Shred in WSL on Win10 | Secure erase on windows subsystem for linux

How to use the linux shred tool on a windows machine to secure erase an external disk. This guide assumes the WSL has already been setup.

Firefox "Apply Update" fails on Windows

Mozilla Firefox since version 6.0 (thru 6.0.1 to 6.0.2) has not been installing software updates properly for me on a Windows 7 machine via the usual 'Help > About Firefox > Apply Updates' command. Firefox always shows the 'Apply Update' button and fails to upgrade or check for new updates. Firefox does close and attempt to update eventually restarting without update occurring  and the only way I have found to update is to manually install the latest version over the top. However this manual workaround hasn't corrected the embedded Firefox update functionality. Read on for the solution that worked for me...