Daniel B's Tech Blog

In the homelab again working on converting a Linux box to a virtual machine and a popular tool to do this is VMware Converter. So while I was doing work on my main computer, I was using my laptop which is a HP EliteBook x360 1030 G2. Notably with the touch screen.
I installed VMware Converter and started it up and... Nothing. It appears that its not starting.
Run as Administrator... Nothing. Compatibility Mode with Windows 8.1... Nothing. Compatibility Mode with Windows 7.... Nothing.
So looking through the Event Viewer and I find the following error:
Faulting application name: converter.exe Faulting module name: ISD_Tablet.dll


I have seen the ISD_Tablet.dll error before on other applications and a quick Google Search found that it was related to the Wacom ISD Service. This is used for controlling the touch screen and the stylus pen that his available for this model of laptop.


Solution
Stop the Wacom ISD Service.
Stopping the service will kill the ISD_Tablet.dll and the application will now launc…

I have had a couple of these Lenovo ThinkCentre m53 computer for a while now, but I thought it would be great to be able to get more use out of them than just running Windows 10 and Ubuntu Linux bare metal, and install a hypervisor.
Out of the box, these units aren't supported by VMware to install vSphere ESXi. But this is a challenge I was up for today.


System SpecificationsThese are the specifications of the unit that I will be using in this guide. There are some variants to this model and your experience may differ.
ProcessorIntel Pentium Processor J2900
2M Cache, 2.41GHz, up to 2.66GHz burst frequencyForm factorTiny desktopOnboard SATA1 x SATA 3.0Gb/s controller
1 x connector on planarHard driveKingston 2.5" SATA, 6.0Gb/s, 128GB SSD (Non-Standard) Chassis Dimensions
(W x D x H) 179 x 182 x 34.5 mmPower supply65W, autosensing, 88% PSUAudio supportHD Audio, Realtek® ALC283 codecSpeakerInternal speaker for business audio (1.5 watt)Wireless11b/g/n wireless, PCIe Half Mini Card, Real…

An issue I noticed that while working from home during this crazy COVID-19 period was that on my home computer I wasn't presented with the option for Background Blur or Effects. Today I decided to dig deeper to see what's going on.

Clearing cache - no fix.
Log off and Log on - no fix.
Uninstall and reinstall - no fix.

My computer at the office worked fine so it wasn't a tenant setting so what is going on?

CPU Support
It turns out Microsoft Team requires CPUs with Advanced Vector Extension 2 (AVX2) support to perform the Background Blur and Background Effects rendering. Without this support, the features will not be available to you.

AVX2 is supported by PCs that have a post-Haswell chipset on Intel CPUs.

Turns out my computer is too old and only supports AVX[1].



How to find if your CPU supports AVX2?
The easiest method for me was to download and run Speccy.

This is a nice fee utility that give you great detail of your hardware, from CPU, RAM, etc.
Using the CPU informatio…

I recently had to replace a few parts in my PC and thought that my Windows 10 activation through the Microsoft Account would be enough. However it wasn't.



I went through Microsoft Support to get it reactivated. However as the original build was done through the free upgrade, the PC had changed too much to be considered the same computer for a reactivation. When speaking to the engineer they asked me for a Windows 7 key since the original computer was upgraded. Luckily I had a key available.

This command allows you to enter a Windows 7 Product Key to activate Windows 10.
It will work as long as it it is a matching edition of Windows (e.g. Windows 7 Pro to Windows 10 Pro).


slui 3
This has worked a couple of times for me now. See if it works for you.

Our work is using Microsoft Teams more and more lately and a new feature that has been turned on was Shifts for Microsoft Teams.


There is a feature (at time of writing) that allows you to Export the Shifts schedule to a Excel spreadsheet.



However, with the current version of Shifts there are some interfaces that are missing or lacking. For example, when you do this Export of the schedule, there are no prompts. None. Nothing to ask when you where to save the file, nor that the export was completed.

So after some digging I have found out that, when you do an export, the Excel file is save to your default Downloads folder.

It should be clearer that this is happening, and hopefully they fix this up and make it more obvious in future versions.

Thanks to this forum thread for the answer.

Only a small issue back it took me a while to figure out what was happening.

While I was playing PlayerUnknown's BattleGrounds [PUBG], the back light on the keyboard kept turning off. Any attempt to turn it back on would immediately turn off again.

This appeared to only occur when I had the Logitech Gaming Software utility installed.

Digging around the internet, there didn't seem to be much of a solution but one.

How to disable Illumination Control
Open the Logitech Gaming Software

Go to Settings



Untick "Allow games to control illumination"



Click OK

I couldn't find any better settings in the software to control what the lighting did specifically during each game or in PUBG. Hopefully, Logitech will one day update their software to allow better more customized control for this keyboard.

It is never been easier to get hold of Microsoft software than it is now.

Previously getting access to ISO Disc Images was either part of the TechNet or MSDN subscription. But now anyone can get them for free.



Microsoft Evaluation Center
For the latest of Microsoft software, I highly recommend the Microsoft Evaluation Center. Here you can download all the latest Microsoft Software for Free. All you need is a Microsoft Account.

All software downloaded can be run with no restrictions for a few months. After which you're expected to either activate with a license or turn off.

Software includes:

Windows 10Microsoft ServerOffice 365Microsoft Officeand other products
Go to Microsoft Evaluation Centre

Windows 10
Since the release of Windows 10, people are able to download a ISO file using the Media Creation Tool. This will allow you to download the latest release of Windows 10 to USB, ISO Image file or directly upgrade the computer to are running it from.

Download Here

Windows 8
Most peopl…