Productivity tips for Google Chrome

Installing Windows Updates in your Windows 10 computer does not always go smoothly as there are instances when you could encounter some errors along the way. One of these errors is error code 0x80244022 –WU_E_PT_HTTP_STATUS_SERVICE_UNAVAIL HTTP 503. This kind of error can be encountered when you check, download or install any updates. At the time of writing, it isn’t known yet what the exact cause of this error is. However, there are some potential fixes you can check out to fix it. When this error occurs, you will see the following error message on your screen:

“There were some problems installing updates, but we’ll try again later. If you keep seeing this and want to search the web or contact support for information, this may help: (0x80244022).”

To fix error code 0x80244022, refer to the potential fixes provided below.

Option 1 – Disable the Proxy server

The first thing you can do is to try disabling the Proxy server as it might be the reason why you’re getting error 0x80244022 for Windows Updates. To disable the proxy server, refer to the steps below.

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• Then type “inetcpl.cpl” in the field and hit Enter to pull up the Internet Properties.
• After that, go to the Connections tab and select the LAN settings.
• From there. Uncheck the “Use a Proxy Server” option for your LAN and then make sure that the “Automatically detect settings” option is checked.
• Now click the OK and the Apply buttons.
• Restart your PC.

Note: If you are using a third-party proxy service, you have to disable it. In addition, if you are also using a VPN, you can try to disable it as well.

Option 2 – Run the DISM tool

You can run the DISM tool as well to help fix the error code 0x80244022 during Windows Update. 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 – Perform a System File Checker scan

The SFC or System File Checker scan could detect and automatically repair damaged system files that could be causing error code 0x80244022 to appear when you try to update your Windows 10 computer. 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 and hit Enter.

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.

• Once done, restart your computer.

Option 4 – Try disabling the Firewall or antivirus program

Disabling the antivirus program or Firewall or any other security software installed in your computer is always a good idea you can try when the Windows Update process does not go smoothly. So before you try updating your computer again, make sure to disable the antivirus or security program and once the Windows Update is done, don’t forget to enable the antivirus program back again.

Option 5 – Try resetting the Windows Update components

• Open Command Prompt with admin privileges.
• After that, type each one of the following commands and hit Enter after you key in one after the other.
  • net stop wuauserv
  • net stop cryptsvc
  • net stop bits
  • net stop msiserver

Note: The commands you entered will stop the Windows Update components such as Windows Update service, Cryptographic services, BITS, and MSI Installer.

• After disabling WU components, you need to rename both the SoftwareDistribution and Catroot2 folders. To do that, type each one of the following commands below, and don’t forget to hit Enter after you type one command after the other.
  • ren C:/Windows/SoftwareDistribution/SoftwareDistribution.old
  • ren C:/Windows/System32/catroot2/Catroot2.old
• Next, restart the services you’ve stopped by entering another series of commands. Don’t forget to hit Enter after you key in one command after the other.
  • net start wuauserv
  • net start cryptsvc
  • net start bits
  • net start msiserver
• Close Command Prompt and reboot your PC.

Option 6 – Run the Windows Update Troubleshooter

You might also want to run the Windows Update Troubleshooter as it could also help in fixing Windows Update Error. 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.

If you are using a dual monitor setup on your computer and you wish to change the Primary and Secondary monitor in Windows 10, then you’ve come to the right place as this post will guide you on how exactly you can do that. A lot of users use more than one monitor to be more productive so having dual monitors helps a lot. So if you have more than one monitor, know that you can actually select any monitor as the primary monitor after installing Windows. Changing the primary and secondary monitor in Windows 10 does not really require you to install any third-party application since you can get the job done by simply making some alterations in the Windows 10 Settings panel. You won’t have any problem in making such alterations since it is quite simple – from modifying the wallpaper to scaling and so on.

To get started, follow the instructions given below carefully.

Step 1: First, tap the Win + I key combination to open the Windows 10 Settings app and go to System and click the Display tab. Step 2: Next, look for the Identify button located on your right-hand side and then click on it. This button will help you check which one is the primary and the secondary monitor. Step 3: After that, select the desired monitor that you want to set as the primary one from the drop-down menu. Step 4: After that, mark the checkbox for the “Make this my main display” option. Step 5: After choosing the primary monitor, this will automatically set the other monitor as the secondary monitor. Restart your computer. So that’s how you change the primary and secondary monitor on your Windows 10 computer. Note that you can always go back to the previous setting of your monitor by following the same instructions provided above.

USB storage devices, peripherals, and other devices are almost used on a daily basis. And as you know, when removing the USB storage devices, it is recommended to always use the “Safely remove the USB storage device” option in order to prevent data corruption in the USB storage device. However, there are times when you may see the following error message after you use the “Safely remove the USB storage device” option:

“Problem ejecting USB Mass Storage – This device is currently in use, close any programs or windows that might be using this device, and then try again.”

This kind of error message occurs when the device is still interacting with the operating system in the background. There are several ways you can fix this error but before you check them out below, you need to close all the open windows and programs that may be using the USB storage device and then wait for a couple of seconds and then try safely removing it again. However, if you are still getting the same error message, then here are some tips you should try:

Option 1 – Try to use the Task Manager

• Tap the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys on your keyboard to open the Task Manager.
• After that, look for the running processes and programs hogging on your USB Storage device. The error could be due to a program or process that’s using the USB device. This program or process will hog onto some Disk or CPU while transferring data and interacting with the device.
• Once you find the culprits, right-click on each one of them and select End Process or End Task. You could also try to restart the process for “Explorer.exe” and see if it fixes the problem.

Option 2 – Try using DISKPART

The next thing you can try to resolve the issue is to use DISKPART. Refer to the given steps below to do so.

• Tap the Win + R keys to launch Run and then type “cmd” in the field and tap Enter or click OK to open an elevated Command Prompt.
• Next, type and enter this command to execute it: diskpart
• The command you entered will initiate the DISKPART utility. After that, type and enter this second command: list disk
• Next, type and enter this third command: list volume
• The commands you just executed will help you in either listing all the Disk connects or all the partitions on those disks formed and from there, you need to select one command depending on the “list” command you entered. You can execute either of the two following commands:
  • select disk #
  • select volume #

• After that, it will select the Disk or Partition you want to select.
• Now type either one of the following commands:
  • offline disk #offline volume #
• The command you entered will mark the selected disk is Offline. Afterward, try to safely remove your USB Storage device. Just remember that when you plug it back in again, you have to carry out the same method except for the last given command as this time you will have to enter either of these commands in order to get your USB storage device back online:
  • online disk #
  • online volume #

Option 3– Try using the Disk Management utility

• Tap the Win + R keys to open Run.
• Then type “diskmgmt.msc” in the field and hit Enter to open the Disk Management utility.
• Next, look for the entry for your USB Storage device and once you’ve found it, right-click on it and select Offline.
• After that, try to safely remove your USB Storage device again and see if the error is fixed. Note that you need to go over the same steps again if you want to plug your USB Storage device back in but make sure to select the Online option instead of Offline to get your device back online.

There is one service in the Windows operating system that is responsible for managing all the print jobs as well as handles the interaction with the printer. This service is known as the Print Spooler service. However, if it stops running, then you won’t be able to print anything on your computer. In such a case, you can try to restart the Print Spooler service, and to do that, you have to open the Windows Services Manager and look for the Print Spooler Service. Once you found it, right-click on it and select Restart. If it isn’t running, select Start and if the Service starts working again, then good but if not and you got an error message instead that says, “Windows could not start the Print Spooler service on Local Computer, Error 1068, The dependency service or group failed to start”, then read on as this post will give you a couple of suggestions you can try to resolve the issue. The reason why you could not start the service is most likely because the Print Spooler service is dependent on other services which might not be properly running. If the following services are not running then it’s no wonder why you’re getting the error.

• HTTP Service
• Remote Procedure Control (RPC) Service

You might not see the RPC service which means that the Print Spooler Service does not recognize its dependency on the RPC service. In such a case, you have to manually configure the dependency by following the options given below.

Option 1 – Try configuring the dependency via CMD

The first thing you have to do is to configure the dependency using CMD. Refer to the steps below to do so:

• Open an elevated Command Prompt.
• Then type in “sc config spooler depend= RPCSS” and hit Enter.
• After the command has been executed, restart your computer and then check if it fixed the problem. If not, proceed to the next given option below.

Option 2 – Fix dependency via the Registry Editor

You can also resolve dependency using the Registry Editor. How? Refer to these steps:

• 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 key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesSpooler
• Next, right-click on the “DependOnService” entry located on the right pane and select Modify.
• Now change its value data to “RPCSS” and click OK to save the changes made and then exit the Registry Editor.
• Reboot your computer and see if the issue is resolved.

Option 3 – Try running the Printer Troubleshooter

Another option you can check out is the Printer Troubleshooter. This built-in troubleshooter in Windows 10 can help you fix most print issues. It checks if you have the latest printer drivers and then tries to fix and update them automatically. Aside from that, it also checks if you have connectivity issues or if the Print Spooler and the required Services are running fine. To run it, follow the steps below.

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• Next, type “exe /id PrinterDiagnostic” in the field and click OK or hit Enter to open the Printer Troubleshooter.
• Then click the Next button and follow the next on-screen instructions to fix the issue with the printer.

In case you don’t know, Windows contains a feedback mechanism that generates error reports from hardware and software problems. These reports are temporarily stored in the system and send them back to Microsoft so that it can find solutions to the reported problems and fix them in the upcoming updates.  However, as time goes by, these reports actually take a lot of space in your computer which is why end-users like you are free to delete them with the help of the new Free Up Space feature in Windows 10. As useful the Free Up Space feature may be, there are times when you won’t be able to use it for some reason which is why in this post, you will be guided on how to use alternative ways in deleting very large System queued Windows Error Reporting file, some of which may run in Gigabytes. Every time the Windows Error Reporting or WER sends out an error file and looks for a solution, the WER server at Microsoft sends out a solution instantly. And if the solution is under investigation or is unknown, then you will be notified about it right away and will be asked for more details. As mentioned, even though the Free Up Space feature in Settings will be able to clear the error reporting files, there are instances when it won’t be able to delete very large System queued Windows Error Reporting files. Alternatively, there is an option to delete these files using the Disk Cleanup Utility. Feel free to select which option you’d like to use to get rid of Windows Error Reporting Files.

Option 1 – Delete Windows Error Reporting Files via Settings

• Go to Settings.
• From there, go to System > Storage > Free Up Space and then click on it to launch it.
• Afterward, give it some time to populate all the files and folders. Once it’s done, select “System created Windows Error Reporting files” to mark its checkbox while leaving the other options unchecked.
• Next, click on the Remove files button to delete all the Windows Error Reporting files from your computer.

Option 2 – Manually delete the Windows Error Reporting Files

• Tap the Win + E keys to open File Explorer.
• Next, enable the Hidden Files view from the menu.
• Then go to C:/ProgramData/MicrosoftWindowsWER.
• From there, you will see various folders like LocalReportArchive, ReportArchive, ReportQueue, and Temp.
• Open each one of the aforementioned folders and delete the archive files. Note that these files will have names similar to “00c58c1f-b836-4703-9bcf-c699ca24d285”.

Note: If you are not able to delete any of these files, you have to take ownership of the folder. To do so, refer to these steps:

• Right-click on the folder and then select Properties.
• Next, click on the Edit button in the Properties window and click OK to confirm if you got a User Account Control elevation request.
• After that, select user/group from the permission windows or click on the Add button to add another user or group. It would be best if you add “Everyone” to give permission.
• Then check “Full Control” under the “Allow” column to assign full access rights control permissions.
• Now edit the permission to Full Control for “Everyone”.
• Click OK to save the changes made and then exit.

On the other hand, if you do not want to go through all these troubles in deleting the Windows Error Reporting files, you can just disable it especially if it already becomes a daily annoyance as the files generate every day and their sizes are mostly gigabytes. And besides, there are times when these files do not make it to the Microsoft WER server and end up only occupying a lot of space for nothing.

Windows 11 comes with glass and transparency effects by default once it is installed. The transparency effect looks really good but if in any case, you do not like them, you can easily turn them off very easily

1. Open settings inside Windows 11
2. Inside settings click on Accessibility in the sidebar
3. Click on Visual Effects on far-right
4. Inside Visual effects, settings click on the switch beside Transparency effects to OFF

Windows will automatically save settings and apply changes right away. Just close your settings application and continue with work. You can always turn it back ON if you change your mind.

When we are working on our computer, we have tendencies to make it look and behave to our best needs and however, best suits us. The Internet has crawled into our lives and made itself a must-have in modern society, internet browsers as a crucial piece of software for viewing the web have also grown and made themselves to be more open for user settings and personalization, Chrome, one of the most popular browser has the option to open a specific set of pages one it is opened and that is what we will cover today in this tutorial. No matter would you like to by default open some online store, maybe an email or news website, you can open each of them or all of them once Chrome is run, making your daily routine more enjoyable and stress-free. The first thing, of course, is to start Chrome itself, once Chrome is up, click on three dots in the upper right corner of the Chrome window and select settings. When you are in settings, on the left side move toward the bottom until you run into a tab that says On Startup and click on it. On right, a new section will open, click on Open a specific page or set of pages. You will be presented with the option to add a new page by typing its URL or getting it from bookmarks or using a specific opened one. You can repeat this process until you have added all pages that you wish to be automatically opened once Chrome is opened for the first time.

BONUS:

If you have noticed right above the setting that we have used for opening a specific set of pages there is the option Continue where you left off, this option will open each page exactly where it was when Chrome was shut down letting you keep viewing where you have left off. This is useful if by any chance your battery ran out or you had to quickly turn the computer off for whatever reason.

Windows 11 brought with it a simplified right-click menu that has limited options. If you would like to bring the old Windows 10 right-click menu you will have to do some registry tweaking but it is doable. Since this requires registry tweak, please follow given solution step by step

1. Press Start and type RegEdit
2. Click on Registry Editor
3. Inside registry editor find next key: Computer\H_KEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\CLASSES\CLSID\
4. Right click in the right part of editor window and select New > Key
5. Type in as a name: {86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}
6. Right click on {86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2} key and select New > Key again to create new key inside this one
7. Name inside key InprocServer32
8. Double click the “(Default)” key in InprocServer32 to open it
9. When the Default key opens close it without making any changes by clicking on OK. This will make its value property Blank instead of value not set
10. Close Registry Editor
11. Restart your PC

Once the system is up if the followed solution is applied you will now have an old school menu once right-click is used.

System restore is usually the go-to tool when something goes bad in Windows, we fire it up and roll back Windows in the state when everything was working fine. But what if Windows does not want to boot? Can we use system restore in that case? The answer to that question would be yes, yes we can.

1. Boot interrupt Windows 10 by starting your PC and as soon as you see the Windows logo; press and hold the power button to force a shutdown.
2. Repeat this 2-4 times and Windows will open up the Advanced Startup Options menu for you.
3. At the Advanced Startup Options screen, select Advanced Options.
4. Select Troubleshoot.
5. Under the Advanced options screen, select System Restore.

or if you prefer, use Windows USB installation.

1. Boot the faulty PC using the Windows 10 installation media.
2. The Windows Setup dialog box will appear.
3. Set the Time and currency format, Keyboard or input method, and the language to install.
4. Click Next.
5. Click on Repair your computer from the lower-left corner.
6. From the Choose an option screen, click on Troubleshoot.
7. Click Advanced Options in the Troubleshoot screen.
8. In the Advanced Options screen, click System Restore.
9. Windows will take some time to prepare System Restore. It may even restart your computer or device.
10. When System Restore is ready, you will be prompted to choose a user account to continue.
11. Select an account that is set as administrator on your Windows 10 computer or device.
12. At the next screen, change the keyboard layout if you want and then input the password for that account.
13. Click the Continue button.

Windows 10 has displayed one of the most efficient and user-friendly interfaces. However there have been many issues on the backend of this commonly praised operating system: For example, Windows Update is still a wonky and error-laded system application. One example of this error is Windows Update Error 0x80073712 which stands in the way of users just wanting to keep their PCs updated hassle-free. The error code 0x80073712 signifies that a file needed by Windows Update to function is either damaged, missing, or corrupted. However, this does not mean that your Windows version will forever stay as-is with no mode to update it. Windows Update Error 0x80073712 is perfectly fixable with the set of provided steps below and some of Windows’ built-in troubleshooting steps:

Solution 1: Open Windows Update Troubleshooter

1. Open the Windows Update Troubleshooter by pressing the Windows and S keys simultaneously.
2. Enter the word “Troubleshoot” in the search box and select the Troubleshoot result
3. On the new window, select “Windows Update” to troubleshoot.
4. Run the troubleshooter, then open Windows Update and try to install the update again.

Solution 2: Run the DISM tool

1. Open the command prompt by pressing Windows and S keys simultaneously
2. Enter “cmd” in the search box. Right Click command prompt among the results and select “Run as administrator”
3. In the Command Prompt window type the following and press the Enter key after every command

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Scanhealth DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth

4. To close the Administrator: Command prompt window, type Exit, and then press Enter.
5. Run Windows Update again.

Solution 3: Rename the Software Distribution folder

1. Open the command prompt as previously mentioned
2. Input the following command pressing Enter after every line net stop wuauserv net stop cryptSvc net stop bits net stop msiserver rename c:/windows/SoftwareDistribution/softwaredistribution.old net start wuauserv net start cryptSvc net start bits net start msiserver exit
3. Restart the PC and run the updater if it works again.

Solution 4: Restart Windows Update Services

1. Press the Windows logo key and R together to open Run -> Input services.msc -> and press Enter
2. Search for the Windows Update service -> Check its status
3. If it is not indicated, right-click on the service and select Start to force start your Windows Update
4. If you see an error, locate the Startup Type option and set it to Automatic
5. Now you should reboot your computer and see if your Windows Update is OK

Solution 5: Fix Registry Issues

If after all the aforementioned solutions, you still experience problems with Windows Update, the problem may lie in the registry that is either damaged or corrupted. You may choose to do manual editing of your Windows registry by opening your Windows registry editor. But doing so is risky as one wrong letter may do incalculable damage to your system. To do so safely for more inexperienced users we recommend using a third-party registry cleaner/tools, many of which can be found online.