Windows 10 Guest Account

Had some overseas guests staying with us, and realized that Windows 10 doesn't support guest accounts anymore. By guest account, I mean an account where you don't need to be authenticated, but can still use the PC and the internet. Not allowed to change any Windows settings though.

As far as I can tell, the guest account option is well and truly gone in Windows 10. There are lots of websites out there that tell you how to do it, but:

• they either don't work and just mess up your OS, or
• they're actually just a standard user account that is not as restrictive as the real guest account

If you're fine with option two, then read on.

1) Run Command Prompt as administrator.
2) Create a user account called Visitor. Can be any name as long as it's not Guest.
> net user Visitor /add /active:yes
3) Create a password for the Visitor account. Double-enter if you don't want to enter any password.
> net user Visitor *
4) Remove the Visitor account from the default Users group.
> net localgroup users Visitor /delete
5) Add the Visitor account to the Guests users group.
> net localgroup guest Visitor /add

To delete the Visitor user account, just go to Settings > Accounts, select the Visitor account and click Remove.

Now, apparently this does not actually give you a "real" restricted guest account, even though Visitor is part of the Guests user group. When you open up Computer Management, and read the description of the Guests user group, it says, "Guests have the same access as members of the Users group by default, except for the Guest account which is further restricted." If that is true, then might as well create a local (non-Microsoft) standard user.

1. Go to Settings > Accounts.
2. Under Other people, click on "Add someone else to this PC"
3. Scroll down and click on "I don't have this person's sign-in information"
4. Again, scroll down and click on "Add a user without a Microsoft account"

Connecting Fronius Datalogger to Solar.web

First thing you'd want to do after having your solar (PV) system installed is to monitor how much power the solar panels are generating. Most inverters will have an LCD panel in front to show the relevant stats. But if you're like me, you probably don't want to be standing in front of the inverter out in the sun (or inside the garage) just scrolling through the numbers. Most inverters would also have realtime monitoring available through an online portal. In the case of Fronius, they have an app called Fronius Solar.web Live on Android and IOS, and an online portal called Solar.web at www.solarweb.com.

Two ways to get the inverter connected to your home WiFi network to get data monitoring going. The first is using an online wizard (wizard.solarweb.com), which you can access via a web browser (desktop or mobile). I tried using a desktop PC running Windows, and for some reason it didn't work. Second option is to call the commissioning wizard from within the app. Just click on the red icon on the lower right corner of the app.

Setup procedure is similar to how you would integrate wireless speakers and Chromecasts to your home network. Basically, you pair your app to the device using a special WiFi access point provided by the device. You provide the SSID and password of the home WiFi, so that the device can connect to the Internet, and continue the setup process from there.

The inverter access point is enabled from the inverter panel - under the Setup tab. Note that the inverter AP will only be active for an hour, so try to finish the setup by then. Ideally, the app should automatically switch APs, but if it doesn't, the inverter panel will display the SSID and password (12345678) anyway. Once connected, a form comes up and you'll have to specify the ff. information:

• feed-in tariff
• grid supply tarriff
• time, day, timezone
• a name for your PV system
• PV power in watts
• home WiFI SSID and password

Once this is done, the inverter will connect to the home WiFi, and you should do the same on your phone/tablet.

The app will ask you to set up a password for your inverter, and add more user accounts if you want to. You will then be redirected to the Solar.web portal to create an account to manage your PV system. Once you complete the verification process via email, you're pretty much done. You should now be able to monitor your system using the app or the web portal.

If you need more help, check out this video.

Next stop, PVOutput!

Setting the Clock on Sharp Carousel

Just realized that the Sharp Carousel microwave ovens to not have a clock button that allows you to set the time, unlike the Panasonic inverter ones.

So how to reset the time after a power interruption?

1. Press the INFO/TIMER pad, then the number 3.
2. Enter the correct time of day by pressing the numbers in sequence. (Note: 12-hour clock only.)
3. Press the INSTANT COOK/START pad.