5 Windows 10 Upgrade errors you might encounter

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• The device driver is out-of-date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Since Error Code 48 is due to a missing or an out-of-date device driver, uninstalling and then reinstalling the device driver can help solve the error.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

Error Code 3 - What is it?

Error code 3 is a type of PC windows error that can occur on any Windows version including Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, or 8. This error code means that the system cannot find the path specified. The error 3 messages are displayed in the following format: “Error_ Path_Not_Found” or it may sometimes be displayed with the value 3 in this format:  (0x80070003: Error_Path_Not_Found)

Solution

Error Causes

The error code 3 indicates poor PC maintenance. It is a critical sign of an unstable system. The causes of this error code are:

• Missing or broken system files
• Registry issues

This error code poses serious system threats and should be resolved immediately before the damage is done. If you don’t address this error timely, your PC may be exposed to risks like system failure and crash. And this may lead to valuable data loss.

Further Information and Manual Repair

To resolve this error on your system, you don’t have to hire a technician or be technically sound yourself. What you simply need to do is clean the registry. Here are 2 ways to clean the registry:

1. Manually by Launching Registry Editor

First, launch the Windows registry editor by clicking the start button and selecting run. In the text box type, 'Regedit' and press enter and click OK. Before you make changes to the registry, make sure you create a backup of your existing registry. This is advisable because if you accidentally lose important data during the cleaning process you can also recover the lost data. Once you create a backup, now get started with the cleaning process. Expand HKEY_CURRENT_USER" key, then click on the software key and look for applications that you think could have corrupted the registry. Now delete them. After that, remove the unwanted start-up items, by accessing this link:  My Computer HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft Windows Current Version. Now click on the run tab and delete invalid entries/ values. This process may be time-consuming and for some, it may be slightly technical to identify unwanted start-up items.

2. Download Restoro Registry Cleaner

Another way to clean and repair the registry is to download Restoro. This is an innovative and a highly-functional registry cleaner. It is embedded with an intuitive algorithm that detects all the registry issues instantly and removes them right away in just a few simple clicks. It removes all the unnecessary and obsolete files, repairs the registry, and fixes the damaged dll and system files. It has a user-friendly interface and simple navigation which makes it easy for all levels of users to work around it. This software is compatible with all Windows versions. Besides functioning as a registry cleaner, Restoro also functions as an antivirus and a system optimizer. It scans and removes all kinds of malicious software and simultaneously boosts the speed of your PC. Click here to download Restoro and resolve error 3 “Entry_Path_Not_Found” on your PC now!

If you are trying to install Office but got an error saying, “Something went wrong, Sorry we ran into a problem” with error codes 12002-4, 12007-4, or 12152-4 instead, this indicates that you have a problem with your internet connection. Aside from internet connection issues, the problem could also be due to some programs that block the installation files to be downloaded so when they time out, you get these error codes. There are several options you can try to fix the 12002-4, 12007-4, or 12152-4 error codes. You can try to install Office offline or turn off the proxy server or VPN (if you’re using one). You can also try to temporarily disable your antivirus program or Firewall. Refer to the given potential fixes below to troubleshoot and fix the problem.

Option 1 – Try to install Office offline

The first thing you can do if you encounter the error codes 12002-4, 12007-4, or 12152-4 when installing Office is to download an offline copy of Office especially when you’re certain that your internet connection is slow. Once you’ve downloaded it, install it again. The offline installer will download both the 32 and 64-bit versions of Office. Keep in mind that you must download the correct version.

Option 2 – Disable the Proxy server

The first thing you can do is to try disabling the Proxy server as it might be the reason why you’re getting error 0x80244022 for Windows Updates. To disable the proxy server, refer to the steps below.

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

Note: If you are using a third-party proxy service, you have to disable it. In addition, if you are also using a VPN, you can try to disable it as well.

Option 3 – Temporarily disable the Antivirus and Firewall

As mentioned earlier, the downloading of the installation files could be blocked by either the antivirus program or Firewall or it could be both especially when the link seems suspicious. To fix this problem, you have to disable both the antivirus like Windows Defender and the Firewall or any third-party software you might be used temporarily and then download the installation files again. Once the download is completed, make sure to turn on the antivirus program and the Firewall again. On the other hand, you can also try downloading in a different location which also means that you have to try a different network. It could be that the load on the current system is too high which is why it’s not able to offer enough bandwidth to download the installation files of Microsoft Office.

The dialog boxes that you see on your Windows computer exist to send you a message or to notify you. However, you can also encounter issues with them. Recently, some users reported that they’re getting empty or blank dialog boxes. It’s definitely hard to choose between Yes or No or to click OK when you don’t know the context of the dialog box. If the same thing happened to you, worry not for there are some possible solutions that can help you fix the problem. This kind of problem usually happens when there are some issues with the graphics driver or when there is some corrupted software. Whichever the case is, here are some fixes you can check out to fix the empty or blank dialog boxes on your Windows 10 computer.

Option 1 – Run the 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 with good system files that might be the cause why you’re getting the errors 0x8024a11a and 0x8024a112. 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 2 – Try to update or rollback 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 devmgmt.msc into the box and tap Enter or click OK to open the Device Manager.
• After that, a list of device drivers will be displayed. From there, look for the Display Adapters and click on them.
• After that, right-click on each entry under the Display Adapters 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.

Note: If updating the Graphics driver didn’t fix the problem, you can also try to roll back to its previous version and see if that helps.

Option 3 – Run the DISM tool

The next thing you can do is run the DISM tool. This tool is known to repair potentially corrupted files in your system as having them could also system issues like the blank dialog boxes. To repair these corrupted system files, you can run the DISM commands:

• Tap the Win + X keys and click on the “Command Prompt (Admin)” option.
• After that, input each one of the commands listed below sequentially to execute them:
  • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
  • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
  • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

• Once you’ve executed the commands given above, restart your computer and check if the problem is now fixed.

Option 4 – Try to repair or reinstall the software

If the issue with the empty dialog boxes only occurs in a specific program, you can either try to repair the program or reinstall it. You can find the Repair option in the Add/Remove program section when you select the concerned program. If repairing the program didn’t work, you might have to uninstall it and then reinstall it.

Option 5 – Try troubleshooting the problem in a Clean Boot State

You might also want to troubleshoot the problem in a Clean Boot State. Doing so will help you isolate the problem. Refer to the steps below to do so:

• 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.)

Started as an internal network and has slowly expanded since 1960 internet has taken over the world. In the beginning, it was a means of information change but in the modern age you can run applications and virtual machines over the internet, you can stream video and audio, and you can communicate in real-time with someone on the other side of Earth.

With the internet growing so fast in such a small amount of time it is only logical and wise to take a step back and take a good look at what it offers now, what are great things about it and what are some of the worst.

Good sides of the internet

Information

There are a lot of advantages of the internet, first and foremost is information. Internet was made as an information exchange service and even today you can find a lot of various information about various topics that interest you. A site like Wikipedia is a completely free online encyclopedia and a lot of news companies have their own internet sites where you can find free information and news.

On the other hand, there are also websites like udemy, edx, Coursera, and many others that will offer you the education, some for free, some for money but you can get a glimpse and part of university quality education for just a fraction of price.

Online shopping

Sites like Amazon have used the internet and launched themselves as today's multi-billion companies. In today's world, there is not a single thing you can not buy online. Many sites today are going from the large online marketplace where you can find everything to small niche specialized ones. Also every major brand in the world today has its own online store.

Other shops will offer you music, movies, games, etc. Services like steam, xbox pass, sony pass etc, will let you buy games online, other music, movies, and many more.

Streaming services

Days, when you had to buy movies in order to watch them at home, are gone, thanks to the internet we have plenty of streaming services for movies and tv shows as well as ones for music. If you do not want to spend money on actually purchasing things then a good idea is to have a streaming plan set up when you want it.

Email and messaging

Communication is a great thing and since the dawn of mankind people have been talking and sharing with each other, the internet has made it possible to send mail electronically and instantly and modern chat communication is everywhere. We can not just talk with our friends and family that can be on the other side of the world, we can also talk in real-time with the sales representative, with technical service, or attend online classes with a group of people.

Cloud storage services

Saving your pictures in this digital media age on the hard drive can be risky but thanks to modern technologies you can save most of your precious files on cloud servers for safekeeping. From pictures to documents and even other files that you need and want to save. There are some of them that will offer you a free amount and some basic free plans as well.

Bad sides of the internet

Malware, viruses, and phishing

We could not talk about the bad side of the internet if we do not mention its greatest threat. Bad sites, infected software, phishing emails, and many more malicious threats. Problem is that these kinds of tricks and attacks have become more and more sophisticated and harder to detect and avoid.

Pornography

Pornography is bad, having it freely available to children is even worse. Sadly the only way to regulate this is on a computer-by-computer basis by turning on parent control on each one. There are many studies that go into detail about why this is bad, sadly currently there are no effective ways to isolate this content.

No privacy

When we say there is no privacy we do not mean by using social media and not setting your privacy settings altho that also fits in this point, what we are talking about is data mining of your habits and things you do. It is well known that today lot of websites are using some form of AI recommender system in order to tailor your internet experience to suit your needs better. Most of these AI systems are trained by mining your data and analyzing your habits.

If you have 2 google accounts there is a high probability chance that for the same query you will get different results, depending on your so far browsing habits. The same goes for other services as well.

Dark webshops

There are some great things in dark and deep WEB-like sites with true news and information. Even some legit libraries where you can find and download rare books. Sadly as goes with the internet dark and deep WEB also has its well, dark sides, from disturbing content to shops that sell stolen items to straight stealing your money by parading as legit shops but only to steal your money.

Dating sites

We all try to find someone that is perfectly matched with us but using the online dating site has many proven bad effects on psychology. It also devaluates interaction between people and can lower self-esteem.

Bad habits

Since the internet has become wildly available and popular on various devices like tablets and mobile phones more and more people are spending an unhealthy amount of time on it. Harvesting the benefits of the internet is great but find some time for other people as well.

Typical use of file explorer will probably not need any kind of elevated privileges, but from time to time you might encounter some tasks that will require administrator rights in order to perform them. If this is the case you will need to run file explorer with these rights but inside Windows 11 that is somewhat hidden and not 1 click away. How this is the case we have decided to put a little tutorial on how to accomplish this very task and run file explorer with administrator privileges.

Open File Explorer via EXE file

1. Open File Explorer typically
2. Navigate to This PC > Windows (C:) > Windows
3. Locate file explorer application
4. Right-click on it and select Run as Administrator
5. Run File Explorer

A new instance of file explorer will pop with elevated administrator privileges.

Run it as an administrator using the Task Manager

1. Open the Task Manager ( CTRL + SHIFT + ESC )
2. Click on More details (at the bottom)
3. After the task manager expands click on the File tab
4. Click on Run New Task
5. Type in explorer.exe and check the box next to it that says Create this task with administrative privileges
6. Click on OK

File Explorer will now run as administrator.

We couldn’t update system reserved partition” - What is it?

Customers will most likely encounter the “We couldn’t update system reserved partition” error when upgrading to Windows 10 from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1. This error may also come with error code 0xc1900104 or error code 0x800f0922.

Solution

Error Cause

“We couldn’t update system reserved partition” Windows 10 upgrade error is normally caused by too little space on the System Reserved Partition (SRP). The System Reserve Partition is an additional small partition created by Windows, which stores boot files. The SRP can be filled up with security apps and third-party anti-virus. Once this partition has insufficient space, the system will not be able to upgrade to Windows 10.

Further Information and Manual Repair

Caution: The following steps are complex and need to be done by experienced users especially using the command line. Once an error is made in entering commands, there’s a chance that your device can be put in a no-boot situation, or data stored on the device can possibly get lost.

To upgrade to Windows 10, your device needs to have at least 15MB free space on the System Reserved Partition. Follow the procedure below and then try upgrading again.

First, know if the System Reserved Partition is whether in GPT or MBR partition style:

1. Open the Run window by pressing the Windows key + R. Type msc in the window then press Enter.
2. Right-click on the Disk where SRP is located then select
3. Click over the Volumes
4. On the Partition Style line, you’ll see which partition style your device is using, either Master Boot Record (MBR) or GUID Partition Table (GPT)

Second, determine which method you will need:

Depending on what partition style your device has and whether you’re currently on Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1, there are various methods you need to do.

Method 1: Windows 7 or 8/8.1 with GPT partition

1. Click on the Start button and search for cmd. In the results, right-click on Command Prompt then choose Run as administrator. The command prompt window will appear.
2. Type mountvol y: /s at the command prompt then press Enter. This command will add the Y: drive letter where you can access the System Partition.
3. Type taskkill /im explorer.exe /f then hit Enter. Afterward, restart explorer in Admin mode by typing exe and hitting Enter.

NOTE: While in Admin mode, some apps like OneNote will not run.

4. Open File Explorer then type Y:EFIMicrosoftBoot in the address bar. Hit Enter.
5. Choose the language folders you want to permanently delete. Language folders are named with four letters split with a hyphen. For instance, you want to delete the German language: choose de-DE.
6. Optional: You can also delete unused font files for more space. Type Y:EFIMicrosoftBootFonts in the address bar then press enter.
7. Once you permanently deleted the unnecessary files, reboot the device to return to explorer.exe to normal mode and remove the Y: drive letter.

Method 2: Windows 7 with MBR partition

Doing this method will make a permanent, but small increase in the free space of the device’s SRP.

1. Delete language folders

a. Open the Run window by pressing the Windows key + R. Type diskmgmt.msc then hit Enter. b. Select System Reserve partition then right-click on it.

c. Choose Change Drive Letter and Paths then select Add.

d. Type Y for the drive letter then click OK.

e. Click on the Start button and search for cmd. In the results, right-click on Command Prompt then choose Run as administrator. The command prompt window will appear.

f. Type Y: at the command prompt then press Enter.

g. Once you’ve switched to drive Y, type takeown /d y /r /f . then hit Enter.

NOTE: Ensure that the space and period after “f” is included in order for the command to work properly      

h. Type icacls Y:* /save %systemdrive%NTFSp.txt /c /t then hit Enter to back up the permission to the drive.

NOTE: Ensure that all files are marked as successful and that no files are marked as failed.

i. Type whoami then hit Enter. Record the username that appears. Afterwards, type icacls . /grant <username you got from whoami>:F /t then press Enter.

NOTE: Ensure that there’s no space between the username and “:F” or the command will not work.

j. In the File Explorer, open the SRP drive and select the Boot folder. Choose the             language folders you want to permanently delete. Language folders are named      with four letters split with a hyphen. For example: de-DE is the German language          while en-US is the U.S. English language.

2. Truncate the NTFS Log:

a. Open the Command Prompt then type chkdsk /L Y: to check the size of the NTFS Log. If the NTFS Log size is less than 5000KB, you need not truncate the file.

b. Type chkdsk /L:5000 /X /F then hit Enter to truncate the NTFS Log.

c. Return to Disk Management window. Select Action menu then select Check if the device’s SRP now has a larger amount of free space. Once there’s enough space, right click the System Reserve Partition then select Change Drive Letter and Paths. Choose Y: then select Remove.

3. If there’s still not enough available space after truncating the NTFS Log, resize the USN journal:

a. Open the command prompt then type fsutil usn queryjournal Y: to display the size in hex value. Convert the hex value to decimal then divide it by 1048576. The result you will get will be in MB. If the journal size is 30MB or more, proceed with truncating the file.

NOTE: To convert the Hex value to Decimal, open the Calculator app in Windows then choose View menu. Select Programmer then choose Hex. Type the Hex value then choose Dec.

b. Type fsutil usn deletejournal /D /N Y: then hit Enter to delete the journal. Type fsutil usn createjournal m=1500 a=1 Y: to recreate the journal having the new log size value.

4. Restore permissions

a. Type icacls Y: /restore %systemdrive%NTFSp.txt /c /t in the Command Prompt. Check if the files were successfully processed before proceeding. If you see a message saying some files failed while processing, this is normal since some of the files have already been deleted before performing a backup. However, if there are no successful files indicated, the command was not properly executed.

b. Type icacls . /grant system:f /t then hit Enter to adjust the ACL back to System. Now, you can set the owner of the drive by typing icacls Y: /setowner “SYSTEM” /t /c then press Enter.

c. Check if the device’s SRP now has enough free space by going back to Disk Management and refreshing the data. If the SRP already has sufficient space, you can now remove the drive letter. Right-click on the System Reserved Partition then choose Change Drive Letter and Paths. Select the Y: drive then choose Confirm deleting the drive letter by clicking OK.

Method 3: Windows 8/8.1 with MBR partition

This method makes a larger, but temporary, increase in the SRP free space.

1. Be sure you have an external drive having at least 250 MB free space and formatted as NFTS.

2. Open Run by pressing the Windows key + R. Type mscthen to choose the Recovery Partition. Right-click on it then choose Change Drive Letter and Paths.

3. Select Add then type Y for the drive letter, click

4. Click on the Start screen then type cmd in the search bar. In the results, right-click on Command Prompt then choose Run as administrator. The command prompt window will appear.

5. Switch to another drive by typing Y: in the command prompt. Once you’re in the drive Y, type takeown /d y /r /f .

NOTE: Ensure that space and period after “f” are included in order for the command to work properly.

6. Type whoami then hit Enter. Record the username that appears. Afterward, type icacls . /grant <username you got from whoami>:F /t then press Enter.

NOTE: Ensure that there’s no space between the username and “:F” or else the command will not work.

7. Once the command is completed, type attrib -s -r –h Y:RecoveryWindowsREwinre.wim then hit Enter.
8. Open File Explorer and check the drive letter of the external drive you’re using (In this case, let’s assume F: is the drive letter of the external drive so when you see F: for the rest of the steps, this means the drive letter of the external drive you’re using).
9. Type mkdir F:RecoveryWindowsRE in the Command Prompt then hit Enter. Afterward, type xcopy Y:RecoveryWindowsREwinre.wim F:RecoveryWindowsREwinre.wim /h
10. Type C:WindowsSystem32Reagentc /SetREImage /Path F:RecoveryWindowsRE /Target C:Windows to map the new path
11. Verify if the copy was successfully done then type del Y:RecoveryWindowsREwinre.wim /F
12. Return to Disk Management window. Click on the Action menu then hit Check if the device’s SRP now has a larger amount of available space. Once there’s enough space, you can proceed with the upgrade.
13. Upon completion of the upgrade, move back the wim file to the Recovery Partition. At this point, you can re-map now the location by:
    1. Open the Command Prompt then type xcopy F:RecoveryWindowsREwinre.wim Y:RecoveryWindowsREwinre.wim /h and press Enter.
    2. Type C:WindowsSystem32Reagentc /SetREImage /Path Y:RecoveryWindowsRE /Target C:Windows to re-map to the original path.
14. Return to the Disk Management window. Right-click on the Recovery Partition then choose Change Drive Letter and Paths. Select the Y: drive then choose Remove.

Method: Download a Powerful Automated Tool

Not inclined to go through a long and technical process (as highlighted above)? Download and install a powerful automated tool and get the job done in a jiffy.

Resource hogging is a term when one single application or few of them are taking all system resources for themself causing extreme slow down in the computer and nonresponsiveness. It can be a very frustrating and time-consuming experience and it can cost you money if you can not finish work on time due to this effect. I believe that everyone has experienced at least one slowdown in their IT carrier because of resource-hogging applications and most users do not know how to deal with this. We are here to help you with this issue. Just to be aware that this method shown here is not a method to miraculously speed up your PC or anything similar, this is to be able to detect and recover from extreme slowdowns. Hardware components are still very important and if you can upgrade your computer if it is outdated, please do it because new applications will require a more modern system, and not any kind of tips and tricks will save you from outdated hardware.

Identifying resource hogging app

Now when we got that out of the way let's talk about slowdowns, it is no secret that sometimes an application has bugs and memory leaks that can cause this kind of behavior, and sometimes the application simply takes up too much memory for any other application to work normally. The most simple and straightforward way is to bring up a Windows task manager and inspect running applications and services. You can bring task manager by the key combination of CTRL + SHIFT + ESC If the system is in deep memory deficit you will have to wait for the task manager to open and show itself on-screen. Once opened, click on more details if that view is not opened by default. Once the view expands you will see all running applications with how much RAM memory have they taken and how much CPU they are using.

What to do with app?

Now you are presented with a choice on what to do with the problematic application. If you press the end task button on the bottom right, Windows will kill the application and its processes but any unsaved work inside the application will be lost and unrecoverable in most cases. Or you can try to remove smaller applications running to free up more memory and CPU in order for the computer to catch up. Any choice you make is up to you, but be very careful not to kill Windows essential service by mistake, that will cause immediate system instability with high chances of a system crash.

What is Active History? A new feature has been introduced in Windows 10 that allows users to stay connected to their tasks across their devices. This new feature is called “Windows Timeline” and using this feature, users could continue their tasks all over their Windows 10 computers as well as on devices that run Android and iOS as well. This new feature was included in Microsoft Launcher and Microsoft Edge on Android devices as well as in Microsoft Edge for iOS devices. In order for the feature to work, you have to send either Basic or Full data and diagnostics of your computer to Microsoft which would sync it all over your devices with the help of the cloud. And now since all your data is stored on your Windows 10 computer and with Microsoft under your account, it is easier for you to access the back and start where you left off. This kind of option is called Active History. In this post, you will be guided on how you can permanently disable Active History using either the Windows Registry or Group Policy. Before you go on further, it is recommended that you create a System Restore Point first in case anything goes wrong. This is a precautionary measure you must take so that you can easily undo the changes you’ve made. After creating a System Restore Point, proceed to the given instructions below.

Option 1 – Disable Active History via Registry Editor

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box and type in “Regedit” in the field and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor.
• Next, navigate to this registry key: ComputerHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindowsSystem
• From there, check if you can find a DWORD named “PublishUserActivities”. If you can’t find this DWORD, just create one with the same name and make sure that the base is selected to Hexadecimal.
• After that, double-click on the DWORD and change its value from 1 to 0 to disable Active History.
• Restart your computer to apply the changes you’ve made successfully.

Option 2 – Disable Active History via Group Policy Editor

Note that this second option won’t work if you are using the Home edition of Windows 10. This is because the Group Policy Editor does not come with Windows 10 Home. So if you are not using Windows 10 Home, follow the given steps below.

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run box.
• Then type in “gpedit.msc” in the field and hit Enter to open the Group Policy Editor.
• Next, navigate to this path: Computer ConfigurationAdministrative TemplatesSystemOS Policies
• After that, double click on the configuration listing named “Allow publishing of User Activities” to open the configuration page which has the following description:

“This policy setting determines whether User Activities can be published. If you enable this policy setting, activities of type User Activity are allowed to be published. If you disable this policy setting, activities of type User Activity are not allowed to be published. Policy change takes effect immediately.”

• Now you have to select Disabled or Not Configured if you want to disable Publishing of User Activities or Enabled to Enable Publishing of User Activities depending on your preferences.
• Next, click OK and exit the Group Policy Editor and then restart your computer to successfully apply the changes made.

If you are testing your headphone or your speaker but all of a sudden encountered an error that says, “Failed to play test tone” in your Windows 10 computer, worry not for this post will walk you through how you can fix this problem. The test tone is used to check the right-left balance of the headphones and speakers in your computer, however, if you are not able to use it, there are several options you can check out. You can try to run the Playing Audio troubleshooter or restart the services that are related to Windows Audio. Aside from these, you could also disable Audio Enhancements or you could also change the default test tone rate and bit depth.

Option 1 – Try to run the Playing Audio Troubleshooter

Since the Windows 10 operating system has the Playing Audio Troubleshooter, you can use this troubleshooter to try and fix the problem with the “No Audio Output Device is installed” error. You can access this tool in the Control Panel or in the Taskbar Search and even on the Troubleshooters page of Windows 10. Run this troubleshooter and see if it can fix the issue or not.

Option 2 – Try to restart the Windows Audio-related services

The next thing you can do to fix the problem is to restart the services related to Windows Audio. Although the audio services start automatically on every system boot, there are times when they might fail to start. Thus, you can start these services manually by following these steps:

• Tap the Win + R keys to launch the Run utility and type “services.msc” in the field and hit Enter to open the Services Manager.
• Then look for the services named “Windows Audio” and “Windows Audio Endpoint Builder”.
• Double click on each one of these services and check if their Service Status is set to Running or not and also check if the Startup Type is set to Automatic.
• If none of the services are running, just click on the Start button and select the Automatic option from the drop-down menu.
• Now click on the Apply and OK buttons to save the changes made and then check if the error is fixed.

Option 3 – Try to update the Audio driver

You might also want to consider updating or the Audio driver as it could help in fixing the error.

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box and then type in devmgmt.msc and tap Enter or click OK to open the Device Manager.
• Expand the section for the outdated device drivers.
• And then select the outdated driver(s) and right-click on it/them.
• From the drop-down menu, select the Update Driver option and follow the on-screen instructions to install the latest version of the driver.
• Then also click on the option, “Search automatically for updated driver software.
• Restart your PC after the installation.

Note: If updating or reinstalling the Audio driver didn’t work, you can go to the manufacturer’s website and look for the support section where you can download the drivers for your computer. You just need to take note of your PC’s correct model and model number so you can find the appropriate driver.

Option 4 – Try changing the default test tone rate and bit depth

Windows selects a default test tone rate and bit depth depending on your headphone or speaker. This allows you to look for the best sound quality from your audio output device. So if your headphone or speaker has some problems with the default settings, then it’s no wonder why you’re getting the “Failed to play test tone” error. To fix this, you can try to change the default test tone rate and bit depth by following the steps below.

• First, you need to open the Windows Settings panel and then go to System > Sound.
• Next, look for the Device properties option located on your right-hand side and click on it.
• After that, select the Additional device properties option and go to the Advanced tab.
• From there, select a different test tone rate and bit depth and then click on the Test button.
• Once done, check if it was able to fix the problem or not.

Option 5 – Try disabling the Sound or Audio enhancements

To make your operating system’s specific hardware sound nothing but perfect, both Microsoft and third-party vendors have shipped audio enhancement packages which are usually referred to as “Audio Enhancements” in Windows 10. However, there are instances when instead of improving the sound or audio quality of your computer, it can cause problems so to fix the problem you need to turn off these audio enhancements. How? Simply follow the steps below.

• Type in “Sound” in the taskbar search and then from the list of results, select “Sound Control Panel”.
• After clicking Sound, the Sound properties box will pop up. From there, go to the Playback tab and right-click on the default device i.e. Speakers or Headphones then select Properties.
• After that, the Speakers properties box will appear. From there, go to the Enhancements tab and select the checkbox for the “Disable all enhancements” option.