Ianis Dumitrescu - Askit | Solutii si rezolvari pentru diverse situatii IT

5 reasons you should finally set up Pi-hole

Posted 03 July 2026
By Ianis Dumitrescu
-1
17

When you use a browser extension to block ads, you’re only protecting that specific browser on that specific device. Pi-hole filters tracking and ad domains at the DNS level, which means it covers your phones, laptops, and—most importantly—your IoT devices, which are notoriously insecure

You can’t install an ad blocker on a smart TV or other smart appliance, but you can stop those devices from phoning home to tracking servers by blocking their requests before they have a chance to reach the internet. If you have a ton of smart devices, and you don’t like the idea of them all sending data home, a DNS filter like a Pi-hole is the most efficient way to block them.

Keep in mind that DNS blocking does have limits. It can’t stop every tracker, and it won’t stop ads that originate from the same source as your content, like YouTube.

It creates an extra security layer against malicious domains

Beyond just removing ads, Pi-hole serves as a network-wide safety layer. By using carefully-selected blocklists, your Pi-hole can stop connections to domains tied to malware, phishing schemes, and command-and-control servers before the connection is even established.

This is particularly valuable if you have family members who aren’t as tech-savvy or if you have unmanaged devices that don’t have their own reliable security suites. While DNBS filtering is a significant layer of protection, you can’t treat it as a total replacement for good security habits. It is an extra complementary layer to your existing defenses, not a replacement. You still need to update the firmware of your devices and ensure your antivirus is updated regularly.

Diagnostics into your network traffic

One of the most interesting moments I’ve ever had using a Pi-hole came when I first started looking at all the traffic originating from the devices on my network. A Pi-hole logs and visualizes DNS queries, showing you which devices are contacting which domains and how often they do it. I’d always cynically believed it was happening a lot in the background, but the true scope of it still caught me off guard.

If you’ve ever wondered why your “smart” lightbulbs are constantly communicating with a server in another country, this is where you find out. It makes chatty apps and misbehaving IoT devices that would otherwise remain invisible extremely noticeable. If you want to keep an eye on your network, it is a great tool.

The trade-off here is transparency: because the query logs are so revealing, anyone with access to the Pi-hole dashboard can see the browsing patterns of the entire household. You don’t need to buy an expensive server to run a Pi-hole. Pi-hole is lightweight enough to run on a Raspberry Pi, an old laptop, a NAS, or even as a container in Docker on your main PC.

If you have a spare Pi or an old machine collecting dust in a closet, there’s really no reason to wait. The only real downside is that, because the Pi-hole handles your DNS, it becomes an irreplaceable link in the chain; if it goes down, your devices will lose their ability to resolve web addresses until you fix the problem.

You can run two Pi-holes to mitigate failure risks

The biggest reason people hesitate to set up Pi-hole is the fear of “breaking the internet” for the entire network. If the one device running Pi-hole goes down, your DNS stops working, and the internet will largely be inaccessible.

You can prevent that problem by running a second instance of Pi-hole. By running two Pi-holes, you ensure that if one fails, the other can take over, keeping your network online. While setting up a second instance requires more effort to keep them in sync, it goes a long way to solving the most annoying problem you could run into with a Pi.

With a Pi-hoe, you get improved privacy, better security, and a great view of your network activity that is useful for diagnostics and privacy.

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5 Windows habits that were sabotaging my Linux experience

Posted 03 July 2026
By Ianis Dumitrescu
2
52

Switching to Linux isn’t just about the software or the operating system, it is about how a new ecosystem feels and acts, especially if your habits from Windows don’t translate well to a new operating system. Whenever I needed a new application on Windows, my first instinct was to get on the internet and manually search for an application that does what I want. Then I’d just download the application and install it.

You can do that on Linux—there are all sorts of portable apps available, but you’d be missing out on one of Linux’s best features: the package managers. Package managers handle automatic updates, usually prevent duplicative installations, and make installation a one-click affair.

When you switch to Linux, don’t try to manually download and install everything. Lean on your distro’s package manager or Flathub instead. You’ll save yourself a ton of time.

Make your Linux system awesome with these seven Flatpaks.

Running everything as administrator

On Windows, habitually clicking through UAC prompts built the habit of automatically running everything as admin with full permissions. It isn’t a great habit on any operating system, but it is especially a problem on Linux.

Whenever you run something as root on Linux, you give yourself near-total freedom to do whatever you want. It does mean you won’t encounter much resistance whenever you run a command, but it also means that you’ll completely bypass many of Linux’s innate integrity and security features.

At worst, you could carelessly delete some critical files required by your operating system, rendering your PC inoperable until you perform a repair or reinstallation. The better approach is to log in as a standard user and only elevate your privileges with sudo for specific commands that actually require it.

It is slightly slower than just operating as root 24/7, but it is immensely more secure, and you can be sure an errant keystroke won’t crash your PC.

Ignoring the terminal out of fear

The overwhelming majority of the time I used Windows, I was using the GUI. The command-line interfaces just didn’t offer enough in my day-to-day use to justify using them over the GUI.

LInux, on the other hand, is very different. Even though the user interfaces have progressed in leaps and bounds, all Linux distros still shine when you use the command-line interface as part of your regular routine. Things that would be difficult or cumbersome to do with the UI (even on Windows) can often be accomplished with a succinct command on Linux.

Unfortunately, it actually took me a few months of using Linux to warm up to the terminal, and in those days, the relative usefulness of the terminal was even better than it is today.

If you’re new to Linux, I’d recommend diving right in to the Terminal from day one. You don’t need to exclusively control your PC that way, but it quickly becomes obvious why so many Linux fans come to love it—it is a fantastic way to control your PC. Try starting with basic file system navigation commands like ls, pwd, cd, rm and a few others. Once you have those down, everything else will be a lot easier.

Hiding from updates

Many people defer Windows Updates for weeks because the process is intrusive and has a remarkable talent for forcing reboots at the worst possible time. If you treat Linux updates with that same kind of skepticism, you’re missing out.

Linux is much more gracious about letting you choose when you want to download and install updates. Despite that, I tend to update more frequently on Linux than I do on Windows. The updates on most distros (with the potential exception of bleeding-edge distros) are very stable and never deliver AI-laden bloat.

Frequent updates also minimize your chances of accidentally getting a broken dependency chain, which can be annoying to fix if the automated tool is unable to resolve it.

Hoarding files on the desktop and a single drive

My Windows PC has almost no organization to speak of. Files either live in the downloads folder forever, or they get moved to the desktop. Eventually, the files and folders on the desktop become stale, and I move them into a separate catch-all folder on my desktop that holds all the other old files and folders that I don’t need.

It is the digital equivalent of one huge disorganized stack of papers in a desk drawer and another big pile haphazardly sprawling across the surface of the desk.

Linux, while it can tolerate that kind of disorganization, is better when you take the time to organize a bit. Fortunately, there is already a folder that serves as a place to put everything—the home folder. The only real change was building the habit of putting everything into unique folders in the home folder.

I’ve found that organization to be especially helpful since Linux tends to lean on the command-line more than Windows. Navigating through a half-dozen consciously named folders with a GUI is one thing, it is quite another using Terminal. It is much easier to consistently type /home/folder1/subfolder2 or ~/project_3 than deal with a disorganized whirlwind of files.

I spent the better part of two months doggedly trying to use Linux exactly like Windows. It was frustrating and unworkable. Despite how similar many desktop environments look and feel to Windows, Linux isn’t Windows. After my initial adjustment period, however, I found that I actually prefer the Linux approach most of the time. Not only is it very efficient, it really goes a long way to enforcing better security practices, which is essential in the modern digital landscape.

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How to use System Restore on Windows 10 and Windows 11

Posted 02 June 2026
By Ianis Dumitrescu
7
158

When something goes wrong on your system as a result of a bad piece of software — maybe an app you installed, or a driver that broke something important — it can be hard to fix. System Restore lets you restore your Windows installation back to its last working state.

It does this by creating “restore points” every so often. Restore points are snapshots of your Windows system files, certain program files, registry settings, and hardware drivers. You can create a restore point at any time, though Windows automatically creates a restore point once per week. It also creates a restore point right before a major system event, like installing a new device driver, app, or running Windows update.

Then, if something goes wrong, you can run System Restore and point it to a recent restore point. It will reinstate those system settings, files, and drivers, returning your underlying Windows system to that earlier state.

This can be really useful when troubleshooting certain types of problems. For example, if you install a device driver that makes your computer unstable, you’ll want to uninstall that driver. However, in some cases, the driver may not uninstall properly, or it may damage system files when you uninstall it. If you use System Restore and select a restore point that was created before you installed the driver, this can restore your system files to the previous state before any problem occurred.

Windows Restore can also be really useful for undoing the damage caused by a misbehaving app or Windows update. Sometimes, apps and updates can cause problems with other apps or even system components, and simply uninstalling the app might not reverse the damage. Restoring to a point before the app was installed, however, can often clear up the problem.

System Restore is different than making backups — it specifically works on the underlying Windows system, rather than everything on your hard drive. As such, System Restore does not save old copies of your personal files as part of its snapshot. It also will not delete or replace any of your personal files when you perform a restoration. So don’t count on System Restore as working like a backup. That isn’t what it’s intended for. You should always have a good backup procedure in place for all your personal files.

When you restore your PC to an earlier restore point, any apps you installed after that point will get uninstalled. Apps that were installed when that restore point was created will still be in place. Apps that you uninstalled after making that restore point will get restored, but with a very big caveat. Since System Restore only restores certain types of files, programs that get restored often won’t work — or at least, work properly until you re-run their installers.

Windows does let you see exactly what programs will be affected when you go through the process, but it’s a good idea to restore to the most recent restore point possible to minimize problems with apps. It’s also a good idea to create manual restore points before you undertake big installations or settings changes so that you know you can revert to a very recent restore point if you need to.

System Restore is not a good solution for removing viruses or other malware. Since malicious software is typically buried within all kinds of places on a system, you can’t rely on System Restore being able to root out all parts of the malware. Instead, you should rely on a quality virus scanner that you keep up to date.

For many people, System Restore protection is turned on by default for your main system drive (C:) and not other drives on your PC. For others, System Restore is not enabled by default for any drives. Right now, there’s no consensus for why this happens. It does not appear related to whether Windows was installed fresh or upgraded, how much disk space you have available, what type of drives you have, or anything else we can figure out.

If you want to be protected by System Restore, you should absolutely turn it on for at least your system drive. In most cases, that’s all you need, since all the things System Restore protects tend to be located on the system drive anyway. If you want to turn on System Restore protection for other drives — say, for example, you install some programs to a different drive — you can do that too.

To make sure System Restore is turned on — and to enable it for specific drives — hit Start, type “restore,” and then click “Create a restore point.” Don’t worry. This doesn’t actually create a restore point; it just opens the dialog where you can get to all the System Restore options.

On the “System Protection” tab, in the “Protection Settings” section, you’ll see the available drives on your PC and whether protection is enabled for each drive. To turn on protection, select a drive on the list and click the “Configure” button. (In our case, System Restore was already enabled for our C: drive. If it isn’t on your system, that’s the first drive you’ll probably want to enable it for.)

In the “System Protection” dialog that opens, click the “Turn on system protection” option, adjust the “Max Usage” slider to the amount of hard drive space you want System Restore to be able to use, and then click “OK”.

You can then click “OK” again to exit the System Properties dialog. Just be aware that when Windows creates a restore point (or you create one manually), System Restore will create a restore point on all the drives that have system protection enabled.

As we mentioned earlier, System Restore automatically creates restore points on a week, and whenever a major event like an application or driver installation happens. You can also create a restore point yourself whenever you want. Hit Start, type “restore,” and then click “Create a restore point.” On the “System Protection” tab, click the “Create” button.

Type a description for your restore point that will help you remember why you created it and then click “Create”. It can take 30 seconds or so to create a restore point, and System Restore will let you know when it’s done. Click “Close”.

Okay, so you have System Restore enabled, and you’ve been diligent about creating restore points whenever you mess with your system. Then, one fateful day, the inevitable happens — something goes wonky with your system, and you want to restore to an earlier restore point.

You’ll start the restore process from the same “System Protection” tab where you configure System Restore options. Hit Start, type “restore,” and then click “Create a restore point.” On the “System Protection” tab, click the “System Restore” button.

The welcome page of the System Restore wizard just gives you a brief description of the process. Click “Next” to go on.
The next page shows you the available restore points. By default, the only thing showing will probably be the automatic weekly restore point and any manual restore points you’ve created. Select the “Show more restore points” option to see any automatic restore points created before app or driver installations.
Select the restore point you want — remember, the most recent working restore point is ideal — and then click “Scan for affected programs” to have System Restore detect any programs that will be uninstalled during the process.

System Restore will present you with two lists. The top list shows you programs and drivers that will be deleted if you restore Windows to the selected restore point. The bottom list shows programs and drivers that might be restored by the process. Again, even programs and drivers that get restored might not function properly until you do a full reinstall.

When you’re ready to restore, click the restore point you want to use and then click Next. Note that you can skip the scanning step and just click Next anyway, but it’s always good to see what apps will be affected before you start the process.

Next, you’re asked to confirm the restoration. Make sure you’ve selected the right restore point and click “Finish.”
System Restore informs you that once it starts, the restore process cannot be interrupted. Click “Yes” to start.

Windows will restart your PC and begin the restore process. It can take a while for System Restore to reinstate all those files, so be patient. When your PC comes back up, it will be using the files from your selected restore point. It’s now time to test whether it resolved whatever problems you were having. And remember that System Restore creates an additional restore point right before performing the restore process, so you can always undo your actions by performing this same process and selecting that new restore point.

You should plan for at least 10 minutes, though it could very easily take between 20 and 30 minutes. The time required will vary from computer to computer since a system restore will most likely be limited by the speed of the drive you’re restoring.

An NVMe solid-state drive will complete a System Restore faster than a 5,400 RPM mechanical hard drive. We used a system restore on a PCIe 4.0 NVMe drive to roll back a Windows update and found that it took just under 8 minutes.

We showed you how to access System Restore through the Start Menu, and most of the time that’ll be the only one you need. However, it isn’t the only way. Depending on what is wrong with your PC, you might need to access it in other ways. Here are a few that should get you through most digital scrapes.

Access System Restore Using Command Prompt or PowerShell

Enter “rstrui” into any command line on Windows to open the System Restore utility. This works with Command Prompt, PowerShell, and Windows Terminal, and it works when you’ve Booted into Safe Mode with Command Prompt.

Most of the time it isn’t any faster to open Command Prompt and type “rstrui” in than it is to access System Restore via the Start Menu, but it is good to know if you’re restricted to a command-line interface.

Access System Restore via the Control Panel

Open the Control Panel through the Start Menu, change “View by” to large or small icons, then click “Recovery”. From there you can configure system restore, create a recovery drive, or open system restore itself.

Open System Restore via a Run Prompt

The quickest way to launch System Restore is with the Run Box itself if you know the right command.

To open the Run Box, press Windows+r or search “Run” in the Start Menu search. After the Run Box is open, enter “rstrui” and then click “Ok” or hit the Enter key.
You can also run a new task from the Task Manager. Just navigate to File > Run New Task and enter “rstrui” into the Run Box like you would in the previous example.

If System Restore doesn’t solve your problem, there are other ways you can go about addressing some of the issues System Restore is designed to solve.

If the problem was caused by a recent update, you can look at uninstalling that Windows Update or reverting to a previous “build” of Windows 10 or Windows 11. This should fix problems that might occur due to Windows Update and issues with your specific hardware and software.

If you believe your system files are corrupted — or just want to check — you can try using the System File Checker to scan for and fix corrupt system files. If you installed an update or hardware driver and the problem started after that, you can uninstall the driver or update and block them from being automatically installed again.

If Windows isn’t booting properly so you can’t do any of this, you can boot into Safe Mode. You can also visit the “advanced startup options” screen — these will automatically appear if Windows can’t boot normally — and use the options there.

Safe Mode is also useful if for some reason System Restore is unable to restore your PC to the selected restore point. You can boot into Safe Mode and try running System Restore again from there. One big caveat though, as reader Straspey was good enough to point out. When you revert to a restore point from Safe Mode, System Restore does not create a new restore point during the process, meaning that you don’t have a way to undo the restore.

Windows 10 and Windows 11 also have two recovery tools that you can use if all else fails. The “Reset Your PC” feature can restore Windows to its factory default condition, or perform a clean installation of Windows while keeping your personal files intact.

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6 PowerShell commands that fix the most common Windows 11 problems in seconds

Posted 04 May 2026
By Ianis Dumitrescu
-2
117

If you suspect that a random outdated app is giving you a headache, you can run the winget command-line tool, which is capable of downloading, installing, and updating apps on your PC. To update most of the apps on your PC (unfortunately, winget cannot update every app), just type or copy the following command:

winget upgrade --all

The winget utility will then start updating your apps one by one. Depending on how many apps need updates, the process can take a while. Just note that you’ll have to stay close to the PC while apps are updated, because some will require manual intervention on your side.

All it takes is copying and pasting a few PowerShell commands

Random network-related problems are par for the course on Windows. I’ve been encountering them more often than I’d like on my handheld PCs, but the following PowerShell commands can solve them in a jiffy in most cases.

For basic troubleshooting type:

ipconfig /all

This will list all your network adapters, both active and inactive, along with various details about your network configuration. This info can be very handy when troubleshooting connectivity issues.

Refreshing your PC’s IP address can often be the only fix you need to solve network issues. However, this can affect any firewall rules set up for your PC’s IP address in your router, so make sure to adjust them afterward. To refresh the IP address, run the following two commands:

ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew

If you’re encountering a “DNS Server Is Not Responding” error on your PC, clearing the DNS cache can often solve it. To clear the DNS cache, run:

ipconfig /flushdns

Resetting the Windows Sockets (Winsock) catalog to default settings and rebuilding the TCP/IP stack can often remedy various network connection issues. To do this, run the following two commands:

netsh winsock reset
netsh int ip reset

Then reboot your PC.

Lastly, you can restart your network adapter right from PowerShell, another trick that can fix random connectivity issues. To perform this, first run the ipconfig /all command to find out the name of the active network adapter (or multiple adapters, if you have both Ethernet and Wi-Fi). Once you find out the name of the active adapter, run:

Restart-NetAdapter -Name "The name of the active adapter"

My motherboard has two Ethernet ports that are listed as “Ethernet 3” and “Ethernet 4.” Since the Ethernet 4 adapter is active, I need to type the following:

Restart-NetAdapter -Name "Ethernet 4"

Restarting the adapter only takes a few seconds.

Fix your storage problems

The chkdsk command is super handy

Storage-related issues can trigger all kinds of erratic behaviour on Windows PCs, such as random crashes and freezes followed by a BSOD, slowdowns, error messages, and more. Check Disk (chkdsk) is the first-aid PowerShell command that can often resolve various storage issues. The base chkdsk command scans your storage drives for errors. If no errors are found, you’re fine. If errors are found, you can run the following command:

chkdsk /r

This will fix errors discovered on the disk as well as locate bad sectors and recover readable data. Since chkdsk needs to lock the drive it’s repairing you can use it to repair secondary drives while the PC is active. However, if you want to repair your boot drive, you’ll need to schedule chkdsk to run the next time your PC reboots.

Repair corrupted Windows files

With SFC and DISM commands

Corrupted files can wreak havoc on a Windows PC, even if we’re talking only about one or a few corrupted file instances. Use Windows System File Checker (SFC) to quickly scan and replace corrupted files. To run the tool type:

sfc /scannow

And let it do its thing.

If problems persist, you can run Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM), which repairs the Windows image. The catch-all DISM command that should fix most issues is:

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

This will repair and replace damaged and corrupted files using Windows Update as the repair source, and is the recommended course of action if issues persist even after running sfc /scannow.

List folders taking up the most storage

Find out what to delete to free up your PC’s storage

My previous PC only had a single 500GB SSD that I used as both the boot drive and for installing games, so I had to deal with low storage warnings regularly because the drive was almost always nearly full.

Oftentimes, I was able to free up a good chunk of storage by deleting random subdirectories inside the AppData folder used by apps and games that were taking up multiple gigabytes of space. The command I used to hunt down the folders taking up the storage space was very similar to the following:

Get-ChildItem "path to the location" -Directory | ForEach-Object {
$size = (Get-ChildItem $_.FullName -Recurse -File -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Measure-Object Length -Sum).Sum
[PSCustomObject]@{
Folder = $_.FullName
SizeGB = [math]::Round($size / 1GB, 2)
}
} | Sort-Object SizeGB -Descending

All you have to do is replace “path to the location” with the target directory you want to scan. Since the AppData folder is always my first suspect, I usually start the hunt by typing the following location:

"C:\Users\Administrator\AppData"

Once you locate the folder eating up the space, you can go one level deeper and find which subfolders are the real storage sinks. In my case, I’m running the command again, but with the following path:

"C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local"

As you can see below, the Packages directory is the worst offender, but a number of other folders are also taking up multiple gigabytes of space. It looks like I’ll have to do some more digging and deleting once I finish writing this piece.

Get rid of Windows bloat

winutil can solve and prevent a number of Windows issues

There’s no denying that the current version of Windows is the most bloated yet. You’ve got a bunch of ads and features you don’t need, along with plenty of background processes and extras that can slow Windows down and cause various issues over time.

Luckily, Windows Utility (winutil) is a fantastic open-source script developed by Chris Titus that you can use to debloat your Windows installation.

Running remote scripts with irm | iex can be risky because it executes downloaded code directly. In this case, winutil is a well-known open-source project made by a trusted developer, but in most cases, you should check the script first and make sure it’s safe to execute before typing it into PowerShell and hitting Enter.

While it’s not a tool for fixing problems per se, it can make your PC run faster and help prevent a bunch of issues from showing their ugly heads in the first place. While it’s recommended to run it on a fresh Windows install, you can use it anytime. All you have to do is run the following command:

irm christitus.com/win | iex

This will launch the program, allowing you to tweak various settings, remove a bunch of unnecessary things, and customize your Windows installation to your liking. The tool is quite robust and includes a ton of features, so I recommend checking out the tutorial video created by the developer (who is also a popular YouTuber), as well as reading our winutil guide.

PowerShell is a super handy Windows utility

Windows PowerShell is a very powerful utility that’s much faster than clicking through a ton of Windows menus. It’s not a miracle worker, but you can use it to solve a ton of common Windows problems simply by running a few relatively short commands.

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How to use Wireshark to capture, filter and inspect Packets

This tutorial will get you up to speed with the basics of capturing packets, filtering them, and inspecting them. You can use Wireshark to inspect a suspicious program’s network traffic, analyze the traffic flow on your network, or troubleshoot network problems.

Getting Wireshark

You can download Wireshark for Windows or macOS from its official website. If you’re using Linux or another UNIX-like system, you’ll probably find Wireshark in its package repositories. For example, if you’re using Ubuntu, you’ll find Wireshark in the Ubuntu Software Center.

Just a quick warning: Many organizations don’t allow Wireshark and similar tools on their networks. Don’t use this tool at work unless you have permission.

Capturing Packets

After downloading and installing Wireshark, you can launch it and double-click the name of a network interface under Capture to start capturing packets on that interface. For example, if you want to capture traffic on your wireless network, click your wireless interface. You can configure advanced features by clicking Capture > Options, but this isn’t necessary for now.

As soon as you click the interface’s name, you’ll see the packets start to appear in real time. Wireshark captures each packet sent to or from your system.

If you have promiscuous mode enabled—it’s enabled by default—you’ll also see all the other packets on the network instead of only packets addressed to your network adapter. To check if promiscuous mode is enabled, click Capture > Options and verify the “Enable promiscuous mode on all interfaces” checkbox is activated at the bottom of this window.

Click the red “Stop” button near the top left corner of the window when you want to stop capturing traffic.

Color Coding

You’ll probably see packets highlighted in a variety of different colors. Wireshark uses colors to help you identify the types of traffic at a glance. By default, light purple is TCP traffic, light blue is UDP traffic, and black identifies packets with errors—for example, they could have been delivered out of order.

To view exactly what the color codes mean, click View > Coloring Rules. You can also customize and modify the coloring rules from here, if you like.

Simple Captures

If there’s nothing interesting on your own network to inspect, Wireshark’s wiki has you covered. The wiki contains a page of sample capture files that you can load and inspect. Click File > Open in Wireshark and browse for your downloaded file to open one.

You can also save your own captures in Wireshark and open them later. Click File > Save to save your captured packets.

Filtering Packets

If you’re trying to inspect something specific, such as the traffic a program sends when phoning home, it helps to close down all other applications using the network so you can narrow down the traffic. Still, you’ll likely have a large amount of packets to sift through. That’s where Wireshark’s filters come in.

The most basic way to apply a filter is by typing it into the filter box at the top of the window and clicking Apply (or pressing Enter). For example, type “dns” and you’ll see only DNS packets. When you start typing, Wireshark will help you autocomplete your filter.

You can also click Analyze > Display Filters to choose a filter from among the default filters included in Wireshark. From here, you can add your own custom filters and save them to easily access them in the future.

For more information on Wireshark’s display filtering language, read the Building display filter expressions page in the official Wireshark documentation. Another interesting thing you can do is right-click a packet and select Follow > TCP Stream.

You’ll see the full TCP conversation between the client and the server. You can also click other protocols in the Follow menu to see the full conversations for other protocols, if applicable.

Close the window and you’ll find a filter has been applied automatically. Wireshark is showing you the packets that make up the conversation.

Inspecting Packets

Click a packet to select it and you can dig down to view its details. You can also create filters from here — just right-click one of the details and use the Apply as Filter submenu to create a filter based on it.

[mai mult...]

How to Bypass Windows 11’s TPM, CPU and RAM Requirements

Posted 03 March 2026
By Ianis Dumitrescu
3
117

If you just have a regular Windows 11 install disk or ISO, you can bypass the Windows TPM and RAM requirements by making some registry changes during the install. Note that this method only works on a clean install and does not allow you to bypass the requirement for at least a dual-core CPU.

2. Hit SHIFT + F10 to launch the command prompt

3. Type regedit and hit Enter to launch registry editor

4. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup.

5. Create a new registry key under Setup and name it LabConfig. To create a registry key, right click in the right window pane and select New->Key. Then enter the key name

6. Within LabConfig, create DWORDs values called BypassTPMCheck and BypassSecureBootCheck and set each to 1. To create a new DWORD value, right click in the right window and select new DWORD (32-bit) Value then name the key, double click to open it and set it to 1.

If you also want to bypass the RAM requirement, add a DWORD values for BypassRAMCheck

7. Close regedit and the command prompt

You should be able to continue with your Windows 11 installation as normal

How to Bypass Windows 11’s TPM Requirement using Rufus

With Rufus, a free utility, you can create a Windows 11 install disk on a USB Flash drive with settings that disable the TPM, RAM and CPU requirements. You can either boot off of this USB Flash drive to do a clean Windows 11 install or run the setup file off of the drive from within Windows 10 to do an in-place upgrade.

For most people, this method is ideal, but there are a couple of disadvantages. First, it requires a 16GB or larger USB Flash drive. Second, because it’s on a Flash drive, it’s more difficult to use for installing Windows 11 on a virtual machine where an ISO file would be ideal.

1. Download the latest version of Rufus and install it on your machine. At the time of writing the latest version is 3.19 which includes the Extended Windows 11 Image support.

2. Insert a blank 16GB or larger USB stick then open Rufus

3. Select the USB device that you want to install Windows 11 to

4. Ensure that Boot Selection shows “Disk or ISO image” and click DOWNLOAD

5. Select Windows 11 and click Continue

6. Select the latest release and click Continue

7. Select the edition and click Continue

8. Select your preferred language and click Continue

9. Select the architecture (most likely x64) and click Download. A new window will open asking where to save the ISO image. Save it to your Downloads folder. You can also download the image using a browser if you wish.

The download will take several minutes to complete.

10. Click on the Image option drop down and select Extended Windows 11 Installation to disable TPM, Secure Boot and the 8GB of RAM requirement.

11. Double check that the correct drive has been selected and click on Start to begin the installation.

The write process can take some time, depending on the USB drive being used, but when done the drive can be removed and used to install Windows 11 on an older computer or even in a virtual machine.

12. Install or upgrade to Windows 11. Run setup on the USB drive, if you ware doing an in-place install from an existing Windows 10 installation. Boot off of the drive if you are doing a clean install. Note that you may need to disable secure boot in your BIOS if it gives you a problem.

How to Bypass Windows 11 TPM Check from Windows Update

If you want to use Windows Update rather than creating an install disk, you’ll need a method that runs in Windows and fools the updater into thinking you meet the requirements. This may be more important if you are trying to use Windows Update to upgrade to a new build of Windows 11, perhaps an Insider Build, on a computer that already bypassed the requirement.

For example, when we joined the Windows Insider program on one of our Windows 11 VMs (which clearly did not have TPM), we got the dreaded “Your PC doesn’t meet the requirements” error. But using AveYo’s Media Creation Tool workaround script solved the problem. Here’s how to make it happen.

1. Navigate to the Skip_TPM_Check_on_Dynamic_Update.cmd source code on AveYo’s Media Creation Tool Github

2. Click the “Copy raw contents” button in the upper right corner of the code box

3. Create a new file on your desktop and name it skip_tpm_check.cmd. Make sure that you are able to view file extensions and the file extension is really .cmd, not .txt or else it won’t run

4. Open skip_tpm.cmd for editing, using notepad or another text editor

5. Paste in the code you copied from github

6. Save and run the skip_tpm.cmd file

7. Click Yes if prompted by User Account Control

You will now see a message saying “Skip TPM on Dynamic Update” has been installed. If you run the program again, it will disable the utility. Windows Update should now be able to either update your existing Windows 11 Build or even perhaps upgrade you from Windows 10 to 11.

How to Bypass Windows 11 TPM the Official Microsoft way

Knowing that some users will want to install Windows 11 on systems that don’t meet all of its hardware requirements, Microsoft has provided a registry hack that loosens them up somewhat. Using this hack, you can install on a system that has at least TPM 1.2 and has an unsupported CPU. That said, we recommend the scripts above because they don’t require you to have TPM of any kind.

1. Open Regedit

2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup\MoSetup

3. Create a DWORD (32-bit) Value called AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU if it doesn’t already exist

4. Set AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU to 1

5. Close regedit and restart your PC. You should now be able to upgrade to Windows 11 from within Windows 10 by using installation media (provided you created it).

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How to remove AI Features and bloat from your Browser

Here’s a quick look at what Just the Browser does best to simplify modern web browsers.

It disables built-in AI assistants and experimental AI modes, removing features like Microsoft Copilot in Edge, Gemini in Chrome, and similar integrations in Firefox.
Strips out shopping-related clutter, including price tracking, coupon pop-ups, cashback prompts, and buy-now-pay-later offers that interrupt browsing sessions.
Removes sponsored content and third-party recommendations from new tab pages, such as suggested articles, ads, and promotional shortcuts.
Turns off telemetry, studies, and most background data collection features to significantly improve user privacy, while leaving optional crash reporting enabled where supported.
Eliminates default browser nags, welcome screens, and repeated prompts to import data or change system settings.
Prevents browsers from launching background services or startup boost processes without explicit user permission, helping reduce resource usage.
Works across Windows, macOS, and Linux using native policy formats like registry files, mobile configuration profiles, and JSON policies.
Uses fully readable and auditable configuration files, ensuring every change is transparent and reversible without extensions or binary modifications.

Installation and Setup

One of the best things about this utility is that it supports all major operating systems. It uses a script to automate the process, so you don’t have to manually edit registry files or system folders.

On Windows, the tool uses a PowerShell script to apply registry changes. Simply right-click your Start button and select Terminal (Admin). Then, copy the following installation command, paste it into your terminal, and hit Enter.

& ([scriptblock]::Create((irm "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/corbindavenport/just-the-browser/main/main.ps1")))

The script will launch a simple menu.

Type the number corresponding to the browser you want to clean (e.g., 1 for Chrome, 2 for Edge) and press Enter.

Mac and Linux users can also use the terminal to download and run the setup script. Simply open your terminal emulator of choice and run:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/corbindavenport/just-the-browser/main/main.sh)"

The script will detect which browsers you have installed (Chrome, Firefox, or Chromium). Select your browser from the list, and the script will drop the necessary JSON policy files into the correct folder.

Once the script finishes, the changes are usually immediate. You simply need to restart your browser (fully quit and reopen it). When you open Chrome or Edge next, you might see a message saying “Managed by your organization.” This is good! It means the policies are active and the tool is successfully blocking the bloat.

Further, you can also verify which policies are active in Firefox by typing about:policies in the address bar, while Chrome and Edge users should navigate to chrome://policy/ or edge://policy/. You’ll see a complete list of applied settings.

Removing the settings from your browser

If you decide you want to remove Just the Browser configurations later, rerun the installation script the same way you ran it while installing in PowerShell. The menu will appear with options for updating and removing settings for a specific browser. From there, select Remove Settings option and press Enter, and your browser will return to its default state.

Some Drawbacks of Just the Browser

Just the Browser relies on enterprise settings in Chrome, Edge, and Firefox, so the cleanup only works as long as those policies continue to exist and behave the same way. If browser vendors change or remove them in future updates, the configuration files may need adjustments. The setup also requires administrator access, which can be a problem on work or school managed computers where policy changes are restricted.

In addition, the applied policies do not remove AI features from Google Search; they only affect the browser software. It is also designed for desktop platforms only, so if you do most of your browsing on mobile devices, you will still see AI features and other content there.

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5 things I wish I knew when I first learned programming

Posted 03 January 2026
By Ianis Dumitrescu
-1
163

Starting your programming journey is exciting, but it’s easy to fall into traps that slow down your progress. By understanding the common mistakes new programmers make, you’ll set yourself up for success right from the start.

Focus on logic, not syntax

When learning to program, it’s natural to worry about getting the syntax right. The symbols, keywords, and structure of any language can feel intimidating at first, so you might wrongly focus primarily on memorizing syntax. However, this can be counterproductive, especially since syntax alone won’t help you understand how or why code works.

What truly matters in programming is logic, the process of breaking down problems into steps that can be executed by a computer. Syntax is simply a way to express that logic in a way the machine can interpret. Consider the classic beginner problem FizzBuzz. When trying to solve this, a syntax-focused beginner might get caught up in how to structure the if statements.

Get good at one langauge before branching out

Many beginners think that knowing multiple programming languages makes them better programmers. But in reality, depth of knowledge in one language is much more valuable than a shallow understanding of several. Switching from language to language without mastering any of them can lead to confusion and inefficiency.

When you focus on a single language, you develop a strong foundation in essential programming concepts, such as variables, loops, conditionals, functions, and object-oriented programming. These concepts are the core of programming, and once you grasp them deeply, you can apply them to any language with relative ease.

Imagine you start with Python because it’s beginner-friendly and widely applicable in fields like web development, data science, and automation. By focusing exclusively on Python, you can become comfortable with core programming principles and start building projects that reinforce these concepts.

Don’t let tutorials tie you down

When starting to learn programming, it’s easy to get drawn into the cycle of watching tutorials one after another, thinking you’re making progress. But simply watching or following along doesn’t build the skills you need to write your own code or solve real-world problems. This is what’s commonly referred to as “tutorial hell,” where you keep consuming information without actually applying it.

The reality is that programming is a practice-based skill. Just like you can’t learn to play soccer by watching someone else play, you can’t become a programmer without actually coding. Suppose you’re learning Python and find a tutorial series that guides you through building an expense tracker. You code along with the instructor, and by the end of the video, you have a working calculator. It feels like progress.

A big mistake I made was collecting different video tutorials, courses, blogs, and other resources and started binging them. I watched video after video, finished playlist after playlist, and only copied the code along the way. Since I only followed along, I struggled when asked to build an app or even a small project from scratch.

When you don’t have to make decisions or face challenges on your own, you can’t internalize the logic behind a project. Instead, after watching the first part of a tutorial, try to pause and build a simpler version of the project. Working through even a simplified version without direct instructions will help you understand how to structure and problem-solve yourself.

Learn by doing

When it comes to programming, nothing beats “learning by doing.” Theoretical knowledge and passive learning can give you a foundational understanding, but only hands-on experience will solidify that knowledge and help you become a confident programmer. Project-based learning, where you actively create and build will help you develop real-world programming skills.

Projects can be as small as a to-do list app, a quiz app, or a simple game. Each project you attempt will introduce you to new challenges, forcing you to look up specific syntax or problem-solve on the spot. By focusing on projects, you gain the confidence to solve real-world problems and begin to see yourself as an independent programmer, not just a tutorial follower.

You don’t need to know everything

When you first start programming, it’s easy to feel like you need to know everything. Every language feature, every framework, every tool out there. But trying to learn it all up front is overwhelming and unrealistic. Even the most experienced developers don’t know everything, and that’s completely fine. Programming is a constantly evolving field, and there will always be more to learn. Accepting this fact can take a huge weight off your shoulders and help you focus on making steady progress rather than trying to master it all at once.

Programming involves a vast range of skills: syntax, algorithms, data structures, frameworks, debugging techniques, libraries, and more. Attempting to cover it all at once dilutes your focus and keeps you from gaining depth in any one area. This lack of depth makes it difficult to build projects or solve real problems because you’re constantly jumping from one new topic to another without fully understanding any of them.

Learning to program is a journey filled with challenges, and making mistakes is simply part of the process. Embrace these setbacks as opportunities to grow and remember that every expert was once a beginner too. Remember that each line of code you write brings you closer to becoming the programmer you want to be.

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4 common ways Windows PCs get hacked and how to prevent them

I’ve certainly seen my share of malware over the years, and while the methods evolve, our thinking must evolve too. It’s easy to believe the threats are all “advanced,” but for everyday Windows users, the majority of compromises still come down to the same few glitches that are recognizable to most. A click we shouldn’t have made, a “free” download we didn’t check well enough, or a system update we kept postponing. If you think you’re safe because you’re not part of some headline-grabbing breach, you might want to take another look.

To put it in perspective, the threat landscape isn’t slowing down anytime soon. According to recent data from Microsoft, their customers face 600 million attacks every day, showing that your PC isn’t just a target, it’s a potential doorway for hackers and bad actors. The bottom line is simple: the more you understand how attackers work, the easier it is to spot their tricks, and stop them before they get in.

Phishing scams still work because they feel real

Phishing and social engineering are old tricks painted up to look new. Instead of hackers brute forcing their way into your computer, they trick you into handing over the keys. They send messages that look real enough, emails from “Microsoft,” fake shipping updates, or urgent password reset links, that are all designed to get you to click before you think. It could be a fake tech support call claiming your PC is infected, or a pop-up that looks like Windows Defender in need of attention. It’s not about breaking through your security; it’s about getting you to open the door yourself.

My wife recently got a call from someone claiming to be from American Express. They told her my credit card had been compromised and needed data for “verification.” They even went as far as to say I was a suspect and that she shouldn’t discuss it with me. She texted me mid-call, thankfully, but by then she’d already shared enough information for them to steal money. Amex handled it quickly, but it was a painful reminder of how convincing these scams can be.

The best defense is knowing what to look for and having a good amount of healthy skepticism. Don’t click links in unexpected messages and never trust an email attachment unless you’re sure who sent it. If something feels too urgent or off, open your browser and go directly to the source instead of following the link. Turn on two-factor authentication everywhere, let Windows Defender do its job, and keep your system and browser patched. If you get a call from your bank or credit card company that seems strange, hang up and call them back on a phone line that you know is legitimate. Most phishing attempts fall apart the second you stop, think for a moment, and start verifying, because once you recognize the pattern, it’s much easier to see what’s coming.

Why pirated or ‘free’ software isn’t really free

Pirated software and “free” downloads present a real risk. Cracked apps and unofficial installers don’t just bypass license checks; they can often sneak in unwanted extras like spyware, adware, or hidden backdoors that run quietly in the background. Many of these fake installers look polished and professional, which makes them even easier to trust. The problem isn’t just that you might end up with a sluggish PC, it’s that you could unknowingly hand over your passwords, files, or even remote access to someone.

Before you install anything that didn’t come directly from the developer’s website or a verified store, pause and ask yourself if it’s worth it. File-sharing sites and “free” download hubs are often loaded with fake buttons, malicious ads, and “trojanized” files that look legitimate until it’s too late. Stick to official sources, open-source projects with active communities, or the Microsoft Store when possible. Keep Windows Defender active, scan new downloads before running them, and check the digital signature or hash of installers if you can. A few extra seconds of caution can save you from days of frustration, and potentially, a full system rebuild.

Outdated software is an open invitation

Running unpatched or unsupported software is like having a screen door in a submarine. It doesn’t matter how careful you are online, if the programs you rely on every day haven’t been updated, they can become an easy target. Attackers don’t need to find new exploits when there are millions of systems still running versions of Windows or apps potentially rife with vulnerabilities. Once software reaches end of life, it stops getting those quiet background fixes that keep you and your data safe and secure. And while that out-of-date media player or backup tool might seem harmless, it can still open the door for drive-by downloads, ransomware, or remote code execution exploits that take advantage of old code.

We’re already seeing this issue surface with Windows 10’s upcoming end of life. Millions of PCs still run it, and many of those systems don’t meet the hardware requirements for Windows 11. It’s understandable that users want to hold on to a reliable setup, but once Microsoft stops issuing security updates, every new exploit becomes a permanent hole in your armor.

I’ve written before about how browser extensions can go bad, and the same logic applies here. Every bit of software you install adds another potential point of failure. When a developer stops maintaining a tool, or you forget to patch a long-forgotten app, it becomes a blind spot in your security. The solution is less about paranoia and more about discipline: keep automatic updates enabled, uninstall what you don’t use, and periodically audit your installed software the same way you’d review browser extensions. Treat updates as part of normal system maintenance, not an inconvenience. In the long run, keeping your software current is one of the simplest and most effective ways to keep your Windows PC safe.

Malvertising: You don’t need to download anything to get infected

Sometimes all it takes is visiting the wrong website. Malvertising hides inside legitimate-looking ads on sketchy streaming or download sites, quietly redirecting your browser to a page that installs malware, adware, or harvests data in the background. Attackers buy ad space, disguise their payload as normal campaigns, and wait for clicks. Even legitimate ad networks can get fooled.

The fix is simple; use an ad blocker or your browser’s built-in tracking protection, avoid visiting sites that trade in pirated content or “free” movie streams, and keep your browser and extensions patched.

Good habits are your best defense

At the end of the day, keeping your Windows PC secure isn’t about mastering cybersecurity, it’s more about being thoughtful and deliberate. Most of us don’t think twice about the software we install, the sites we visit, or the alerts we ignore, but those quiet decisions can have serious real-world consequences. Technology will keep evolving, and so will the cyber-threats that we have to face, but a little awareness and consistency go a long way. Keep your tools up to date, question what doesn’t feel right, and don’t let convenience become the reason you let your guard down.

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This is why you should replace your ISP’s Router ASAP

Posted 08 October 2025
By Ianis Dumitrescu
-1
166

These days, people have more devices connected to their home Wi-Fi than ever. TVs, game consoles, appliances, phones, computers, and more. Most homes are a pretty complex system of connected devices today, and here’s the thing about routers provided by your ISP: nine times out of ten, they are pretty cheap. This is hardware the company is handing out to hundreds of thousands, if not millions of customers. Giving everyone a cutting-edge router would cost way too much.

They aren’t as powerful, and that means they often struggle throughout the day. You may face sluggish response times on your devices if there are multiple doing bandwidth-heavy tasks at the same time. Just one person streaming a video could impact performance throughout the whole house. Newer routers, especially those with Wi-Fi 6 or 7, are designed for dense networks and tons of connected devices. They can handle dozens of connected clients and give them all the prioritized bandwidth they need.

This means buying your own router is likely to pay for itself within a year, and if you’re going to be spending the same amount of money overall anyway, why settle for a router that is inferior to what you could buy? Moreover, if you buy the latest router with the newest technology, even if new upgrades come out, it’ll probably still be perfectly viable for at least a few years, not becoming obsolete nearly as quickly.

Even if you buy a used router, it might still be a mroe cost-effective option than paying for the ISP’s router.

Earlier, I mentioned Wi-Fi 6 and 7. These are Wi-FI standards used to denote how advanced the Wi-Fi technology is. Right now, Wi-Fi 6 is probably the most common standard in Wi-Fi routers, but there are already some Wi-Fi 7 routers out there. Your ISP is almost certainly not going to provide you with a Wi-Fi 7 router, because that’s expensive when an ISP has to buy routers in bulk. You’re much more likely to get a router with Wi-Fi 6 or in some cases, even the older Wi-Fi 5 standard.

Now, it may not seem that bad to use an older protocol. Allegedly, Wi-Fi 5 routers can provide up to 3.5Gbps throughput, which should be more than enough for a lot of different things. However, real world speeds are usually lower than this alleged throughput, so you may still want Wi-Fi 6. Moreover, newer Wi-Fi standards come with more than just raw performance, they also have newer features.

For example, Wi-Fi 6 comes with OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access), which allows those routers to ping multiple devices at the same time instead of relying on a request que. This can massively reduce the latency you experience compared to older Wi-Fi standards.

If you ever have a problem with your ISP-issued router, you will probably need to get help from them to fix it. In order for them to do that, they usually set up the CPE WAN Management Protocol so they can access the router remotely. Admittedly, this is pretty convenient when you need their help to fix some serious problem, but nevertheless, it is a potential security risk.

After all, this type of backdoor allows anyone who knows how to access it change settings, see connected devices, or monitor your activity. While it’s not very likely, a total stranger could theoretically do this and spy on you, and this is especially concerning since a lot of ISP routers use outdated security standards. Security standards grow over time much like Wi-Fi standards do, and today, the most used standard is WPA3.

But just like Wi-Fi standards, ISPs don’t always update their routers to the newest security standards. It can mean further training and complications for their technicians, and they just don’t have much of a financial incentive to do so, since most people will take their shoddy routers when getting new service anyway. If the router is running an older security standard, it can be even easier for bad actors to access that backdoor the ISP put in your device.

You may not be able to change All Settings on an ISP Router

While this may vary based on the exact provider, but many ISPs don’t want their customers messing around with the advanced settings of their loaned routers, since that could make remote troubleshooting more difficult. With a lot of ISP routers, the customer won’t be able to change anything other than the network name and password. Admittedly, this might not be an issue for most people who don’t want to mess around with more complicated settings anyway.

But if you’re the type of person who wants full access to their router and its provided network, such as network band selection or UPnP functionality, you’ll want to ditch the ISPs router and get your own. Aftermarket routers will let you change literally anything you want, from device specific parental controls to custom DNS. If you want flexibility, you’ll want your own personal router.

Firmware updates are very important. They are put out by the manufacturer of the router to patch fatal flaws, like holes in security or other performance issues. It’s like getting a security update for your laptop. However, unlike your personal computer, you don’t get to choose when an ISP router gets a firmware update. It’s completely up to the ISP, and they aren’t always acting with real urgency. It’s up to the ISP to test and approve a firmware update before it gets applied to your router.

This process can take weeks or sometimes even months, which is practically an eternity is the world of security exploits. In some cases, it may never happen at all. After all, the ISP could just choose not to push a new firmware update if they don’t want to. This could leave the router you are using vulnerable to all sorts of problems.

Naturally, this isn’t an issue if you buy your own router. With that, you’ll be able to apply a new firmware update whenever you see fit, instead of relying on some company that may be dragging its feet. There are plenty of reasons to ditch whatever router an ISP tries to give you and go buy your own instead.

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