Logo

Add names of applications in the taskbar

Microsoft is trying to make Windows into a personalized OS, more and more features and parts can be customized to user liking. From larger things to smaller ones nowadays you can almost personalize every detail of Windows itself. In this article, we will tackle how to bring back the names of running applications on the taskbar.

Placing names beside icons on the taskbar is a pretty simple and straightforward task easily done.

First, right-click the Taskbar and select Taskbar settings.

In Taskbar settings, click the menu labeled Combine taskbar buttons.

Select Never.

That's it, now all of your running applications have a name beside them.

If you change your mind, you can always undo it by selecting Always hide labels in the Combine taskbar buttons menu.

Do You Need Help with Your Device?

Our Team of Experts May Help
Troubleshoot.Tech Experts are There for You!
Replace damaged files
Restore performance
Free disk space
Remove Malware
Protects WEB browser
Remove Viruses
Stop PC freezing
GET HELP
Troubleshoot.Tech experts work with all versions of Microsoft Windows including Windows 11, with Android, Mac, and more.

Share this article:

You might also like

Guide to Fixing 0x80040600 Error

What Is 0x80040600 Error?

The 0x80040600 error is a common error that becomes particularly distressing for Outlook users. This error prevents users from sending or receiving emails through Microsoft Outlook. Users may also encounter this problem while altering an entry on the calendar or adding a new contact. There is no obvious message that is displayed to the user when this error occurs. However, Outlook displays a vague message that includes the code 0x80040600.

Solution

Download available to recover all lost Outlook data

Restoro box imageError Causes

The primary cause of this error is a problem with the PST file. When the PST file is corrupt, missing, or damaged, this error occurs at once. The PST file is essentially an important file that stores crucial and personal information of an individual’s accounts. Sometimes this error is because the file is corrupt while at other times, the reason that it occurs is that the file is too full to accommodate any further information. Irrespective of the causes of this problem, it is important that this error is promptly fixed to ensure the proper and uninterrupted functioning of Outlook in the future.

Further Information and Manual Repair

The error occurs because the Outlook application encounters problems while attempting to receive, send or read emails. Some solutions that can work wonders and help you get rid of the problem are outlined below.
  • As soon as the error appears, the first solution is to restart the system. This is the first thing that must be done because a lot of times, these errors can be removed by simply restarting the system. This will, hence, save the user the inconvenience of manually fixing this problem.
If restarting the system doesn’t resolve the problem and the error message displays again, it is advised the user makes use of the ‘Inbox Repair Tool’. This is the most commonly used and effective approach to fixing a corrupt PST file. The procedure to remedy this Personal Storage Table file or PST file is listed below.
  • Go to the start menu. Type Run and launch the Inbox Repair Tool by typing the following path:  drive name: Program FilesCommon FilesSystemMapiLocale IDscanpst.exe. Now click Ok. A pop-up message will appear. Enter the file name and path of the damaged PST file. Now click on the Start button. Here it is important to mention that the inbox repair tool may take a long time depending upon the file size and the amount of data that has to be recovered. However, it is the most effective way of fixing this problem.
Read More
Almost complete List of Cortana commands
Cortana is your personal digital assistant fully integrated into Windows 10 designed to help you make your life easier. The more you use it, the more Cortana can learn about you, and the experience becomes more personalized and accurate. It can perform a variety of tasks, and it's full of handy tricks, but perhaps one of the best features is the advanced speech recognition that enables Cortana to understand the context of a natural voice conversation. On Windows 10, and across platforms with the Cortana app on iPhone and Android, the assistant can understand virtually any voice command and perform tasks. For example, by just speaking you can find facts, create reminders and manage your calendar, launch applications, change settings, and a lot more. Now, if you're looking for an official list of all the voice commands Cortana supports, you'll never find it because it doesn't exist. Cortana can understand natural language and context, there's no particular set of commands to make things happen. In a sort of way, you are speaking to Cortana as you would to any other person.

Invoking Cortana

Before using voice commands, it's important to know the ways in which you can invoke Cortana using natural language:
  • You can click the microphone icon in the taskbar next to the Start menu.
  • You can use the Shift + ⊞ Windows + C keyboard shortcut to open Cortana in listening mode.
  • You can use the Hey Cortana feature, which lets you invoke the assistant by simply saying Hey Cortana followed by the command. For example, Hey Cortana: How's the weather?.
  • On Windows 10 Mobile devices, you can press and hold the search button to open Cortana in listening mode.

Comprehensive list of Cortana voice commands

The following list of commands are examples you can use to learn how to control Cortana with voice commands. Keep in mind that there isn't a specific way to speak the commands. For example, Hey Cortana: Let me listen to some tunes is the same as asking for a more systematic command like Hey Cortana: Play music.

Cortana basic voice commands:

Getting the time for any location:

  • "What time is it?"
  • "What time is in New York?" or "What time is in Greece?"

Getting weather information for any location:

  • "What's the weather like?"
  • "What's the weather in Madrid?" or "What's the weather in Slovakia?"
  • "When does the sun set?"
  • "Is it hot in Hawaii?"
  • "How's the weather looking for tomorrow/next week?"

Opening (Store and desktop) apps and websites:

  • "Open Photoshop" or "Go to Firefox"
  • "Open errortools.com."

Getting news information:

  • "Show me top headlines."
  • "Show me the latest news."
  • "Show me weather news."
  • "Show me Blizzard stock."
  • "Show me bitcoin exchange rate."
  • "What was the score of the last Brazil football game."

Creating a note:

  • "Create a note."
  • "Create Shopping note."
  • "Create Shopping note: Buy a basket of eggs"
  • "Take a note."
  • "Draft a note."
  • "Write a note."

Translating to a different language:

  • "Translate."
  • "Translate Hello to German"
  • "Translate Where is the nearest park? to Spain"

Doing math:

  • "What's 34% or $764.89?"
  • "What's 43 times 59?"
  • "What the square root of 26509?"
  • "What's 29 times 6 divided by 12?"
  • "Convert 6.9 cups to fluid ounces."
  • "How many miles are in 89 Kilometers?"

Defining a word:

  • "Define Space."

Tracking packages:

  • "Where is my package?"
  • "Show me my packages."

Cortana search voice commands:

Finding documents, photos, videos:

  • "Find photos from August 1998."
  • "Find cat videos."
  • "Find document called Collection of poems."

Searching the web:

  • "Search the web for Heroes of Might and magic."

Finding facts:

  • "How tall is Mount Everest?"
  • "Who is Steve Jobs?"
  • "When Arnold Schwarzenegger was born?"
  • "Who is Mercedes CEO?"
  • "When does spring begin?"
  • "What's the capital of Zimbabwe?"
  • "When is Thanksgiving?"
It's important to note that Cortana is capable of conversational understanding, which means that you can also ask follow-up questions without having to be very specific. For example, if you ask Cortana: "Who is the president of the United States", you can then ask a follow-up question, such as "Who is his wife?" or "When was he born?" and the assistant should be able to answer those questions accurately.

Discovering food places nearby:

  • "Find food places near me."
  • "Find restaurants near me."
  • "Find bars near me."
  • "What's a good restaurant near me?"
  • "What's interesting nearby?"
  • "Show me Chinese restaurants near me."
  • "Show me Italians restaurants in Los Angeles."

Cortana health and fitness voice commands:

  • "How was my sleep last night?"
  • "What was my step count yesterday?"
  • "How many calories did I burn today?"
These commands require a tracking device, such as the Microsoft Band 2 to enable your fitness and health activities, and you need to connect Cortana with the Microsoft Health (Microsoft Band) service.

Cortana settings voice commands:

Opening the Settings app:

  • "Open Settings."
  • "Open Action Center."

Controlling settings:

  • "Turn on/off Bluetooth"
  • "Turn on/off Wi-Fi"
  • "Turn on/off Airplane Mode"

Cortana reminders voice commands:

Creating reminders:

  • "Remind me to wash the car."

Creating location-based reminders:

  • "Remind me to buy CDs next time I go to Walmart."

Creating person-based reminders:

  • "Remind me to ask for vacation time next time I talk to Goran."

Creating time-based reminders:

  • "Remind me to watch the basketball game at 6 PM."
  • "Remind me to buy the food for the d&d session on Sunday at 3 PM."

Viewing reminders:

  • "Show me my reminders."

Cortana calendar voice commands:

Viewing calendar events:

  • "How's my schedule looking today?"
  • "Show me my appointments for next week."
  • "When is my dentist appointment?"

Adding new calendar events:

  • "Add dental appointment for Monday at 2 PM."

Moving calendar events:

  • "Move dental appointment to Friday at 5 PM."

Cortana alarms voice commands:

Creating alarms:

  • "Set an alarm for next Monday at 5:30 AM."
  • "Set an alarm for Saturdays at 9 AM."

Viewing alarms:

  • "Show my alarms"

Removing alarms:

  • "Cancel alarm for Saturdays at 9 AM."

Cortana timer voice commands:

Creating a timer:

  • "Set a timer for 5 minutes."
You can only start a one-timer at one point in time. If there is a timer already running, Cortana will ask you to restart it at a new time.

Viewing timer:

  • "Show timer."
  • "How much time is left on the timer?"

Canceling timer:

  • "Stop timer."

Cortana location voice commands:

Knowing your exact location:

  • "Tell me where am I?"

Cortana messaging voice commands:

Sending text messages:

  • "Send a text to Milan: I'll be late for lunch today."

Sending quick emails:

  • "Send email to Milena: See you later tonight."
  • "Send email to John and Claudia: How is the project coming along?"

Cortana location voice commands:

Getting directions:

  • "What's the traffic like on the way home?"
  • "How do I get home."
  • "How long would it take to drive to Madison Square Garden?"
  • "Get me directions to Port Authority."
  • "How do I get from my location to Long Beach, New York?"
  • "How far away is the moon?"
  • "Show me walking directions to the nearest gas station."
  • "Show me public transit to 11 Times Sq, New York, NY 10036."
  • "Show me the map of San Francisco."

Tracking flights:

  • "Track flight 1056."
  • "Is my flight delayed?"
  • "Is my flight on time?"

Cortana entertainment voice commands:

Controlling music:

  • "Play Metallica."
  • "Put some Symphonic music."
  • "Shuffle music."
  • "Play and Justice for all by Metallica."
  • "Stop music"
  • "Pause music"
  • "Pause song."
  • "Play next"
  • "Next track"
  • "Skip track."

Identifying what's playing:

  • "What is this song?"
  • "What's playing?"

Movies & TV:

  • "What's Blade Runner run time?"
  • "Who was the director of Gladiator?"
  • "What movies are playing near me?"
  • "What are the showtimes for Star Trek lower decks?"

Cortana technical support voice commands:

  • "How do I install a printer?"
  • "How do I project my screen?"
  • "How do I change my background?"
  • "How do I update Windows?"
  • "How do I make a backup?"
  • "How do I change default apps?"
  • "How do I change Privacy?"
  • "How do I connect a wireless device?"
Sometimes asking a "How to do I" question will result in a web search response.

Cortana phone voice commands:

  • "Call wife on speakerphone."
  • "Call David at home."
  • "Call Goran."
  • "Redial."
  • "Send a photo to my PC."

Cortana random voice commands:

  • "Tell me a joke."
  • "Tell me a riddle."
  • "Tell me something interesting."
  • "Tell me something funny."
  • "Tell me a scary story."
  • "Sing me a song."
  • "Surprise me."
  • "Do an impression."
  • "What do you look like?"
  • "Which is the best smartphone?"
  • "What is love?"
  • "Which is better, Google or Bing?"
  • "Why should I buy this phone?"
  • "What do you think about Google?"
  • "Do you like Google?"
  • "What do you think about Yahoo?"
  • "Do you like Windows 10?"
  • "Play the movie game."
  • "Are you better than Siri?"
  • "Where is Clippy?"
  • "What do you think about Clippy?"
  • "Heads or tails?"
  • "Rock, paper, scissors."
  • "Roll a dice."
Read More
No Audio Device Error – Fix Tricks

What exactly is no audio device malfunction?

No audio device error is among the malfunctions that many Computer consumers run into. No sound or audio can be heard from the computer when the error occurs.

Solution

driverfix boxError Causes

There are numerous elements that may be the basis of this malfunction. Corrupted or broken sound card drivers, incorrect Device Manager Options for example, or even incorrect BIOS configurations.

Further Information and Manual Repair

How could you recover the standard production of audio by your personal computer and solve this malfunction? Like a number of additional malfunctions, the method of the repair depends on its trigger. To properly solve this dilemma, you are required to run through an evaluation of the pc system so that you can pinpoint the cause. This is because there are numerous variables, which alone, or concurrently may trigger this dilemma. These measures will allow you to work out the no sound device error in your personal computer programs, identify the trigger and fix it. Follow the directions in step 1 if your computer has an onboard audio device installed in it and assess the BIOS settings. You can jump step 1 and move to step two if you utilize a separate sound card.

STEP #1 - Assess the BIOS options.

No sound device error can be caused by incorrect BIOS configurations in your Personal Computer. By fixing these settings if they are the cause of the malfunction, you can easily solve it. Make Sure you restart the pc and immediately access the BIOS options. By locating the Sound card, which is usually known as the AC97 Audio, you should subsequently open the Integrated Peripherals. As soon as you locate it, set it to Allow or Auto. Finally, you should access the On-Board Audio AC97 Control and set it to Allow or Auto as well. If it doesn't solve the situation, proceed to Step Two.

STEP #2 - Analyze the Device Manager

No sound device malfunction can be additionally caused by malfunctions with the Device Manager. To solve this issue, go to My Computer, right-click it, select properties, click on the Hardware tab, then click on Device Manager. At this windowpane, analyze the movie, audio, and game controllers. If you learn that there is a cross on any of the sub things, right-click it subsequently and set it to Enable. The sound card driver may have not been correctly installed or may be damaged if there is Exclamatory Mark or Question Mark on the device manager menu. This does not mean that the sound card driver is ok. It may have malfunctioned even though you do not locate anything unusual. This is because the Device Manager doesn't always recognize errors in audio hardware. After this, you can proceed to step 3.

STEP #3 - Upgrade or reinstall the Sound Card Driver.

About 80% of "no sound system discovered/installed" malfunctions come from broken and/ or out-of-date card drivers. The sound card will not be detected by the Windows Operating System, when the audio card driver is corrupted, damaged, or out-of-date and therefore no sound will be produced by your computer. If this is the cause of the no sound device malfunction, you should reinstall the Audio Card Driver on your computer. Still, you can utilize driver upgrade applications on the web that will help you upgrade out-of-date drivers.
Read More
Fix UTCSVC high CPU and Disk usage in Windows
There is a lot of high resource utilization by any process that slows down a Windows operating system and one of the services that could cause such a thing is the utcsvc.exe process. This particular process at times can cause high CPU and disk usage. So if you are currently facing this problem, read on as this post will guide you on how you can resolve the problem. UTC which stands for Universal Telemetry Client is a software that runs a service named Diagnostic Tracking Service or DiagTrak. This service is used by Microsoft to collect customer feedback, analyze customer’s problems, and push resolution via updates in order to make the Windows 10 operating system better. This service is an executable file that could be translated to Service Host and even though the process does not usually cause problems, there are actually times when it does especially if it results in high resource utilization. In such cases, you might want to consider disabling it to fix its high CPU and disk usage.

According to Microsoft:

“We collect information about you, your devices, applications and networks, and your use of those devices, applications, and networks. Examples of data we collect include your name, email address, preferences, and interests; browsing, search and file history; phone call and SMS data; device configuration and sensor data; and application usage.”
There are several ways you can disable the utcsvc.exe process. You can disable it using the Service Manager, Registry Editor, and Group Policy Editor. For more details, refer to the instructions laid out below.

Option 1 – Disable the Connected User Experience & Telemetry Service via Service Manager

Note that this option is for standalone systems, so if you’re not using one, refer to the next given options below.
  • Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
  • Then type “services.msc” in the field and tap Enter or click OK to open the Services Manager.
  • From the given list of services, look for the Connected User Experience service. Once you found it, click on it and you’ll see its description which states:
“The Connected User Experiences and Telemetry service enables features that support in-application and connected user experiences. Additionally, this service manages the event-driven collection and transmission of diagnostic and usage information (used to improve the experience and quality of the Windows Platform) when the diagnostics and usage privacy option settings are enabled under Feedback and Diagnostics.”
  • Next, right-click on it and select Properties.
  • Now, change its Startup Type to Disabled and click on the Apply and OK buttons to save the changes made.

Option 2 – Disable the Connected User Experience & Telemetry Service via Registry Editor

  • Tap the Win + R keys to launch the Run utility and type “Regedit” in the field and click OK to open the Registry Editor.
  • Next, navigate to this registry path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindowsDataCollection
  • After that, right-click on the folder named “DataCollection” and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
  • Now name the new value “AllowTelemetry” and make sure that its Value data is “0” and then click on OK to save the changes made.
  • Restart your computer.

Option 3 – Disable the Connected User Experience & Telemetry Service via Group Policy Editor

If you have to disable the service related to the Universal Telemetry Client for company-managed systems, then you can do that using the Group Policy Editor.
  • Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run utility and type “gpedit.msc” in the field and hit Enter to open the Group Policy Editor.
  • Next, navigate to this path: Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components> Data Collection and Preview Build
  • After that, double-click on Data Collection and Preview Build to open its settings.
  • From there, look for the “Allow Telemetry” item and double click on it to open its Properties.
  • Next, set the radio button to Disabled and then click on the Apply button to save the changes made.
  • Restart your computer.

Option 4 – Run the Hardware and Devices Troubleshooter or the Performance Troubleshooter

Hardware and Devices Troubleshooter:

  • 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.

Performance Troubleshooter:

  • Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
  • Type “exe /id PerformanceDiagnostic” in the field and hit Enter to open the Performance troubleshooter.
  • Then click on Next to get started. Wait until the process is completed.
Read More
Fix ERR_CACHE_MISS error in Google Chrome
One of the most popular and most used web browsers commonly used by Windows users is Google Chrome. This well-known web browser has been introducing various features recently in order to stay at the top. However, it makes the web browser a lot more complex and thus prone to errors. Although this may not be a big deal, it can be quite annoying as it can interrupt your web browsing. There are various errors that can come up with this level of complexity of the web browser. One of these errors is the “This site can’t be loaded from the cache, ERR_CACHE_MISS” error message that can suddenly appear while you browse the web using your Google Chrome browser on your Windows 10 PC. Take note that when you encounter this particular error, there really is no direct fault in the Chrome browser as there are also issues with caching the website data locally in the computer. Moreover, this error can also occur when a website is coded in an incorrect manner or if there are some browser extensions or toolbars that are in conflict with the proper functioning of the website. To fix the ERR_CACHE_MISS error in Google Chrome, refer to the possible solutions laid out below.

Option 1 – Try clearing browser data

There are times when some data in the browser is conflicting with the loading of the website and triggers errors like ERR_CACHE_MISS. And so you can try to clear your browser’s data. This might be a very basic solution but oftentimes it works in fixing this kind of error in Google Chrome. Follow the steps below to clear the data in your browser.
  • Open your Google Chrome browser.
  • After that, tap the Ctrl + H keys. Doing so will open a new panel that allows you to delete the browsing history and other data in your browser.
  • Now select every checkbox that you see and click on the Clear browsing data button.
  • Then restart your Chrome browser and check if you can now open any website or not.

Option 2 – Try using the Developer Tools

You can also try using the Developer tools in Google Chrome to help you fix the ERR_CACHE_MISS error. Refer to the steps below to do so.
  • Open Google Chrome.
  • Tap the Ctrl + Shift + I keys on your keyboard and then tap the F1 key to open the Settings tab inside the Chrome Developer Tools.
  • Next, select the Disable cache option while DevTools is open and apply those settings.
  • After that, refresh your browser and check if the entries you’ve seen previously in the Network tab are gone.
  • Now try to load the same webpage again and see if the problem is resolved.

Option 3 – Reset Winsock, TCP/IP & Flush DNS

Resetting Winsock, TCP/IP, and flushing DNS might help you resolve the ERR_CACHE_MISS error. To do so, follow these steps:
  • Right-click on the Start button and click on Command Prompt (administrator) so you can pull up an elevated Command Prompt.
  • After that, execute each one of the commands listed below. And after you typed in one after the other, you have to hit Enter.
  1. netsh winsock reset – type in this command to reset Winsock
  2. netsh int ip reset resettcpip.txt – type in this command to reset TCP/IP
  3. ipconfig /flushdns – type in this command to flush the DNS cache
  • Next, restart your PC and check if the problem’s fixed.

Option 4 – Get rid of any conflicting browser extensions

  • Open Chrome and press Alt + F keys.
  • Go to More tools and click Extensions to look for any suspicious browser extensions or toolbars.
  • Click the Recycle bin and select Remove.
  • Restart Chrome and press Alt + F keys again.
  • Proceed to On Startup and mark Open a specific page or set of pages.
  • To check if the browser hijacker is still active, click Set pages, if it is active, overwrite the URL.
Note: If removing the browser extensions or toolbars didn’t work, you can also try to reset your Google Chrome browser.
  • Open Google Chrome, then tap the Alt + F keys.
  • After that, click on Settings.
  • Next, scroll down until you see the Advanced option, once you see it, click on it.
  • After clicking the Advanced option, go to the “Restore and clean up option and click on the “Restore settings to their original defaults” option to reset Google Chrome.
  • Now restart Google Chrome.
Read More
How to Unmerge the User folder in Windows 10
The Windows 10 system allows users to change the default location of the User folders to another drive. This is probably to make sure that the files stay safe in case the system suddenly crashes. However, in some cases, while changing the path to another drive, for instance, the D drive or any folder, the Windows system recognized it as a hard drive as well so even though the files will be saved on that folder, it will appear as a hard drive in the Windows Explorer or look merged with another folder. It could also be that you had dragged and dropped a user folder to another user folder by accident. So if you’re wondering how you can unmerge the User folders, read on as this post will guide you on how exactly you can do that. Take note that even if you try to use the File History to restore the User folders, it still won’t work and you won’t be able to move them back to their previous locations nor restore the folders back to their previous versions and it would only state that they are not available. In the instructions given below, we are using the Downloads folder as an example.
  • Step 1: Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
  • Step 2: Next, type “Regedit” in the field and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor.
  • Step 3: After opening the Registry Editor, navigate to the following registry key:
ComputerHKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerUser Shell Folders
  • Step 4: Then double-click on the multi-string value {374DE290-123F-4565-9164-39C4925E467B} located in the right hand pane. And in the Value Data, copy and paste the following value:
%USERPROFILE%Downloads
  • Step 5: Now click OK and close the Registry Editor.
Note: Look close enough and you’ll see that the multi-string values belong to each one of the folders. From there, you have a Desktop, Favorites, Skydrive, Music, Pictures, and many more.
  • Step 6: Restart your computer. After that, the operating system will pick up the new folder location during the startup. Here are the values for the other folders:
Music – {1CF1260C-4DD0-4ebb-811F-33C572699FDE} Pictures – {3ADD1653-EB32-4cb0-BBD7-DFA0ABB5ACCA} Videos – {A0953C92-50DC-43bf-BE83-3742FED03C9C} Documents – {A8CDFF1C-4878-43be-B5FD-F8091C1C60D0} Desktop – {B4BFCC3A-DB2C-424C-B029-7FE99A87C641}
  • Step 7: Now all you have to do is to change the location correctly. Start by tapping the Win + E keys to open the Windows File Explorer.
  • Step 8: After that, right-click on the Downloads folder located in the right-hand pane.
  • Step 9: Then click on Properties and go to the Location tab then type “D:\Downloads” in the location box.
  • Step 10: Click the Apply button and then the OK button to save the changes made. Doing so would ensure that not only the Downloads folder is restored but also that it does not stay merged to another folder or appear as a drive.
Read More
Fix Windows Update Error 0x8007042B
There are times when you encounter some issues while your Windows 10 computer. One of the errors you can encounter in the update process is the “Something went wrong, error code 0x8007042B”. This kind of error might be caused by several reasons and it could also pop up in lots of cases like upgrading to a new feature update or a new build using the Media Creation tool or Windows Update Assistant. There are times when the Windows Update error code 0x8007042B is followed by another error code like 0x2000d. Whatever the extra error code that follows, the core issue still remains the same. To resolve the problem, here are some options that could help. And while going over these troubleshooting tips, you have to keep clicking the Update button right after you carry out a troubleshooting option.

Option 1 – Try to restart the Background Intelligent Transfer Service

The Background Intelligent Transfer Service or BITS is a part of the Windows Update service and is the one that manages the background download of Windows Update, as well as scans for new updates and so on. And if Windows Update is experiencing some problems, you can try restarting BITS but make sure that you have admin privileges to do so.
  • Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
  • Next, type “services.msc” in the field and hit Enter to open Windows Services.
  • From the list of Services, look for the Background Intelligent Transfer Service and double-click on it to open Properties.
  • After that, you need to set the Startup type to “Automatic (Delayed Start) and click on Apply.
  • Now click the Stop button to stop BITS and then click the Start button to restart the service.
  • Click OK to save the changes made and then restart your PC.

Option 2 – Try creating Windows 10 ISO media

In this option, you will have to create a Windows 10 bootable media and use it to install the latest Windows 10 version. The most user 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 seems to create issues such as the Windows Update error code 0x8007042B. 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.
  • Click this link and then click the Download Tool Now button.
  • 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.
  • After that, you should now have an ISO file.
  • Next, go to the location where you’ve downloaded the ISO file.
  • Then right-click on the Windows 10 ISO file and select the Open with 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 the Nothing (clean install) or the 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 3 – Run the DISM tool

You can run the DISM tool as well to help fix the error code 0x8007042B 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 – Perform a System File Checker scan

The SFC or System File Checker scan could detect and automatically repair damaged system files that could be causing the Windows Update Error 0x8007042B to appear. SFC is a built-in command utility that helps in restoring corrupted files as well as missing files. It replaces bad and corrupted system files with good system files. 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 5 – Run the Windows Update Troubleshooter

You might also want to run the Windows Update Troubleshooter as it could also help in fixing Windows Update Error 0x8007042B. 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.

Option 6 – Contact Microsoft Support for assistance

If you’re at your wits’ end in trying to update your Windows 10 computer, you should consider contacting Microsoft Support for help as they can offer you various options that would make fixing Windows Update Error 0x8007042B a lot easier and faster.
Read More
Completely Uninstall and Remove Flash
Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox are some of the leading browsers commonly used these days and they all include an embedded copy of the Adobe Flash Player. So if you are running a Windows 10 PC then you can have up to 4 copies of Adobe Flash Player; one for Microsoft Edge, one for Internet Explorer, one for Opera, one for Firefox. You might also experience cases wherein two flash players are simultaneously running, i.e. one installed in Chrome as a single plug-in and another one installed in Windows, trying to parse the data. And in such cases, you might consider removing or uninstalling one of the versions of Adobe Flash Player. If you do, then you’ve come to the right place as this post will guide you in disabling the embedded Adobe Flash Player in Windows 10. Before you get started in removing the Adobe Flash Player in Internet Explorer & Microsoft Edge browser, you need to sign in with your administrative account even if don’t use it or set it as the default browser. After you’ve signed in to your administrative account, follow the steps below. Step 1: Open your browser, if you are using Edge then open it. Step 2: After opening your browser, go to its Settings and select Advanced Settings. Step 3: Next, Move the slider against the “Use Adobe Flash Player” option to off. Step 4: After that, open File Explorer and navigate to this address, “C:/Windows/servicingPackages” and from there, check on the following entries:
  • Adobe-Flash-For-Windows-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64….(version number of the Flash Player)
  • Adobe-Flash-For-Windows-WOW64-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64….(version number of the Flash player #)
  • Adobe-Flash-For-Windows-onecoreuap-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64…(version number of the Flash Player)
Step 5: Take note of all the listed package names of Adobe Flash Player and tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box and type “Regedit” in the field and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor. Step 6: Next, right-click on the three keys which have the name of the packages you listed and select “Permissions” one after the other. Step 7: Then check “Allow” to enable full control for the Administrators account and click OK to save the changes made. Step 8: Select the three keys one after the other and select Visibility DWORD located on the right side and then right-click on Visibility and change the Value data from 2 to 1. Step 9: Go over the same procedures again for the other keys. Once you’ve completed then you should now be able to remove packages using the DISM tool. Step 10: Simply open an elevated Command Prompt and execute the following commands:
  • dism /online /remove-package /packagename:Adobe-Flash-For-Windows-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64-10.0.17134.1
  • dism /online /remove-package /packagename:Adobe-Flash-For-Windows-WOW64-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64-10.0.17134.1
  • dism /online /remove-package /packagename:Adobe-Flash-For-Windows-onecoreuap-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64-10.0.17134.1
Keep in mind that the numbers at the end could be different on your computer due to the difference of version number so you have to use the numbers on your system. After that, reboot your computer.
Read More
Desktop widgets in Windows 10
Windows 7 was an operating system that had one thing which no other Windows had, even today. Official Microsoft desktop widgets. With an attractive design, users loved to exploit the adequacy and neatness of these gadgets. However, Microsoft had to discontinue these gadgets as they posed a serious security threat to the Operating System. It was believed that a potential attacker could even use a gadget to take complete control of your PC. With Windows 10, things have changed big time. You have all the fantastic apps and live tiles at your disposal providing a more native experience. Despite all this, if you still have a fondness for fancy gadgets, we have just the right tool for you to get started with similar “Widgets” on Windows 10. Win10 Widgets is a tool that places the most important information right in front of you, on your desktop.

Win10 Widgets

Win10 Widgets is a desktop app package provided by Rainmeter which is an effective system customization engine for Windows. It brings some informative widgets to Windows 10 which look almost native with their intuitive and sleek design. You can pin them on your desktop to keep an eye on various system figures like CPU usage, data storage, battery usage, detailed computer performance, etc.

Native looking Widgets for Windows 10

These widgets are designed in such a way that it looks totally indigenous to the Windows 10 UI. With a similar design language, visual style, accent color, and even font settings, these widgets almost look like an inseparable system component. You can choose between different size variants to pin on your desktop and arrange them in an orderly fashion to make the most of it.

Highly customizable desktop gadgets

Apart from the default size variants, you can configure several other parameters pertaining to the look and appearance of any widget. As Rainmeter is an open-source program, you are provided with the .ini configuration files which you can customize as per your wish. You can make adjustments to the widget coordinates, position and transparency as well. You can even create your own skins (.rmskin package) using the built-in Skin Packager and publish them for general usage through Rainmeter.

Illustro Skins

Over and above the cool widgets, Rainmeter also contains Illustro, a simple collection of skins that shows the range of Rainmeter’s capabilities. You can load the skins on your desktop for a brief look at your system internals. You can also start editing these skins to make them yours by taking advantage of the Rainmeter manual and forum link provided on the Welcome screen. Win10 Widgets is a great tool if you like widgets or gadgets on your Desktop. It blends into the background and puts the important piece of information right on your desktop without you having to look somewhere else. If you already have the Rainmeter application, you can download the Win10 Widgets .rmskin file from here, else you can download the combined bundle for both Rainmeter and Win10 Widgets from here.
Read More
Fix mfewfpk.sys, Epfwwfp.sys Errors in Windows
If you suddenly encounter a Blue Screen error that points out to either the mfewfpk.sys and epfwwfp.sys files, then this post might help. Both of these files are created by third-party software. The mfewfpk.sys file is created by the McAfee security software while the epfwwfp.sys is created by the ESET Antivirus. These files are residual files and sometimes it blocks upgrading Windows 10. Aside from blocking Windows 10 upgrade/update, these files can also cause a Blue Screen error after an upgrade which leaves your Windows 10 computer useless. When you get a Blue Screen error caused by any of these files, you will see an accompanying error message that states, “DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL”. To fix this Blue Screen error, you can check out the suggestions laid out below but before you do that, you need to create a System Restore point first as it can help you undo any unwanted changes. In addition, make sure to also boot your computer into Safe Mode with Networking before you troubleshoot.

Option 1 – Try to remove the epfwwfp.sys file

You can try to remove the epfwwfp.sys file using Command Prompt. To do so, refer to the following steps:
  • Right-click on the Start button and click on Command Prompt (Admin) from the menu to open Command Prompt with admin privileges.
  • Next, type the following command and hit Enter to delete the epfwwfp.sys file:
DEL /F /S /Q /A “%systemroot%System32driversepfwwfp.sys”
  • After the scan is completed, restart your computer and see if it fixed the Blue Screen error.
Note: You can also use the ESET AV Remover tool to uninstall Eset security software to remove the epfwwfp.sys file.

Option 2 – Try to remove the mfewfpk.sys file

The same with the first option, you can remove the mfewfpk.sys file using CMD.
  • First, right-click on the Start button and click on Command Prompt (Admin) from the menu to open Command Prompt with admin privileges.
  • After, type the following command and hit Enter to delete the epfwwfp.sys file:
DEL /F /S /Q /A “%systemroot%System32driversmfewfpk.sys”
  • Once the scan is completed, restart your computer and see if it fixed the Stop error.

Note: You also have the option to remove the mfewfpk.sys file using McAfee Product Removal tool to uninstall the McAfee security software. All you have to do is download the McAfee Product Removal tool and run it and then follow the onscreen instructions to install it. Once it is installed, click on Next. After you select the radio button to agree to the terms of use, click on Next once again. Finally, restart your computer and check if it is able to resolve the problem or not.

Option 3 – Run the Blue Screen Troubleshooter

Troubleshooting Blue Screen of Death errors wouldn’t be complete without the Blue Screen troubleshooter. As you know, it is a built-in tool in Windows 10 that helps users in fixing BSOD errors. It can be found on the Settings Troubleshooters page. To use it, refer to these steps:
  • Tap the Win + I keys to open the Settings panel.
  • Then go to Update & Security > Troubleshoot.
  • From there, look for the option called “Blue Screen” on your right-hand side and then click the “Run the troubleshooter” button to run the Blue Screen Troubleshooter and then follow the next on-screen options. Note that you might have to boot your PC into Safe Mode.

Option 4 – Try running the DISM tool

You can try running the Deployment Imaging and Servicing Management or DISM tool to fix the Blue Screen error. 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.
Read More
1 2 3 171
Logo
Copyright © 2023, ErrorTools. All Rights Reserved
Trademark: Microsoft Windows logos are registered trademarks of Microsoft. Disclaimer: ErrorTools.com is not affiliated with Microsoft, nor claims direct affiliation.
The information on this page is provided for information purposes only.
DMCA.com Protection Status