5 ways to open task manager in Windows 11

There are instances when you have to connect to another Windows 10 PC via remote connection from another Windows 10 PC. However, when you encountered an error saying, “Your password may have expired or the remote pc might not accept blank passwords” while doing so then read on as this post will walk you through how you can fix it. Here is the full content of the error message:

“Your password may have expired, or the remote PC might not accept blank passwords. Try connecting again. If this keeps happening, ask your admin or tech support for help.”

It is unknown what the exact cause of the error message is as it could involve several factors. Even so, there are still various potential fixes you can try to fix this kind of error. You can try to check if your password has expired or troubleshoot any issues with the network. You could also use a remote desktop application or configure the settings of firewall or restart the remote desktop service. For more details, refer to each one of the given options below. But before you proceed, make sure that you have someone to help assist you on the other side to help you troubleshoot the issue.

Option 1 – Try to check if the password has expired

The first thing you can do to fix the problem is to check if the password has expired as it could be the reason why you’re experiencing this problem. You have to make sure that you are using a user account that is on the remote computer and then check if the user account password has not expired yet. And if your PC is not within your access, then you can just ask someone to verify the password for you.

Option 2 – Try to troubleshoot network issues

To troubleshoot network-related issues that might be the one that triggers the error, you need to run the Network Troubleshooter. To get started, 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 3 – Try to use a remote desktop software

A number of users reported that the issue occurred when they used the universal app for Remote Desktop and they were able to fix it by switching to the Remote Desktop application. Thus, you can try to switch to the remote desktop software and see if it fixes the problem or not.

Option 4 – Try to configure Firewall settings

You might also want to configure the settings of the Firewall as it could also help in fixing the problem. It is possible that the firewall is blocking the incoming connection on the remote computer. To check if whether the firewall is the culprit or not, follow the steps below.

• Go to Windows Security and then go to Firewall and network application.
• Next, click on the Advanced Settings link. This will open the classic Windows Defender Firewall and Advanced Security application.
• From there, look for the rule named “Remote Desktop – User Mode (TCP-In)” under inbound rules and check if it has been disabled or not.
• If the rule is disabled, you have to enable it.
• Once done, check if the error is now fixed or not.

Option 5 – Try to restart the Remote Desktop service

If none of the four given options given above worked, you might want to restart the Remote Desktop service as it can help you in fixing the problem. To do so, follow these steps:

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box and type “services.msc” in the field and hit Enter to open the Windows Services Manager.
• Next, from the list of services, look for the Remote Desktop Service and right-click on it, and then click on the Restart option.
• Once done, check it was able to fix the “Your password may have expired or the remote pc might not accept blank passwords” error or not.

Every computer has to have a graphic card, it is one of the essential components in order for the computer to work. If you have a second-hand computer, got one as a gift, or similar, there is a high chance that you do not really know which components are inside. Luckily finding out which graphic card you have inside is quite easy. Right-click the taskbar and select Task Manager Click the Performance tab at the top of the window, if you don’t see the tabs, click “More Info.” Select “GPU 0” in the sidebar. The GPU’s manufacturer and model names are displayed at the top right corner of the window. You’ll also see other information, such as the amount of dedicated memory on your GPU, in this window. Windows 10’s Task Manager displays your GPU usage here, and you can also view GPU usage by application. If your system has multiple GPUs, you’ll also see “GPU 1” and so on here. Each represents a different physical GPU.

One of the most critical errors inside your Windows operating system is The Extended Attributes Are Inconsistent error. This error means that your operating system has been corrupted and it may produce many annoying issues like for example time lags, random crashes, and even freezing of the system when running multiple applications. There are a lot of reasons for this error, from the registry to faulty application installations to sometimes even hardware issues like bad RAM memory or bad hard drive. Mostly issue is due to corrupted files inside Windows and most often people only think that resetting the PC or complete reinstallation is the only way to fix this problem. Although reinstalling the system or resetting the PC will solve this error for sure there are other less time-consuming ways to fix this error. In this guide, we will show you common ways in fixing Extended Attributes are inconsistent errors inside your Windows that are easy to do and less time-consuming than complete reinstallation of the system.

Fixing Extended Attributes Are Inconsistent error

Run SFC scan

1. Press ⊞ WINDOWS + X to open the hidden menu
2. Click on command prompt (admin)
3. In command prompt type in SFC /scannow and press ENTER
4. Wait for the operation to complete
5. Reboot your PC

Use System Image Repair Tool

1. Press ⊞ WINDOWS + X to open the hidden menu
2. Click on command prompt (admin)
3. In command prompt type in Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth and press ENTER
4. Wait for the operation to complete
5. Reboot your PC

Change all user accounts to the administrator

1. Press ⊞ WINDOWS + R to open the run dialog
2. Type in netplwiz and press ENTER
3. Select a first user account and click on Properties
4. Click on the Group Membership tab
5. Choose Others from the options
6. Select administrator (if all accounts are already administrators change all to users)
7. Repeat process for all other accounts
8. Click OK to save settings

Change Windows Sound scheme to default

1. Right-click on the sound icon in the taskbar
2. Click on Sound options
3. Go to the Sounds tab
4. In Sound Scheme click and choose Windows Default
5. Under Program Events choose Windows User Account Control
6. Click on the drop-down menu and choose None
7. Click on Apply
8. Click on OK

Downgrade the Sound driver

1. Press ⊞ WINDOWS + X to open the hidden menu
2. Click on Device Manager
3. Find your Audio driver and right-click on it
4. Click on uninstall and then on OK
5. Reboot your system

Do System Restore

If none of the provided solutions have worked, perform a system restore to the last point where everything was working fine.

Reset PC

If even system restore has not solved the issue or you do not have valid point in system restore time, perform Reset this PC and hopefully, the error will be finally fixed.

Conclusion

If all of the provided methods have not managed to repair this error that checks your hardware, your computer might have some faulty components if after complete PC reset error persists.

FLoC is Google’s alternative to third-party cookies and is based on machine learning. This will allow the browser, any browser, to anonymously study how users are browsing and then group them into ‘cohorts’. Following this, you will be served ads based on your cohort and not on your individual data. So, you are still going to be targeted with ads but in a more anonymous manner. Google claims that this will improve user privacy since this “federated learning” happens on the user’s device and artificial intelligence-based learning involves sharing lesser users than what happens with third-party cookies. If something like this gets widely adopted by ad companies and services, it should “protect users” from tracking methods that are more intrusive than third-party cookies, like browser fingerprinting.

Who is against it?

Privacy-focused browsers DuckDuckGo, Brave, and Vivaldi have all warned users against FLoC and have said that they are going to block it on their end. Brave says that Google FLoC has a design that does not respect the customer’s privacy and consent. It has been designed to provide browsing behavior and interest data with any website that users may interact with, and this process does not involve fully informed consent. Vivaldi, another popular Chromium-based web browser, has also made its stance clear regarding the status of FLoC. The company said in a Reddit thread that the FLoC experiment does not work in Vivaldi. It happens because for FLoC to work, some features need to be enabled under the hood, but Vivaldi does not provide those options. The company also added that it plans to stop the entire FLoC component from being a part of the browser, regardless of how Google may implement it. Considering that Brave and Vivaldi have been privacy-focused browsers since their beginnings, the decision to stay away from FLoC is not surprising.

Seeing a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark on the battery symbol on the System Tray of your Windows 10 laptop is not really uncommon especially if your battery is about to run out of power. However, if you just purchased your laptop recently and the first thing you’ve noticed when you first opened it is the yellow triangle with an exclamation mark in the battery, read on as this post will help you resolve this issue. Seeing this kind of icon on your computer does not necessarily mean that you have to replace your battery as there are still several potential fixes you can try to resolve the problem. So if you notice this icon, you can try running the Power troubleshooter as it will help you resolve any potential issues with the battery. Aside from that, you can also restore the default settings of the power plan manually or uninstall and reinstall the battery driver. For more information, refer to the given options below.

Option 1 – Try to run the Power troubleshooter

As pointed out, the Power troubleshooter can help you resolve any issues your battery might have automatically. It plans and detects system settings that can affect power usages like timeout and sleep settings, display settings, and screensavers and restores them to their default settings. To run this troubleshooter, follow these steps:

• Open the Windows Settings and go to the Update and Security option.
• Next, click on the Troubleshoot option under Update and Security and then scroll down until you see the “Power” option.
• Under Power, click on the “Run the troubleshooter” button to start running the Power troubleshooter.
• Wait for a couple of seconds until the Power troubleshooter is done scanning your computer for issues. Once it’s done, follow the next on-screen instructions that appear on the screen.
• If needed, restart your computer and see if it has fixed the problem.

Option 2 – Restore the default settings of the Power plan manually

• Open the Windows Settings again and select System.
• Next, scroll down until you see the “Power & sleep” option.
• After that, click on the “Additional power settings” option located in the right pane to open the Power Options.
• Now click on the link that says, “Change Plan Settings” and select the “Restore default settings for this plan” option.

Option 3 – Try to uninstall or reinstall the Battery driver

You might also want to uninstall or reinstall the battery driver as it can also resolve the problem. But before you start, you have to shut down your computer and remove the power chord as well as the battery. Once you’re done, follow these steps:

• Plug the power chord and restart your computer.
• Once your computer has restarted, tap the Win + R keys to open the Run utility and type “devmgmt.msc” in the field and tap Enter to open the Device Manager.
• After that, look for the “Batteries” driver from the list of drivers and expand it.
• Then right-click on the “Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System” driver and click on the “Uninstall device” option.
• Once it’s done, restart shut down your computer and remove the power chord and then attach the battery.
• Now attach the power chord again and restart your computer to automatically install the driver.

Kernel32.dll Error - What is it?

To understand Kernel32.dll error properly, here’s what you need to know first: in the Windows operating system, the system32 directory plays a vital role. Inside this directory, there is an element called Kernel32.dll. A DLL (dynamic link library) is a library that contains codes and data that are used by more than one program at the same time. The role of the Kernel32.dll file is to handle memory management and I/O (input and output) operations. Malfunctioning of this file results in a Kernel32.dll error message which leads to program or application failure.

Error Causes

Kernel32.dll files can be attributed to several reasons like:

• Missing or damaged Kernel32.dll files
• Registry corruption
• .Dll files misconfiguration if programs are installed or uninstalled.
• Viral infection or malware attack

It is advisable to repair the Kernel32.dll error immediately to avoid inconvenience and serious computer damages like program lockouts, system failure, freeze, and crash.

Further Information and Manual Repair

All causes for the Kernel32.dll error are linked with the registry. The registry is the major database of your system that stores all the activities you perform on your system. It saves both important data and unnecessary files in the RAM (Random Access Memory) including the junk files, temporary internet files, and obsolete files such as files of the deleted/uninstalled programs. These files accumulate a lot of memory space. It leads to disk fragmentation, data overload, missing and damaged DLL files, and eventually registry corruption. Other reasons for registry issues that trigger Kernel32.dll errors on your system could be malicious software like viruses, adware, and malware. These also corrupt the registry and damaged DLL files.

Kernel32.dll Error Solutions

There are two ways to resolve the Kernel32.dll error on your PC, one is to install two separate tools registry cleaner and an antivirus and run them individually to scan your system and repair it. This option is time-consuming and besides if antivirus software is notorious for slowing down systems. So by downloading a separate antivirus you may have to sacrifice your system’s speed.

The Photos app in Windows 10 is the default photo viewer. However, there are times when it might encounter some problems while you use it. One of these problems in the Photos app reported recently is where users try to export or share the images and videos from the app but weren’t successful in doing so. This can be really quite a hassle in opening images on your computer, especially since the Photos app is the default photo viewer in Windows 10 and if you don’t have any other photo viewer app installed. This kind of problem in the Photos app can be noticed when you try to use the “Remix” function for both photos and videos. In other words, this problem can occur with just pictures, videos, as well as a combination of both. So if you are trying to watch a video using this app, then you wouldn’t be able to play it. In such a case, the only thing you can hear is the audio but you wouldn’t see anything except for a hazy purple screen that has not export or share option. There are several possible causes for this problem and it could be fixed by updating the display driver/graphics driver or disabling the hardware-accelerated video encoding. You could also try updating or resetting or reinstalling the Photos app. For more details, follow each one of the suggestions provided below.

Option 1 – Try to update the Graphics driver

You can try to update your Graphics card driver using the Device Manager in your computer to resolve the blank dialog boxes problem or you can also 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. To update your Graphics driver via Device Manager, refer to these steps:

• First, boot your computer into Safe Mode.
• After that, 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. From there, look for the Display Adapters and click on them.
• After that, right-click on each entry under the Display Adapters and select the “Uninstall Device” option from the menu.
• Now restart your computer.
• After restarting your computer, go to the Settings app and Check for Updates in the Windows Update section.

Option 2 – Try disabling the hardware-accelerated video encoding

The next thing you can do to fix the problem is to disable the hardware-accelerated video encoding in your computer. To do that, follow these steps:

• Open the Photos app and click on the visible three dots located in the upper right corner of the app and then select Settings.
• From there, you should see the version number of the app in the “About this app” section. So if your app is version 2018.18071.****0.0 or greater, you should see the Video section which has a toggle button.
• Turn that toggle button off to disable hardware-accelerated video encoding in the Photos app. This should fix the problem, if not, simply follow the next given options below.

Option 3 – Try to update the Microsoft Photos app

• Open the Microsoft Store and click on the three horizontal dots for the menu located on the top right portion of the window to see the options.
• Next, select Downloads and updates and then click the Get updates button in the top right. This will install any pending updates for all the apps including the Microsoft Photos app using the Microsoft Store.

Option 4 – Try resetting the Photos app

• To get started in resetting the Photos app, open the Windows 10 Settings.
• Then go to Apps > Apps & features.
• After that, scroll down until you see the Photos app option – click on it and open its Advanced options.
• From there, you will see the Reset button, click on it and click and then click on it once more to confirm.

Note: The process may take a couple of minutes to complete. Once it’s done, open the pictures again using the Photos app.

Option 5 – Try reinstalling the Photos app

If none of the options given above worked, then you might want to consider reinstalling the Photos app. Unlike what most users think, it isn’t really that hard reinstalling preinstalled apps as you have the Windows PowerShell for that. To use this program in reinstalling the Photos app, follow these steps:

• Open the Windows PowerShell program with admin privileges and key in the following command:

Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted

• After that, execute this second command to re-register and reinstall the Microsoft Photos app.

Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)AppXManifest.xml"}

Note: In the command given, do not forget to replace the “PackageFullName” with the actual package name for the Photos app. After executing the command, it will uninstall the Photos app from your computer so you need to install it again from the Windows Store by simply looking for it. Once you found it, just click on install to start the installation process.

Dune, arguably one of the best science fiction novels ever written was brought to a big screen first time by David Linch. Sadly movie itself went through development hell and a lot of troubles and the end result was somewhat strange. The audience was divided on it, some hated it, some loved it but for sure it left a mark in cinema history. Years have passed and just when people forgot about ever receiving another try on a book adaptation Denis Villeneuve has brought his vision of Frank Herbert's novel into its full glory on a big screen. The interesting thing about this new Dune movie was that from the start Denis envisioned it as a two-movie part openly saying that book itself is too complex to be done in a single movie. But, the issue arises when information about Dune part two was hanging on a thread on how well Dune part one will be received and performed in the box office. This naturally brought all kinds of speculation and worry among fans of the franchise, especially because the movie itself was really good and well made. Well for all of you fans and people who wanted to see a continuation of the story can rest at peace now since the Legendary picture has officially announced and green-lighted Dune part two. The budget was given and we can expect part two at the beginning of 2023.

Recently, a number of users reported not being able to use the Restore, Minimize and Close buttons on their Windows 10 computers. This kind of issue can be quite annoying as you won’t be able to use your computer properly, especially when you navigate between programs and windows. In such cases, the buttons on the right side of the title bar won’t respond to any inputs which could be caused by a number of factors such as different input modes, corrupted system files, and many more. If you are one of the users who are currently facing this problem, worry not for this post will guide you on what you can do to resolve it. There are several potential fixes you can check out to fix the issue. You can try to check if Tablet Mode is enabled and if it is, you have to disable it. You could also boot your computer in a Clean Boot State to check if a third-party program is the one that’s causing the problem. In addition, you could also reinstall the program where you experience the problem or run built-in utilities like System File Checker and DISM tool.

Option 1 – Make sure that you are not in Tablet Mode

Since Windows 10 is designed to work on both desktop and mobile devices, it could be that your computer has slipped into Tablet Mode which explains why you’re not seeing the Taskbar. To check if your computer is really in Tablet Mode, follow these steps:

• Go to the Start menu and select Settings.
• Next, select the System setting and from the left pane select the Tablet Mode.
• From there, make sure that the buttons next to the options given below are set to the off position:
  • Hide app icons on the taskbar in tablet mode
  • Automatically hide the taskbar in tablet mode

Option 2 – Put your computer in a Clean Boot State

As pointed out, it is possible that some third-party program or service is the one that’s behind the problem. To isolate this possibility and to identify the culprit, you have to put your computer into a Clean Boot State. To do so, follow the steps below.

• 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.)
• Once your computer is in a Clean Boot State, try to open the program where the problem occurred.

Option 3 – Try reinstalling the program

If the first two options didn’t work, then you might want to consider uninstalling the program and then install it back with its latest version. This should resolve the problem.

Option 4 – Try to run System File Checker

System File Checker or SFC is a built-in command utility that helps in restoring corrupted files as well as missing files. It replaces bad and corrupted system files to good system files that might be the cause why the Restore, Minimize and Close buttons don’t work. To run the SFC command, follow the steps given below.

• Type “cmd” in the Start search and then right-click on the appropriate search result.
• Next, select “Run as administrator” to open Command Prompt with admin privileges.
• 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.

• Now restart your computer and see if the problem is fixed or not.

Option 5 – Run the DISM tool

You can try running the Deployment Imaging and Servicing Management or DISM tool to fix the problem. 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
  • 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, restart your computer.

2021 is nearing toward the end and with just a couple of days remaining in this year, we are happy to look forward to the next year. So in large anticipation of what will next year bring us, we are taking a good design look at this one and making a list for you of what graphic design software you should learn and use in the upcoming 2022.

Before we dive into it in more detail and predictions please be aware that this article is based upon my personal opinion drawn from the research of current trends and standards. That being said let's dive right into details.

Adobe Photoshop

Whether you like it or not, Adobe has cemented itself with its flagship application Photoshop and how things are looking this situation will not change any time soon. Photoshop is an extraordinary pixel manipulation software that has the ability to work with both animations and vector graphics as well making it a great single application for all-around design needs. It has been industry-standard design software for the web, print, and all other kinds of design all over the globe and this will not change in near future. With its constant updates and expansion of its abilities, this is a must-have tool in your design tool belt. If you are looking to find work as a designer you will have to know how to work with photoshop.

Adobe illustrator

Many will tell you that is photoshop for raster graphics, the illustrator is for vectors. First started as illustrator 88 on Mac right away it took first place for vector graphics from FreeHand and it continued on its path of vector dominance. After some time and more integration with photoshop Adobe managed to overthrow Corel Draw as well winning the title for best vector editing software with illustrator. Same as with photoshop, if you are planning to work in a serious industry you will need to know the illustrator.

Adobe InDesign

We are still in Adobe train and it is moving hard, InDesign is graphic design software aimed for paper publications. If you need to create and prepare any kind of professional publication for printing InDesign is the application to go to. With its specific print aimed features it is a must-have for any graphic designer.

Corel Draw Graphic Suite

Once the king of vector and print design but dethroned by Adobe Corel Draw still has some punches to stay relevant in the field. With some cool features like symmetry and long shadows, it stands out from its competitors for its ease of use. Corel was always focused on easy to learn, and difficult to master and it is still following that kind of thinking. Granted not many employers will require you to be a master of Corel Draw but some of them will request that you are familiar with the application. One of perhaps the greatest advantages of Corel over Adobe is not locking you into a subscription making Draw suit a great choice for freelancers and designers that want to own software, not rent it.

Affinity Designer

The first software from Affinity was Photo, made as a cheap version one-time purchase competitor for photoshop. Later it has released Designer, also a one-time purchase competitor for illustrators. If we are going to take a good look into a feature for feature comparison, both Adobe and Corel will win over Affinity but if we take a look at a price that is a one-time purchase Affinity will win over easily. Priced only at $54.99 it is a steal, and taking into account that many designers will not require any very advanced features found in Corel or Adobe applications Affinity is the way to go.

Inkscape & GIMP

Speaking of price, nothing beats free, and both Inkscape and GIMP are completely free. offering very decent and competitive features applications will require you to get used to their own specific UI and workflow, but once you get a grasp of them, you will be able to do most design work in them. One of the downsides of using these free open source apps is their limited export options but if all that is required from you is to deliver a typical SVG, JPG, EPS, PNG, or PDF file you are good to go.

Colorcinch

Free with basic functionality with the option to purchase more advanced features Colorcinch is a great application if you are on quickly developing and creating graphics for social media posts. Add quickly text or filters, quickly do the color adjustment and save for social apps. The application also within its basic boundaries can work directly on the website without you requiring to even install it making it one of a kind. Go try it at the official site and enjoy yourself.

Conclusion

If you have followed the graphic design scene you will notice that nothing has changed and it will not change in near future. This just speaks about how much industry is defined and how little change is there over time. I advise if you can to get and learn adobe suite since it is industry standard and is required from almost every employer today. Rest applications on the list are great alternatives and can bring you income and offer you a way to finish your project.