Software review series: QuickLook

The world today is still sadly under pandemic and by the looks of it, COVID-19 is here to stay, well at least for some time in the near future. Razer seems to think so as well since their upcoming gear is not really what you would expect. Enter Hazel, a new and upcoming Razer smart mask.

Protection

Hazel mask has a high bacterial surgical N95 filter with fluid resistance that will protect you against large droplets and splashes. A detachable active ventilator regulates airflow and is capable of filtering around 95% of airborne particles. Mask comes with a special charging case that has an auto sterilization UV light that will kill bacteria and viruses inside the case interior while it charges. When the mask is recharging it will change color from red to green visually showing the level of the current charge. Mask of course has easy to replace filters inside ventilators and Razer is standing by that fully charged mask will last enough for full-day use. An active ventilation system brings cool air while releasing breathing heat at the same time drastically reducing CO2 inside the mask that could produce dizziness and headache. Silicon guard is on its edge gluing to around your face in order to prevent exterior air sneaking inside the mask and positioning it firmly so it does not rest on your lips in order for easier and clearer communication.

Hazel personalization and technical features

Hazel has a clear and transparent design making it better for social interaction since other people will be able to see your lips and smiles thus making it more natural. A low light mode that turns on automatically when it is dark outside is also aimed for easier communication. Speaking of communication, the mask comes with voice Amp technology that has a built-in mic and amplifier thus making your voice lines clear so you are not muffled when wearing the mask itself. Your friends and other people will be able to hear you like you are not wearing a mask at all. Thicker air loops apply less pressure on ears and can be adjusted for a more secure fit, while the mask itself can be custom-made to fit your face shape. And of course Hazel comes with 16.8 million colors and a suite of effects with Razer Chroma RBG

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.

There are instances when instead of fixing problems the Windows Update brings you problems on your Windows 10 computer. You might even see some pending Windows Updates which for some reason, refuse to install no matter what you do. The good thing is you won’t have to deal with those failed and pending updates that are incompletely downloaded to your PC as you can actually delete them. Follow the instructions prepared below to delete the failed and pending Windows Updates.

Step 1: The first thing you have to do is delete all the contents in the Temporary folder

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• Next, type in “%temp%” in the field and hit Enter or click OK to open the Temporary folder.
• From there, select all the folders and files within the Temporary folder and then delete them all.

Note: %temp% is one of the many environment variables in Windows that could open the designated folder by Windows as the Temporary folder which is usually located at C:\Users[username]AppDataLocalTemp.

Step 2: Next, remove the pending.xml file

• Go to the C:\Windows WinSxS folder.
• Once you’ve opened the folder, look for a file named “pending.xml” file and right-click on it and you can either rename it or delete it.
• After that, the Windows Update should delete the pending tasks and build a fresh new update.

Step 3: Delete all the contents of 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. Aside from that, it also contains all the Windows Update History files and once you delete them, you will most likely lose the Update history. As a result, the next time you run the Windows Update, it may result in a longer detection time.

• 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, got to the C:\Windows\Software\Distribution 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.

Step 4: Try resetting the catroot2 folder

You can also try resetting the catroort2 folder as it is known to fix tons of Windows Update issues. Both the Catroot and catroot2 are Windows operating system folders that are required for the Windows update process.  So when you run the Windows Update, the catroort2 folders stores the signatures of the Windows Update package and helps it in the installation. It makes use of the “%windir%System32catroot2edb.log” file in the updating process. Afterward, the updates are stored in the SoftwareDistribution folder which is used then by the Automatic Updates in order to execute the updating process. Keep in mind that you must not rename or delete the Catroot folder. Although the Catroot2 folder is recreated automatically by Windows, the Catroot folder isn’t.

If you are using a Windows Update Standalone Installer to install Windows Updates in your Windows 10 computer but you suddenly encounter an error saying, “Installer encountered an error: 0x80096002, The certificate for the signer of the message is invalid or not found”, read on as this post will guide you on how you can fix it. This kind of error could be due to the vendor’s certificate that might have become invalid, compromised, or pulled. Aside from that, it is also possible that the update is not targeted at your OS version. You could get this error when you try to install an incompatible update or software on your computer. This error can also appear due to misconfigured system files or when you try to install BitLocker To Go Drive Encryption or BitLocker Drive Preparation Tool. To fix this error, you can try to run the standalone installer in Compatibility mode or enable the Windows Identity Foundation or run the Windows Update troubleshooter. Make sure to check if the error was resolved after every suggestion. It will help you learn what fixed the problem.

Option 1 – Try to run the installer in Compatibility mode

• Look for the setup file.
• Once you find it, right-click on it and select Properties from the context menu.
• After that, go to the Compatibility tab and mark the checkbox for “Run this program in compatibility mode for:” and from the drop-down list, select the Windows OS version you want the installer to run on.
• You also have to check the “Run as administrator” option.
• Now click the Apply button and then click OK to save the changes made and check if it has resolved the issue or not.

Option 2 – Try to troubleshoot compatibility

This option is almost the same as the first one except it is an alternative way of fixing the error 0x80096002 in case the first one didn’t work. In this option, you will troubleshoot the compatibility issue.

• Look for the setup file.
• Then right-click on it and select the “Troubleshoot compatibility” from the context menu.
• After that, click on the “Try recommended setting” option. Once the process is done, the error message should be gone.

Option 3 – Try to enable the Windows Identity Foundation

You might also want to enable the Windows Identity Foundation as some users reported that it helped in resolving the error for them. To do so, follow these steps:

• In the Windows Start Search, type “Turn Windows features on or off” and click on the matching result.
• This will open a list of Windows Features and from there, look for the Windows Identity Foundation.
• Once you found it, click on its checkbox and click OK to enable it and save the changes made.
• Now see if it has fixed the error or not. If not, you have to disable the feature.

Option 4 – 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 errors like error 0x80096002. 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 have been using Windows for quite some time now then you’re probably aware of the BIOS or UEFI password. This password lock is the one that ensures you enter the set password even before your Windows PC boots up. However, there’s just one downside with the BIOS or UEFI password – there is no recovery option, unlike your Microsoft account. Worry not though for this post will guide you on how you can set or recover a BIOS or UEFI password on your Windows computer. The BIOS or UEFI passwords are stored at the hardware level which means that unless the OEM wants or has configured a way to recover the password, it is pretty much impossible to reset it. There are times when they are so strict that the only way to get through it by contacting customer care. Note that any Windows computer with this lock can’t be unlocked by trying to reinstall Windows. In this post, you’re going to have to remove the CMOS battery temporarily, clear unknown BIOS/UEFI passwords using the bios-PW website as well as call customer care. For more details, refer to the options provided below.

Option 1 – Remove the CMOS battery temporarily

In case you didn’t know, every motherboard comes with a CMOS battery which helps the computer system to keep the clock ticking and in making sure that the BIOS settings are not lost when the computer is powered down. Every time a computer is turned on, the CMOS battery ensures that the information is available for the computer to boot up. So when you remove the CMOS battery temporarily, say about 30 seconds or a minute, the settings will be lost. There are some motherboards that are built-in ways that when you remove the battery for long, it will reset everything including the password for the BIOS or UEFI.

Option 2 – Clear the unknown BIOS or UEFI passwords using a bios-PW website

If the first option didn’t work, you can try using this BIOS Password website at http://bios-pw.org/ to clear the password.

• When prompted by the BIOS, enter the wrong password a couple of times as doing so will lock you out of the system.
• After that, you will see a new number or code on the screen which will include a message about System Disabled [XXXXX] Service TAG [YYYYY].
• Next, open the BIOS Password website and enter the XXXXX code in it and make sure to tap the Shift + Enter keys or just enter.
• Now it will open multiple unlock keys which you can use to clear out the BIOS or UEFI lock on your Windows PC.

Option 3 – Call the customer care

If the second option still didn’t work, you have to call customer care and follow their suggestions for they will walk you through fixing the problem using the service tag or might suggest that you visit a service center to make things easier for you. Note: You also have the option to set a BIOS or UEFI password. Although it isn’t recommended, you still can do it if you really want to. Remember that the BIOS or UEFI interface varies from OEM to OEM so you must find something related to either PASSWORD or SECURITY. You will have the following similar options:

• Supervisor password – it’s the same as the master password that can change important system settings.
• User password – with this password, any user can change minor settings.
• Master password – you can use this password for a hard drive or as a general password.

There are several OEMs that offer micro-control where you have to enter the BIOS password. For instance, you’ll have the option to skip for a normal restart, or when you select a boot device while you might have to enter the password for unattended reboots or when your PC is powered on, etc. And if you are here to remove the password, you need to find a remove password option in the same section. You will be prompted to enter the set password once and if it’s correct, it will remove the BIOS password. After that, you have to save and exit the BIOS then restart your computer and check if the settings are properly applied.

External hard drives have become essential these days as they tend to be very useful to many users. They are usually used for storing system images like system backups, Windows installation media, or for personal use. However, if you are not able to utilize your external drivers for some reason then that could be a huge problem. One of the common issues with hard drives is when your USB device or external hard drive just keeps connecting and disconnecting. This kind of issue could be caused by a faulty USB port, some issues with the USB drivers, your computer’s Power Options, corrupted or damaged system files, and many other factors. The connecting and disconnecting issue with USB devices and external hard drives isn’t really new and has been experienced by many users for years now. Although this issue has somewhat decreased in Windows 10, there are still some users who encounter it every now and then. Worry not though for there are fixes that you can try to resolve the problem. Refer to the following straightforward solutions to resolve the issue with your USB device or external hard drive.

Option 1 – Plug your external device on a different port

If your USB device keeps on connecting and disconnecting then the first thing you can do is to try connecting it to a different port. This will help you isolate the problem. In some cases, the port where the USB is connected can be malfunctioning or obsolete so you need to check that possibility by plugging your USB device into a different USB port.

Option 2 – Update or reinstall your USB drivers

As mentioned earlier, the problem could be due to some issues with the USB drivers. It could be that it has to be updated or you need to reinstall it. To do that, follow these steps:

• First, click the Start button and type “device manager”.
• Then click on the “Device Manager” from the search results to open it.
• From there, look for the “Universal Serial Bus controllers” option and then right-click on each one of the USB drivers and select the Update Driver from the menu.
• Restart your PC and then click the “Search automatically for updated driver software” option.

You also have the option to update the motherboard and the USB driver from the manufacturer’s official website.

Option 3 – Try turning on the USB External drive

There are times when your system turns off some drives in order to conserve your computer’s power, etc. as a result, the driver that’s required to run your external hard drive properly ends up getting disabled. To fix this, you can prevent your system from turning off your external USB drive by following these steps:

• You need to make sure that the external drive is connected to your system first.
• Next, go to the Start Menu and type “device manager” in the field, and click on the appropriate result to open the Device Manager.
• After opening the Device Manager, expand the category of the Universal Serial Bus controllers.
• Then double click on your USB Mass Storage device and take note that the name might be different on your system.
• Now go to the Power Management tab and uncheck the checkbox for the “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” option and click OK to save the changes made.

Option 4 – Turn off USB Selective Suspend

Another thing you can try is to turn off USB Selective Suspend especially when the issue has something to do with the Power Options. There are certain systems that are configured to disable USB devices after some time which could be the root cause of the problem. Thus, you need to turn off USB Selective Suspend. Here’s how you can do it:

• In the Start Menu, search for “control panel” and open the related search result.
• Then go to Power Options and click on the “Change plan settings” option.
• Next, select “Change advanced power settings” and look for the USB settings and then expand it.
• From there, you will see the USB Selective Suspend setting. Disable it and click OK.
• Now restart your computer and check if it resolves the problem or not.

Option 5 – Format your drive

• To get started formatting your drive, tap the Win + E keys and then go to the access page of the drive.
• Next, right-click on the drive and select Format.
• After that, uncheck the “Quick Format” option and then format your drive properly.
• Now once the formatting process is finished, unplug the drive and plug it back in afterward.
• Check if the error is already fixed. If the drive is not initialized, tap the Win + R keys and hit Enter.
• After opening the Run dialog box, type “diskmgmt.msc” and hit Enter to open Disk Management.
• From there, right-click on the drive volume and select initialize disk.
• Next, select the correct partition type and proceed.

What is 0x80070002 Error Code?

0x80070002 error message triggers Windows update problems. This error code pop prevents you from successfully updating Windows operating system and its installed components. Windows update is necessary to keep the system up to date and efficient. It also helps you close security holes in your system and prevents your system from being infected by viruses or hacked.

Solution

Error Causes for 0x80070002

This error code pops up on the screen and results in an unsuccessful Windows update, when either your system has wrong date/time settings or when Windows update temporary folder is corrupted. The latter cause is the one to be worried about as it usually results from malware, viral infection, and registry corruption and damage. If this error code is not fixed timely it can lead to system crash and failure too.

Further Information and Manual Repair of 0x80070002

The best way to fix the 0x80070002 Windows update error code is to download Restoro on your system. Restoro is a new, powerful, intuitive, and cutting-edge PC fixer that serves as both a registry cleaner and a system optimizer. It is integrated with multiple performance-boosting and highly functional utilities. With this helper, you can resolve the maximum number and types of PC issues in a few seconds. This tool spares you from the hassle of finding and detecting the underlying cause of the error 0x80070002. Its intuitive built-in technology automatically detects and identifies the error and its causes and repairs it right away. Restoro includes utilities like registry cleaner, privacy issue detector, Active X and Class cleaner, and system stability scanner. The registry cleaner feature assists users to clean up registry clutter. This includes clearing junk files, temporary files, and invalid registry entries which take up all the disk space causing the registry to get corrupted and hampering Windows updates. It repairs the corrupt registry in no time allowing you to perform successful Windows updates.

Restoro Privacy Features

Nonetheless, if the error 0x80070002 occurs due to malware, Restoro will scan and repair it too. Its advanced privacy error anti-virus built-in feature scans for all types of malware, spyware, and viruses quickly and removes them from your PC. This ensures that your PC remains safe from malicious malware that can cause unsuccessful Windows updates and error codes like 0x80070002. Restoro is compatible with all Windows versions. It has a sophisticated and easy-to-use layout making it easier for users of all levels to use it without any complexity or hassle. It is safe and efficient.  It also helps boost the speed of your PC thus lowering boot time tremendously. For user safety, Restoro advises users to create backup files. This helps retrieve valuable data and files in the event of data loss during repair which rarely happens; but in case it does, you don’t have to suffer from a big loss.

Get Restoro

To get started, all you have to do is download and install Restoro on your system. After downloading, run it on your PC for a scan. Once the scanning is complete, a comprehensive scan report will be displayed on your screen showing you the errors affecting your system including 0x80070002 errors that you’ve been experiencing when performing Windows updates. To resolve issues on your PC right away, simply click on repair.  This will repair the error 0x80070002 issues on your PC in seconds. After your PC is repaired, you can then perform a Windows update again. It will be executed successfully. Click here to download Restoro today!

If you have encountered the NO_USER_MODE_CONTEXT Blue Screen error when using your computer, read on as this post will walk you through a couple of suggestions you can try to resolve this Stop error. This kind of Blue Screen error can occur when a program is trying to leverage the use of a system driver but fails to do so. Some of the common causes of this BSOD error are incompatible or corrupted drivers, incorrect configuration of entries in the Registry, damaged memory locations, malware infection, and many more. In addition, this Stop error does not often occur and indicates that an attempt to enter user mode with no context was made. If this is the first time you’ve restarted your computer after you’ve installed additional hardware, you have to remove the hardware and then restart your computer once again and then check the Microsoft Hardware Compatibility List to confirm that the hardware and its drivers are compatible with your operating system. If it doesn’t help, you can check out the given suggestions below to fix the NO_USER_MODE_CONTEXT Blue Screen error in Windows 10.

Option 1 – Try to update or rollback your device drivers

The first thing you can try to fix the NO_USER_MODE_CONTEXT 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 NO_USER_MODE_CONTEXT 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 running 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 3 – Try running the Memory Diagnostic Tool

The Memory Diagnostic tool in windows can help resolve the NO_USER_MODE_CONTEXT Blue Screen error by checking and automatically fixing any memory-based issues. To run it, refer to these steps:

• Tap the Win + R keys to open Run and type exe and hit Enter to open the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool.
• After that, it will give two options such as:
  • Restart now and check for problems (Recommended)
  • Check for problems the next time I start my computer
• Once your computer has restarted, perform a basic scan or you could also go for the “Advanced” options such as “Test mix” or “Pass count”. Simply tap the F10 key to start the test.

Note: After you select your preferred option, your computer will restart and check for memory-based issues. If it finds any issues, it will automatically fix them.

Option 4 – 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 – 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 NO_USER_MODE_CONTEXT. 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.

Windows Updates are checked for their validity every time they are downloaded from Microsoft servers just like how browsers check websites for a valid certificate. And so if you got an error message saying, “ Some update files aren’t signed correctly, error code 0x800b0109 ” while trying to update your computer, it indicates that the Windows service was unable to verify the validity of the Windows Update. To fix this error, you can try out the options prepared in this post.

Option 1 – Reboot your computer and try again

Save your work and reboot your computer and then try checking for updates again. In some cases, all you need is a restart to fix errors like error code 0x800b0109.

Option 2 – Try to update Windows after an hour or so

There are times when the issue is from Microsoft’s end. It could be that there’s some issue with Microsoft’s server so it would be better if you give it an hour or so before trying to run Windows Update again.

Option 3 – Try running 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 errors like Error 0x8007001E. 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 4 – Delete the contents in the Temporary folder

You can also try deleting the contents in the Temporary folder – all the downloaded, pending, or failed Windows 10 updates. You can do that using the simple and easy steps below.

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• Then type “%temp%” in the field and press Enter to open the Temporary folder.
• After that, select all the folders and files within the Temp folder and delete all of them.

Option 5 – Clear the contents in the Software distribution and Catroot2 folders

• 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 6 – Install the updates in a Clean Boot State

You might want to try putting your computer in a Clean Boot state and then install Windows Updates again without any trouble. 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” 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 the “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 configure Windows to use the usual startup, just simply undo the changes.)
• After that, try to install the Windows Updates or upgrade again.

Recently, a number of users reported getting an error code 0x8007025D-0x2000C while updating their Windows 10 computers using an ISO or the Media Creation tool. You will also see a detailed error message saying, “The installation failed in the SAFE_OS phase with an error during APPLY_IMAGE operation” together with the error code 0x8007025D-0x2000C. This kind of issue usually occurs when there is some problem with the installation files and when Windows Update fails to apply upgrade using the Media Creation Tool or ISO. To resolve this issue, you can use the troubleshooting options given below as a reference.

Option 1 – Try recreating the Windows 10 installation USB

Recreating the Windows 10 installation USB might help in fixing the problem. You can use a USB drive to do so but make sure that it has a great read-write speed. Follow the steps below to recreate Windows 10 installation USB”

• Click this link and then click the Download Tool Now button.
• Next, click the “Use the tool to create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file)…” option and follow the next given instructions on the screen.
• Now select the ISO file option in step 5.
• After that, you should now have an ISO file.
• Next, go to the location where you’ve downloaded the ISO file.
• Then right-click on the Windows 10 ISO file and select the Open with option and then select File Explorer.
• Now click on “setup.exe” and follow the next instructions that appear on the screen. When asked, you have to select either Nothing (clean install) or Keep personal files only option. Take note that you must not select the “Keep personal files, apps, and Windows settings since it doesn’t really work.

Option 2 – Try running the Windows Update troubleshooter

You might also want to run the Windows Update Troubleshooter as it could also help in fixing Windows Update error code 0x8007025D-0x2000C. 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 3 – Update the BIOS

Take note that you have to be careful when modifying something in the BIOS. So if you don’t know much about it, it’s best if you skip on this option and try the other ones instead. However, if you are well-versed in navigating the BIOS, then follow the steps below.

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• Next, type “msinfo32” in the field and press Enter to open System Information.
• From there, you should find a search field on the bottom where you have to search for the BIOS version and then press Enter.
• After that, you should see the developer and version of the BIOS installed on your PC.
• Go to your manufacturer’s website and then download the latest version of BIOS on your computer.
• If you are using a laptop, make sure that you keep it plugged in until you have updated the BIOS.
• Now double click on the downloaded file and install the new BIOS version on your computer.
• Now restart your computer to apply the changes made.

Option 4 – Try restarting the Background Intelligent Transfer Service

The Background Intelligent Transfer Service or BITS is a part of the Windows Update service and is the one that manages the background download of Windows Update, as well as scans for new updates and so on. And if Windows Update is experiencing some problems, you can try restarting BITS but make sure that you have admin privileges to do so.

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• Next, type “services.msc” in the field and hit Enter to open Windows Services.
• From the list of Services, look for the Background Intelligent Transfer Service and double-click on it to open Properties.
• After that, you need to set the Startup type to “Automatic (Delayed Start) and click on Apply.
• Now click the Stop button to stop BITS and then click the Start button to restart the service.
• Click OK to save the changes made and then restart your PC.

Option 5 – Try to update Windows after a couple of minutes or an hour

There are times when the issue is from Microsoft’s end. It could be that there’s some issue with Microsoft’s server so it would be better if you give it a couple of minutes or an hour or so before trying to run Windows Update again.