Table of Content

• Keybindings
• Windows clipboard
• Win10 activation issues
• Read Winkey from BIOS
• FS Links
  • Shortcut
  • mklink

Keybindings

Windows clipboard

Since Win10 (October 2018 Update) a new clipboard manager was implemented. Now it allows hugher pasts in there and it proviedes history as well as synchronizing between other windows clients which are connected to the same account. More “detailed” configuration you can found at Settings > System > Clipboard

Grouppolicy update

If you are running gpupdate /force on your system and it takes ages, you can hit the Enter key severals times which will speed up the process and returns faster the result(s).

Reason why this happens was not looked at from us right now

Win10 activation issues

If Windows 10 complains and won’t finish the activation even though you have a valid key open a cmd and try this:

C:\Windows\system32>slmgr.vbs /ipk << KEY >>
C:\Windows\system32>slmgr.vbs /ato
C:\Windows\system32>sfc /scannow

Read Winkey from BIOS

Newer/propretary hardware has a digital Windows license embedded into BIOS often. Open a powershell and enter this command to read it: (Get-WmiObject -query ’select * from SoftwareLicensingService‘).OA3xOriginalProductKey

FS Links

Windows is devides links into several different kinds.

• Shortcut (.lnk file)
• Symbolic link (symlink)
• Hardlink

Shortcut

This are files which end with .lnk but not shown in the explorer, even if you have enabled to display the file extention. As these have the extention .lnk you can have two objects with the same name (at least shown in the explorer) next to each other but both would do something complelty different. Shortcuts can be easily created with the explroer, via drag-and-drop or with right click->send... (of course there are other posibilities as well)

For example, if you want that an application uses a link, you can not use a shortcut, you have to create a sym/hardlink (see below).

mklink

If you want to create a sym/hardlink link in Windows, you have to start a cmd and run in there the command mklink.

mklink requeirs admin permissions to create sym/hardlinks, except for diretcory junctions

C:\Users\user>mklink /?
Creates a symbolic link.

MKLINK [[/D] | [/H] | [/J]] Link Target

        /D      Creates a directory symbolic link.  Default is a file
                symbolic link.
        /H      Creates a hard link instead of a symbolic link.
        /J      Creates a Directory Junction.
        Link    Specifies the new symbolic link name.
        Target  Specifies the path (relative or absolute) that the new link
                refers to.