @msg = ERROR_Message()

    RAISERROR(@msg, 11, 1) WITH LOG

-- OR
USE master;
EXEC xp_logevent 60000, @@MESSAGE, informational

C# Ent Logging Detail:

public void EntLoggingTest03()
        {
            try
            {
                LogEntry entry = new LogEntry();
                //entry.ActivityIdString = "ActivityIdString";
                entry.AppDomainName = "AppDomainName";
                //entry.Categories.Add("DTech Data Services NOC Services");
                entry.Categories.Add(SOURCE);
                //entry.ErrorMessages = "ErrorMessages";
                entry.EventId = (int)LogEventID.FileRouterEventID.FileRouterError;
                Dictionary<string, object> dictionary = new Dictionary<string, object>();
                dictionary.Add("ZipFile", "1.zip");
                dictionary.Add("ZipURI", @"C:\Tamepo");
                entry.ExtendedProperties = dictionary;
                //entry.LoggedSeverity = "LoggedSeverity";
                entry.MachineName = "Me";
                entry.Message = "a msg";
                entry.Priority = 1;
 
                entry.ProcessName = "DTech.Util.Data.Test?";
                entry.Severity = TraceEventType.Warning;
 
                Logger.Write(entry);
 
                //                throw new ArgumentException("InsertEventLogErrorTest00 EXCEPTION");
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
 
                handleException(ex);
            }
            Assert.IsTrue(true);
        }

How to use EntLib (old directions)

 /// 1) Download April or May 2007 Enterprise Lib : 
    ///     URL : http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa480453.aspx

    ///     
    /// Steps to use Ent Lib Logging!
    /// 1) Open your or add an app.config to your app.
    /// 2) Add Reference to 
    ///     Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Logging (C:\Program Files\Microsoft Enterprise Library 3.0 - April 2007\Bin\)
    ///     Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Common.dll: (C:\Program Files\Microsoft Enterprise Library 3.0 - April 2007\Bin\)
    ///     Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Data.dll: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Enterprise Library 3.0 - April 2007\Bin\
    /// 3) Open your App.Config and the App.Config from this app (DTech.Logging.Test.config)
    /// 4) Copy the following from this app's App.config to your App.config
    ///         - /configuration/configSections 
    ///         - /configuration/loggingConfiguration
    ///  5) Open the Ent Lib Config Tool: EntLibConfig.exe : "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Enterprise Library 3.0 - April 2007\Bin\
    ///         - Open your app.config and go to Logginng Application Block|Category Sources

    ///  6) You are now done and your app is ready to use the Entreprise Library Logging Block!
    ///  
    /// Why should you use Ent Lib for Logging?
    /// 1) Saves time
    /// 2) Easy to use
    /// 3) Change logging destination without change to code
    /// 4) Only need to reference 3 dll's to work
    /// 5) Log to DB and Event log with ease
    /// 6) Consistent and stable design
    /// 7) Your app will have an automatic UI to manage your config file.
    /// 8) Administration of Logging Destination via Rich UI, no need to change code
    /// 9) Extensible

Private Cloud: How to use our home cloud

I ended up getting a 4TB Sea-gate cloud NAS (Network Attached Device) after a somewhat arduous setup, which included setting up the private shares and remote access, I got the opportunity to start adding the shares for our home network, To make it easier for the family, I have create the following simple guide and video for the family which shows set by step how to access the cloud from you home computer,

A summary of the steps is as follows:

Access Cloud from Home Computer:
1) Open windows explorer
2) Click Network
3) Click DoyleCloud
4) You will see a folder with your name (Private Share) and a Public folder.
5) To access your private share, click on the folder and you will be prompted with network login,
this where you will enter your network cloud login for example :
User Name: DoyleCloud\Jadon
Password: #####\

Here is a link to a video that shows step by step:

Access Cloud from Web (on the road)
1. Browse to https://remoteaccess.tappin.com/login
2. Enter your remote cloud login
3. You can now access your private folder and Public share !
4. You will see the below screen (should)