Have you been feeling anxious in the digital space? Feeling like you have a million eyes on you each time you visit a website? It can definitely make you uneasy. Luckily there’s an easy fix, and it’s called a VPN.
In this article we’ll take you through the basics of what a VPN does and some of the biggest benefits you can reap from buying one.
VPN: definition and how it works
VPN stands for Virtual Private Network, so its name already says a lot about what it does.
A VPN is specialized software that keeps your browsing private and secure. Essentially it hides your identity, preventing possible cyberattacks and data theft. This is especially important in cases of public network use, where you’re highly exposed to potential threats.
To be more specific, this software encrypts your Internet Protocol (IP) address by filtering it through a server hosted by the VPN provider first. That way, it prevents your Internet service provider, third parties and lurking online thieves from tracking the actual you.
Credit: FLY:D on Unsplash
Some providers, such as Surfshark VPN with its IP Rotator feature, even make it a habit to frequently change your IP address to further protect your identity. With most VPN providers, you can also appear to be in a completely different country, adding to your disguise.
There are tons of advantages you can look forward to if you decide to use a VPN. Take a look at some of the crucial ones.
Benefits of using a VPN
When choosing a VPN, you can find both free and paid options. We recommend you go with the paid ones, since they have stronger security, encryption and data protection, as well as more advanced features. Free VPNs come with limitations and risk of malicious attacks on the software itself.
You can choose to buy a singular VPN service or opt for antivirus software that has a VPN built in, for example Bitdefender’s Ultimate Security plan. That depends on what you use your computer for and how much.
When you pick one, here’s what it can do for you.
1. Access region-specific content
When we said you could change your location, we meant it. Say you’re using a streaming service and a show you desperately want to watch isn’t available in your country. You can use your VPN to make it look like you’re browsing from a country where it’s unlocked.
This option is also convenient for gamers who want to access maps, skins and other in-game items unavailable in their location.
In addition, you can use this powerful feature when you’re traveling to a region where some of your favorite content may not be accessible.
Do keep in mind that you need to read the Terms and Conditions (yeah, we know - who does that?) of your games and services before doing this, since you could end up getting a penalty. It’s also important to remember that there are entire countries that have strict regulations or even bans on VPNs, for example Belarus, Russia and China. So make sure to be very cautious with your VPN use, friends.
2. Browse like no one’s watching
VPNs shield your browsing habits from prying eyes on the web. Those can be malicious hackers or just third-party cookies tracking your every move to later bombard you with targeted ads. For example, Surfshark VPN features a Cookie blocker that blocks all cookie-related pop-ups and lets you browse in peace (and secret). It works even when the VPN is turned off, which is also pretty neat.
In addition, their CleanWeb 2.0 technology makes sure ads and especially malware don’t stand a chance at all, since they’re blocked before they can even load.
The inability of sites to track your browsing means they can’t collect and analyze any of your data. So, your personal information - or your company’s information in case that’s what you’re using your computer for - is entirely hidden and secure.
3. Save money
It’s well-known that the prices of certain items and services vary based on your location, browsing time, age and many other factors. This most commonly goes for airline tickets and hotel stays.
You can use your VPN to avoid high prices and surcharges. Clear all cookies, turn on your VPN and visit an online shopping site to check out their prices. Then compare your findings with the offers you see when your VPN is off, when you spend a long time on the site or have an active account with the company.
Sometimes this can really help you find the best deals and avoid breaking the bank. But again, check the Terms and Conditions before you purchase something using a VPN.
4. Secure your smart home
The more smart devices you have connected to your network, the more exposed you are to potential cyberattacks. Phones and computers are generally designed to be decently secure even without a VPN or antivirus, but smart home devices leave a lot to be desired in that regard.
Protecting your home network with a VPN software means all devices connected to it are secure, be it an air purifier or Alexa.
Credit Bence Boros on Unsplash
5. Prevent connection slowdown
Your ISP can intentionally slow down your internet speed based on how much data you’ve consumed (data throttling) or your activities online (bandwidth throttling).
But with a VPN, what kind of data you send and receive and how much is entirely hidden. Therefore, if your ISP can’t see you, they can’t control you and they can’t throttle down your speed.
The bottom line
You can never be too safe online. So definitely think about getting yourself a solid VPN to pump up your privacy and security as much as you can. And if you have any questions or need help choosing the perfect software for you, feel free to reach out to us.
In an operating system, it is ideal for an administrator to have permission to access all the folders and files. However, there are times when you try to access the security settings or attempt to view the properties of a file, you could encounter an error saying, “You do not have permission to view this object’s security properties, even as an administrative user”.
This kind of error may be caused by several reasons. For one, if your computer is infected with a virus or malware which might have caused some changes to the concerned folder or file. It could also occur if a program or service is using the folder or file simultaneously which explains why you’re not able to access the system. It could also be that the folder or file might have been owned by a user account that no longer exists or you might not have the permissions to view the targeted folder or file even though you’re logged in as administrator.
To fix the “You do not have permission to view this object’s security properties, even as an administrative user” error, here are some options that might help.
Option 1 – Put your computer in a Clean Boot State
You can also troubleshoot the problem in a Clean Boot state. It could be that there are some third-party applications in your computer that’re preventing you from accessing security settings or properties of a file and to isolate this possibility, you need to boot your computer in a Clean Boot State and then try installing the program again. Putting your computer in this state can help you identify which program is the culprit and thus isolates the problem. In a Clean Boot state, your computer will start using only the pre-selected minimal set of drivers and startup programs. Note that you have to disable and enable one process at a time.
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 you’ve set your computer into a Clean Boot State, try to check if the error is now fixed and that you can now view the Properties.
Option 2 – Try booting your computer into Safe Mode and delete inactive users
Aside from the Clean Boot State, you can also reboot your computer in Safe Mode and then delete all the inactive users. There are instances when the folder was created or owned by a user account that’s either deleted or inactive now and so you need to get rid of these inactive user accounts to resolve the error.
First, boot your computer in Safe Mode.
Then right-click on the concerned folder or file and select Properties.
Next, select Advanced in the Security tab and click on Add.
A new window will appear and from there, click on “Select a principal”.
And then type the name of the user to who you wish to give permissions in the “Enter the object name to select” box.
Now select Check Names and this would resolve the user name.
After that, click OK to save the settings. This will close the window and take you back to the previous one.
Next, from the drop-down menu, change the Type to Allow and select the Full Control checkbox.
Click OK to save the changes made and then restart your computer in a normal mode.
Option 3 – Try to take ownership of the folder or file
Another thing you can do to fix the problem is to take ownership and force the system into giving permissions to the Administrator. How? Refer to these steps:
Type “command prompt” in the Windows Search bar and then right-click on the relevant search result and select “Run as administrator”.
After that, if a User Account Control or UAC prompt appears, just click on Yes to proceed.
Next, type and enter this command: TAKEOWN /F <path>
Note that the <path> is the location of the folder or file in File Explorer.
Now type and enter this second command: ICACLS <path> /grant administrators:F
Finally, once the command has been executed, restart your computer and then see if you can now access the folder or file.
Option 4 – Try scanning your computer using Windows Defender
As mentioned, the error when accessing the security settings or properties of a folder or file might be due to a virus or malware. It could be that it had made some modifications that prevents you from accessing security settings or properties. To eliminate it, you have to scan your computer using security programs like Windows Defender.
Tap the Win + I keys to open Update & Security.
Then click on the Windows Security option and open Windows Defender Security Center.
Next, click on Virus & threat protection > Run a new advanced scan.
Now make sure that Full Scan is selected from the menu and then click the Scan Now button to get started.
If you receive the error code 0xc000014C while you boot up your computer, then this post might be of help. This kind of error usually points to the Registry of your computer that might be corrupted. As a result, the operating system was not able to read the BCD file and throws the 0xc000014C error.
The error code 0xc000014C is triggered when your computer encounters an error in the first booting sector. You might receive any of these error messages:
“Info: An error occurred while attempting to read the boot configuration data.” with File: as “BootBCD”“File: Windowssystem32configsystemInfo: Windows failed to load because the system registry file is missing or is corrupt”“Info: The Boot Configuration Data for your PC is missing or contains errors.”
To fix the error code 0xc000014C when booting your computer, you can check out the suggestions provided below.
Option 1 – Try running System Restore in Advanced Startup Options
Since you probably can’t boot into your Windows 10 computer, you can try to run System Restore again in the Advanced Startup Options.
Boot your computer into the Advanced Startup Options screen.
From there, you will see some options to troubleshoot when you can’t log in to Windows in the usual way.
Now select Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Command Prompt.
After that, type “rstrui” and hit Enter to execute the command which will start the System Restore process.
Option 2 – Try to rebuild the BCD files
You can also try rebuilding the BCD files to resolve error 0xc000014C for corrupted Boot Configuration Data
You can start by booting into the installation environment for Windows 10 from an installation media.
After that, click on Repair your computer and on the blue screen, select Troubleshoot and then select the Advanced options menu.
From there, select Command Prompt and once you open it, enter each one of the commands given below by sequence.
bootrec /FixMbr
bootrec /FixBoot
bootrec /ScanOS
bootrec /RebuildBcd
Once you’re done executing the commands given above, type “exit” to close the Command Prompt window and then restart your computer and see if it fixed error code 0xc000014c.
Option 3 – Try restoring the default and uncorrupt Registry Values
This option is a bit tricky as you have to be sure about what you are doing here. However, if you are not sure, you might want to seek out a technician to fix the problem for you. But if you can handle it, then carefully follow the steps below.
You have to first physically remove the hard drive of the computer that’s not booting up. You can refer to it as Hard drive 1 and Computer 1, respectively.
After that, you need to have another computer which you can refer to as Computer 2, and refer to its hard drive as Hard drive 2. Make sure that this second computer is working properly.
Next, you have to attach Hard drive 1 to Computer 2 with the Hard drive 2 attached as well.
After that, boot Computer 2 from Hard drive 2 where Hard drive 1 will act as the second storage unit.
Then navigate to the following location in the System Partition of the Hard drive 2.
C:/Windows/System32/config/RegBack
From there, you have to replace all the files. Once you’re done, shut down your computer and then take out the Hard drive 1 from Computer 2 and put it back to Computer 1 as the only hard drive.
Now boot your computer normally and check if the problem is fixed.
If you encounter an error message saying, “The connection was denied because the user account is not authorized for remote login” when you try to establish a remote connection, read on as this post will help you resolve the problem. This kind of error occurs when the targeted host does not allow you to access that system remotely. Based on the error, you are not authorized to log in remotely which means that you need to obtain the correct permission.
There are several potential fixes you can try for this error. You can try to check the Remote Desktop Users group or add users to the Security group or check the Remote Desktop Service itself.
Refer to the options provided below for more detailed instructions to fix the “The connection was denied because the user account is not authorized for remote login” error.
Option 1 – Try checking the Remote Desktop Users group
You can encounter this error when the Remote Desktop Users group does not have any permission for your user account that you are using to establish a remote connection. Thus, you need to make sure that your user account is a member of the Remote Desktop Users group. How? Refer to these steps:
Tap the Win + R keys on your keyboard and then type “cmd” in the field and tap Enter or click OK to open Command Prompt.
After opening Command Prompt, type the “lusrmgr.msc” command and tap Enter to execute it.
Alternatively, you can also search for “lusrmgr.msc” in the Start Search and once you’ve opened it, select Users and then double click on your user name to open its Properties.
From there, switch from the “General” tab to the “Member Of” tab.
Next, if you can’t see any Remote Desktop Users group under the Administrator, you have to add it. To do that, just click on the Add button.
After that, on the newly opened window, click on the Advanced and Find Now buttons, respectively.
And in the Search results box, double click on Remote Desktop Users.
Now click on the OK button to save the changes made and check if you can now connect to a remote host or not.
Option 2 – Try to add a user to the Security group
You can actually block or allow a user from logging on through the Remote Desktop Services. However, if you do not have the right setting, you won’t be able to use this functionality. Thus, you need to confirm this setting. To do that, follow the steps below.
In the Start Search, type “secpol.msc” in the field and tap Enter to open the Local Security Policy panel.
From there, go to User Rights Assignment.
Next, look for a policy named “Allow log on through Remote Desktop Services” located on your right-hand side and then double click on it to open its Properties.
If you were not able to find the Remote Desktop Users under Administrator, then you have to add it by simply clicking on the Add User or Group button.
After that, enter “Remote Desktop Users” in the blank field and click the OK button to save the changes made.
Now restart your computer and try connecting again to the remote host.
Option 3 – Try checking the Remote Desktop Users group
There is a service that’s supposed to be running and needs to be set up correctly for you to connect to the remote host. And so you need to ensure that this service is up and running. To do so, follow these steps:
Tap the Win + R keys to launch the Run utility.
Then type “services.msc” in the field and hit Enter or click OK to open the Services Manager.
Next, look for the Remote Desktop Services and double click on it to open its Properties.
After that, go to the “Log On” tab and select the “This account” option and then click on the Browse button.
On the next screen that appears, look for the Advanced button and click on it and use the Find Now button to search.
You will see “NETWORK SERVICE”. Double click on it and then save the changes you’ve made to the settings.
Finally, restart your PC and see if the problem is now fixed.
Recently, a number of users reported that their Google Chrome browsers keep on opening new tabs no matter what they do. This issue could be due to lots of reasons but the main ones are corrupt installation, background applications, adware, dubious browser extensions, malware, and so on.
Although there are a lot of possible causes for this particular issue in Chrome, its potential fixes are straightforward so you should not have any problem following the given options below.
Option 1 – Get rid of any conflicting browser extensions
As mentioned, shady browser extensions can cause unusual behavior in a browser. Chances are, these extensions or toolbars might be conflicting with the loading of the website. Thus, you have to get rid of these unwanted extensions and toolbars to fix the issue.
Open Chrome and press Alt + F keys.
Go to More tools and click Extensions to look for any suspicious browser extensions or toolbars.
Click the Recycle bin and select Remove.
Restart Chrome and press Alt + F keys again.
Proceed to On Startup and mark Open a specific page or set of pages.
To check if the browser hijacker is still active, click Set pages, if it is active, overwrite the URL.
Option 2 – Try to disable applications from running in the background
Open Google Chrome and then click on the menu button located in the top-right corner.
From the drop-down, select Settings and then scroll down until you see the Advanced button. Click on it.
Next, turn off the toggle for “Continue running background apps when Google Chrome is closed” under the System section.
Now restart Chrome and check if it is working properly.
Option 3 – Try to configure the search settings of Chrome
Open Google Chrome and type any search query in the address bar and then tap Enter.
After that, it will open the Google search engine. From the top-right corner, click the Settings button.
Next, select Search settings from the drop-down menu.
Then scroll down to the new page that appears and make sure that the “Open New Window for each result” option is set to Uncheck.
Once you’re done, save the changes made and restart Google Chrome.
Option 4 – Reset Chrome
Resetting Chrome can also help you fix the error. This means that you will be restoring its default settings, disabling all the extensions, add-ons and themes. Aside from that, the content settings will be reset as well and the cookies, cache, and site data will also be deleted. To reset Chrome, here’s what you have to do:
Open Google Chrome, then tap the Alt + F keys.
After that, click on Settings.
Next, scroll down until you see the Advanced option, once you see it, click on it.
After clicking the Advanced option, go to the “Restore and clean up option and click on the “Restore settings to their original defaults” option to reset Google Chrome.
Now restart Google Chrome.
Option 5 – Try to clean reinstall Chrome
There are instances when programs leave files behind after you’ve uninstalled them and the same thing can happen to Chrome so before you reinstall Chrome, you have to make sure that you have deleted the User Data folder. To do so, refer to the following steps:
Hit the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
Next, type “%LOCALAPPDATA%GoogleChromeUser Data” in the field and hit Enter to open the User Data folder.
From there, rename the default folder and name it something else, e.g. “Default.old”.
After that, install Google Chrome again and check if the issue is now fixed.
Option 6 – Try scanning your computer using Windows Defender
As mentioned, the error when accessing the security settings or properties of a folder or file might be due to a virus or malware. It could be that it had made some modifications that prevents you from accessing security settings or properties. To eliminate it, you have to scan your computer using security programs like Windows Defender.
Tap the Win + I keys to open Update & Security.
Then click on the Windows Security option and open Windows Defender Security Center.
Next, click on Virus & threat protection > Run a new advanced scan.
Now make sure that Full Scan is selected from the menu and then click the Scan Now button to get started.
While running your Windows 7/Windows Server 2008 R2, your system suddenly stops responding out of complete randomness and you see an error message popping up which says something like this:
The stop error 0x00000050 signifies that there’s a PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA problem. If you’ve seen this error on different occasions then you will find the parameters in the message to be varying. That is because they are dependent on your PC’s configuration. Not all Stop errors "0x00000050” occur due to a single issue.
However, the most common problem which is encountered which results in the stop error popping up is due to a pool corruption occurring in the Srvnet.sys file.
This issue might be caused because of software incompatibility or a defective physical memory which resulted in requests for data for a hardware driver or service which was not found in the memory.
If you find the error occurring after you’ve installed a new application or a device driver then you should access Safe Mode and uninstall, disable or remove that application or driver.
Further Information and Manual Repair
In order to fix this issue, you should try booting your computer to the “Last Known-Good Configuration” as listed during startup.
For this you have to follow the below-mentioned steps:
Start your system.
When you see the message which says “For Troubleshooting And Advanced Startup Options For Windows, Press F8” hit F8 and proceed.
Use the up and down arrow keys to highlight “Last Known-Good Configuration” and hit enter (This method will only work if your system boot was not successfully carried out ever since you made any specific changes).
When you are starting the computer, press F12 and proceed with the PSA/32 Bit Diagnostics.
Do the following so that a clean boot can be performed:
Go to the Start menu when the Windows 7 desktop shows up.
On the search bar, type “msconfig” and hit search.
Disable all the applications which are listed on the “Startup” tab.
Now head over to the “Services” tab and mark the option which reads "Hide all Microsoft Service".
Select the “Disable All Services” option.
Apply the changes by clicking on “Apply” then restart your PC. You should now check the performance of your computer. If you don’t see a BSOD then you start re-enabling all the Services and Startup applications one by one until you finally figure out which one is causing the BSOD to appear.
DLL files have certain functions that help the programs in the computer run properly. One of these DLL files is the Msvcr120.dll_clr0400.dll. This particular DLL file is responsible for the extraction of the required resources during the installation of a program and is used when the program is launched or when games are launched in the C++ language. However, a number of users recently reported that they’ve encountered an error that says, “Msvcr120.dll_clr0400.dll is missing” when they tried to install an application or when they tried opening an application.
This kind of error could be due to several factors. It is possible that the DLL file is corrupted or there are some programs that interfere with the DLL file. On the other hand, it is also possible that it has been infected by a virus. To resolve this error, here are some potential fixes you need to check out:
Option 1 – Run System File Checker scan
The first thing you can do to fix the error is to try running the System File Checker or SFC scan. System File Checker is a command utility built into your computer that helps restore corrupted files and missing files. Refer to the following steps to run it:
Hit the Win + R keys 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:
Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.
Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them.
Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them.
Reboot your computer.
Option 2 – Troubleshoot the missing Msvcr120.dll_clr0400.dll error in a Clean Boot State
You can also troubleshoot the isDone.dll error in a Clean Boot state. It could be that there are some third-party applications in your computer that are preventing the application from getting installed and to isolate this possibility, you need to boot your computer in a Clean Boot State and then try installing the program again. Putting your computer in this state can help you identify which program is the culprit and thus isolates the problem. In a Clean Boot state, your computer will start using only the pre-selected minimal set of drivers and startup programs. Note that you have to disable and enable one process at a time.
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 you’ve set your computer into a Clean Boot State, make sure that you’re signed in as administrator and then try to install the application again.
Option 3 – Try to re-register the problematic DLL file
You can also try to re-register the DLL to resolve the problem. The Regsvr32 tool is a command-line utility that can be used to register and unregister OLE controls like DLL and ActiveX (OCX) controls in the Windows operating system. Follow the steps below to use it.
Open Command Prompt as admin from the WinX menu.
Next, type the following commands in the elevated Command Prompt and hit Enter to execute the command. This will re-register the affected DLL file using the Windows operating system tool, regsvr32.exe.
exe /[DLL file]
exe [DLL file]
Note: Replace “[DLL file]” with the name of the DLL file that was pointed out in the error.
After you execute the given commands, you should see a message saying, “DllRegisterServer in vbscript.dll succeeded” if the Regsvr32 tool was able to run successfully. After that, try to install the program again and see if it now works.
Option 4 – Try to replace the DLL file with a trusted source
First, you need to get the new DLL file from another computer with preferably the same file version number.
After that, you need to boot your PC into Safe Mode and navigate to the paths listed below and then replace the file using a USB drive or other external storage devices.
x86: This PC > C:WindowsSystem32
x64: This PC > C:WindowsSysWOW64
Next, type “cmd” in the Cortana search box and right-click on Command Prompt, and select “Run as administrator” to open it with administrator privileges.
Now type the “regsvr32 ntdll.dll” command and hit Enter.
Restart your PC and check if the error is now fixed.
Option 5 – Scan your computer using Windows Defender
The DLL file might also be infected with malware or virus and to eliminate it which could explain why you’re getting the “Msvcr120.dll_clr0400.dll is missing” error. Thus, you have to scan your computer using security programs like Windows Defender.
Tap the Win + I keys to open Update & Security.
Then click on the Windows Security option and open Windows Defender Security Center.
Next, click on Virus & threat protection > Run a new advanced scan.
Now make sure that Full Scan is selected from the menu and then click the Scan Now button to get started.
Error 0x80070057 is a typical Windows 7 error code.
It may occur when you try to back up files by using Windows Backup on Windows 7 and the backup fails. The error message is often displayed as the following:
“An internal error has occurred: The parameter is incorrect: (0x80070057)”
Besides this, you may also experience this error message when you format a hard disk drive to install Windows 7.
Solution
Error Causes
The error 0x8007005 occurs due to multiple reasons. However, the most common causes for this error code include:
The partition that is reserved for the system is damaged
Misconfigured registry keys
Misconfigured decimal symbol settings
Further Information and Manual Repair
Here are some of the best and easy DIY methods to resolve the error 0x80070057 on your PC.
Solution 1: Change the Decimal Symbol Setting
As mentioned above the error 0x80070057 sometimes can be triggered by misconfigured decimal symbol settings. Therefore, try changing the settings to fix the problem. The error is likely to occur if the decimal symbol is not set to ‘.’ (dot).
This is common in languages and locales other than English such as German.
Here’s what you need to do to change the decimal symbol setting:
First, open the Control Panel, click the clock, then language, and then region.
Now click the formats tab and go to the additional settings menu.
Here you will find the decimal symbol field, now type "." (dot) and then click OK twice.
After that, you must restart your PC to activate the changes.
Solution 2: Create a New Partition and Reinstall Windows 7
If the error 0x80070057 is linked to partition damage, then this method is the best way to resolve it. Here’s what you need to do:
Insert the Windows 7 DVD and start the installation.
Select your language preference to install. Here you will see a screen of the Microsoft License Agreement. Click on the I accept option to proceed with the installation process.
Then click next.
Choose a custom advance option and select the Disk O partition 1 option.
Once selected, click delete. When you do this you will be prompted if you want to confirm the deletion, click OK to continue.
Now repeat the same however now select Disk O partition 2.
Delete this partition as well. Now click New to create a new partition. Here define the disk size and then click apply. Please note, the size of the default value is the maximum size of the disk.
After doing so, select disk 0 partition 2 and then click the formatting tab. Once the formatting is complete, click next to continue Now you will be able to complete the installation of Windows 7 on your PC without any problem.
Solution 3: Add a Registry Key Value
If the underlying cause of the error 0x80070057 is a registry issue, then it is serious as such issues can put your PC at serious risks like system failure, crash, and data loss.
To resolve this error and add a registry key value here’s what you need to do:
Go to the start menu and type Regedit.exe in the search bar and then press enter. Locate and click the following registry sub-key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftSystem. Once you locate it, now go to the edit menu and point to new, and then click DWORD Value. After that, type CopyFileBufferedSynchronousIo and press enter again. Right-click now on the text you just typed and then click Modify.
In the Value data box, type 1 and then click ok and exit the registry editor.
This will fix the error on a temporary basis but not permanently. However, a long-term solution is to clean and repair the registry.
Solution 4: Restoro
The registry gets cluttered with unnecessary and redundant files like junk files, cookies, internet history, and bad registry keys. If these are not removed timely, they can damage the registry and corrupt DLL files. It often leads to disk fragmentation (disk partition) too.
To remove these files immediately, clean and restore the registry and repair the corrupt files, it is advisable to download Restoro.
Why Restoro
This is an advanced and highly functional Registry Cleaner. It is deployed with a cutting-edge and intuitive algorithm that scans your entire PC to detect all registry issues in seconds. It cleans the cluttered disk and restores the registry back to normal.
It is safe, bug-free, and efficient. This software is easy to use and compatible with all Windows versions.
In addition to this, it is also deployed with several other powerful utilities like an antivirus that detects all malicious software and removes them right away. It also functions as a system optimizer and boosts the speed of your PC significantly.
Click here to download Restoro and resolve error 0x80070057 now!
Sticky Notes is one of the useful programs and in the early days, the option is available for users to change the font size of the text a lot easier. However, for some unknown reason, Microsoft decided to get rid of this feature in the latest Windows Update. One would expect that the feature will be replaced by an even more useful feature but it’s not which makes the Sticky Notes app worse than before. Worry not though for it doesn’t have to stay that way as there is another thing you can try to change the font size in your Sticky Notes app and that’s what we’re going to cover in this post.
As mentioned, Microsoft removing this font feature is quite strange and in the past, users asked for this feature and since it’s no longer available, you can try following the steps given below to bring it back. And for that, you need to go to the Ease of Access section in the Settings app. Refer to the steps given below for more instructions.
Step 1: First, tap the Win + I keys to open Settings and then go to the Ease of Access section.
Step 2: After going to the Ease of Access menu and select Display from the list of options.
Step 3: From there, you should see an option that says “Make text bigger”. And then use your mouse to navigate to the slider to change the size of the font.
Note: Take note that after doing all the steps above, it will change not just the Sticky Notes app but also everything in Windows 10. This method is actually the best since it only changes the size of the apps rather than a wholesale change in your Windows 10 computer.
Step 4: Next, scroll under Display until you see the “Change the size of apps and text on the main display” option where you’ll see that the option is 100% but you’ll want to change that to 125%.
Step 5: After that, click on the drop-down menu and select 125% and then restart your Windows 10 computer.
Step 6: Now open the Sticky Notes app and check if you can now change the font size in the Sticky Notes app.
OneXPlayer is a direct competitor to Valve’s upcoming steam deck. This device is clearly inspired by Valve’s offering and it shows all over the place, from its looks to its purpose and aims to PC gamers as a handheld device.
Hardware under the hood
This device is packing a 7-inch 1080p display, 11th generation Intel Core i7-1195G7 CPU, stunning 16GB of RAM, 512GB SSD drive with the option to purchase 1TB or 2TB model. GPU of choice is Intel iris Xe Graphics that is in our opinion a bottleneck in the whole system and for more demanding games, we believe switching them to 720p would be a better option. Everything here is powered with a 10455 mAh lithium-ion battery.
OneXPlayer inputs and other stuff
Handheld is equipped with dual bumpers and dual linear triggers. The console comes with dual speakers on both sides of it. Inside the console, there is an aluminum heat sink with copper heat pipes and a fan in order to cool internal hardware. On the outside, we have two USB-C ports and one USB-A port for connections, and of course, a headphone jack for headphones. The console comes with Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 for wireless connectivity.
Price
The base entry model will cost you a whopping $1.259, 1TB model $1.399 and 2TB one will go as far as $1,599. With this kind of price, I am not sure it can come up as a winner against Valve. Sure it is packing fully licensed Windows 11 that will for sure offer more options than Stem’s OS based on Linux but even with that advantage I do not think it justifies such a big price difference.
Conclusion
Of course, this kind of console or handheld PC will still find its customer base, many users will probably like it since it comes Windows ready out of the box. Sure, you can place Windows on Steam deck as well but you will need to know how, where everything is ready and you can run beside steam other launchers without issues like origin, uplay, gog, etc.
How this will be accepted by community time will tell but it is good to see that there is variety and competition in handheld PC space.
There are a lot of home users that often get a computer that comes installed with the Windows 10 Home. And since Windows 10 Pro offers more features and utilities compared to Windows 10 Home, a lot of users also prefer to upgrade their Windows 10 Home computers to Windows 10 Pro. However, while doing so, a number of users reported that they encountered error 0xc03f6506 and they were not able to proceed with the upgrade.
If you are one of these users, when you encounter error 0xc03f6506, you will see the following error message on your screen:
“The last product key you entered can’t be used on this copy of Windows (0xc03f6506).”
This particular error tends to occur when you go on to activate Windows 10 although it can also appear during the upgrade process. In such cases, you will see the following error message:
“Unable to upgrade your edition, We can’t upgrade your edition of Windows. Try upgrading your edition of Windows again. (0xc03f6506).”
To fix the Activation Error Code 0xc03f6506 in Windows 10, use the options provided below as references but before you proceed, make sure that you create a System Restore point first.
Option 1 – Try to use the Registry Editor
If you have already upgraded from Windows 10 Home to Windows 10 Pro and you’re having trouble with its Activation, then you might want to apply some registry tweaks to fix the problem. How? Refer to these steps:
Tap the Win + R key combination to open the Run dialog box.
Then type “Regedit” in the field and click OK or tap Enter to open the Registry Editor.
Next, navigate to this registry key: ComputerHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersion
From there, look for a DWORD named “EditionID” and once you found it, double click on it and change its Value data to Windows 10 Professional.
After that, look for another DWORD named “ProductName” and double click on it to change its Value data to Windows 10 Professional.
Once you’re done, restart your computer to apply the changes made successfully.
Option 2 – Try to use Command Prompt
If the registry tweaks you applied didn’t fix the Activation error, then you can try using Command Prompt instead. Note that you can use this option in both scenarios pointed out above.
First, you have to insert a bootable drive of the Windows10 installer.
Next, tap the Win + X keys and select Command Prompt (Admin) from the menu.
After opening Command Prompt as admin, navigate to the root location of the bootable drive inside the Command Prompt command line.
Once you’re already there, type the following command and tap Enter:
setup.exe /auto upgrade /pkey <YOUR WINDOWS 10 PRO EDITION PRODUCT KEY>
After entering the command, check if it was able to fix the Windows Upgrade or Activation error 0xc03f6506. If not, refer to the next given option below.
Option 3 – Try to disable the Network Adapter
Just like the second option, you can also use this option for both the given scenarios above.
Tap the Win + X keys and select Network Connections from the menu.
This will open the settings for your network and on the left side panel, click on the “Change adapter settings” link. This will open Control Panel.
From there, click on the network your computer is connected to, and then right-click on the Network Adapter that you are using and select Disable.
After disabling the Network Adapter, try to switch to the edition of your copy of Windows 10 again and see if the problem is now fixed and don’t forget to double click on the disabled Network Adapter to get back on the Network.
Hardware under the hood