While using the DiskPart utility to partition a hard drive, you might run into The operation timed out error. When this error is triggered, users will be unable to create new partitions on their hard disks.
If you’re experiencing the Virtual Disk Service error, this article provides all the necessary steps to help resolve the issue.
What causes Virtual Service error: the operation timed out?
Here are some of the most common causes of the virtual disk service error in Windows computers:
Missing Volume.inf File – Inf files contain information used to install drivers on a PC. If the volume.inf file is missing, it can lead to disk errors such as the Virtual Disk Service error.
System Crash – If your system is overburdened with huge tasks, it can lead to a system crash. This can trigger a host of errors like the Virtual Disk Service error: The operation timed out.
Forced Shutdown – If your system unexpectedly shuts down while Windows writes registries for a newly created volume, it can lead to the Virtual Disk Service error.
Now that we know the reasons behind this error, let’s fix it by using the solutions below.
How do I fix the Virtual Disk Service error if the operation timed out?
Before tweaking the settings on your system and apps, let’s apply these quick steps:
Close DiskPart and restart your PC.
Install all pending Windows updates.
If the error persists, the solutions below should help you fix the problem quickly.
1. Use the RESCAN command
Click the Search button, type in command prompt, and click on Run as administrator.
Click Yes in the User Account Control window to proceed.
In the command prompt window, type the following and hit Enter: DiskPart
Type this and hit Enter: Rescan
Relaunch the DiskPart utility.
The Rescan command is used to locate newly added discs in a computer. Running this command can help you detect changes in your disk configuration.
2. Delete any unknown devices from Device Manager
Right-click the Start button and select Device Manager.
In the Device Manager window, click on the Storage Volumes tab to expand it.
If the option of Storage Volumes isn’t displayed, click on View and select Show Hidden Devices.
In the expanded tab, locate any Unknown device, right-click on it, and select Uninstall device.
Close the Device Manager window and relaunch the DiskPart utility.
When a new volume is created, it is displayed in the Device Manager. When the virtual service error occurs, the error message usually points to an unknown device.
Uninstalling them in Device Manager is one sure way to help fix the virtual service error.
Press the Windows key + R, type in the following, and hit Enter: %Systemroot%\inf
When you enter this command, the inf folder will open. You’ll have to check if the volume.inf file is present there.
If not, press the Windows key + S, type in command prompt, right-click on the displayed app, and select Run as Administrator.
In the User Account Control window, click Yes to continue.
Type in the following command and hit Enter: sfc /verifyonly
If you see the message problems were found after entering the above command, type the following command and press Enter: sfc /scannow
Repeat the step above to open the inf folder. Once you’re in the folder, check to see if the volume.inf file is now present there.
If the volume.inf file is still missing after running the above commands, your last option is to copy the volume.inf file from a healthy computer running the same operating system version as your PC.
Alternatively, you can try automatic repair tools that can help you find healthy parts as replacements in no time for your corrupt, damaged, or missing system files.
Resolving the Virtual Disk Service error isn’t a complex task. With the steps listed above, you should be able to rid your system of the error in no time.
Microsoft is introducing Local Search Ads for Bing, designed to help businesses build regional visibility and gain enhanced visibility in localized Bing search results.
Businesses can start leveraging local search ads today by activating location extensions and creating an account with Microsoft Advertising.
What are local search ads from Bing and how will businesses benefit from them?
Microsoft local search ads are created to empower businesses to gain increased visibility in search engine results. Individuals who use Bing to locate local businesses will be shown the local search ads, positioned in similar proximity to other search results. With these ads, companies can effectively promote their products and services to potential customers in the nearby area. The ads also provide important business information, for example, the company’s location, contact number, and hours of operation.
For businesses that depend on the patronage of customers who visit them physically, this feature is of exceptional help. With all the important information readily available, local companies can create a simpler way for potential customers to find their location and make a purchase.
You can also integrate Call Extensions into your localized ads, providing a tap-to-call function on mobile devices so users can contact your business instantaneously. Furthermore, this convenience is extended to offline users as well, who can dial your number using either their landline or mobile device. Additionally, tablet or PC users can just click your ad in the search results for a free in-browser Skype call.
To use the local ads feature, you must first create an account with Microsoft Advertising and activate location extensions.
Enabling Location Extensions will help you attract more customers and provide them with useful information. Customers will see your address, phone number, and a link to directions next to the advertisement, making it easier for them to get to your front door.
What do you think of the local search ads feature by Bing? Let us know in the comment section below.
In this article, we are going to look at the best backup software by Microsoft but we also have some alternative third-party software for you to consider.
The one thing to note here is that they are all different, so what you want to use will very much depend on what you want to do.
How to choose the best backup software for your needs?
It all depends on your needs so you should first think about what you want to use the software for.
If you’re just looking to back up the wedding or family photos and videos, the regular backup function or Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud storage solution might be enough.
However, for system full backup with full management control and advanced storage options, you definitely need to opt-in for a professional solution like Microsoft Azure.
Just for good measure, we added a small guide on how to use the Windows Backup tool and some bonus tools that may help you.
What are the best Microsoft backup software tools for Windows?
OneDrive is probably the best-known backup software by Microsoft. This solution may be the best for you if you want to share files and folders, which Windows 10 Backup above can’t do.
OneDrive allows you to store all your files and folders in one location. As with many cloud storage solutions, it also allows you to work on individual files wherever you are.
This means that the old days of having to email yourself a document and remember which document is the most recent, are long gone.
You can work on a file no matter where you are, and with apps for iOS, Android, and Windows, feel free to work on the go using any mobile device you own.
Note that you may also use OneDrive to collaborate with other people. This means that multiple users can work on the same document, allowing everyone to see instant updates, and to comment on those updates as and when necessary.
As with Windows 10 Backup, OneDrive is a free service if you only need 5 GB of storage. If you need more, you will have to pay.
It is worth noting that OneDrive is not the solution you want if you are looking to backup everything all on your computer.
Let’s see some of OneDrive’s best features:
5GB of free cloud storage
Already available installed on your system
Online collaboration
Easy to use
Syncs with all your Windows devices
OneDrive
This tool comes with your Windows system and ensures up to 5 GB of storage for all your files and folders.
According to Microsoft, Microsoft Azure is an ever-expanding set of cloud services to help your organization meet your business challenges. It’s the freedom to build, manage, and deploy applications on a massive, global network using your favorite tools and frameworks.
Microsoft Azure is our first option that you can use to backup everything. In fact, Microsoft Azure provides virtualized computing over the Internet (IaaS or Infrastructure-as-a-Service).
That means everything you are doing: storage, hosting, computing, networking, is on the cloud and, to a certain extent, already backed up.
That’s not to say you don’t need to make your own backups when using Microsoft Azure.
To guard against accidentally deleting everything, the ever-more-popular ransomware, and the corruption of your data, you still need to make backups of your own.
Microsoft Azure is a natural next step if your organization is already using Microsoft products as it is a fairly seamless transition to go from onsite or server-based computing to cloud computing using Azure.
With IaaS and PaaS capabilities, and a huge range of services and features, Microsoft Azure is probably not for you if you are a one-man show or a small company.
Let’s review some of Azure’s key features:
Virtualized computing
IaaS and PaaS capabilities
Perfect for businesses
Back-up all your processes, not only the data
Great integration with the Windows environment
Microsoft Azure
Azure is not just a cloud backup solution but a very reliable virtualized computing platform.
While all the above have their advantages and disadvantages, when it comes to fully protecting your data, there is no easy-to-use option that covers everything you need.
If that is what you are looking for, Paragon Backup & Recovery is worth considering. It is not developed by Microsoft but it’s perhaps the best backup tool to use on Windows 10.
This tool will protect your data and PC safe from crashes, hard drive failures, and system errors after program updates, to even more worrying threats such as viruses and ransomware.
On top of all that, the software is available as a free trial so you can test it before committing to purchase.
All you need to do with Paragon Backup & Recovery is download the software, and then follow the instructions. You can back up hard drives, partitions, folders, and files with a few clicks of a button.
But even better, you can back up your entire Windows system, which will allow you to recover everything, even in the event that your OS will not work.
There are a couple of extra things you need to do to back up your Windows system, but it is still not difficult to do.
Let’s go through some of its most important features:
Set automated back-ups quickly
Select different parameters like backup type, frequency/scheduling, retention, and more
Automatically delete old backup images based on specified value
Manage your backups and recover what you need
Backup files, folders, disks, OS, restore from file and point
Paragon Backup & Recovery
Use this professional software to protect all your data from hard drive failures and system errors.
If you’re interested in full control over the backup operation, then you can’t pass on the opportunity to give Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office (formerly known as Acronis True Image) a try.
It’s a complex data backup software solution, ideal for experienced experts but also for casual ones, thanks to its very modern and friendly interface.
The software has advanced backup settings, but it also provides extra security tools, like safely running tests on your computer without worrying about data corruption or malware.
It actually enables you to back up exactly what you want, from full system images to some important files, and then store them locally or to the Acronis cloud.
In fact, you can even perform cloud-to-cloud backups of your Microsoft 365 account, with all the emails and attachments from the Outlook mailbox and the files in your OneDrive.
And if for some reason, you need to interrupt a backup process, don’t worry because it will resume from where it stopped without any file loss or duplication.
When you run out of space, the backup cleanup dedicated utility will help you review the backup files and select the ones you don’t need for deletion.
Take a look at some of its best features:
Full control over the back-up process
Incremental and differential backups
Microsoft 365 backup
Advanced security features
Friendly and comprehensive interface
Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office
With full Microsoft 365 and cloud-to-cloud backup, this tool is one of the best whether you are a pro or not.
Designed for Windows PCs (even Windows 11) and Servers, AOMEI Backupper will keep OS and files on your machines safe and will retrieve them in catastrophic situations.
This solution is embedded with backup, restore, and cloning features and that makes it a professional Windows backup software.
In case of system crashes and other problems, you can quickly and easily restore your system to its normal state.
It’s also possible to use it to deploy system images to dissimilar hardware and the cloning features of AOMEI Backupper help a lot in migrating the OS or upgrading the hard drive for a successful boot.
You will benefit from multiple choices to use as backup storage, from local resources to external drives, flash drives, NAS, network share, and cloud storage.
There are automated backup modes available and a dedicated Scheme feature will automatically delete old backups.
The tool is sufficiently complex for professionals but can also cater to the needs of every user with a simple and intuitive interface that allows you to perform any action with just a few clicks.
Let’s review some of its key features:
Full, differential and incremental backups available
Easy OS and data transfer
Flexible data recovery
Automated scheduled backups
Simple and intuitive interface
AOMEI Backupper
Use this complete solution to back up and protect your system, server, and data with multiple storage options.
If you are looking for the simplest solution to back up your files, Windows 10 Backup is the right one for you. It’s also the easiest to set up.
One of the most obvious advantages of using this is that it is completely free. All you need is an external hard drive or even a USB thumb drive, and you are ready to go.
Here’s how you can use this tool to perform a backup:
Click the Start button and select the Settings option.
Now, choose Update & Security.
Next, select Backup from the left pane and make sure that Back up using File History is turned ON. You will also notice that if you’re using OneDrive, it will show up as a backup option.
If you want to set up what files to back-up, click on More options (the action will take a little bit of time as the system is actually checking the files and folders).
Here, you will be able to perform a back up immediately, set the back up interval, how long to keep the backups and what folders you want to store.
And if you scroll down, you can also exclude some folders or stop using OneDrive if you want to choose an alternative.
Please note that like OneDrive below, this option will not allow you to restore your entire hard drive but just some folders.
With that being said, consider your needs first and try to match them with the software from our list.
As with all software, what is best for you is entirely subjective. Think about what you can use easily and quickly, with little to no training required, and that is probably the best option for you.
If you need something less complex and far less costly, check out our guide on how to backup apps data in Windows 10 for a range of software that will meet your needs.
For any other questions or if you want to suggest other tools, tell us all about them in the comments section below.
No doubt you’ve seen the Xbox Series X mini fridge—the appliance inspired by Microsoft’s ninth-generation gaming console. The ironically hot item (it initially sold out within minutes of going on sale) is basically a super-sized replica of the Xbox Series X gaming machine, with all the functionality you’d find in any other mini-fridge. We couldn’t think of a cooler way (no pun intended) to keep your beverages nice and cold while getting your game on.
It looks like the popularity of this novelty appliance isn’t lost on Microsoft, at least if the latest rumors are to be believed. “Leaked” images of an Xbox Series S toaster have been making the rounds online. Originally “leaked” by Twitter user @GyoJvfr the images are supposedly from a pre-order promotion.
Fan de #XBOX ? Sortez vos carnet de cheque, il semblerait que le succès du frigo Xbox Séries X ai donné des idées… – en précommande à 60€ pic.twitter.com/maJPCaVgiT
If this rumored fully-licensed product is real, then it appears it will retail for $63.66/ £53/ AUS$94.61/ €60. Believe it or not, this would not be the first console toaster. That distinction would go to the Nintoaster, which was a modified appliance that could play NES cartridges that loaded into the toaster’s slots.
While the purported price of $63.66 USD may seem steep for a toaster, if Microsoft were to bring Xbox Cloud Gaming to this thing, they might just have winner here.
Microsoft Rewards and Edge are two powerful tools that can help you earn free Robux, the virtual currency used in the online gaming platform Roblox. By following a few simple steps, you can start earning free Robux with Microsoft Rewards without spending any money. There’s a special offer available for Microsoft Rewards members where you can get 100 free Robux. In this guide, we will walk you through how to earn free Robux with Microsoft Rewards and Edge.
#1: Earn free Robux with Microsoft Rewards
The first step in earning free Robux with Microsoft Rewards is to sign up for the program. Microsoft Rewards is a free program that allows you to earn points by searching with Bing using the Edge browser, completing quizzes, and other activities. Once you earn enough points, you can redeem them for free Robux. To sign up for Microsoft Rewards, go to the Microsoft Rewards website and click on the Join now button. You will need a Microsoft account to sign up for the program.
#2: Download and use Microsoft Edge
Download Edge via QR code
Microsoft Rewards offers bonus points for using Microsoft’s Edge browser for all of your web browsing needs. So, make sure that you set your default browser to Edge on your desktop, Android, and iOS devices to earn more points that you can use to redeem for free Robux with Microsoft Rewards.
#3: Complete daily quizzes and offers
One of the easiest ways to earn points with Microsoft Rewards is by completing daily and weekly quizzes. These quizzes cover a wide range of topics, from pop culture to science and technology, and are designed to be fun and informative. You can always check your points breakdown to see how many Microsoft Rewards points you can earn daily. You can earn up to 150 points daily, 5 points per search on PC. If you only use only Microsoft’s Edge browser, you can earn an addition 600 points for free each month (20 points daily) when you search Bing using Microsoft Edge exclusively.Make sure you complete these quizzes and offers every day to maximize your points and earn free Robux; it only takes 1,500 in Microsoft Rewards points to get 100 Robux for free.
#4: Search the web with Bing
Another great way to earn points with Microsoft Rewards is by searching the web with Bing. By using Bing instead of other search engines, you can earn points for every search you make, up to a maximum of 100 points per day on mobile devices. To start earning points with Bing, simply visit the Bing website and start searching. You can also download the Microsoft Rewards extension to make it even easier to earn points.
#5: Redeem your points for free Robux
Once you have accumulated enough points, you can redeem them for free Robux. To do this, simply log in to your Microsoft Rewards account and click on the Redeem tab. You can use the search box to search for the item you want. Click REDEEM REWARD and you can select the amount of Robux you want to redeem and complete the transaction.
Earning free Robux with Microsoft Rewards and Edge is easy and can be done right now. Sign up for Microsoft Rewards, use Microsoft Edge, complete daily quizzes and offers, search the web with Bing, redeem points for free Robux and refer your friends and family to sign up for Microsoft Rewards to earn even more points! With a little effort and dedication, you can accumulate enough points to redeem for free Robux and enjoy all the perks that come with being a Roblox player. Happy earning!
On March 6, Microsoft announced the availability of a new feature in Microsoft Teams meetings dubbed Closed Captions in PowerPoint Live. The feature is specifically designed to promote the inclusivity of users with hearing impairment by allowing them “to better understand the auditory content being shared”.
The feature will also come in handy in case you are joining the meeting while in a noisy space, have a problem processing auditory information, or if you’re not conversant with the language being used to communicate in the meeting.
You can easily catch up with the information being passed on during the meeting by enabling the closed captions feature. It should be noted that the video must also feature a closed captions file.
According to Microsoft:
PowerPoint users who are looking to create accessible presentations can easily add closed captions to any embedded PowerPoint video directly from within PowerPoint for Windows and macOS.
What’s more, once you’ve enabled this feature, the video closed captions will pop up at the bottom of the slide. The feature is individual-specific, this means if you have it enabled it will only be available for you and won’t affect other attendees.
In related news, Teams’ Schedule send suggestions feature also hit broad availability to further enhance communication, especially for users that work asynchronously across different time zones.
In this guide, we will give you a bunch of solutions that will help you resolve the error code 50058. We will also explain to you what are the leading causes of the issue so that you can ideally troubleshoot it faster if it occurs again. Let us get right into it.
Why am I getting the error code 50058?
Here are some of the most common reasons as well as the official reasons, given by Microsoft because of which you will face the error code 50058.
You are not using the correct ID: Chances are you are not signed into Outlook with the same ID as Microsoft Office 365 or vice versa.
The SSO is not valid or corrupted: If you have set SSO (Single Sign In) and if it is not valid or corrupted, you will get error code 50058.
Your Windows profile is corrupt: If an employee used the Office application before, then if they leave the organization, their profile could get corrupt and thus cause the issue.
The password has expired: When your account has limited time access then your account might get terminated after a certain amount of time when entering an expired password.
How can fix the error code 50058?
1. Fix using the Credentials Manager
Open the Start menu by pressing the Win key.
Type Credentials Manager and open it.
Click on Windows Credentials.
Locate Office items.
Click on the drop-down icon next to the Office item.
You will see the username and password in encrypted form.
Click Edit.
Re-enter the Office 365 credentials.
Restart your PC.
Launch Office 365 or Outlook and check if this resolves the issue or not.
The Credentials Manager stores the password to allow users to access their accounts without the need to log in every time they access the application.
In case you have recently changed the password or your account has been audited, then some information that is changed will cause issues and ultimately throw errors such as error code 50058.
Open the Settings menu by pressing the Win + I keys.
Click on Accounts.
Click on Other users.
Select Add account.
Enter the email or phone.
Click Next.
Hit Finish as your Microsoft Account is good to go.
Log out of the current account.
Login to your PC using a new account.
Try login into your Outlook or Microsoft 365 apps using the Office account and check if this fixes the issue or not.
Often the issues associated with your local account can cause issues with your Office account. Try creating a new account and logging in to your Office account and check if this fixes the error code 50058 or not.
3. Log out of all your SSO tools
If you are using an SSO or Single Sign On tools such as Azure or ManageEngine Identity Manager Plus, then we would recommend you log out of all the SSO tools and sign back in.
This solution works because an issue with the associated program could trigger the error code 50058. Frequent sign-in prompts or error codes are also the results of such problems.
That is it from us in this guide. To fix error code 135011Your organization has disabled this device, you can check out our guide.
For some users, the Microsoft Teams profile picture does not show and your account may appear as an unknown user or just initials. This issue is usually caused by a corrupted Teams cache, but it may also be due to some app bugs. Here’s how to fix it quickly.
What can I do if Microsoft Teams is not showing profile picture?
1. Clear Microsoft Teams cache
Press the Win + R keys to open the Run dialogue.
Type %appdata%\Microsoft\Teams and press Enter.
Press Ctrl + A to select all Folders.
Press the Delete button.
Restart your PC.
Launch Microsoft Teams and check if your profile picture is showing or not.
Several users face the issue of Microsoft Teams not showing their profile picture. However, most of them resolved the problem by clearing the app cache and relaunching the app.
2. Disable GPU Hardware Acceleration
Launch Microsoft Teams.
Click on the 3-dot menu.
Select Settings.
Open the General menu.
Check the box for Disable GPU hardware acceleration.
Restart Microsoft Teams and check if the profile picture shows up or not.
Often, the GPU acceleration can malfunction, and the things it should force to perform well do not function as expected.
In such a case, we advise you to disable the GPU acceleration and check whether this resolves the issue.
Launch the EXE files and let the installer load them.
Chances are that some files did not get installed during the previous installation, which is why Microsoft Teams is not showing the profile picture. You can uninstall and reinstall the program and check if this resolves the issue.
5. Use Microsoft Teams web
If you are experiencing the issue on the Microsoft Teams desktop app, you can try using the Microsoft Teams web app. You can change your Microsoft 365 profile picture and wait for it to reflect on your Teams account.
Chances are that the current version of the Teams app is faulty, which is why the profile picture isn’t showing up. Microsoft Teams on the web is free from such bugs, and the bugs are mostly related to the browser.
Why is the Microsoft Teams profile picture not showing?
After some digging, we found the common reasons why the Microsoft Teams platform does not show your profile picture.
The Microsoft Teams cache is corrupt: Chances are the profile image cache that Microsoft Teams locally stores on your PC are corrupt and causing the issue.
Microsoft Teams is having some issues: Also, chances are during your current session, some critical files failed to load, ultimately causing the Microsoft Teams profile picture not showing problem.
The Profile Picture cache has passed its 60 days deadline: Officially, as per Microsoft Teams, some data, such as display name and telephone number, can be cached for up to 28 days in the client. Profile photos can be cached up to 60 days.
There is some bug in the current version: Because of a bug, Microsoft Teams can often fail to function correctly, thus causing the problem.
That is it from us in this guide. If you are getting a Caa70007 error with Microsoft Teams, check out our dedicated guide to fix the problem.
Feel free to let us know in the comments below which one of the above solutions helped you resolve the Microsoft Teams not showing profile picture issue.
It is always good to have some information about the weather and the latest happenings in your region to know what to do and what not.
However, Microsoft’s Windows 10 handles the weather and news widgets differently and shows on the taskbar at the bottom. During some like the placement, some find it eating up the space.
In this guide, we will show you how you can remove weather from the taskbar on Windows 10. Here, we will explain 4 different ways to remove the weather and news from the taskbar. So let us get right into it.
How to get News and Interests widget in Windows 10?
With Windows 10, Microsoft introduced News and Weather information as a News and Interests widget.
It showed automatically on the taskbar. The widget showed the current temperature for your location, the weather forecast, and the news around your location.
You can easily enable it by following the below steps.
Right-click on the taskbar.
Select News and interests and click on the Show icon and text.
The weather widget will show up on the taskbar.
Now, let us check out the different ways to remove weather from the taskbar on Windows 10.
How to remove weather from the taskbar Windows 10?
1. Remove from the taskbar
Right-click on the taskbar.
Select News and interest and click on Turn off.
The widget will be removed from your taskbar.
This is the most basic way to remove weather from the taskbar on Windows 10. However, there are a few other ways as well.
Your printer is capable of printing single-page or multi-page documents, but many users reported that the printer is not printing the full page.
While this issue can be frustrating, it is not the most difficult to fix, just like the printer not printing all pages issue. This guide will show you quick ways to get your printer working normally in no time.
Why is my HP printer not printing the full page?
Listed below are some of the reasons your printer might not print the entire page:
Outdated printer software: If your HP or Canon printer is not printing everything on the page. It might be because of issues with your printer software. You can fix this by uninstalling the software and reinstalling it.
Outdated firmware: This problem is sometimes down to outdated firmware. Downloading the latest version of the firmware from the manufacturer’s website should do the trick here.
It is important to note that the above causes are not limited to HP printers only. They are the general causes of this issue on other brands.
Where does this error occur, and what can I expect?
All major manufacturers are impacted (HP/ Canon/Epson/Brother/Ricoh/Xerox printer not printing everything on page).
Only specific page sections were impacted (Printer not printing the middle of the page/printer only printing the middle of the page/half the page, etc.).
If your printer is also having these issues, here are a couple of troubleshooting tips to resolve this problem.
What can I do if the printer is not printing the full page?
1. Reinstall the printer software
Press the Windows key + R, type appwiz.cpl, and click OK.
Right-click your printer software and select Uninstall.
Now, follow the onscreen instructions to complete the process.
Finally, go to the manufacturer’s website to download the latest software.
If your Canon or Epson printer is not printing the entire page, it can be due to faulty printer software. Uninstalling and reinstalling the software should clear up the glitches causing it.
Also, the problem can be due to an outdated printer driver sometimes. To fix this, we recommend using a dedicated driver updater tool to complete the job.
Outbyte Driver Updater
Install the printer driver in just a few seconds automatically and continue printing with this tool.
Turn the printer off and disconnect the power cord.
Unplug the power cord from the power outlet and wait for 60 seconds.
Now, plug the printer again and restart it.
Sometimes, this problem might be due to minor issues with your printer. The best thing to do here is to restart your printer; things should be expected.
3. Check the Printer Preferences
Press the Windows key, type printer, and click on Printers and scanners.
Select your printer and click the Manage button.
Now, choose Printing Preferences under Manage your Device.
Select the Paper or Paper/Quality tab.
In the Type or Paper Type field, make sure that Plain Paper is selected.
Next, click the Print Quality field and set it to Draft or Normal, or click on the Graphics tab and select Standard for Quality.
Finally, click OK to save the changes.
Sometimes, the printer not printing full page issues can be due to wrong settings. You must follow the steps above to make the necessary changes to get your printer to work normally again.
Another effective solution to this problem is to update your printer’s firmware. And the manufacturer’s official website is the best place to download the latest version.
Thankfully, most firmware is easy to install with simple onscreen instructions.
We have reached the end of this comprehensive guide. However, if you follow the steps above carefully, your printer should print the full page of your document. Alternatively, you can tweak your printer settings to adjust paper sizing for custom prints.
File History is a valid Windows tool that allows you to back up your files on another drive and helps you to restore them whenever necessary.
If you are facing the file history doesn’t recognize this drive error, this guide can help! We will discuss some of the tested ways to fix the issue after talking about the causes of the problem. Let’s start!
What causes the file history doesn’t recognize this drive error?
There could be various reasons why the file history is not able to recognize the drive; some of the common ones are:
File History is disabled – If you have mistakenly disabled the File History option, you won’t be able to find the drive.
External drive damaged – If the drive connected or configured is damaged, then File History won’t be able to find the drive.
Improper connection – If the drive connection is incorrect or the USB port is not working, you might get the File History failure to identify the drive error.
Type services.msc and press Enter to open Services.
Locate and double-click the File History Service to open Properties.
For Startup type, select Automatic; for Service status, choose Start.
Click Apply and OK.
Go to the Windows Search service and follow the same to Start the service.
5. Delete the File History configuration folder
Press Windows + E to open File Explorer. Click View and select Hidden items.
Follow this path: C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\FileHistory\Configuration\Config
Delete this file and check if the File History is fixed.
So, you can follow these steps to fix the file history that doesn’t recognize this drive error. Try them and let us know what worked in the comments section below.
Many users wonder how to stop Steam from opening on startup simply because it can be annoying to close it manually every time. Steam is set to start automatically in the settings and Task Manager, but sometimes, bugs can also force the app to start automatically.
Before we start fixing the issue, update the Steam client to the latest version to ensure a bug isn’t causing this issue and try joining the beta client participation. You can do that from the Interface settings in Steam.
How can I stop Steam from running on startup?
1. From within Steam’s interface
1. Press on the Windows key, type Steam in the search box, then click on the first result to open the app.
2. From the top-left corner of the window, click on Steam.
3. Go to Settings.
4. From the left window pane, navigate to the Interface tab.
5. Uncheck the box that says Run Steam when my computer starts.
7. Click on OK to save the changes.
If you are looking to stop Steam from auto-starting when you turn on your PC, you should first try to do this via the app’s built-in Settings. From there, you can enable or disable the feature in a few clicks.
2. Disable Steam’s auto-startup from the Task Manager
Use the following keyboard shortcut to open Task Manager: Ctrl + Alt + Del.
Select Task Manager.
Go to the Startup tab.
Click on the Steam client, then selectDisable.
You can disable this service via Task Manager if you want to block Steam from starting when your computer boots.
Microsoft launched the long-awaited 2H22 update for Windows 11, bringing a lot of new features and nice improvements to life. Dubbed ‘Moment 2,’ Redmond officials revamps the volume mixer option after a few months of sitting on hidden, search on taskbar functionality, and more.
One of the recent changes that were spotted is the tab feature on Notepad. While it had been rumored for months since December 2022, the update is finally here. Now, you can open a new tab on the app without having to open a new window.
Some people are happy with this addition, but several users have reported that the update also came with its flaws. As noted by user u/nton27, plenty of other features have gone missing. There were situations where you could not set word wrap off as default, names of opened files aren’t visible when switching between windows with the Alt + Tab shortcut, new Notepad windows appear in no-fixed place, etc.
With that being said, some users are reportedly unhappy with this change and want to go back to the previous version.
In this article, we’ll talk more about how to set word wrap as default, and how to use the old version of Notepad, if the latest version is still not up to your satisfaction.
How to set word wrap as the default
1. With your Notepad app open, go to View ➜ Word wrap.
How to use the old version of Notepad
1. Open File Explorer then go to C.
2. Go to Windows.old.
3. Go to WINDOWS.
3. Scroll down then click on Notepad.
4. Ignore the pop-up that says A new version of Notepad is available. Click X to dismiss.
It’s a weird issue indeed, considering that word wrap is always turned on by default. Nevertheless, we’ve already explained to you a few workarounds you can try to use, should you encounter this problem again.
What do you think about this bug? Let us know if you have any questions!
If you’re a Windows PC user, you can take extra measures to protect your data and keep your drivers safe as well.
This can be done using the best Windows driver backup software that not only keeps your drivers tucked away in a good place but safeguards the files and installers of the drivers.
What driver backup software should I use?
There are a variety of commonly used cloud-based driver backup solutions in the form of apps, but you can also find other backup tools pretty useful such as those we’ll discuss in this article.
It is important to back up your drivers as you need a copy of your drivers so as not to lose data, or not have installation for your drivers, which affects your computer’s performance.
For better results, always keep your drivers updated (you can turn on automatic updates), and look for added features in the tools below.
You can also take a copy of third-party drivers and be keen on 32-bit and 64-bit updates – don’t confuse the two.
Check out our top favorites for Windows driver backup software.
Backing up your drivers is an excellent way of making sure you have something to roll back to if an update goes wrong. That is why Outbyte Driver Updater takes the top spot on our list, as it both updates your drivers, and keeps the old versions in case something bad happens.
The program is extremely lightweight to the point where it is actually portable and does not require any setup process. More so, the interface is extremely minimalist and modern, so navigating around it is no problem at all.
As for the update process per se, simply launch the program and it will begin scanning your system automatically. Once that is done, you get to choose which drivers to install, update, or repair.
The driver backup feature is something that you can turn on and off from the Settings menu, but it is mostly recommended that you keep it turned on.
All in all, Outbyte Driver Updater is your go-to solution for installing, updating, or repairing broken drivers.
Here are some of the perks of using Outbyte Driver Updater:
Comes with an immense library of drivers
Performs system scans automatically
Installs, repairs, and updates drivers
Completely portable
Easy-to-use
Outbyte Driver Updater
Update and back up your drivers with the help of this very simplistic PC utility.
Another reliable choice is Driver Fusion, one of those tools that prove how your driver’s health has a major impact on your entire PC functionality.
This is a comprehensive tool that quickly updates your computer; do note that its automatic driver updater ensures you always receive the latest drivers.
Not only does it do so with ease, but it also restores or even installs drivers at your convenience.
You’ve got an extensive driver database to pick the drivers you like – it includes more than ten million drivers at the moment and the numbers are growing.
Key features that Driver Fusion brings to the table:
Convenient Scheduler to automatically identify issues
Automatic updates
Extended manufacturer compatibility
Device monitor and Device Control features
Extensive reports for every driver installed in your PC
Driver Fusion
Driver Fusion is an optimum solution for performing Windows drive backups and updates.
This Windows driver backup software offers a free solution with professional functions to back up your drivers, by creating backups of individual files, partitions, or the whole operating system in a few seconds.
And this is while giving you flexible restoration in worst-case scenarios.
It is reliable, flexible, and easy to use, keeping your PC and data safe from eventualities like defective hard disks, sudden system errors, PC viruses, and other threats affecting your data.
Paragon’s intuitive interface is easy to use and understand, with the simple set and run, and backup planning which is done once, and the rest is executed automatically.
It is a comprehensive and robust backup and recovery app that allows you to carry out incremental backups on your drivers, external storage, disks, or hidden partitions.
It also comes in handy to prevent data loss and avoid program reconfiguration in the event of a system failure.
Features include disk backup, differential backup, incremental backup, backup for jobs, flexible restoration, and the WinPE-based recovery environment.
This will create a full-fledged Windows-based recovery environment and store it in bootable media.
This Windows driver backup software is a great solution for backing up your drivers while downloading the updated versions of the same drivers, simultaneously.
With a collection of more than two million drivers of NVidia, Microsoft, Intel, and many others, you can be sure it will be compatible with any version of Windows currently in use, plus you get automatic driver updates.
It comes in a free or paid version.
The latter goes for about $10 annually, and you will enjoy features such as a wide range of compatible drivers and added security for safe driver backup.
You will also benefit from automatic updates, a system productivity boost with timely updates, and unlimited download features (PRO version).
The benefits of using DriverMax include driver updates that are easily automated and restored for more than 2.3 million devices, scheduled scanning, and full device driver backups any day or week or even month.
Your PC will also experience increased productivity as it reduces system freezes and malfunctions while serving the latest and best updates.
For maximum security for your updates, DriverMax tests each new driver automatically prior to installation, to ensure it functions properly.
It also backs up current drivers and creates a system restore point so you can roll back the installation quickly.
This is an all-in-one Windows driver backup software that is compatible with all functioning and leading Windows versions.
It has automatic updates, driver detection, installer cloning, and back up for essential documents, plus it is available for free, but for the premium benefits, you’d have to pay $29.99.
Driver Magician identifies your hardware, extracts associated drivers from your hard disk, and performs the backup of the drivers to your desired location.
When you format and reinstall or upgrade Windows, you can restore the drivers just like you would if you had the original driver disks.
If you’re looking for a Windows driver backup software you can trust with your data and system, this is one of your best bets.
Win Driver Backup helps you back up all system drivers to keep them safe and restore them in case of system failure or driver crashes.
This tool backs up all system drivers instantly, including audio, video, and network drivers, so you won’t struggle or worry during system crashes, reinstallations, or other accidents you didn’t plan for.
You can also restore them in a few clicks back to your hard drive, plus you need not dig through your old drawers for driver CDs or websites to find compatible drivers.
This software frees you from such annoyances by creating driver backups of your choice.
It is an all-around backup utility that intelligently saves drivers, and arranges them neatly in folders with flexible backup methods and comprehensive information about the drivers.
Besides backing up drivers, it goes further to back up web browser cookies, Internet Explorer favorites, and your registry, for easy recovery.
It is free, specialized, and can back up all major system drivers in your PC at zero cost.
Additionally, it has a clean and elegant interface and any user can master it, plus resolve future driver issues.
All you need to do is launch Win Driver backup, scan the driver/drivers, and select the driver/drivers you want to back up, then back them up and you’re all set.
This is one of the best Windows driver backup software that comes at a decent price and updates your drivers automatically.
It is available with a GUI and command-line interface and restores your drivers from the existing backup.
You can use it if you need to reinstall Windows or find and install missing drivers to make your hardware function. It is also portable and highly efficient.
We all know that corrupt or outdated drivers can produce performance problems for your PC. DriverDoc constantly updates your drivers so that these kinds of issues don’t even happen.
DriverDoc uses the One-Click Update technology. First, it scans your hardware and identifies the latest Microsoft Windows drivers for your components.
The next step is to download them from a huge database of over 16 million drivers. Finally, the tool updates each driver automatically and ensures that there are no hardware conflicts.
This is a user-friendly and fast Windows driver backup software, which backs up Windows drivers and third-party drivers, which can be restored later to your PC with no struggle at all.
Driver Backup comes with three ways of backing up your drivers. You can back up all drivers, only OEM drivers, or only third-party drivers.
It is open source so you can use it freely and redistribute, plus it needs no installation, has an integrated command-line interface, and is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems.
Features include device recognition, command-line switches, automatic generate autorun files to restore drivers, offline backup, and backup/restore of Windows drivers.
We hope that our selection of backup and restore drivers software will help you fix any driver-related issues. If you’re on a tight budget, rest assured that some of the above picks are perfect for you.
Now that you know the best Windows driver backup software, we’d like to hear from you on which ones you use from this list, or others not mentioned. Leave a comment in the section below.
Your hard drive will fail eventually, so you must have a backup ready. There are different types of backups, but the mirror backup might be the best choice for most users.
The mirror backup process entails cloning all your hard drive information from the PC. Hence, you can always have the exact replication of the entire system to be relaxed.
Why should I use the mirror backup software?
It can be more beneficial to back up data using mirroring to have a complete copy of your system, not only specific files or folders. So, unlike a regular backup, you will have your complete information ready.
Therefore, if you experience unfortunate PC crashes, this backup method is more than suited to stay protected against all digital threats.
Either you need stability for business data on your PC, or require security on personal files that need a reserved copy in case of worst-case scenarios.
There are many backup applications, and in this article, we’re going to focus on mirror backup software and show you our top picks.
If you’re looking for mirror backup software, we have to mention Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office, formerly Acronis True Image. The software will make an exact copy of your system while in use without interfering with your daily tasks.
If needed, you can also upload your local backup to the Acronis’ hybrid cloud and make sure you have an extra copy of your backup available.
AES-256 encryption is available, so you can rest assured that your data is always perfectly safe. Thanks to the Acronis Survival Kit feature, you can boot your system from an external drive.
The software also has a built-in antivirus scanner and a web filtering feature that will protect you against malicious websites.
Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office is great backup software, and it’s a perfect choice if you need mirror backup software for your PC or Mac.
With all being said, you can benefit from genuine cyber protection by assuring your digital data with this proficient backup and antivirus tool.
Another great mirror backup software that we want to show you is AOMEI Backupper Professional. The application supports the system, UEFI, GPT to MBR, and customized cloning.
The software can perform system, disk, partition, and file backup. File synchronization and mirroring features are also available, so you can rest assured that you have an exact copy of your files.
AOMEI Backupper Professional supports both incremental and differential backups, and there’s also a command-line backup feature for advanced users.
Speaking of file backup, it’s important to mention that the software supports local/external drives, optical discs, NAS, and cloud storage as backup destinations.
Overall, AOMEI Backupper Professional offers great features, and it’s a great mirror backup software, so be sure to try it out.
Therefore, you can have a complete backup service and secure data all-around from your system, disk, or partitions on your PC.
AOMEI Backupper Professional features:
Support for disk, partition, and file backup
File synchronization and mirroring
Support for incremental and differential backups
Can back up file to local/external drives, NAS, cloud storage
Command-line support
Aomei Backupper
Aomei Backupper is a backup software that allows you to perform full system backup as well as mirror backups.
Another great mirror backup software that you might want to consider is Handy Backup. The software allows you to back up your files to local/external drives, NAS, FTP server, and cloud storage.
Regarding the backups, the software supports full, incremental, and differential backups. Compression and encryption are available as well, so your backups will remain completely safe and small in size.
It’s worth mentioning that the software supports both synchronization and data mirroring, so you can rest assured that all your files are completely synchronized and backed up.
The software also comes with email notifications and extensive logging, so you can be alerted if there are any issues with the backup process.
Moreover, this software will be of real help regarding backup of any of your files, from photos or folders to email apps or even website data.
Hence, you’re able to store your saved information with the FTP service, USB external drives, or cloud providers such as Google Drive or OneDrive.
Overall, Handy Backup offers great features, and if you need mirror backup software, you might want to consider it.
Handy Backup features:
Ability to perform full, incremental, and differential backups
Compression and encryption support
Support for synchronization and data mirroring
Email notifications
Ability to back up to local/external drives, NAS, cloud storage, FTP server
EaseUS is a flexible solution to restore your data or schedule backup sessions to be protected all the time from data leakage.
This referred software can deliver efficient backup services for every system or business alike. So, it addresses high-standard data protection for businesses of all sizes.
With four different editions, the program comes equipped with one-stop backup services designed to cover the necessities for various areas.
Furthermore, it runs automatic admin backup tasks and delivers reliable information stability for more environments such as simple workstations or enterprises with different platforms.
In addition, it’s likely to keep your business always running with automated backup according to professional needs. Hence, you can build a bootable device with a WinPE bootable disk and avoid disruption while data are saved.
Another worth mentioning feature lets you clone all your system information on other devices very fast, with no interruption or Windows reinstallation require.
Therefore, have a try with this backup provider to integrate all tools in one simple interface that will clone your PC data in the blink of an eye.
Backup4All is a mirror backup software that can perform full, differential, incremental, and mirror backups. Thanks to the smart backup feature, the software will choose the best backup method.
It’s worth mentioning that the software backs up blocks of data, so it will back up only the small parts that have been modified since the initial backup.
Backup4All allows you to include or exclude files that you want to back up or schedule your backups and automate the entire backup process.
Regarding the files, it’s important to mention that you can back up files that are open or locked, so the software won’t ever interfere with your day-to-day activities.
Backup4All also has a compression feature, and with mirror backup support, it’s one of the backup applications that you need to consider.
With this being said, this program can automate backup tasks whenever you have to save valuable data, backup to or from the cloud, use incremental backup, and much more benefits.
Backup4All features:
Support for full, differential, incremental, and mirror backups
If you’re looking for a free backup/sync software, then FreeFileSync might be just what you need. To sync your files, just select the source and the destination folder and select the synchronization button.
As for the designation drive, you can use both network or local drives, Google Drive, or FTP server. It’s also important to mention that there’s no limit regarding the number of files that you’re syncing.
The application also supports automated syncing as batch jobs, and there’s extensive support for the command line which can be useful to advanced users.
Email notifications are also available, so you can get notified of your backup status with ease. Of course, detailed error reporting is available as well.
FreeFileSync is a great synchronization tool, but it can also work as a mirror backup software. Since the tool is completely free, there’s no reason not to try it out.
You should thus prioritize important data as fast as possible and create an exact copy of your PC to never worry about information loss again.
All in all, with this powerful program you profit from the interactive platform when it comes to file synchronization, plus add-free interaction at any time.
FreeFileSync features:
Completely free
Can synchronize files to local/network drives, Google Drive, or FTP server
The HP Envy not charging issue is one of the major problems users face on the otherwise excellent laptop. According to them, the battery fails to charge despite connecting the charger to a power source.
If you also face this issue, this guide contains quick and easy ways to fix it.
Why is my HP Envy battery not charging?
There are a series of reasons your HP Envy laptop might not charge. Listed below are some of the prominent ones:
Faulty driver: If your HP Envy is not charging when plugged in, it might be because of faulty or outdated battery drivers. You need to reinstall or update your driver to solve the problem.
Overheating: If your battery is overheating, the battery might not charge to prevent damage. In this case, you must allow your PC to cool down before charging it.
Faulty hardware: Sometimes, your HP Envy laptop might not be charging with no light showing due to issues with your cord or adapter. You need to check if your charger is working well and replace it if necessary.
What can I do if HP Envy is not charging?
1. Uninstall and reinstall battery drivers
Press the Windows key + X and click on Device Manager.
Double-click the Batteries option to expand it and right-click the device there.
Now, select the Uninstall device option.
Finally, click the Uninstall button and restart your PC.
If your HP Envy 15 or x360 is not charging, it might be because of issues with your drivers. You can eliminate this problem by uninstalling and reinstalling your battery driver.
Alternatively, you can update your driver to the latest version to fix this issue. To do this, we recommend using an automatic driver updater to quickly update all outdated drivers on your PC.
2. Check your charger
Sometimes, this problem is down to issues with your charger adapter or cord. To be sure this is not the case, disconnect your charger from the power source and check if the charging pin is not bent.
Also, it would be best if you tried the adapter with another cord and the cord with another adapter. You might need to replace your charger if any of these combinations work.
3. Update your PC
Press the Windows key + I and select Update & Security.
Click the Check for updates button.
Finally, download and install any available updates.
Sometimes, your HP Envy battery is not charging because of an outdated operating system. The quickest way around this is to update your PC to the latest version.
If the solutions above fail to get your HP Envy laptop charging, you need to check if the battery is not declining.
You might need some tools to unscrew your PC and remove the battery. If you are unsure of what you are doing, we advise seeking the help of a professional to prevent further damage to your PC.
Also, you can try to perform a BIOS reset to see if this will solve the problem. You can do that by following our comprehensive guide.
With this, we can conclude this guide on fixing an HP Envy laptop that is not charging. We believe you now have the needed information to resolve the issue, provided you follow the steps carefully.
The time of the month is here: Microsoft announced the latest Insider Build for Windows 11 with a bunch of slight tweaks in features, live on the Dev Channel.
Just like what the Redmond tech giant did by revamping the volume mixer feature and migrating File Explorer to WinAppSDK in Insider Build 25309, devs on the channel have figured out that you may be able to change the color of your search box in future Windows 11 stable releases.
As noted by Windows enthusiast @PhantomOnEarth, the feature is available in the recent build, but some users reported that they didn’t like the appearance that much and wanted to revert to the old style.
With this feature, you can change the color of the search box on your taskbar and from the start menu. It’s not that big of a feature but it’s still a nice addition, especially if you want to fit it to your desktop wallpaper’s aesthetics.
Though, you can still disable the functionality with a few registry tweaks via the third-party app ViVeTool.
Read along to find out how to enable/disable the color change of the search box in Windows 11.
How to enable/disable the color change of the search box in Windows 11
1. Make sure to join the Windows Insider Program and have the latest Windows 11 Insider Build installed in your system. If not, head over Settings ➜ Windows Update ➜ Install all.
3. Once downloaded, click Extract all, select the location where you want to extract it by clicking Browse, then hit Extract. In this case, we extract it at C:\Users\WindowsReport\Documents\Tools\ViVeTool-v0.3.2.
4. Hit ? on your keyboard, then type “cmd” and right-click on Command Prompt -> Run as administrator.
5. Type in cd + the directory where we extracted ViVeTool. In this case, it’s at C:\Users\WindowsReport\Documents\Tools\ViVeTool-v0.3.2, then hit Enter.
6. If you want to disable the feature, type the following command then hit Enter.
vivetool /disable /id:42922989
7. Reboot the computer.
In the meantime, it’s still worth noting that being an insider-only feature that isn’t out for primetime yet, you may be running into some performance problems here and there, so, patience is a virtue.
Are you excited about this upcoming feature? Let us know in the comments!
How many of you regularly back up files? Well, I don’t; and lots of others might not either, as serious hardware issues are unlikely, or folders don’t often mysteriously disappear.
However, in the business domain backups are more essential and it can still be a good idea to back up more essential documents and files of your own just in case.
Why do I need a local backup solution?
It is recommended to better secure your local files and reduce the possibility of data loss considerably. This way, you rest assured regarding the most significant files on your Windows PC.
Windows does have its own backup tools. However, those tools have limited scheduling and optimization options.
So, consider adding some of these freeware and commercial backup software packages to your desktop or laptop.
Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office, formerly Acronis True Image, is another highly-rated backup utility for Windows 10 and other platforms. Acronis also provides cloud storage for backups.
The software’s website rightly boasts that Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office is the fastest and easiest personal backup software.
One of the great things about the utility is that it’s so easy to set up and restore a full image backup with it.
Just a couple of clicks are needed to set up the full image backup and only a few more clicks restore that to an alternative drive.
Aside from all its backup and recovery options, end-to-end encryption, automatic compression, custom commands, advanced disk tools, automatic backup splitting, and disk cloning, Acronis also boasts speed.
It’s one of the fastest utilities for backing up to external hard drives and Apple Time Machine.
The latest version of this backup software has integrated AI-powered defense to secure your system from ransomware attacks and other malware. New machine learning models have improved their effectiveness and enhanced performance.
This software currently has no freeware version, but you should benefit from a 30-day free trial option to convince yourself.
AOMEI Backupper has an extensive set of settings for backups. This is a utility with a freeware, Pro, and Server version.
The standard package alone will be sufficient for most, and you can add it to Windows 10 by pressing the Download Freeware option. The Professional version includes extra command-line utility and disk space management options.
With AOMEI Backupper you can easily set up a system image backup for Windows 10 OS partitions. For that, the software includes a quick wizard that will guide you through the steps required.
Furthermore, it also enables you to create a disk image, otherwise an exact copy of your hard disk, which can come in handy for system migration or OS deployment.
The software also includes full, incremental, and differential options for more regular backups.
AOMEI Backupper includes options for you to set up regular backup schedules. Consequently, with those settings, you can set up a schedule for automatic backups if required.
You can schedule those to run at shutdown or startup and set up multiple backup schedules.
The utility also has handy extra encryption and compression options. They enable you to set up passwords and compress the backups.
Its additional comment and edit options, with which you can add notes and reconfigure the backup directories anytime, also come in handy.
EaseUSTodo Backup is a utility that has had some rave reviews. This is also a software package that has multiple versions. It has freeware, TodoBackup Home, and Todo Backup Workstation versions.
One novelty of EaseUS Todo Backup is its Smart Backup function that automatically backs up your desktop files, Documents folder, and browser favorites. It also does schedule differential backups every 30 minutes.
The software has an immense array of backup options. With it you can do system, Windows partition, file, sector-by-sector, incremental, scheduled, full, and differential backups.
Furthermore, it provides extra backup options for encryption, splitting, and compression that certainly come in handy.
At the same time, this solution brings extra reliability to protect critical documents on your PC using automatic backup tasks.
EaseUS is perfectly suited for businesses of all types. With automated and constant backups, you will never worry again about crucial files.
It is therefore the high-standard software for any user who values digital information stored on their PC, at a very convenient price as well.
Comodo BackUp is one of the most flexible backup software packages for Windows 10. The software enables its users to back up to their local or networked drives, DVD/CD, USB sticks, FTP, or cloud storage.
The freeware version provides you with 10 GB of cloud storage for about three months, but after that, it comes with a monthly subscription.
Comodo includes options for setting up full drive image backups, but you’ll also need the Windows Automated Installation Kit to make the system backups.
Furthermore, you can back up files, partitions, drives, and directories with full, incremental, or differential backup types.
Another good thing about Comodo BackUp is its integration with Windows File Explorer. As it integrates with File Explorer, you can start the backup wizard from file and folder context menus.
The CBU BackUp and Online BackUp options are both handy context menu shortcuts.
PipemetricsBvckup 2 is a reliable, fast software package with a slick UI that has also had rave reviews. The program strives for simplicity, yet still bags numerous backup options and settings.
It has a Personal and Pro version retailing at affordable prices and cost-effective results.
Backup speed is the best thing Pipemetrics Bvckup 2 has going for it. The software’s algorithm, otherwise Delta copying, checks parts of the original file against those of its current backup copy and only copies changed parts.
In addition, it doesn’t compress the files or do any cloud backups. Consequently, the utility does the backups somewhat faster than most alternatives.
With this software, you can do real-time, scheduled, and manual backups. It also enables you to copy both open and locked files with Shadow Copy.
Overall, it’s a great tool for specific data backups; but for system backups, there are better alternatives.
SmartScreen is a cloud-based, inbuilt anti-malware security feature that prevents devices from downloading or browsing potentially harmful websites. However, this feature can impede other activities, causing the Windows SmartScreen can’t be reached right now error on your PC.
What causes the Windows SmartScreen can’t be reached error?
The SmartScreen can’t be reached right now error occurs when trying to install a program on Windows 11. Some of the factors responsible are:
Network connection issues – Windows SmartScreen is cloud-based anti-malware and requires a stable and secure network connection. Hence, the error can occur when there is network congestion or other network-related issues on your system’s internet.
Issues with SmartScreen settings – Disabling your PC’s Windows SmartScreen component sometimes prompts the error because the service can’t connect.
Proxy Server is in use on the computer – Using a proxy server can cause the SmartScreen can’t be reached error on the PC. This is because of the SmartScreen incompatibility with proxy servers.
Virus and malware attacks – Program installation may result in the Windows SmartScreen error due to a virus or malware on your PC.
Nonetheless, we’ll discuss effective steps for resolving the SmartScreen can’t be reached right now error message on Windows 11.
What should I do if Windows SmartScreen can’t be reached?
All processes on your PC share the CPU power equally, but did you know that you can increase the productivity of a program above others by increasing its CPU priority?
Having received several requests from our readers on how to allocate more CPU to program on Windows 10 and 11 PC, we have gathered the steps to do it.
What does it mean to allocate more CPU to a process?
Allocating more CPU to a process entails devoting a larger portion of the processor to a task to increase the process’s overall efficacy. By this, even if you are doing some intensive rendering, compilation, gaming, or video processing, the task will run efficiently.
For instance, if you assign one entire core to a process like CompatTelRunner.exe – a crucial component of your Windows System that is in charge of keeping your computer up to date – that means you have allocated over 25% of the CPU power to that process (in the case of a quad-core processor).
However, before allocating priority, be sure you are familiar with the procedure. Luckily, we’ll walk you through the process in this article.
There are several ways to allocate more CPU to a process across Windows versions. However, we’ll be focusing on how to adjust the power allocated to a process in Windows 10 and 11.
How can I allocate more CPU to a process?
1. Use Task Manager
Right-click on the Start button and select Task Manager.
Navigate to the Details Tab.
Right-click on the program you wish to allocate more CPU. Next, click on the Set Affinity option from the pop-up menu.
Then, select the cores you want to assign to this particular process from the options listed as CPU0, CPU1, CPU2, and CPU3 (for quad-core chipsets).
Lastly, click on OK to apply the changes.
Despite the performance gaps between Windows 10 & 11, the above steps will guide you through allocating more CPU to a process using the Task Manager on Windows 10 and 11.
2. Change the CPU Priority option
Press the Ctrl+Shift+Esc key combination to open Task Manager directly.
Navigate to the Details Tab.
Right-click on the program which requires higher CPU usage and choose the Set Priority option from the pop-up menu to see the current priority setting (Normal).
Now set it to either Above Normal,High,or Realtime (do not prioritize a lot of processes to Realtime at the same time as it can lead to system instabilities).
Click on the Change priority option to confirm the changes.
However, these settings apply only until you turn off your PC. Once you turn it off, the settings will revert to the default values. For additional information on how to set priority in Task Manager in Windows 10 and 11, check out this article.
Right-click on the Computer icon and select Properties from the options menu.
Choose Advanced System Settings.
Navigate to the System Properties. Next, click on Settings.
Click on Adjust for best performance.
Then, click on Apply and OK to save the changes.
Restart your PC.
Follow the above steps to tune your CPU for the best performance since high CPU usage lowers your PC’s performance.
4. Use Windows 11 graphics settings
Press the Windows key + I to open the Settings app.
Navigate to the Display option in the System tab.
Now, scroll down and select the Graphics button.
Choose the Desktop Apps option from the drop-down menu.
Click on the Browse button and select the program .exe file extension you want to allocate more memory to.
Now, select the High-Performance Mode option and click on the Save button.
By using the Windows Graphics settings, some of our readers were able to allocate more CPU to graphic-intensive applications.
And that’s all on allocating more CPU to a process in Windows 10 and 11 to make your computer work more efficiently. You can follow the steps provided to assign resources to the needed programs.
The Virtual Disk Service error: The service failed to initialize problem has been reported by some of our readers while partitioning a hard drive using the Diskpart utility.
If you are experiencing similar issues, and don’t seem to know how to get past this error message, don’t worry because this article covers the fixes to apply.
What causes the Virtual Disk Service error?
There can be several reasons behind the Virtual Disk Service error, but mainly, that is triggered by the service itself. Here are some other probable causes:
Corrupt Virtual Disk Service key – The Registry key for the Virtual Disk Service’s security descriptor is corrupt. That happens when you installed or uninstalled a third-party storage program.
Malware infection – This error can also manifest due to malware or virus infections which may cause the virtual disk service dynamic-link library (DLL) to become damaged or missing.
Permission issues – The storage device cannot be managed because you lack the necessary permissions.
Incompatibility issues – If the storage device is incompatible with the Virtual Disk Service, the service may fail to initialize.
Now that you know some of the potential reasons behind this error, you can explore the steps provided in this article to fix it.
How can I fix the Virtual Disk Service error?
Before engaging in any advanced troubleshooting or settings tweaks, ensure that you perform the following preparatory checks:
Restart your PC.
Install all the latest Windows updates.
Check to make sure that you are not blocked by the firewall.
Make sure your computer has an accessible administrator account.
Having confirmed the above checks, and if you still require further assistance, you can explore the solutions provided below.
1. Manually start the Virtual Disk Service
Press the Windows key, type services in the Search box, and click on the Windows Services icon from the results to launch it.
Scroll down to Virtual Disk service and double-click on it.
Expand the Startup type drop-down menu and select Manual.
Then, click on the Start button to start Virtual Disk Service.
The Virtual Disk Service often starts up automatically on a Windows computer. However, it may fail to start or initialize at times, therefore, you’ll need to start it manually from the Windows services.
2. Check Registry permission for Application Packages
Click on the Start menu icon and type registry in the Search box, and click on the Registry Editor.
Click on Yes if prompted by UAC.
Type the following path in the text field and press Enter: HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\vds
Right-click on the VDS folder and click on the Permissions option.
Select each user name and make sure all have Read permission or Special permissions.
If the permission is missing, you need to add your account and grant the necessary permissions. That way, you can be sure the issue won’t arise when you run the command.
And that’s it on how to fix the virtual service error. If the VDS error persists, you can use other efficient disk management software suggested in this article.
If you have any other questions or comments concerning Virtual disk service error: the service failed to initialize, please leave them in the comments section below.
Wondering how to back up WhatsApp files to OneDrive? It’s a great option for extra storage or when switching devices.
Here’s how to do it.
Can WhatsApp be backed up on OneDrive?
Yes, you can manually upload WhatsApp photos, videos, and even voice files to OneDrive by saving them to your device’s storage and then uploading them to OneDrive. For now, there’s no option to directly save to OneDrive – iPhone saves to iCloud, Android saves to Google Drive. But the process is pretty simple as it is.
How can I back up WhatsApp to Onedrive?
1. On iPhone
First, you will need to install OneDrive from Apple App Store.
Open OneDrive and sign in.
Now, tap on the Profile icon at the top left.
Choose Settings.
Tap on Camera Upload.
Enable the toggle for your account at the top, and also the Include Videos one.
If asked to grant permissions, make sure OneDrive has access to All photos. You could do so via the prompt that appears or from the settings.
All that’s left is to ensure WhatsApp saves photos to the gallery. For that, open WhatsApp, head to Settings, and then choose Chats.
Now, turn on the Save to Camera Roll option.
All the WhatsApp files will now be backed up to OneDrive on your iPhone. If you have issues syncing or accessing files, ensure OneDrive is set up correctly. Check phone connectivity issues if you face problems with file access or sync.
2. On Android
NOTE
In order to see the WhatsApp folders in OneDrive, you will need to set the WhatsApp backup to OneDrive.
Tick the checkboxes for WhatsApp Video and WhatsApp Images.
How to save WhatsApp voice notes to OneDrive
To save WhatsApp voice notes to OneDrive, treat them like other media files. The process is the same as for photos and videos. Simply locate the voice notes in your device’s storage and manually upload them to OneDrive. It’s no more difficult than backing up other media.
Summary
That’s it! You are all set. All your WhatsApp images and video files will now be automatically backed up on OneDrive and accessed from any device.
If WhatsApp photos aren’t showing in OneDrive, ensure the backup is configured correctly and syncing. Restart your device or re-sign into OneDrive if needed. You might also need to disable end-to-end encryption for certain chats.
In case you have too many files taking up space, you could always use two OneDrive accounts. You can have one to back up WhatsApp files on OneDrive and another for other files from your computer.
Also, if WhatsApp photos are not showing in OneDrive, make sure to set images to sync and that the back up is successful. Another trick is to restart the device or re-sign it into the OneDrive app. You can even force sync files to OneDrive.
If you have any queries or want to share something we may have missed, comment below.
Chess Titans was part of Windows, but it has been discontinued, and many are wondering if it is still possible to download it for Windows 10.
The answer is yes, the game is still available and works on new Windows versions, so be sure to keep reading to learn how to download it.
Quick Tip:
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DecodeChess is software that shows you all the mistakes you made, all the possible checks or checkmates you missed, and many more strategies in real time.
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Node is a very popular front-end development software, and to keep it running smoothly, you need to know how to update Node properly on Windows.
To ensure everything works properly, you need to update Node.js regularly for stable performance. Today’s guide will show you how to update Node JS on Windows, so be sure to keep on reading.
Can you update Node from command line?
Yes, it’s possible to update Node on Windows from the command line. However, this method requires that you download and install additional software from GitHub to work.
In addition, before using this method, you need to remove all versions of Node and then install them from the command line. This is done in order to avoid any potential issues on your PC.
Node.js is an open-source, cross-platform, JavaScript runtime environment that allows you to run JavaScript code outside of a web browser. Being a popular JavaScript runtime environment, Node.js gets new updates every few weeks.
While installing these updates may not be critical soon after the release, at times, some features can only be used after updating to newer releases.
By following the steps in the article, you can upgrade Node version on Windows with ease. If you’re a fan of node, maybe consider trying Yarn as well. We have a great guide on how to install Yarn, so be sure to check it out. You can also install NVM on Windows to switch between Node versions.
This app package is not supported for installation by app installer because it uses certain restricted capabilities error will prevent you from installing apps from the Microsoft Store, but you can fix it with these steps.
Why am I getting the App package not supported error?
This can happen if you’re installing apps from third-party sources, or if the Store isn’t supporting the installer. Restricted installed capabilities can also cause this issue, as well as not using the Developer Mode.
How can I fix this app package is not supported for installation by app installer?
1. Enable Developer Mode
Use the Windows + I shortcut to launch the Settings app.
Go to Privacy & Security tab from the left sidebar and click the For developers option.
Toggle On the switch for Developer Mode.
2. Install app packages using Windows PowerShell
Press Windows + S to open Windows Search, type powershell in the search bar, and click Run as Administrator.
Press the Yes button on the User Action Control window.
Type or copy-paste the following command into the PowerShell window (Replace the X:\Path\to\File.Appx string with the actual path of the app package on your system): Add-AppxPackage -Path X:\Path\to\File.Appx
Press the Enter key to initiate the package installation.
Before you begin installing Microsoft’s official App Installer on your Windows PC, it is recommended to create a restore point on your Windows PC.
Launch Microsoft Store from the pinned apps in the Start menu and search for App Installer.
Press the Install to Download button.
Launch the File Explorer using Windows + E shortcut, navigate to the location of the .appx or .msixbundle package, and double-click one of them to launch the App Installer.
Finally, press the Install button located on the button right of the App Installer dialog box.
Wait until the App Installer discovers and downloads the essential dependency packages and the main app package. After the installation is successful, the app will automatically launch on your PC.
These workarounds will help you get past the This app package is not supported for installation by app installer because it uses certain restricted capabilities error.
Some of our readers have recently reported that they face the lack of media in the device error when they’re trying to format their USB device drivers.
While this can be quite frustrating, we have decided to provide some potential solutions to help fix the removable disk with no media error.
Why do I get there is no media in the device error?
Before proceeding to explore the potential solutions for this error, you may want to take note of the reasons why you are experiencing this issue:
The Master Boot Record (MBR) is damaged or corrupted – The Master Boot Record (MBR), or Partition Boot Record (PBR), gets damaged whenever you abruptly eject your USB device.
Faulty system files – In some cases, the error can also be triggered by corrupted system files. Use the Windows built-in disk error-checking tool or use a third-party system repair tool.
Multiple USB devices connected – It can also be caused by some temporary glitches, like too many USB drivers connected to your PC, USB port, etc.
What can I do if I get there is no media in the device error?
1. Run the CHKDSK command
Plug your USB drive into your computer.
Press the Windows key + S, type the command prompt, and choose Run as administrator.
Next, type the following command and press Enter to run it: chkdsk C: /f /r /x
Press Y to proceed with the check after restarting.
Press the Windows + X keys to open the Quick links menu and select Device Manager.
Click on the Disk drives section to expand it, then right-click on your USB device and select the Update driver option.
In the pop-up windows, select Search automatically for drivers.
Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process.
Once done, try reconnecting your USB and see if the error is fixed.
If not, proceed again with the first 2 steps and select the Uninstall device option instead.
Next, restart your PC, and the driver will be reinstalled automatically.
If updating the driver does not fix the issue, you can try to uninstall the USB driver and then reinstall it.
Sometimes, updating or completely reinstalling your drivers may take time and effort because you want to avoid possible errors and damage.
Thus, dedicated software like Fortect Driver Updater can be helpful because it can locate the correct and latest driver options for your outdated, missing, or malfunctioning device drivers.
You can also:
Restart your PC and check if the problem persists.
Try to inspect your USB drive for any physical damage.
Try to check your USB with another computer, connect it to another USB port, and see if it works for you.
Unplug all other USB drivers connected to your computer.
The solutions provided in this article should help fix the there is no media in the device error, as it did for others.
The error code 37 means that Windows has detected a problem with the device driver and cannot start the hardware device. This means that the software device driver is not properly installed on your system or that the hardware you are trying to use is incompatible with Windows.
You already know drivers are essential for the smooth operation of devices, so this error needs to be addressed immediately if you’re to use the hardware device. In this article, we show you various ways to bypass this error.
What causes the Windows error code 37?
When you get the Windows cannot initialize the device driver for this hardware. (code 37) message, it can be caused by several issues, including:
Compatibility issues – When you plug a hardware device into your PC, it is expected to install its drivers automatically. However, this isn’t always the case, as some devices don’t have the universal drivers that work on every PC.
A malfunctioning device driver – A damaged device driver can be caused by incomplete uninstallation of the device from previous versions of Microsoft Windows.
Virus on your computer – It is possible that your PC has a virus that may have modified or corrupted the driver file.
An incorrect/outdated driver was installed – If you have installed an older version of the device driver for your hardware, your operating system may not support the hardware model.
Other noteworthy errors with the same code include:
Windows cannot initialize the device driver for this hardware. (code 37) ethernet – Here, you’ll be unable to use Wi-Fi.
Windows cannot initialize the device driver for this hardware. (code 37) network adapter – This could be a problem with your network drivers.
Windows cannot initialize the device driver for this hardware. (code 37) object name already exists – This means that a driver is already installed but possibly not working.
Windows cannot initialize the device driver for this hardware. (code 37) Xbox One – This typically occurs when your Xbox controller won’t connect to your PC.
How do you fix Windows Cannot initialize the device driver for this hardware code 37?
A few workarounds to try before the main solutions include:
Make sure that another program, such as another antivirus software or other security software, is not using the device.
Unplug all USB devices and other peripherals, then plug in the USB drive in question that’s causing the issue.
Try with another device. If you’re using a USB drive, plug in another one if available and check whether the error code appears. This will help you determine whether it is faulty or cannot be recognized.
Check for Windows updates.
1. Run the SFC scan
Hit the Windows key, type cmd in the search bar, and click Run as administrator.
Type the following command, then hit Enter: sfc /scannow
2. Run a virus scan
Press the Start Menu icon, search Windows Security, and click Open.
Select Virus & threat protection.
Next, press Quick scan under Current threats.
If you don’t find any threats, proceed to perform a full scan by clicking on Scan options just below Quick scan.
Click on Full scan,then Scan now to perform a deep scan of your PC.
Wait for the process to finish and restart your system.
3. Scan for hardware changes
Hit the Windows key, type Device Manager in the search bar, and click Open.
Navigate to your hardware device section (in this case Universal Serial Bus), right-click on your device, then select Scan for hardware changes.
Windows will then scan for any missing components and reinstall them to make them responsive again.
Hit the Windows key, type Device Manager in the search bar, and click Open.
Navigate to your hardware device section (in this case Universal Serial Bus), right-click on your device then select Update driver.
Select Search automatically for drivers.
Another straightforward route that will yield faster and more accurate results includes introducing a third-party tool. Updating drivers manually can be cumbersome and doesn’t always yield the intended results.
Outbyte Driver Updater, on the other hand, is a trusted driver updater utility that detects outdated drivers, scans from its comprehensive database, then downloads and installs the correct driver for you.
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Get the right drivers for your device and try using the Outbyte Driver Updater software.
While Windows 11 has it enabled by default, many want to turn off Hyper-V to improve performance, resolve compatibility issues with other virtualization software, and free up system resources.
If that’s you, you can find below 3 easy ways to disable Hyper-V on your Windows 11 PC.
How can I disable Hyper-V in Windows 11?
1. Disable Hyper-V with Command Line
At the time, the available methods to disable Hyper-V are through command line-tools. Of course, the tool that users prefer to use is Command Prompt. So, if wanted to find out how to disable Hyper-V in Windows 11 Command Prompt, check the steps below.
1. Press the Windows + S keys at the same time on your keyboard to open the Search bar.
2. Type cmd in the Search bar.
3. Right-click on the most relevant result and select Run an administrator from the list of options available.
4. The Command Prompt window will open.
5. Now type or paste in the following command:DISM /Online /Disable-Feature /FeatureName:Microsoft-Hyper-V-All
6. Press Enterto run the command.
7. Hyper-V is now disabled on your PC.
2. Use PowerShell
Right-click on the Start icon then click on the Windows Terminal (Admin) option to open the PowerShell interface.
Type or paste in the following command, then press Enter and let it run:DISM /Online /Disable-Feature /FeatureName:Microsoft-Hyper-V-All
3. Disable with DISM
Right-click on the Start icon then click on the Windows Terminal (Admin) option.
Now type or paste in the below command and press Enter to run it: DISM /Online /Disable-Feature:Microsoft-Hyper-V
To finish the uninstallation procedure and entirely uninstall Hyper-V, a machine’s UEFI/BIOS settings must be configured to disable Secure Boot.
The technique for disabling Secure Boot will differ based on your hardware vendor and the manufacturer of your motherboard.
Does Windows 11 have a virtual machine?
Virtual machines enable developers to work with Windows without installing the operating system on their workstations.
In addition to working from devices running other operating systems, such as Linux or macOS, developers will be able to work from a Windows 11 Enterprise virtual OS. Users have a variety of alternatives when it comes to developing a virtual machine.
The virtual machine enables developers to start constructing Windows apps quickly. They can use the pre- installed feature with the newest versions of Windows, the developer tools, SDKs, and more.
Benefits of Hyper V
One of the reasons you want to enable Hyper-V in Windows 11 is the ability to run virtual machines in their own isolated space.
This allows us to run not only one but multiple virtual machines simultaneously, which is very convenient.
How much RAM does Hyper-V need?
Typically, memory is the most valuable resource available on a virtualization host. It is not possible to share it between virtual computers. The computing expenses associated with compressing or de-duplicate it are prohibitively high, making neither option practical.
Memory assignment and activity tracking in Hyper-V are not without their own set of drawbacks. Hyper-V alone requires approximately 300 MB of memory to run its operations.
For each virtual machine, any quantity of memory up to and including the first megabyte necessitates using 32 megabytes of overhead. Every gigabyte added after the first incurs an additional 8 megabytes overhead.
Because of this, you should expect your physical host to be unable to utilize the absolute bare minimum amount of RAM available for VMs, which is 1GB.
Furthermore, it is frequently noticed in practice that other activities in the management operating system require even more memory to be set aside than is initially required. A typical Hyper-V host will require approximately 2 GB of RAM solely to run Hyper-V and the management operating system.
The application was unable to start correctly in Windows 10 is an error message usually accompanied by the error code 0xc0000142. This means that there is a problem with the Office application. You’ll therefore be unable to launch any of the programs in the Microsoft Office suite.
One possible cause is that you installed an older version of Office or that it was updated to a newer version but not completely installed. Whatever the reason, we unpack possible solutions in this article to help you resolve this issue.
What is error code 0xc00001420?
0xc00001420 is an error code that occurs when you try to run an application. The error code indicates that the application tried to run and failed, or it could not start correctly. Some of the common errors include:
The application was unable to start correctly (0xc0000142) Word – This happens mostly when you try to launch Microsoft Word. It can also happen to other Office programs.
The application was unable to start correctly (0xc0000142) Elden ring – This occurs when you try to play Elden Ring. It could be to a firewall blocking the game.
The application was unable to start correctly (0xc0000142) GTA 5 – This happens when you try to launch GTA 5. It could be due to a lack of administrator permissions.
The most common causes for this error include:
Missing DLL files – A lot of times when you try to install software or update drivers, there will be issues with compatibility with other components on your PC or application, such as missing DLL files.
Corrupted Windows Registry – The Windows Registry is where important information about your PC is stored, including all installed programs, settings, and preferences. If anything goes wrong with the registry, it can cause this error message.
Problematic updates – A section of users also encountered the application was unable to start correctly (0xc0000142) error after Windows updates, so it is possible that a particular update had issues.
Insufficient permissions – Some programs require administrative privileges to be launched, so if you’re using a local account, you may run into this error.
Outdated OS – If you’re using an old version of Windows, it may not be compatible with newer programs and hence fail to launch.
How do I fix the application was unable to start correctly?
We recommend that you perform the following checks first before any complex solutions:
Ensure you’re running an updated version of the Microsoft Office suite.
Switch to an administrator account if you aren’t using one already. Find out how to make yourself an administrator in Windows 10.
Clean your registry to clear any junk and improve overall system performance.
Restart your PC to get rid of any temporary bugs and glitches.
1. Restart the Office Software Protection Platform service
Hit the Windows + R keys to open the Run command.
Type services.msc in the dialog box and hit Enter.
Navigate to Office Software Protection Platform service (in some Windows versions, it may be Microsoft protection Software/Software Protection), right-click on it and select Properties.
Go to Startup type and in the drop-down menu, select Automatic then click on Start.
Now click on Apply and OK to save the changes.
2. Check for Windows updates
Hit the Start Menu icon and select Settings.
Select Update & Security then click on Windows Update.
If there are any available updates, download and install them.
Right-click the Start Menu icon and click on Settings.
Type Control Panel in the search bar and click Open.
Go to Programs and select Uninstall a Program.
Now, click Microsoft Office and select Change.
Finally, click Online Repair, then select Repair.
4. Reinstall Office
Hit the Start Menu icon and select Settings.
Search for Control Panel and click to Open.
Select Uninstall a program under Programs.
Locate Microsoft Office, right-click on it, and select Uninstall.
Download Office and follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation.
Before you reinstall Office, ensure you get rid of any software leftovers that may have been causing the application was unable to start correctly (0xc00001420) issue in Windows 10. This will ensure you’re getting a clean install of the program.
To successfully use the Windows Run console, you need to type in specific commands. When you accumulate a lot of commands, you’ll need to clear the Run history. In this article, we’ll provide the steps you need to help clear your run history on Windows 10.
How to locate the Run history on Windows 10?
Before deleting the run history on your Windows PC, you’d need to locate where it is stored before you can delete it. The Windows run history is stored in the following registry location: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current version\Explorer\RunMRU
To delete the Run history, you must first navigate to that folder in the Windows Registry Editor.
How can I clear Run history on Windows 10?
Press the Windows key + S, type in regedit, and hit Enter.
In the User Account Control Window, click Yes to enable Admin permission to open the Registry.
In the Registry Editor window, navigate to the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current version\Explorer\RunMRU
On the right pane, highlight every item in the MRU folder except the Default option, right-click on the highlighted options, and select Delete.
Sometimes, you might experience the Unable to clear all Registry items error. However, this error is usually null because your Windows Run history remains unclear.
The run history is a neat little Windows feature. However, you might feel the need to clear things up occasionally.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of organizations transitioned to hybrid work. While this was a great way to ensure that operations were running seamlessly, communication posed a great challenge, especially with the majority of people working asynchronously across different time zones.
In turn, this necessitated the need to incorporate a communication tool that would mitigate this gap. A lot of organizations settled for Microsoft Teams, Skype, Slack, or Zoom as their primary communication tool. According to Microsoft’s FY23 Q2 report, Microsoft Teams has hit more than 280 million monthly active users.
It’s no secret Microsoft has been busy at work pushing updates as well as features to the teleconferencing tool to enhance its user experience and appeal. What’s more, it even launched a new entry dubbed Microsoft Teams Premium to further enhance the experience.
In this guide, we’ll focus on deciphering what Microsoft Teams Premium is and all the features it unpacks. Here’s everything you need to know:
Teams Premium is a new tier built on Microsoft Teams that is designed to enhance the tool’s meeting experience more personalized, intelligent, and secure. The offering is powered by GPT-3.5, OpenAI’s language model.
With this new entry, users will now have access to a unified experience that is cost-effective. Previously, Teams users had to incur extra costs to incorporate add-ons to their experience, but with the new offering, they’ll now be able to access these features and more under a singular experience at a significantly fair price point.
Features and pricing
What will you get when you get the Teams Premium add-on? Last year in December, Microsoft launched the offering on a 30-day trial, but it has since shipped to general availability with a host of new capabilities as well as features.
At the moment, you can get the add-on at an introductory fee of $7 per month per user till June 30, after that, the offering’s pricing will revert back to the standard $10 per month per user.
Note: You must have an existing Microsoft 365 or Office 365 license to access Teams Premium.
What exactly does the $10 subscription get you?
AI-powered meetings
Teams Premium’s meeting experience is deeply integrated with AI. This is Microsoft’s bid to ensure that users get to do more with less.
A nifty feature that ships with the add-on is the intelligent recap. With the feature in place, the user’s productivity is enhanced significantly as they can now focus on more important things. The feature generates meeting notes, recommended tasks, and personalized highlights automatically.
It helps you cut down on unnecessary administrative work like taking notes or figuring out important takeaways that shift your focus from what truly matters. In turn, you are able to work smarter rather than harder.
What’s more, you can even use the automatically generated meeting notes powered by GPT-3.5 as well as highlights to catch up with important details shared during the meeting in case you were engaged elsewhere at the time.
Additionally, Teams Premium makes it easier for you to quickly review meeting recordings. The offering features a neat tool, AI-generated chapters which splits the recording into sections based on the meeting transcript.
This way it is easy to identify the section you are interested in and navigate there swiftly. The capability is also available for PowerPoint Live meeting recordings.
Microsoft has also gone the extra mile and included a cool tool that makes the meeting review process easier. If you use meeting recordings for future reference often, you can now find specific segments of the meeting with personalized timeline markers.
It should be noted that these markers will only be visible to you, that way it’s easier to identify when you joined or left a meeting in the meeting recording.
This allows you to catch up with everything that you might have missed. Microsoft has also highlighted its future plans to expand this capability further to show when your name was mentioned and also when the screen was shared.
Moreover, Teams Premium further enhances communication with live translations for captions, especially for organizations that interact with different people from different parts of the globe that might not necessarily speak the same language.
The offering features AI-powered real-time translations from 40 spoken languages, which means that attendees in the meeting will now be able to take part in the meeting and understand the information being passed.
You’ll no longer need to incur any extra costs for additional real-time meeting translation services thus saving you money while simultaneously enhancing the meeting’s productivity.
Important: The live translations for captions feature will be available for all meeting attendees provided the organizer has a Teams Premium subscription.
Curated meeting experience
The ability to curate and customize your meeting experience in Teams is one of the most requested features by organizations. Luckily, it ships with the Teams Premium add-on designed to create an engaging experience.
Teams Premium features a host of branded meeting tools that will push your organization to the next level and leave a lasting impression. These tools will help feature the logo and company colors when holding meeting virtually for memorability and further engagement.
What’s more, users can also enable brand-approved organization backgrounds and organization together mode scenes. This way it becomes very apparent to everyone that’s part of the meeting what your company stands for and the values you uphold.
Furthermore, with the new offering IT admins now have the capability of creating customized meeting templates such as a client call or brainstorming meeting to automatically include preferred settings.
This saves you a lot of time that you would have otherwise spent trying to curate the meeting experience to suit your needs and expectations.
With Teams Premium, you can assign Teams policies easily using custom user policy packages. Previously, users could only assign these meetings, messaging, and app policies individually which proved to be quite a tedious task.
Custom user policy packages let admins create a customized bundle of policies for users with similar job descriptions in the organization thus saving time and promoting consistency.
Secure meeting experience
A lot of meetings across organizations are now taking place virtually, while this is a time saver and convenient way of meeting, there are quite a number of setbacks that render this option unfavorable, especially in instances where sensitive information is being shared.
However, Teams Premium ships with an extra layer of protection to mitigate these issues. First up is the advanced meeting protection tool that lets users upgrade their safeguards for important meetings without disrupting the meeting experience.
What’s more, the new tier also adds new meeting options like watermarking and the capability to limit who can record the meeting proceedings. The former is designed to prevent sensitive information from leaking, while the latter helps you establish privacy during the meeting and ensures that the details shared remain exclusive to the parties involved.
Additionally, the offering unpacks an advanced encryption option that is available for IT-enabled users dubbed end-to-end encryption (E2EE). The option lets you disable core meeting features to further establish a secure meeting experience.
Virtual Appointments
If you run a business that requires you to interact with clients a lot and set up appointments then you might want to consider getting the Teams Premium add-on to further enhance communication.
First up it ships with Virtual Appointments in Teams. This helps you save time and money that you would’ve spent sourcing for an add-on that will let you achieve this.
According to Microsoft:
You can delight customers with a seamless join experience that allows external attendees to join virtual, branded lobby rooms through text messages or email on any device browser—without them having to download an app.
What’s more, admins can manage and set up both scheduled and on-demand virtual appointments in one convenient location courtesy of appointment queuing.
Additionally, if you want to evaluate how well virtual appointments and drive customer outcomes are working out for your business, you can make use of Teams Premium’s department-level or organization-level analytics that will be based on wait times as well as missed appointments.
Better registration experience at webinars
If you’re looking to grow your business further and want to use webinars to get there, then the Teams Premium add-on is a necessary tool. It ships with webinars designed to help you host these events easily while simultaneously saving you time and money.
What’s more, webinars in Teams Premium let the presenters join the virtual green room to facilitate early preparation. This way it is easier for them to establish a connection and go through the brief. The webinar experience becomes seamless. Attendees are at liberty to interact with presenters via chat or Q&A.
Additionally, the webinar presenters now have more control over what attendees get to see thus enhancing professionalism and engagement. Moreover, the registration process has also been improved with registration waitlist and manual approval and the ability to customize the registration start and end times.
It should be noted that you can take your presentation to the next level using RTMP-in and an external encoder to deliver dynamic content. You can also use Teams Premium’s automated reminder emails to keep attendees on their toes and excited about your webinar. The email will feature a custom-branded header, webinar details, and a link to join the event.
And finally, you can make use of Microsoft’s Enterprise Content Deliver Network (eCDN) to further enhance live experiences within your organization. The feature lets you live stream global meetings, all-hands gatherings, and more seamlessly using Teams Live Events.
Moreover, it helps you establish a good internet connection thus ensuring that the video quality is good.
Note: Microsoft had previously highlighted its intention to scrap some key features from Teams licenses and transition them to the new Teams Premium license. The features include: live translated captions, custom Together Mode scenes, and virtual appointment options.
Do more with Teams Premium
Rather than sourcing for add-ons individually to cater to your various meeting needs, Microsoft Teams will provide you with a unified experience at a cheaper price. At this point, we invite you to also check out our detailed guide on how to get the most out of new Teams features.
Do you have a subscription Teams Premium subscription? Share your experience with us below.
When you try to run an application program, it checks if there is a particular DLL file in its directory. If the DLL is not found, it will search for another DLL file in its directory and load it into memory. It will then return an error code like 126 if it is not found.
While you can get away with ignoring some errors, you must watch out for this one. If it has occurred, your application will not run properly, and you might get serious problems like poor performance or even a PC crash due to this error message.
What is LoadLibrary failed with error code 126?
LoadLibrary failed with error code 126 is a generic error message displayed when an application fails to load one of its DLL files. If the application has tried to use a DLL and it cannot be found, or if the specified module could not be created, then this error will occur.
Other reasons include:
Bad or corrupt DLL file – If you have recently upgraded your computer or installed a new piece of software, this may be the problem.
Security settings – You may have some security settings on your system preventing your application from accessing the files from the library file. For example, if you have disabled user access to directories or limited administrative privileges.
The file doesn’t exist – If your application requires a specific DLL, make sure it is available on your system. It is possible that the file you’re trying to load doesn’t exist on your computer.
Conflicting graphic cards – If you have more than one GPU installed, Windows will try to use whichever one has the best performance at any given time. Sometimes, Windows can’t detect the second GPU.
Wrong registry setting – You may also have made the wrong registry setting for your operating system. It can be a bad path or location or an incorrect value or type of setting.
How do I fix Loadlibrary failed with error 126?
We recommend you try a few basic workarounds before jumping to the technical steps:
Close all instances of the problematic program and restart it.
Try restarting your PC to close any temporary problematic files and processes.
1. Run the program with administrative privileges
Find the problematic program on your desktop, right-click on it, and select Properties.
Navigate to the Compatibility tab, check the Run this program as an administrator box then click on Apply and OK to save the changes.
2. Run the SFC scan
Hit the Start Menu icon, type cmd in the search bar, and click Run as administrator.
Type the following command, then hit Enter: sfc /scannow
3. Disable your integrated graphics card
Click on the Start Menu icon, type Device Manager in the search bar, and click Open.
Navigate to Display adapters to expand, right-click on your graphics card, and select Disable device.
Integrated GPUs are the primary video cards found in many laptops, but they have a significant drawback: they’re not as powerful as dedicated GPUs and offer significantly lower performance.
Disabling your integrated graphics will cause your laptop to use the dedicated GPU, allowing you to get much higher performance out of your computer. This will particularly be helpful, especially if the problematic program requires a powerful GPU.
4. Copy the DLL file to the System32 path
Hit the Start Menu icon, type cmd in the search bar and click Run as administrator.
Type the following command then hit Enter: C:\Windows\System32\ copy atio6axx.dll .dll
Restart your PC and try launching the program again.
5. Perform a clean boot
Hit the Windows key, type msconfig, and open System Configuration.
Switch to the Services tab and select Hide all Microsoft services.
Click on the Disable all button, then hit the Apply button to save the changes.
Go back and click on the Startup tab, select Open Task Manager then click OK.
In the Startup tab of the Task Manager, Disable all the Enabled startup items.
Close the Task Manager and restart your PC.
If, after trying all the steps above and you are still experiencing the Loadlibrary failed with error 126, we recommend you reinstall the problematic app.
It is possible that it has been corrupted, and you need a fresh install. Ensure to remove any file remnants to avoid reinstalling the same corrupt program.
The next generation of AI product updates is here with the launch of the new Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot to provide AI assistance across business functions. Dynamics 365 Copilot, gives organizations the ability to empower workers with AI tools built for sales, service, and marketing. AI in these departments is used to help reduce repetitive tasks.
Copilot in Dynamics 365 Insights for example allows marketers to create highly focused content focused at specific customer segments by having a dialogue with their customer data platform. Using Copilot in Dynamics 365 Marketing allows marketing teams to describe a specific customer segment in their own words to get fresh email marketing ideas..
Alongside Bing Chat, Microsoft continues to build on its AI platform across Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, and Power Platform. This includes next-generation AI capabilities in Microsoft Teams, Viva Sales, and Power Apps. You can read more about today’s announcement here and join Microsoft for an event on March 16th to discuss the next step in the journey to enhance productivity with AI. You can RSVP for the event at the Microsoft LinkedIn page.
The system can be logged into using a security key, PIN, fingerprint, or face recognition, among other methods, on Windows 11. However, some of our readers claim to have experienced the error code 0x80090027 when using the PIN identification on their devices.
In this article, we will address the possible causes of this error and potential steps to fix Windows 11 PIN issues. We know how to fix the PIN in Windows 10 as well if you didn’t update to the latest OS yet.
What causes the error code 0x80090027?
Whenever users come across the error message Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available code: 0x80090027 while trying to sign into Windows, several reasons could have triggered this error code:
System file corruption – One of the major reasons behind this error code is due to corrupted or damaged data. You might not be able to enter your PIN if the data in the NCG folder is corrupted. Repairing your system files should prove a positive fix for this error.
Permission issues – Based on the user’s experience, we have learned that there are possibilities where various permission issues may interfere with the Windows PIN login option.
Malware infection – Whenever you can’t get access to your computer, it could be a sign that your PC is infected with malware or viruses. Using any of the best antivirus software should help you.
Conflicting applications – Several applications might interfere with your PIN, such as the Dell Data Protection security tools.
Using an incorrect or outdated PIN – Some users also claim they encountered this error code after entering an outdated PIN.
Now that you know some of the potential reasons if you get the We were unable to set up your PIN error in Windows 11, you can now explore some of the best solutions in this article.
How can I fix the error code 0x80090027?
Before engaging in any advanced troubleshooting or settings tweaks, users should ensure they perform the following preparatory checks:
Restart your PC.
Make sure that your Windows 11 PC is up to date.
Ensure that you are properly connected to the Internet in case where you need to reset your PIN.
Having confirmed the above checks and you still require further assistance on fixing the error code 0x80090027, you can work your way through any of the steps provided below.
1. Reset the Login PIN
Press the Windows key + I to open the Settings app.
Now, select Accounts on the left pane. Next, click on the Sign-in options.
Select PIN (Windows Hello).
Click on Change PIN.
Enter the Existing PIN once and the New PIN two times.
Then, click OK.
The above steps apply if you are already signed in. You should be able to fix the error code 0x80090027 by resetting your PIN using any of the methods above. However, if the issue persists, the error is likely caused by your OS.
2. Delete the NCG folder and set a new PIN
Press the Windows + E keys and navigate to the path below: C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Local\Microsoft\NGC
Click on Continue and then on the Security link in case you come across a permission-related warning.
Navigate to the Advanced tab and login as an Administrator By changing the Owner to your Microsoft account, then click on Apply.
Now go to the NGC folder and delete all the files there.
Then, go to Settings\Accounts\Sign-in options as shown in step 1 and set a new pin.
The NGC folder is where all of Windows’ PIN-related settings are found. Deleting the folder and creating a new PIN should help fix the 0x80090027 error code.
Press the Windows key + R to open the Run command dialog box. Type the following command in the text field and press Enter: tpm.msc
Then, select Prepare the TPM on the right pane.
Now, restart your PC.
Another effective way to fix this error is if the hardware-layer encryption provided by Trusted Platform Module is activated to enable Windows Hello PIN to function (due to security concerns).
4. Reset your PC to factory settings
If, after applying all the fixes above, the problem persists, resetting your PC to factory settings would be the ultimate solution to fix the 0x80090027 error code.
By working through any of the fixes provided in this article you should be able to fix the 0x80090027 error. However, if Windows 10 or 11 won’t let you add a PIN, check out this guide for further assistance.
If you have any questions or suggestions, do not hesitate to use the comments section below.
Xbox is one of Windows 10’s default apps. This app integrates the Xbox with Windows and includes a handy Game Bar, but some can’t open it on Windows 10.
This Game Bar is a built-in tool you can use to take snapshots. It is also one of the best screen recording tools to use on your Windows PC. To open the Game Bar, you only need to press the Windows key + G with a window selected. So, let’s find out all about it.
Why won’t Xbox game bar open?
If the Game Bar is not opening on Windows 10 and Windows + G is not working, it might be because you altered the shortcut that opens the tool.
Also, the issue might be down to the Game Bar settings on your PC. Lastly, some registry settings can make the tool fail to work on your PC.
Moreover, some of them may be applied even when facing the following issues:
Xbox Game Bar shortcut not working – Windows + G not opening Game Bar: If pressing the Windows key + G makes no difference, it’s time to check your Xbox Game Bar settings.
Xbox Game Bar keeps turning off – Xbox Game Bar turns itself off: Chances are you need to use Game Mode, but the Game Bar repeatedly turns off. If so, edit the registry and change AllowGameDVR to 1.
Game DVR not working Windows 10: This is just a variation of the original issue, but if you encounter it, you should be able to solve it with the solutions from this article.
Can’t enable/open Xbox Game Bar – Xbox Game Bar not loading: Users reported that they can’t allow Game Bar on their PC. However, you can fix the issue by changing the Game bar settings.
Game bar not opening up on Steam, appearing: If you have issues with Game Bar and Steam, you might want to try changing the Game bar’s configuration. If that doesn’t work, you should try reinstalling the Xbox app.
Windows Game Bar nothing to record: Sometimes, you might get a message saying There’s nothing to record. We covered this issue in great detail in one of our older articles, so check it out for more solutions.
Xbox Game Bar not working in Windows 11, 10: The solutions below are applicable for both OSs, so make sure to follow them.
Xbox Game Bar not opening with controller – Try to uninstall, then reinstall the controller driver in order to fix this. This has worked for most users.
Xbox Game Bar not working properly – Not running the games in Full-Screen mode, proved to be one of the most effective solutions.
Xbox Game Bar not recording – Xbox Game Bar record button greyed out – Try to reinstall the feature through Powershell as we have shown in the 6th solution below.
Enable Xbox Game Bar not working – Check the feature’s Hotkey settings.
Xbox Game Bar party chat not working – If you create a new user profile, you might be able to get access to all the features included.
The Game Bar is usually enabled by default on your PC. But you can still follow the steps above to check if it is active.
How do I fix my Xbox game bar when it’s not working?
1. Check the Game bar’s Settings
Search for Xbox in the Cortana search box and click the app.
Next, sign in to the Xbox app. Note that a Microsoft Account is required to sign in to the Xbox app.
Click the Settings icon in the bottom left corner.
Select Game DVR.
Now, you can select Record game clips and screenshots using Game DVR option. If that option is off, click it to switch it back on.
Close the Xbox app and then restart Windows.
Press the Windows key + G again to open the Game bar.
It might be the case that the Game Bar Record game clips and screenshots setting is switched off in Windows 10.
Then the Game Bar isn’t going to open when you press its hotkey. So, you can check that option as described above.
2. Edit the Registry
Press the Windows key + R, type regedit, and click OK.
Next, browse to the path below: HKEY_CURRENT_USER/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/GameDVR
Then, right-click the AppCaptureEnabled DWORD and select Modify.
If the DWORD’s value is 0, enter 1 in the Value data text box.
Now, navigate to GameConfigStore.
Right-click the GameDVR_Enabled DWORD and select Modify from the context menu to open the window below.
Enter 1 in the Value data text box if its current value is 0.
Restart Windows and press the Game bar hotkey.
You can also switch the Game Bar via the registry.
3. Don’t Run the Games in Full-Screen Mode
Is it the case that the Game Bar is not opening when you’re running a game on full screen? The Game Bar doesn’t open in full-screen modes because most games don’t recognize the Windows key + G hotkey.
That doesn’t mean you can’t use the Game Bar’s options in full-screen mode, but the overlay UI isn’t going to open. You can still record a game with the Windows + Alt + R hotkey or take a snapshot by pressing Windows + Alt + PrtScr.
Run the game in window mode and press the Windows key + G to open the Game Bar UI.
4. Check the Xbox app’s Hotkey Settings
Press the Windows + I keys.
Select the Gaming option.
Check under the Keyboard shortcuts for the Game Bar hotkeys.
To alter the hotkeys, fill in the field before Your shortcut with your desired shortcut.
Click the Save button.
Check the Game Bar hotkeys haven’t been reconfigured in any way. The Xbox app enables users to customize the hotkeys so that somebody might have tinkered with the keyboard shortcut settings.
You can check the Game Bar hotkeys as described above.
Scroll down and click Download the Media Feature Pack update package now to save the installer.
Open the folder to which you saved the Windows Media Feature Pack and run through its installer to add it to Windows.
Windows 10 N and KN versions don’t include all the media technologies and apps in more standard editions.
So if your platform is a Windows 10 N edition, that might be why the Game Bar isn’t opening for you.
Several apps need Windows Media files not included in Windows 10 KN or N.
However, you can install the media-related technologies otherwise lacking in Windows 10 N with the Windows Media Feature Pack.
6. Reinstall the Xbox Game Bar through Powershell
Press Windows key + S and enter powershell.
Right-click Windows PowerShell from the list of results and then choose Run as administrator.
When PowerShell starts, run the following command to remove Xbox Game Bar: Get-AppxPackage xboxapp | Remove-AppxPackage
Once done, restart the computer.
Now, open Microsoft Store, and then download Xbox Game bar and other applications all over again.
If you were wondering how do I reinstall Xbox game bar, deleting the app via PowerShell and then downloading it from the Microsoft Store is the easiest way to go.
The Game Bar is a feature closely related to the Xbox app, and if you have any issues with it, you might be able to fix them simply by reinstalling the Xbox app.
Reinstalling a core Windows application is a slightly advanced process that involves PowerShell, but you should be able to reinstall the Xbox app without issues by following the above procedure.
After running this command, the Xbox app will be removed from your PC. You must open the Microsoft Store app and download the Xbox app again.
Once you download it, the problem with the Game bar should be entirely resolved.
7. Turn the Game Bar off and on
If you wonder How do I enable the Game Bar on Windows 10?, press Windows key + I to open Settings.
Select the Gaming option.
Toggle the switch under the Xbox Game Bar backward to disable it. Now, wait for a few moments and turn it back on again.
If you are wondering how do I fix my Xbox game bar not popping up, simply turning the Game bar off and on or updating the OS should work. This is a temporary workaround, but it might help you with this issue.
After that, the Game Bar should start working again. Remember that this is just a temporary workaround, and if you encounter issues with the Game Bar, you’ll need to repeat this solution.
8. Create a new user account
Open the Settings appand navigate to the Accounts section.
From the menu on the left, pick Family & other people.
In the right pane, click the Add someone else to this PC icon.
Select I don’t have this person’s sign-in information.
Choose to Add a user without a Microsoft account.
Enter the desired user name and click on Next.
According to users, problems with the Game Bar can occur if your user profile is damaged or corrupted. However, you might be able to fix the problem simply by creating a new user account.
To do that, you need to follow these simple steps from above. After creating a new user account, switch to it, and check if that solves your problem.
If the problem doesn’t appear on the new account, you need to move all your files to the new account and use it instead of your old account.
9. Use third-party solutions
If you can’t fix the problem with the Game Bar, you might want to consider using third-party software.
Although the Game Bar comes preinstalled with Windows 10, it has certain limitations, and if you can’t get it to work correctly, you might want to try some other Windows 10 screen recording software.
If you’re looking for a different application to record your screen and gameplay sessions, we strongly recommend trying Icecream Screen Recorder.
This tool is straightforward and offers certain features that the Game Bar lacks, so feel free to try it out.
Speaking about recording issues, one particular topic caught our attention, and we would like to share it quickly with you.
What can I do if Xbox Game Bar is not opening on Windows 11?
If the Game Bar is not opening on Windows 11, it might be because you have not enabled it from the settings. You can follow the steps in this guide to activate the tool.
Also, it might be down to some glitches with the tool. Disabling and enabling the tool after some minutes should solve this. Lastly, you can apply any fixes in this guide to solve the problem.
Xbox Game Bar stops recording when switching Windows
While many users struggle with the Xbox Game Bar not recording, others only encounter this issue when switching between apps or using the Alt + Tab key combination in the browser. You can fix this by updating the tool by following the steps below:
To do that, open the Windows Update settings from the Start menu.
Next, press the Check for updates button. Thus, you will activate the search and, consequently, the installation of these files.
Finally, restart your PC and check if the issue is still there.
A driver updater software helps you automatically update all the drivers on your PC and keeps them in check afterward. It’s a better alternative to Device Manager, offering extra features like scheduling, backups, and broader compatibility.
Today, we’ll walk you through some of the best free and open-source driver updater software available.
What are the best free/ open-source driver updaters for my PC?
Tip
A few of the driver updater tools listed here aren’t fully free—they may offer limited trial versions with restricted features. Similarly, while some aren’t open-source, we’ve included them for their reliable performance and ability to detect and install the latest drivers seamlessly.
Fortect Driver Updater is not open source, but it earns a spot here thanks to its reliability and ease of use.
It offers a free version that scans your system, detects outdated or missing drivers, and provides a clear report of what needs attention.
This can be especially useful when open-source tools miss certain drivers or don’t offer a clear overview of your system. Fortect draws from a large and regularly updated driver database, which helps it identify the right drivers even for older or uncommon hardware.
The software also includes backup options, so you can safely restore previous versions of drivers if needed.
Fortect Driver Updater
Never worry about driver issues with this powerful driver updater.
For those trying to find out, what is the safest free driver updater, it’s, without a doubt, Outbyte Driver Updater.
Outbyte Driver Updater is a safe and useful tool that will update all your drivers in just a few clicks. Apart from updating old drivers, it will help you fix missing or faulty drivers, Blue Screen of Death errors, perform driver backups, and much more.
Also, you can use Outbyte Driver Updater as a download manager to see the progress of every individual file and also perform scheduled scans.
Here are a few key features of Outbyte Driver Updater:
Update old, missing, or corrupt drivers smoothly
Fix system-related issues
Can be used as a download manager
Perform driver backups
Outbyte Driver Updater
Update your old, missing, or broken drivers and fix system-related matters without any effort.
With Driver Easy, you can update old and outdated drivers pretty easily. It even comes with the option to scan for outdated drivers offline, which you can update later when you go online. So, for those trying to discover which is the best driver updater, the search ends with Driver Easy.
Driver Easy offers the ability to perform driver backups and also restore them when needed. It can uninstall drivers for you as well.
It is lightweight and super-easy to use. Driver Easy uses fewer resources, so it can sit on your PC without you needing to worry about your PC’s performance.
Here are some of the highlights of Driver Easy:
Scan for outdated drivers without an internet connection
Perform driver backups
It is lightweight and easy to use
Can be used to uninstall drivers as well
Driver Easy
Scan without an internet connection and install the drivers you need with this great app.
Ashampoo is a popular name for helping troubleshoot multiple PC problems. And the Ashampoo Driver Updater is another product from the company that is solely meant to facilitate updating drivers.
The tool is easy to use and set up and automatically scans your PC for drivers. It lets you update drivers in just a few clicks.
You can also boost system performance using this tool. Ashampoo Driver Updater is small in size and performs quick scans.
Here are some of the best features of Ashampoo Driver Updater:
Helps boost your system performance
Easy to use and set up
Creates driver backups after every update
Support multiple languages
Ashampoo Driver Updater
An easy-to-use tool that helps boost your system performance by updating your device drivers.
Driver Booster from IObit is one of the advanced open-source driver updaters for PC. It comes with an easy-to-understand interface but with powerful features.
It supports Windows 10, back up to Windows Vista, and XP (32-bit and 64-bit), and can update drivers in no time.
The driver updater has a database of over 3,500,000 drivers, and it can also be used on offline PCs. It also creates a restore point before every driver update in case the updated driver malfunctions or misbehaves.
DriverMax – Offers automatic scheduler for driver updates
DriverMax is another good driver updater with multiple features that will facilitate updating drivers. It comes with a 30-day free trial, after which you need to purchase the subscription.
It also features automated installs, and scheduled scans, allowing you to check for driver updates or install them at any time of the day.
The DriverMax tool also has the option to perform driver backups, which comes in handy when your operating system crashes or things go south.
Here are some of the best features of DriverMax:
Gives you the option to perform automatic installs
Comes with scheduled scans
Offers driver backup option
Scans the driver before installing them to prevent virus attacks
DriverMax
An amazing program that facilitates updating your device drivers thanks to its multiple useful features.
While you can update drivers on your Windows PC using the Driver Fusion open-source driver updater software, it comes with some additional features.
Notably, you can use this tool to clean the software or software entries left behind by earlier drivers, clearing out space.
You can also use Driver Fusion to create a backup of your system files, settings, and desktop. This comes in handy when you are resetting your PC or making any important changes.
Driver Fusion also helps you to know the temperature, power usage, and clock speed of the devices on your PC.
Some key features of Driver Fusion include:
Update scheduler features
Creates backups of your computer’s system files, settings, and desktop
Monitor temperature, clock speed, power usage, etc.
Another free open-source driver updater software is Driver Talent. It installs quickly and scans for outdated drivers quickly as well.
You can use this tool to update drivers and get rid of driver-related issues, but also fix the corrupt ones already installed on your PC.
It backs up all your drivers before updating them in case something goes wrong. It supports Windows 11, Windows 10, 8, 7, Windows Vista, and XP. So, you will not face any issues with it even running on the latest Windows PC.
DriversCloud is another open source driver updater that you can look out for, as it helps you locate missing and update outdated drivers on your PC.
After the installation, launch the program and hit the Launch Detection button to let the tool scan all of your PC components and their corresponding software.
The result will open in a web browser, you can then hit the See Recommended Downloads option to update all outdated drivers.
It is a bit complicated but gets the job done. If you are looking for an easy-to-use driver updater, you should opt for other options in this list. One of the best features of this tool is that it will send you email alerts if a new driver update is available for your PC.
If your need is to update the drivers on your PC, then DriverIdentifier is the one tool that you should go for.
It is fast, easy, and portable as well, meaning you can use it without the need to install. The results open in the web browser, where you can download the drivers manually.
DriverIdentifier scans for outdated drivers even when you are not connected to the internet. The list of drivers is then saved in a file that you can open later when you connect to the internet to update drivers.
It works with the latest Windows 11 as well as Windows 7, Vista, XP, and Windows Server.
DriverHub comes with the option to update drivers on your PC without any manual input. This negates the need to scan your PC whenever you wish to update drivers.
It also comes with the option to restore drivers in case something goes wrong. The tool is free of cost and is one of the best free and open-source driver updater software you could ask for.
It has a clean user interface making it easy to understand and handle. You can also check out detailed information about drivers to install alternatives.
Here are a few reasons you should update the drivers in Windows:
Effective functioning of the devices: An updated driver ensures that the corresponding connected device, be it the graphics adapter or network adapter, amongst others, works properly.
Resolving compatibility issues:Running an outdated driver often triggers compatibility issues, especially when updating or upgrading the OS.
Boosting computer performance: Another significant benefit of updating the drivers is improved computer performance due to effectively relaying commands between the OS and the connected devices.
That’s all from us in this guide for the driver updater open-source software in Windows. So, if you were earlier wondering, is there a free driver updater, you now know the best ones in the market.
If you are looking for some of the best driver updaters for Windows 10, then you can check out our curated list of some of the best updaters that are available for free.
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