Rollback any driver in Windows 10

Computer voice control has moved a long way from its beginning routes and in today's age controlling your PC with voice is truly a reality and fully possible. Voice control is taking up the steam in everyday life, from simple commands in cars, Alexa, smartphones, TVs, etc. to modern computers.

Windows 10 has introduced voice control into PC with Cortana even during the installation process but a lot has changed from having a virtual assistant in begging days and in today's modern Windows 11 OS. You can now freely open apps, move, copy delete files, and even dictate in order to create a word document.

However, in order to take this advantage, you will need to turn it off first since it is disabled by default. Of course, you will need a microphone and some spare time to train Windows in understanding you properly.

Setting up Voice Control

Just like in Windows 10, in Windows 11 voice control is also in accessibility options and the first step is to turn ON Windows Speech Recognition.

Click on the Start button and type Settings into the search bar, click on Open, or press ENTER. On the left side of the settings, window locate and click on Accessibility. On the right part once Accessibility is selected scroll down and find a section titled Interaction and click on Speech. Turn on the switch next to Windows Speech Recognition.

A pop-up will appear that will lead you through the rest of the setup and that's it.

Improving Voice Control

In order to make your voice control better, if you are not satisfied with the results, you can sample more of your voice into the algorithm to tune it more to your liking. Sadly this option is still deep in Control Panel.

Click the Start button and type in Speech recognition into the search bar, look for the search result with Control Panel displayed under it, and click on Open. Click on Train Your Computer to Better Understand You and follow the instructions.

The process will probably take a few minutes. The more data you provide to the speech recognition model, the more accurate it will be when interpreting your instructions. You can train the model multiple times, and each time you do, it should improve the accuracy.

Roblox is a very popular online game with millions of gamers playing it each day and as such it will naturally bring a lot of malware and attack on players trying to steal and exploit them for monetary gains. The latest attack and high-profile stealing of currency and assets happened exactly in Roblox.

Malicious activities have been reported to come from chrome extensions. So far 2 extensions have been identified that have hidden malware inside them but there could be more of them currently undetected. Extensions work as a front while in the back they mine user logins and other data in order to steal stuff from the Roblox platform.

To make things worse some of the malware is within long extensions like SearchBlox. The SearchBlox extension allows you to search quickly for other users if it was legitimate but has been compromised within the last month. There is evidence that people are stealing Roblox currency with the data gathered by the hidden backdoor in it.

SearchBlox extension is still Active in Chrome Web Store, with the primary listing still with the "Featured " badge. Google is actively removing malicious software from its storefront on a regular basis but this one still lingers in it.

If you or your kid have this Chrome extension installed, uninstall it right away and always be careful about which extension you install and give access to your system, keep them updated and check various blogs and article sites to inform yourself when a bad one is found.

Microsoft has announced Windows 365, a new cloud-based operating system aimed mainly at businesses of all sizes. Just after Windows 11 announcement and presentation, we are seeing another Windows announcement from Microsoft. Dive into the following text in order to find out what exactly is new Windows 365, its role in today's IT world, and do you need it?

What is Windows 365 and when it is coming out?

Windows 365 is planned to be released this year (2021) on August 2^nd. It is the first Microsoft cloud-based operating system meaning that OS itself will be installed on the cloud server and it will be accessed by the user via a web browser. Essentially you are accessing a remote PC with Windows on it, you can install whatever Windows application you want and use it as it was on your computer. When you disconnect from the cloud computing and reconnect again from the same or another device you will continue exactly where you left off. Cloud PC will remember the state it was left off and will greet you in that same state once it is awakened again. This of course offers some great benefits like moving from laptop to desktop and continuing exactly where you left off.

How can I access Windows 365?

Any device which has a web browser will be able to access Windows 365 making it a really great solution for business on the move or for anyone who switches devices during the day. That being said it is clear to see that Windows 365 can be accessed via Linux, macOS, iOS, Android, or any other operating system on any computer, tablet or phone.

Who is this OS made for?

Microsoft’s general idea is that Windows 365 is primarily made for business which in their minds can benefit most out of it. So far it is not made for a single user although there is a possibility that even a one-man business can subscribe and create accounts for it.

Price and technical characteristic

Microsoft will bill Windows 365 on a per-user, per-month basis. In other words, businesses will pay a fixed amount per employee every month. There will be two tiers: Windows 365 Business and Windows 365 Enterprise. Microsoft also said it will offer different performance tiers. Businesses can choose to pay for more CPU, RAM, and storage resources for certain cloud PCs depending on their needs. Microsoft told me the smallest configuration would be one CPU, 2GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage. The largest will be eight CPUs, 32GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage. After a business has chosen its plan tier and performance options, that business will pay a fixed amount every month. This is unlike Azure Virtual Desktop, which Windows 365 is built on. With Azure Virtual Desktop, companies pay on a usage model, depending on how much the remote system is used every month.

Conclusion

Windows 365 is around the corner and if you are a business no matter small or large with the need for software on the go, Windows 365 might be a worthwhile investment and a great asset to your business.

Google Chrome 94 is here and it has introduced a controversial idle detection API. For those people that do not know what idle detection API is, well basically Chrome can be asked by a website to report when a user of the site has a site open and is idle on the device. The issue that people have with this is that this particular feature can be used to report when the user is not using a computer at all. Good thing is that website or web application will prompt you to allow it to use this feature like when a site/application wants to use your microphone or web camera. Developers are on board with this feature since it can provide them with more telemetric data on how users are interacting with their website/application but there are some that are strongly voicing against this. Tantek Çelik, Mozilla Standards Lead, commented on GitHub, saying:

As it is currently specified, I consider the Idle Detection API too tempting of an opportunity for surveillance capitalism motivated websites to invade an aspect of the user’s physical privacy, keep long-term records of physical user behaviors, discerning daily rhythms (e.g. lunchtime), and using that for proactive psychological manipulation (e.g. hunger, emotion, choice)… Thus I propose labeling this API harmful and encourage further incubation, perhaps reconsidering simpler, less-invasive alternative approaches to solve the motivating use-cases.

Others who have spoken against this feature are people from the WebKit development team inside Apple. Ryosuke Niwa, an Apple software engineer who works on WebKit said:

That doesn’t seem like a strong enough use case for this API. For starters, there is no guarantee that the user won’t immediately come back to the device. Also, who is such a service supposed to know what another device user might be using at any given point? We’re definitely not going to let a website know all the devices a given user might be using at any given point. That’s a very serious breach of the said user’s privacy. It seems to me that such a suppression/distribution mechanism is best left for the underlying operating systems/web browsers to handle.

Of course, technology itself as always can be used for good or for bad and time will tell if this feature has brought good stuff or it has paved another brick in surveillance and privacy manipulation. As said for now option will prompt for agreement and let's hope that it will be used for good causes from this day into the future.

Error Code 0x80004002 - What is it?

Error Code 0x80004002 is a Windows-based error code that affects Windows 10 and previous operating systems, including Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8. In most instances, the message box that shows Error Code 0x80004002 pops up as you attempt to install new software or programs on your machine.

Common symptoms include:

• Problems running programs that once worked
• Slow response time of your computer to commands entered with the keyboard or mouse
• Trouble shutting down or starting up your machine
• Error message regarding your registry, updates, or response time.

There are a number of different solutions that you can use to attempt to resolve Error Code 0x80004002. Because there are multiple causes to the issue, some of the methods used to successfully address the problems at hand are fairly simple, while others require advanced knowledge or abilities to complete. If the methods below are not successful in the resolution of the issue or if you aren’t confident in your skills to implement these methods, contact a qualified Windows repair technician to assist you. Once this error message is not rectified, you could be exposing your computer to other error messages, including error code 0x80240020.

Solution

Error Causes

There are many different issues that can contribute to the appearance of Error Code 0x80004002. The most common causes for this particular error message include:

• Errors in registry files
• Missing system files that have accidentally been associated with other programs and deleted
• Viruses or malware that cause corruption in program or system files
• Installations that have failed to complete fully

Further Information and Manual Repair

Due to the number of causes that can contribute to Error Code 0x80004002, there are a number of methods that you can use to attempt to resolve the issues behind the error. While some of these methods are fairly easy to implement, others may require you to use programs like registry cleaners and driver installation wizards, so if you are not comfortable using these kinds of software, contact a certified Windows repair technician to assist you.

Here are the top ways that you can attempt to address Error Code 0x80004002:

Method One:  Run Your Windows Registry Cleaner

Many different registry cleaning tools exist on the Internet, but not all of these are provided by trustworthy sources. Rather than trusting a file from an unknown publisher, you can use the registry cleaning program included in your Windows software package.

Run this tool to complete a scan of your files, discovering which ones may need to be repaired. In most cases, the registry cleaner itself can repair the necessary files and resolve the error.

It is always a good idea to restart your computer after you have run the registry cleaning tool to ensure that your machine can accurately assess the newly repaired files.

Method Two:  Update Your Drivers and Software

In some cases, Error Code 0x80004002 arises when drivers are out of date. If you believe that this is the case, you can check on the status of your various drivers by going into the settings for your operating system and selecting the “Update Drivers” option.

You can also check your system for any necessary updates to your Windows software, which may serve to address the error code.

After you have checked and installed any necessary drivers, make sure to restart your computer to fully apply any changes that the installation process has introduced.

Method Three:  Reinstall Your Windows Software

In some cases, the best way to address the missing or corrupt files that can cause Error Code 0x80004002 is to simply reinstall your copy of Windows. Always make sure to back up your files before reinstalling your software.

Method Four:  Run Your Virus Scan Software

Because Error Code 0x80004002 can also be caused by malware or a virus, you can run your virus scan software to detect and resolve the problem. After doing so, run the registry repair tool to fix any affected files and restart your computer.

Method Five: Use An Automated Tool

If you wish to always have at your disposal a utility tool to fix these Windows 10 and other related issues when they do arise, download and install a powerful automated tool.

Bluetooth perhaps is slowly becoming an outdated feature but sometimes you can really used it and need it. By default, in Windows 11 Bluetooth is turned OFF so if you need it, you will need to turn it ON first. Luckily turning it ON is easy and we will guide you through the process

Turning Bluetooth using the Quick Settings menu

The easiest and fastest way to turn the Bluetooth ON is using the quick setting menu:

1. Click on indicator icons located left of date and time in Taskbar
2. Click on the Bluetooth icon (if the icon is not displayed, click on the pencil icon, then click on Add and add Bluetooth icon from the list)
3. Right-click on the Bluetooth icon and select go to Settings
4. Go to Adding a Bluetooth Device to Windows 11 section

Switch it ON via Windows Settings

1. Open Windows settings by using ⊞ WINDOWS + I combination
2. Click on Bluetooth & Devices
3. Inside settings turn Switch to ON beside Bluetooth
4. Click + Add Device large button on top
5. Click Bluetooth
6. Select device in the list of found devices (make sure device is turned ON, it has Bluetooth sharing ON, and that it is in pairing mode)
7. If the device needs the password, type it in
8. When the message Your device is ready to go is showed on the screen click on the Done

Advice on Bluetooth devices

Note that the Bluetooth devices you connect to Windows 11 stay linked to your PC unless you pair them with a different PC, smartphone, or tablet later. After a time, most Bluetooth devices power down automatically to save battery life. To continue where you left off, either power the Bluetooth device up (if it has a power button) or press a button on a keyboard or mouse, and it should automatically turn on and reconnect with your PC. If you’re having trouble connecting your Bluetooth device, make sure that Windows 11 is fully updated and that you’ve installed any drivers that came with your device. Make sure that the device is fully charged or that it has a fresh set of batteries. while Windows is searching. You’ll need to remove the device from Windows 11 first and then attempt to pair it with your PC again.

Removing devices

If you need to remove (un-pair) a Bluetooth device, just open Windows Settings and navigate to Bluetooth & Devices. Locate the name of the device that you want to remove, click the three dots button in the corner of its square and select Remove Device.

If your Microsoft Edge browser encountered a Stop Error that says, “INVALID_POINTER_READ_c0000005 (atidxx64.dll)” in your Windows 10 computer, then this indicates that your Graphics card driver is outdated. According to security experts, Microsoft has already acknowledged the problem and stated that this issue exists with Windows 10 v1809, Windows Server 2019, and Windows Server version 1809. Although there is no direct way to resolve the problem, there are still some workarounds you can try. If you are using a RadeonHD2000 or HD4000 series video card, the update will be blocked for you. Some users also claim to experience performance issues with the lock screen or the ShellExperienceHost. However, if you are using AMD, the problem is that it no longer supports Radeon HD2000 and HD4000 series graphics processing units or GPUs. Even though Microsoft is already working for a way to resolve the problem, here are some alternative solutions you can check out:

Option 1 – Update your Graphics card drivers

• First, boot your computer into Safe Mode.
• After that, tap the Win + R keys to launch Run.
• Type in devmgmt.msc into the box and tap Enter or click OK to open the Device Manager.
• After that, a list of device drivers will be displayed. From there, look for the Display Adapters and click on them.
• After that, right-click on each entry under the Display Adapters and select the “Uninstall Device” option from the menu.
• Now restart your computer.
• After restarting your computer, go to the Settings app and Check for Updates in the Windows Update section.

Note: You also have the option to go directly to the website of your graphics card manufacturers like NVIDIA, Intel or AMD and go to the section called Drivers then check if there’s a new available update – if there is, download and install it.

Option 2 – Try removing AMD Radeon HD2000 and HD4000 drivers

Although this is not exactly a perfect solution, removing AMD drivers will make the operating system fall back to the default GPU available on your motherboard. You also have the option to completely disable the hardware.

• Tap the Win + X + M keys to open the Device Manager.
• Next, look for your Graphics card drive, and under Display Adapters, right click on them and click Uninstall device or Disable device.
• After that, restart your computer. This will disable the AMD drivers so you won’t be able to find them. It will also release the Windows 10 v1809 update on your computer and in case your operating system tries to prompt you with the “New Device found” message, simply ignore it.

Option 3 – Try to use another browser

You might want to use another browser especially when you already updated your computer and Microsoft Edge still keeps on crashing. You can use Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and other browsers as alternatives until you sort out the problem.

Option 4 – Try to remove the Graphics card physically

You might also want to try removing both AMD Radeon HD2000 and HD4000 as they are very old graphics cards. And since AMD is not going to roll out anything, at least on its own if your motherboard has an onboard GPU, it would be best to get rid of the cards. After that, install the Windows v1809 update and then put them back in. You also have the option to install the driver but just don’t use Microsoft Edge.

As previously announced by Google feature to quickly delete the last 15min of browsing history via one button is rolling out now. For now, only Apple users will be available to use this feature but the Android update is scheduled for later this year, a strange move by Google but it is what it is. For anyone who is unfamiliar with this feature, basically, Google wants a quick way to remove the last 15min of browsing history as a supposedly stated request to make deleting browsing history much easier. Google came up with this idea so you can keep the previous history intact but remove just 15min time frame, no additional explanation was given on why 15 but I presume it is some round number that came up as the middle one with research, read telemetry info. Using quick delete requires being signed into Search with a Google account. Users can access the option by simply tapping on the avatar icon to access the settings then choosing "Delete last 15 minutes."

If you have just updated your Mozilla Firefox browser as of late and you noticed that it’s showing wrong or no bookmark favicon at all, then read on as this post will provide you with potential solutions that can help you resolve the problem. The basic thing you can do to fix it is to either refresh or reset the cache for favicon and then force restart the favicon service. However, if you’ve already tried this and it didn’t work, then there are still other options you can try. You can try to rebuild the configuration file for the favicon or restart the favicon service. You could also try disabling all the add-ons on your browser or scan your computer for adware. For more details, refer to each one of the options laid out below.

Option 1 – Try to rebuild the favicon configuration file

Mozilla Firefox actually creates a file each time you bookmark a webpage and this is called “favicons.SQLite”. This file is located on your computer and for you to fix the issue in Firefox, you need to rebuild this file and in order to do that, follow these steps:

• First, you need to unhide the hidden files in your computer by enabling the “Show hidden files” option so that you’ll be able to see the hidden files in your computer.
• After that, navigate to this path: C:Usersyour_usernameAppDataLocalMozillaFirefoxProfilesyour_profile_name
• From there, you need to find the “favicons.SQLite” file and once you found it, delete it.
• Next, you have to open the Firefox browser and create the same favicon configuration file which should be automatically created.
• Now check if you can now see bookmark favicons on your Firefox browser or not.

Option 2 – Try to restart the favicon service

If the first option didn’t work, you can try to restart the favicon service instead. Restarting the favicon service can help if you do not see the correct bookmark favicon on your Firefox browser. To restart this service, follow the steps below.

• You need to first open the Firefox browser and in the address bar, type “about:config” and tap Enter.
• After that, you will see a page that displays a warning message. On that page, you need to click the “I accept the risk!” button to proceed.
• Next, using the search box on the page, look for the “devtools.chrome.enabled” option. The value for this option should be set to “False” by default.
• Double click on this option to set its value to “True”.
• Once done, go to Menu > Web Developer > Browser Console or you could also tap the Ctrl + Shift + J keys, alternatively.
• Afterwards, paste this command in the pop-up window that appears and then tap the Enter button: var fS = Components.classes["@mozilla.org/browser/favicon-service;1"] .getService(Components.interfaces.nsIFaviconService); fS.expireAllFavicons();
• Once you’re done, restart your Firefox browser to check if it fixes the problem or not.

Option 3 – Try to disable all the add-ons in Firefox

The next option you can try to fix the problem is to disable all the installed add-ons in Firefox. More often than not, add-ons can cause issues in the browser so it is possible that one of the add-ons in Firefox is causing it to show incorrect or no bookmark favicon. To resolve this problem, you have to disable all the add-ons by opening Firefox and then going to Menu > Add-ons or you could also tap the Ctrl + Shift + A keys. After that, go to the Extensions section and click on the respective Disable buttons for each one of the add-ons. Once done, restart your computer and check if you can now see the bookmark favicons or not.

Option 4 – Try scanning your computer using Windows Defender

It is possible that the bookmark favicon problem is caused by some adware in the Firefox browser so you have to scan your computer to check by using security programs like Windows Defender.

• Tap the Win + I keys to open Update & Security.
• Then click on the Windows Security option and open Windows Defender Security Center.
• Next, click on Virus & threat protection > Run a new advanced scan.
• Now make sure that Full Scan is selected from the menu and then click the Scan Now button to get started.

As you know, Windows Updates are essential for your operating system as it keeps it protected from potential threats, fixes bugs and improves your experience in using Windows 10. However, there are instances when Windows Updates also cause errors and one of them is the Windows Update Error 0x8024000B. One of the causes of this particular Windows Update error is that Windows was not able to read the Update Manifest file which is needed to install the Windows Updates. This means that the operation was canceled by either the service or the user. On the other hand, this error could also occur if you are not able to filter the results. When you encounter this error, you will see an error message that says, “WU_E_CALL_CANCELLED: Operation was canceled”. This indicates that the operation was canceled by the operating system itself. To resolve the Windows Update Error 0x8024000B, here are some suggestions you need to check out.

Option 1 – Try to run the Cleanup (Decline) Superseded updates PowerShell script

The first thing you can do to fix the Windows Update Error 0x8024000B is to run the Cleanup (Decline) Superseded updates PowerShell script. This is actually an easy fix since all you have to do is download and run it from the Microsoft Technet site. Once you’re done downloading and running the file, restart your computer and see if the error is fixed or not.

Option 2 – Try to rename the Spupdsvc.exe file

If the first option didn’t work, you can try renaming the Spupdsvc.exe file which is one of the reasons why you’re getting the Windows Update Error 0x8024000B.

• First, tap the Win + R keys to launch the Run utility.
• Next, type the following command and hit Enter to execute it in cmd:

 /c ren %systemroot%System32Spupdsvc.exe Spupdsvc.old

• The command you entered will rename the troublesome “Spupdsvc(.)exe” file to “Spupdsvc(.)old”.
• Now restart your computer after the command has been executed.

Option 3 – Try to restart various Windows Update-related services and components

You could also try to restart some Windows Update-related services to resolve the Windows Update error. Refer to the following steps to do so:

• Tap the Win + X key combination and select Command Prompt (Admin) to open Command Prompt with admin privileges.
• After opening Command Prompt, copy and paste each one of the commands listed below one by one and tap Enter right after you enter each command.
  • net stop wuauserv
  • net stop bits
  • net stop appidsvc
  • ren %systemroot%SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.bak
  • ren %systemroot%system32catroot2 catroot2.bak
• Once you’ve entered all the commands given above, they will stop all the Windows Update services that are running on your computer as well as clear the SoftwareDistribution folder, and reset the Catroot2 folder. Now you have to start all these Windows Update services you’ve just stopped by executing the following commands:
  • net start wuauserv
  • net start bits
  • net start appidsvc
  • net start cryptsvc
• After that, restart your computer and try to run the setup again, and see if the error is now fixed.

Option 4 – Try to run the Windows Update Troubleshooter

You should also try to run the built-in Windows Update troubleshooter as it could help you resolve the Windows Update Error 0x8024000B. To run it refer to these steps:

• Go to Settings and then click on Windows Update from the given menu.
• Next, click on the Troubleshoot option and select Windows Update from the given options to run the Windows Update troubleshooter.
• After that, follow the next on-screen instructions and wait until the process is completed, and check if the Windows Update Error 0x8024000B is fixed or not.