Tag Archives: windows

Preparatory Steps for Migrating 32-bit Microsoft Access Application to Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Express Backend

Something I had to do recently, so notes follow.

  1. Install Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Express.
  2. Install 32-bit version of Microsoft Access Database Engine 2016 Redistributable (if you are using older office, use 2010 version of database engine redistributable). If you are getting an error, that Office 16 Click-to-Run Extensibility Component 64-bit Registration prevents 32-bit Office installation – follow these steps.
  3. Install 32-bit version of Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant for Access.
  4. Install SQL Server Management Studio.
  5. Create a new database and add users using SQL Server Management Studio.
  6. Run Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant for Access, do a migration (do not migrate queries) and relink tables to use a new SQL Server database.
  7. Note the errors in converting tables.
  8. And the hard part: fix your Access frontend.

Disabling Firefox’s DNS Over HTTPS via Windows Group Policy

  1. Download Group Policy templates for your Firefox version here
  2. Copy *.admx files to C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions
  3. Copy *.adml files to from en-US to C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions\en-US (or other language folder if applicable and available)
  4. Launch gpedit.msc (gpedit.msc is not available on Home versions of Windows, if you have that, I recommend using third party Group Policy editor like PolicyPlus)
  5. Navigate to Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Mozilla -> Firefox -> DNS Over HTTPS
  6. “Enabled” -> Disabled; “Locked” -> Enabled.

Įrankis greitai ir paprastai paieškai Windows operacinėje sistemoje

Integruota failų paieška šiuolaikinėse Windows operacinėse sistemose yra ganėtinai apgailėtina – lėta, dažnai ieškanti nežinia ko, ir sunkiai konfigūruojama. Vienas paprastesnių būdų ją pataisyti/apeiti yra naudoti Voidtools sukurtą įrankį Everything (1 pav.), kuris per kelias sekundes suindeksuoja NTFS failų sistema formatuotus diskus (į indeksą galima įtraukti ir nutolusius/tinklo diskus). Paieška yra momentali, konfigūruojama, palaikanti pakaitos simbolius.

1 pav. Everything paieška

Prevent hard disk drive from sleeping/spinning down/power saving

Modern hard drives have this annoying power saving feature of spinning down when disk is not in use for a couple of minutes. This often results in a few seconds pause when accessing files, game freezing until disk spins up and so on.

To fix it, first thing you wanna check is a setting Turn off hard disk after in advanced power options (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1 Advanced power settings

Make sure it is set to 0. After saving settings, give it a go – if it helps, then great, problem solved. However usually this is not enough, because modern HDD’s have hardware level power saving features which ignore this Windows setting. My go-to tool to prevent drives from sleeping is CrystalDiskInfo (just get Standard edition). Upon installing it, select Function -> Advanced Feature -> AAM/APM Control from top bar menu, select your hard drive(s) and click on Disable under Automatic Acoustic Management (AAM) and Advanced Power Management (APM) sections (if applicable) (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2 AAM/APM Control

Then check option Function -> Advanced Feature  -> Auto AAM/APM Adapation. Lastly check Function -> Startup to make CrystalDiskInfo run on Windows logon (Fig. 3).

Fig 3. Menu