I was determined to try out Windows S-Mode and Best buy customer service was pretty worthless like most. Asus doesn't sell the wall charger for the E210 separately (unlike most of their other models). So the only way to get a spare is to buy another E210. The first E210 arrived in two days. The second one had taken 8 days (one day earlier than they promised). Weird!
And thanks to the TPM (Trusted Platform Module) chip, I can't boot using third party tools to clone or to make backups. I knew TPM would be nothing but trouble and I was always against it. And now we all have to suffer for it!
And now running in Windows S-Mode. They say you are stuck with Microsoft Edge as a browser and only Windows Apps from the Store. I thought that won't be so bad since Firefox, OpenOffice, VLC, etc. have versions available as Windows Apps too. And they look, feel, and run just like the desktop versions. And the Windows S-Mode desktop looks and feels just like the full Windows.
But guess what? The Edge browser part is indeed true. I haven't managed to install any other browser in S-Mode. As if you try to install the Firefox App for example, you are told that it isn't compatible in S-Mode and won't allow you to install. Bummer!
What about Apps like OpenOffice and VLC? They are now totally hidden in the Store App. Worse, they are now hidden on all of your machines tied to your MS account. How horrible!
Luckily you can see them again if you go to the Store through a browser instead of the Store App. Although they still won't install under S-Mode either. Same incompatible with S-Mode error. It appears any Microsoft Apps will run fine under S-Mode. Anything else from the Store is iffy at best.
No wonder you can't find anybody talking nice about S-Mode except Microsoft. It's even worse than the worse critic complaints I've heard. Microsoft does say S-Mode prevents viruses and rootkits from installing. That appears to be true, I don't see how they could manage to get installed to do any harm. It does seem to be pretty bulletproof.
Disk space between Windows 11 S-Mode and full Windows is the same. Although it appears to take up 25% less RAM than the full Windows 11. It boots faster and it is a bit snappier. It does sport all of the Windows accessories. So there are a few good things about it if you can put up with the massive limitations. I wish I knew all of this before I started. As I probably wouldn't have bothered. I'll probably keep S-Mode on this one, since it is a spare and I really wanted the extra wall charger anyway.
And thanks to the TPM (Trusted Platform Module) chip, I can't boot using third party tools to clone or to make backups. I knew TPM would be nothing but trouble and I was always against it. And now we all have to suffer for it!
And now running in Windows S-Mode. They say you are stuck with Microsoft Edge as a browser and only Windows Apps from the Store. I thought that won't be so bad since Firefox, OpenOffice, VLC, etc. have versions available as Windows Apps too. And they look, feel, and run just like the desktop versions. And the Windows S-Mode desktop looks and feels just like the full Windows.
But guess what? The Edge browser part is indeed true. I haven't managed to install any other browser in S-Mode. As if you try to install the Firefox App for example, you are told that it isn't compatible in S-Mode and won't allow you to install. Bummer!
What about Apps like OpenOffice and VLC? They are now totally hidden in the Store App. Worse, they are now hidden on all of your machines tied to your MS account. How horrible!
Luckily you can see them again if you go to the Store through a browser instead of the Store App. Although they still won't install under S-Mode either. Same incompatible with S-Mode error. It appears any Microsoft Apps will run fine under S-Mode. Anything else from the Store is iffy at best.
No wonder you can't find anybody talking nice about S-Mode except Microsoft. It's even worse than the worse critic complaints I've heard. Microsoft does say S-Mode prevents viruses and rootkits from installing. That appears to be true, I don't see how they could manage to get installed to do any harm. It does seem to be pretty bulletproof.
Disk space between Windows 11 S-Mode and full Windows is the same. Although it appears to take up 25% less RAM than the full Windows 11. It boots faster and it is a bit snappier. It does sport all of the Windows accessories. So there are a few good things about it if you can put up with the massive limitations. I wish I knew all of this before I started. As I probably wouldn't have bothered. I'll probably keep S-Mode on this one, since it is a spare and I really wanted the extra wall charger anyway.
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Well every one else besides Asus seems to sell the power adapter.
Charger for ASUS E210 Laptop
Charger for ASUS E210 Laptop
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Yeah that is a big bulky thing compared to the Asus one. Plus you have to be careful about those unknown brands. Some are a fire hazard. Luckily I was there when it happened to one of the unknown brand when I heard a pop and then it started on fire after working fine for a few months. It was only a 60 watt supply and it may not have cause the whole house to burn, as I'm not sure. I quickly unplugged it and tossed it in a metal can. Then the fire died out. That one that you listed might be fine though, as you never know.
My desktop has TPM but it is not the physical module, it's done via firmware. In the UEFI it can be set on/off.
I am currently making a clone of my entire NVME drive, that is C plus another partition. I made no changes in the UEFI. It seem to be working.
I'm cloning it to a regular hard drive.
I am currently making a clone of my entire NVME drive, that is C plus another partition. I made no changes in the UEFI. It seem to be working.
I'm cloning it to a regular hard drive.
Estimated time on the cloning job was 1 hr 20 min. It finished in about 25 minutes.
Tonight will be the 2nd night that my Bantam box goes to work with me, I am also taking a BB just in case. I have four other backups as well, always carry them with me to work.
When you turn it off, is the Windows key lost for good, or just temporarily? This is Windows 11, right? What software are you using to clone? A Windows based product should be fine, but the machine running S-Mode can't even run it.
That was pretty intense and I am glad I could follow along. Gigabyte is a pretty popular brand too. And they also did a joint venture with Asus. I'm surprised that Gigabyte pushed a lemon among the public. Not that Gigabyte is alone, others have done it too. And they get away with it except in California. Or so I'm told. There wasn't a lemon law back when I lived in California.
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No idea about the windows key.
Using Acronis, a special free version for Crucial drives.
My concern was...is it a TPM thing or a Window 11 thing or an S-Mode thing.
Appears to be S-Mode I guess.
Appears to be S-Mode I guess.
Well you can turn off TPM on most machines. For how long in the future, IDK. I believe the plan is it will be impossible. So whatever OS your computer comes with, you're stuck with it on the machine as long as it lives.
What I hear currently is Microsoft stores all of your keys to your MS account. I don't know how many versions back, as some of my older computers I had never logged on to my Microsoft account anyway. So how would they know? Plus two of my Windows 3.1 machines never used keys. That all started with Windows 95.
If I could turn off TPM temporally and not lose anything, that would work. As I have Acronis retail version and that should do the job. XXCopy will also successfully clone a drive under Windows (just ignore the temporary files errors). I'm sure XXCopy won't run under S-Mode.
EDIT: I mean XXClone
What I hear currently is Microsoft stores all of your keys to your MS account. I don't know how many versions back, as some of my older computers I had never logged on to my Microsoft account anyway. So how would they know? Plus two of my Windows 3.1 machines never used keys. That all started with Windows 95.
If I could turn off TPM temporally and not lose anything, that would work. As I have Acronis retail version and that should do the job. XXCopy will also successfully clone a drive under Windows (just ignore the temporary files errors). I'm sure XXCopy won't run under S-Mode.
EDIT: I mean XXClone
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Find a program that will show you your OEM key, you can put it back in if need be as long as there isn't major hardware change like a motherboard.
Did Windows 11 ask for a key number? As I thought that doesn't work anymore.
I buy the Windows keys from this place:Buy Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM Scan CD Key Global at vip-scdkey.com
I buy the Windows 10 key because it is cheaper than the Windows 11 key and works just the same for my Windows 11 Pro installs. The OEM key is for just the computer that you installed on.
I buy the Windows 10 key because it is cheaper than the Windows 11 key and works just the same for my Windows 11 Pro installs. The OEM key is for just the computer that you installed on.
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