Fix GDI32.DLL error in Windows 10

If Error Code 0xc00000e9 appears on your screen, there is no cause to panic yet as there are different ways to fix this. Here, I will list down different methods to get your computer back on track:

1. Check peripheral connections
2. Check your SATA cables
3. Check your hard drive
4. Check your BIOS settings

Quick Fix 1. Check Peripheral Connections

1. Turn off your computer.
2. After the computer has been shut down, take off all the peripherals or the USB cables that are connected to your USB ports. This includes even the keyboard and the mouse. We just need to have only the monitor plugged in for this one.
3. Turn on your computer and see if it starts as it normally does.
4. If it does, try connecting back your external devices or peripherals one by one until you find the one that causes the error.
5. Once you trace the device that’s causing the error, you will have to change its USB cable and update its driver to support your operating system.

Quick Fix 2. Check your SATA cables

It is possible that what causes a barrier between your operating system and your hard drive from communicating is the SATA cable used. For example, if you’re using an older SATA with a SATA III port, there might not be adequate support for the transfer of data from one another. Or, the problem might be a loose SATA cable which would still require you to buy a new one to replace your loose or damaged cable. To check if your SATA cables are causing the error, simply follow these steps:

1. Turn off your computer.
2. Carefully open its case.
3. Check the hard drive and the SATA port where it’s connected.
4. Try to use a newer cable and connect it to your SATA port. (If you used a SATA II cable, you can see if a SATA III cable is more compatible.)
5. Replace your SATA cable with a newer one if Step 4 proves to be successful.

Quick Fix 3. Check your hard drive.

1. Try to use a different hard drive and see if error code 0xc00000e9 still appears.
2. If it works out just fine, then the problem might be physical damage to your hard drive and would need to be repaired depending on the case. Just simply take it to a technician and let him know about the issue.

Quick Fix 4. Check your BIOS settings

1. Restart your computer.
2. Once your computer starts, press and hold the ESC, F2, F12, or DEL key to go to BIOS settings.
3. You will then be redirected to the BIOS Setup Utility screen. From here, go to Boot options.
4. In the Boot Options, see if your first boot device is your hard drive. If it isn’t, press the arrow key to select the hard drive and move it to the top of the boot device list.
5. Save the settings.
6. Reboot your computer.

Note: If all the methods above do not work, the problem might be on your drivers and you might need to update them. You can update your driver in two ways: Manual driver update and Automatic driver update. You can find procedures online in updating your drivers.

Keyboard shortcuts are undeniably one of the most utilized ways and are helpful in maximizing productivity through the various applications at top speed in Windows 10. It offers the option to create custom keyboard shortcuts that allow users to launch apps, and even websites, instantly. There are already tons of keyboard shortcuts that are built-in in Windows 10 but in case you don’t know, you can actually create new ones. Doing so is not a difficult task and in this post, you will be guided on how you can exactly create custom keyboard shortcuts in your Windows 10 computer. Most users would create desktop shortcuts or pin the apps in the taskbar to speed up the process of working on their computers. It is an easy task to do since you can easily do it by dragging an app from the Start Menu to the desktop or by simply right-clicking on the executable app and selecting the “Create Shortcut” option. However, doing so would take physical effort and there are times when you have to minimize all the apps to get to the desktop so you can click the shortcut and this is where the Custom Keyboard Shortcuts come in handy. You can create Custom Keyboard Shortcuts in Windows 10 for various programs – from the traditional desktop apps to the new universal apps – you can fling in a shortcut so that you can instantly open them faster compared to when doing it manually and besides this also wouldn’t affect any of the ongoing system activity. To get started, you need to follow the steps provided below carefully.

To add Custom Keyboard hotkeys to a program and website desktop shortcuts, here’s what you have to do:

Step 1: First, you have to right-click on the app or website and select Properties. Step 2: After that, go to the Shortcut tab and from there, you will see the “Shortcut key” textbox which allows you to enter a new or custom keyboard shortcut for the app or website. Step 3: In the textbox field, input your preferred letters to set up the new hotkey. Keep in mind that this custom shortcut has to be combined with the Ctrl + Alt keys which means that if you want to select “N”, you have to tap the Ctrl + Alt + N keys. Step 4: Once done, click on the Apply and OK buttons to save the changes made and then close the window. Step 5: After that, tap the newly created keyboard shortcut, Ctrl + Alt + N keys again to open the app or website you’ve set up earlier.

To add Custom Keyboard hotkeys to a desktop app or an independent program that can be installed using direct download, here’s what you have to do:

Step 1: First, open the Start Menu and look for the icon/tile of the required app in the menu. However, if you are not able to find the desired app, then just click on the All Apps option to navigate through all the apps that are installed on your PC. Step 2: Once you find the app, just right-click on it and select More and then click on the “Open file location” option. Step 3: This will open a new window with the shortcut icon. Right-click on the app’s shortcut icon and select Properties. Step 4: This will open the Properties window where you can add the shortcut combination. Keep in mind that just like the previous method, the custom shortcut has to be combined with the Ctrl + Alt keys. For instance, if you select E, then you also have to set a keyboard shortcut that includes Ctrl + Alt, so it will be, Ctrl + Alt + E. Step 5: Once you’re done, click on the Apply and OK buttons to save the changes made. You should now be able to use the custom shortcut key you’ve set.

As you know, Windows has a built-in Automatic Maintenance feature that takes care of important tasks such as security scanning and updating, Windows software updates, Disk Defragmentation, System Diagnostics, Disk Volume Errors, and many more. So if you receive an error message saying, “Windows is unable to run automatic maintenance, The maintenance schedule is unavailable”, then this post will guide you in what you can do to resolve this issue. Here are some suggestions you can try if the Automatic Maintenance in your Windows 10 PC is not able to run.

Option 1 – Enable Automatic Maintenance

It is possible that Automatic Maintenance has been disabled so you can try enabling Automatic Maintenance on your Windows 10 PC. To do so, follow these steps:

• Go to Control Panel.
• From there, select System and Security > Security and Maintenance > Automatic Maintenance.
• After that, set the time you want to run the Automatic Maintenance and then check the checkbox saying, “Allow scheduled maintenance to wake up my computer at the scheduled time”.
• Click OK to save the changes.

On the other hand, you can also enable Automatic Maintenance via the Registry Editor. But before you proceed, you need to create a System Restore Point first.

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• After that, type “Regedit” in the field and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor.
• Navigate to the following path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionScheduleMaintenance

• Next, look for the “MaintenanceDisabled” key and then double click on it to open it and then set its value to “0”.
• Click OK and exit the Registry Editor.
• Restart your computer.

Option 2 – Check the Task Scheduler Services status

Majority of the tasks in Windows 10 run via services. So it is most likely that either the Service has been stopped or is set to the manual which is why Windows is unable to run Automatic Maintenance. Thus, you need to change it to automatic mode.

• Tap the Win + R keys to open Run.
• Type “services.msc” in the field and hit Enter to open Services.
• Next, look for the Task Scheduler service and tap the T key on your keyboard which should take you to the services that start with T.
• Double click on the Task Scheduler service and select the Automatic option under the Startup Type.
• If it is not started yet, click on the Start button.
• Then click Apply and OK to save the changes.

Option 3 – Check the Status in Task Scheduler

You can also try checking the status in the Task Scheduler. Just open the Task Scheduler > Task Scheduler Library > Microsoft > Windows > TaskScheduler. From there, make sure that Idle Maintenance, Maintenance Configurator, and Regular Maintenance are enabled.

Option 4 – Run the System File Checker

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

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

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

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

Option 5 – Run the DISM tool

The DISM tool is another command-line tool in the Windows operating system that could help users fix various corrupted system files. To use it, follow these steps:

• Open the Command Prompt as admin.
• Then type in this command: DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
• The DISM command you entered will repair the corrupted system image. Do not close the window if the process takes a while as it will probably take a few minutes to finish.
• Restart your PC.

Error Code 0xc0000142, What is it?

Error code 0xc0000142 is an error code that affects Windows 10 users. It often occurs when users attempt to run Windows applications. The message in the application error box allows users to recognize the error as it states that “the application was unable to start correctly (0xc0000142).” Common symptoms of this error code include the following:

• Inability to start applications
• Inability to completely run Windows applications
• The appearance of error code 0xc0000142 message box

Error Causes

Error code 0xc0000142 in Windows 10 is often caused by issues related to startup programs, corrupted files or other applications. To address this issue, the source of the issue needs to be located. But how will users be able to do this while the error code is present?

Further Information and Manual Repair

To fix error code 0xc0000142 users will need to employ at least one manual repair procedure. This may include checking your system for corrupt files through tools like Microsoft’s System File Checker (SFC). If you are uncertain of your skills or prefer to get professional support, contact a Windows repair technician to assist you.

The top three methods to resolve error code 0xc0000142 include the following:

Method One: Perform a Clean Boot

A clean boot is one of the most basic procedures you can run to solve a Windows-based error code of this nature. It works by identifying whether or not conflict among startup programs is preventing Windows applications from running properly. This occurs through a clean boot process involving Windows using a minimal set of drivers and startup programs when you reboot.

Here is what you’ll need to do:

• Step one: Go to Start and type msconfig
• Step two: Right-click and select System Configuration
• Step three: Select Service tab and click Hide all Microsoft Services then click Disable all.
• Step four: Click Startup tab within the System Configuration dialog box.
• Step five: Select Open Task Manager
• Step six: Within the Startup tab of Task Manager, select Disable for each Startup item, then close Task Manager.
• Step seven: Click OK on the Startup tab of System Configuration.
• Step eight: Restart your computer.

This method resolves software conflict arising when you attempt to update, run a program or simply use your operating system. However, if error code 0xc0000142 remains unresolved after you restart your machine, follow the next step below.

Method Two: Run a System File Checker Scan

System File Checker (SFC) is a utility tool built into the Windows 10 operating system, as well as other versions of Windows, to detect and repair corrupted system files. Since corrupted system files can result in error code 0xc0000142, run this tool by following the steps below:

• Step one: Go to Start and type Command Prompt or CMD.
• Step two: Right-click and select Administrator
• Step three: Check for and repair corrupted system files. Simply type sfc /scannow. (Be sure to place a space between “sfc” and “/scannow”).

Once these procedures are followed, the System File Checker tool will automatically scan your machine, and find and repair corrupted files. If this is the source or underlying cause of error code 0xc0000142 on your system, the error code will be resolved. However, if the source of the issue is not due to corruption in our system or is simply a more complicated issue try the next method highlighted below.

A lot of programs in Windows utilize the helper processes to ensure that they can get the job done as early as possible. And one of the programs that use these processes is Microsoft Edge. This built-in browser uses a process called the Edge Content process. The moment you start your computer, these system processes are loaded which makes the Edge browser load faster. To be specific, these are the three processes that are related to Microsoft Edge:

• MicrosoftEdge.exe
• MicrosoftEdgeCP.exe
• MicrosoftEdgeSH.exe

The process that ends with the “CP.exe” is the content process in Edge. However, when this process stopped working, this can affect the Edge browser. In such cases, when you check the Reliability Monitor, you will see that the state of the “Microsoft Edge Content Process” is “Stopped working” which keeps on appearing. To resolve this issue, you can try to clear the browsing data of Microsoft Edge or repair or reset it. You can also try re-registering Edge via Windows PowerShell as well as check your security programs that might be causing interference with the process.

Option 1 – Clear the browsing data of Microsoft Edge

• Open Microsoft Edge.
• Then click on the three horizontal dots to open the menu.
• From there, click on Settings. And under Settings, click the “Choose what to clear” button under the Clear browsing data section.
• Next, check all the checkboxes and then click the Clear button to clear the browsing data in the Edge browser.
• Restart Edge.

Option 2 – Try to reset, repair or reinstall Edge via Settings

You can reset, repair or reinstall the Edge browser through Settings. If none of it helped, you can try the following:

• Open File Explorer and then go to this path – C:/Users/YourUsername/AppData/Local/Packages

Note: Before you type in the path in the Address bar, make sure that you put your user account name in place with the “YourUsername”.

• Tap Enter to proceed.
• Next, look for the folder named “MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe” then right-click on it.
• Click on Properties and uncheck the option “Read-only” under the General tab in the Properties window.
• Click on Apply and then OK to save the changes made.
• After that, look for the MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe folder again and delete it. And if a prompt stating “Folder Access Denied” appears on your screen, just click on the Continue button to proceed – doing so will delete most of the content inside the folder except for the folder named “AC”.
• Restart your computer

Option 3 – Re-register Edge via Windows PowerShell

• In the Start Menu, search “Windows PowerShell”.
• Right-click on Windows PowerShell from the search results and select the “Run as administrator” option.
• Type in this command in the PowerShell windows and tap Enter – Cd C:/Users/YourUsername
• After that, type in this command and tap Enter – Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)AppXManifest.xml" -Verbose}
• Restart your PC.

Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)AppXManifest.xml” -Verbose}

Option 4 – Try to check your security program

It is possible that a security program installed in your computer is the one that’s causing the problem which is why you have to check it. According to security experts, there are some security programs that could be detecting the Edge’s content process as suspicious, blocking or terminating it as a result. Thus, you need to modify your security program’s settings to fix the problem.

In today’s world and age, there are some essential IT skills that basically everyone should know. No matter in what field you are working some skills are just needed in order to function properly in the work. So, without further ado let's dive into what are these essential IT skills everyone, even your grandmother should know.

5 Essential IT skills everybody should know

1. Word processing

   No matter are you creating or editing business documents or just trying to help a friend or relative, word processing skill is an essential asset and requirement in today’s age. Writing anything on a bunch of paper is time-consuming, papers can get lost, and searching for a particular item inside a bunch of papers is not a really enjoyable experience. A much easier solution is to write, format, and keep everything on the computer and almost all employers are asking for this skill.

2. Send and using emails

   Today we live in the digital age and most communication is done in real-time via messaging apps and file sharing is done via file-sharing services. Despite mentioned technology, many files are shared and sent through emails. When a message is too long or complex when it needs to have some attachment or to be kept in archive emails are the way to go and therefore using email is a must-have essential skill.

3. Using search engines

   When talking about using search engines we really do not think about firing up your favorite browser, going into the search engine,s and typing cat pictures. What we think is that a person should know how to use a search engine properly, tweak its search options, and phrase words and sentences to find everything he or she needs.

4. Doing data work

   Data entry and data calculations have been made easier than ever thanks to today's technology. Microsoft excel, libre office calc, google sheets, etc. are all capable of performing a great variety of calculations and keeping track of plenty of required data. This skill is often asked by employers as an essential one.

5. Cyber security

   Each employee or person, in general, should be quite aware of various scams and best practices to keep itself safe in this digital world. We have several articles on this topic and there are a great variety of articles on the internet as well.

Conclusion

No matter are you young or old, employed or looking for a job, these skills are a must-have in today’s world.  There are a lot of great tutorials online on these various topics and I am sure that your knowledgeable friend or cousin would be happy to help and show you how to do all of these things.

When performing a Windows Backup to the NAS device (backup to a network share) that is running Samba, fails with an error message The backup failed, The version does not support this version of the file format (0xC03A0005). The problem occurs because of a conflict with the VHD file that is created by Windows Backup and is mounted during the process. There are three types of VHD files:

1. Fixed,
2. Expandable
3. Differencing

If the VHD file is a sparse file that is not supported by the native VHD driver, the mounting will fail, and you will get this error. An example VHD file is one that keeps expanding depending on the backup size. The problem occurs only in the case of  File Level backup (file/folders in a volume) but not on the block level backup as the vhd file is never mounted. However, in the case of File Level Backup, the vhd is mounted, created by Windows Backup, which does not support the mounting of sparse files.

The solution is to use Strict Allocate: option in the smb.conf file

Login to SMB using SSH. Open the configuration file using the VI editor located at /etc/samba/smb.conf. If the option is not there, you can manually add strict allocate = yes which will make sure there are no sparse file that is created.

As you know, Microsoft Store is the ultimate source of applications for Windows 10 devices and it’s turning to be the hub for various applications. In fact, aside from applications, it has also become a source for movies, books, TV and even buying hardware directly from Microsoft and many more. Although downloading goes smoothly most of the time, depending on your internet connection, there are also times when you might experience slow download speeds while downloading apps and other things in the Microsoft Store. There are several factors that could be causing this kind of issue. It can be due to the Microsoft Store app itself or it could be enforced speed limiter on the application or it could be due to a corrupted Microsoft Store cache, or it could be due to the Windows Update service running in the background, and so on. To fix this problem, you can try to reset the Microsoft Store cache, or set the bandwidth limit for downloads, or try to re-register the Microsoft Store app via Windows PowerShell. Before you proceed with the troubleshooting options provided below, make sure that your internet connection is stable enough to download apps and games. You also have to check if there is an update or a massive download in progress. Once you have these things covered, follow the given options below.

Option 1 – Try to reset the Microsoft Store cache

Just like browsers, Microsoft Store also caches as you view apps and games so it is most likely that the cache is no longer valid and must be removed. To do so, follow the steps below.

• Right-click on the start button and click on Command Prompt (administrator).
• Next, type in the command, “exe” and tap Enter. Once you do, the command will clear the cache for the Windows Store app.
• Now restart your PC and afterward, try opening Microsoft Store again and then try to install your app or update your computer again.

Option 2 – Try to set the bandwidth limit for downloads

• Tap the Win + I key combination to open the Windows Settings app.
• After that, navigate to Update & security > Windows Update.
• From there, select the Advanced options located on the right-side panel.
• Next, select Delivery Optimization and check the box for “Limit how much bandwidth is used for downloading updates in the background under the Download settings section and then set the slider to 100%.

Option 3 – Try to re-register the Microsoft Store app via Windows PowerShell

• Tap the Win + X key combination or right-click on the Start button and click on the Windows PowerShell (Admin) option.
• If a User Account Control or UAC prompt appears, just click on Yes to proceed and open the Windows PowerShell window.
• Next, type in or copy-paste the following command to re-register the Microsoft Store app and tap Enter:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register $Env:SystemRootWinStoreAppxManifest.xml

• Wait for the process to be completed and then restart your computer.

One of the great remote assistance software that helps you remotely access and control computers is TeamViewer. However, despite how efficient it is, there are still times when it throws up some errors and one of them is when TeamViewer is not able to connect and throws an error that says, “No connection to partner, Partner did not connect to router, Error Code WaitforConnectFailed”. This kind of error in TeamViewer mostly occurs when the Partner computer is not connected to a network. On the other hand, it could also occur when they are connected to a network so there are various causes for this issue. It could also be that the installation of the program itself was at fault or there is an incompatibility between the TeamViewer versions installed on both the computers and so on. Although there are several causes for this error, the potential fixes are still the same. You can try to restart the network or allow Full Access Control to TeamViewer or flush the DNS cache. For more information, refer to the following options but before you proceed, make sure that both your Windows 10 computer and TeamViewer program are updated to their latest stable versions.

Option 1 – Reboot your router

The first thing you can try to do to fix the error is to simply restart your router. All you need to do is reboot the router from its Admin panel or you can also turn it off manually and turn it back on after a couple of seconds so that it can completely reboot. Once you’re done, try accessing your server again and see if the error is now fixed.

Option 2 – Allow Full Access Control to TeamViewer

• First, open TeamViewer, and then from the Menu bar, click on Extras.
• After that, click on Options and select Advanced from the left side navigation panel.
• Next, click on the “Show advanced options” button located on the right-hand side.
• Then select Full Access from the drop-down menu of the Access Control option under the “Advanced settings for connection to this computer section”.
• Now click OK and check if the error is now fixed or not.

Option 3 – Try to flush the DNS configuration

You could also try to flush the DNS configuration in your computer to fix the error. How? Refer to these steps:

• Tap the Win + X key combination and click on the Command Prompt (Admin) option or you could also search “cmd” in the Cortana search box and right-click on Command Prompt from the search results and select the “Run as administrator” option.
• After opening Command Prompt with admin privileges, enter each one of the commands given below sequentially in order to flush the DNS cache.
  • ipconfig/release
  • ipconfig/renew
  • ipconfig/flushdns
• Now type the exit command to close Command Prompt and then restart your computer and see if the problem is fixed.

On the other hand, you could also try to reset Winsock as well as the TCP/IP.

Option 4 – Run the Network Adapter troubleshooter

To run the Network Troubleshooter, refer to these steps:

• Open the Search bar on your computer and type in “troubleshoot” to open the Troubleshoot settings.
• Next, scroll down and select the “Network Adapter” option from the right pane.
• Then click on the Run Troubleshooter” button.
• After that, your computer will check for any possible errors and will pinpoint the root cause of the problem if possible.
• Restart your computer.

Option 5 – Try to perform Network Reset

You might perform a Network Reset to resolve the problem if none of the four given options worked. This will reset the entire network configuration including your IP address. To perform Network Reset, follow these steps:

• Tap the Win + I keys to open Settings.
• From there, go to the Network and Internet section.
• Next, scroll down and look for “Network Reset” under the status pane.
• After that, click on Network Reset and then on Reset now to start resetting the network configuration. Once done, check if it is able to fix the error or not.

Error Code 30088-26 is shown when the user tries to install the MS Office suite to their PC. It is mostly due to several reasons including corrupted Office installation, the remnant of old office installation, or even Windows updates. We will cover all reasons along with provided solutions to each one. Follow the guide below to address each scenario with the fix for it.

Corrupted Office installation

In order to fix this issue, you will need to repair the installation itself.

• Press ⊞ WINDOWS + R to open the run dialog
• Inside run dialog type in Control Panel
• In the control panel double click on Programs and features
• In the list of installed application find MS Office and click on it to select it
• On top, just above the application list click on the change
• Office dialog will be opened with multiple choices
• Click and select Online repair and then click on Repair
• Make sure that you have a stable internet connection and leave the process to be finished

Remnants of old office installation

Manually cleaning remnants of old office installation is not an easy task and it can be different from system to system depending on the previous Office version. Luckily Microsoft has a dedicated office cleaning tool made for purpose of removing old tails and remnants of old office installations.

• Download tool here
• After the tool has been successfully downloaded, double-click on the .diagcab file to open it
• Click on Advanced and make sure that the box associated with Apply repair automatically is checked.
• Click the Next button to proceed
• Wait until the initial detection phase is complete, then click on Installing at the first prompt
• Select the program that you’re encountering issues with (most likely Microsoft Office) and click Next once again
• At the next screen, click on Yes, try to uninstall
• Wait until the operation is complete, then restart your computer and re-install the Microsoft Office suite

Windows Updates

After digging and trying out various solutions for this issue we came to the conclusion that this error can occur if Windows is not fully updated, and by fully updated we mean fully, not just critical updates, but all available ones. Check-in your setting to see if there are some uninstalled or pending updates waiting to be installed and if that is the case install them all. After completely updating your Operating system error should vanish and you should be able to install Microsoft office without issues.