Upgrade Node.js Windows

Install and Upgrade Node.js on Windows the Easy Way

It’s easy to install and upgrade Node.js on the Raspberry Pi as explained in my guides on installing Node.js and upgrading Node.js on a Raspberry Pi. In fact, it’s easy on any Linux-based system. For Windows systems, however, the default installation routine of downloading and running MSI files from the Node.js website is not so streamlined. I was not keeping Node.js on my Windows systems up to date due to the activation energy required to do the installations. Today, however, everything changes. In this article, we will learn how to install and upgrade Node.js on Windows from the command line—and make the ongoing upgrade process as easy as double clicking Read More

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Connecting a Raspberry Pi Using an Ethernet Crossover Cable and Internet Connection Sharing

I’m preparing for an upcoming speaking engagement around the topic of using Node.js and the Raspberry Pi for IoT applications. While at home, I enjoy the luxury of being the owner of my network which provides complete freedom in network configuration. On the road, I will not have this luxury whether it is at a hotel or when speaking at the conference. Here’s the problem I am trying to solve. While on the road, I want to be able to connect my laptop to the Wi-Fi hotspot on my phone rather than utilizing the wireless network at the conference location which might be fraught with both security and reliability issues. Read More

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Right click on Windows folder and open with Visual Studio Code

I’m all about using Visual Studio Code for Node.js development.  It is a lightweight code editor and runs on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.  I enjoy it so much that I also use it for Node.js projects on the Raspberry Pi.  To accomplish this, I create a Windows file share on the RasPi as described in my Beginner’s Guide to Installing Node.js on the Raspberry Pi and map a drive on my Windows system to the RasPi.  I am then able to use VS Code to create my Node.js code and jump onto the RasPi to run the actual code. Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled program…  Today’s topic is Read More

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Solution for Can’t Ping Raspberry Pi Hostname on the Network

In preparing for my upcoming tutorial which is a beginner’s guide to installing Node.js on a Raspberry Pi 2, I ran into an issue. After getting the RasPi is up and running on the network, I was not able to ping its hostname (raspberrypi, by default) from another machine and find it so I could connect to it through Putty, xrdp, VNC, etc.  After all, I wanted to be able to run headless and disconnect the monitor, USB keyboard/mouse, and still connect to it from another machine on my network. One option was to run ifconfig on the RasPi and take note of the IP address for eth0 (if connected through Ethernet) or wlan0 Read More

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Launching a Windows Command Prompt in a Folder of Your Choice

Here’s a handy Windows shortcut I use quite frequently for launching a Windows command prompt in a specific folder using Windows Explorer. Thanks to fellow San Diegan Jon Galloway for teaching me this shortcut in one of his Microsoft Virtual Academy classes. Scenario: You are navigating through Windows Explorer to a folder of interest and realize that you need to drop down into a command prompt to run a specific command in that folder. For example, you want to launch Visual Studio Code from the command prompt using code . in that folder.

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