Fix INVALID_POINTER_READ_c0000005 atidxx64.dll

Compare Exchange128 error – What is it

Some Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users reported experiencing a Compare Exchange128 error when trying to upgrade to Windows 10. The error reads, “You can’t install Windows 10 because your processor doesn’t support CompareExchange128”. In order to upgrade to Windows 10 (64-bit), the CMPXCHG16B instruction must be present. If you receive this error, this mostly means that your CPU doesn’t have the CMPXCHG16B instruction.

Solution

Error Causes

The CompareExchange128 error normally occurs due to two possible reasons:

• CPU lacks CMPXCHG16b Instruction
• Old & Outdated BIOS – Even if your CPU has the CMPXCHG16b instruction, the CompareExchange128 issue can still occur if you have an older BIOS.

Further Information and Manual Repair

One main requirement to upgrade to Windows 10 is for your CPU to have the CMPXCHG16b instruction. You also need the right BIOS version to guarantee a smooth installation. See below on how to manually fix this issue.

NOTE: If you don’t feel confident using the manual methods listed below, it’s highly advisable to get help from an expert technician. If you don’t know someone, you can also use an automated tool to fix this.

Before performing any fixes, try to determine first if the cause of the error is due to your CPU lacking the CMPXCHG16b instruction. You can use a CPU Info tool that provides complete details about your processor, memory, and motherboard. If you’re looking for more in-depth information, you might also try command-line utilities. But, the safest and easiest way to check this is by simply searching online. Try using the search query: <CPU Model> CMPXCHG16b

Method 1 – Update your BIOS

This method will download the latest BIOS from your motherboard’s manufacturer. This makes sure your CPU has the CMPXCHG16b instruction needed to complete the Windows 10 64-bit installation. To update your computer’s BIOS, complete the following steps:

1. Determine first the current BIOS you have on your computer. Open System Information Windows app and type msinfo32 in the search bar. The BIOS version will appear under the processor speed. Record it somewhere.

2. Go to the support page of your motherboard’s manufacturer. Find if there’s any update on the BIOS that you’re currently using. If you find one, download the BIOS update file available. Make sure that you’re looking into the right model and you download all the necessary documentation. Otherwise, the BIOS update might not work.

3. Update your BIOS. Most BIOS update steps are straightforward. Just make sure to follow the steps provided.

Method 2 – Install Windows 10 32-bit version

If updating the BIOS doesn’t work, what you can do is install a 32-bit version of Windows 10 instead of the 64-bit version. Here’s how to do this:

1. Download and install the 32-bit version of Windows you currently have. If you have a Windows 7 64-bit version, get the 32-bit version of Windows 7. The same goes for Windows 8.1. When you do this, you might want to back up your files first. Remember that installing the 32-bit version works like other installations, and could delete some of your files.

2. After installing the 32-bit version, go to Updates and install all the necessary updates. This includes upgrading to Windows 10 if you’re asked to.

3. When you installed the Windows 10 upgrade, you’ll now have the Windows 10, 32-bit version installed. This will be the version activated on Microsoft servers. Despite this, the activated version stored is only applicable to your computer’s hardware, not the version of Windows 10.

4. Download Windows 10, 64-bit version.

5. Prepare an empty DVD or USB flash drive. Use Creation Media software then click the Create Installation Media for Another PC option.

6. Install the 64-bit Windows 10 version you downloaded from Step 4. Make sure not to put anything when you’re asked to input the serial number.

7. Once the installation is complete, you’ll have the 64-bit version of Windows 10.

Method 3 – Buy a new processor/motherboard

If the above two methods don’t work, there’s a great chance that this error occurs because of an outdated processor/motherboard. Your next possible solution is to buy an updated model that’s fully compatible with 64-bit Windows 10.

Method 4 – Download an automated tool

If all else fails, you might want to consider using this powerful automated tool to quickly fix the problem and any other computer-related issues.

As you know, any software needs sufficient CPU power when it downloads, updates and installs so if you encounter an error code 0x80200070 when you tried to install or update the Microsoft Edge browser on your Windows 10 computer, then read on as this post will guide you on how to fix it. This kind of error occurs when the Edge browser installation does not get enough CPU power to update or install and the only way to fix it is to kill programs that are consuming a lot of PC resources as well as stop or remove any unnecessary programs that are running in the background. This kind of error can also be encountered in the new Microsoft Edge Chromium. For more details, follow each one of the options provided below.

Option 1 – Try to kill applications that consume high resources

• Tap the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys to open the Task Manager.
• Go to the Performance tab and sort by CPU usage.
• Next, close a few additional programs that are consuming maximum CPU power.
• After that, try to update or install Microsoft Edge again and check if the error is fixed. If not, try to restart your computer and then start the installation or update again.

Option 2 – Try to remove or stop unnecessary programs and services

If the applications or processes that are consuming a lot of CPU resources reappear even after you kill them or end their processes, then you can try the following suggestions to remove or stop these unnecessary programs and processes.

• The first thing you can do is to stop the Service. If the program happens to be a service, then you have the option to disable the Windows Service. All you have to do is open the Services Manager and stop the service. How? Refer to these steps:
  • Tap the Win + R keys to launch the Run utility and type “services.msc” in the field and tap Enter to open the Services Manager.

• After that, identify which service is consuming a lot of power and then stop it temporarily.
• The next thing you can do is to uninstall the problematic program. If the one that consumes a lot of resources is not a service but a program, then you can try to uninstall the program for the meantime until you’ve updated or installed the Edge browser. Once you’ve uninstalled the program, try to update or install Edge again.
• You can also try booting your computer into Safe Mode and then update or install Microsoft Edge. This will make sure that all the unnecessary programs and services won’t consume a lot of CPU resources as well as memory.

OEM Partition, also known as System Reserved Partition, is placed by the OEM to help users recover their computers or bring back the original state of the computer when it was bought. If you’ve observed that a part of your hard drive says “Healthy (OEM partition)” in the Disk Management and it occupies space in GBs, then this means that it’s normal and there’s nothing to worry about except that part of the storage space is not available and even when you right-click on it, the only thing it displays is the Help menu. Thus, in this guide, you will be guided on how you can merge as well as delete an OEM partition in your Windows 10 computer. Since the Disk Management tool in Windows won’t let you merge or delete the OEM partition, you can just use the built-in command-line tool known as Diskpart. Note that you have to be extra careful when you run the commands as it could mess your computer up and before you proceed with the instructions provided below, make sure that you create a System Restore point first. Once you have that covered, follow the instructions below. Step 1: Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box and type “cmd” in the field and tap Enter to open the Command Prompt. Step 2: Next, execute this command to launch the Diskpart tool: diskpart Step 3: Execute this second command to view the list of the disks in your computer: list disk Step 4: Now select the disk you want to manage by executing this command: select disk x Note: In the command above, replace “x” with the letter of your disk. Step 5: After that, execute this command to display all the volumes or partitions: list partition Step 6: Now execute this command to select the partition you want to delete: select partition x Note: You have to replace “x” with the partition you want to delete. Step 7: Once done, execute this command to delete the selected partition: delete partition override Step 8: Afterwards, execute this command to merge the OEM partition with the adjoining value: Extend Note: if you only want to merge part of the partition, you need to use this command “extend [size=<size>]”. For instance, you want to extend its size by 5GB, then you need to type “Extend size=5000”. The size you set is the size you select from the OEM partition. This will extend the selected volume by size in MB or megabytes.

As you know, System Restore is a useful tool in Windows operating system that helps users in fixing system issues by undoing any recent changes to the computer that may have caused the problem. However, there are times when you might encounter some issues when running this tool and one of these issues is when System Restore suddenly gets stuck or hangs up on initializing the restoration of the Registry in Windows 10. If you encounter a similar problem, read on as this post will guide you on what you can do in such cases. There are several things you can do when you face this kind of problem in System Restore. First, you can try to wait it out, give it more time to load, which should not take longer than 5 minutes. And if it’s still stuck after that time, give it another hour. However, if nothing changed after an hour, then you need to troubleshoot the problem further. Keep in mind that you must not interrupt System Restore by shutting it down abruptly, it could result in an unbootable system. To get started in troubleshooting the problem, you need to follow each one of the suggestions offered below.

Option 1 – Try to use the Windows Recovery Environment

The first troubleshooting option you need to try is to simply tap the power button for about 10 seconds. This is what you have to do when you have to interrupt System Restore or reset your Windows 10 computer. Tapping the power button for 10 seconds will perform a hard shutdown and once your computer shuts down, restart your computer again and follow the steps below but before you do that, make sure that you have a Windows bootable USB or DVD.

• First, insert the bootable USB or DVD and boot into it, and select the “Repair your computer” option.
• Next, once you see the manufacturer logo on your computer, tap the key to enter into Windows Recovery Environment.
• After that, change the Boot sequence to DVD drive under the UEFI Firmware settings and restart your computer.
• Once your computer has restarted, select the boot order and make changes accordingly as displayed in the BIOS.

Option 2 – Try to run the Automatic Repair Utility

You might also want to use Automatic Repair in fixing the error. To do so, follow the steps below.

• You can start by creating and booting from a bootable Windows 10 USB Stick.
• After that, click on Repair your computer located on the bottom left corner when you are on the initial Windows Startup screen.
• Next, click on Troubleshoot, and then on the other screen, click the Startup Repair option.
• Now select the operating system you want to repair. Once you do that, it will start to repair your operating system. Wait until the process is completed and then check if the problem’s now fixed.

Option 3 – Try to run System Restore in Safe Mode

If you can’t boot into your Windows 10 computer, you can try to run System Restore again in the Advanced Startup Options.

• Boot your computer into Safe Mode.
• After that, select an option > Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Startup Settings > Restart.
• Once your computer has restarted, tap the F6 key to enable Safe Mode with Command Prompt and to run System Restore from there.
• Now in Command Prompt, type the “rstrui.exe” command to run System Restore in Safe Mode. This will help in fixing the problem since it would be safer to perform System Restore of the computer.

Waol.exe Error - What is it?

Waol.exe is an executable file located in a subfolder of "C:\Program Files" - usually C:\Program Files\America Online 9.0a. Waol.exe is not a core file but it is an important part of AOL (American Online) utilities. It ensures the AOL programs run smoothly on your system. The Waol.exe error occurs when the AOL program fails to execute and run properly. The error message is displayed in the following format:

“Waol.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.’

Solution

Error Causes

Waol.exe error typically occurs when this executable file gets infected by a virus, Trojan, adware, or spyware. When this happens the file location also changes. Therefore the best way to verify if your PC is under attack by malicious software is to check the Waol.exe file location on your PC. If the file is found in some other location instead of its correct disk location, then you must immediately fix this error before the damage sets it. Malicious software like viruses and spyware are notorious for slowing down PC performance and besides they give access to hackers to break into your system and manipulate your confidential and private data saved on your PC. This exposes you to serious privacy errors and data security dangers including identity thefts, cybercrime, and data breaches. Furthermore, viruses can also corrupt the computer’s registry and lead to system failure and crashes.

Further Information and Manual Repair

To resolve Waol.exe error many PC users seek an antivirus. Though this also helps resolve the issue but you should know that an antivirus has certain limitations. It is known to slow down the system speed and will only remove viruses from your PC. This means if the virus has affected the registry of your PC, it will not resolve that, and to repair your registry you may then have to download a registry cleaner separately on your system thereby reducing the PC speed even more. To ensure all kinds of malware are removed and registry issues resolved along with system speed optimization, it is recommended to download Restoro. This is an advanced, innovative, and multi-functional PC repair tool deployed with a variety of powerful utilities. These include a registry cleaner and a system optimizer. It is safe, efficient, user-friendly, and compatible with all Windows versions including Vista, XP, Windows 7, 8, 8.1, and 10. The antivirus feature embedded inside this software detects scans and removes all malicious programs infecting your PC immediately. It resolves all your system’s privacy issues and makes sure that your system is inaccessible to hackers. Besides this, the registry cleaner removes files cluttering and damaging the registry and also restores it. With the help of the system stability detector, it detects errors causing PC slowdowns and resolves them too thereby boosting the speed of your PC dramatically. To resolve Waol.exe error right away, click here to download Restoro today.

Although the Google Chrome browser is one of the most used browsers, a lot of things could still go wrong when browsing the web using it. One of the errors you might encounter is the “ NETWORK_FAILED ” error. This kind of error in Chrome indicates that Chrome wasn’t able to send your request through the network connection. It could be that your computer has trouble connecting to a stable internet connection or there is some plugin in your Chrome browser that is causing the issue. The worst-case would be malware. But worry not for this post will guide you on what you can do when you encounter the NETWORK_FAILED error in Google Chrome. Make sure to follow each one of the options given below and see which one of them worked best for you.

Option 1 – Disable or remove any unwanted extensions in Chrome

As you know, browser extensions help in enhancing the browsing experience but there are also times when it does exactly the opposite, and such is the case with the NETWORK_FAILED error in Chrome. It could be that one of the extensions in your browser is the one that’s causing the trouble. To disable or remove these unwanted extensions, here’s what you have to do:

• Launch Google Chrome, press Alt + F, move to More tools, and click Extensions.
• Look for Search.tb.ask.com or any other unwanted add-ons, click the Recycle Bin button, and choose Remove.
• Restart Google Chrome, then tap Alt + F, and select Settings.
• Navigate to the On Startup section at the bottom.
• Select “Open a specific page or set of pages”.
• Click the More actions button next to the hijacker and click Remove.

Option 2 – Run the Malware Scanner and Cleanup tool in Chrome

If removing or disabling the unwanted extension didn’t help in fixing the error, you can try using the built-in malware scanner and cleanup tool in Google Chrome. These tools help you get rid of any unwanted pop-ups, ads, unusual Startup pages, toolbars, and even malware.

Option 2 – Run the Malware Scanner and Cleanup tool in Chrome

• Launch Google Chrome and 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 the option and click on the “Restore settings to their original defaults” option to reset Google Chrome.
• Now restart Google Chrome.

Option 3 – Try to disable the Proxy

If you are using a proxy, you might want to consider disabling it as it could have something to do with the NETWORK_FAILED error.

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• Then type “cpl” and hit Enter or click OK to open the Internet Properties.
• After that, go to the Connections tab where you should see the LAN settings. Click on it.
• Next, uncheck the “Use a Proxy Server for your LAN” and ensure that the “Automatically detect settings” option is checked as well.
• Then click Ok and then Apply to save the changes made.
• Restart your PC.

Option 4 – Flush DNS and reset TCP/IP

• 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
  • netsh winsock reset

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

• Now restart your computer and open Google Chrome then try opening the website you were trying to open earlier.

Option 5 – Delete the WLAN Profiles

Deleting the WLAN Profiles might be a good idea if you are not able to connect to the internet on your computer and if you’re using Wi-Fi. It could be that the networks that were connected previously have gone rogue which is why it is not connecting properly. And so deleting the WLAN profiles would be for the best. That should do it.

There are times when you upgrade or install Windows 10 on an old computer and the Aspect Ratio of the screen is in a mess. This issue occurs when a new Windows version does not support the GPU or the driver does not work in Windows 10. And in such cases, Windows uses a generic driver which does not support all the resolution as well as the correct aspect ratio. So in this post, you will be guided on how you can fix the issues with the screen aspect ratio in Windows 10. It could be that your screen has an aspect ratio of 16:9 but after the upgrade, you changed to screen resolution, and is now set to 16:!0. And later on, you found that you are unable to go back to the previous aspect ratio. Thus, you will notice that everything on the screen might look stretched. You might be wondering if it’s possible to change the aspect ratio in Windows 10 directly even if the GPU does not have the compatible driver, well it really isn’t. However there is another way to resolve the problem. Refer to the options given below to get started.

Option 1 – Try using the Compatibility Mode

The first thing you can do is to run the driver in a Compatibility Mode. Follow the steps below to do so:

• You need to download the driver and place it on your desktop.
• After that, right-click on it and select Properties.
• Next, switch to the Compatibility tab where you should see two options:
  • Compatibility troubleshooter, and let Windows figure out what works best for you. If it fails, follow the next.
  • Manually choose the version of Windows it was correctly working.
• You also have the option to change the DPI settings and see if that helps. Then click the Apply and OK buttons.
• Now right-click on the file and select the “Run as administrator” option to install. After that, you should now be able to change your screen aspect ratio to what you were using early on.

Note: If you have other programs that won’t work on the existing version of Windows, then make sure to run the program in a Compatibility mode.

Option 2 – Try to run the Program Compatibility Troubleshooter

You might also want to run the Program Compatibility Troubleshooter. This built-in troubleshooter is available in the Windows Update & Security section. From there, select Troubleshoot. This will find a list of programs for you and since you have already downloaded the driver files, just click on Not Listed located at the top of the program list. After that, browse and select the driver files and then let the program do its job.

Option 3 – 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.

The Recycle Bin is undeniably an important place to make files ready for deletion. To put it simply, it assumes some importance but there are times when it displays an unpredictable behavior. For instance, it just suddenly goes missing and even Cortana is unable to find it. A lot of users have experienced the missing Recycle Bin issue in their Windows 10 computers. If you are one of these users, you might have wondered where the Recycle Bin icon has gone and how you can get it back. Worry not, as this post will provide you a couple of options you can try to bring back Recycle Bin in your Windows 10 computer. Follow the given options below to get started.

Option 1 – Try to restore Recycle Bin

It could be that you have disabled the Recycle Bin by accident which is why Windows was not able to show it on your desktop. To restore Recycle Bin, follow these steps:

• First, click on the Start button and select Settings.
• Next, select the Personalization setting and then select Themes from the left pane.
• After that, click on the “Desktop icon settings” link under the “Related Settings” heading. This will display a list of icons in the Desktop Icons window.
• From there, make sure that you check the checkbox for “Recycle Bin” to make it appear on your Desktop screen once again.

Option 2 – Try to recreate the Recycle Bin

If the first option didn’t work, then it could be that Recycle Bin might have been deleted which is why you fail to restore it. And to resolve this problem, you need to recreate Recycle Bin. Refer to the following steps to do so:

• You need to launch the Windows File Explorer first and go to the View tab.
• From this tab, select Options and click on the drop-down arrow and then select the “Change folder and search option”.
• Afterward, switch to the View tab when the Folder Options window appears on your screen and select the “Show hidden files, folders, and drives” option.
• And then unmark the checkbox next to the “Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)” option and click on both the Apply and OK buttons, respectively.
• Next, go back to the File Explorer and click on “This PC” located on the left bar and go to the C: drive.
• From there, you will find a file named “$Recycle.Bin” located at the top.
• Open this folder to access its contents and you should see the Recycle Bin icon located at the top.
• After that, right-click on the Recycle Bin icon and click on the “Send To” option and then click on “Desktop (create shortcut)”.
• It will then confirm and recreate the Recycle Bin icon on your Desktop screen.

Note: Even though this icon is quite similar to the original one, it actually differs from it. The difference is that you won’t see if fill up when you delete files and you can’t simply empty it by right-clicking on the shortcut. On the other hand, you can still drag items into it just like with the original one. So when you want to empty the content of the newly restored Recycle Bin, you just have to double-click on the shortcut and right-click on the recycle bin in the window that appears, and select the “Empty Recycle Bin” option. In addition, now that you’ve set up the Recycle Bin shortcut, you have to re-activate the “Hide protected operating system files” to keep the important files and folders in your computer hidden.

Option 3 – Try to repair the Recycle Bin

If both the first two options failed to restore the missing Recycle Bin, then you can try repairing it instead. There are times when the Recycle Bin is removed from the Desktop screen due to some corrupted Windows system files. To fix these corrupted system files, you can run the DISM tool. This tool is known to repair potentially corrupted files in your system as having them could also system issues like the missing Recycle Bin. To repair these corrupted system files, you can run the DISM commands:

• Tap the Win + X keys and click on the “Command Prompt (Admin)” option.
• After that, input each one of the commands listed below sequentially to execute them:
  • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
  • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
  • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

• Once you’ve executed the commands given above, restart your computer and check if the problem is now fixed.

Option 4 – Make sure that you are not in Tablet Mode

Since Windows 10 is designed to work on both desktop and mobile devices, it could be that your computer has slipped into Tablet Mode which explains why you’re not seeing the Recycle Bin. To check if your computer is really in Tablet Mode, follow these steps:

• Go to the Start menu and select Settings.
• Next, select the System setting and from the left pane select the Tablet Mode.
• From there, make sure that the buttons next to the options given below are set to the off position:
  • Hide app icons on the taskbar in tablet mode
  • Automatically hide the taskbar in tablet mode

If when trying to start Autodesk applications you receive a Network license not available error then please keep on reading, this guide is for you:

Recently on errortools.com, we were talking about Cooler Master’s Orb X gaming chair that is an absolute beast and an amazing product. One downside of Orb X is its price. IW product line is somewhat competing with Orb X with a much more affordable price aiming to probably take customer base with lower income but offering them a great experience as well. The first thing you will notice is a different design and somewhat feeling of cheaper quality if you compare it to Orb X but that is quite reasonable considering the chair itself is around 3.5 times cheaper than Orb X which really puts it in range of everyone can get it. But does a much cheaper price means low quality? Let’s explore.

IW Unicorn

The 2021 CLUVENS BRAND newly issued model UNICORN has fully electrical tilting capabilities to 160 degrees, Reading light-two LED & RGB illumination lighting, manual open/close keyboard tray, and armrests. This model is suitable for home and office, and also gaming computer work environments. It offers functions that enable the user to experience unprecedented comfort and quasi total immersion through strategically positioned 1-3 monitors, audio systems, and accessories. The result is a complete computer office, ergonomically optimized, with a minimal footprint that improves overall performance and productivity and health and comfort. Sitting on a chair can help a lot for relieving health problems like lower back pain, herniated discs, sciatica, and neck pain and also enhance performance and viewing effects.

More Luxury and More comfortable:

Equipped with Luxury feeling reclining Gaming chair made with high-density Mold Shaping Foam and superior quality PU leather with very comfortable texture, electrical recline to 128 degrees, and more to 160 degrees for the flat position for the user.

More High-End Setting and more High-tech:

Manual push for open / close of big sized (87x34cm) Self-Balancing Keyboard tray, adjustable with 20cm distance range with Electrical control for the height of roof arm & monitors. Electrical control for reclining Zero Gravity position or even flat position, Manual adjusted Feet pedal for a more comfortable position for feet. Using a High-Quality PU leather Gaming chair that has Heat/Massage functions with it! The IW-Unicorn monitor mounts allow the use of a single monitor up to Ultra-wide 49” or 43” in size or triple monitor setups up to 3 x 29” other monitors configurations are available upon request. (VESA standard)

IW Scorpion

Scorpion is basically a premium version of Unicorn with being able to hold more weight, having cup holders on the armrest, etc. The look is also similar with Scorpion being more sinister-looking but overall Steel frame and chair are the same.

Conclusion

Sadly I have not personally experienced neither of these products including Orb X but from all information I have found and looked over, I would say these products are not trying to compete with each other. Although Products are similar in nature, Orb X is aimed at hi end-users focusing on privacy and robustness while IW is filling the gap of users that would like an advanced chair but are not willing or ready to shell hi amount of money for it offering advanced chairs with advanced features in somewhat affordable price.