Fix PNP_DETECTED_FATAL_ERROR in Windows

If you are tried encrypting or decrypting a file using the default EFS engine but you receive an error message instead saying, “Error Applying Attributes, An error occurred applying attributes to the file: The specified file could not be decrypted”, read on as this post will help you sort out the problem. If you encounter this error you can use the error code in it. You will most likely get error code 0x80071771. This kind of error occurs when the File Explorer’s copy and paste feature was not able to read the source file being encrypted or decrypted. It could also occur if you try to access a file that has been on another computer previously.

To fix error code 0x80071771 when decrypting or encrypting a file, refer to the instructions provided below.

Step 1: You need to check first if you can decrypt the files encrypted by EFS. However, if you can’t, just proceed and then take full control of the file. Step 2: To take control of the file, open File Explorer and right-click on the partition, and then click on Properties. Step 3: After that, click on the Edit button under the Security tab. Step 4: Next, make sure that “Everyone” is selected under the Group or user names section. Step 5: Afterwards, the Permissions for Everyone section will be activated. Just make sure that all the checkboxes for Allow are checked and then click on the Apply button. Step 6: Once you’re done, click on the Advanced button. This will open a new window labeled Advanced Security Settings. From there, click on the Change link under the Owner section. Step 7: Now type your account name in the field and click on Check Names to verify the account name and click OK. Step 8: After that, select the “Replace owner on sub-containers and objects” option and then click OK. Step 9: Next, select Administrators in the Group or User names list and select Full Control in the Permissions for Administrators panel and click OK.

If you are trying to log into your user account on your Windows 10 computer but encountered an error message instead that says, “Your account has been disabled, Please see your system administrator”, read on as this post will guide you on how you can fix this problem. In this kind of scenario, you won’t be able to access your data unless you have access to the administrator account. This problem could be caused by several problems. It is possible that malware has infected your computer and has changed some settings in your computer, especially if your system has been under a malware attack not too long ago. The malware could’ve changed the “Account is disabled” option. The only thing you can do to resolve this kind of problem is to log into your computer using another administrator account and then change the setting. However, if you don’t have a second administrator account, you can just enable the built-in hidden administrator account on your computer. You shouldn’t have any problem enabling the hidden administrator account as it is quite easy when you can log into your account. And in this post, you will be guided on how you can enable the hidden administrator account using the Registry Editor to fix the “Your account has been disabled, Please see your system administrator” error.

To get started, follow the instructions given below.

1. First, you need to start your computer and ensure that you are on the error screen. From there, you will see the Power options located on the right-hand side.
2. Click on the Power options and tap and hold the Shift key and then select Restart.
3. After that, the Advanced Boot Options will appear and from there select Troubleshoot > Command Prompt.
4. Next, you have to select your user account and enter the user account’s password to open Command Prompt.
5. After opening Command Prompt, open your screen and type “Regedit” and then tap Enter on your keyboard.
6. Now select the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE in the Registry Editor and go to File > Load Hive.
7. Afterward, you have to open the Windows installation drive and go to the location – WindowsSystem32Config
8. From there, you should find a file named “SAM” – select this file and click the Open button.
9. Next, you have to enter a key name. You can just input whatever you prefer.
10. Once done, navigate to this path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINEkey_nameSAMDomainsAccountUsers
11. From this path, you will see a key named “000001F4” – select this key and double click on the “F” entry that you can find on the right-hand side of the screen.
12. After that, look for the value data line labeled “0038” which should show 11 in the first column. You have to replace it with 10.
13. Once done, click on the OK button and close the Registry Editor and the Command Prompt to restart your computer.
14. Now once your computer has restarted, sign in to the Administrator account and open the Computer Management window. You can just search for it using the search bar in the Taskbar.
15. After you open Computer Management, go to Local Users and Groups > Users – where you can find all the user accounts. Look for your deleted user account and right-click on it and select Properties and then unmark the checkbox that says “Account is disabled”. This should fix the problem.

Error Code 0x803f7001 – What is it?

Error code 0x803f7001 occurs when there is a failure to update your Windows operating system to Windows 10. Usually, a message box pops up with the following statement, “Windows is not activated as your previous version of Windows on this device was not activated prior to upgrade to Windows 10.” When this occurs, common symptoms of the error code will manifest themselves:

• Inability to upgrade your Windows operating system to Windows 10
• Message box with error code 0x803f7001

Solution

Error Causes

The cause for error code 0x803f7001 varies. Usually, it occurs for two reasons: 1) when during the process of upgrading to Windows 10, no valid Windows license or product key is found for your device or 2) when a user performs a clean installation of Windows 10. During a clean installation, a new license is usually required to allow you to activate your copy of Windows.

Further Information and Manual Repair

There are two main options available to fix error code 0x803f7001. Usually, the use of a valid product key can help users rectify error code 0x803f7001. You may also try an automated tool to access the best solutions.

Method One: Use a Valid Product Key

A product key is a code containing 25 characters that enable users to activate Windows. You will need to enter the product key in the exact order it appears in order to install your Windows operating system. All users will be able to access this code in an email or on a card within the Windows DVD package they receive upon purchasing a version of the Windows operating system.

To solve error code 0x803f7001, complete the following steps.

• Step one: Click the Start button then select Settings
• Step two: Select Update and Security then Activation
• Step three: Click the Change product key
• Step four: Type in your valid product key. (To do this ensure the 25 characters are accounted for and in the correct order.)

If the issue causing error code 0x803f7001 relates to your product key, then the instructions within method one will rectify the issue. You will be able to install and activate Windows 10. However, if while attempting to update your Windows operating system, the error occurs once more, you will need to follow the instructions in the manual repair below.

You may also consider contacting a Windows repair technician if you are uncertain of your ability to perform the tasks required to fix error code 0x803f7001. This IT professional will be able to use his or her technical knowledge to perform complex manual repair tasks if the need arises.

Method Two: Install an Automated Tool

Automated tools help PC users eliminate common issues such as Windows error codes. To address or rectify error codes like error code 0x8007007b download a powerful automated tool on your machine. This tool enables users to access quick solutions. It also scans for and corrects issues that may result in error codes or poor PC performance.

The error 0x0000001 also known as APC_INDEX_MISMATCH is one of the fatal errors that users encounter upon starting their computers. This error appears when there is a sequence mismatch in the driver or system file when it is disabling or re-enabling Asynchronous procedure calls. The mismatch happens maybe because of a virus or malware attack, not shutting down your computer properly and incomplete installation of the system files. There are many ways to fix this error. The easiest way is to download a repair utility program. The use of these programs perfectly fits those that are not so technical. All you have to do is download the program and install it on your computer. As soon as it is installed, the program will now scan and diagnose your computer for any errors. After it identifies the errors, it will then repair your PC through either manual or automatic tools. To those who are techie and enjoy the manual resolution, you may take advantage of Microsoft’s analyze debug extension which tells you the cause of the error. After determining the cause then you can now start fixing the error. Check if Hardware is functioning properly. If the cause is due to a hardware malfunction, you will have to make sure that all the pieces you are using are working. All the wires should be attached to their respective ports. Not only that, but you also must make sure that before installing the hardware, it is compatible with the Windows version that is installed into your computer. Use Compatible software. If the problem was caused by software or a driver, you can uninstall and reinstall it. Always make it a rule that whenever you install a program or new software to your computer, make sure it is compatible with your operating system and never skip a step during the installation process. You also have to see to it that the program you are installing does not contain any viruses, malware, or spyware that can be harmful to your computer. Update your Drivers Regularly. In most cases though, the cause of the APC_INDEX_MISMATCH error are outdated device drivers. To resolve this, you will have to go to your Control Panel then look for Device Manager. As soon as you are in the Device Manager window, you can now see the different devices running on your computer. You right-click on each device and check the Properties.  In the Properties window, click on the Driver Tab and look for the date when it was last updated. You can then go to the manufacturer’s website and compare the dates. For a new Windows operating system, you no longer have to go to the manufacturer's website though. All you have to do is click on Update Driver and it will automatically search for updates online. Use a Genuine Operating System. There are also cases where the 0x0000001 error won’t allow you to access your computer. In this case, we have to suspect that the problem could be in your Operating system. To resolve this, you can reinstall your Operating System or update your current operating system. Only use a genuine licensed Windows Operating System because this will not only protect you from Malware and Viruses but it allows you to get all the recent update available from Microsoft. Update your Windows 10 regularly by going to Settings > Windows Update > Check for Updates. You may also turn on the Automatic Update by going to the Advanced options is found on the Windows Update Page. You can always get help online but it really helps to know the basics and determining the root cause of the error.

One of the primary packages that install the Windows Media Player is the Media Feature Pack among other related files that are needed by the associated software products. And one of the essential DLL files in that package is the mfplat.dll file which is needed by various games and streaming services. So if this DLL file goes missing, you will most likely encounter any of the following error messages:

• “mfplat.dll missing”
• “The application failed to start because mfplat.dll was not found.”
• “The program can’t start because mfplat.dll is missing from your computer.”

In other circumstances, the Media Feature Package does not come pre-installed with the main Windows package especially for those who use Windows N, thereby causing the error to pop up. The main cause of this problem is that users who use Windows 10 N do not have the Media Feature pack pre-installed with the installation package. Aside from that, the installation package could go missing after a few Windows Updates or if you have uninstalled it by accident. To resolve this problem, you need to check out each one of the given options below.

Option 1 – Try to enable Media Playback via Command Prompt

If you encounter the mfplat.dll missing error when you attempt to run PLEX or other similar streaming service and you’ve already verified that the Media Feature Pack is indeed installed, you might want to try enabling it using an elevated Command Prompt. There are cases when a particular Windows Update ends up disabling the feature and creates the grounds which results in the mfplat.dll missing error. Thus, you can have to enable the feature via Command Prompt.

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• Then type “cmd” in the field and hit Enter to open an elevated Command Prompt.
• Next, click on Yes if a User Account Control prompt pops up.
• After opening Command Prompt, copy and paste the following command and hit Enter to execute it:

dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:MediaPlayback

• Close Command Prompt and then open the app once again to check if the problem is now fixed.

Option 2 – Try installing the Media Feature Pack for Windows 10 N version

As mentioned, the Windows 10 N version does not come with Windows Media Player. Meaning to say, the Media Feature Pack is also not installed by default or won’t be updated by the Windows Update component. So if you are not quite sure what Windows 10 version you currently have installed, refer to these steps:

• Tap the Windows key + S and then type “about” in the search box.
• From the search results, click on the “About your PC” to open the About tab of the Settings app.
• Afterward, scroll down to the Windows specifications and check your Windows version under Edition.

Note: If you have verified that your PC is using the Windows 10 N version, you need to install the appropriate Media Feature Pack for your computer. How? Refer to the steps below:

• Click this link to download and install the Media Feature Pack from Microsoft’s official website.
• Upon installation, select the edition you want to install using the drop-down menu and then click on Confirm. Take note that there are few reasons why you’d want to install the older version since most streaming services like PLEX and most games usually require version 1803.
• After that, wait until the request is validated. The download should begin in a few minutes automatically.
• Once the download is completed, open the installation executable file and follow the next on-screen instructions to install the Media Feature Pack on your computer.
• Restart your computer. After your computer has rebooted, open the application where you’re getting the mfplat.dll missing error and then check if the problem is now fixed.

Option 3 – Try to extract a copy of the mfplat.dll file from the windows.old directory

If you encounter the error shortly after you just upgraded to Windows 10 from an older version, the best thing you can do to resolve the problem is to use windows.old directory to fetch an old copy of the mfplat.dll file. To do so, follow the steps below.

• Go to the Windows drive and then look for the windows.old directory where it preserves a copy of your old operating system as well as associated files in case something goes out of hand during the upgrade process.
• After that, open the windows.old folder and then go to the syswow64 folder.
• Next, from the syswow64 folder, copy the mfplat.dll file and paste it to C:/windows/syswow64.
• Restart your computer and check if the error is now resolved or not.

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.

There has been recently discovered in the field of malware targeting Android devices. Affecting more than 10 million users of Android phones, the malware GriftHorse is doing its attacks via phishing and premium services scams. A lot of applications have been discovered that are hosts for this malware and many of them are inside the Google store and available for download. According to Zimperium zLabs, this malware that was recently detected has been doing its scams and attacks even in November of 2020 and has thus far accumulated hundreds of thousands of dollars in its scam. On the surface it looks very harmless, asking for typical permissions like internet access, calls, and other related needed functions, and then it waits. After few months the real attack happens when users get charged with premium service they never subscribed to in the first place.

List of Infected Applications that Carry GriftHorse Trojan

Zimperium zLabs listed out some of the apps with this malware. Users are advised to avoid installing them.

•     Amazing Video Editor
•     Bag X-Ray 100% Scanner
•     Bus – Metrolis 2021
•     Call Recoder Pro
•     Call Blocker-Spam Call Blocker
•     Cinema Hall: Free HD Movies
•     Coupons & Gifts: InstaShop
•     GPS Phone Tracker – Family Locator
•     Fingerprint Changer
•     Fitness Point
•     Free Calls WorldWide
•     Geospot: GPS Location Tracker
•     GPS Phone Tracker – Family Locator
•     Handy Translator Pro
•     Horoscope : Fortune
•     iCare – Find Location
•     iConnected Tracker
•     Instant Speech Translation
•     Lifeel – scan and test
•     My Chat Translator
•     My Locator Plus
•     Plant Camera Identifier
•     Racers Car Driver
•     Safe Lock
•     Screen Mirroring TV Cast
•     Slime Simulator
•     Smart Spot Locator

These are only some of the many infected apps available on the internet. Zimperium zLabs also warned that GriftHorse Trojan exists in over 70 countries worldwide. The infected app quickly changes the language and displays content depending on the user’s IP address.

Many users would probably agree that the Windows Media Player, in most cases, is a lot better than the Groove. Although it is understandable why the Groove Music app was created, it may be time for Microsoft to bring its focus back on Windows Media Player. Even more, so that some users are experiencing an issue where they were not able to play their playlist in the Windows Media Player on their Windows 10 PCs. One particular user claimed that when he removed his music from the C drive and transferred them to the C drive for some reason he didn’t state. Right after he did that, any attempts to play songs in the Windows Media Player just don’t seem to work. Transferring music to a different location shouldn’t cause any issue but for some unknown reason, it did. According to security experts, the reason why the Windows Media Player didn’t play the playlist is that it still believes that the songs are still located in the C drive when they’re really not. So the question here is, how can you get the Windows Media Player to recognize the exact and correct location of the songs? Worry not, for this post will show you how exactly you can do that. Carefully follow each one of the instructions given below to fix the Windows Media Player issue.

Option 1 – Try running the WMP Troubleshooters

In case there are any issues with the Windows Media Player, you can always count on the WMP Troubleshooters to fix the problem for you. These built-in troubleshooters, namely, Windows Media Player Library and Windows Media Player DVD Troubleshooters can help you fix the problem, so run them both and see if you can now play those songs or not.

Option 2 – Try rebuilding the Windows Media Player Database

If the first option didn’t work for you, you might have to rebuild the Windows Media Player database. You can do this by following the steps below.

• Tap the Win + R keys at the same time to open the Run dialog box.
• After that, copy and paste this command in the field: %userprofile%Local SettingsApplication DataMicrosoftMedia Player
• Once you’ve pasted the command, hit Enter then you will see a new File Explorer which is the folder for the Media Player. You will have to delete every item in this folder, except for the folders. Meaning to say, you must only delete the individual contents inside but not the folders.
• Now launch the Windows Media Player again and watch as it rebuilds the music library automatically.

Valve has released a big update to its online store and distribution platform Steam. Among typical bugs fixing and making the user experience a little more fluid, we have received some major updates as well. Please take note that you need to update Steam itself to the latest version in order to get new features.

Storage management Page update

The storage management page has received a complete redesign and UX overhaul and it is now much easier to manage your game libraries and create new ones. The page itself looks and feels a little console more like but thanks to that it offers a much easier and clearer look and feel. Another thing with the Steam store management page is the ability to move installation files from one location to another. Let’s say that you have two or more hard disk drivers in your machine and that you have SSD that you use for running stuff since it is fast and larger and slower one for storage. Now you can easily and quickly move one installation from one to another in order to take advantage of your faster SSD for quicker LOAD game times without making a new installation.

Steam Download page improvements

The download page has also received some love from Valve by enabling us to now see the installation progress. So far on the download page of Steam, you would only get download progress but it has been updated to show installation progress after download as well now making it more straightforward and giving you a general idea of how much more time there is to wait in order to start gaming. Also, you can now drag and drop items in the download bracket to reorder download orders or place them as active downloads to start downloading right away.

As you know, System Restore is a useful tool in Windows operating system that helps users in fixing system issues by undoing any recent changes to the computer that may have caused the problem. However, there are times when you might encounter some issues when running this tool and one of these issues is when System Restore suddenly gets stuck or hangs up on initializing the restoration of the Registry in Windows 10. If you encounter a similar problem, read on as this post will guide you on what you can do in such cases. There are several things you can do when you face this kind of problem in System Restore. First, you can try to wait it out, give it more time to load, which should not take longer than 5 minutes. And if it’s still stuck after that time, give it another hour. However, if nothing changed after an hour, then you need to troubleshoot the problem further. Keep in mind that you must not interrupt System Restore by shutting it down abruptly, it could result in an unbootable system. To get started in troubleshooting the problem, you need to follow each one of the suggestions offered below.

Option 1 – Try to use the Windows Recovery Environment

The first troubleshooting option you need to try is to simply tap the power button for about 10 seconds. This is what you have to do when you have to interrupt System Restore or reset your Windows 10 computer. Tapping the power button for 10 seconds will perform a hard shutdown and once your computer shuts down, restart your computer again and follow the steps below but before you do that, make sure that you have a Windows bootable USB or DVD.

• First, insert the bootable USB or DVD and boot into it, and select the “Repair your computer” option.
• Next, once you see the manufacturer logo on your computer, tap the key to enter into Windows Recovery Environment.
• After that, change the Boot sequence to DVD drive under the UEFI Firmware settings and restart your computer.
• Once your computer has restarted, select the boot order and make changes accordingly as displayed in the BIOS.

Option 2 – Try to run the Automatic Repair Utility

You might also want to use Automatic Repair in fixing the error. To do so, follow the steps below.

• You can start by creating and booting from a bootable Windows 10 USB Stick.
• After that, click on Repair your computer located on the bottom left corner when you are on the initial Windows Startup screen.
• Next, click on Troubleshoot, and then on the other screen, click the Startup Repair option.
• Now select the operating system you want to repair. Once you do that, it will start to repair your operating system. Wait until the process is completed and then check if the problem’s now fixed.

Option 3 – Try to run System Restore in Safe Mode

If you can’t boot into your Windows 10 computer, you can try to run System Restore again in the Advanced Startup Options.

• Boot your computer into Safe Mode.
• After that, select an option > Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Startup Settings > Restart.
• Once your computer has restarted, tap the F6 key to enable Safe Mode with Command Prompt and to run System Restore from there.
• Now in Command Prompt, type the “rstrui.exe” command to run System Restore in Safe Mode. This will help in fixing the problem since it would be safer to perform System Restore of the computer.