Are you trying to delete a local Windows User Profile because something doesn’t behave the way it should? Here is a quick and easy tip to remember.

Deleting a user profile is very straightforward, if you know how to. Just deleting C:\Users\<username> is not enough though. In fact stranger things might occur if you just delete the user’s folder.

There are two ways of deleting a user profile:

Method 1: Advanced System Settings (Very easy)

By going into the Advanced System Settings you can delete a user profile. The user obviously has to be logged off, otherwise the “Delete” button will be greyed out.

Method 2: Regedit

Note: It is always a good idea to make a backup of your current Registry entries BEFORE making any changes. You could for example rename the registry key or “Export” it by right clicking on the key you want to backup. Sub-keys are also backed up.

There are cases where the user profile is not listed in the Advanced System Settings, but the user folder is present under C:\Users. In that case you can firstly delete the profile SID under

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\

You do not have to know the user’s SID, the Key “ProfileImagePath” will help you determine the username associated with the SID.

After deleting the whole key (left side), you can also delete the user’s folder under C:\Users.

Today my free SSL certificate expired, so I decided I could guide you to claim yours as well.

You will generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) on your local machine (I have a Linux VM hosting my site on Apache2), send the request to www.sslforfree.com and after that download your new signed certificate.

The process of obtaining a certificate is very simple and painless, however there is a catch: these kinds of certificates usually have a validity period of 4 months. Which means you have to renew it every so often.

Like mine here:

So let’s get started.

Generating your Certificate Signing request with openssl

First of all, you will need a config file, which contains all of the certificate’s attributes. Mine is named ajni.conf. Here is the content of the config file. I have highlighted the attributes you need to adapt based on your environment.

[ REQ ]
default_bits = 2048
prompt = no
encrypt_key = no
default_md = sha256
distinguished_name = dn
req_extensions = req_ext
[ DN ]
CN = ajni.it #Common Name
emailAddress = ajnik@outlook.com
O = Non Profit #Organization
OU = Ajni #Organizational Unit
L = Meran #Locality
ST = Suedtirol #State
C = IT #Country
[ REQ_EXT ]
subjectAltName = DNS: www.ajni.it, DNS: ajni.it

Now that you have a config file, you can execute the openssl command to generate a CSR. Once again, I have marked the variables.

openssl req -new -config ajni.conf -keyout ajni_key.pem -out ajni.csr

Copy the content of your CSR (in my case ajni.csr) somewhere for later use. The string should have the following format

—–BEGIN CERTIFICATE REQUEST—-
dUKFAPtXm076zSFdoriy4v7p1Xa4N9nteRxkbi66bK0GqsqoeoUMprOOoOLMwzPOlvkLS0= dUKFAPtXm076zSFdoriy4v7p1Xa4N9nteRxkbi66bK0GqsqoeoUMprOOoOLMwzPOlvkLS0=
—–END CERTIFICATE REQUEST—–

Send your CSR to SSLforFree.com

Go to www.sslforfree.com, insert your domain name and hit Create Free SSL Certificate

You have 3 options to prove to SSLforFree that the domain belongs to you:

I chose to use the DNS verification (option 3). You will need to create 2 TXT records on your domain (for domain.it and for www.domain.it).

Once you have added both TXT records you can proceed to download the certificate. Select “I Have My Own CSR”, since you created one with openssl. It is, from a security standpoint, safer than letting SSLforFree create a private key for you.

Note that DNS records can take some time to replicate, so you might need to wait a few minutes before downloading the certificate.

You can verify the records at https://mxtoolbox.com/SuperTool.aspx.
The verify link on www.sslforfree.com didn’t always work for me.

Now copy the content of the public certificate itself and the CA Bundle (which contains the Root and Intermediate Certificate).
You will need them in order for the browser to trust your site/certificate.

Create 2 more text files, each containing the content of the 2 certificates. The files need a .pem extension:

Modify your Apache2 config file

At this point you have 3 files in total: your public certificate, your private certificate and your CA certificate. Now change the config file of your apache virtual site under /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/domain.conf or default-ssl.conf.

The relevant parameters are SSLCertificateFile, SSLCertificateKeyFile and SSLCertificateChainFile. Set the path of your files. For example, /etc/apache2/cert.pem. You might need to enable the SSL apache2 module.

The www-data user needs read permission on those files.

a2enmod ssl

Restart Apache2

Lastly, restart the apache2 service

service apache2 restart

One browser refresh and my site has already the new certificate:

If you have any questions feel free to comment down there, I will happily assist you.

Cheers!

The next version of Windows 10 called May 2019 Update (also version 1903) is now out. It might take some time until it is available in Windows Update, but you can obviously force the installation.

This Microsoft site allows you to install the Media Creation Tool, which can download an ISO of the new Windows version. You can either create a bootable USB stick and freshly install Windows 10 or upgrade your current Windows 10 OS, without losing files and programs .

Also do not forget to check for known issues before installing.

Here are some of the interesting new features on Windows 10 version 1903:

Light Theme

Somewhere between the normal and dark theme. Warning: it is very shiny!

Windows Sandbox

Windows Sandbox is a separate environment where you can run unsafe software without harming your host OS. Hyper-V is not needed in order to run Windows Sandbox. Once you close the Sandbox all of the changes you have made are discarded.

You can activate this feature in the control panel. It is not enabled by default.

Pause Windows Updates

You can pause updates for up to 7 days. This feature is also available for Windows 10 Home Users.

Windows Search

Cortana and Windows Search are separated in the task bar.

You also have some options in the Settings to improve searching.

A better looking Game Bar

Windows + G allows you to open the game bar, which now has a lot of visual improvements. The Game Bar can also be opened while gaming. There is also a Spotify integration, which for some reason does not work on my machine.

Uninstall pre-installed modern apps

You can uninstall more modern apps like 3D Viewer, Calculator, Groove Music, Paint 3D or Sticky Notes, which you were not able to in previous versions.

So you just made a keyword search in Outlook and found that very important email from your boss. Awesome! But how can I find the path of that email, you may ask? Here is a very quick tip.

By hitting ALT+ENTER on the corresponding email, you can see some properties, including the email’s folder. In my case it is Posta in Arrivo (Inbox).

Another way of finding out, is to double-click on the email and select File on the top left of the window.

Cya!

Did you know?

Since CTRL+ALT+DEL affects your local machine, you can send CTRL+ALT+END to your RDP Session in order to do tasks like Task Manager, Lock the Session or change your admin password, all inside your RDP connection.