File or directory is corrupted and unreadable

There are times when you try to open a file, an executable file for instance, but were unable to do so since you encounter an error in an Open File – Security Warning dialog box that says, “This publisher has been blocked from running software on your machine, You must unblock this publisher to run this software”. This kind of error is most likely thrown by your operating system because it considers the file to be unsafe and could potentially harm your computer. However, if you’re certain that the file is harmless, read on as this post will walk you through fixing the error so you can open the file without getting an error. There are various options you can check out to fix the error. You may run the program using Command Prompt or unblock it using File Properties. You could also try turning off SmartScreen or use the unblock file command in Windows PowerShell.

Option 1 – Try running the program via Command Prompt

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box and type “cmd” in the field and hit Enter to open Command Prompt.
• Next, tap the Shift key and right-click on the program or the executable file, and then select the “Copy as path” option.
• After that, paste this path in the Command Prompt window and tap Enter to open the program.

Option 2 – Try to unblock the file using File Properties

• Right-click on the file you were trying to open and select Properties.
• Next, click the Unblock button and then click on the Apply and OK buttons.
• You should now be able to open or access the file without getting the error.

Option 3 – Turn off SmartScreen

The next thing you can do is to turn off SmartScreen temporarily. All you have to do is open the Windows Defender Security Center and from there, go to the App & browser control section. After that, click on the radio button for Off under Check apps and files. Once you’re done, try opening the file again. Don’t forget to enable the SmartScreen back on.

Option 4 – Try to use the Unblock-File command in PowerShell

You might also want to utilize the Unblock-File command in Windows PowerShell as it will unblock the file so you can open it. To execute this command, follow these steps:

• Tap the Win + X keys and then click on Windows PowerShell.
• After opening PowerShell, type or copy and paste this command and tap Enter to execute it: Get-ChildItem -Path 'C:Users<username>Downloads' | Unblock-File
• The command you entered will unblock all the files in the Downloads folder, assuming that’s where the file you were trying to open is stored. If it’s not, then replace the path with the path where the file is located. Take note to also replace “<username>” with your Username.
• Now check if the file has been unblocked by accessing or opening it.

Creating a System Restore point is definitely a must especially when you are about to make some changes to your computer. This will help make sure that the system settings and files can go back to an earlier point, should something go wrong, without affecting any personal files. However, there are cases when creating a System Restore Point does not go smoothly and you encounter an error that says, “The shadow copy provider had an unexpected error while trying to process the specified operation ( ox8004230F )”. Aside from creating System Restore Point, you can also encounter this error when you create a system image or backup. According to reports, this error pops up when the required services are not running or not properly responding. And to fix it, there are several recommendations that will be provided in this post to fix the Error 0x8004230F when creating System Restore point in Windows 10. You can try to check the Volume Shadow Copy Services status or run the VSSADMIN tool. You could also check the status of the Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider Service or create System Restore Point in a Clean Boot State. For more details, refer to the provided options below.

Option 1 – Try checking the status of the Volume Shadow Copy Service

• Tap the Win + R keys to launch the Run utility and type “services.msc” in the field and hit Enter to open the Windows Services Manager.
• From the list of services, look for the Volume Shadow Copy service and double-click on it.
• After that, this will open the Properties where you have to make sure that the Startup type is set to Automatic (Delayed Start) and then click on the Start button underneath it.
• Once done, click on Apply and then OK to save the changes made.
• Now try creating a System Restore Point again and see if the error is already fixed or not.

Option 2 – Try to run the VSSADMIN tool

In case you don’t know, the shadow copy provider is sensitive and some other backup, disk cloning, etc. can make it malfunction. To fix this, you can run the VSSADMIN tool by following these steps:

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box and type “cmd” and hit Enter to open Command Prompt.
• Next, execute this command to check if you have other third party VSS admin providers: vssadmin list providers
• After that, if it finds any, you need to disable them but if it does not find anything, then proceed.

Option 3 – Try to check the Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider Service status

• Tap the Win + R keys to launch the Run utility and type “services.msc” in the field and hit Enter to open the Windows Services Manager.
• From the list of services, look for the Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider Service and double click on it.
• After that, this will open the Properties where you have to make sure that the Startup type is set to Automatic (Delayed Start).
• Once done, click Apply and OK to save the changes and then try creating System Restore Point again.

Option 4 – Troubleshot the problem in a Clean Boot State

It is possible that some third-party program installed in your computer might be the one that’s causing the ox8004230F when you try to create a System Restore point. Thus, you can try to boot your computer in a Clean Boot State and then try to perform the task again.

• 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” check box and make sure that the “Load System Services” and “Use Original boot configuration” options are checked.
• Next, click the Services tab and select “Hide All Microsoft Services” check box.
• Click Disable all.
• Click on Apply/OK and restart your PC. (This will put your PC into a Clean Boot State. And to configure Windows to use the usual startup, just simply undo the changes.)
• Once your computer has restarted try to create a System Restore Point again and if it now works, start to isolate the problem by checking which one of the programs you installed recently is the root cause of the problem.

Error Code 0x80072EE2 – What is it?

Windows 10 error code 0x80072EE2 usually occurs as a result of a disruption during the upgrade process when users attempt to upgrade their operating system using Windows Update. The disruption may be caused by a loss of Internet connection. Error code 0x80072EE2 may also occur due to problems related to one’s firewall. Common symptoms of this error code include the following:

• Upgrade process fails to complete
• A message box pops up highlighting the presence of error code 0x80072EE2

Solution

Error Causes

Upgrade error codes like error code 0x80072EE2 usually occur when disruptions or problems related to system files, or third-party apps prevent Windows Update from completing an upgrade. In the case of error code 0x80072EE2, the most likely cause is a bad Internet connection.

Further Information and Manual Repair

Windows 10 error codes are numerous and so are the solutions to fixing these problems. In most cases, Windows users have access to several manual repair solutions depending on the error code present on their device. These manual repair methods are usually easy to implement, with the exception of a few solutions that require technical knowledge and skills. In such cases, you may need to consider using an effective automated tool or you may contact a Windows repair technician to assist you.

In terms of error code 0x80072EE2, however, no technical skills are required. Manual repair solutions for this error code involve checking and troubleshoot network problems if your connection was disrupted. Also, you may need to check your firewall settings and disable it temporarily to verify whether or not your firewall is preventing you from accessing the upgrade. Further details are provided below.

Method One: Verify Internet Connection

If for whatever reason you lost Internet connection while attempting to upgrade your operating system via Windows Update, your upgrade will time out and error code 0x80072EE2 in Windows 10 may occur. For this reason, it is important for you to check your connection once you notice the presence of error code 0x80072EE2 on your device.

There are many ways you can verify your Internet connection but one of the simplest ways is to first open your preferred Internet browser and type the web address of a site you normally visit. Once you are able to access the website, you will know for sure that your connection is not an issue. Simply restart your PC and reattempt the upgrade.

If you are unable to complete the upgrade process, however, this simply means that there is another issue causing error code 0x80072EE2 to occur. Proceed to the next manual repair method. This method may also apply if you were unable to connect to the Internet.

Method Two: Troubleshoot Network Problems

Though you may be able to access a website or open your Internet browser, there may be other issues affecting your network that are causing the error code to occur. To verify for certain whether or not the issue causing error code 0x80072EE2 in Windows 10 is related to your network, troubleshoot your network using the Network Troubleshooter tool found on your PC.

• Step one: Type Network Troubleshooter in the search box near the Start button
• Step two: Select Identify and repair network problems
• Step three: Wait until the troubleshooter has verified and fixed problems related to the network
• Step four: Restart PC

Once the issue has been resolved, it is time to verify if the error code is fixed. Open Windows Update then select the option which enables you to access the latest upgrades to your machine. Wait to see if the error code reoccurs or if you can now access the upgrade to your operating system. If the error code reoccurs, move to the next manual repair method.

Method Three: Disable Firewall Settings

Another issue that may be causing an error code to occur is your firewall. To verify if your firewall is preventing you from accessing the upgrade, disable your firewall. If you are using third-party security software, simply open the security app and check its firewall settings. Select disable or turn off the firewall.

Restart your computer, then open Windows Update to reattempt to upgrade your device. If this proves successful, you will be able to access the upgrade. Error code 0x80072EE2 in Windows 10 will no longer be present.

Method Four: Download 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.

Copy & Paste function is an essential option in properly working Windows, from copying text to weblinks and many other sources like pictures and files it is one of the crucial features in Windows. When the copy and paste feature is not working we are somewhat left in Windows limbo, essentially Windows itself is working but without this specific feature it is very hard, almost impossible to get any work done, if you are an unfortunate user who has faced this particular issue do not worry, we have solutions for you.

1. Update Windows

   Glitches come in various forms and sometimes they are introduced in updates, check to see if it is available Windows update and if it, download and install it, there is a very high chance that the next update will bring fixes for known glitches.

2. Disable antivirus

   A good antivirus is an essential piece of software for any PC, however, sometimes it can interfere with the basic operations of windows itself. Disable it completely to see if copying and pasting will start to work, if this is a case, see can you somehow turn options off in antivirus or switch to another one.

3. Run Check disc

   Corrupted applications and system files can cause issues with Windows functioning, the easiest way to solve this issue is to run build-in Windows Check disk utility and let it scan and fix potential issues.

4. Run SFC

   If the check disk failed to fix the issue, run command prompt as administrator and type in sfc /scannow, file checker will go through all files and fix if it finds anything including corrupted system files. Reboot your system after the operation completes. Please note that an SFC scan can take a long time sometimes, do not interrupt the scanning process and leave it to finish.

5. Restart rdpclip process

   Restarting rdpclip.exe can solve the issue. Open task manager and under process find rdpclip.exe, right-click on it and end it, then go to windows/system32 and search for rdpclip.exe and double click it. Please note that you will be able to find this process only if you are on a remote PC machine, on a local user machine rdpclip is not running.

6. Rollback to the previous system restore point

   If this particular issue was introduced in the latest update and previous solutions have not worked, roll back to the restore point where everything was working as it should.

7. Stop virtualization

   if you are using virtual software there is a chance that the shared clipboard feature is interfering with Windows, turn the Virtual machine off and try copy & paste again.

No one knows everything about a program off hand. You need to use the program for a long time before you can even possibly know all that it is able to do and all you are able to achieve with it. However, this doesn’t mean that you don’t need help from time to time. This is also the case when Outlook errors pop up. Sometimes there are things you must or probably should do with your program that you do not understand and definitely don’t know how to do. Set up POP3 with your email account in Outlook is one of these things you will probably need help to achieve.

Steps to Set up POP3

First, you may need to know what POP3 is. POP3 is the way emails are sent from one email address to another. It may be more or less instant nowadays, but the process is still long and hard-winded. Similar to how your letters get from your mailbox to the recipients' mailbox, your emails get from you to the next person. Letters are picked up in your mailbox and sent to your post office where they send it to the recipient’s post office who sends it to the recipient’s mailbox. Similarly, your email is sent to your outbox, which sends it to your email service provider, that sends it to the recipient’s email service provider who sends it to their inbox. This is one of the reasons that sending an email to someone who uses the same email service provider as you is about a millisecond faster. This process of sending emails is called POP3 and you need to set it up if you use Outlook on Microsoft. This, on Outlook, also determines which email account you send your emails from. You see, on Outlook and many other email service providers, you can have many different email addresses, no even necessarily with the email service provider’s prefix on the end. Now, if you want to see this for yourself, go on to your settings on Outlook and look for manage email accounts. If you have more than one email account, you will see them listed. Somewhere on the sidebar, you will see POP3 as well. If you want to add more email accounts to this, such as a business email or a personal email, then just click ‘Add new account’ instead of 'Manage email accounts'. When you click on an email account you have linked already, you will see on this side the details for your POP3 (incoming emails) and your SMTP (outgoing emails). This can be changed, but since everyone’s number of accounts and type of accounts is different, there is no set way to change this. However, you can give Microsoft a call and they will walk you through the necessary steps in order to change this.

Conclusion

So, POP3 can be incredibly easy to understand or incredibly hard; it depends on how good you are with electronics and the advice you are given. But don’t try to change things by yourself; get a professional from Microsoft to help you with POP3 on your Microsoft Outlook account.

The store is not downloading Apps: As you know, the Windows Store is one of the places where you can download Windows apps. However, there are times when you might not be able to do so for some reason. For instance, if you search for an app and click on the get it now button, instead of downloading the app, nothing happens and there are also cases when the download will start but the page will refresh after half a second. When this issue happens, you won’t be seeing any error message or warning at all. So you’ll just have to look at the download get started where the page will refresh and you’ll be back at the Get button. This issue in the Windows 10 Store only happens for a few apps so even though you are able to download some apps, you might be able to do on other ones. Note that the apps affected are random and there is no specific set of apps that cause this issue while downloading and that this problem will repeat again each time you click on the Get it now button. This issue is definitely caused by Windows itself and has something to do with a bug in the Windows store which was brought by the latest Windows Update. It’s already a known issue among other Windows 10 users who are also suffering the same dilemma. So until Microsoft releases another update to fix this bug, you will have no choice but to deal with it in the meantime. On the other hand, you can also try a couple of suggestions laid out in this post. Follow the steps in every option given below to fix the issue with the Windows 10 Store.

Option 1 – Try signing out from the Microsoft Store

A lot of Windows 10 users were able to resolve the problem by simply signing out and signing back into the Microsoft Store. How? Follow these steps:

• Go to the Microsoft Store.
• Next, go to the Get page of the app you were trying to download.
• And then click on your account picture located in the top right corner of the window and select your account.
• Sign out from your account and after that, click the Get button to download the app.
• After that, a new window will appear where you’ll have to select your account and click on Continue.
• Now enter your credentials. Once you do, the app should be downloaded automatically after you’re signed in. And that’s about it.

Note: Keep in mind that this option is merely a temporary solution to the problem and once you close the Microsoft Store and open it back again, you will be back to square one.

Option 2 – Wait for the Windows Update

As mentioned, this is already a known issue and a lot of Windows 10 users have already complained about it to Microsoft so a bug fix will be soon released in the latest Windows Updates.

Error 0x80070780 is a particularly nasty error since it means we can not access files on our hard drive. This might be an important file from work or anything similar and it can be frustrating when we can access it. In this article, we will address solutions to this error so you can continue with your activities where you have left off. Follow the guide step by step in the given order to minimize file damage and find the solution quickly.

1. Run File and Folder built-in troubleshooter

   The simple and clean solution, try first by running Windows built-in tools. Leave troubleshooter to scan and attempt repairs and try to access a file after that.

2. Run disk checker

   Maybe the file is corrupted or slightly damaged but repairable, run a built-in Windows disk checker and let it scan and repair any error found. Try accessing your file after the scan.

3. Try copying file

   If the file is under a bad sector or cluster on a disk drive that could be a reason why you can not access it, try copying the file to another location and then opening it, if the operation fails, boot Windows in safe mode and try to copy or move file then. If you are successful with copying files in safe mode, reboot your computer and try to open the file.

4. Reinstall the driver for the hard drive

   Like when the driver for USB is not working and you can not access files same can happen on your hard drive. Go to the device manager and reinstall the driver for your hard drive.

What is PyLocky ransomware? And how does it execute its attack?

PyLocky ransomware is a file-locking malware created in order to lock important files and demand ransom from victims in exchange for data recovery. This new ransomware uses the .lockymap extension in marking the files it encrypts. It starts to execute its attack by dropping the following malicious payload in the system:

Name: facture_4739149_08.26.2018.exe SHA256:8655f8599b0892d55efc13fea404b520858d01812251b1d25dcf0afb4684dce9 Size: 5.3 MB

After dropping its malicious payload, this crypto-malware connects the infected computer to a remote server where it downloads more malicious files and places them on system folders. It then applies a data gathering module used to gather data about the user and the computer. The malicious files that were downloaded earlier along with the data obtained are used for another module called stealth protection. This allows PyLocky ransomware to execute its attack without detection from any security or antivirus programs installed in the system. It also modifies some registry keys and entries in the Windows Registry such as:

• HKEY_CURRENT_USERControl PanelDesktop
• HKEY_USERS.DEFAULTControl PanelDesktop
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun
• HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRunOnce
• HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRunOnce

Once all the modifications are carried out, PyLocky ransomware will begin encrypting its targeted files using a sophisticated encryption cipher. Following the encryption, it adds the .lockymap extension to each one of the encrypted files and releases a ransom note named “LOCKY-README.txt” which contains the following content:

“Please be advised: All your files, pictures document and data has been encrypted with Military Grade Encryption RSA ABS-256. Your information is not lost. But Encrypted. In order for you to restore your files, you have to purchase a Decrypter. Follow these steps to restore your files. 1* Download the Tor Browser. ( Just type in google “Download Tor“ 2‘ Browse to URL: http://4wcgqlckaazungm.onion/index.php 3* Purchase the Decryptor to restore your files. It is very simple. If you don’t believe that we can restore your files, then you can restore 1 file of image format for free. Be aware the time is ticking. Price will be doubled every 96 hours so use it wisely. Your unique ID : CAUTION: Please do not try to modify or delete any encrypted file as it will be hard to restore it. SUPPORT: You can contact support to help decrypt your files for you. Click on support at http://4wcgqlckaazungm.onion/index.php”

How does PyLocky ransomware spread over the web?

PyLocky ransomware spreads using malicious spam email campaigns. Creators of this threat embed an infected attachment to spam emails and send them using a spambot. Crooks may even use deceptive tactics to trick you into opening the malware-laden immediately which is something you must not do. Thus, before opening any emails, make sure that you’ve thoroughly checked them. To successfully obliterate PyLocky ransomware from your computer, refer to the removal guide laid out below.

• Step 1: Launch the Task Manager by simply tapping Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys on your keyboard.
• Step 2: Under the Task Manager, go to the Processes tab and look for the process named facture_4739149_08.26.2018.exe and any suspicious-looking process which takes up most of your CPU’s resources and is most likely related to PyLocky ransomware.
• Step 3: After that, close the Task Manager.
• Step 4: Tap Win + R, type in appwiz.cpl and click OK or tap Enter to open Control Panel’s list of installed programs.
• Step 5: Under the list of installed programs, look for PyLocky ransomware or anything similar, and then uninstall it.
• Step 6: Next, close the Control Panel and tap Win + E keys to launch File Explorer.
• Step 7: Navigate to the following locations below and look for PyLocky ransomware’s malicious components such as facture_4739149_08.26.2018.exe and LOCKY-README.txt as well as other suspicious files, then delete all of them.

%TEMP% %WINDIR%System32Tasks %APPDATA%MicrosoftWindowsTemplates %USERPROFILE%Downloads %USERPROFILE%Desktop

• Step 8: Close the File Explorer.
• Step 9: Tap Win + R to open Run and then type in Regedit in the field and tap enter to pull up Windows Registry.
• Step 10: Navigate to the following path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USERControl PanelDesktop HKEY_USERS.DEFAULTControl PanelDesktop HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRunOnce HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRunOnce

• Step 11: Delete the registry keys and sub-keys created by PyLocky ransomware.
• Step 12: Close the Registry Editor and empty the Recycle Bin.

Try to recover your encrypted files using the Shadow Volume copies Restoring your encrypted files using Windows Previous Versions feature will only be effective if PyLocky ransomware hasn’t deleted the shadow copies of your files. But still, this is one of the best and free methods there is, so it’s definitely worth a shot. To restore the encrypted file, right-click on it and select Properties, a new window will pop up, then proceed to Previous Versions. It will load the file’s previous version before it was modified. After it loads, select any of the previous versions displayed on the list like the one in the illustration below. And then click the Restore button.

If you open any program in your Windows 10 PC such as Outlook and suddenly get an error message saying, “Failed to register a VB Script dll. Reinstall or run Regsvr32.exe Vbscript.dll to self-register”, read on, as this post will guide you on what you can do to fix it. The obvious solution to this problem is by re-registering the “vbscript.dll” file on your computer. Refer to the instructions given below to re-register the VB Script DLL file and to fix the error.

• Step 1: Open the Command Prompt as an administrator from the WinX Menu.
• Step 2: After opening Command Prompt, type in the following command and tap Enter on your keyboard.

regsvr32.exe vbscript.dll

• Step 3: Once you enter the command, it will re-register the VB Script DLL file using the Windows OS tool called Regsvr32 or regsvr32.exe. This tool is a command-line utility used to register and unregister OLE controls such as DLL and ActiveX (OCX) controls in the Windows environment. After the execution of the command, you should see the following pop-up on your screen which means the re-registering of the concerned DLL file has succeeded.

On the other hand, if re-registering the DLL file didn’t work, then you can try logging in using an administrator account and then register the DLL file again or you could also use the System File Checker to figure out what the problem really is and automatically fix it. 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.

Steam is a game store behemoth that offers more titles than any other game store online, take that along with the fact that steam was one of the first online dedicated stores for games and you can guess that many people have a steam account, buy and play games on it. It is a platform where you can meet new people in games and add them as friends on steam so you can spend some time together. But happens if you want to have friends on Steam but you would like to hide your game activity? Or even if you want to go fully private on Steam so no one can find you so you can play whatever you want without paying and judging eyes? Luckily Valve appreciates your privacy and offers ways to do exactly this. Keep on reading on how to set up your privacy settings in Steam.

Hiding Steam game activity

• Launch Steam on your PC.
• Go to the top bar of Steam and click on your name.
• Select Profile from the context menu.
• Click on the Edit Profile button present at the right section of the window.
• Next, click on the My Privacy Settings button.
• Now, the Privacy Settings page will be opened.
• Scroll down and go to the My Profile section.
• Open the drop-down list given next to the Game Details and select the Private option.
• Now, check if this process is working or not. For this, right-click anywhere on the blank space in the Steam screen > choose the Copy Page URL option.
• Then, open a browser and paste the copied page URL in the address bar and check whether your Steam game activity is hidden or not.

Making profile private

• Launch Steam > click on your name > select Profile from the menu list.
• Click on the Edit Profile > My Privacy Settings button.
• Go to the My Profile and open the dropdown menu.
• Click on the Private option.
• Now, the changes will be saved automatically.

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