Why you should upgrade your 60Hz Screen

HDMI which stands for High Definition Multimedia Interface is an audio/video interface that can be used to interconnect various multimedia devices. One of the common use for HDMI is when a CPU is connected to a monitor and a projector. Aside from that, it can also be used in connecting Blu-ray players and laptops to televisions as well as monitors. One of the main advantages of using HDMI is that it can transmit both audio and video at high qualities such as 4K using only a single connection. However, you may also experience some issues in using it every now and then and one of them is when you find that after connecting the devices using the HDMI port, the screen appears to be black and there is no audio output. In such cases, there are a variety of hardware malfunctions that could be causing the problem with the HDMI connectivity. Although there a lot of potential causes, there are also potential fixes you can try to fix the problem. Before you troubleshoot the HDMI Port problem, you might want to perform System Restore first as it might help you in fixing the problem. It could be that you’ve made some changes in some of the settings in your computer that triggered the problem. Thus, you can try run System Restore to undo them, refer to these steps:

• First, press 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 Stop error is fixed or not.

If the problem still persists after System Restore, then follow the given options below to further troubleshoot the problem.

Option 1 – Try to physically check the hardware of your computer

The first thing you can do is to check the physical status of the hardware in your computer. You can clean the dust off the hardware components like the Network Card or Graphics Card of the computer. You might want to use a small blower or you could also use a soft cloth and run the components gently. Make sure that you don’t damage any parts with moisture or cause harm to any circuits while you carry out this task.

Option 2 – Run the Video Playback troubleshooter

You might also want to run the Video Playback troubleshooter. To do so, refer to these steps:

• First, open the Windows settings app.
• Then navigate to Update & Security > Troubleshoot.
• From there, scroll down until you see the Video Playback section and click on it.
• After that, you’ll see the Run the troubleshooter button, click on it to run the Video Playback troubleshooter, and follow the next on-screen instructions.

On other hand, you can also run the Hardware and Device troubleshooter if the Video Playback troubleshooter wasn’t able to fix the problem. You can run it from the same page that you run the Video Playback troubleshooter.

Option 3 – Try to rollback, update, or disable the Graphics card drivers

To fix the problem with the HDMI port, you can either roll back, update or disable them depending on your preference in order to resolve the problem.

• First, boot your computer into Safe Mode.
• After that, tap the Win + R keys to launch Run.
• Type in devmgmt.msc into the box and tap Enter or click OK to open the Device Manager.
• After that, a list of device drivers will be displayed. From there, look for the Display Adapters and click on them.
• After that, right-click on each entry under the Display Adapters. Note that the rollback option is only available if the update was recent. So if it isn’t there, just click on the Update Driver option.
• From there, Windows will automatically check for problems and update the Graphics card drivers.
• Now restart your computer.
• After restarting your computer, go to the Settings app and Check for Updates in the Windows Update section.

Note: You also have the option to go directly to the website of your graphics card manufacturers like NVIDIA, Intel, or AMD and go to the section called Drivers then check if there’s a new available update – if there is, download and install it.

Option 4 – Try to reset the Monitor

You could also try resetting the monitor or television using its hardware keys and see if it can resolve the problem. You can just refer to your TV or monitor’s guide for more information on how to reset them.

Option 5 – Try some miscellaneous fixes

Apart from the four given options above, you can also check out some miscellaneous fixes to fix the HDMI connectivity issue and here they are:

• You can try to plug out the HDMI cord/cable from both source and destination and then plug it back in after a couple of minutes.
• You can also check if the HDMI cable you are using is still in working condition.
• You can also try to change the source and the destination of the video and see if either one of them is in a non-workable state.
• Try checking if your settings are how they should be as intended in the “Project my screen” option by tapping the Win + P key combination on your keyboard.

This post will walk you through fixing the rtwlane.sys Blue Screen error. This kind of BSOD error belongs under the category of the “DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL” Stop errors. If you encounter this kind of Stop error then it means that a kernel-mode driver tried to access pageable memory at a process IRQL that was too high. The main issue with the rtwlane.sys Blue Screen error has something to do with the Realtek PCI-E Wireless LAN PCI-E NIC driver. In other words, it has some issues with the wireless card of your computer which is built by Realtek. And since it this error concerns your wireless card, you might also experience some connectivity problems with your computer as the wireless card refuses to find any network connections and even randomly disconnects. To resolve this problem, you need to refer to the given options below.

Option 1 – Run the Blue Screen Troubleshooter

The Blue Screen troubleshooter is a built-in tool in Windows 10 that helps users in fixing BSOD errors like rtwlane.sys Blue Screen error. 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.

Option 2 – Try to update or rollback your Network driver

If you have updated the driver software as of late and you suddenly got this BSOD error, you might have to roll back the device driver – in other words, switch back to the previous working version. To do that, follow these steps:

• Tap the Win + R keys to launch the Run window and then type in the “MSC” command and hit Enter to open the Device Manager window.
• Under the Device Manager, you will see a list of drivers. From there, look for the Network Adapters and expand it.
• From the list of Network Drivers, look for “Realtek <Model> Wireless LAN 802.11n PCI-E NIC” and then right-click on it and select Update Driver.
• Restart your PC and see if it helped in fixing the BSOD error.

Note: If you see any of the following entries under the Network drivers, you might want to download their latest available versions from each one of their manufacturer’s websites.

• Realtek High-Definition (HD) Audio Driver
• Realtek Card Reader Driver
• Realtek Local Area Network (LAN) Driver

On the other hand, if updating the Network driver didn’t help, you can also try to roll back to its previous version.

• Open the Device Manager again and then look for Network Drivers.
• Next, select Realtek <Model> Wireless LAN 802.11n PCI-E NIC from the list of Network Drivers and then double click to open a new mini window.
• After that, make sure that you’re on the Driver tab and if you are not, just navigate to it then click the Roll Back Driver button to switch back to the previous version of the Realtek driver.
• Now restart your computer to successfully apply the changes made.

Option 3 – Try running the System File Checker Scan

The SFC or System File Checker scan could detect and automatically repair damaged system files that could be causing the Netwtw04.sys failed BSOD error. SFC is a built-in command utility that helps in restoring corrupted files as well as missing files. It replaces bad and corrupted system files with good system files. To run the SFC command, follow the steps given below.

• Tap Win + R to launch Run.
• Type in cmd in the field and tap Enter.
• After opening Command Prompt, type in sfc /scannow

The command will start a system scan which will take a few whiles before it finishes. Once it’s done, you could get the following results:

1. Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.
2. Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them.
3. Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them.

If you are trying to install a Feature Update in Windows 10 but you got the error code 0x80190001, then it means that there is something wrong with the installation files. The installation files are either corrupted or some of them failed to be downloaded. On the other hand, the issue might also have something to do with a driver issue. When you encounter error 0x80190001, you will see the either of following error message on your screen:

“Something went wrong Couldn’t download Windows 10, please check your network settings and try again. You can contact Microsoft support for help with this error. Here’s the error code 0x80190001”. Or: “An unexpected error was encountered while attempting to download files required for the upgrade”.

Here are some fixes that could help you resolve the error 0x80190001. Follow them carefully.

Option 1 – Run the Network Troubleshooter

As mentioned in the error message the issue might have something to do with the network settings of your computer so you can try to run the Network Troubleshooter and then try updating or installing Windows 10 again.

Option 2 – Update Network drivers

• Tap the Win + R keys to launch Run.
• Type in msc into the box and tap Enter or click OK to open the Device Manager.
• After that, look for Network Adapters from the list of device drivers displayed. Once you find it, expand it to see the Network drivers.
• Right-click on it and select the option “Uninstall device” – do the same thing for the other Network drivers.
• Restart your PC so Windows can detect and reinstall the drivers you just uninstalled.

Option 3 – Use Storage Sense to clean up temporary and junk files

• Open Setting > System > Storage from the WinX Menu.
• From there, you will see a list of all the local and connected storage devices along with the details on the free space.
• Now make sure that the Storage Sense feature is turned On then go find a link that says “Free Up Space” and click it to open.
• After that, a screen which is the built-in program in Windows 10 will appear and will scan your computer for the following junk files so you can free up disk space:
• Windows Upgrade Log Files
• The system created Windows Error Reporting Files
• Thumbnails
• Temporary Internet Files
• Previous Windows Installation Files
• Delivery Optimisation Files
• DirectX Shader Cache

Note: Once you’re done freeing up space on your drive, try to run the setup file again.

Option 4 – Delete the contents in 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. A lot of users tried deleting the files in this folder to fix the problem and so far it has worked. Like them, you can try clearing the Windows Update cache by simply deleting the contents of the folder named “SoftwareDistribution” since Windows apparently can’t clear and re-download the update contents once they are corrupted. Thus, deleting the contents of this folder will make Windows download the contents again which will fix the problem. To do that, follow the steps below.

• 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, 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.
• 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.

Option 5 – Run the Windows Update Troubleshooter

You might also want to run the Windows Update Troubleshooter as it is also known to help users resolve Windows Update errors like error 0x80190001.

Option 6 – Try to disable your antivirus program

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

Option 7 – Try to use the Media Creation tool

The Media Creation tool in Windows allows you to use the ISO installation file to make a bootable device that you can use to install Windows on your PC. Note that this is kind of different from the usual installation process as it could erase your computer’s current settings and data on the primary drive. Thus, before you proceed, you need to backup all your data into some removable drive and then use the Media Creation Tool to make a bootable drive.

• After making the bootable drive, you need to plug it into your computer and then reboot.
• Next, tap the F10 or Esc key to open the boot options.
• Now set the boot priority of the removable drive the highest. Once the setup comes forth, follow the next onscreen instructions and install Windows without any problems.

The Error Code 0x80070057 is rather typical with Win7. Customers of Win7 maintain reporting that each moment they strive to install this Operating system, it shows this problem error. Often, the total information that comes with this specific error is:

"Error Code 0x80070057: The parameter is wrong"

When this problem happens, you will end up struggling to move private documents from one person to another.

Solution

Error Causes

You could get the error message when you attempt installing Win7,

"An Internal Error has occurred. Incorrect parameters".

If this happens to you, realize that you are dealing with malfunction code 0x80070057. This error occurs mostly when you are trying to build a full backup of your Windows 7 OS.

The primary source of Error 0x80070057 is huge registry values.

Extensive registry values usually occur when you are trying to back up your Windows 7 OS. This means that you need to immediately create a bigger virtual memory space to avert the occurrence of the error.

Error Code 0x80070057 can be a result of incompatibility between the motherboard and some drivers.

Check whether the computer's motherboard and the installed drivers are compatible. If you can't do this effectively on your own, it might be a good idea to enlist the services of a qualified technician.

The Problem Signal 0x80070057 has a close Connection with RAID Installations

RAID installations have a tendency of sparking off the Error Code 0x80070057. If you experience this error while using RAID, first turn off the RAID setup and check whether that resolves the problem.

Further Information and Manual Repair

Error Code 0x80070057 is repairable. Thus, there's absolutely no cause for alarm when you see it with respect to your own Windows 7 Operating System. So what can you do to resolve it? a) Increase Virtual Memory: This is perhaps the most common solution to Error Code 0x80070057. In most cases, simply raising the virtual memory especially on Windows 7 Operating-System completely eliminates the error. Moreover, you don't have to be technically advanced to effect the change. Simply follow these steps:-

• Click the Start Button and visit Control Panel
• Click System Security, and proceed to System.
• Click the Advanced System Settings, subsequently proceed to the Advanced Level Tab.
• Click Change, which can be under the Virtual Memory
• Change the virtual memory value. For instance, you can customize entirely from 2000MB to 6000MB.
• Click Set, then Ok. You are done

As with each additional change you make with respect to your Computer, you will have to conclude by re-booting it. This way you make certain that they'll stay as you've established them and apply the necessary modifications. If the error still persists after attempting the preceding fix, download a registry-cleaning software. The software will clean up your disk and free up memory thus increasing the available virtual memory for your computer. This should solve your persistent Error Code 0x80070057.

As you know, USB is now being widely used in all devices with USB A as the leading type with most devices based on it. Peripheral devices such as Pen Drives, External Hard disks, and many more also use a USB port. On the other hand, USB C is also coming up to be the next big standard in the computing world because of its high transfer speeds, wider compatibility as well as support for external Graphics Processing Units. However, just recently, USB 3.0 ports have been reported to cause the following error to pop up on Windows 10 computers every time a USB device is plugged in.

“Not enough USB controller resources. The controller does not have enough resources for this device.”

To fix this error, here are some guidelines you can check out. Make sure to follow them carefully.

Option 1 – Try to use a lower generation USB port

The first thing you can do is to try using a lower generation USB port as this issue mostly occurs when a device is connected to a USB 3,0 port. This means that you have to plug in your device to a USB 2.0 port and then see if it fixes the error or not. You can easily decipher a USB 3.0 port from a USB 2.0 port as the former is in blue.

Option 2 – Try to use a dock

You could also try to use a dock to resolve the error. Note that when too much power on laptops and notebooks are drawn from the USB ports and as a USB 3.0 port draws more power compared to a USB 2.0 port. Thus, if you plug in your USB storage device into a USB 2.0 port with the help of a dock, it should fix the problem.

Option 3 – Try disabling the xHCI Mode option in the BIOS

• First, boot your computer into the BIOS.
• Once your computer has booted, go to the Advanced tab.
• Next, make sure that the entry for “xHCI Pre-boot mode” is set to Disabled under the USB Configuration section.
• Now save the changes you’ve made and then restart your computer to Windows 10 and see if the error is now fixed.

Option 4 – Update or reinstall the Universal Serial Bus Controller driver

Since it could be a driver issue, you can try to update or reinstall the Universal Serial Bus Controller drivers using the Device Manager. Refer to the following 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, especially the Generic USB Hub driver, and then select the Update Driver from the menu.
• Restart your PC and then click the “Search automatically for updated driver software” option.

Note: If updating the USB Controller drivers didn’t work, you can try to reinstall them instead.

Option 5 – Run the Hardware and Devices Troubleshooter

You could also run the Hardware and device Troubleshooter to try and fix the “Not enough USB controller resources” error.

• 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.

One of the most basic and commonly used features in the Windows operating system is the copy and paste feature that helps users accomplish tasks in a faster and easier way. However, if you notice that it’s not working properly for some reason, then this post might be of help as it will provide you with options you can check out to resolve the problem. You can encounter this kind of problem with the copy and paste feature if some system files are corrupted or if there’s some third-party application or process that interferes with this function. Worry not though for there are some options you can check out to fix this. You can try to restart the rdpclip.exe process or the explorer.exe process. You could also try to reinstall the program where you encountered the issue with the Copy and Paste function. In addition, you could try clearing the clipboard history or run the built-in tools like the DISM tool and SFC scan. You could also troubleshoot the problem in a Clean Boot State or use the Refresh Windows tool. For more information, refer to each one of the options below.

Option 1 – Try to restart the rdpclip.exe and the explorer.exe processes

The first thing you can do to resolve the problem is to restart certain processes namely, the rdpclip.exe process and the explorer.exe process via Task Manager.

• First, right-click on your Taskbar and select the Task Manager.
• Next, look for the rdpclip.exe process and right-click on it, and select the End process option.
• After that, click on the File tab > Run new task and then type “rdpclip.exe” and tap Enter.
• This should help fix the problem. If not, you could also try to restart the explorer.exe process – just look for the explorer.exe process in the Task Manager and right-click on it, and then select the Restart option.

Option 2 – Try reinstalling the concerned program

If you only experience this issue on a particular program, you might want to uninstall this program and install it back again, and then see if it fixed the problem or not.

Option 3 – Try to clear the clipboard history

You could also try clearing the clipboard history as it has been known to help in fixing this kind of issue. You can clear the clipboard history using the command line.

• Tap the Win + R keys to launch the Run dialog box and type “cmd” in the field and hit Enter to open Command Prompt.
• Next, execute this command: echo off | clip
• After that, check if the Copy and Paste function is now working properly or not.

Option 4 – Try running the DISM tool

You can run the DISM tool as well to help fix the “Tile Database is corrupt” error. Using this built-in tool, you have various options such as the “/ScanHealth”, “/CheckHealth”, and “/RestoreHealth”.

• Open the Command Prompt with admin privileges.
• Then type in the following commands and make sure to hit Enter right after you type each one of them:
  • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
  • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
  • DISM.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.
• Once it’s done, check if it was able to fix the corrupted Start Menu or not.

Option 5 – Try to run System File Checker or SFC scan

• Tap Win + R to launch Run.
• Type in cmd in the field and tap Enter.
• After opening Command Prompt, type in sfc /scannow and hit Enter.
• Once done, restart your computer.

Option 6 – Restart your computer in a Clean Boot State

If a third party program like antivirus is the one that’s causing the problem, you can try to put your computer in a Clean Boot State to isolate the issue by following these steps:

• 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 your device or copy the files to your external device again and check if the problem with the Copy and Paste function is fixed.

MSI.chm error is a common Windows Error code that occurs when the Windows OS becomes overloaded with invalid system references.

Solution

Error Causes

The MSI.chm error is normally triggered by the following causes:

• Poor PC maintenance

You may experience the MSI.chm error if you don’t pay attention to its maintenance. This usually happens when you don’t run antivirus software or update programs and drivers frequently.

• Registry files get corrupt and damaged

This error may also occur when the registry files of your PC get corrupt and damaged. This normally happens due to continuous writing, editing and deleting of information from your PCs registry over time as programs are installed, modified and deleted. Other causes include: malware and system conflicts.

Further Information and Manual Repair

When you come across the MSI.chm error on your PC, it is advisable to repair it immediately without any delays. If you procrastinate in repairing this error, your PC is likely to be exposed to risks like:

• Slow PC performance
• System failure and crashes

Nonetheless, to resolve this error you don’t have to get the assistance of an IT professional. The MSI.chm is easy to repair and you can resolve it in no time even if you aren’t technically adept. Here are some of the best ways to repair the MSI.chm error on your PC successfully in the shortest time:-

Cause: Corrupt and Damaged Registry Files

Quick Fix: If you think the MSI.chm Windows error on your system is related to Windows registry issues, then the best way to resolve this error is to download and install a Registry cleaner tool.  A word of advice here is to always download such tools from a reliable and a trusted website. Once you download the Restoro, run it on your PC to scan for errors. The scanning will usually take a couple of minutes. So, it is advisable to be patient. After the scanning is complete, you will see a detailed scanning report highlighting the registry errors on your PC. Now to resolve the MSI.chm error that has occurred on your PC due to registry issues, click on the ‘Repair’ button to fix the error. Once the repairing process is complete, restart your PC. Restoro helps you not only fix the MSI.chm error but it also helps improve the speed of your PC, and protects it from failure and crashes.

Cause: Poor PC Maintenance

Quick Fix: If the cause of the MSI.chm error is poor PC maintenance, then the best way to resolve the error is to update the drivers. You can do this by installing the latest drivers for the devices that you think are now old and need to be updated. Here’s what you need to do: First find which devices don’t have drivers installed. For this go to the start menu and then click on the Control Panel. Now open the Device Manager. The Device Manager will list down all the devices that don’t have drivers installed with yellow exclamation point icons next to the device name. As for the updates, the general rule of thumb if the driver does not support the program you are trying to run, then this means that you probably need to update the driver to ensure compatibility. For example your video card driver does not support a newly launched game, then you definitely need a driver update to play the game on your PC. To install or update drivers on your PC, you can either get CDs from the market or you can download updated versions of the drivers from the main manufacturer’s website for free. You can also use automated solution for all of your driver issues: So, next time when you or your friends encounter this problem, try these quick fixes to repair the error without any hassle.

If you are running a System File Checker scan but got an error message instead that says, “There is a system repair pending which requires reboot to complete, Restart Windows and run SFC again”, worry not for this post will walk you through how you can fix the problem. This kind of error can be addressed and fixed with several potential fixes which will be provided in this post. You can try to restart your computer and run a System File Checker scan again or delete the pending .xml file or use the “revertpendingactions” parameter for the DISM tool. For more information, refer to each one of the options given below.

Option 1 – Try restarting your computer and run the SFC again

The first thing you can do to fix the problem is to restart your computer and let the pending process be completed. After your computer restarted, try to run System File Checker again and see if the error is now fixed or not. If not, refer to the other options below.

Option 2 – Try deleting the pending .xml file

The next thing you can do to fix the problem is to delete the pending .xml file. How? All you have to do is navigate to this location at CWindowsWinSxS and from there, look for a pending .xml file and rename it or delete it. This will get rid of any pending tasks and will build a fresh new check.

Option 3 – Try to use the “revertpendingactions” parameter for the DISM tool

If the two options given above didn’t work, you can try using the revertpendingactions parameter for the DISM tool. If you’re not able to boot into Windows, then run Command Prompt from the Recovery Console and execute the given command below.

dism.exe /image:C: /cleanup-image /revertpendingactions

After you execute the command, restart your computer and try to run System File Checker again and see if it has fixed the problem or not.

Error Code 0xc004f050 – What is it?

Error code 0xc004f050 refers to a problem with activating the Windows key. The problem appears when you try to activate a copy of Windows by using Windows Activation wizard. This happens when the system becomes unstable and critical system files start missing. Though Windows 10 is a free upgrade for Windows 7/Windows 8/Windows 8.1 users, the activation error is still an issue. If you already had Windows 7/Windows 8/Windows 8.1 activated and did an upgrade successfully, then there should be no problem. This Problem Occurs only when you do a clean install.

Symptoms

When you try to activate a copy of Windows Vista or Windows 7 by using the Windows Activation wizard, you receive an error similar to the one below:

An error has occurred Code: 0xC004F050 Description: The Software Licensing Service reported that the product key is invalid

Solution

Error Causes

• This causes due to an invalid product key.
• This problem may occur if the license validity interval has expired, or if the license is not signed correctly.
• Error Code 0xc004f050 occurs when the system becomes unstable and critical system files start missing.
• Improper way of installing, deletion of some very important system files, misconfigured system files, etc. may also cause this error.
• When you do a clean install, it wipes everything from the Primary Drive and after the install, windows can't find the Hardware ID which is used to verify your license.
• For Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Vista-based computers, this error may occur if you have entered the key for a beta version of the operating system while using the released version of the operating system.

Further Information and Manual Repair

This error is not something that can be fixed in seconds but will require some time and technical knowledge.

Method 1:

Re-insert the product key by using the Change Product Key tool:

1. Click Start, click Computer, and then click System properties on the toolbar.
2. In the Windows activation section, click Change product key.
3. If you are prompted for an administrator password, type the password or click Continue.
4. In the Product key box, type the product key, and then click Next.
5. Follow the steps in the Windows Activation Wizard to complete the activation process.

Method 2:

Activate Windows by using the automated telephone system:

1. Click Start, and then click Computer.
2. Click System properties on the toolbar, and then click Click here to activate Windows now in the Windows activation
3. If you are prompted for an administrative password, type it and click Continue.
4. Click Show me other ways to Activate.
5. Click Use the automated phone system and follow the instructions.

Method 3:

1. Clean install Windows 7/Windows 8/Windows 8.1 using the installation disk and activate your copy.
2. Now, download all the updates to see the Windows 10 Upgrade notification or download Windows Media Creation Tool and use the option Upgrade this PC to get Windows 10 right away.
3. Once the upgrade is done, check the Activation Status. It will be fully activated as it should be. The Error code 0xc004f050 should not appear anymore.

If you want to get rid of the old Windows installation folder, then use the Windows Media Creation Tool to create a Flash Drive. Clean Install Windows 10. Now, every time when it asks for a product key, skip it. After installation is complete, Windows will automatically identify and activate your Copy. NOTE: Clean Install will make Sure you cannot roll back to your previous Windows 7 or Windows 8. So do it only if you are confident of using Windows 10 from here on. To verify the Windows activation status, follow these steps:

• Click the Start button, and then click Computer.
• Click System properties on the toolbar, and then view the activation status in the Windows activation section.

Recently, a number of Windows 10 users reported that they were not able to use Cortana properly because it wasn’t able to connect to the internet. According to these users, Cortana won’t connect to the internet even when their internet connection is stable. According to security experts, this issue is confirmed to occur only with Microsoft accounts. This problem might have something to do with a proxy server that interferes with Cortana. There were reports that this issue was caused by a proxy that was filtering the network connection which also happens to interfere with Cortana’s ability to adapt search results and queries based on the user’s location. It could also be caused by some glitch in the home network or your Microsoft account information is inconsistent or your Microsoft account has to be verified. Here are some suggestions that could help fix the connection issue in Cortana, just start with the first one and work your way down until you encounter an option that fixes the problem.

Option 1 – Restart or reset your modem or router

The first thing you can try is restarting or resetting your modem or router. All you have to do is unplug the power cable of the modem and then plug it back in after a few seconds. You could also use the reset button of the modem at the back if it is one. But before you press the reset button, keep in mind that it will erase all the connection credentials and it will be set back to its default settings. After rebooting the network, you can restart your computer to force your modem or router to reassign an IP address to your computer.

Option 2 – Restart Cortana

Restarting Cortana can help you resolve the issue.

• To restart Cortana, open the Task Manager, right-click on Cortana and select the “End process” option.
• Then go to the File tab and select “Run new task”.
• After that, type in “cortana.exe” and press Enter to restart the process.

Option 3 – Try to remove Proxy

Removing the Proxy might also help you in fixing the connection issue in Cortana. Here’s how you can do it:

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

Note: If you are using a third-party proxy service, you have to disable it.

Option 4 – Open another app that uses a Microsoft account

This might seem like an odd fix, however, a couple of users tried doing this and it worked for them as it allowed Cortana to connect to the internet again. In this option, you just have to launch another app that uses your Microsoft account information in the same way as Cortana, for instance, the Store app. Once you open the app, a prompt should appear along with a dialog box that allows you to update your Microsoft account with the information required. After that, restart your computer and check if Cortana is now able to connect to the internet or not.

Option 5 – Verify your Microsoft account

In some cases, Cortana might not be able to connect to the internet because your Microsoft account is no longer verified. This usually happens when you use a two-step authentication system with your Microsoft account. To verify it, just open Settings and click on Accounts. After that, check if you have a Verify hyperlink under your Microsoft account or not then click on Verify. Afterward, follow the next on-screen prompts to verify your Microsoft account. Once your account is verified, restart your computer.

Option 6 – Reset Cortana settings

• Open Cortana and go to the Settings section where you’ll see the “Turning off Cortana clears what Cortana knows on this device, but won’t delete anything from the Notebook. After Cortana is off, you can decide what you’d like to do with anything still stored in the cloud” option. Turn this option off.
• Restart your PC.
• After your computer boots, launch Cortana again and check.