0x800ccc79 Error Code - A Quick Fix

In the Windows ecosystem, MS Surface laptops are among the best laptops on the market, they are regarded as equivalent to Apple MAC laptops but for Windows. Microsoft Fall 2022 Event will be held on October 12th at 10 AM. The event itself will be held right before it kicks off its annual, developer-focused Ignite event in Seattle from that same day through October 14.

This event is the first in-person event that Microsoft has held since the beginning of the pandemic. We expect the launch of the Surface Pro 9 and the Surface Laptop 5, and maybe Surface Studio 3 as well. There are also some rumors about products themselves like choices between an ARM or x86 CPU but nothing is confirmed so far, we can just wait and see.

Things have stirred lately with Chinas ban on crypto mining and many used GPUs will flow the market probably. But should you buy a used GPU? Short answer: NO, long answer: keep on reading to find out why.

GPU shortage and its cause

As you all know by now, we live sadly in a world struck by a global Pandemic. Due to this awful disease and measures taken against it, many people are either working from home or are at home making the manufacturing of new chips problematic while demand on the market has raised. Throw into that mix crypto mining which has raised in popularity and you have, well today's market where we have GPU shortage. Now with the latest news that China has banned the mining of cryptocurrency, there is to be expected that at some point in time mining cards used there will fit the market in the whole world. Sadly even with a large quantity of GPUs that will become available, the overall price of cards will not be much lowered I am afraid since demand is still very high and many people would not want to purchase used mining cards and neither should you.

Be prepared for the worst scenario

Although this sounds very pessimistic and in most cases, it will not turn out to be true, you should always prepare yourself mentally that you might be in that lower percentage that will end up with a really bad GPU. What has come up to be absolutely true when considering GPU that were mining is that if anything at all can be done to GPU in order to increase performance, it has been done. Miners want to optimize and almost every GPU if could be overclocked, it was overclocked. Extensive mining also means that thermal paste has been dried and it is pretty useless at this point and there is a very high chance that fans and heat sinks will need much cleaning or even replacement raising the price of the card itself for mentioned paste, fans, and heat sinks. There's no way to tell what the previous owner might have done with a graphics card when you're shopping online, so our advice is to assume the worst. Don't trust the seller to give truthful information. Any listing that says it was "never used for mining" at this point is probably a lie.

Age of the GPU matters

Date when GPU itself has manufactured really matters. Newer cards even if used extensively have been used for a much shorter period of time and are not so damaged were ones produced a few years ago have seen a lot of action. Let’s say that you get RTX 3060, In the worst-case scenario it has been mining since late February of 2021 and basically, it is still under warranty so it should behave OK and put some good work in gaming even in that state. On another hand, if we take for example GTX 1080Ti which is 4 years old GPU things start to change drastically. 4 years GPU could be worn out even if it was used just for extensive gaming sessions let alone for mining.

No return policy and seller rating

Most of the time you will run into a product that cannot be returned or no refunds policy. This should bring a red flag right away and deter you from purchase. Sellers with the highest ratings are more trustworthy since many of them will not want to destroy their reputation but these will probably not even have these kinds of merchandise in their store. Buying with a poor rating seller and no return policy on a product is just asking for trouble. And although some stores do have arbitration and will stand on the customer side there is no guarantee for that and it will take too much time to process.

If you really must buy a second-hand GPU

Of course in these troubled times sometimes due to malfunction or any other reason, there would not be another choice than to buy a second-hand GPU. In this case, if there is no other option consider sellers with many positive ratings. If you can buy locally that would even be better or the best-case scenario would be if you could visually see and inspect GPU itself in order to see in what state it is. Look for warranty stickers to see if they are thorn and the card has been tampered with. Also take a good look at screws, if they have scratches card has been opened, probably to replace fan or heating sinks which means that it has worked a lot.

Conclusion

It is very difficult to give the best possible advice on this situation since of GPU shortage, but I would much prefer a new GPU with lower performance than a hi-performance one which was mining.

Virtual Reality is slowly becoming standard in gaming. More and more affordable headsets are coming out lowering entry prices and making them affordable for all. But in a sea of new VR headsets, it is important to at least purchase a decent one that will perform nicely and hopefully last longer. Therefore in today’s article, we will address some of the best options currently available on the market,

Oculus Quest 2

With its Rift model, Oculus set itself as a big player in VR. Now the company is slowly bowing out of the dedicated, tethered VR headset with its latest Quest 2 designed to primarily be a standalone headset. In case you do not know, tethered headset means that the headset itself is connected to your PC and is using its power to drive your VR experience. Now technical specifications of Quest 2 are pretty OK and it can drive stuff pretty decently and if you want you can purchase the dedicated cable to connect it to your PC for the full experience of games requiring more capable hardware. Oculus Quest 2 is the cheapest headset on this list and with its stable performance, is highly recommended.

Valve Index VR

Although the headset itself is nothing revolutionary or special its controllers are. They can track individual finger movements, making games (that take advantage of them) much more immersive than the standard trigger grips on other controllers. The Index's higher refresh rate makes for smoother action, as well, which is another nice bonus. If you already have an HTC Vive or Vive Cosmos Elite, and their base stations (not the regular Cosmos), you can buy only the controllers.

Sony PlayStation VR

The PlayStation VR is compelling thanks to Sony backing its development, plus the PlayStation 4's affordability and availability compared with gaming PCs. All you need is the headset, a PlayStation 4, and a PlayStation Camera (now included with most PlayStation VR bundles). Not really the best of the bunch but still one of the top ones for console gaming. Sony is working on a new PlayStation VR system for the PlayStation 5, with redesigned controllers. The new headset hasn't been revealed yet, but the company has released a preview of the new controllers.

HP Reverb G2 VR

HP headset is one which you get if you want the best image quality in VR headset, sadly controllers did not follow the same quality of headset itself. But this is still a pretty decent headset overall and worth the purchase.

HTC Vive Cosmos

HTC's Vive Cosmos is the upgraded version of the Vive. It features a higher resolution and replaces the external base stations with outward-facing cameras for motion tracking. It's a comprehensive package for whole-room VR. HTC recently released the Vive Pro 2, a high-end VR headset targeting both enterprise users and consumers. This new headset features a 2,448-by-2,448 resolution display for each eye, making it the highest-resolution headset currently available. It's also more expensive than the Cosmos Elite. Sadly one thing that is bringing this headset down is the price.

Error Code 48 – What is it?

Error Code 48 is a device driver error code that users can encounter on any Windows 2000 operating system and later versions.

It occurs when the connected peripheral device cannot be run as the Windows operating system’s driver required to install the programs for peripheral devices has either been corrupted or is incompatible with the system.

It prompts the user with the following message on the screen:

The software for this device has been blocked from starting because it is known to have problems with Windows. Contact the hardware vendor for a new driver. (Code 48)

Solution

Error Causes

Like most other Windows error codes, error code 48 is triggered by the following factors.

• Corrupted system registry files
• Presence of viruses in the device
• The device driver is out-of-date

If this error code is not rectified, it could give birth to other driver device errors such as error code 52.

Further Information and Manual Repair

Method 1 – Run a complete scan for malware and spyware

Identifying and removing the viruses in the system registry and in the connected devices is the easiest method to fix the corrupted registry files.

Viruses such as spyware and malware infect the registry entries and eat up the files that lead to incomplete or missing data. This creates problems for installing external devices as the driver required to install them is not complete.

Method 2 – Use System Restore

You can also use system restore to eliminate the problem. Here is how you can use it:

• Log in using an Administrator account
• Click ‘Start’ button and select All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore
• Click ‘Restore my computer to an earlier time’ and click ‘Next’
• Select the last Windows to restore point from the ‘On this list, click a restore point’ list, and click ‘Next’
• Click ‘Next’ on the confirmation window to proceed
• Restart your PC after restoration is complete

By restoring the system via the last saved system checkpoint, you can obtain undamaged Windows system registry files that can help resolve the error code.

Method 3 – Manually uninstall and reinstall the device driver

Since Error Code 48 is due to a missing or an out-of-date device driver, uninstalling and then reinstalling the device driver can help solve the error.

You can do this by firstly logging in as Administrator and opening Device Manager. Select the device that is causing the problem and double click it; make sure that the peripheral is connected properly to the PC.

Upon opening, click on the ‘Driver’ tab and then select ‘Update Driver’. Make sure to refer to the system documentation that you received with your PC or computer to check for the motherboard details and driver specifics.

Method 4 – Use software to automatically download the driver

Manually uninstalling and reinstalling the driver will do the trick; however, it may be time-consuming especially when you would have to resort to your hardware user manual. Therefore, using a program such as DriverFIX can save you a lot of time and frustration in having your device work properly on your computer. DriverFIX, with its user-friendly approach to help you fix your PC issues, comes with an integrated database that detects which drivers you need to reconfigure within just a few seconds and downloads it automatically. It further ensures that your drivers are installed in their entirety leaving no room for any incomplete files to remain that create Error Code 48. It also has the added advantage of being able to backup and restores your files should there be the slightest possibility of system file damage. DriverFIX is the answer to fixing your PC error codes accurately and quickly. Click here to download DriverFIX to fix Error Code 48 quickly and effectively!

The TWCU.EXE or TP-LINK Wireless Client Utility is a configuration application required to run wireless adapters successfully. The TP-LINK Wireless Client Utility application only exists on computers that are using the TP-LINK adapters. Upon the installation of this application, the service will be automatically added to the Windows service list that will continuously run in the background. The Twcu.exe is placed at the C:\Program Files\TP-LINKTP-LINK\Wireless Utility folder and is used by TP-LINK to connect to the internet. The name of the main executable file is twcu.exe and can be viewed in the Services tab of the Task Manager. If you are one of the users who just upgraded to Windows 10 from the previous Windows versions, then you’ll most likely see an error saying, “Failed to load the library file!” that has something to do with twcu.exe or TWCU. This error pops up when you go to your desktop and every time you log into your Windows 10 PC. Like pointed out, this error is related to the TP-LINK Wireless Client Utility and every user who is using the TP-LINK Wireless Client Utility is experiencing this problem which may be due to some compatibility issues especially when you start getting this error right after you upgraded to Windows 10. To fix this problem, follow each one of the options given below.

Option 1 – Try running in Compatibility Mode

The best thing you can do is to run the TP-LINK Wireless Client Utility in the compatibility mode since the problem is due to some compatibility issue. To run this utility in the compatibility mode, here’s what you have to do:

• Look for the TP-LINK Wireless Client Utility which should be located on your desktop.
• Once you find it, right-click on it and select Properties from the context menu.
• After that, go to the Compatibility tab and mark the checkbox for “Run this program in compatibility mode for:” and from the drop-down list, select either Windows 7 or Windows 8.
• Click the Apply button and then click OK to save the changes made and check if it has resolved the issue or not.

Option 2 – Try troubleshooting compatibility

This option is almost the same as the first one except it is an alternative way of fixing the TP-LINK Wireless Client Utility in case the first one didn’t work. In this option, you will troubleshoot the compatibility issue of the TP-LINK Wireless Client Utility.

• Look for the TP-LINK Wireless Client Utility which as mentioned, is on your desktop.
• Then right-click on it and select the “Troubleshoot compatibility” from the context menu.
• After that, click on the “Try recommended setting” option. Once the process is done, the error message should be gone.

The NVIDIA Control Panel is a useful tool for users who have NVIDIA graphics on their PCs as this tool allows users to how the graphics card is used on the computer using several controls that come with the graphics card from NVIDIA. Thus, it can be quite inconvenient when it suddenly crashes all of a sudden for some reason. This kind of problem could be due to the toggling of Output Dynamic Range is limited, or there could be some issue with the integrity of the Power Supply for the graphics card, and many more. So if you are using NVIDIA on your computer and its Control Panel keeps on crashing on your Windows 10 computer, then you’ve come to the right place as this post will guide you in sorting the problem out. For more details, refer to the guidelines laid out below.

Option 1 – Try to toggle the Output Dynamic Range

The first thing you can do to fix the problem is to toggle the Output Dynamic Range by following these steps:

• Navigate to this path: Display > Change resolution.
• Next, scroll a bit on the right-side panel until you see the Output Dynamic Range drop-down.
• After that, select “Full” from the drop-down menu.
• Apply the changes you’ve made and see if it is able to fix the problem with the NVIDIA Control Panel.

Option 2 – Try changing the Power Management and Vertical Sync settings

The next thing you can do to fix the problem is to change the Power Management, as well as the Vertical Sync settings.

• Open the NVIDIA Control Panel and go to this path: 3D Settings > Manage 3D Settings.
• Next, set the Power Management to be “Prefer Maximum Performance” for your processor located on the right-side panel.
• After that, set the Vertical sync setting off and then click on the Apply button located at the bottom-right portion of the window and check if it is able to fix the problem or not.

Option 3 – Try updating the drivers from the official site of NVIDIA

If both the first and second given options didn’t work, you can also try updating the drivers from the official NVIDIA website. And in case you don’t know the type of Nvidia graphics card that your computer is on, follow the steps below:

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• Next type in “dxdiag” in the field and click OK or hit Enter to open the DirectX Diagnostic Tool.
• From there, you can see what type of Nvidia graphics card that your system is on.
• Take note of your graphics card information and then look for the best drivers for your operating system. Once you’ve downloaded and installed the file, restart your PC.

Option 4 – Try to roll back the driver to the previous version

If updating the NVIDIA display drivers didn’t work for you, then it’s time to roll back the device drivers. It is most likely that after you updated your Windows computer that your driver also needs a refresh.

• 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 NVIDIA Drivers and expand it.
• Next, select the driver entries that are labeled appropriately.
• Then select each one of them and 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 NVIDIA Drivers.
• Now restart your computer to successfully apply the changes made.

Strangely enough, Windows 11 does not feature any typical icon on its desktop when installed. No My PC, no Recycle Bin, nothing, just plain and clean wallpaper. Personally, I like this clean look and feel but of course, there are a lot of users that are used to have some system-related icons on their desktop for easy access. Do not sweat, we will turn them back on with ease. The best part is that you can choose which one would you like. So let’s dive right into it and get the icons back for the old Windows feel and look.

Showing selected Icons desktop

1. Right-click on Desktop and select Personalize
2. Select Themes from the list of personalization items
3. Inside themes scroll down and click on Desktop Icon Settings
4. Desktop Icon Settings will open and inside it, place checkmarks beside icons that you would like to appear on the desktop and click OK
5. Close settings

As always settings and choices will be automatically applied and icons will appear right away on the desktop.

If you are trying to install or reinstall a program on your Windows 10 computer but encountered an error instead that says, “Fatal error, Installation fails, Installation ended prematurely because of an error”, then you’ve come to the right place as this post will guide you how you can fix it. This kind of error is most likely caused by some files that may have been left behind by the previous installation of the program. Each time a program is uninstalled, it leaves behind its files and if the uninstallation process wasn’t completed properly, then it would result in errors like the

“Fatal error, Installation fails, Installation ended prematurely because of an error”.

Moreover, this kind of error is a generic one that can also occur with any software reinstallation or installation. And to fix this error, there are several suggestions you must check out. You can try to install or reinstall the program in a Clean Boot State or restart the Windows Installer Service. You could also try to re-register the Windows Installer Service or re-register the VBScript.dll file.

Option 1 – Install or reinstall the program in a Clean Boot State

It is possible that there are some third-party applications in your computer that are preventing the program from getting installed and to isolate this possibility, you need to boot your computer in a Clean Boot State and then try installing the program again. Putting your computer in this state can help you identify which program is the culprit and thus isolates the problem. In a Clean Boot state, your computer will start using only the pre-selected minimal set of drivers and startup programs. Note that you have to disable and enable one process at a time.

• Log onto your PC as an administrator.
• Type in MSConfig in the Start Search to open the System Configuration utility.
• From there, go to the General tab and click “Selective startup”.
• Clear the “Load Startup items” checkbox 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” checkbox.
• Click Disable all.
• Click on Apply/OK and restart your PC. (This will put your PC into a Clean Boot State. And configure Windows to use the usual startup, just simply undo the changes.)
• After you’ve set your computer into a Clean Boot State, make sure that you’re signed in as administrator and then try to install the program again.

Option 2 – Try to restart the Windows Installer Service

The next thing you can do to fix the problem is to restart the Windows Installer Service. To do this, follow these steps:

• Tap the Win + R keys to launch the Run utility and type “services.msc” in the field and then hit Enter to open the Windows Services Manager.
• Next, look for the Windows Installer service among the list of services shown.
• Once you found it, right-click on it and open its Properties.
• From there, click on the Stop button and then click on the Start button.
• But if it isn’t running, then just click on the Start button.

Option 3 – Try to unregister and re-register the Windows Installer Module

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• Then type the “msiexec /unregister” command and hit Enter to unregister the Windows Installer Module.
• Next, type the “msiexec /regserver” command and hit Enter to re-register the Windows Installer Module.
• Now restart your computer and see if unregistering and re-registering the Windows Installer Module fixed the problem or not.

Option 4 – Try to re-register the vbscript.dll file

You may have to re-register the vbscript.dll file using the regsvr32.exe before you can successfully install the program and fix the error. The Regsvr32 tool is a command-line utility that can be used to register and un-register the OLE controls like DLL and ActiveX (OCX) control in the Windows operating system. Follow the steps below to use it.

• Open Command Prompt as admin from the WinX menu.
• Next, type regsvr32.exe vbscript.dll in the elevated Command Prompt and hit Enter to execute the command. This will re-register the affected DLL file using the Windows operating system tool, regsvr32.exe.
• You should see a message saying, “DllRegisterServer in vbscript.dll succeeded” if the Regsvr32 tool was able to run successfully. After that, try to install the program again and see if it now works.

California's Department of Fair Employment & Housing has widened its anti-discrimination lawsuit against Activision Blizzard and claims the publisher has been shredding vital documents relevant to the ongoing investigation. A recent report from Kotaku described the department as offering poorly paid, highly insecure positions, with a culture of hostility towards LGBTQ+ testers. The DFEH's rewording of "employees" to "workers" now hopes to take these contractors' experiences into account. "As a contract employee, I feel there's a lot of pressure to excel, impress, and move through the ranks as fast as you can before your contract ends and you're forced to go 3 months without income or find another job," Axios reports one worker saying. "I take pride in what I do, but it feels like it's never enough." Activision's contentious hiring of union-busting third-party law firm WilmerHale "directly interferes" with its own investigation, it says. By going to WilmerHale, Activision appears to be claiming that all work related to the investigation is privileged and can't be shared with DFEH. The suit also claims that Activision HR shredded documents related to "investigations and complaints", against its legal obligation to retain them during the investigation. The relevant parts of the updated lawsuit were shared by Axios reporters Stephen Totilo and Megan Farokhmanesh, the former also noting that the DFEH "fixed their misspelling of Bill Cosby's name". "DFEH is also informed and aware that documents and records have not been maintained as required by law or by the DFEH's Document Retention Notice," the complaint reads, "including but not limited to documents related to investigations and complaints were shredded by human resource personnel and emails are deleted thirty days after an employees separation."

Speculation and answer from Activision Blizzard

Blizzard employee Jessica Gonzalez suspects that the costs of fines associated with destroying these documents may have been an easier blow for Blizzard to take than any penalties drawn from their existence in helping the lawsuit go through. In an email to Kotaku, Activision denied the shredding allegations and issued a statement outlining steps it had taken to improve company culture—including the ousting of high-level executives like Blizzard president J. Allen Brack. The full statement reads: "Throughout our engagement with the DFEH, we have complied with every proper request in support of its review even as we had been implementing reforms to ensure our workplaces are welcoming and safe for every employee. Those changes continue today, and include:

•     Several high-level personnel changes
•     Revamped hiring and recruiting practices requiring diverse interview panels
•     Greater transparency on pay equity
•     Expanded and improved training and investigative capabilities for human resource and compliance staff
•     Created investigation teams outside of business units to support greater independence
•     Restructured divisions to support greater accountability
•     Enhanced review processes to include evaluation of managers by employees
•     Clear boundaries on workplace behavior with a zero-tolerance approach to harassment and other actions that diminish or marginalize.

"We strive to be a company that recognizes and celebrates the diverse talents and perspectives that lead to the creation of great, globally appealing entertainment. We have provided the DFEH with clear evidence that we do not have gender pay or promotion disparities. Our senior leadership is increasingly diverse, with a growing number of women in key leadership roles across the company. "We share DFEH’s goal of a safe, inclusive workplace that rewards employees equitably and is committed to setting an example that others can follow."

California and RIOT

Beyond Activision Blizzard, California's DFEH has also probed into League of Legends creator Riot Games, accusing the studio of dragging its heels over sexual harassment allegations dating back to 2019. Riot denied the allegations, telling us that it "will never retaliate against anyone for talking to any government agency".

Microsoft will soon offer 4 CPU computer specifically aimed at developers and its name is Volterra. The machine as stated will come with 4 processors but the strange thing is that they will be ARM-based instead of x86.

CEO of Microsoft, mister Satya Nadella has introduced the product and Microsoft has released a youtube video promoting it.

https://youtu.be/yICVNta8jMU

The computer system will have Qualcomm's NPU or built-in neural processing unit to use AI's power to help developers write and produce better and faster code. The sad news is that besides processors used there is no other information on other components that will go into this system.

As seen in the video, the computer reminds me a lot of the apple MAC mini with its size and design, and as stated it is made from recycled plastic which in our opinion will bring the price under $1000.

Microsoft has not provided an official price tag for Volterra, but our hope is that it will be more affordable than building your own development PC. Also, there was nothing said about computer availability, we suspect that the selling model will be typical Microsoft one with first models available only in the USA and moving forward slowly opening it to other markets.

Volterra specifications

As previously said nothing except the number of CPUs and their type has been officially said but we managed to get some information about some other specific things not including its inside components.

The unit will have a fan inside of it for cooling purposes and better performance and that is what was officially stated by Microsoft. On the outside, it is known that the computer will have three USB-A ports, a mini DisplayPort, and an ethernet input. All of these will be positioned on the back of the device, on its left side there will be two USB-C ports.

The unit itself will be running on Windows 11 but it was not disclosed anything about the version, we presume since this is a model aimed for professional use that it will come with Windows 11 PRO version.

Currently available tools for ARM

Since this product is aimed at developers logically support for developing software is a must-have and at the time of this writing software that will come and that will run on Volterra is:

• Visual Studio 2022
• Visual Studio Code
• Visual C++
• Modern .NET 6 & JAVA
• Classic .NET
• Windows Terminal
• Windows Subsystem for Android
• Windows Subsystem for Linux

Conclusion

Once MAC studio has been released it showed that specific builds have their audience and can be sold for less of a price than full-fledged custom-made workstations. There is no doubt that Microsoft Volterra will find its audience but will that be enough to have more versions of this compact computer only time will tell.