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Disable WEB camera with PowerShell in Windows

Windows PowerShell is a powerful tool inside the Windows environment often overlooked by typical users which is a great mistake since it can offer a large array of functionality and usability and if used well can offer a unique working experience.

Today we will be using PowerShell to turn the WEB camera off so it can not be accessed, completely disabling it for use. You might want to do this for security reasons or just want to learn few new things. Whatever your reason might be, I am welcoming you to this tutorial and please do keep reading.

Finding device ID

In order to disable the WEB camera first thing we need to do is to find a matching device ID. We will find this value inside the device manager, so press ⊞ WINDOWS + X to open the secret menu.

keyboard with windows and x markedIn the menu choose device manager and click on it.

Windows menu device managerWhen the device manager opens, expand the Imaging devices or Cameras section.

Right-click Integrated Camera or the primary webcam, and click Properties.

Go to the Details tab.

Under the Property section, click to select Matching device ID from the drop-down.

Right-click the value and select Copy

camera device managerThe next step is to download and install Windows Driver Kit (WDK)

PowerShell script

Create and run a PowerShell script with the following parameters/values to disable the camera. Substitute the <FOLDER> placeholder with the actual name of the folder where your copy of Devcon is residing

$id = (Get-CimInstance Win32_PnPEntity |

where caption -match '<PRIMARY CAMERA>').pnpDeviceID

$ppid = "{0}{1}" -f '@',$id

Set-Location c:\<FOLDER>

Devcon status $ppid

Devcon disable $ppid

Devcon status $ppid

To enable the camera device, run the command below in PowerShell:

devcon enable $ppid

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Option 1 – Try to run the Windows Update troubleshooter

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Option 3 – Try downloading and installing the Windows Updates manually

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Solution

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Further Information and Manual Repair

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Option 1 – Perform a System Restore

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Option 2 – Run the Blue Screen Troubleshooter

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Option 3 – Update the Device drivers

The device driver installed in your computer might be incompatible with your operating system which is the reason why the DRIVER_CORRUPTED_EXPOOL Blue Screen error occurs. To fix that, you have to update your device drivers.
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Option 4 – Uninstall any faulty device drivers

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Option 5 – Try running the System File Checker

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  • Type in cmd in the field and tap Enter.
  • After opening Command Prompt, type in sfc /scannow
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  3. Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them.

Option 6 – Try updating the BIOS

As you know, the BIOS is a sensitive part of a computer. Even though it is a software component, the functioning of the hardware depends on it largely. Thus, you must be careful when modifying something in the BIOS. So if you don’t know much about it, it’s best if you skip on this option and try the other ones instead. However, if you are well-versed in navigating the BIOS, then follow the steps below.
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Option 7 – Try resetting Windows 10

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Ehshell.exe Application Error - What is it?

Ehshell.exe is a type of .exe (executable file). This file functions as an essential component of the Microsoft Media Center.  By default, it is located in a subfolder of C:\Windows. Ehshell.exe application error is an error code that pops up when tasks in the Media Center freezes. The Ehshell.exe application error is usually displayed on the screen in the following format:
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Solution

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Ehshell.exe application error is triggered when PC users perform repetitive tasks in Media Center on a Windows XP Media Center Edition. The computer stops to respond and the error message is displayed. This error occurs if users perform one or more of the following repetitive tasks in the Media Center:
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Further Information and Manual Repair

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Method 2 - Scan for Malware

Ehshell.exe application error may also appear on your PC due to malware infection. Malware programs like viruses, Trojans, and worms deliberately give their malicious processes similar .exe file names, so it is hard to identify the malware. In such an event, it is advisable to download a powerful antivirus and scan your entire PC. Run it to remove all the hidden malware programs on your system. Once malware is removed, the ehshell.exe application error will be resolved.

Method 3 - Clean Registry

Sometimes .exe files can also get corrupt when the registry gets overloaded with unnecessary and obsolete files. If this is the underlying reason for the error code occurrence then it is advisable to download Restoro. This is a multi-functional and user-friendly PC Fixer deployed with a registry cleaner. It removed all the unnecessary files, cleans and repairs the registry in seconds thereby fixing all registry-related errors. Click here to download Total System Care and resolve the Ehshell.exe application error on your PC.
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If you suddenly encountered a Windows Error Code 0x80070017 during an Update, Installation or System Restore then it’s probably due to some missing or corrupted system files. This kind of error code can occur during an update, installation, or system restore and the only way out of it is to download the file once again and re-run the installation from the top. Before you start to troubleshoot the problem, you need to create a System Restore Point first. After you create a System Restore point, you can follow the troubleshooting options laid out below to fix the Windows Error Code 0x80070017. You just have to follow the troubleshooting option that applies to your situation and whether you got the error during an update, installation, or during System Restore. Whether you got the error 0x80070017 while updating Windows 10 or installing it or during a system restore, the first thing you must do is run the System File Checker. As pointed out early on, the Windows Error Code 0x80070017 might be caused by corrupted or missing system files so the first thing you can try is to run the System File Checker scan.
  • 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.
If you have encountered Windows Error Code 0x80070017 during an Update, then here are some options you need to try:

Option 1 – Delete the files/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. A lot of users tried deleting the files in this folder to fix the problem and so far it has worked. Like them, you can try clearing the Windows Update cache by simply deleting the contents of the folder named “SoftwareDistribution” since Windows apparently can’t clear and re-download the update contents once they are corrupted. Thus, deleting the contents of this folder will make Windows download the contents again which will fix the problem. To do that, follow the steps below.
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  • 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.
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  • After entering these commands, it will stop the Windows Update Service and the Background Intelligent Transfer Service.
  • 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.
  • Once all the contents in the Software Distribution folder are deleted, restart your PC and then go back to Command Prompt and input the following commands again.
net start wuauserv net start bits
Since the folder has already been flushed, it will be populated afresh the instant your restart your computer and open Windows Update.

Option 2 – Run the Windows Update Troubleshooter

Running the built-in Windows Update troubleshooter could also help you resolve the Windows Update Error Code 0x80070017. 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. On the other hand, if you got the error code 0x80070017 during a Windows 10 installation, then it’s because of bad media or corruption in ISO. Here are some troubleshooting steps for this kind of situation:

Option a – Try to create Windows 10 ISO media again

In this option, you will have to create a Windows 10 bootable media and use it to install the latest Windows 10 version. Most users reported that this option works and the reason why it does have something to do with the Windows Update client since the Windows Updates downloaded from the regular Windows Update client seem to create issues such as the error 0x80070017. However, issues like this one don’t occur when the very same Windows Updates are downloaded and installed via an ISO file. Take note that when using a Windows ISO file, you will be asked to choose what you want to do with the previous settings and apps. A lot of users opted for the “Not to keep the old Windows settings” option which has resolved the issue. So if you want to keep the previous settings then you must try to update Windows first while keeping the old settings. However, if it doesn’t work, you have to try installing the latest version of Windows without keeping the previous settings.
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  • Next, click the “Use the tool to create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file)…” option and follow the next given instructions on the screen.
  • Now select the ISO file option in step 5.
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  • Then right-click on the Windows 10 ISO file and select the Open with the option and then select File Explorer.
  • Now click on “setup.exe” and follow the next instructions that appear on the screen. When asked, you have to select either Nothing (clean install) or Keep personal files only option. Take note that you must not select the “Keep personal files, apps, and Windows settings since it doesn’t really work.

Option b – Run Microsoft’s online troubleshooter

Running Microsoft’s online troubleshooter might also help you fix the Windows update error 0x80070017. This online troubleshooter is known to help in fixing Windows Update errors, it scans your computer for issues that might be causing the problem and then fixes them automatically. If you got the error during System Restore then this means that the files that are being copied from the disk are not making it to the hard drive. To resolve it, here’s what you can do:

Option 1 – Run System Restore in Safe Mode

You might want to run System Restore in Safe Mode and see if it works. Just reboot your PC into Safe Mode and then run System Restore.

Option 2 – Reset Repository

  • Boot your PC into Safe Mode.
  • Then open Command Prompt as admin.
  • Next, type the “net stop winmgmt” command and hit Enter to stop the Windows Management Instrumentation Service.
  • After that, go to C:/Windows/System32/wbem. From there, rename the repository folder to “repository-old”.
  • Restart your computer.
  • After your computer has restarted, open Command Prompt as admin again and then type the “net stop winmgmt” command and hit Enter.
  • Next, type the “winmgmt /resetRepository” and hit Enter to reset Repository.
  • Restart PC and check if System Restore now works.

Option 3 – Try resetting Windows 10

To fix the error 0x80070017, you can try resetting Windows 10. Doing so won’t get rid of any file in your system – instead of erasing all your media files and documents, it only resets all the system settings and files. Simply go to Settings > Recovery. From there click the Get started button under the Reset This PC section.
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In this post, you will be guided on how you can turn on or turn off the Tailored Experiences feature in Windows 10 using three methods – via Settings, Registry Editor, and Group Policy Editor. The Tailored Experiences feature in Windows 10 helps Microsoft in delivering recommendations about Microsoft Products. The diagnostic data that comes with it allows Microsoft to know about its consumers’ experiences as well as collect feedback. To simply put it, tailored experiences are personalized tips, ads, and recommendations that enhance Microsoft products and services for consumer needs. And when you enable this feature, Windows will collect information from your browser, apps, features, and many more. After collecting information, it will offer contents that are tailored based on the data gathered on the lock screen of your computer, Windows tips, and other related functions. On the other hand, the diagnostic data is the one that allows Microsoft to get feedback from the customer. So if you’ve noticed some prompts when you use Windows that ask you about the experience, that’s actually a part of the diagnostic data. A lot of users find this feature useful. However, there are also skeptical ones that don’t share the same sentiments. If you are one of the skeptical ones, you actually have the option to turn this feature off if you do not want Microsoft to show ads, recommendations, and so on. It is also recommended that you enable the Diagnostic Data collection as you can choose to delete any collected data, as well as control the feedback frequency from Automatic to Once a day, or once a week, or to never. As mentioned, there are three methods you can choose from to either turn on or turn off Tailored Experiences. You can do it via Settings, Registry Editor, and the Group Policy Editor. To get started, follow the options provided below.

Option 1 – via Settings

To turn on or off Tailored Experiences using Settings, refer to these steps:
  • Go to Settings and here, click on Privacy.
  • Next, go to Diagnostic and Feedback.
  • From there, toggle off the control under the Tailored experiences option to turn it off or toggle it on, if you want to turn it on.

Option 2 – via Registry Editor

To turn on or off Tailored Experiences via Registry Editor, follow the steps below.
  • Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box and type “Regedit” in the field and then tap Enter to open the Registry Editor.
  • Next, navigate to this registry path: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPrivacy
  • After that, look for the DWORD named “TailoredExperiencesWithDiagnosticDataEnabled” and change its value to 0 if you want to turn it off or 1 if you want to turn it on.

Option 3 – via Group Policy Editor

To turn on or off Tailored Experiences using the Group Policy Editor, here’s what you have to do:
  • Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run prompt and type “gpedit.msc” in the field and hit Enter to open the Group Policy Editor.
  • Next, navigate to this policy setting: User ConfigurationAdminstrative TemplatesWindows ComponentsCloud Content
  • Here, double click on the “Do not use diagnostic data for tailored experiences” option and select Enabled. Once you do that, you will see the following description:
“This policy setting lets you prevent Windows from using diagnostic data to provide tailored experiences to the user. If you enable this policy setting, Windows will not use diagnostic data from this device (this data may include browser, app, and feature usage, depending on the “diagnostic data” setting value) to customize the content shown on the lock screen, Windows tips, Microsoft consumer features, and other related features. If these features are enabled, users will still see recommendations, tips, and offers, but they may be less relevant. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, Microsoft will use diagnostic data to provide personalized recommendations, tips, and offers to tailor Windows for the user’s needs and make it work better for them. This setting does not control Cortana tailored experiences, since there are separate policies to configure it.”
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Manually cleaning your PC registry
Manually cleaning your PC registry may be the worst or best thing you ever decide to do. Registry keys that lie around on your computer, unused, can cause your computer to lag. This can end up in your computer not being able to load the easiest of programs and being slow at loading anything, let alone something that would take up a decent amount of memory. If your computer has slowed to almost an absolute stop, it is most probably the registry’s fault and the only option then is to clean it. You can get programs to do this for you, but they can be riddled with inaccuracies and viruses that could harm your computer even more. This is why some people choose to manually edit their computer. However, this is not without its flaws.

Registry Keys

Registry keys tend to have really long names. These names will be full of numbers and hyphens and will most likely give you no indication of what they do. Even some computer experts find it hard to understand what every computer’s registry keys do. This can make it very hard to see which ones are causing the problem; and if you don’t know what’s causing the problem, then there is no way you will be able to fix it. Some registry keys will be completely menial in what they do but some could be vital to even allow Windows to work on your computer.

Manual Registry Repair

Registry keys can also cause huge problems if you manually delete the wrong one. A lot of registry cleaners have the option to revive a key that they have deleted on you, which means that fixing an error that they made would be easy enough to do. However, when you manually delete registry keys, it will be an awful lot harder to get them back to work again afterward. This can cause your computer many problems and if you delete even one wrong key it is possible your computer will not even start. With the horrid naming system they have as well, it makes it very hard to determine what is important and what is not, which means it is all too likely that you will delete something important. However, those are the risks you have to take when you are cleaning out your registry. A registry cleaner has the same likelihood of messing with your computer and deleting something wrong that you have, so it is the same either way however a registry cleaner will do it with less hassle. But, some people say that if you do it yourself, it’s more likely to be right; that is why they prefer to do it manually and that is alright.

Conclusion

So, if you are manually deleting your registry keys that are unused, you’ll have to use a program that comes with Windows known as ‘regedit.exe’ which is incredibly difficult to use but may just be worth the hassle in the end. So, you don’t really need to put up with a slow computer, but be careful when messing with your registry manually! To repair and resolve this and other PC-related issues Click Here to download Restoro.
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Managing the Local Users and Groups
As you know, Windows PowerShell is a useful command-line utility in Windows 10 that can be used to manage the Local Users and Groups which affirms the multiuser operating system principle of Windows 10. Although there are other GUI-based utilities used to manage the Local Users and Groups, there are some system administrators that would still like to use the command-line utility to manage these Local Users and Groups. So in this post, you will be guided on how exactly you can manage the Local Users and Groups using PowerShell on your Windows 10 computer. To get started, refer to the options provided below to manage both the Local Users and Groups using Windows PowerShell.

Option 1 – Manage the Local Users via Windows PowerShell

  • You need to first open Windows PowerShell as an admin. To do that, just tap the Win + X keys and select the Windows PowerShell (Admin) option.
  • After opening PowerShell, you need to execute the “Get-LocalUser” cmdlet so that you can find all the details about all the local user accounts in your computer which would include the Account Name, Enabled status, as well as description.
Note: On the other hand, you can also get the customized data about several objects that are related to your account. For instance, if you want to check when was the last time the Local account’s password was set, then you need to execute the “Get-LocalUser -Name root | Select-Object PasswordLastSet” cmdlet. Thus, the structure for this cmdlet is “Get-LocalUser -Name root | Select-Object *”. Here are the objects you can use to get different sorts of data:
  • AccountExpires
  • Description
  • Enabled : True
  • FullName
  • PasswordChangeableDate
  • PasswordExpires
  • UserMayChangePassword
  • PasswordRequired
  • PasswordLastSet
  • LastLogon
  • Name
  • SID
  • PrincipalSource
  • ObjectClass

Option 2 – Manage the Local User Groups using Windows PowerShell

  • Like what you did earlier, open Windows PowerShell as admin and then execute the “Get-LocalGroup” cmdlet so you can get all the information about all the groups of all the local user accounts.
  • Now if you want to create a new Local User Group, just execute the “New-LocalGroup -Name <NAME OF THE GROUP> -Description '<ENTER THE DESCRIPTION OF THE GROUP HERE>'” cmdlet.
  • And if you want to add Local User Accounts to a specific group, just execute the “Add-LocalGroupMember -Group '<NAME OF THE GROUP' -Member ('NAME 1','NAME 2','<ROLE>') -Verbose” cmdlet. You could also use the “Get-Localuser -Name john | Add-LocalGroupMember -Group '<NAME OF THE GROUP>'” cmdlet for the same purpose.
  • If you want to display all the User Accounts of a specific group, just use the “Get-LocalGroupMember –Group ‘ ’” cmdlet.
  • Now if you want to remove a local user account from a group, all you have to do is use the “Remove-LocalGroupMember -Group '<NAME OF THE GROUP>' –Member <NAME OF THE LOCAL USER ACCOUNT>” cmdlet.
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Mapi32.dll Outlook Error - Quick Fix

What is Mapi32.dll Outlook Error?

Mapi32.dll is a Windows Messaging Application Programming Interface that enables Windows to perform various email functions and launch messaging programs like Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Office. The inability of the interface to execute email functions properly results in the Mapi32.dll Outlook Error. This error occurs mostly when you are attempting to upgrade the operating system to a new version.

Solution

Restoro box imageError Causes

The common causes of the Mapi32.dll Outlook Error during the OS upgrade are:
  • Damaged or Corrupt Outlook user profile
  • The software is overwritten by some other program
  • Outlook PST file corruption
The Mapi32.dll Outlook Error message is displayed in either of the following forms:
  • Mapi32.dll is missing
  • Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. Mapi32.dll is corrupt or the wrong version.
  • Mapi32.dll was not found
  • Mail is not installed

Further Information and Manual Repair

So, what if you experience this issue and how do you fix it? Well, first there is no need to panic as Microsoft has recognized this issue and provided adequate solutions to fix this problem in no time. However, to ensure the Mapi32.dll Outlook error is a quick fix, you must first understand the cause of the issue and the message displayed on the screen.
  1. Let’s say the errors occur because your Outlook profile is corrupt. In this scenario, the best solution is to create a new Outlook profile. Regardless of whether you have Windows Vista or XP, to create your new Outlook profile, first, you will have to click on the Control Panel, then User Account, and then Mail. Once you click on the Mail tab, the mail set up dialog box will open. In this dialog box there will be a ‘Show Profiles’ tab, click and then click the Add tab that appears next. Now type the name for your new Outlook profile and then click ‘OK’. After that, add an email account to go with the profile.
  2. If Mapi32.dll is missing or corrupt, you will have to run ‘Fixmapi.exe’ to resolve the problem. It is located in the System32 folder inside the Windows directory in Windows Explorer.
  • Therefore, first start Windows Explorer and then locate the following folder on your computer: C: /Program Files/Common Files/System/Msmapi1033
  • Now find Fixmapi.exe and double click it
  • After that locate the Mapi32.dll file and rename it to MSmapi32.old and press enter.
  • Restart your computer when finished.
A word of advice for computer users is to scan for viruses with an antivirus program or a registry cleaner regularly to prevent the Mapi32.dll Outlook error from occurring in the first place. Viruses often latch onto .dll files and corrupt them. It’s always best to have a forward-looking approach.
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