What is Trojan Kryptik and what does it do

External hard drives have become essentials as they store data. However, they are also prone to issues and one of them is the “The device is not ready”. You could encounter this error when you try to access your connected hard drive. This error won’t allow you to access the contents of your hard drive so unless you fix it, you won’t be able to access any of the files on your hard drive. One of the most likely causes of this error is a hardware defect. Aside from that, it could also be due to loose connections, obsolete device drivers, as well as compatibility issues between the operating system and the hard drive. Before you start troubleshooting the problem, you need to determine if you were able to access your hard drive before you encountered the error or not. If not, you need to check the compatibility of the device with your operating system as it could be the reason why you’re getting the error. There are several potential fixes you can check out to fix this error. You can try to check the hardware connections, run the built-in Hardware and Devices troubleshooter, as well as the USB troubleshooter. You could also run the CHKDSK utility or update the drivers of the device or the USB drivers.

Option 1 – Try checking the hardware connections

The first thing you have to do before you further troubleshoot the problem is to check the hardware connections of your computer and see if there are damaged ones, just like with USB ports, it would also affect the overall connectivity of the device with the computer. So if you notice some irregularities in the connecting cable physically, you might have to buy another one and replace it and then see if it fixes the problem or not.

Option 2 – Run the Hardware and Devices Troubleshooters

• The first thing you need to do is click on Start and then on the gear-like icon to pull up the window for Settings.
• After opening Settings, look for the Update and Security option and select it.
• From there, go to the Troubleshoot option located on the left-hand side of the list.
• Next, select Hardware and Devices from the list and open the Troubleshooter and run it. Once it is doing its job, wait for it to complete the process and then restart the system.
• After the system restarts, check if the problem’s now fixed. If not, refer to the next option given below.

Note: You could also try to run the USB troubleshooter as it could also resolve the problem.

Option 3 – Run the CHKDSK utility

As you know, the CHKDSK utility can help you in identifying the bad sectors in a drive and fix them automatically. Thus, you can run it to fix the “The device is not ready” error when you connect your USB drive to your computer.

• Open Command Prompt with admin privileges.
• Next, type and enter this command to execute it: chkdsk /f <drive>
• Now, wait until the process is completed and exit Command Prompt.
• Restart your computer and try connecting the USB drive again and see if the error is fixed.

Option 4 – Try to update the drivers of the device

Although you can always update the device drivers using the Device Manager, you might want to try downloading the latest set of drivers directly from the manufacturer’s website. Once you’ve downloaded them, install them right away and then correct the external hard drive.

Option 5 – Update or reinstall the Universal Serial Bus Controller driver

If updating the drivers of the device did not fix the “The device is not ready” error, you can try to update or reinstall the Universal Serial Bus Controller drivers instead of 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 and select the Update Driver from the menu.

Note: If it is a regular USB drive, then it will be listed as a USB Mass Storage Device but if you have a USB 3.0 device, then look for a USB 3.0 Extensible Host Controller.

• 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 6 – Restart your computer in a Clean Boot State

If the first three given options didn’t work and you still see the error when you connect external devices, you can try putting your computer in a Clean Boot State and then try connecting them again.

• Log onto your PC as an administrator.
• Type in MSConfig in the Start Search to open the System Configuration utility.
• From there, go to the General tab and click “Selective startup”.
• Clear the “Load Startup items” check box and make sure that the “Load System Services” and “Use Original boot configuration” options are checked.
• Next, click the Services tab and select the “Hide All Microsoft Services” check box.
• Click Disable all.
• Click on Apply/OK and restart your PC. (This will put your PC into a Clean Boot State. And configure Windows to use the usual startup, just simply undo the changes.)
• Now try to connect the external devices and check if the error is now gone.

If you have a dual monitor setup on your Windows 10 computer and you mostly use the second screen when you are presenting something, this makes the Taskbar completely unnecessary and is not really required. So if you are using your computer generally and do not want the taskbar on your second screen, read on as this post will guide you in disabling Taskbar on your second display. The good thing is, Windows comes with a built-in feature to disable Taskbar on your second screen or projector connected to your computer. In this post, you will be guided on how you can hide or disable the Taskbar from the second monitor in Windows 10. This post is coming in handy especially if you are using projectors or multiple displays. Refer to the steps given below to disable Taskbar on the second display in Windows 10. Step 1: Go to Settings and click on Taskbar from the left menu. Step 2: After that, scroll down to lo look for Multiple Displays. Step 3: Next, turn off the toggle labeled, “Show taskbar on all displays”. Note: After completing the steps given above, it will disable the Taskbar on all the secondary displays. Bear in mind that these settings will work only if you are running a second screen in Extended mode. Contrariwise, if you are in the Duplicate mode, this setting will not work but you can always set your Taskbar to Autohide so that it won’t be displayed.

On the other hand, if you are facing some issues in finding which screen is primary and which one is secondary, refer to these steps:

Step 1: Go to Settings and select System. Step 2: Next, from the left menu open Display. Step 3: From there, select the desired display and make it the primary one as required by your setup.

This post will guide you in fixing the error 0x80070103 when installing Windows Update. According to users who encountered this problem, Windows Update (WU) fails to install several different updates. This kind of Windows Update error is can mostly be seen in the Windows Update screen inside the update reports although it is also known to occur when a user attempts to install a peripheral driver – only if the Windows Update offers to update the driver through a prompt and when you click Yes. There are several possible causes for this error, it could be that Windows Update is trying to install a particular driver for the second time already which happens when it gets confused by an additional piece of identical hardware like the graphics adapter. Aside from that, the Windows Update might have already installed the driver which is known to occur with unsuitable versions of the already installed driver. In addition, the error could also be due to a third-party program interference like a security program or a utility program that is using the same driver and conflicts with the Windows Update. Here are some suggestions that might help in fixing the Windows Update error 0x80070103.

Option 1 – Install the updates in a Clean Boot State

You might want to try putting your computer in a Clean Boot state and then install Windows Updates again without any trouble. During this state, you can start the system with a minimum number of drivers and startup programs that will surely help you in isolating the root cause of the issue.

• Log onto your PC as an administrator.
• Type in MSConfig in the Start Search to open the System Configuration utility.
• From there, go to the General tab and click “Selective startup”.
• Clear the “Load Startup items” check box and make sure that the “Load System Services” and “Use Original boot configuration” options are checked.
• Next, click the Services tab and select the “Hide All Microsoft Services” check box.
• Click Disable all.
• Click on Apply/OK and restart your PC. (This will put your PC into a Clean Boot State. And configure Windows to use the usual startup, just simply undo the changes.)
• After that, try to install the Windows Updates or upgrade again.

Option 2 – Try installing the failing driver without using Windows Update

If installing the updates in a clean boot state didn’t help, you can try a manual approach to yield much better results using the Device Manager or by downloading the driver from the manufacturer’s website manually.

• 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, a list of device drivers will be displayed. Look for the device driver you and then select either “Update driver” or “Uninstall device”. And if you find any “Unknown device”, you need to update it as well.
• Select the “Search automatically for updated driver software” option and then follow the instructions to complete the process.
• If you have chosen to uninstall the driver, follow the screen options to complete the process and then restart your PC.

Note: You also have the option to go directly to the website of your device driver manufacturer and go to the section called Drivers then check if there’s a new available update – if there is, download and install it.

Option 3 – Try to run the Windows Update Troubleshooter

You might also want to run the built-in Windows Update Troubleshooter in Windows that could help you in resolving the Windows Update error 0x80070103. All you have to do is go to Settings > Update& security > Troubleshoot > Windows Update. From there, click on the Run the troubleshooter button and follow the next one-screen instructions that appear. After that, restart your computer and check if the error is now fixed or not by trying to install the update once again.

Once a tedious and unfriendly task of installing fonts has been severely made easier and more user-friendly. As technology advances daily so do some tasks. One of these tasks which today look unnecessarily complicated is fonts installation in Windows. What was once complicated navigation to control panel with an administrative account, today is two-click with the mouse anywhere, well anywhere on your hard drive, but still a great improvement nonetheless. Ok, so you have found cool new font which you like very much and you are eager to try it out, but how do you install it in Windows so your other software can find it and use it? The task is incredibly easy, let's presume that you have downloaded desired font or fonts to your hard drive from the internet, they are nicely placed in a folder, all you have to do is select which one you would like to install, right-click on any one selected and click on install. That's it, that is all that you need to do. Now in order to remove fonts first, you will have to go to the folder which has all fonts installed in the system. The location of this folder is conveniently enough c:\Windows\Fonts. In there select all fonts that you would like to uninstall from the system and simply delete them, that's it.

Task View feature inside Windows 11 is actually a great feature, letting you quickly view open windows and virtual desktops. How Task view itself could be reached with keyboard shortcut combination of ⊞ WINDOWS + TAB some users will prefer this way of using it and thus button on the taskbar is something you do not want or need. There is a very easy way to remove mentioned button and I will show you how to do it. Right-click the taskbar button itself and click on Hide From Taskbar. That’s it, you have done it. Now in order for you to bring it back if you change your mind, you will have to do some extra steps but it is nothing difficult. Right-click on the taskbar and click on Taskbar settings, you will be lead to Personalization > Taskbar. Inside locate Taskbar Items and switch Task View to ON, you will see the Task View button right away showing itself again.

Stop C00002lA Fatal System Error- What is it?

C00002lA Fatal System Error is a blue screen of death error that may occur when you start your Windows NT 4.0 based computer. This error causes the screen to turn blue and the system also shuts down. The stop C000021A error message is displayed in the following format:

Stop c000021a {Fatal System Error} The session manager initialization system process terminated unexpectedly with a status of 0xc0000017 (0x00000000, 0x0000000) The system has been shut down.

Error Causes

The stop C000021A error occurs when either Crsrss.exe or Winlogon.exe fails. When the Windows NT kernel identifies that either of these processes has failed, it stops and the error code stop C000021A appears on the computer screen. Here are some of the underlying causes for the stop C0000021A error:

• The incompatible third-party program
• Hard disk issues
• Service pack installation has failed
• Mismatched system files have been installed
• Bad and invalid registry keys

Further Information and Manual Repair

To resolve the stop C000021A Fatal System Error on your PC try the following solutions:

• Remove Incompatible Third Party Programs

If the error occurred after you recently installed a new program, then it is advisable to remove that program. The error occurs due to the incompatibility of the program. To remove the program go to the start menu and click on the control panel. Now click on Add/Remove Program tab and double click on the program name that you recently installed and remove it from the list. Once removed, not reboot your PC. Reinstall a compatible program and run it. It is most likely to resolve the issue. However, if the stop C000021A error still occurs, then it means the problem is critical. It is related to the registry.

• Repair and Restore the Registry

This procedure is slightly long and tricky. To try it, you need to be technically sound. Here’s what you have to do: first create a parallel installation of Windows NT. Start your PC to the parallel installation and then open the Registry Editor. On the Registry Editor’s Windows menu click HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE on Local Machine and then click Load Hive. Now type the path %systemroot%system32configsystem into the System hive of the prior installation. Then click open. Here you will be prompted to enter the name of the key, type TEST. Note the setting for the current DWord value in the preceding registry key. This is 0x1 and is denoted by CURRENT:Reg_Dword: 0x1. This value indicated that the Current Control Set for your original Windows NT installation corresponds to ControlSet001 in this window. Now if the value is 2, it indicated that the Current Control Set corresponds to ControlSet002. Now locate the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINETESTControlSetXXXControlSession Manager. XXX is the Current Control Set Value. And delete any pending file rename operation entries. Then click TEST hive and then click Unload Hive. After that again repeat the process, open the registry menu and click load hive, here type the path %systemroot%system32configSoftware to the Software hive of the prior installation and then click open. Now you type TEST 2 when you are prompted for the name of the key. Remove any pending file rename operations entries in the following registry keys: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINETEST2MicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRunOnce HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINETEST2MicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRunOnceEx Now click TEST2 hive and then click unload hive. Quit the Registry Editor and then restart your original installation. This will resolve the stop C000021A error.

Finally, some good news for Blizzard entertainment after tons of bad stuff happening around it regarding lawsuits and people layoffs. Diablo 2 has become the most-watched game on Twitch after its official release and sold copies are on a satisfactory level. For people not familiar with recent events, the state of California has sued Blizzard for various things including discrimination and offensive behavior. Later Blizzard executives were caught shredding some evidence and things just started to go to worse from there. After much drama, many people believed that this is the end for Blizzard entertainment and that they would not be able to recover from this since the community has sided with California and Blizzard has received a large punch as many subscribed WOW players have left the game. Things are not so grim as they were looking as their Diablo 2 remake has made moderate success despite being released in these troubling times and there are rumors of Overwatch 2 planned release date as of the first quarter of 2022.

Error Code 44 – What is it?

Error Code 44 is a device driver error that users encounter when using Windows 2000 operating system and later versions.

It is when the peripheral device that is connected to the computer, such as a printer or a fax machine, cannot be accessed as the programs required for operation interfere with other software on the computer. The error code will pop up with the following message:

“An application or service has shut down this hardware device. (Code 44)”

Solution

Error Causes

Error Code 44 is caused when the program that you are using shuts down the peripheral device installed on your system. It is triggered by the following:

• Corrupted system registry entries
• Device driver files are outdated
• Device driver files are missing

It is critical to fix the Error Code 44 as it can pose serious risks to the wellbeing of your PC.

Further Information and Manual Repair

While bothersome, like other error codes, error code 44 to is relatively easy to fix. Here are ways to help resolve the error.

Method 1 – Restart your PC

The easiest method you can use to solve your PC error code is to simply run a restart of your Windows system. It may be that the error prompted upon connecting the device you have connected is merely a temporary problem, and upon restart, will resume functioning smoothly.

Method 2 – Run the Troubleshooting Wizard

If restarting your PC does not help, you will have to find the exact nature of the problem by running the troubleshooting wizard for the device and address the problem accordingly. To do this, proceed with the following steps:

• Run Device Manager on your PC
• Click on the program under the installed programs that are creating problems for you
• Click on the ‘General’ Tab
• Click ‘Troubleshoot’
• Upon opening, the Troubleshooting Wizard will ask a series of questions regarding the error. Answer the questions and follow its directions for solving the error code.

After following the directions of the Troubleshooting wizard, make sure to restart your PC for the changes to take effect. Then check if your device is still causing problems.

Method 3 – Manually uninstall and reinstall the device driver

If troubleshooting does not work, you may have to resort to manually uninstalling and then reinstalling the device driver causing the problem.

This would be necessary since the remaining incomplete files due to a partial removal or installation of programs is what contributes to the error code. A fresh install, after uninstallation of the previous drivers, would lead to the completion of the files.

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 and 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.

Driver Assist, 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 38.

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 44 quickly and effectively!

Windows uses 2 types of keys for its activation, KMS or MAK. These keys should work without any issues since they are elevated with higher permissions but in some cases, they are by accident run without their proper permission, and then we have access denied error or error 0x80070005 To resolve this issue please first check if not by any chance your antivirus or firewall is preventing slmgr.bs file to access the right permissions, that being said if the previous solution is not working note that you have to be an administrator of the system or have administrator privileges. As an administrator, you will have to use Software Licencing Management Tool or short SLMGR.VBS, a VBS file in Windows used for its activation purposes. As an administrator, open Command prompt with admin permissions and then run slmgr.vbs This will make sure that activation goes through, make sure to use proper options like:

/ipk <ProductKey> or /ato [<Activation ID>]

Microsoft has started to use group along with every open window in the Taskbar ever since the release of Windows 10. Early on, they used to show an individual entry for each one of the windows after grouping them which makes the taskbar look cleaner and organized. However, the main issue lies in the fact that you have to hover on your desired window to get on to them. At the time of writing, you need to tap the Ctrl key and click on the taskbar icon to open the last active window but you have to only click on the program’s taskbar icon after you apply the tweak given in this post for the last active window to open. Take note that the “Last Active” windows feature will only work if the taskbar buttons are combined. Before you get started doing the instructions given below, you need to create a System Restore Point first since you will be dealing with registry files and modifying some of the critical settings in Windows 10. Once you’ve done this, proceed to the given steps below. Step 1: Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box and then type “Regedit” in the field and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor. Step 2: If a User Account Control or UAC prompt appears, just click on Yes to proceed to open the Registry Editor. Step 3: Next, navigate to the following registry path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerAdvanced

Step 4: From there, right-click on the right side of the panel and select New > DWORD (32-bit) and then name it “LastActiveClick”. Step 5: After that, double click on the newly created DWORd to modify its value. Put “1” as its value data. Step 6: Then click OK and close the Registry Editor. Step 7: Now restart your computer to successfully apply the changes made. Note: In case you want to revert back to the default configuration, all you have to do is set the value data of LastActiveClick to “0” or simply delete that DWORD and restart your computer to successfully apply the changes made.