If you are a person which spends a lot of time in front of the computer doing work, then you are aware of the importance of having a proper backup of your archive so if anything bad happens you will lose almost none of the work.
We can never tell when we might experience HDD failures or when we might be a victim of cyber attacks, natural disasters,s and other unpredictable circumstances where we could lose all of our data in a matter of minutes. Having a backup of our data is very important but sometimes we are too busy or not around and we miss that data backup we wanted to do, and if in this case disaster strikes we are out of luck and data is lost. To avoid such circumstances, you can set up automatic Windows Backups at a scheduled time. This way it will help to have the loss of important files and documents from unexpected hazards.
in order to create automatic backups of your files, you have several options, and below we will explore each one in hopes that you will find one that best suits your needs.
Create automatic file backup with OneDrive
This is probably the best way to do it because each time when you sign in OneDrive files get backed up right away, files are stored in the cloud and can be accessed on any device via a Microsoft account.
To get started, open the Settings app first.
Click on the Update & Security category
Select the Backup tab from the left pane.
Move to the right page and click on the Back up files button that is available under Back up files to OneDrive.
Select the folders you want to backup in the cloud, and remove those ones you don’t want to backup.
On the next page, click the Start backup button to start the procedure.
Create a backup using File History
File History is an inbuilt feature that allows users to create automatic file backup on Windows 10. File History allows the users to back up their files in an external or cloud drive at different intervals of time. To create automatic file backup using File History:
Press the ⊞ WINDOWS + I to open the Settings app.
Click on the Update & Security category and then select the Backup tab from the left pane.
Under the Back up using File History section, click on Add a drive button.
Now choose the drive to store the backup files. Windows will use this drive for File History.
Then turn on the toggle button under Automatically back up my files. This will back up your data to the drive automatically whenever you connect it to the system.
Below the toggle button, click on the “More options” link to set how frequently File History will back up.
Use the Keep my backups drop-down menu to get the option to configure the time for how long you want to keep your backups. By default, it will keep your backups forever.
Under the section Back up these folders, tap on the Add a folder button in order to add one more folder to the backup. Then click on the Add a folder button, under Exclude these folders. This will exclude the files that you don’t want to back up.
You can stop the drive from storing backup files to change the backup storage location. To do this, click the Stop using drive option under the Back up to a different drive category.
Backup using Windows backup & restore tool
Open Control Panel
Click on the System and Security option
Scroll down and select the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) button
Next click on the Set up backup button, available under the Back up or restore your files section
Under the Save backup on section, select the Backup Destination where you want your backup files to get stored
On the “Set up backup” page, Windows will ask you to choose the way to backup, check Let me choose checkbox, and then hit the Next button
Under the section Computer, select the files and folders you want to backup. Then uncheck the box next to the Include a system image of drives option, and then hit the Next button
Now click on the Change schedule link. Set the time and check the box beside Run backup on a schedule button
Click OK then select the Save settings and run backup option
If you receive an error message saying, “The proxy server is refusing connections” while trying to open a website on your Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox browser in Windows 10, then read on as this post will guide you in fixing this error.
This kind of error occurs when you have a wrong or dead proxy configuration or when you are using some VPN service. However, this kind of error could also mean that your computer might be infected by malware which caused some changes in the internal settings. Whatever triggered the error, here are some suggestions that could help in fixing it.
Option 1 – Check the proxy settings in your browser
Like other browsers, Firefox allows users to set up proxy in several ways. However, if you’ve made any changes recently which might have caused the error, the first thing you can do is to check the proxy settings in your Firefox browser. Follow the steps below to do so.
Open the browser and go to Menu and then click Options.
After that, go to the General tab and scroll down and click the Settings button under Network Settings.
From there, make sure that the Use system proxy settings option is set. If not, you have to enable No proxy and then save the changes made.
Now check if the “The proxy server is refusing connections” error is fixed or not.
Note: If you want to use a proxy in Firefox, you have to select the Manual proxy configuration and set it up properly. And if your network has a proxy setting and you want to grab that, you have to opt for the Auto-detect proxy settings for this network option.
Option 2 – Try disabling the proxy server for your LAN
If your PC was just attacked by some adware or malware as of late, it is possible that it has changed the network settings in the system and might display spam advertisements. Thus, you have to disable the proxy server for your LAN. To do that, refer to these steps:
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.
Option 3 – Try disabling the manual proxy setup from Settings
In case you miss it, there is actually an option in the Settings panel that you can use to set up a proxy in your Windows 10 computer. So if you encounter the “The proxy server is refusing connections” error, you should disable manual proxy for the meantime and check if it fixed the error or not.
Tap the Win + I keys to open the Windows Settings.
Then go to Network & Internet > Proxy.
And on your right-hand side, ensure that the Automatically detect settings are enabled and that the Use a proxy server option under the Manual proxy setup is disabled.
Now try to open any website again and see if the problem’s fixed.
Option 4 – Check your VPN
If you are using a VPN application, there are times when it causes some issues like this error. If that’s the case, you can try to disable your VPN temporarily and see if the error is resolved or not and if turns out that your VPN is the culprit, you have to uninstall it and install a new one or its latest version. To uninstall it, follow the steps below.
Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box
Then type “appwiz.cpl” in the field and hit Enter to open the Programs and Features in Control Panel.
From there, look for the VPN service you are using, select it and then click on Uninstall to remove it.
After that, restart your computer and try to install the latest version of the program again. It should work now. If not, proceed to the next available option below.
Option 5 – Clear your browser’s internet cache
You actually have the option to Hard Refresh in order to clear the cache of your browser either pressing key combination Ctrl +F5.
Option 6 – Try scanning your computer using Windows Defender
As mentioned, the “The proxy server is refusing connections” might be caused by some malware in the system and so to eliminate the malware, you have to scan your computer using security programs like Windows Defender.
Tap the Win + I keys to open Update & Security.
Then click on the Windows Security option and open Windows Defender Security Center.
Next, click on Virus & threat protection > Run a new advanced scan.
Now make sure that Full Scan is selected from the menu and then click the Scan Now button to get started.
Despite popular belief, there are a lot of users running Linux OS. Linux offers great security and working environment and 96.3% of the world's top 1 million servers run on Linux. 90% of all cloud infrastructure operates on Linux and practically all the best cloud hosts use it. But gaming on Linux is limited, enter Steam proton a Valve’s gaming solution.
What is Steam proton?
Proton is a WINE fork with some extra capabilities, to play games and run applications not native and not made to run natively under Linux OS. It is supposed to bridge the Gaming issues for PC users and let them more freedom in choosing an operating system to game on.
Find out if your game supports Proton
Although there are a lot of titles that nowadays run natively on Linux some will still need proton in order to run at all and sadly some of them will not be able to run on Linux even via proton but seeing how Valve is busy and it is trying to push its ideas and technology slowly this gap is closing.
In order to see how the game you want to play performs and behaves on Linux and proton environment visit https://www.protondb.com/ and find out. As soon as the site loads you will be greeted with statistics and a search option to find out the status of the desired game with one of the given statuses: Borked, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Native.
As you probably guessed native means that the game will work on Linux out of the box and borked will probably not work at all. Platinum and gold status means that game will run on proton without any input or tweaks from the user while silver and bronze means that it will work but might need some tweaks in order to make it work.
How to get Steam proton?
In order to run games under proton inside Linux, you will need firstly a Steam client which luckily works naturally on Linux. Unlocking/activating Steam Proton on your Linux-based system is easy. Just head over to Steam > Settings > Steam Play and toggle the option “Enable Steam Play for Supported Titles”.
Valve has tested and fixed some Steam titles and you will now be able to play those titles. However, if you wish to go even further beyond, and play titles that even Valve has not tested, toggle the option “Enable Steam Play for all titles”.
Conclusion
Even we are not there yet, native gaming on Linux is gaining a foothold each day. Will Steam’s OS with proton technology be one that will turn the tide from Windows or some other tech we cannot tell but one thing is for sure, more choices mean better products so I am hopeful for a bright future.
If you suddenly encountered an error that says, “No Audio Output Device is installed” on your Windows 10 computer, worry not for this post will guide you on how exactly you can fix the problem. There are several possible reasons why this error pops up. It could be due to a recent Windows 10 update you’ve installed, or it could be due to a corrupted or outdated audio driver, and so on.
There are several potential solutions to this error. You can try running the built-in Audio Playing troubleshooter or update or uninstall the Audio driver. You could also try to update the Intel Smart Sound Technology Audio Control driver, as well as contact support for your laptop or computer. For more details, refer to each one of the provided options below.
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 update the Audio driver
If the error has something to do with software, chances are it might be related to the audio driver – it could be that the newest version of your Windows 10 does not work well with the old version of the driver. This is why you have to update your audio driver to the newest available version.
Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box and then type in MSC and tap Enter or click OK to open the Device Manager.
Expand the section of the Sound, video, and Game Controllers.
And then 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 the Audio driver didn’t work, you can go to the website of your PC manufacturer 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 3 – Try removing and reinstalling the sound card
If option 1 didn’t work, you can also try to remove and reinstall the sound card of your computer to fix the high-pitched sound coming from your computer’s speakers.
To get started, tap on the Windows key + R to pull up the Run box.
Next, type in “MSC” in the box to open the Device Manager.
After opening the Device Manager, go to the “Sound, video, and game controllers” option then right-click on the sound card.
Finally, click on Uninstall and tick the box with a label that says, “Delete the driver software for this device” and close the Device Manager.
Restart your computer and check if the problem’s fixed or not.
Note: After you restart your computer, the system should reinstall the speaker automatically. But if it does not reinstall, you can follow the aforementioned steps again to go to the Device Manager. From there, go back to “Sound, video, and Game Controllers” and right-click on the sound card. After that, enabling the sound card and restart your computer once more. That should fix the problem.
Option 4 – Try updating the Intel Smart Sound Technology Audio Control driver
If the three options given above didn’t fix the error, you might want to try updating the Intel Smart Sound Technology Audio Control driver. To do so, follow these steps:
Tap the Win + X keys and select the Device Manager option from the menu.
Next, scroll down and click on the System Devices option and select the “Intel Smart Sound Technology Audio Control” option.
Then right-click on it and select the “Update driver” option.
After a couple of seconds, the wizard will look for an available driver and will automatically update it.
Restart your computer and see if the error is now fixed.
Each time we turn ON our computer or wake it from hibernation we are greeted with a Windows login screen where we need to provide login credentials in order to get into Windows itself and start working. This method of preserving data and privacy is perfectly fine and as a matter of fact, it is recommended for mobile computers but if you have a home computer in a safe environment where no one will try to look at your data or rummage through your personal stuff then removing login screen is safe enough action and can cause you a lot piece, from time-saving to less frustration on every restart or sleep action.
In previous Windows versions, it was much easier to turn off this feature but it seems Microsoft has determined that our privacy and security are important and somewhat removed the ability to turn OFF the lock screen. In this guide, we will show you how you can still remove the lock screen and automatically log in with your account like in the good old days.
The first thing you need to do is to press ⊞ WINDOWS + R to bring up the Run dialog
In the dialog, type in netplwiz and press ENTER.
You will find yourself in the User Accounts window, inside deselect Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer. Press OK
Sign in the window will pop up where you will have to type in your password and confirm it in order to start the feature.
After typing in your password and confirming it, press OK. That's it, next time you wake your computer from hibernation or turn it ON, you will automatically be greeted with a desktop instead of a Windows login screen.
Stable Diffusion is a machine learning model developed by Stability AI to generate digital images from natural language descriptions. The model can be used for different tasks like generating image-to-image translations guided by text prompts and upscaling images.
Unlike competing models like DALL-E, Stable Diffusion is open source and does not artificially limit the images it produces. Stable diffusion was trained on a subset of the LAION-Aesthetics V2 data set. It can run on most consumer hardware equipped with a modest GPU and was hailed by PC World as "the next killer app for your PC".
Since Stable Diffusion is run locally and not in the cloud, as mentioned there is no limit to the number of images that you can produce but in order to use it you will have to get down a little dirty with setting your PC environment for it since it is not really an application, it is a command line text based descriptor that will use python to generate your images, so there is no install nor GUI.
In this guide, we will show you how to both install and run Stable Diffusion on your local PC so you can start producing some cool images all by yourself.
Hardware and software requirements
Make no mistake, Stable Diffusion will not run on a potato PC, in order to harvest the power of AI-generated imagery this is what you will need:
A GPU with at least 4GB of VRAM
10GB of hard disk space
Python and libraries (Miniconda3 installer will install everything you need)
The Stable Diffusion files
Git
Any OS (Windows, Linux, macOS)
Installing components
For this tutorial, we are covering the installation and running of Stable Diffusion on Windows PC. The steps presented here are presented in a way that installation can be performed on any operating system but precise instructions will be for Windows OS.
GIT
The first thing to do is to install GIT. It is a tool that will let you easily maintain and install repos from the internet. to install it go to: https://git-scm.com/ and click on download. Follow the instructions for your version of the operating system. If you are a developer you are familiar with GIT and if you already have it installed you can skip this step.
One thing that is important when installing GIT locally is to select to use it via the command line (the second option that says "Git from the command line and also from 3rd-party software").
Miniconda3
Now when we have GIT installed, next thing is to use Miniconda3 to install python and all required libraries that are needed. Get the installer at: https://docs.conda.io/en/latest/miniconda.html
Miniconda3 is basically an easy installer so you do not have to install tons of stuff manually from different websites and sources, it is nicely packaged in the installer that will take care of everything.
Stable Diffusion
After the previous two steps, we are ready now to actually install Stable Diffusion. Go to https://huggingface.co/CompVis/stable-diffusion#model-access and install the latest library (as of the writing of this article currently it is stable-diffusion-v1-4-original, the last one on the right), the library is almost 5GB in size so be prepared for big download.
Once downloaded click on the Windows start button and type in Miniconda3 and click on open. Create a folder and name it how you want on a drive of your choice. For this example, we will install it all in disk C under folder AI_art, follow the instructions below but use your own names and destination instead. Do not close Minicoda3 after typing commands!!!
cd c:/
mkdir AI_art
cd AI_art
Extract GitHub files that you have downloaded into your new folder and get back to Minicoda3 and type the next commands:
Let the whole process finish, some files are large and it might take a while. After the whole process is finished and completed, copy the checkpoint file that you have downloaded into: C:\AI_art\stable-diffusion-main\models\ldm\stable-diffusion-v1
After the file is copied rename it to model.ckpt and you are finished.
Running Stable Diffusion
The created environment is needed in order to actually use Stable Diffusion to create images. Each time you want to use it you will have to run it, so go into Miniconda3, and inside it type:
conda activate ldm
cd C:\AI_art\stable-diffusion-main
after we are inside the folder call the script with the parameters:
python scripts/txt2img.py --prompt "TXT DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE THAT YOU WANT TO CREATE" --plms --n_iter 5 --n_samples 1
and that's it, your image is created and it is located in C:\AI_art\stable-diffusion-main\outputs\txt2img-samples\samples
There are a lot of reasons to ban or block different websites in your Windows. From wanting to limit yourself from distraction to block certain sites for sake of kids not going into them. Whatever your reason might be, keep reading in order to find out how you can block any website inside Windows for all browsers.
The technique I am going to share with you is universal and not tied to Windows versions, they will work in any Windows from XP onward. Also, the technique will block desired websites on any browser, already installed or even ones that will be installed after doing the trick. And we will also be looking at applications that can help you in this task if you do not wish to do it manually.
Block websites using dedicated software
A small free application called Focal Filter which can be found here: https://www.focalfilter.com/ is a software solution for your needs. It is a pretty straightforward and easy-to-understand application and not really much can be said here about it. You simply download and install it, set your websites, and you are done, the app does rest.
Blocking manually via host file
Another method besides mentioned one using the dedicating application is to manually set site addresses inside the Windows host file.
The first thing, of course, is to open the host file, run a notepad with administrator privileges, go to file open, and navigate to c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts.
Once the file is opened go all the way down and add:
127.0.0.1 SITENAME
For example: 127.0.0.1 www.youtube.com or 127.0.0.1 www.facebook.com
This way each time user on a PC tries to access a listed website computer will reroute it to the given address which is your PC's local address and asked website will not be able to load.
When you update or upgrade your computer to Windows 10, the setup will look for the compatibility of both the hardware and software. And in this process, if suddenly got an error message saying, “Some apps need to be uninstalled” or “You need to uninstall a program in order to continue”, you have to look for the program(s) that might be causing the compatibility issues. But worry not as this post will help you resolve the issue. Simply follow the given suggestions below.
Option 1 – Look for the incompatible programs
There are times when Windows 10 will point out the programs that are incompatible with Windows 10. In this situation, just click on the Uninstall and continue button and then wait for the process to be completed.
For more information, you can check out the official site Ready for Windows by Microsoft. This site can help you determine which software versions are compatible with Windows 10 and which ones are not. All you have to do is select the Windows 10 version and type your App name, after that, you will see the results about its compatibility. Thus, it’s now easier for you to figure out which software is causing an issue and if there is a new updated version available that you can install instead.
Option 2 – Try to install the Windows Update in a Clean Boot State
Putting your PC in a Clean Boot state can also help you install Windows Updates or Upgrades without any trouble because, 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” checkbox and make sure that the “Load System Services” and “Use Original boot configuration” options are checked.
Next, click the Services tab and select the “Hide All Microsoft Services” 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 3 – Try creating a new user account
Creating a new user account can resolve the “Some apps need to be uninstalled” error when upgrading or updating your Windows 10 PC. All you have to do is create a new admin account and initiate the setup. And this is a new user account, there will be no third-party applications installed on your computer. Thus, the installation should go through without any trouble. And in case you’ve already installed programs for that user, you just have to uninstall them all and then re-run the setup.
Option 4 – Perform a clean install
If none of the options worked, you can try to clean install Windows 10. Just make sure that you have the ISO from the official Microsoft Website and then a bootable USB drive to install Windows 10 again. Take note that this will delete all the data from your drive where Windows 10 was installed previously.
As you know, Microsoft Edge is the default web browser in Windows 10 operating system. It is a built-in browser that replaced the ancient Internet Explorer for its performance and features. Aside from being the default web browser, it is also set as a default PDF viewer in Windows 10. So if you open a PDF file, it will be automatically opened in the Edge browser even if you have installed a PDF reader on your computer. However, some users recently reported getting an error that says, “Couldn’t open PDF in Edge, Something’s keeping this PDF from the opening” when they tried to open a PDF file or view an internet link that has a downloadable PDF file in the Edge browser. If you are one of these users, read on as this post will help you troubleshoot the problem and fix it.
This kind of error mostly occurs if you have installed other PDF viewers on your computer. They could be interrupting Edge while it tries to open the PDF documents. To fix it, check if Microsoft Edge is set as the default PDF viewer or you could also try to clear its browsing cache. In addition, you could also reset or repair Edge. For detailed instructions, refer to the given options below.
Option 1 – Check if Microsoft Edge is set as the default PDF viewer
The first thing you can do is to check if Edge is set as the default PDF viewer. If it’s not, you have to set it as one to fix the problem.
Open Control Panel and go to Default Programs.
Then click on the “Associate a file type or protocol with a program” option.
Next, select the PDF file option and click on Change program.
After that, select Microsoft Edge in the pop-up window and then select the “Always use this app to open .pdf” option.
Now click the OK button to set Edge as the default PDF viewer and then check if you can now open the PDF file in the Edge browser.
Option 2 – Clear the browser cache of Microsoft Edge
Open Microsoft Edge.
Then click on the three horizontal dots to open the menu.
From there, click on Settings. And under Settings, click the “Choose what to clear” button under the Clear browsing data section.
Next, check all the checkboxes and then click the Clear button to clear the browsing data in the Edge browser.
Restart Edge.
Option 3 – Reset, repair or reinstall Microsoft Edge via Settings
You can reset, repair or reinstall the Edge browser through Settings.
If none of it helped, you can try the following:
Open File Explorer and then go to this path – C:/Users/YourUsername/AppData/Local/Packages
Note: Before you type in the path in the Address bar, make sure that you put your user account name in place with the “YourUsername”.
Tap Enter to proceed.
Next, look for the folder named “MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe” then right-click on it.
Click on Properties and uncheck the option “Read-only” under the General tab in the Properties window.
Click on Apply and then OK to save the changes made.
After that, look for the MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe folder again and delete it. And if a prompt stating “Folder Access Denied” appears on your screen, just click on the Continue button to proceed – doing so will delete most of the content inside the folder except for the folder named “AC”.
Restart your PC.
Now all you have to do is to re-register Microsoft Edge using PowerShell. In the Start Menu, search “Windows PowerShell”.
Right-click on Windows PowerShell from the search results and select the “Run as administrator” option.
Type in this command in the PowerShell windows and tap Enter – Cd C:/Users/YourUsername
Note: Once again, make sure that you key in your user account name in place of “YourUsername.
After that, type in this command and tap Enter – Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)AppXManifest.xml" -Verbose}
Recent Windows updates have been slowly but surely moved a lot of control panel features into settings. This indicates that in the long term goal is probably to get rid of the control panel altogether. No matter how the setting app is easy to use and good there are still things in the control panel that we need and we will still need until they are all moved in the setting application.
There are several ways to open and get to the control panel from run dialog to shortcut keys but one perhaps more convenient and easiest way is to just simply have in file explorer right beside hard drives double click away.
In order to place the control panel icon inside file explorer, we will need the help of our old friend: the registry editor. As always playing with the registry editor can cause some instability and it is always a smart thing to back up it first before attempting any kind of edits.
Registry editor adding a key
To open registry editor press ⊞ WINDOWS + R to open the run dialog and inside type in REGEDIT followed by ENTER
Once the registry editor is opened locate the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer
Right-click on the NameSpace folder on the left navigation pane and then select New > Key
Rename the key with {21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D} (This CLSID code will add access to the Category view of the Windows 10 Control Panel) or with {26EE0668-A00A-44D7-9371-BEB064C98683} (This CLSID code will add access to the large icons view of the Windows 10 Control Panel)
Save and exit the registry editor
Now when opened, file explorer will show a control panel icon for easy access.
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_MACHINETEST2MicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRunOnceHKEY_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.