Cleaning your PC for better performance

Blackouts are one of the most annoying things that can happen in the modern age. We have all learned to depend on electricity, maybe too much, so having a backup plan in these unpleasant situations is necessary. Here are some good gadgets for these kinds of situations.

Power Bank

The fully charged power bank is a great item that could fill up your phone or tablet. If it is a larger power bank it could fill them up all the way to the top several times and having charged phone or tablet can help greatly with some fun during dark times. The power bank can also be used to fill up other gadgets on this list so if the power outage is expected to last longer perhaps it would be wiser not to waste it on phone/tablet games.

Portable Generator

If the power bank is too short-lived for your needs, a portable generator is always a good option since it can provide power for longer time periods. The solar generator is what we recommend because it is much cheaper to produce electricity but it is limited if a power surge comes at night, one on gasoline is more stable and practical but it costs more to produce electricity.

Portable Solar Charger

One more electric-producing device on the list, this one however is aimed at charging your phone, tablet, or laptop by harvesting Sun's energy and turning it into valuable electricity for your devices. Fully silent and easy to operate this is a great tool for power outrage. It will not be able to produce electricity for smaller house appliances but for basic phone/tablet/laptop needs it will suffice.

Panic light

Self-sustained with its own battery, panic lights are great assets for lightning when power is not present. They can turn automatically when the circuit detects that power is missing but can be also manually switched on or off. There are many versions of panic lights ranging from the light they produce to how long can they work so picking the right one will depend entirely on your home size and needs.

USB Headlamp

If you lack panic lights USB headlamp is a great choice to light your way and it works even better than a flashlight, although a flashlight is also a great tool, a headlight will provide you with free arms to do various things that you would not be able to by holding a flashlight. Modern headlights come with LED lights so they provide a good amount of light with small power consumption and they can be recharged in a power bank, solar charger, or generator.

LED lantern

LED Lantern is a gadget sitting somewhere between a headlight and a panic light, it offers around the same light amount as a panic light but you can carry it around with you. Of course, it will drain its battery faster than a panic light and it will still need to carry around but it can offer some good options when you need it, like taking it with you to the toilet.

Electric Lighter

An electric lighter is also one of the things that you will need, it can ignite candles, paper, stoves, etc. Its battery is usually enough for extensive use and there are small chances that it will need to be recharged. Having matches is also smart, just in case.

Solar Oven

Great gadget when outbreaks last long or when you get hungry. Not all households have gas ovens so a Solar oven is a great tool to keep you full of food. Granted it will not be on par in speed and quality with a regular oven but when it is the only option it will suffice.

If you like to travel but you do not have a navigation device and a place where you are traveling does not have internet coverage do not worry, Windows offline maps are here to help. Traveling in today's world often requires that we have some sort of navigation system, wherever that be a dedicated navigation device, maps on your mobile phone, or something similar. Maps on mobile-phone are nice but they drain the battery of the phone fast and being on a road might require that we have access to our phone, just in case of an emergency call, and dedicated navigation devices often cost a lot of money. Lucky for us Windows comes with a maps feature where you can check local maps and orientate with their help and even if you are in an area where you do not have internet coverage you can still use maps via offline mas mode in Windows. This feature will require that you sacrifice little HDD space because you will need to download maps that you will need and some time preparing in order to find and download maps that you will need but in the end, it is worth it, you have a full map system completely offline and independent of the internet. So in order to prepare all maps that you will need, follow this guide step by step and enjoy your trip.

1. Select Settings from the Start menu.
2. Click System.
3. Select Offline maps.
4. Click the + button next to "Download maps".
5. Select the continent where your desired country is located.
6. Select the region you want to download. Depending on the area, you can download a whole country or you'll have to drill down to a smaller region (for example, with Canada and the USA).
7. Repeat for any additional regions you want to have as offline maps. You can download more maps while other maps are currently downloading.
8. Pack your bags
9. GO!

QuickLook app is one of the best options to preview files without opening them in Windows 10. It works similar to the Quick Look feature of macOS. This Microsoft Store app has some really interesting features. It lets you preview images, documents, and media files. Also, just a hotkey is needed to preview the content of a file. There is no interface for the app. Only a preview window is visible. You can also expand the preview window to full size. Apart from that, it lets you keep the preview window on top of the other opened applications. For image files, it also provides the EXIF data. After installing this app, just select some file that you want to preview, and press the Spacebar key. That’s it! The preview window will open immediately to view the file content. If you would like to read more helpful articles and tips about various software and hardware visit errortools.com daily.

There is no doubt that the VLC media player is one of the best kinds of media players available today. However, it is not without any issues and one of the common issues encountered by users is VLC’s inability to be updated. And when you try to update VLC, you only get an error message saying, “An error occurred while checking for updates”. This inability to update VLC can be quite a headache for many users especially the ones who are facing other issues in VLC and has to update it in order to resolve them. So how will you update VLC and fix its issues when you can’t even update it in the first place? Worry not as this post will help you out. Refer to the suggestions laid out below to resolve the issue in updating VLC.

Option 1 – Check if VLC is not being blocked by the Firewall

There are instances when the Firewall like the Windows Defender Firewall blocks VLC for some unknown reason without your knowledge. Thus, you need to allow VLC to get past the Firewall in order for you to fix the issue else you won’t be able to send out a network communication. To do that, follow the steps below.

• Tap the Windows key + I to open the Settings app.
• Then click on the Update & Security option.
• After that, click on Windows Security and click the Open Windows Defender Security Center option. This will open the Windows Defender antivirus and antimalware program.
• From there, click on Firewall & network protection.
• Next, click on Allow an app through Firewall. You should see a list of programs. Scroll down until you see VLC and make sure that all the boxes are ticked including the Public and Private ones.
• Once you’re done, restart your PC and then try updating VLC again.
• Just open VLC and select the Help menu and click on Check for Updates.

Option 2 – Try running the VLC media player as an administrator

There are programs designed for Windows 10 that won’t work fully unless some parameters are met. In most cases, starting the program as an admin should resolve the problem, thus, that’s what you have to do to try and fix the “An error occurred while checking for updates” in VLC.

• First, right-click on the VLC Media Player desktop icon and then select the “Run as administrator” option or you could also right-click on the icon and click on Properties.
• After that, click the Compatibility tab and then tick the box labeled “Run this program as an administrator”.
• Next, click the OK button and then open VLC again and try updating it. That should fix the problem.

Running the Windows Setup does not always go smoothly as you could encounter some errors along the way. One of these errors is the “Something happened, Setup has failed to determine supported install choices” error. The only given option in such cases is to click the Close button and exit the setup. This kind of error in Windows setup can occur when you try to downgrade to the previous version of Windows using the built-in mechanism. This error could be caused by a corrupted image or it is also possible that the set of files are incomplete. Aside from that, it could also be due to compatibility issues or that the module used to downgrade the Windows operating system is not configured properly. To fix this error, you have to run the Windows Setup program in compatibility mode so that you can downgrade Windows. You could also use the image for the lower version of Windows that’s available on the official site of Microsoft. But before you do any of these, make sure that you’re logged in as an administrator. To fix the “Something happened, Setup has failed to determine supported install choices” error, follow the given options below sequentially.

Option 1 – Try to run the Installer of the downgraded version in Compatibility Mode

This is the first thing you can try to resolve the issue instead of going right ahead on making a bootable device. So if you are downgrading Windows, you can try to run the installer in the compatibility mode for that specific Windows version.

• Look for the setup file.
• Once you find it, right-click on it and select Properties from the context menu.
• After that, go to the Compatibility tab and mark the checkbox for “Run this program in compatibility mode for:” and from the drop-down list, select either Windows 7 or Windows 8.
• You also have to check the “Run as administrator” option.
• Now click the Apply button and then click OK to save the changes made and check if it has resolved the issue or not.

Option 2 – Try to troubleshoot compatibility

This option is almost the same as the first one except it is an alternative way of fixing the “Setup has failed to determine supported install choices” error in case the first one didn’t work. In this option, you will troubleshoot the compatibility issue.

• Look for the setup file.
• Then right-click on it and select the “Troubleshoot compatibility” from the context menu.
• After that, click on the “Try recommended setting” option. Once the process is done, the error message should be gone.

Option 3 – Run the DISM tool

You can run the DISM tool as well to help fix the error code 0x80244022 during Windows Update. 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.

Option 4 – Try using the image from the official site of Microsoft

If none of the options given above worked, you can try to use the image from Microsoft’s official site. This would help, especially if the error is caused by a corrupted image or image folder with incomplete files.

When you upgrade or update your Windows 10 computer but you suddenly got Error 0x8024a206 while trying to install the updates, it is due to a rouge update that was downloaded or because of some corrupted component in Windows. In case you don’t know, any file downloaded by Windows is verified for its integrity and if the files don’t pass the integrity test, then Error 0x8024a206 will most likely pop up during the Windows update or upgrade.

Option 1 – Reset the Windows Update components to the default

You have to stop a couple of services such as BITS, Cryptographic, MSI Installer, and Windows Update Services. And to do that, you need to flush the contents in the SoftwareDistribution folder. The Software Distribution folder in the Windows operating system is a folder that can be found in the Windows directory and is used to store files temporarily which might be required to install the Windows Update on your PC. Thus, it is required by the Windows Update and maintained by WUAgent. Aside from that, it also contains all the Windows Update History files and once you delete them, you will most likely lose the Update history. As a result, the next time you run the Windows Update, it may result in a longer detection time.

• Open the WinX Menu.
• From there, open Command Prompt as admin.
• Then type in the following command – don’t forget to hit Enter right after typing each one of them.

net stop wuauserv net start cryptSvc net start bits net start msiserver

• After entering these commands, it will stop the Windows Update Service, Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS), Cryptographic, and the MSI Installer
• Next, go to the C:/Windows/SoftwareDistribution folder and get rid of all the folders and files thereby tapping the Ctrl + A keys to select them all and then click on Delete. Note that if the files are in use, you won’t be able to delete them.

After resetting the SoftwareDistribution folder, you need to reset the Catroot2 folder to restart the services you just stopped. To do that, follow these steps:

• Type each one of the following commands.

net start wuauserv net start cryptSvc net start bits net start msiserver

• After that, exit Command Prompt and restart your computer, and then try to run Windows Update once more.

Option 2 – Re-register DLLs related to Windows Update

DLL files, also known as Dynamic Link Library, are parts of applications that are separated from the core program so that they can be used again as well as independently be updated. The DLL files are loaded into memory and then used. Note that they have to be registered with Windows so they can be loaded. So if they’re not, the main program will fail. And this is the same with the DLL files related to the Windows Update. Thus, you need to register them in order to resolve Error 0x8024a206.

• In the Cortana search box, type “command prompt”.
• From the search results that appear, right-click on Command Prompt and select the “Run as administrator” option.
• After that execute the commands listed below one after the other and don’t forget to hit Enter right after you key in each one of them.
  • regsvr32 JSCRIPT.DLL
  • regsvr32 MSXML3.DLL
  • regsvr32 WUPS2.DLL
  • regsvr32 WUPS.DLL
  • regsvr32 WUAUENG.DLL
  • regsvr32 WUAPI.DLL
  • regsvr32 WUCLTUX.DLL
  • regsvr32 WUWEBV.DLL

Note: You also have the option to run the commands together via a batch file. Simply create a batch file by copying all the commands in a notepad and then save it as “WURegisterDLL.bat”. After that, run the batch file and it will execute the commands all at the same time. Then you have to restart your computer and see if it has fixed the Error 0x8024a206.

Option 3 – Run the System File Checker

The SFC or System File Checker scan could detect and automatically repair damaged system files that could be causing the Error 0x8024a206. 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. To run the SFC command, follow the steps given below.

• Tap Win + R to launch Run.
• Type in cmd in the field and tap Enter.
• After opening Command Prompt, type in sfc /scannow and hit Enter.

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.

Option 4 – Run the Windows Update Troubleshooter

Running the built-in Windows Update troubleshooter could also help you resolve the Windows Update Error 0x8024a206. To run it, go to Settings and then select Troubleshoot from the options. From there, click on Windows Update and then click the “Run the troubleshooter” button. After that, follow the next on-screen instructions and you should be good to go.

Any modifications in a computer, either big ones or small ones can definitely trigger some errors which is why you have to be careful when you modify the system setting. One of the errors you might encounter when you’ve modified your computer is the WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR 0x00000124 Blue Screen Error. According to the error data provided by the Windows Hardware Error Architecture or WHEA, aside from system modifications, you could also encounter this error if your computer has a hardware failure which could be due to a hard drive, RAM, or any other hardware component. In most cases, it is related to physical hardware failures which might have something to do with defective hardware, heat-related, memory as well as a processor that is starting to fail or has already failed. To fix the WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR 0x00000124 Blue Screen error, here are some suggestions you have to check out.

Option 1 – Try to perform System Restore

Before you further troubleshoot the problem, you might want to perform System Restore first as the BSOD error might be caused by system modifications. Thus, to undo them, you can use System Restore. Run it using these steps:

• First, tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• After that, type in “sysdm.cpl” in the field and tap Enter.
• Next, go to the System Protection tab then click the System Restore button. This will open a new window where you have to select your preferred System Restore point.
• After that, follow the on-screen instructions to finish the process and then restart your computer and check if the problem is fixed or not.

Option 2 – Try disabling Overclocking

If overclocking is enabled, you might have to disable it as some users reported that the WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR 0x00000124 error started to appear right after overclocking. To disable it, follow the steps below.

• Go to the Start Menu and open Settings.
• Next, select Update and Security and go to the Recover tab.
• From there, click on Restart now in Advanced startup. This will restart your computer.
• Once you’re in the Advanced startup, go to Troubleshoot and then select the Advanced Options.
• From there, select the UEFU Firmware Settings.
• Now click on Restart. Once your computer has restarted, it will automatically open BIOS.
• From the BIOS, go to the Advanced tab and navigate to Performance and then look for Overclocking.
• Once you’ve found Overclocking, make sure that it is disabled. If it’s not, then disable it and then save the changes made by tapping the F10 key.
• Start your computer normally and check if the WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR 0x00000124 error is now fixed.

Option 3 – Check your computer’s cooling components and make sure that they are working

It is a known fact that an overheated PC causes system slowdowns and even Blue Screen errors like WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR 0x00000124. To fix it, you need to check your computer’s cooling components to see whether they’re properly working or not. Then make sure that you clean them up including the fan and other hardware from dust and other debris.

Option 4 – Use the Windows Memory Diagnostics

Since the problem has something to do with the physical RAM, you need to use Windows Memory Diagnostics. To run it, refer to these steps:

• Tap the Win + R keys to open Run and type exe and hit Enter to open the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool.
• After that, it will give two options such as:
  • Restart now and check for problems (Recommended)
  • Check for problems the next time I start my computer
• Once your computer has restarted, perform a basic scan or you could also go for the “Advanced” options such as “Test mix” or “Pass count”. Simply tap the F10 key to start the test.

Note: After you select the option, your PC will restart and check for memory-based issues. If it finds any issues, it will automatically fix them.

Option 5 – Update or rollback or disable concerned device drivers

To fix the WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR 0x00000124 error, you can also try to roll back, or update, or disable the concerned device drivers.

• Open the Devices Manager from the Win X Menu.
• Then locate the device drivers particularly the ones that are under the sections of Keyboard, Mouse, USB, and HID Drivers.
• Next, right-click on them to open the Properties.
• After that, switch to the Driver tab and click on the Uninstall Device button.
• Follow the screen option to completely uninstall it.
• Finally, restart your computer. It will just reinstall the device drivers automatically.

Note: You can install a dedicated driver on your computer in case you have it or you could also look for it directly from the website of the manufacturer. On the other hand, if you have just updated your device drivers then you need to roll back the drivers to their previous versions or disable them.

Option 6 – Try running System File Checker or SFC scan

You could also run System File Checker or SFC scan to fix the BSOD error. It 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. To run the SFC command, follow the steps given below.

• Tap Win + R to launch Run.
• Type in cmd in the field and tap Enter.
• 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.

• Reboot your PC.

Option 7 – Try to disable the Digital Driver Signature Enforcement

• Reboot your computer from the Start menu.
• Then select the option while pressing the Shift key. This will open the Advanced Boot menu.
• From there, click on Troubleshoot and select Startup Settings.
• Now select the “Disable driver signature enforcement” option using the arrow keys on your keyboard and then restart your computer normally.

What is a QR Code

QR code or if you want to be more technical Quick Response code is a two-dimensional code made of square dots creating a pattern that can be scanned via QR scanner and then interpreted. Usually, they are present on product packaging, on business cards, websites, etc. When you decode a QR code you can get a link to a website or link to a file or whatever, you can get text, image, email, contact information, etc.

QR Code Desktop Reader & Generator sample code

How to decode a QR Code? You can scan it with your mobile devices like iPhone, iPad, Android or Blackberry equipped with additional software for scanning QR Codes. You might want to check out tools like Barcode Scanner or Red Laser. If you don’t have a mobile device or you need to scan a barcode on your PC, simply use CodeTwo QR Code Desktop Reader & Generator.

How this program works

QR Code reading

CodeTwo QR Code Desktop Reader & Generator is a free tool that will let you quickly scan any QR Code from your screen – be it a part of the website, email, banner, or document. Simply run the program and hit From the screen on the top menu. Your standard mouse cursor will change into a cross to help you make a selection on your screen. Simply select an area with a QR Code and the program will automatically scan it. You can scan QR codes from websites, documents, movie files – you name it. You can also select an image file that contains a QR Code and the program will locate it automatically and decode it. To do that, simply click From file on the top menu of the program and select the desired image from your hard drive. If you have a file copied to your clipboard, or if you make a screenshot of a QR Code, QR Code Desktop Reader & Generator will let you decode those QR codes in one click. Just click From clipboard and the program will automatically locate and decode the QR code for you. That is not all, you can also use your camera to scan QR codes. If you have more than one camera, the program will let you choose which one to use. To use this option, simply click From webcam, and you will be able to scan QR codes with your recording device.

QR Code generation

• CodeTwo QR Code Desktop Reader & Generator also acts as a QR code generator. Creating QR codes is as easy as reading them. Here is how to generate a QR code:
• In the top menu, click Generate mode on and enter the text you want to translate into QR Code
• Choose if you want to copy it to the clipboard or save it in a file. The QR Code will be scaled automatically, but you can resize it in the Size settings tab.
• The resulting QR code can be used however you like. To name just a few options, you can:
• Upload it to your blog/website which is especially useful for mobile users.
• Print it on a poster, providing easily accessible links with more information on your event.
• Send it in newsletters, or include it in your email signature.

QR Codes in email signatures

Inserting QR codes in email signatures lets mobile users quickly grab your contact details, or provides them with links so that they can get more information on your company or topic you were discussing. You can also provide your recipients with a link to QR Code Desktop Reader & Generator. This will help them easily decode QR codes when they open your email on a PC.

QR code

If you want to include a QR code automatically in email signatures throughout a whole organization, try CodeTwo central email signature management solution. It is a very useful tool, which enables you to unify email signatures on Exchange Server and Office 365 (Microsoft 365).

Windows 11 has some cool animations including fading effects which make working in it feels nice and futuristic but the cost of this is that there is a slight delay to certain actions performed. If you want the snap fast feature in Windows 11 and do not care about this eye candy there is an easy way to turn animations off inside it.

• First, open Windows Settings by pressing ⊞ Windows + I on your keyboard
• Alternatively, click on Start, search for Settings, and then click its icon.
• When Settings appears, look in the sidebar and select Accessibility.
• In Accessibility settings, click on Visual Effects.
• In Visual Effects, switch Animation Effects to Off.

That’s it, changes will be applied automatically, you can close settings and continue working inside Windows 11 without animations and fades. You can always switch animations back On via settings if you change your mind.

What is QTCF.dll Error?

Sometimes you may experience QTCF.dll error on your computer either during installation or while upgrading applications like iTunes and QuickTime. This error indicates that the installation or the upgrading of the desired application was unsuccessful. The QTCF.dll error is recognized by the Apple Support Community and they have provided a solution to fix this error easily.

Solution

Error Causes

QTCF.dll error occurs because the computer overloads with too much data which corrupts and damages registry files. And therefore the desired program fails to download and start on your PC. When this happens you see a pop up on your screen and the QTCF.dll error message that is usually displayed as:

• QTCF.dll not found
• QTCF.dll file is missing

Such message display hinders your ability to use iTunes or QuickTime applications on your PC. Furthermore, it also slows the performance of your system and you may encounter startup and shutdown problems. Therefore, it is advisable to repair the problem and fix the QTCF.dll error right away.

Further Information and Manual Repair

The good news is that you don’t need to go to a professional or be an IT expert in order to fix the QTCF.dll error. Since this error means that the installation or the attempt to upgrade the system was unsuccessful therefore you need to reinstall the fresh copy of the application. Here’s how you can easily fix the problem by yourself and install a fresh copy of the application: Step 1: First close all the applications running on your computer. Step 2: Now uninstall the application that you were trying to install such as iTunes or QuickTime.  To do this, go to the start menu, click on settings, control panel, and programs. Now click on the application you want to remove. Step 3: Once the application is uninstalled and removed from your computer, then restart it again. Step 4: Now download a fresh version of the application (iTunes or QuickTime) from Apple’s official website http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/. Step 5: Run the installer. If reinstalling doesn’t work, then it is advisable to download the QTCF.dll repair tool. This repair tool will scan your PC for errors in seconds. Once the scanning is complete, click on the ‘fix all’ button to repair your computer. Once the error is fixed, restart your computer and then try reinstalling the desired application one more time.

A Word of Advice

For regular PC users, it is advisable to install an anti-virus and malware scanner and run it every time you use your computer. This helps you keep informed about the viruses or errors that your computer might be exposed to. And you can take timely actions before you experience file corruption and damage.