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Yesterday, the Echolink computer froze mid-net. I tried to restart it, but it kept rebooting into the BIOS. Here's an outline of the steps I took to fix the issue:

Re-install Windows

  • From a working Windows computer, I downloaded Windows 11 from the Create Windows 11 Installation Media section and created a USB boot drive.
  • I booted the Echolink computer using the USB boot drive and tried to “Troubleshoot” the computer (see section 3 of these instructions). Unfortunately, that option wasn't available.
  • Before trying to re-install Windows, I had to find the Windows Product key.
    • If Windows was working, I could have used regedit, navigate to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SoftwareProtectionPlatform, and lookup BackupProductKeyDefault. (See Method 3 from these instructions for more details)
    • But I couldn't boot into Windows so I used a Linux Mint USB boot drive and tried to 
       sudo strings /sys/firmware/acpi/tables/MSDM | tail -1

      but the MSDM file didn't exist. I tried that command on in my personal computers and it worked so I made notes of these keys. (See these instructions for more details.

    • Finally, I installed reglookup on the Linux boot drive and ran 

      reglookup -p "/Microsoft/Windows NT/CurrentVersion/SoftwareProtectionPlatform/BackupProductKeyDefault" \
[MountPoint]/Windows/System32/config/SOFTWARE

      (See these instructions for more details.)

  • I rebooted the computer using the Windows boot drive to re-install Windows 11 from scratch on its old partition (leaving the other partitions alone), but it again booted to the BIOS.
  • I rebooted back to LinuxMint and used GParted and delete every partition on the Echolink computer.
  • I rebooted back using the Windows boot drive and this time Windows re-installed properly.

Configure Windows

  • To load Windows without a Microsoft account (see these instructions for more details):
    • At the sign-in page, press Shift+F10 to open a command prompt window and type: 
      oobe\bypassnro

    • While the computer reboot, disconnect the ethernet cable.
    • Choose I don't have internet
  • Debloat Windows using Raphire's script. Press Windows Key+R and type cmd to open a command prompt window and type: 

    & ([scriptblock]::Create((irm "https://debloat.raphi.re/")))

  • Run Windows updates
  • Turn off device sleep and hibernation

  • Download and install Echolink
  • Add Echolink to the startup folder:
    • Press Windows Key+R and type shell:startup to open the startup folder.
    • Copy (not Move) the Echolink link from the Desktop into that folder
  • With the radio turned off, plug in the Signalink device and configure the audio settings.
temp.1790881650.txt.gz · Last modified: by va7fi