Windows 10

Factory reset

Windows 10 gets slow and crufty over time. So once every few years, its good to start afresh.

Reset by:

• Start -> Settings -> Update & Security -> Recovery -> Reset this PC

OR, if windows is pretty borked, restart the surface and hold the shift key down. This should boot into a screen with a: Troubleshoot -> Reset this PC.

Setup

install scoop by running this in powershell:

iwr -useb get.scoop.sh | iex
scoop bucket add extras

• Rufus for making bootable disks. etcher is a decent alternative, but not as reliable.

wsl 2

Follow the real wsl instructions, my clif notes are:

Run powershell as admin and do:

Activate wsl by dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart

Enable “virtual machine platform”, something which should have already been enabled by the command above.

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName VirtualMachinePlatform -NoRestart

Restart the pc now and set wsl2 as the default wsl: wsl --set-default-version 2

Now install the latest linux kernel update package.

Now install debian from the windows store.