Installation

If you are still launching the blue icon named “Windows PowerShell”, you are using technology from 2016. pwsh (PowerShell 7+) is the modern, open-source, and cross-platform evolution of PowerShell. It runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS, and it’s the future of PowerShell. This guide explains why you should be using modern PowerShell and provides a complete, step-by-step tutorial for installing it on both Windows and Linux. Why Switch to Modern PowerShell? Windows PowerShell (v5.1): Built on the legacy .NET Framework. It is included with Windows but is now in maintenance mode, receiving only security fixes. PowerShell (v7+): Built on modern .NET. It’s open source, receives active feature updates, and is optimized for cloud and cross-platform automation. PowerShell 7 runs side-by-side with the older Windows PowerShell, so you can safely install it without breaking legacy scripts. Key features include: ...

Managing servers in a secure or air-gapped environment presents a unique challenge: how do you install software, modules, and features without an internet connection? The answer is a simple but powerful workflow: use an online “staging” machine to download the necessary assets, transfer them via removable media, and then install them on the offline “target” machine. This guide provides a comprehensive walkthrough of this “Download, Transfer, Install” method for two of the most common offline scenarios: installing PowerShell modules and installing Windows features like the OpenSSH Server. ...

When deploying Microsoft Office 2021, one of the key considerations is how to handle older, existing versions like Office 2010. By default, the modern Office installer will automatically remove these older versions, but for automated or customized deployments, you need more control. This guide will walk you through how I used the Office Deployment Tool (ODT) to create a silent, automated installation of Office 2021 that also cleanly removed any older Office versions. ...

When installing Windows 11 on a VMware virtual machine (Workstation, Player, or ESXi), it’s common to run into a frustrating roadblock: “This PC can’t run Windows 11” or “TPM 2.0 requirement not met.” This error occurs because Windows 11 has stricter security requirements than its predecessors, mandating features that are not enabled by default on most virtual machines. Fortunately, this is easy to fix. This guide will walk through the best ways I found to resolve the TPM error, from the official VMware method to simple bypasses. ...