penfold

I was considering something similar. I was just wondering if I was over complicating things. I guess my issue is currently I setup my backups to go to an external drive and I know it could be better. The thing is that now with all the devices we have in the house I am having to do things manually which is a pain. With multiple users & devices and images/videos getting bigger I only see the problem getting worse. I need to setup something that doesn't take much time to setup & manage. Putting in place something that works with all devices and automatically is something I'm looking for ideally. I keep hearing the same thing round and round in my head. Backups are not important until you need them. And it's making me review how I'm storing data in my house

This is what I was thinking originally but due to space being eaten up on other devices (and the likelihood that this will continue to get worse) made me ask this question.

Is this your backup solution? I guess my issue is how to manage the devices which are very nearly full now. So I would need to move data to a shared location (NAS) and then back this up.

Is this done manually? It sounds like this is something that could easily be forgotten about until it is too late (or at least I know I would). Or you have already identified that the main desktop is the one source where it would be a big loss so other systems you could live?

I have a bit of an issue that I am not sure the best way to solve. I've made some similar posts about running out of space on the OneDrive storage which is being used to backup my wifes phone photos. I have managed to move the contents from the OneDrive folder onto her laptop and syncing is working from her phone (eventually I will script this as suggested already on here) but this leads to another issue. The space on her laptop is now running low. I have copied the contents to an external NAS, but I really need to review how I am doing things. I also have 2 young kids, 1 of which has a phone and I now see this is going to get more of the same issues if I don't do something about it. What my wife needs to do is manage the space that is on the laptop, but realistically that is not going to happen as everything needs to be kept (and to be fair she takes a stupid amount of pictures). So I was thinking, I can either pay for a yearly subscription for Office365 and use the online storage to increase the space which would solve having to move the files locally. Or I can use a NAS and use this to store things on and map the drive to her laptop but then I still need to back this up. I have a very old HP server which I installed TrueNAS on to play with a few weeks back and it installs. I would need to get another "bigger" HDD and I could then use this as a local NAS. The cost of a new HDD is probably similar to a year subscription, but obviously I would hope it lasts longer. My concern would be the cost of running this old server as a NAS (monitory cost & time). Other considerations are that my computer is also getting old and also full so I either need to delete things or buy another HDD to go into my machine. Ideally I would like a new computer, but for now it is still working and there are other things which are more important. So question is, for those of you who have multiple devices in the house, we have a laptop & computer and also an old laptop which may be re-purposed as my child's laptop to play with (but then they will also probably want to store their photo's on). How do you manage these devices? Do you have a centralized storage location and map it to all devices in the house & then have a backup in place for the content in the NAS. Or are you using any cloud services to backup and allowing pictures to be stored in the cloud and only download locally when needed? Personally I have always been a little reluctant to go down the route of yearly subscriptions for storage as I see this as a never ending process, especially as phones get upgraded and size of images & videos keep getting bigger.

That's what we are here for

Honestly, you don't need a list. You don't want one. You are the one who needs convincing to get a dog. And it needs to be more than "I would like one". The main thing to consider would be is it right for the dog? If you cannot/do not want to look after a dog it is not fair to the dog to get one. They require a lot of commitment and if you don't have it, you will just end up with a dog you resent which causes constant problems. And it is completely fine not to want a dog. Disclaimer - I have had a dog for 10 years and also now have a puppy. However, there are times when not having a dog would be much easier. Especially during the puppy years, when despite what your wife tells you the puppy has to come first. If you don't put the dog first you can expect to find a lot of damage to your property and a dog that doesn't listen

Are there any error logs on the WSUS server when clients try to download updates? Or they are not even attempting to download from the local server?

Yeah, I did look at that. But even getting my wife to the shop to hold a 6.1 phone was a challenge. To be honest, I cant even argue with her as I agree that most phones are far too big.

Kind of resurrecting this thread as I never got anything in the end. I'm now reviewing again what is needed and the size is a definite deal breaker. Initially my wife would not get anything over 6 in as she considers this too big. I managed to get her to look at a phone which was 6.1 which she said was not as bad as she thought - but it would certainly be the max. As a result we also ended up looking at apple as they seem to offer smaller phones. I have one for work and the size is much better for her. Obviously this comes at a cost, but considering we are now getting into winter and her phone dies when it is cold, we need a new one. We spoke someone in the phone shop who recommended an Iphone as this was what she had used for the last 7 years and it was a good size and lasted for years. She recommended waiting to see if any offers are on, but we are kind looking at a time window due to the issues with her phone. We narrowed it down to 2 possibilities of the Iphone SE 2022 or the Pixel 6a. Both are way more expensive than what I wanted to originally pay, but from what I have read, both should last (get updates) for many years. And honestly, I think I will have to put my hand in my pocket to get a phone which is a phone and not a small tablet. The downside of Apple is that she has always used android, so there may be a learning curve. But anyone got any of these phones or could offer any feedback.

I got something similar done in PS. I really need to learn Python (its on my to do list) Although after looking at this for larger data I think just finding the formula in excel is probably quicker

Just realised the format didn't go as a planned Basically I have this in 2 files File1 [TABLE=width: 500] [TR] [TD]Software[/TD] [TD]Type[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Office [/TD] [TD]Desktop[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Google [/TD] [TD]Browser[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] File2 [TABLE=width: 500] [TR] [TD]Software[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]MS office 2010[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]MS office 2013[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Google Ver 123[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] File 2 has other data I want to keep, but basically I want to add another column to File 2 which is the Type column from File 1 to get the desired result below. So I want to match Software from File2 against Software from File 1 and then add a column with the value of Type from File 1. So I was thinking that it needs to be a wildcard for the value of Software (File1) is contained in Software in File 2. File2 (Updated) [TABLE=width: 500] [TR] [TD]Software[/TD] [TD]Type[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]MS office 2010[/TD] [TD]Desktop[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]MS office 2013[/TD] [TD]Desktop[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Google Ver 123 [/TD] [TD]Browser[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] I looked into xlookup and got a bit lost. Just for clarity File2 has a lot more data so I want to populate that file with the missing column Type. As this may be re-done in the future I am trying to use an existing file (file1) as the lookup I tried this formula, =xlookup(A1,"*"&File1A:A&"*",File1B:B) thinking that the wildcard would try and match MS Office 2012 in File2 to *Office* in File1 and pull in Desktop. But this doesn't find a match

Not exactly, the point is I have inherited an old way of checking things which is done manually using a bad formula. I have found another spreadsheet which has the legend and I want to use this instead. The reason of doing it in PowerShell is because there are some other steps involved which I have scripted. If I can do this, it is pretty much automated without me having to open up excel at all. I want to be able to run my script and then let people know the file is there via email.

If I knew how to do that I would But also, I am trying to avoid opening up excel and doing anything manually so if I could add the formula via PS then that would be fine. Still I don't know the formula

I got this done using importExcel function. The wanted to convert it to xlsx due to being a smaller size to transfer across the network and we need to create a separate tab which needs to be done in excel. Reasons for this are not technical, it is requested by management. One more thing now though, I have 2 files with information in both. What I want to do is take information from 1 - and have it populate it in another. Basically what i am trying to do is along the lines of this. We have a master file with information of specific software on clients. I have a second file with a list of the software and the Type it should be. I want to take the software from first file and have it check against file 2 and take the team details and add this into a new file. File1 Software Type Office Desktop Google Browser File2 Software MS office 2010 MS office 2013 Google Ver 123 New File Type MS office 2010 Desktop MS office 2013 Desktop Google Ver 123 Browser So I want to check the content Software from the second file and if there is a match from File 1 I want to take the Type and add it as a column to File 2. I thought I could import-csv for this and then use if File2.software -contains File1.Software then pull the File1.Type value. Then just export it as anew csv file. But I think I'm making things more complicated than it needs to be. Any ideas for how I can do this?

The task is creating some reports as a manual process as an interim process until it is all automated. So I am doing this as a one-off, but potentially this could be run regularly for a few months. I've done it in the past, but it was with much smaller files so I was concerned about the resources on my laptop

Hi All, In the past I have used PowerShell to convert between csv and xls files but I think I did it in a pretty basic way by opening the file in excel and "saving as" and ran it against a few files. Now I have a csv with is huge and I think we will have an issue opening this in excel. So I want to convert it to xls as I have seen this reduces the file size. So basically I want a script to convert csv without opening excel. I'm pretty sure I have seen this somewhere online, but I was hoping someone here would already have a script they would be able to share? Thanks

@ZeroHour - I wasn't looking at Hue as I had heard that they are very expensive compared to other devices that do basically the same thing? To be honest, I wasn't looking at bulbs at the minute, as I was just looking at putting some lamps in place and using the Smart plug to turn on/off. But eventually, I guess I may be looking at bulbs also.

Thanks for all the responses. I have looked into Home Assistant briefly a few months back and eventually I think this is the route I want to go. At the minute I don't have anything "smart" so it is a but pointless to set it up now. Now stupid question time does Home Assistant just smart devices to connect to your local Wifi or it also requires an additional hub? I know I could read up/watch videos but a)I'm a little lazy and b) I know there will be many people who have already done this and can provide some links Thanks

This is maybe something I should be looking into also. I did see that some plugs are only useable with specific connections (such as Zigbee) but then what hub do I get to connect everything together? My primary goal for now is just to "test the water" with some plugs, but I don't want to them limit myself into a specific "ecosystem" or need to buy a multiple hubs to make things work.

I have a basement and one of the things I did last year was put my bike on a trainer and use it over the winter. This year I want to make it a little nicer to encourage me to get on the bike more. As a result I want to cordon off a section and build a "room". The basement is basically open plan so it has lights on either side of the house which is good enough for going down in the dark and having light which is bright enough to walk around and grab what you want. Now because I want to section off a part for my training room, I will be cutting off the light from one side of the room. I was thinking rather than putting in some new lights I would put in a lamp which I may already have and put in a smart plug which I could then use to remotely turn the lights on meaning I don't need to get to the light switch in the dark. Another thing I am looking into is getting a smart switch for an electric heater in one of the cold bedrooms. I would like to be able to measure the usage and again control remotely if possible. One of the things that I don't want to do is buy the cheapest, and then if I want to expand in the future I need to buy again. The only thing I have at the minute is google home so I want it to be compatible with that, but I want to future proof myself as much as possible so I can use 1 system and don't have to use multiple apps. Is there anything I should be looking for specifically. My idea eventually is maybe I could put a wireless sensor in the basement which would automatically turn the lights on downstairs as I walk into the room. But I am not sure how practical (or the cost) that is. While the cost of a couple of smartplugs is not too expensive, it's not that cheap either and I don't want to waste money. Any ideas or recommendations?

@Steve21 - this is what I suggested. I think he was trying to use throw to recognise the script failed.

I want to use PowerShell to grab information about the config and scanning for Rapid7. When I did this for Tenable I used the following structure so I could grab information and export in into csv so I could easily review it. $AccessKey = "AccessKey"$SecretKey = "SecretKey" $headers = @{'x-apikey'= "accesskey=$AccessKey;secretkey=$SecretKey"} $URI = 'WebsiteURL' $result = Invoke-RestMethod -Method GET -URI $URI -Headers $headers I want to use the same method for Rapi7 but I am not sure if this is possible or if I need to change the structure. In Tenable when you generate API key I get access and Secret keys. When I looked at Rapid7 it just gives me 1 API key. Is it possible to connect via PowerShell to Rapid7 so I can grab info. When I tried I got error 500. Thanks

Colleague is trying to use throw to create a custom error in his script. But he doesn't want the additional details found displayed. All he wants is the error message. Example output I see is this Error occurred.At line:3 char:1+ throw "Error occurred."+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + CategoryInfo : OperationStopped: (Error occurred.:String) [], RuntimeException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : Error occurred. What he actually wants is just Error occurred Is there anyway to just throw the error message and not the whole details?

My computer is older than I remember. Just checked the Max RAM and found it is 16GB:doh: I guess I would probably be better of looking for a new computer with lots of RAM to run VMs? For now, I will just have to limit what I want to do until I decide what to get.