NeighborhoodNerd21

Introduction: After several years of avoiding the Windows ecosystem, I recently decided to reinstall it on one of my secondary machines. My primary goal was to refresh my technical knowledge, especially given the increasing number of requests I’ve received for Windows-related troubleshooting. I’ve never been a fan of the restricted "Home" experience, so I went straight for a Windows 11 Pro lifetime license. One lesson learned: because modern licenses are often tied to an Outlook account, this makes the machine slightly less resale ready than I originally anticipated. The Hardware:  The machine in question is a ThinkPad Yoga 11e (6th Gen) . While it isn't a powerhouse, its form factor makes it a personal favorite for "on-the-go" tasks. It has a dual core Intel m3-8100y CPU with a base frequency of 1.10GHz that supposedly can reach 3.4GHz. The 8GB of RAM is soldered on. The Installation Hurdle: The setup was largely predictable, with one exception: Windows 11’s ...

The main reason I prefer Unix/Linux over Windows operating systems is the terminal. Nix terminal shells just feel cleaner and organized to me than that of CMD or PowerShell. I won't claim to be an all knowing expert on the subject, I can only speak on what I've experienced, but the preference is 95% based on the feel of it overall. The Unix CLI philosophy and POSIX standards provide us with a powerful and versatile tool with simple commands that each do one thing and do it well. Spend some time typing out some PowerShell 'one-liners' then jump in a Nix terminal and I am willing to bet you will at least understand. Bash has been around a long time with version 0.99 being released in 1989. It's mature, programmable and versatile. Bash is the default shell of many popular linux distributions and used to be the default for Mac  OS before the switch to zsh. Some common commands we use are actually shell scripts (e.g gunzip, ldd and which). I am not a Bash programming exp...

A friend of my wife's needed a screen repaired on her laptop. The friend is a photographer and uses the laptop to edit images. I traded the repair service for a family photo shoot. The laptop was an HP Omen 17-CB1080NR I found a replacement LCD on Amazon for a decent price. The adhesive strips are important. HP Is pretty good at making service manuals publicly available. You can find the service manual for this model at the link below. Service Manual After removing the bottom cover, paying attention to the area where the hdmi and usb ports are, the first thing to come out is that battery which is a pretty simple task on this one. You will have to take move the wires routed along the side of the fan. Disconnect the fan wires and remove the screw holding the fans and heat-sink down. Gently work the cooling assembly free. For removing any laptop display assembly from the base at the hinges, its always easier if you hang the display over the edge of a desk with the base resting on the ...

Facebook Marketplace is a great way to get some good stuff super cheap. Sellers are often not very honest or not knowledgable about the items they have which can make it a little tricky to navigate. Sometimes, they are both of those things and even if someone is attempting to rip you off you can still come out on top with a little technical knowledge. Recently I found a listing for this Apple Magic Keyboard (lighting port) combo listed for $35. Well, as you can see in the image below this combo still sells on Amazon for $120+ used. The items on marketplace even came with the original packaging. I was skeptical, but even if only one of the pair worked I was coming out on top so I offered $25 and got it. The whole exchange was weird. I picked up the items and went straight home and put both on a charger for a while to see what I had. The mouse worked perfectly. The keyboard however, did not. One thing about the newer Apple Keyboards I can't stand is the absence of an indicator light ...

  At about six months of age, my son, Alex, was lying on the floor next to my wife, who was using her laptop. She had placed her phone down to speak with me, and in an instant, Alex reached over and pushed the lid closed, inadvertently cracking the screen where the phone rested. I experienced an immediate sense of dread. While I am adept at performing minor repairs myself, I lacked experience with M-series Macs and decided to seek professional assistance from Best Buy. Upon speaking with the Geek Squad via phone, they provided a quote of $120 for the repair and advised me to bring the device to their store. Upon arriving at Best Buy, I was required to pay a deposit before the device could be sent out for repair. However, I was informed that the actual repair cost would be significantly higher than the initial quote. Reluctantly, I agreed to send the device out, and upon receiving an official quote, I discovered that the total cost was approximately $800. At that time, we were able ...

I’ve always been fascinated by the longevity of Apple products. They build incredible machines, and unfortunately, Apple’s support lifecycle often leaves them abandoned – a growing mountain of e-waste. Recently, I was scrolling through the marketplace, and I spotted a treasure: a 2012 21.5” iMac for a ridiculously low $100. It was a gamble, a leap of faith, and frankly, I had no idea what I was getting into. I dove headfirst, did some quick research, and the result was...well, let’s just say it was an adventure. I’ll share the full story of my $100 Mac rescue – including the initial challenges, the surprising discoveries, and what I learned along the way. iMac 13,1 Specifications When introduced on October 23, 2012, this particular iMac came in three options: 2.7 GHz Core i5 (I5-3330S) Order: MD093LL/A  Model: A1418 (EMC 2544) RAM: 8 GB VRAM: 512 MB Storage: 1 TB HDD 2.9 GHz Core i5 (I5-3470S) Order: MD094LL/A Model: A1418 (EMC 2544) RAM: 8 GB VRAM: 512 MB Storage: 1 TB HDD 3.1 GHz...