Fixing Windows 10 stuck at “Preparing Security Options”

Interrupts are designed so that the resource requests don’t get into a headlock when it comes to the hardware level. To simply put it, it is used to break a loop that never ends. Aside from that, developers also designed levels in order to prioritize interrupts. It is also known as “Interrupt Request Level” or IRQL. And if you suddenly encounter a “Bugcode 0xA –IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL” error, this means that a driver has accessed a memory location illegally while NT is operating at a specific IRQL. The Bugcode 0xA –IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL is a fatal driver coding error and as an end-user, there isn’t much that you can do to resolve it but if you’re a developer, then this means that your code is trying to access an invalid memory location. You could check on different parameters such as memory location that was referenced and code addressed which referenced memory. The technical parameters are:

• a memory location that was referenced
• IRQL at time of reference
• 0 = read, 1 = write
• code addressed which referenced memory

As mentioned earlier, if you are an end-user, there is nothing much that you can do to resolve this problem, but worry not for there are still possible solutions that could help you in fixing it. Refer to the suggestions laid out below to fix Bugcode 0xA –IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error.

Option 1 – Try running the Hardware and Devices Troubleshooter

The first thing you can do to fix the problem is by running the Hardware Troubleshooter. Although it won’t make much of a difference, there’s still a possibility that it could automatically fix the problem. To use it, refer to these steps:

• The first thing you need to do is click on Start and then on the gear-like icon to pull up the window for Settings.
• After opening Settings, look for the Update and Security option and select it.
• From there, go to the Troubleshoot option located on the left-hand side of the list.
• Next, select Hardware and Devices from the list and open the Troubleshooter and run it. Once it is doing its job, wait for it to complete the process and then restart the system.
• After the system restarts, check if the problem’s now fixed. If not, refer to the next option given below.

Option 2 – Try to update or rollback your device drivers

If the first option didn’t work for you, then it’s time to either update or roll back the device drivers. It is most likely that after you updated your Windows computer that your driver also needs a refresh. On the other hand, if you have just updated your device drivers then you need to roll back the drivers to their previous versions. Whichever applies to you, refer to the steps below.

• Open the Devices Manager from the Win X Menu.
• Then locate the device drivers and 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.

Option 3 – Run the Memory Diagnostic Tool to check for Memory leaks

• 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 and if there’s no issue found, then it’s most likely not a memory-based issue so you should try the other options given below.

A slow PC startup can be pretty annoying. This usually results from various computer issues. If your computer is acting sluggishly, here are four ways to speed up your PC startup.

Hello and welcome to another great tutorial from errortools.com. Today we will be making Windows START menu full screen. First introduced in Windows 8.1, the start menu has been shifted from full screen to gadget like in Windows 10 but if you prefer to have it over the entire screen with all of its glory and large icons you can do so and we will be happy to show you how. Press ⊞ WINDOWS and choose settings. From the settings screen, choose Personalization. Under personalization options click on START. And then on the right part click on the button under Use Start full screen to turn it ON That's it, your start menu is now full screen.

When trying to run Computer Management, or when running mmc.exe or compmgmt.msc from a command prompt you get the error that the application has been blocked for your protection then keep reading in order to solve the issue. This is a permission issue where if a regular user tries to run such system tools will result in saying that it has been blocked. Along with this, you may have a Group Policy issue. This can be fixed, but you will need admin permission to achieve it. It’s because when they are run from the command prompt with elevated privileges, it works.

1. Change Group Policy Settings

   If your account is an admin account, and you are still facing the issue, then change the group policy settings: Open Group Policy Settings by typing gpedit.msc in the run prompt followed by pressing ENTER Navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Microsoft Management Console > Restricted/Permitted snap-ins Locate Computer Management policy, and double click to open it Enable it, exit Group Policy. When Enabled: The snap-in is permitted and can be added into the Microsoft Management Console or run from the command line as a standalone console. When Disabled: The snap-in is prohibited and cannot be added into the Microsoft Management Console or run from the command line as a standalone console. An error message is displayed stating that the policy is prohibiting the use of this snap-in.

2. Temporarily disable UAC

   UAC is the user access control panel, and if you need to run the command right away, you can choose to disable it for some time. Click on the Start button, and then type UAC to find the User Account Control Settings. Click to open, and then slide down the notification setting at the bottom. It will temporarily allow launching the application as there is no check. However, make sure to switch to default once you are done.

Error 1032 - What is it?

If you are an iPhone or an iPad user and you sometimes open your email Yahoo Mail account on your phone, then you will most likely experience the MF Message Error Domain: Error 1032. This error may occur when you access your mail account. The MF Message Error Domain: Error 1032 may prevent you from composing new emails and even stop the inbox from loading.

Solution

Error Causes

The error 1032 can be triggered due to multiple reasons such as:

• Overloaded History
• Problems with the account log-in credentials
• Outdated Yahoo Mail app
• Authentication issues

Further Information and Manual Repair

To fix this issue on your iPhone or iPad, here are some methods you can try:

Method 1 - Delink and Re-setup Yahoo Email Account

If the error code 1032 occurs due to problems with the account log-in credentials, then try re-setting up your Yahoo email account. To do this, go to tap settings mail, contacts, and calendar, then remove your email account. Now repeat the process and provide valid log-in credentials to re-setup your Yahoo email account.

Method 2 - Update Yahoo Mail App

Another reason can be the outdated Yahoo Mail App. If this is the cause, then simply update it to the latest version. To do this, simply download the latest version from the iTunes store and run it. This will hopefully resolve the issue.

Method 3 - Manage App Connections to Resolve Authentication issues

If the error 1032 occurs due to authentication issues then there are possibilities of conflicts between account security settings. The best way to resolve the error in such a situation is to learn how to manage app connections. Here’s how it’s done: Use your desktop computer to sign in to your Yahoo account. Now click the menu icon and select account info. Enter your account password and sign in again. Now click manage apps and website connections under Sign-in and security section. A list of all authorized mobile devices and applications will be displayed to you. Remove any existing entries appearing for mobile devices. After this, try logging into your Yahoo account from your iPhone or iPad. You will not receive the error.

Method 4 - Clear History

When the cause of the issue is overloaded history, then the best way to go about it is clearing the clutter in the history. Also clear cache and cookies. The cache is the location where temporary files are saved for speeding up the file retrieval process. But sometimes it can get corrupt and the iOS may fail to retrieve data from corrupt cache contents. To clear history and cache, simply tap Settings, Safari, and then clear history, cookies, and data. The process may take some time depending on the cache file size.

Error Code 0xc004c008 - What is it?

This specific Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 error code has to do with the number of times you can use your license number to install windows programs on computers. All windows activation codes are licensed to be used one time for a device, to control piracy, but what happens when your PC crashes, or you have to change a hard drive component and are forced to re-install Windows Operating System. Luckily, there is an easy fix for this issue.

Solution

Error Causes

Basically, when you need to re-install the Windows operating system that you have previously bought and installed on another computer an error code will be displayed with a message telling you that the activation server determined that the specific key could not be used for activation. This occurs because the key has already been used on that computer, or a different one, to install operating systems. There are a few easy fixes for this issue, and most of them should be easily completed on your own.

Further Information and Manual Repair

There aren’t many explanatory ways to repair Error Code 0xc004c008. Below are two methods to go about addressing this issue.

Methods 1:

1. The first step is to open the “Run” Window. You can do this in two ways. First, press the “Window” key and press the “R” key simultaneously. This will open the “Run” menu. Or you can start the “run” window by going to the Start menu and selecting Run.
2. In the Run window type “SLUI 4” and click enter.
3. A Phone Activation window will open up, after which you'll need to select a few options.
4. First chose the country in which you registered the product for the first time.
5. Choose your country and a phone number will be displayed specific to your choice. You will now need to call the number provided.
6. After you’ve dialed you will be prompted to write your “Installation ID”. Type your “Installation ID” on the phone.
7. After that step, you will be asked how many copies of Windows have been installed using this license. Choose “1”, should anything else be chosen but “1”, this will not work.
8. After the process is completed, you will be given a confirmation ID and should be able to proceed as normal with installation. You will have a workable product key again.
9. Install whatever copy of the Windows Operating System you are attempting to with the new product key.

Method 2:

If the first method did not work, the only other option is to call Microsoft and walk through the process with a technician. To do this, dial “1-800-936-5700”. Explain the error that you received and the steps in the update process during which it was displayed. The technician will be able to walk through the steps from getting a new product key to finishing the installation.

If you're not a tech-savvy individual but would like to solve this problem without the aid of a technician, download a powerful automated tool to fix error code 0xc004c008.

Microsoft has been bringing new lock-screen features with every iterative feature release of Windows 10 in order to improve user experience. However, Windows 10 users have different opinions regarding it. Some users are pleased with it while some users simply do not like it. So if you are one of the users who seem to not approve of this feature, read on as this post will be about enabling or disabling the Console Mode sign-in feature in Windows 10. Before you proceed, take note that you will not be able to use your mouse pointer in this Consol Mode login screen and you can only use your keyboard to navigate around various options. You might also want to create a System Restore point just in case. To enable or disable the Console Mode sign-in in your Windows 10 computer, refer to the given steps below. Step 1: Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box. Step 2: Then type in “Regedit” in the field and tap Enter to open the Registry Editor. Step 3: Next, navigate to the following registry path:

ComputerHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionAuthenticationLogonUITestHooks

Step 4: From there, look for a DWORD named “ConsoleMode”. If you don’t see this DWORD, you can just create a new DWORD and name it as “ConsoleMode” and make sure that its base is set to Hexadecimal. Step 5: After that, double click on ConsoleMode and change its value to “0” to disable it and “1” to enable it. Step 6: Now restart your computer to apply the changes made. Like pointed out, you can only use your keyboard when you’re in the Console Mode login window or screen. You can just use the ESC button to go back to the menu while you can utilize the arrow keys so you can go through the options that are mostly vertically arranged and the Enter key to select an option. In the Console Mode, sign-in using the Passwords and PINs worked efficiently.

When you get the “HTTP Error 304 Not modified” error in Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Microsoft Edge, there can be lots of reasons why you’re getting this error. The HTTP Error code 304 means redirection, technically. It could be that the DNS has some issues or the cache is already reusing the existing information to look for a website or it could also be that your browser might be infected. In this post, we will show you what you can do to fix the “HTTP Error 304 Not modified” error when you are not able to open a website on your browser. Here are the exact details of the error message:

“This status code is returned if the client has already downloaded resources since the last visit and is displayed to notify the client browser that the requested resources is already stored in the browser cache which hasn’t been modified.”

Follow each one of the given fixes below to resolve the issue.

Option 1 – Clear the browsing data on your browsers

The first thing you can try is clearing the browsing data on your browsers.

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.

Google Chrome:

• Open Chrome and then click on the three vertical dots located at the top of the window.
• Then click on Settings.
• After that, click on Advanced. And from the Privacy and Security section, click on the “Clear browsing data” option.
• Now click on the CLEAR DATA button.
• Restart Chrome.

Mozilla Firefox:

• Open Firefox and then click on the three horizontal lines to open the menu.
• From there, click on Options.
• Next, select Privacy & Security.
• After that, click on the Clear Now button under the Cached Web Content section and then click the Clear All Data button under the Site Data section.
• Restart Firefox.

Option 2 – Flush DNS and reset the TCP/IP

There are some websites that don’t resolve since the DNS in your computer still remembers that old IP address. And so you need to flush the DNS as well as reset the TCP/IP on your computer.

• Click the Start button and type in “command prompt” in the field.
• From the search results that appear, right-click on Command Prompt and select the “Run as administrator” option.
• After opening Command Prompt, you have to type each one of the commands listed below. Just make sure that after you type each command, you hit Enter
  • ipconfig /release
  • ipconfig /all
  • ipconfig /flushdns
  • ipconfig /renew
  • netsh int ip set dns

After you key in the commands listed above, the DNS cache will be flushed and the TCP/IP will reset.

Option 3 – Try using the Google Public DNS

Changing your DNS to Google Public DNS might also help you in fixing the “HTTP Error 304 Not modified” error. To do so, follow the steps below.

• The first thing you have to do is right-click on the network icon in the Taskbar and select Network and Sharing Center.
• Next, click on the “Change Adapter Settings” option.
• After that, search for the network connection that you are using to connect to the internet. Note that the option might be “Wireless Connection” or “Local Area Connection”.
• Right-click on your network connection and click on Properties.
• Then select the new window to choose the “Internet Protocol 4 (TCP/IPv4)” option.
• After that, click on the Properties button and click the checkbox in the new window for the option “Use the following DNS server addresses”.
• Type in “8.8.8.8” and “8.8.4.4” and click OK and exit.

Option 4 – Run Cleanup Tool and disable Extensions

You might also want to run the Cleanup Tool in Chrome if you are using this browser as well as disable all the extensions as some of them, if not all, might be the reason why you’re getting the “HTTP Error 304 Not modified” error.

The new Windows 10 update has brought some fixes, improvements, and little things to personalize our computer more. One of these personalization updates we have received is that we can now finally change the color of our START menu and taskbar and it is easy as 1,2,3. In order to change and personalize your START menu and/or title bars all you have to do is click on your windows icon to bring the start menu up and then click on settings. Once you are in setting windows go to personalization settings. When the personalization setting opens go-to color tab on left and scroll down until you find 2 checkboxes under "show accent color on the following surfaces:" check ones you wish to apply the effect to and you are done. Now your START menu and/or title bars are using the color scheme of your choice.

Error Code 0xc004f210 – What is it?

Error code 0xc004f210 is one of the many activation errors that affect Windows 10 users. Users will be able to identify error code 0xc004f210 because of the following common symptoms which occur:

• Inability to activate Windows 10 operating system
• Message box with error code 0xc004f210

Solution

Error Causes

Error code 0xc004f210 usually occurs due to issues related to one’s product key or digital entitlement. Both the product key and digital entitlement are used by Microsoft to enable customers to activate the version of Microsoft that they have legitimate access to. If you enter the wrong product key or if you upgrade to Windows 10 but the current version of Windows to which you are attempting an activation does not match the edition of your digital entitlement, error code 0xc004f210 may occur. To correct this issue, you will need to implement one or more manual repair procedures. This will depend on the problem that caused the error to occur in the first place.

Further Information and Manual Repair

The methods below are simple procedures that Windows users lacking technical knowledge will be able to successfully complete. However, do contact a Windows repair technician if you have difficulty completing the manual repair methods listed below, or if the problem persists after completing these steps.

Method One: Enter Valid Product Key

In order to successfully activate your Windows 10 operating system and resolve error code 0xc004f210, you will need to enter a valid product key. Ensure you enter the 25-character code in the order it is given as making a simple mistake while typing the product key can lead to the reoccurrence of the error code. Follow the instructions below to enter the product key.

• Step one: Click the Start button then select Settings
• Step two: Select Update & security then Activation
• Step three: Click the Change product key
• Step four: Type in your valid product key with its 25 characters in the correct order

You should be able to successfully activate Windows 10 once you complete the process. However, move to the next manual method suggested below if the problem persists as error code 0xc004f210 could be due to an issue with your digital entitlement.

Method Two: Reinstall Windows 10 Edition that Matches Your Digital Entitlement

Digital entitlement, a new form of activation that doesn’t require the use of a product key, could be the real reason you are experiencing error code 0xc004f210 on your device. To combat any issues related to your digital entitlement, ensure the version of Windows 10 installed on your system matches your digital entitlement. This will require that you reinstall your operating system as well. After reinstalling Windows 10, follow the steps below to complete the process.

• Step one: Click the Start button then select Settings
• Step two: After selecting Settings, click Update & Security
• Step three: Select Windows Update then the Check for updates tab
• Step four: Activate Windows 10 update

If this method is successful, you will no longer see the error code 0xc004f210 pop up on your screen. However, contact a Windows repair technician to evaluate your system if the issue persists.

Method Three: Use an Automated Tool

This method involves the use of a powerful automated tool. But why is this important you might ask? A third-party tool is often the best solution when all manual repair efforts fail. Automated tools come equipped to tackle the most serious PC problems including error codes which can cause frustration and result in reduces PC performance.