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What is Bandoo?

Bandoo application, specifically product version 5.0.2.4762, is a bundled program. What does this mean? Simply, Bandoo, upon installation, installs additional programs, extensions, and add-ons to a computer and computer’s browser, without the knowledge of the user. This version of Bandoo concentrates on providing features for entertainment and also functionality/tools for backing up your computer files. Once executed, the file installs the iLivid Download Manager Software. Additional tools installed within the bundle include a Movie Toolbar and the thriving search engine ‘Ask.com.’ Technical details about Bandoo include: 

Digital Signature/Publisher:  Bandoo Media, Inc. Product Version: 5.0.2.4762 Entry Point:  0x000038AF

Assessment of Bandoo Potentially Unwanted Program

Interestingly, before the installation of Bandoo product version 5.0.2.4762 was complete, Spyhunter detected that the software was a PUP. After the installation was complete, product version 5.0.2.4762 of Bandoo added add-ons and extensions to both Internet Explorer and Chrome Browsers (these were the only 2 browsers used within the assessment). These appeared in the form of a Movie toolbar, providing quick access to movie trailers, reviews, ratings, and other video functionality, and ‘Ask’ (Ask.com) search engine.

Areas of Infiltration by Bandoo

Bandoo product version 5.0.2.4762 infiltrated several areas of the computer system. After installation, folders were neatly placed as files within all programs. Within “All Programs” there were 3 newly added programs. These included:

• iLivid
• Movies Search App for Chrome
• Movies Search App for Internet Explorer

The iLiVid application seems to be the main offer while the others, namely Movies App for Internet Explorer by Ask was featured as promotions or advertisements. Additionally, just below the 'END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT AND PRIVACY POLICY' a request was made that the user set Ask.com as both their homepage, new tab, and default search engine. This is just another well-concocted plan to get Internet users onto the 'Ask.com' search engine. Along with the 3 programs installed as a bundle,  a new folder was found within the computer's local drive. This program was termed OLBPre.

What is OLBPre?

OLBPre.exe is reputed as dangerous adware that weakens the security settings of a computer system. It's also covertly used for dropping files on a targeted computer, often without the user's consent or knowledge.

Manual Steps for Removal of Movie Search Apps

I found this removal pretty simple. Depending on your Operating System, there will be slight discrepancies in the manual removal steps. Using the Windows 8 (8.1) OS on your computer:

• Step 1: from your desktop, right-click on the ‘Start Button’.  A menu box will then appear.
• Step 2: from the menu box, click ‘Search’.
• Step 3: enter “Programs and Features” within the Input Box.
• Step 4: locate the installed apps. You should be able to see “Movies Search App for Chrome” & “Movies Search App for Internet Explorer”.
• Step 5: right-click on the names of the Apps (the ones you want to remove) when you’ve located them.
• Note: you will have to remove the apps one after the other.
• Step 6: after right-clicking the app, click the uninstall option (probably the only option available anyway).
• Note: If a box appears asking If you wish to ‘block’ or ‘allow’, select the allow option. That’s just the Publisher’s way to annoy you out of uninstalling the app.
• Step 7: follow instructions until the app is fully removed.
• Step 8: Repeat steps for the other app.

Since Bandoo also changed your search engine, you’ll have to reset that manually for Internet Explorer and Chrome. Follow the steps below:

• Step 1: Open your Internet Explorer browser.
• Step 2: Click the tool option located in the top right-hand corner of the page.
• Step 3: Click the “Internet Options” option.
• Step 4: Under the “General” tab, you’ll be able to see approximately 3 buttons. Click the button labeled ‘Use Default”.
• Step 5: At the bottom right-hand corner of the pop-up menu, select the “Apply” button and “OK”. That should do the trick.

Removal for Chrome Extension

This removal is simple.

• Step 1: Open your Chrome browser.
• Step 2: A pop-up box will be visible.
• Step 3: Click the “Remove from Chrome” option.

After removing the extensions/add-ons, perform another scan with Spyhunter. You’ll pick up a few threats. The second scan should clear up everything. To completely remove Bandoo from your computer, click here to download and install Spyhunter.

If you recently made some changes in your Windows 10 computer using the Group Policy Editor but they were not reflected and you got errors instead, it could be that your Windows computer wasn’t able to read the Group Policy file (registry.pol). To resolve this kind of issue, you have to repair the potentially corrupted Group Policy using the options given in this post. .As you know, Group Policy is a feature in the Microsoft Windows Active Directory which allows an admin to make changes in the features on Windows PCs that are on the network. So if the modifications you just made weren’t successfully applied, then there could be something wrong with the registry.pol file on the client or it could also be that the Group Policy folder is missing. To fix this issue in the Group Policy, you need to refer to the given suggestions below and make sure that you have admin privileges as you execute them.

Option 1 – Try to delete or recreate the missing registry.pol file

The entire settings of the Group Policy are stored in the registry.pol file so if it went missing, all the changes you make will not be reflected. The good thing is that you can recreate it but if the file exists and is corrupted, you need to delete it first before you recreate it.

• First, go to the C:/Windows/System32/GroupPolicy/Machine location.
• And from there, check if the registry.pol file exists or not. If it’s there, just delete it permanently by tapping the Shift + Delete keys.
• Now it’s time to recreate the file. Just open Windows PowerShell with admin privileges by tapping Win + X + A keys.
• After opening PowerShell, type this command: gpupdate /force
• The command you entered will recreate the registry.pol file and will refresh the Group Policy. Restart your computer.

Option 2 – Try recreating the secedit.sdb file

The security settings of Group Policy are stored in the secedit.sdb file so if you made some changes to security and they weren’t reflected, you can try to delete and recreate the secedit.sdb file instead of deleting the Group Policy file. All you have to do is navigate to the C:/WINDOWS/security/Database folder and look for the secedit.sdb file and rename it or move it to another folder. After that, restart your computer. Once your computer has restarted, the secedit.sdb file will be created again.

Option 3 – Try to reset the Group Policy to default

You can also try to reset the Group Policy back to its default state. There are several ways you can do that. You can either use the gpupdate or the secedit command in the Windows PowerShell to do that. Resetting the Group Policy will resolve any issues that could be caused by its current settings.

Option 4 – Try to perform System Restore

System Restore can also help resolve the Group Policy issue. It could be that prior to the issue, you’ve made some changes in the system that might have affected the Group Policy. To undo these changes, perform System Restore.

• First, tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• After that, type in “sysdm.cpl” in the field and tap Enter.
• Next, go to the System Protection tab then click the System Restore button. This will open a new window where you have to select your preferred System Restore point.
• After that, follow the on-screen instructions to finish the process and then restart your computer and check if the problem is fixed or not.

Option 5 – Use the DISM tool

You can also try running the Deployment Imaging and Servicing Management or DISM tool. This tool will repair the Windows System Image as well as the Windows Component Store in your Windows 10 computer. So if there are any missing or corrupted folders and files, the DISM tool can restore and repair them. As a result, any system consistencies and corruptions will be fixed. To run this tool, follow these steps:

• Tap the Win + X keys and click on the “Command Prompt (Admin)” option.
• After that, input each one of the commands listed below sequentially to execute them:
  • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
  • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
  • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

• Once you’ve executed the commands given above, restart your computer.

From their infant stages to modern days, computer viruses were always kind of here. From simple ones that were annoying with playing speaker sounds and throwing messages on screen to more malicious ones capable of deleting and encrypting files. In today's modern world it is very important to protect yourself, modern viruses are not a joke anymore and they are aimed to create serious damage to computer systems. They can encrypt files in order to make you pay for a decrypter, they can straight up delete files or even cause some hardware damage. Like mentioned before protecting yourself is important, but protecting does not mean only having antivirus software installed, information, where are common places in which they lurk and could be picked up, is also very important. That is why we are exploring in this article the most common place where you can pick viruses or other malware.

Downloading Programs

Programs that contain the downloadable files are the commonest source of malware such as freeware, worms, and other executable files. Whether you download an image editing software, a music file, or an e-book, it is important to ensure the reliability of the source of the media. Unknown, new, or less popular sources should be avoided.

Pirated or Cracked Software

Are you aware of software cracking? Well, every time you open cracked software, your antivirus software might flag it as malware as the cracks consist of malicious scripts. Always say “No” to cracks as they can inject malicious script into your PC.

Email Attachments

Anyone can send you an email attachment whether you know them or not. Clicking on unknown links or attachments can harm your device. Think twice before clicking anything and make sure that file type is not ‘.exe’.

Internet

One of the easiest ways to get a virus on your device is through the Internet. Make sure to check the URL before accessing any website. For a secured URL always look for ‘HTTPS in it. For example, when you click videos published on social media websites, they may require you to install a particular type of plug-in to watch that video. But in reality, these plug-ins might be malicious software that can steal your sensitive information.

Booting Data from Unknown CDs

Malicious software can get into your device through an unknown CD. A good practice to be safe from malicious infection is to remove CD when your device is not working at all. Your system could reboot the CD if it is not removed before switching off the computer.

Bluetooth

Bluetooth transfers can also infect your system, so it is crucial to know what type of media file is being sent to your computer whenever a transfer takes place. An effective armor would be to allow Bluetooth connectivity with only known devices and activate it only when required.

Unpatched Software

Often overlooked, unpatched software is also a leading source of virus infection. Security holes in software are exploited by attackers and are unknown to software makers until the attackers release them in the form of zero-day attacks. It is therefore recommended to install software updates as soon as they are available on your PC.

There are various components that take part during a Windows Upgrade process such as the CPU, Disk, Network, and many more. This is why the process of upgrading your Windows 10 computer can be quite complex and due to its complexity, there are times when you might encounter some errors like the Windows Upgrade error 0x800701E3. If you encounter this kind of error then it has something to do with the “disk” part of the whole upgrade process which could be due to a conflict with the storage of your Windows 10 computer. When you receive this error, you will see the following error message on your screen:

“Windows cannot install required files. Make sure all files required for installation are available and restart the installation. Error code: 0x800701e3.”

To fix this Windows Upgrade error, here are some suggestions that might help.

Option 1 – Delete Files from Software Distribution Folder & Catroot2 folders

The downloaded Windows Updates are placed in a folder called “SoftwareDistribution”. The files downloaded in this folder are automatically deleted once the installation is completed. However, if the files are not clean up or if the installation is still pending, you can delete all the files in this folder after you pause the Windows Update service. For complete instructions, refer to the steps below.

• Open the WinX Menu.
• From there, open Command Prompt as admin.
• Then type in the following command – don’t forget to hit Enter right after typing each one of them.

net stop wuauserv net start cryptSvc net start bits net start msiserver

• After entering these commands, it will stop the Windows Update Service, Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS), Cryptographic, and the MSI Installer
• Next, go to the C:/Windows/SoftwareDistribution folder and get rid of all the folders and files thereby tapping the Ctrl + A keys to select them all and then click on Delete. Note that if the files are in use, you won’t be able to delete them.

After resetting the SoftwareDistribution folder, you need to reset the Catroot2 folder to restart the services you just stopped. To do that, follow these steps:

• Type each one of the following commands.

net start wuauserv net start cryptSvc net start bits net start msiserver

• After that, exit Command Prompt and restart your computer, and then try to run Windows Update once more.

Option 2 – Try running the DISM tool

You can try running the Deployment Imaging and Servicing Management or DISM tool to fix the Windows Upgrade problem. Using this built-in tool, you have various options such as the “/ScanHealth”, “/CheckHealth”, and “/RestoreHealth”.

• Open the Command Prompt with admin privileges.
• Then type in the following commands and make sure to hit Enter right after you type each one of them:
  • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
  • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
  • exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
• Do not close the window if the process takes a while as it will probably take a few minutes to finish.

Option 3 – Run the System File Checker Scan

System File Checker or SFC is a built-in command utility that helps in restoring corrupted files as well as missing files. It replaces bad and corrupted system files with good system files. To run the SFC command, follow the steps given below.

• Tap Win + R to launch Run.
• Type in cmd in the field and tap Enter.
• After opening Command Prompt, type in sfc /scannow

The command will start a system scan which will take a few whiles before it finishes. Once it’s done, you could get the following results:

1. Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.
2. Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them.
3. Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them.

• Restart your computer.

Option 4 – Try running the ChkDsk utility

You can also run the ChkDsk utility to fix the Windows Upgrade error 0x800701E3.

• First, open This PC and right-click on your operating system partition for Windows.
• Next, click on Properties and navigate to the Tools tab.
• Then click on Check under the Error Checking section.
• After that, a new mini window will be opened and from there click on Scan drive and let it scan your disk drive partition for any errors and then restart your computer.

Option 5 – Run the Windows Update Troubleshooter

Running the built-in Windows Update troubleshooter is one of the things you can first check out as it is known to automatically resolve any Windows Update or upgrade errors like error code 0x800701E3. To run it, go to Settings and then select Troubleshoot from the options. From there, click on Windows Update and then click the “Run the troubleshooter” button. After that, follow the next on-screen instructions and you should be good to go.

Option 6 – Run Microsoft’s online troubleshooter

Running Microsoft’s online troubleshooter might also help you fix the Windows Upgrade error code 0x800701E3. This online troubleshooter is known to help in fixing Windows Update errors, it scans your computer for issues that might be causing the problem and then fixes them automatically.

Over time Applications change, some for the better some for worse. Some of them even stop receiving updates and are old and vulnerable. Sometimes standards change and some file types are not used anymore. Software evolves along with technology and that is good. Keeping old and useless applications inside your Windows is not so good. From various exploits to simply taking up space, maybe even slowing down OS it is always wise and good to clean your Windows from unwanted old applications. In this article, we will be mentioning some relics of old and providing you with an explanation of why you should remove them from your system if by any chance you still have them on it.

Silverlight

Silverlight was meant to be a competitor for Adobe Flash, it is a WEB framework that enables rich media content inside your WEB browser. The issue is that it is not developed anymore and today's browsers do not support it. The only browser that actually can support it is internet explorer which itself is not supported and how there is practically 0 content on today's modern WEB that will require Silverlight, it is safe and recommended to remove it.

Adobe Flash

Speaking of Adobe Flash, you should remove it as well. Flash has stopped receiving support as of January 2021 and browsers have dropped support for it and even blocked it due to security issues. However, there still might be some local installation of Flash itself inside Windows along with the old Shockwave player that stopped receiving support in 2019. You should remove them both.

JAVA

Now this one is tricky, by itself JAVA does not present any security issues since browsers do not support it anymore and the desktop version is not really slowing down your computer. This one has simply put just another media runtime that is not used and simply takes up space and resources. However if you have some applications that you do use that rely on it (I can really just think of JAVA Minecraft at this point) leave it of course but in any other case, it is just purely not needed.

Quicktime

While we are at media runtime and stuff that just simply is not needed, Quicktime is one of them. Now this Apple Video player and codec is still pretty developed and active in Apple’s iOS environment, Windows version has not been updated since 2016 and it was discovered that it contains some critical vulnerabilities. Uninstall it and if you need a player that could play MOV files, just use a VLC player that can play them without any separately installed codec.

uTorrent

This one, the same as CCleaner was once a good application, as a matter of fact, it was the best torrenting application. Sadly it has fallen from its grace very low, from getting tons of ads in its interface to findings in 2015 that code of torrent client was packed with a crypto miner that used system resources of an installed computer to mine crypto without user’s awareness. You should uninstall this torrent client if you would like to get your PC back and not provide it for cryptocurrency mining for the company that developed it. Use qBittorrent or TIxati, open-source and free ones that have everything needed for any torrenting needs.

Toolbars and Browser extensions

There are a lot of toolbars for browsers and extensions that are malicious in nature or simply not updated providing security issues. It is very advisable to remove this as soon as possible.

WinRAR

WinRAR has gained its large popularity solely for the reason that you could download it from the official site like shareware and use it forever. The license never expired and you could use it indefinitely. Sadly not much has been improved in the application itself and it is slowly falling out in its range of what it can do. There are better open source and free options today like 7zip, PeaZip, ZIPvare, and more that are working the same as WinRAR if not even better.

Windows and manufacturers Bloatware

Yes, applications that come bundled with Windows and with some laptops that include manufacturers made software for different tasks like its own specific media players, calculators, etc. It is known that these applications are not better than their open-source rivals and there are too many of them including some that you will probably never use. It is the same as buying a new phone bundled with tons of applications that you do not need, did not ask for, and do not use. Delete all of them. Considering Windows there are also some Store application like Candy Crush Saga demo and other are safe to remove if not needed. That’s it, our advice for old and not needed applications so you can keep your PC safe and fast.

The GDI32.DLL is a DLL (Dynamic Link Library) file that was developed by Microsoft. It is an essential file of the Windows OS as it contains instructions and information for exe files to follow. These DLL files also use to store the various procedures and codes for the Windows programs. It is considered an essential component of Windows because it ensures that all the programs on Windows are operating properly. So, if the gdi32.dll not found on your computer, then it can negatively impact your computer and the associated programs. Though DLL files used to be so efficient and convenient, they are extremely vulnerable to errors and issues.

1. Perform SFC scan

   Press ⊞ WINDOWS + X to open the Windows menu From the menu choose command prompt (admin) In command prompt type sfc /scannow and press ENTER Leave the computer for the operation to be completed and Reboot your computer

2. Run DISM

   Press ⊞ WINDOWS + X to open the Windows menu From the menu choose command prompt (admin) in command prompt type: DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth and press ENTER wait for the process to be finished and Reboot your computer

3. Update device driver

   Go to your manufacturer's website and update drivers for your components with the latest versions.

4. Update Windows

   If you have an update ready for Windows, update it and see if this will remove the error

5. Scan computer for malware

   Perform a full PC scan for malware to see if this is causing issues with the GDI32.DLL error.

6. Download file

   One solution is to download a file from the official site and place it in the corresponding folder.

7. Perform System restore

   Rollback system restore before the issue happened and your Windows will be working as intended

Upgrading your Windows 10 computer does not always go smoothly and you often encounter not just one but various errors so, in this post, we are going to cover several Windows 10 upgrade errors such as 80240020, 8007002C, 80246007, 80070004. All these upgrade errors are related to the Windows Update folder. Thus, you need to clear the Software Distribution folder, repair the System Image and fix System Health in order to resolve all these Windows 10 Upgrade errors. Before you get started on the steps to resolve these tons of errors, you have to disable your security program for the meantime, disconnect your peripherals, remove USBs connected to your PC and then make sure that your PC is connected to the main power supply. Once you have everything covered, carefully follow the options given below.

Option 1 – Delete Windows 10 Update Files in the SoftwareDistribution folder

The Software Distribution folder in the Windows operating system is a folder that can be found in the Windows directory and is used to store files temporarily which might be required to install the Windows Update on your PC. Thus, it is required by the Windows Update and maintained by WUAgent. A lot of users tried deleting the files in this folder to fix the problem and so far it has worked. Like them, you can try clearing the Windows Update cache by simply deleting the contents of the folder named “SoftwareDistribution” since Windows apparently can’t clear and re-download the update contents once they are corrupted. Thus, deleting the contents of this folder will make Windows download the contents again which will fix the problem. To do that, follow the steps below.

• Open the WinX Menu.
• From there, open Command Prompt as admin.
• Then type in the following command – don’t forget to hit Enter right after typing each one of them.

net stop wuauserv net stop bits

• After entering these commands, it will stop the Windows Update Service and the Background Intelligent Transfer Service.
• Next, go to the C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution folder and get rid of all the folders and files thereby tapping the Ctrl + A keys to select them all and then click on Delete. Note that if the files are in use, you won’t be able to delete them.
• Once all the contents in the Software Distribution folder are deleted, restart your PC and then go back to Command Prompt and input the following commands again.

net start wuauserv net start bits

Since the folder has already been flushed, it will be populated afresh the instant your restart your computer and open Windows Update.

• Now Open Settings and check for Windows Updates. Windows 10 should begin the download right away.

Option 2 – Try using the DISM tool

Running the DISM Tool helps in repairing the Windows System Image as well as the Windows Component Store in Windows 10. Using this built-in tool, you have various options such as the “/ScanHealth”, “/CheckHealth”, and “/RestoreHealth”.

• Open the Command Prompt with admin privileges.
• Then type in the following commands and make sure to hit Enter right after you type each one of them:
  • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
  • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
  • exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
• Do not close the window if the process takes a while as it will probably take a few minutes to finish.

Note: If it happens that the Windows Update client is broken, you need to run the following command to repair it then restart your PC and click on Update once again.

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:C:RepairSourceWindows /LimitAccess

Note: The Windows Upgrade error, with error code 80240020 is an expected error message that happens when the upgrade requires customer user action. Thus, you need to do the following steps to resolve this particular Windows Upgrade error.

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• Then type “regedit” in the field and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor.
• After that, navigate to this registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionWindowsUpdate
• Now right click on WindowsUpdate located in the left pane and then create a new key and name it as “OSUpgrade”
• Next, right-click in an empty space in the left pane and create a new DWORD and name it “AllowOSUpgrade” and enter “1” as its value.

Option 3 – Try running the Windows Update in a Clean Boot State.

Putting your PC in a Clean Boot state can also help you install Windows Updates or Upgrades without any trouble because, during this state, you can start the system with a minimum number of drivers and startup programs that will surely help you in isolating the root cause of the issue.

• Log onto your PC as an administrator.
• Type in MSConfig in the Start Search to open the System Configuration utility.
• From there, go to the General tab and click “Selective startup”.
• Clear the “Load Startup items” checkbox and make sure that the “Load System Services” and “Use Original boot configuration” options are checked.
• Next, click the Services tab and select the “Hide All Microsoft Services” checkbox.
• Click Disable all.
• Click on Apply/OK and restart your PC. (This will put your PC into a Clean Boot State. And configure Windows to use the usual startup, just simply undo the changes.)
• After that, try to install the Windows Updates or upgrade again.

What is OpenCandy?

OpenCandy is an application that downloads and installs software, including other Internet Browsers to a computer system. Used as a bundle, this application installs additional programs that you may knowingly or unknowingly agree to install. Since most users don’t accept the challenge of reading the EULA in its entirety, they tend to download bundled applications unknowingly.

Assessment of OpenCandy PUP

During the initial assessment of OpenCandy, I was a little skeptical about what to look out for or expect. In fact, I had to install the OpenCandy.exe file twice to discern its behavior. I’m not sure how this application got its name but I do believe it has something to do with the fact that it supposedly helps Internet users open a new world of Internet browsing. That conclusion was arrived at after realizing that OpenCandy.exe installed mostly Internet browsers along with a tune-up tool on the test computer. However, as a result of the system requirements, there was a pop-up message indicating that Internet Explorer 8 was not compatible with the computer system in question. In comparison to the malware I’ve encountered since I started researching malware, OpenCandy is everything but malicious. In fact, this application is only categorized as malware because of its’ subtle covert nature of installing bundled programs unsolicited by the user. Additionally, OpenCandy coerces users into changing their Internet Browsers by installing those unrequested by the user. In fact, it’s no shock that OpenCandy chose to install the Internet Browser ‘Opera’ as a part of this bundle since it’s one of the least used browsers according to the Federal Government. Clearly, this was a smoothly disguised advertisement or promotion to force users into using the Opera Browser, along with Internet Explorer 8.0. While these aforementioned browsers in themselves aren’t malicious and are in no way considered malware, they were installed as a promotional tool and without the request of the user. Despite being mentioned within the EULA, advertisers are capitalizing on this since most users do not bother to read the agreements when installing a program. Furthermore, OpenCandy, like most other bundled applications I’ve dealt with, threw in a tune-up tool as a part of the promotion. I found this tune-up application annoying since I had to hassle my way into getting it to close from the computer screen. I can only imagine the hassle users would go through trying to remove this software. Image 7: Depiction of a scan performed by Tuneup Utilities. The scan detected that several areas on the test PC could be optimized/tuned up. Image 8: After a scan was completed using the Tuneup utility program, I was given an option to buy the full version. Nothing is wrong with this marketing strategy. In fact, most utility tools if not all will scan your computer to detect threats or loopholes, but they won't exactly allow you to fix those problems unless you buy the full version. It's not unfair, it's just business. Programs installed during the installation of OpenCandy include:

• Web Companion: Developed by Lavasoft, Web Companion is said to be an application that serves as a security defense for your Internet browsers by preventing unauthorized changes (see image below)
• Tuneup Utilities: Tuneup Utilities does exactly as it says. It cleans up a computer system, whereby preventing unused programs from slowing it down.
• Opera Stable 30.01.1835.88: Opera is a fast, simple, and effective Internet browser that allows users to get around on the web.

All in all, the intent of installing an application such as OpenCandy is to unleash a world of promotion or advertisements on your computer. They are pretty annoying and in some cases difficult to remove. Furthermore, as a user, you want to control what gets installed on your computer without being dictated to or coerced in some EULA that you probably overlook. To completely remove OpenCandy PUP from your computer, click here to download and install Spyhunter.

Where all have been there, we are downloading something and for any kind of reason chrome closes, internet breaks, etc. And our download is interrupted and gone forever, and we need to start again. You will be glad to hear that chrome has side a download manager which tracks each download you made and you can use this manager to resume interrupted downloads. Please note that some websites have certain scripts that will prevent you to resume interrupted downloads, in this case, using chrome's download manager will not work and you will have to start the download again. All of this being said, if your download has been interrupted, and went away, pin Chrome press CTRL + J to open download manager, find your interrupted download, and press the resume button. That's it, you have successfully resumed your download.

As you can notice in Blue Screen errors, most of them point out a file that’s related to the errors. One of these files is the Storport.sys file which is a system file related to the storage of data in the storage unit of a computer. This file is created by the Microsoft Storage Port Driver. So if this file ends up getting dragged on Blue Screen errors, there can be a number of reasons for why it’s happened. Blue Screen errors related to the Storport.sys file may include conflicts with the hardware, incompatible firmware issues, corrupted drivers, missing or corrupted system files, to name a few. Here are some of the common Blue Screen errors related to the Storport.sys file:

• KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
• KERNEL DATA INPAGE
• PAGE FAULT IN A NONPAGED AREA
• SYSTEM THREAD EXCEPTION NOT HANDLED
• IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL
• SYSTEM SERVICE EXCEPTION

Microsoft Windows is the one that provides the Storport.sys file a storage port driver that is suited especially for the use of high-performance buses like fiber channel buses and RAID adapters. There are a number of advantages in using Storport instead of the SCSI Port, according to Microsoft:

• “Improved performance, both in terms of throughput and the system resources that are utilized.
• Improved Miniport driver interface that addresses the needs of high-end storage vendors, particularly host-based RAID and fiber channel vendors.”

If you encounter any of the above-mentioned Blue Screen of Death errors, then here are some troubleshooting options that might help but before you get to them, you can try to perform a System Restore first especially if you have the habit of creating System Restore points. This might fix the problem. To perform a system restore, refer to these steps:

• First, tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• After that, type in “sysdm.cpl” in the field and tap Enter.
• Next, go to the System Protection tab then click the System Restore button. This will open a new window where you have to select your preferred System Restore point.
• After that, follow the on-screen instructions to finish the process and then restart your computer and check if the problem is fixed or not.

If System Restore didn’t help in fixing the Blue Screen error, now’s the time for you to resort to the troubleshooting tips provided below but before you get started, make sure that you create a System Restore point first. In addition, you also have to boot into Safe Mode with Networking before you carry out the troubleshooting steps below.

Option 1 – Try to update or rollback your device drivers

The first thing you can try to fix the Storport.sys Blue Screen error is to either update or roll back the device drivers. It is most likely that after you updated your Windows computer that your driver also needs a refresh. On the other hand, if you have just updated your device drivers then you need to roll back the drivers to their previous versions. Whichever applies to you, refer to the steps below.

• Open the Devices Manager from the Win X Menu.
• Then locate the device drivers and right-click on them to open the Properties. Note that the main drivers that might be the cause behind the Storport.sys Blue Screen error will be listed under the “ID ATA/ATAPI controllers” section as well as the “Storage controllers” section.
• After that, switch to the Driver tab and click on the Uninstall Device button.
• Follow the screen option to completely uninstall it.
• Finally, restart your computer. It will just reinstall the device drivers automatically.

Note: You can also directly download the relevant drivers of your computer from the manufacturers’ website. So if you have an SSD, the issue might be due to an old storage driver. Option 2 – Try to recreate the Storport.sys file If the first option didn’t work, the next thing you can do is to recreate the Storport.sys file. Every time your Windows 10 PC boots up, it looks for all the system drivers in place and if it is unable to find them, it tries to create them. This is why if you remove your corrupt driver file, chances are, you might get a fixed file recreated just for you. How? Refer to the steps below.

• Boot your Windows 10 PC in Safe Mode.
• Then open File Explorer and navigate to this location: C:/Windows/System32/drivers
• From there, look for the file named sys and rename it to Storport.old.

Note: As you can see, the file’s extension has changed from .sys to .old.

• Now restart your computer and check if the Storport.sys Blue Screen error is now fixed.

Option 3 – Run System File Checker or SFC scan

System File Checker or SFC is a built-in command utility that helps in restoring corrupted files as well as missing files. It replaces bad and corrupted system files to good system files. To run the SFC command, follow the steps given below.

• Tap Win + R to launch Run.
• Type in cmd in the field and tap Enter.
• After opening Command Prompt, type in sfc /scannow

The command will start a system scan which will take a few whiles before it finishes. Once it’s done, you could get the following results:

1. Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.
2. Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them.
3. Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them.

 Reboot your PC.

Option 4 – Try to run the DISM commands

You might want to repair potentially corrupted files in your system as having them could also trigger the Storport.sys Blue Screen error. To repair these corrupted system files, you can run the DISM commands:

• Tap the Win + X keys and click on the “Command Prompt (Admin)” option.
• After that, input each one of the commands listed below sequentially to execute them:
  • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
  • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
  • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

• Once you’ve executed the commands given above, restart your computer and check if the dxgkrnl.sys Blue Screen error is now fixed.

Option 5 – Run the Blue Screen Troubleshooter

Troubleshooting Blue Screen of Death errors wouldn’t be complete without the Blue Screen troubleshooter. As you know, it is a built-in tool in Windows 10 that helps users in fixing BSOD errors like Storport.sys. It can be found on the Settings Troubleshooters page. To use it, refer to these steps:

• Tap the Win + I keys to open the Settings panel.
• Then go to Update & Security > Troubleshoot.
• From there, look for the option called “Blue Screen” on your right-hand side and then click the “Run the troubleshooter” button to run the Blue Screen Troubleshooter and then follow the next on-screen options. Note that you might have to boot your PC into Safe Mode.