Fazza

If it has been encrypted using BitLocker we just delete the partitions as without the bitlocker key it's just a load of junk and for those that are not encrypted we use the free version of Active KillDisk to erase the disk/ssd.

Have you tried logging on as the Local Administrator and installing the software that way? What error message do you get when you try to install it - any screenshots?

Try looking on the computer manufacturers website rather than Realtek directly and sometimes the manufacturers tweak the drivers a little bit. If that still doesn't work then I'd re-image the computer so there's a fresh install of the OS and associated software on it in case there was some weird software thing going on. Another thing to try is to reset the EUFI/BIOS to Optimised/Default settings.

Personally I'd download the latest driver available for the SD Card reader from the manufactures website and then I'd go in to Device Manager and uninstall the driver (deleting the files if that comes up as a tick-box option) and then install the driver you have downloaded and see if that solves your issue.

That was Googles doing based on your search history, so if it's asking you if you want to chat with an expert then you must have been searching for something on Google at some point that you did a search where that was a potential answer! I've worked out where they were all coming from, it was Googles Auto Ad Placement that was on, which I have now turned off!!

It's designed to be retro with Windows 3.11 for Workgroups inspired logos with helpdesk related icon names, so yes!

I believe you click on the chevron on any silly large ones that come up and it minimises it on a mobile device

LOL - I've just done a quick Google and apparently the NCSC uses Cloudflare to block dodgy websites and it's CloudFlare that is my host!!

Try it without entering https:// and see if that shows it correctly. It was OK when I was with GoDaddy but Cloudflare are two thirds cheaper! GoDaddy do everything for you so this sort of thing doesnt happen but CloudFlare leave it up to you to sort out with only community support as that's why they are so cheap!

I'm with CloudFlare as my domain name provider who have a protected DNS option, you need to make sure you put https:// etc. not just the www. part - I bet there's a setting somewhere I need to configure that the Protective DNS Service is looking for and it's not there or something.

Believe it or not, you can get playing card blanks on Amazon on sheets of A4 paper and you just pop them out and then you will have a full deck! Not quite got a full deck of them yet but I have a few more ideas for future ones...

Funnily enough, we had something called a LART (Local-User Attitude Realignment Tool)! At my current place of work we affectionately call the LART a Beating Stick - our apprentice (who is now our Technician) is fully aware of said object! 😜 More acronyms that I used can be found in my Jargon Buster (https://www.helldeskrules.com/p/jargon-buster.html)!! 🤣🤣

15 years ago (when I worked in the 'real world') I had a technician join our team who was new to the whole IT Services profession so I started creating a list of Rules to help them - kind of like Gibbs in NCIS! Over the years this has gone from the original dozen or so rules to 25+ and I've got plenty more of them to come... I have recently published them on my Helldesk Rules blog so thought I'd share the link here in case anyone needed a little humour in their lives. I've been working on a few tongue-in-cheek posters too which I have also put on my blog along with a humorous Acronym of the Day in the sidebar. https://www.helldeskrules.com

These people are at it too: https://www.mlltelecom.com/ Getting peoples backs up isnt going to get you their business in my experience.

As Microsoft Publisher is going to be End of Life soon we are no longer installing in our new images. We have found LibreOffice to have the best alternative to Publisher, only issue with LibreOffice is you can only install ALL of it and not just the app you wanted. When both MS Office and LibreOffice are installed users get prompted to select an app when trying to open any office files: I've set a Group Policy to set the Open With settings but that hasn't done anything! After doing a quick Google the new way of doing it is to deploy a .xml file by a group policy instead by creating a Default Associations Configuration File (XML). 'All' you're supposed to do is run a DISM command to export the current settings on a reference computer where you've set the default apps which you are then supposed to be able to use to deploy via a GPO to then set those associations. Dism /Online /Export-DefaultAppAssociations:C:\path\to\your\file.xml On my reference computer (a VM) I have set .docx files to open with Word but when I run the above command .docx etc. is not listed: When I double-click on a .docx file it now opens in MS Word but as you can see it's not listed in the exported xml file! All I want to happen is for all installed office products (Word, Excel and Access) to open the relevant files!

It's worked 100% for me so far (touch wood) on laptops I have at home that are 20-30 years old and all the modern ones like the DfE laptops we got during covid.

This is how I do it: https://www.retrocomputing.co.uk/2025/08/how-to-reset-bios-password-of-any.html Just enter the password wrong until a code comes up and you can use that code to generate a backdoor/engineers password so you can then set a blank password etc.

Just tried a quick test build with Windows 11 24h2.9 and it's still doing this (it's a known problem since October 2024 I believe)! Apparently running sysprep manually and then booting to Windows PE and manually create the .wim works but it's been a long time since I've done that so going to have to do some Googling...

That's why I love my Ninja Foodi air fryer and pressure cooker all-in-one thing as there's so little washing up and it's so easy to use so I can just bung the food in, wait for the timer to go off and voila! Dinner is served! One pot to wash up instead of loads of pots and pans so nice and easy for me 😎

Cream cheese and sausage - are you crazy?! 🤣🤣🤣 If it works, it works! I've recently been experimenting with making Toad in The Hole in my Ninja Foodi but not quite got the recipe to my complete liking just yet.

I thought we had a new cooking section for a minute! You can't beat a sausage sarnie with tomato ketchup as a breakfast treat 😎

You might get more luck if post some photos of what you are talking about.

Saw it at the weekend, excellent film! Such a great story it felt like it was based on a true story, but it isn't - well worth a watch at the cinema.

People always ask us what we do with our old equipment, I always tell them that we give them to staff to use! 🤣🤣🤣

I literally have several hundred retro laptops, many of which have 2.5" IDE drives and they are still going strong!