Upgrading my virtual host

I’m using Toshiba Portege R830 for all tasks, including my virtual lab. This is the older model with Intel Core i5-2520M CPU. Although sometimes limited and slower, this laptop has enough power for my needs.

Here’s my story how I upgraded and empowered it to be still very usable. Let’s begin!

Hot day, summer in the city

Your cooler is dirty, roaring pretty. Take a brush and make it nifty.

How to clean a PC fan?

Recently, I found a few used PC fans in my box with spare parts. As well as all used fans, those fans were dirty and almost stuck.

With this trick, you can fix troubled fan for a while until a new replacement unit arrives. Let’s begin.

Repair of the KY-013 Arduino sensors

For many Arduino enthusiasts, a KY-013 temperature sensor is one of the first steps into this exciting world of microcontrollers and automation. This simple sensor is very cheap and almost indestructible. Nonetheless, many of those very cheap sensors that can be obtained from Ali Express are incorrectly made.

Here is my story of how I repaired them and made them work for me. Let’s begin.

Building the “Windows To Go” flash drive

Many Linux installations have an option to boot from removable media, like a CD or USB flash drive. This solution is known as the live CD. Windows users did not have such an easy solution for years. There were some solutions, but they were either complicated to build or suspiciously legal.

Eventually, Microsoft introduced this option with Windows 8. This was the first time that even less experienced administrators (or advanced users) could build their own live Windows environment. Unfortunately, this solution natively supports only this short list of USB drives. But don’t give up!

If you are ready to get your hands dirty, here is a recipe how to build your own “Windows To Go” flash drive.