USB Kill, a USB device is able to fry and damage your computer, mobile phone, router, etc. This device is quite dangerous and can kill electronics the moment it is inserted into an available port. By now people should know that they should not put unknown USB sticks into their devices because of potential virus and malware threats but this raises using unknown sticks to a whole new level.
Kill kits are not really new to the market, they have existed before but lately, technology really progressed and the latest USB sticks are really good, their success rate is around 95% which is pretty high and should not be taken lightly.
The second thing that you really should not play with strange USB sticks is that they dropped in price really hard, although top Kill kits will still go as high as around 300 USD, there are really cheap ones lurking in Ali Express that are just 6 USD!!! that makes them affordable devices for the mass market.
The device is made to take energy and current from the port it is plugged in, multiply it and release its charge back into the device, successfully frying some components immediately. Some more professional Kill sticks can even fry devices even when the device itself is not powered and can be even started remotely.
The point of this article is to make you aware that you should not in any kind of circumstances use and plug-in USB sticks into your devices that you do not know where they come from, especially from the mail!!
Living in today's world sadly is still living in the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been more than a year and sadly pandemic is still very strong and we are battling it on a daily basis.
Governments all over the world are trying to battle pandemics in their own way with their own ideas and prevention measures. We as individuals can not very much influence how will the pandemic itself go but fortunately in this modern age of information we can at least follow and be in the loop at the current state of the situation regarding it.
Today instead of having a troubleshooting article or tips and trick for your PC we are doing something else but in the domain of internet technology, you know, just to keep everything still IT related ????
Below you will find websites with small descriptions of what they do to keep yourself informed and hope to get over this dreadful pandemic.
If you are interested in real-time COVID-19 information about active cases, death tool so far, new cases and the number of vaccines administrated so far I would recommend WHO's dashboard. How WHO is a non-government institution composed of doctors from all over the world with just a single goal in mind, to help and put an end to this pandemic is a great non-biased source of information on the current state of virus spread.
Please be aware that Vaccinefinder is working only on the territory of the United States of America. The reason why it was included in this list is that basically it is a great idea and I hope to see this site expand on other world regions or at least that inspires the emergence of another worldwide website with this type of content.
If you live in the USA, this site will be a great help since you can track where and how many shots are distributed to states and even towns in America.
This site is also for U.S. residents, this time it is about tracking cases in each state with details and statistics. If you are interested in more detailed statistics of hospitalized patients per state or overall you are just interested in statistics about the pandemic in the U.S. this site might provide all the information about your needs.
On national public radio or NPR for short, there is a special section devoted to the coronavirus where new articles about pandemic are released daily with new information and new findings on how to battle it and the current state of things. A great informational site to keep up with the current state of things.
Google has not been inactive during this pandemic and on its page specially dedicated to the COVID-19 virus you can find a lot of free information updated daily. From safety and prevention tips to data about pandemics there is a lot of ground covered on-page and we recommend at least going through the prevention section to inform yourself how to keep yourself and others safe.
This daily updated chart can show how many cases and deaths are from chosen time period all in form of a chart, you can see charts for each country in the world how COVID cases rose or dropped along with the death tool it brought.
There you go, 6 websites to track and inform yourself about this dreaded pandemic which has managed to change the world and people's lives forever, sadly on the bad side.
A lot of users rely on keyboard shortcuts to carry out tasks on their PCs. One of the most common keyboard shortcuts used is the Ctrl + Shift + Esc which opens the Task Manager. As you can see, the Shift key is not just used to capitalize a text as it can also be used for other functions and plays an essential role in operating a computer. However, if you suddenly find it not working, read on as this post will help you fix the problem.
If your Shift key is not working, there are several potential fixes you can check out to fix it.
These are the different ways to get rid of the Shift key not working issue on Windows 10:
Physically clean the key and keyboard
Disable Sticky Keys.
Update, Reinstall, or Rollback Keyboard driver.
Test the keyboard on another system.
Check your connections
Run the Hardware troubleshooter
Troubleshoot in Clean Boot State.
Option 1 – Clean the keyboard keys physically
Your keyboard might not be working properly due to some dirt or other corrosion. Thus, you need to clean your keyboard, especially the Shift key. First, you need to shut down your computer and then unplug the keyboard if you are using a desktop computer and then prepare it for cleaning. After that, use a small cotton ear cleaning tool to get between the creases and clean them. You can dip it slightly in alcohol to make it more efficient in cleaning dust and dirt. And if you can, you have the option to pull apart the keyboard completely and then wipe away all the corrosion from the inside. Once you’re done, put the keyboard back together and then plug it back into your PC. Now turn your PC on and check if the Shift key is now working.
Option 2 – Try to disable the Sticky keys
Another thing you can try is to disable the Stick keys. How? Refer to these steps:
Tap the Win + I keys to open the Settings app.
After that, navigate to the Ease of Access section, and here, select Keyboard.
Next, make sure that the option for Press one key at a time under the Sticky Keys is toggled off.
Option 3 – Reinstall, update or rollback your keyboard driver
Once you’ve determined that the problem is in the software part of the keyboard, it is now time to try to reinstall, update or roll back your keyboard drivers. To reinstall the driver for your keyboard, refer to these steps:
From the WinX Menu, open the Device Manager.
In the Device Manager, you should find your laptop’s keyboard under the “Keyboards” option. Right-click on it and select the “Uninstall” option.
Note: If you’re not quite certain about your laptop’s keyboard, you can uninstall all the keyboards if there’s more than one.
After that, restart your PC and see if the keyboard driver is installing automatically. If not, open the Device Manager again and right-click on Keyboards, and select the option “Scan for hardware changes” to install it.
Once the keyboard driver is installed again, check if your keyboard is now working properly or not.
Option 4 – Try connecting the keyboard to a different USB port or another computer
The problem might have something to do with the USB port that’s currently in use by your keyboard. It could be that it’s not working so it makes sense to unplug it and attach it to another USB port. You can also clean the USB port on both ends to ensure that they are not affected by corrosion. In addition, you can also try connecting the keyboard to a different computer and see if the Shift key works there or not.
Option 5 – Try to check your connections
You can also try checking if the connection mode you are using for your keyboard is functioning properly. For instance, if you are using a Surface 2-in-device, you can clean the connection pins and see if it resolves the problem.
Option 6 – Run the Hardware and Devices Troubleshooters
The first thing you need to do is click on Start and then on the gear-like icon to pull up the window for Settings.
After opening Settings, look for the Update and Security option and select it.
From there, go to the Troubleshoot option located on the left-hand side of the list.
Next, select Hardware and Devices from the list and open the Troubleshooter and run it. Once it is doing its job, wait for it to complete the process and then restart the system.
After the system restarts, check if the problem’s now fixed. If not, refer to the next option given below.
Option 7 – Put your PC in a Clean Boot State
You might also want to put your computer in a Clean Boot State to fix the problem with the Shift key. It could be that there is a third-party program that’s preventing the Shift key from functioning. To isolate this possibility, you need to put your computer in a Clean Boot State.
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.)
Now try to connect the external devices and check if the error is now gone.
There are instances when you might encounter an error that says, “Something went wrong, We couldn’t start your program” when you open any Office program. This could be due to an issue with the Office file and any Office app you open throws the same error message. This applies to Office 2019/2016, Office 365 Home, Office for Business as well as Business editions. In this post, you will be guided in what you can do to resolve this error.
There are several potential fixes for this error, you might only have to restart your computer or you may have to repair Office from Apps and Features or you could also uninstall and install it back again. For more details, follow each one of the provided options below.
Option 1 – Restart your computer
You might be unable to launch any Office app due to some background process that got stuck or there might be some glitch in the system. Thus, the first thing you can do to resolve the error is simply restarting your computer. Once you’ve restarted your computer, open the Office app again or you could also try to sign in back with your Microsoft account that’s connected to Office. If you’re not quite sure which account you were using, you can follow these steps:
Open any Office app.
Then click on File and look for your name located in the top-right portion.
Now click on it. This will display the email or Microsoft account that’s related to Office.
Option 2 – Try repairing Office from Apps and Features
Since Windows 10 offers some repair features that could replace some of the core files with the original files, you can take advantage of such a feature to fix the “Something went wrong, We couldn’t start your program” error when opening any Office app.
Open Windows settings and click the Apps and Features option.
Next, scroll down until you see the Microsoft Office installation option. Select it and click on Modify.
This will open a window and from there, select Quick Repair or Online Repair and click on the Repair button.
Note: When you choose to repair, you might be given two options which depend on how Microsoft Office was installed. For instance, it was installed via Web Installer or Offline Installer (MSI-based). In Web Installer, select Online Repair > Repair when you’re prompted on how you would like to repair Office. While in MSI-based, you have to select Repair under “Change your installation” and then click on Continue. The repair process makes sure that the app data remains untouched.
Option 3 – Try to uninstall and reinstall Office
If neither of the two given options above worked, then you might want to uninstall Office and reinstall it. All you have to do is download the Microsoft Office Uninstall tool from the official site of Microsoft and run it. This will remove any incomplete Office installation as well as unwanted files. It will also get rid of all the Office apps and settings on your computer.
Recently, a number of users reported an error while trying to update their computers. This particular Windows Update error has an error code of 0x80073701. If you are one of the users who encounter this error, then read on as this post will guide you on how exactly you can fix it.
Here’s the exact context of the error:
“Updates failed. There were problems installing some updates, but we’ll try again later.2019-07 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1903 for x86-based Systems (KB4507453) – Error 0x80073701”
The Windows Update Error 0x80073701 also comes with a code “ERROR_SXS_ASSEMBLY_MISSING” which indicates that some system files are missing on your computer that caused the update installation failure error. Although this Windows Update error does not cause any severe issues, it is still being reported in the section of Windows Update where it is marked as “Update failed”. There are several potential solutions you can check out to resolve this error. You can try to run the DISM tool or the SFC or System File Checker scan. You could also try to run the Windows Update troubleshooter. For more information, make sure to follow the options given below.
Option 1 – Restart your computer and try installing the Updates again
Restarting your computer can also help in fixing the Windows Update failed to install error 0x80073701. There are cases where the issue resolves on its own as it could just be some simple network or PC error.
Option 2 – Try to run the DISM tool
Running the DISM Tool helps in repairing the Windows System Image as well as the Windows Component Store in Windows 10. Using this built-in tool, you have various options such as the “/ScanHealth”, “/CheckHealth”, and “/RestoreHealth”.
Open the Command Prompt as admin.
Then type in this command: 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.
After you run this tool, a log file is created at C:WindowsLogsCBSCBS.log. On the other hand, if the Windows Update client is already broken, you will be prompted to use a running Windows installation as the repair source or use a Windows side-by-side folder from a network share, as the source of the files. Although the chances of this happening is less, if it turns out to be the case, you need to run an advanced command in the DISM tool to repair a broken Windows Update. Just repeat the process above but use the following command instead:
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 that might be causing the error 0x80073701. 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:
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.
Restart your computer.
Option 4 – Try running the Windows Update Troubleshooter
Running the built-in Windows Update troubleshooter could also help you resolve the Windows Update error 0x80073701. 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.
Microsoft just released Windows 11 Insider build 22000.71. Let’s dive in and see what it brings with you.
Changes and features
New entertainment widget. The entertainment widget allows you to see new and featured movie titles available in the Microsoft Store. Selecting a movie will direct you to the Microsoft Store to see more information about that title. Just open widgets and click or tap on the “Add widgets” button and choose the entertainment widget. For now, the entertainment widget is available for Insiders in the following countries: US, UK, CA, DE, FR, AU, JP.
The new context menus and other right-click menus have been updated to use acrylic material.
We are testing the usability of a SplitButton for making new folders and files in the File Explorer command bar.
The Taskbar previews (when you mouse-over open apps on the Taskbar) have been updated to reflect the new visual design of Windows 11.
Fixes
Taskbar:
We fixed an issue where if you drag app icons on the Taskbar to rearrange them, it was making the apps launch or minimize when you released the icon.
Using a long press with a touch on an app icon in the Taskbar to open the jump list should now work.
After right-clicking the Start icon in the Taskbar, clicking somewhere else should now dismiss the menu more reliably.
Shift + Right-click on an app icon in the Taskbar will now bring up the window menu like it used to and not the jump list.
We’ve addressed an issue that was making your mouse move slowly when hovering over the Taskbar previews.
We’ve included the fix for an issue when using multiple Desktops where an app icon in the taskbar might give the appearance of multiple windows being open when that wasn’t the case on that Desktop.
When using the Amharic IME you should no longer see an unexpected X next to the IME icon in the taskbar.
The issue where if you click on the input indicator on the Taskbar and it would unexpectedly highlight Quick Settings has been fixed.
When you hover over Task View, the preview flyout for your Desktops will no longer pop back up after using Esc to dismiss them.
We made a fix to address an issue where explorer.exe might crash after hovering over the Task View icon in the Taskbar.
We fixed an issue where the selected date in the calendar flyout was out of sync with the date in the Taskbar.
We made an update to address a scenario resulting in some Insiders not seeing the lunar calendar text in the calendar flyout when enabled in Settings.
This flight addressed an issue that could unexpectedly make the Taskbar background transparent.
Right-clicking the focus assist icon in the taskbar should now show a context menu.
The issue from the previous flight where icons in the taskbar corner were getting crushed against the top of the Taskbar has been addressed.
The tooltip for the location in use icon in the Taskbar should no longer appear blank sometimes.
Settings:
We fixed an issue making Settings crash on launch periodically.
Using the volume mixer sliders in Sound Settings should be more responsive now, as well as the page responsiveness as a whole.
We fixed an issue resulting in Disk and Volumes Settings’ change size option being clipped.
There was a non-functional verify link under Backup Settings – this has been fixed.
The Power and Battery Settings page should no longer be reporting that the battery saver is engaged if it’s not.
The Power and Battery Settings page should also now not crash when launched from Quick Settings.
We fixed a grammatical error in the Sign-in Settings text.
The “I forgot my PIN” link was unexpectedly missing in Sign-in Settings when a PIN was set up and has now been returned.
The issue where the Move option under Apps & Features in Settings wasn’t working reliably should be addressed in this build.
We’ve mitigated a problem where some of the colors in Settings weren’t updating after switching between dark and light mode, leaving the unreadable text.
We’ve done some work to help improve the performance of Settings when switching between light and dark mode.
We addressed an issue where some of the elements of the Themes page in Settings would end up crowded together when the window size was small.
We resolved an issue where the Pen menu toggle under Taskbar Settings was not in sync with the actual state of the feature.
Changes made to “Dismiss notification after this amount of time” in Accessibility Settings should now persist.
Some of the icons you could enable in Taskbar Settings were erroneously labeled Windows Explorer even though that’s not what they were – this should now be fixed.
The Connect text in Quick Settings has been updated to say Cast.
File Explorer:
Clicking the command bar button twice should now close any dropdown that appeared.
The new command bar should now appear when “Open folders in a separate process” is enabled under File Explorer Options > View.
This build addresses an issue where right-clicking a file and selecting Open With > Choose another app might launch the file in the default app rather than opening the Open With dialog.
Fixed an issue the desktop and File Explorer context menu would stop launching.
Search:
We fixed an issue where the option to verify your account in Search wasn’t working.
Hovering over the Search icon on a secondary monitor will now show the flyout on the correct monitor.
Search should now work if you open Start and start typing after having gone to the apps list and back.
Widgets:
When using the Outlook client with a Microsoft account, Calendar, and To-Do updates should sync faster down to the widgets.
We addressed an issue where if you added multiple widgets quickly from the widget's settings, it could result in some of the widgets not being visible on the board.
We fixed a bug where widgets could all become stuck in a loading state (blank squares in the window).
The traffic widget should now follow the Windows mode (light or dark).
The title of the sports widget should no longer mismatch with the content of the widget.
Other:
This build addresses an issue where ALT + Tab was getting stuck open sometimes after you released the keys and had to be manually dismissed.
We made a fix for an issue where Narrator's focus wasn’t ending up on the emoji panel after using the keyboard shortcut to open it.
Magnifier’s lens view has been updated so the lens now has rounded corners.
We found an issue that was noticeably impacting Start launch reliability for some Insiders, and have addressed it with this flight.
We’ve updated the “Most Used” text in the Start menu’s app list so it should no longer be getting clipped.
Using the semantic zoom in Start’s app list should no longer result in the list being pushed down and to the right off the edge of the window.
We fixed an issue where if you pressed ⊞ WIN + Z you would need to press Tab before you could use the arrow key to navigate through the snap layouts.
We addressed an issue where an acrylic area could get left on the screen after repeatedly snapping and unsnapping a window with touch.
We’ve done some work to mitigate an unexpected flash when moving a snapped window with touch.
We made a change to help window borders have a little more contrast when “Show accent color on title bars and windows borders” was turned off.
Known issues in Windows 11 repaired
Start:
In some cases, you might be unable to enter text when using Search from Start or the Taskbar. If you experience the issue, press ⊞ WIN + R on the keyboard to launch the Run dialog box, then close it.
Based on feedback, we are working on adding access keys to ⊞ WIN + X so that you can do things like “⊞ WIN + XM” to launch Device Manager. Insiders may see this functionality in this build, however, we are currently investigating an issue in which sometimes the option is unexpectedly unavailable.
Taskbar:
There is an issue in this build where Explorer.exe will crash when the date and time button on the Taskbar is clicked to access new notifications with Focus Assist turned off. The workaround for this is to enable Focus assist to priority or alarms mode. Note that when focus assist is turned on, notification popups won’t appear, but they will be in the notification center when opened.
The Taskbar will sometimes flicker when switching input methods.
Taskbar previews may draw partially offscreen.
Settings:
When launching the Settings app, a brief green flash may appear.
When using Quick Settings to modify Accessibility settings, the settings UI may not save the selected state.
The button to rename your PC doesn’t work in this build. If needed, this can be done using sysdm.cpl.
Settings will crash when clicking “Facial recognition (Windows Hello)” under Sign-in Settings if Windows Hello is already set up.
Reset this PC and Go back buttons in Settings > System > Recovery does not function. Reset and rollback can be accessed from the Windows Recovery Environment by selecting System > Recovery > Advanced startup, and pressing Restart now. Once in Windows Recovery, choose Troubleshoot.
Choose Reset this PC to perform a reset.
Choose Advanced options > Uninstall Updates > Uninstall latest feature update to perform a rollback.
File Explorer:
exe crashes in a loop for Insiders using the Turkish display language when the battery charge is at 100%.
When right-clicking the desktop or File Explorer, the resulting context menu and submenus may appear partially off-screen.
Clicking a desktop icon or context menu entry may result in the wrong item being selected.
Search:
After clicking the Search icon on the Taskbar, the Search panel may not open. If this occurs, restart the “Windows Explorer” process, and open the search panel again.
When you hover your mouse over the Search icon on the Taskbar, recent searches may not be displayed. To work around the issue, restart your PC.
The search panel might appear black and not display any content below the search box.
Widgets:
Widgets board may appear empty. To work around the issue, you can sign out and then sign back in again.
Launching links from the widgets board may not invoke apps to the foreground.
Widgets may be displayed in the wrong size on external monitors. If you encounter this, you can launch the widgets via touch or WIN + W shortcut on your actual PC display first and then launch on your secondary monitors.
Store:
The install button might not be functional yet in some limited scenarios.
Rating and reviews are not available for some apps.
Windows Security:
Device Security is unexpectedly saying “Standard hardware security not supported” for Insiders with supported hardware.
“Automatic sample submission” is unexpectedly turned off when you restart your PC.
Localization:
There is an issue where some Insiders may be missing some translations from their user experience for a small subset of languages running the latest Insider Preview builds. To confirm if you have been impacted, please visit this Answers forum post and follow the steps for remediation.
That's is so far, the latest update information on Windows 11 insider build. Stay tuned for more information when it comes as it comes.
You have probably heard a lot of good things about gaming mice, how they are better feeling, better in any way possible and it is all true, everything you heard is actually true, they are superior in any way to a regular mouse but with one big disadvantage, and that would be the price. While you can find a regular mouse for pocket change, a gaming mouse is in comparison very expensive even for entry-level ones.
In this article we will explore all advantages and compare it with the regular one so you can come up with your own conclusion about do you really need one for yourself or if you are fine with regular.
Price
As stated price is one factor that does not favor gaming mice. Regular mouse for a personal computer goes around 10 or 20 USD, while entry-level in gaming one will be 40 USD and can go up to 250 USD, this large gap in price is usually determining factor why people pick up regular one. If you are on a really tight budget go for the regular one, but if you can afford a gaming one get it without second thoughts.
Software
This is where you will see the big difference between mice. Regular ones when connected are recognized and the driver is automatically installed and you can use it, same goes with gaming ones but with one big difference, you have an option to install additional manufacturers' software specially tailored for your mouse. In the application, you will be able to access some features that are specific to the mouse model that you could not set in typical Windows mouse properties. Beside more options software can also have features like setting your profiles and saving them to be recalled when you need them on the fly.
Sensitivity of mouse
The sensitivity of the mouse is measured in dots per one inch or short DPI, this is directly shown on your screen by how fast your mouse can move, higher sensitivity means your mouse will move faster across the screen and lower means it will move slower. All gaming mice come with buttons and settings that will allow you to change DPI on the fly and you can choose precise DPI settings in the software.
The regular mouse comes with DPI around 800 and goes to 1200 typically and does not have usually the option to change this while gaming mice start at 400 and can go as high as 26000 with the option to change it. Some regular mice can have only 1 option of DPI, usually very cheap ones.
Polling rates in mice
Pooling rate is the measurement of how often your mouse reports where it is positioned on the computer. The higher the pooling rate, the more responsive your mouse will be and vice versa. It is measured in hertz (Hz) and regular mice have them around 125Hz that is enough if you are using a computer for office, internet, and mail work.
If you are working in design or gaming you will need more than 125Hz polling rate, luckily gaming mice come with a minimum of 500Hz as an entry point and some hi-end models are going as far as 8000Hz. This very high pooling rate will get some extra load on your CPU but the mouse itself will be maximally responsive and will respond even to the smallest moves.
Ergonomics
Regular mice are well just mice, they are typical shape and size, gaming mice are made with ergonomics in mind. How they are made for extensive daily use of several hours per day they are constructed in a way to offer a pleasant and pain-free experience.
If you work on a computer for long periods of time consider gaming an ergonomic mouse since it will take the strain from hands and place them in a more natural position.
Macro keys
Gaming mice most of the time come with more keys compared with regular ones and good thing is that via its software you can tie certain actions to these extra keys making work or gaming more pleasant and quicker.
Components and material quality
In order to make regular mice more affordable and cheaper materials and quality of components had to suffer. Gaming mice have millions of guaranteed clicks by companies that make them before they break and regular ones usually do not guarantee a single one. This is due of course quality of materials that have been used in constructing these devices.
In the long term, if you use a gaming mouse for typical daily tasks it will outlive your regular one and on the side offer you more pleasant and responsive use along the way.
As you know, the Win + X menu, which is the shortcut context menu, is a useful way to launch several utilizes in Windows such as Power Options, Windows PowerShell, Event Viewer, Device Manager, and so on. However, there are times when you might experience difficulty in identifying the required utility. This is actually a part of the Windows 10 shell that goes out of scope in the customization of Windows 10. However, there is an easy trick you can use to do that. So in this post, you will be guided on how you can rename the options in the Win + X menu in Windows 10.
In case you don’t know, the context menu is divided into three groups. Microsoft has categorized the bottom-most part as Group 1, while the middle part is categorized as Group 2 and the first part as Group 3. To rename these options, you need to use File Explorer and follow the instructions laid out below.
Step 1: First, tap the Win + E keys to open File Explorer.
Step 2: Next, navigate to this path: %LocalAppdata%MicrosoftWindowsWinX
Step 3: From there, you should see three folders as Group 1, Group 2, and Group 3. Open the appropriate folder of your choice.
Step 4: After that, right-click on the shortcut option you want to rename and then select Properties.
Step 5: Next, navigate to the Shortcut tab under the Properties window.
Step 6: Now in the text field of Comment, enter the new name of the option you selected.
Step 7: Click on the Apply and OK buttons to save the changes made.
Note: You can now either Sign back in or sign out of your Windows 10 User Account to see the result of the changes you’ve made. You could also restart the process of File Explorer via Task Manager. This will close the File Explorer as well as the shell components and then only launch the shell components again. In addition, you can check the Win + X menu to see the customized name that you’ve just set for a particular option. As you can see, even though it does not add anything extra, it is still a lot better in knowing how you can customize it.
Error Code 0x800703e3 is an error that arises on Windows 10, as well as on many of the past versions of the Windows operating system, dating back to Windows 7. It is an error that is associated with a number of different causes, and therefore, there are many different ways to attempt to resolve the error.
Common symptoms include:
Programs running slowly or locking up
Computer freezing or going to a blue screen
Report of an error message
In most cases, users experience Error Code 0x800703e3 when they attempt to install new software or upgrade their programs and operating systems on their Windows machine. Error Code 0x800703e3 is fairly simple to fix and many of the methods used do not require advanced computer skills or knowledge. However, if you have any difficulty in implementing the steps below on your device, it is recommended that you contact a qualified computer repair technician to assist you.
Solution
Error Causes
There are a number of different causes for Error Code 0x800703e3. The most common ones that Windows users experience are:
Incomplete installations interfering with system files
Outdated operating system or programs
Updates left unfinished for long periods of time
Manual cancellation of the installation process
Malware or viruses
Corrupted files in the operating system
Redundancy in the installations of a program on the device
Further Information and Manual Repair
As there are many different things that can cause Error Code 0x800703e3 to appear on your Windows device, there are many methods that you can use to attempt to resolve the error. While many of these are easy to complete for basic users, some of the methods below require familiarity with advanced computing techniques. If you have trouble using the methods below, contact a qualified Windows repair technician.
Here are the top ways to resolve Error Code 0x800703e3:
Method One: Update Your Device Drivers and Registries
The best place to start in resolving Error Code 0x800703e3 is to open up your settings for your drivers and check to see if any updates are necessary. After updating your drivers, it is important to restart your computer to allow any changes to take effect.
Secondarily, you can also run the Windows Registry Repair tool to see if there are any system files in your library that can be fixed, removed, or added automatically by the repair wizard. Again, it is important that you restart your computer after the tool has finished its scan and repair process to ensure that all necessary changes become fully active and recognized by the system.
Method Two: Check for System and Program Updates
If it has been a while since you last updated your software and operating system, open up the settings for your system updates. Always restart your computer after a system update has been completed to allow the necessary changes to take effect.
Remember that it is important to regularly update both your Windows operating system and your programs to ensure that there is not a backlog of updates to be completed. This can help to keep your computer in optimum health and eliminate future errors during installations and standard operation of your computer.
Method Three: Restore Your System
In some cases, the best way to address Error Code 0x800703e3 is to reinstall the Windows operating system on your machine. If the core issue of the error is that there is a missing or damaged system file, this is the best way to address the problem quickly and efficiently. Before you attempt to reinstall the Windows operating on your machine, make sure that all of your programs and information have been backed up in a secure manner so that you can restore these items after the installation is complete.
Method Four: Remove Recently Added Programs
If you just began to experience the error after installing a new program, try removing the new program from your machine using the “uninstall” process, then restart your computer.
If you have any difficulty in completing the above methods on your own or if the problem has not been fully resolved using these methods, get in touch with a certified Windows technician who can help you to fix the issues at hand and get your computer up and running again.
Method Five: Use An Automated Tool
If you wish to always have at your disposal a utility tool to fix these Windows 10 and other related issues when they do arise, download and install a powerful automated tool.
If you encountered an error message saying, “We couldn’t find any drives, To get a storage driver, click Load driver” when you try to install Windows in a VirtualBox machine, then you’ve come to the right place as this post will guide you in fixing this error.
This error message is displayed on the screen where you have to choose a partition to install the guest operating system. This error is most likely due to the lack of correct settings as well as a corrupted virtual disk. To fix this error, you have to remove existing storage devices, create a new storage device and select the correct ISO file.
For complete instructions, follow the given steps below.
Step_1: The first thing you have to do is remove all the existing Storage devices and since this option is already available in VirtualBox by default, there is no need for you to install any third-party software.
Step_2: After that, open VirtualBox and select the virtual machine and then click the Settings button.
Step_3: Next, switch to the Storage section and on your right-hand side, you will see “Controller: SATA” and two other sub-labels. From there, select Controller: SATA and then click on the red cross button that says, “Remove selected storage controller”.
Step_4: Now click on the Add new storage controller icon and select the “Add SATA Controller” option from the given list.
Step_5: Afterwards, click the “Add hard disk” button and select the “Create new disk” option, and then you have to create a new virtual disk for your virtual machine.
Step_6: Verify if you have selected Dynamically allocated while you create the virtual hard disk. Once the process is completed, you will get a “.vdi” file in the list.
Step_7: Next, click on the “Add optical drive” button and select the “Choose disk” option. Here, you have to select the ISO file and if you can find an ISO file in the given list, select it from there, else, you have to click the Add button and navigate to the folder where the ISO file is located.
Step_8: Once you’re done, click the OK button and boot your virtual machine. You should see options instead of the “We couldn’t find any drives, To get a storage driver, click Load driver” error message. If you see the options, you can now create a new partition and start the installation process of the Windows operating system in the VirtualBox machine without any problem.
Cortana is your personal digital assistant fully integrated into Windows 10 designed to help you make your life easier. The more you use it, the more Cortana can learn about you, and the experience becomes more personalized and accurate. It can perform a variety of tasks, and it's full of handy tricks, but perhaps one of the best features is the advanced speech recognition that enables Cortana to understand the context of a natural voice conversation.
On Windows 10, and across platforms with the Cortana app on iPhone and Android, the assistant can understand virtually any voice command and perform tasks. For example, by just speaking you can find facts, create reminders and manage your calendar, launch applications, change settings, and a lot more.
Now, if you're looking for an official list of all the voice commands Cortana supports, you'll never find it because it doesn't exist. Cortana can understand natural language and context, there's no particular set of commands to make things happen. In a sort of way, you are speaking to Cortana as you would to any other person.
Invoking Cortana
Before using voice commands, it's important to know the ways in which you can invoke Cortana using natural language:
You can click the microphone icon in the taskbar next to the Start menu.
You can use the Shift + ⊞ Windows + C keyboard shortcut to open Cortana in listening mode.
You can use the Hey Cortana feature, which lets you invoke the assistant by simply saying Hey Cortana followed by the command. For example, Hey Cortana: How's the weather?.
On Windows 10 Mobile devices, you can press and hold the search button to open Cortana in listening mode.
Comprehensive list of Cortana voice commands
The following list of commands are examples you can use to learn how to control Cortana with voice commands. Keep in mind that there isn't a specific way to speak the commands. For example, Hey Cortana: Let me listen to some tunes is the same as asking for a more systematic command like Hey Cortana: Play music.
Cortana basic voice commands:
Getting the time for any location:
"What time is it?"
"What time is in New York?" or "What time is in Greece?"
Getting weather information for any location:
"What's the weather like?"
"What's the weather in Madrid?" or "What's the weather in Slovakia?"
"When does the sun set?"
"Is it hot in Hawaii?"
"How's the weather looking for tomorrow/next week?"
Opening (Store and desktop) apps and websites:
"Open Photoshop" or "Go to Firefox"
"Open errortools.com."
Getting news information:
"Show me top headlines."
"Show me the latest news."
"Show me weather news."
"Show me Blizzard stock."
"Show me bitcoin exchange rate."
"What was the score of the last Brazil football game."
Creating a note:
"Create a note."
"Create Shopping note."
"Create Shopping note: Buy a basket of eggs"
"Take a note."
"Draft a note."
"Write a note."
Translating to a different language:
"Translate."
"Translate Hello to German"
"Translate Where is the nearest park? to Spain"
Doing math:
"What's 34% or $764.89?"
"What's 43 times 59?"
"What the square root of 26509?"
"What's 29 times 6 divided by 12?"
"Convert 6.9 cups to fluid ounces."
"How many miles are in 89 Kilometers?"
Defining a word:
"Define Space."
Tracking packages:
"Where is my package?"
"Show me my packages."
Cortana search voice commands:
Finding documents, photos, videos:
"Find photos from August 1998."
"Find cat videos."
"Find document called Collection of poems."
Searching the web:
"Search the web for Heroes of Might and magic."
Finding facts:
"How tall is Mount Everest?"
"Who is Steve Jobs?"
"When Arnold Schwarzenegger was born?"
"Who is Mercedes CEO?"
"When does spring begin?"
"What's the capital of Zimbabwe?"
"When is Thanksgiving?"
It's important to note that Cortana is capable of conversational understanding, which means that you can also ask follow-up questions without having to be very specific.
For example, if you ask Cortana: "Who is the president of the United States", you can then ask a follow-up question, such as "Who is his wife?" or "When was he born?" and the assistant should be able to answer those questions accurately.
Discovering food places nearby:
"Find food places near me."
"Find restaurants near me."
"Find bars near me."
"What's a good restaurant near me?"
"What's interesting nearby?"
"Show me Chinese restaurants near me."
"Show me Italians restaurants in Los Angeles."
Cortana health and fitness voice commands:
"How was my sleep last night?"
"What was my step count yesterday?"
"How many calories did I burn today?"
These commands require a tracking device, such as the Microsoft Band 2 to enable your fitness and health activities, and you need to connect Cortana with the Microsoft Health (Microsoft Band) service.
Cortana settings voice commands:
Opening the Settings app:
"Open Settings."
"Open Action Center."
Controlling settings:
"Turn on/off Bluetooth"
"Turn on/off Wi-Fi"
"Turn on/off Airplane Mode"
Cortana reminders voice commands:
Creating reminders:
"Remind me to wash the car."
Creating location-based reminders:
"Remind me to buy CDs next time I go to Walmart."
Creating person-based reminders:
"Remind me to ask for vacation time next time I talk to Goran."
Creating time-based reminders:
"Remind me to watch the basketball game at 6 PM."
"Remind me to buy the food for the d&d session on Sunday at 3 PM."
Viewing reminders:
"Show me my reminders."
Cortana calendar voice commands:
Viewing calendar events:
"How's my schedule looking today?"
"Show me my appointments for next week."
"When is my dentist appointment?"
Adding new calendar events:
"Add dental appointment for Monday at 2 PM."
Moving calendar events:
"Move dental appointment to Friday at 5 PM."
Cortana alarms voice commands:
Creating alarms:
"Set an alarm for next Monday at 5:30 AM."
"Set an alarm for Saturdays at 9 AM."
Viewing alarms:
"Show my alarms"
Removing alarms:
"Cancel alarm for Saturdays at 9 AM."
Cortana timer voice commands:
Creating a timer:
"Set a timer for 5 minutes."
You can only start a one-timer at one point in time. If there is a timer already running, Cortana will ask you to restart it at a new time.
Viewing timer:
"Show timer."
"How much time is left on the timer?"
Canceling timer:
"Stop timer."
Cortana location voice commands:
Knowing your exact location:
"Tell me where am I?"
Cortana messaging voice commands:
Sending text messages:
"Send a text to Milan: I'll be late for lunch today."
Sending quick emails:
"Send email to Milena: See you later tonight."
"Send email to John and Claudia: How is the project coming along?"
Cortana location voice commands:
Getting directions:
"What's the traffic like on the way home?"
"How do I get home."
"How long would it take to drive to Madison Square Garden?"
"Get me directions to Port Authority."
"How do I get from my location to Long Beach, New York?"
"How far away is the moon?"
"Show me walking directions to the nearest gas station."
"Show me public transit to 11 Times Sq, New York, NY 10036."
"Show me the map of San Francisco."
Tracking flights:
"Track flight 1056."
"Is my flight delayed?"
"Is my flight on time?"
Cortana entertainment voice commands:
Controlling music:
"Play Metallica."
"Put some Symphonic music."
"Shuffle music."
"Play and Justice for all by Metallica."
"Stop music"
"Pause music"
"Pause song."
"Play next"
"Next track"
"Skip track."
Identifying what's playing:
"What is this song?"
"What's playing?"
Movies & TV:
"What's Blade Runner run time?"
"Who was the director of Gladiator?"
"What movies are playing near me?"
"What are the showtimes for Star Trek lower decks?"
Cortana technical support voice commands:
"How do I install a printer?"
"How do I project my screen?"
"How do I change my background?"
"How do I update Windows?"
"How do I make a backup?"
"How do I change default apps?"
"How do I change Privacy?"
"How do I connect a wireless device?"
Sometimes asking a "How to do I" question will result in a web search response.
Changes and features
