How to Fix Plugin.dll Error

It is common to run multiple programs and applications at the same time and it’s important to be able to switch between them using their Taskbar icons or using the usual Alt + Tab shortcut. However, there are times when you might suddenly find that neither of the aforementioned methods worked and you will no longer be able to switch between programs in the Windows Taskbar. To fix this issue, refer to the options given in this post. For instance, when you have multiple instances of Microsoft Edge running and every time you press the Alt + Tab combo nothing happens so you are left with no choice but to minimize everything and then hover your mouse on the icon and switch between the instances of Edge. You will also notice that the right-click on the taskbar won’t respond back and will only keep on showing the loading circle icon. Here are a few tips you can follow to fix the issue with the Windows 10 Taskbar.

Option 1 – Try to restart the Windows Explorer

This is one of the basic things you can try as restarting Windows Explorer helps in refreshing the user interface and makes most of the things work in relation to the user interface.

• To get started, tap the Alt + Ctrl + Del keys to pull up the Windows Task Manager.
• After opening Task Manager, look for “explorer.exe” under the list of programs.
• Once you find the explorer.exe, right-click on it and click Restart.

Option 2 – Try changing the Foreground Lock Time

Aside from restarting Windows Explorer, you could also try changing the Foreground Lock Time to fix the issue with the Taskbar.

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• Then type in regedit in the field and tap Enter to open the Registry Editor.
• Next, go to this registry key – HKEY_CURRENT_USERControl PanelDesktop
• Next, change the ForegroundLockTimeout value from200000 to 0. After that, it will make sure that no other application will take away the focus from your current program or application. It could be that some other application has taken away the focus and even when you try to actually switch, the focus gets back to the old one. Anyhow, since you already changed the value of ForegroundLockTimeout, it will ensure that the focus is not switched.

Note: If you are running some Full-Screen applications there are some devices especially the gaming ones, disable the Windows key to make sure that you won’t be able to switch. If this is the case, you need to make some modifications to the Full-Screen games.

In some cases, a couple of Windows 10 laptops, especially the newer ones that run the NVIDIA RTX series GPUs have been experiencing some problems, particularly with their headphone jacks which seem to be malfunctioning even though the internal speakers works just fine. And despite having all the drivers updated to their latest versions, the problem still occurs. According to security experts, this kind of problem occurs on laptop computers that are manufactured by MSI and since there is still no workaround or reliable fix released by the company, in this post you will be guided on how you can resolve the problem with the headphone jack. So if you are using a laptop made by MSI and are experiencing the same issue, then you’ve come to the right place. There are several potential fixes you can check out to resolve the problem, you can try to force reboot your computer or clean your headphone jack and then plug it back in properly. In addition, you could also try to update your Audio drivers or set your headphone as default. For more information, follow each one of the given options below.

Option 1 – Try to force reboot your computer

The first thing you can do is to force reboot your computer as this simple fix could help in fixing the problem. This option is quite simple, just make sure that before you do it, you have to save all your work.

• First, turn on your computer and press and hold the power button for at least 30 seconds. You might notice the screen flashing or making any changes, just ignore it.
• After that, plug out and plug in your computer and automatically turn it on.
• Once done, check if the headphone jack is now working fine.

Option 2 – Try to clean the headphone jack and plug it properly

The next thing you can do to fix the problem is to clean your headphone jack and plug it back in properly. Make sure that you use a cotton swab in cleaning the headphone jack as there are instances where some dust might have settled in the port which results in issues like your headphone jack no working.

Option 3 – Try to update, rollback or reinstall the Audio driver

If the glitch in your audio has something to do with software, chances are it might be related to the audio driver – it could be that the newest version of your Windows 10 does not work well with the old version of the driver. This is why you have to update your audio driver to the newest available version.

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box and then type in MSC and tap Enter or click OK to open the Device Manager.
• Expand the section for the outdated device drivers.
• And then select the outdated driver(s) and right-click on it/them.
• From the drop-down menu, select the Update Driver option and follow the on-screen instructions to install the latest version of the driver.
• Then also click on the option, “Search automatically for updated driver software.
• Restart your PC after the installation.

Note: If updating or reinstalling the Audio driver didn’t work, you can go to the website of MSI and look for the support section where you can download the drivers for your computer. You just need to take note of your PC’s correct model and model number so you can find the appropriate driver.

Option 4 – Try to set the headphone as the default device manually

There are times when you plug a headphone, it does not toggle the default audio device. Thus, to fix this issue, you have to set the default audio device to the headphones manually. To do that, follow these steps:

• First, right-click on the volume icon located on the system tray.
• Next, select the Open sound settings option to open the Sound section in the Windows 10 Settings app.
• From there, select the Control Panel for Sound on the rightmost column. This will open a new mini window.
• After that, select your headphone under the Playback tab and click on the Set default button.
• Once done, click on Apply and then OK buttons to save the changes made.

Option 5 – Try to run the Playing Audio Troubleshooter

Since the Windows 10 operating system has the Playing Audio Troubleshooter, you can use this troubleshooter to try and fix the problem with the headphones. You can access this tool in the Control Panel or in the Taskbar Search and even on the Troubleshooters page of Windows 10.

If you have a dual monitor setup on your Windows 10 computer and you mostly use the second screen when you are presenting something, this makes the Taskbar completely unnecessary and is not really required. So if you are using your computer generally and do not want the taskbar on your second screen, read on as this post will guide you in disabling Taskbar on your second display. The good thing is, Windows comes with a built-in feature to disable Taskbar on your second screen or projector connected to your computer. In this post, you will be guided on how you can hide or disable the Taskbar from the second monitor in Windows 10. This post is coming in handy especially if you are using projectors or multiple displays. Refer to the steps given below to disable Taskbar on the second display in Windows 10. Step 1: Go to Settings and click on Taskbar from the left menu. Step 2: After that, scroll down to lo look for Multiple Displays. Step 3: Next, turn off the toggle labeled, “Show taskbar on all displays”. Note: After completing the steps given above, it will disable the Taskbar on all the secondary displays. Bear in mind that these settings will work only if you are running a second screen in Extended mode. Contrariwise, if you are in the Duplicate mode, this setting will not work but you can always set your Taskbar to Autohide so that it won’t be displayed.

On the other hand, if you are facing some issues in finding which screen is primary and which one is secondary, refer to these steps:

Step 1: Go to Settings and select System. Step 2: Next, from the left menu open Display. Step 3: From there, select the desired display and make it the primary one as required by your setup.

If you are using a dual monitor setup on your computer and you wish to change the Primary and Secondary monitor in Windows 10, then you’ve come to the right place as this post will guide you on how exactly you can do that. A lot of users use more than one monitor to be more productive so having dual monitors helps a lot. So if you have more than one monitor, know that you can actually select any monitor as the primary monitor after installing Windows. Changing the primary and secondary monitor in Windows 10 does not really require you to install any third-party application since you can get the job done by simply making some alterations in the Windows 10 Settings panel. You won’t have any problem in making such alterations since it is quite simple – from modifying the wallpaper to scaling and so on.

To get started, follow the instructions given below carefully.

Step 1: First, tap the Win + I key combination to open the Windows 10 Settings app and go to System and click the Display tab. Step 2: Next, look for the Identify button located on your right-hand side and then click on it. This button will help you check which one is the primary and the secondary monitor. Step 3: After that, select the desired monitor that you want to set as the primary one from the drop-down menu. Step 4: After that, mark the checkbox for the “Make this my main display” option. Step 5: After choosing the primary monitor, this will automatically set the other monitor as the secondary monitor. Restart your computer. So that’s how you change the primary and secondary monitor on your Windows 10 computer. Note that you can always go back to the previous setting of your monitor by following the same instructions provided above.

As you know, one of the most popular browsers these days is the Google Chrome browser. Browsing the web every day using your Chrome browser, leaves a trail of browsing history. Google uses the browser history to streamline and make the browsing experience a lot better. But there are times when Chrome users experience trouble in deleting their web browsing history, data, cookies, and cache. In this post, you will be guided through specific settings that will help you in getting rid of the browsing history in Chrome. There are several options you can take in clearing the browsing history in Chrome. But before you try them, you can try the basic one first using the following steps:

• First, click on the three-dotted icon and click on History from the menu.
• Next, click on the Clear browsing data option and select “All time”.
• Then select the type of history you want to delete.
• After that, click on the Clear Data button.

If clearing the browsing history in Chrome the old way didn’t work, then you can try to check out the options provided below.

Option 1 – Clear the cache using the File Explorer

The first thing you can do is to clear the cache by using File Explorer. To get started, refer to these steps:

• Tap the Win + E keys to open File Explorer.
• Next, navigate to the following paths:
  • C:/Users/YOURUSERNAME/AppData/Local/GoogleChrome/User Data/DEFAULT/Cache
  • C:/Users/YOURUSERNAME/AppData/Local/GoogleChrome/User Data/PROFILENAMECache
• From the given locations above, replace “YOUR USERNAME” with the user profile name you use and then search for a file named “Cookies”.
• Now delete its contents.

Option 2 – Reset Chrome

Resetting Chrome can also help you fix the error. This means that you will be restoring its default settings, disabling all the extensions, add-ons, and themes. Aside from that, the content settings will be reset as well and the cookies, cache, and site data will also be deleted. To reset Chrome, here’s what you have to do:

• 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.

Option 3 – Try to clean reinstall Chrome

There are instances when programs leave files behind after you’ve uninstalled them and the same thing can happen to Chrome so before you reinstall Chrome, you have to make sure that you have deleted the User Data folder. To do so, refer to the following steps:

• Hit the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• Next, type “%LOCALAPPDATA%GoogleChromeUser Data” in the field and hit Enter to open the User Data folder.
• From there, rename the default folder and name it something else, e.g. “Default.old”.
• After that, install Google Chrome again and check if the issue is now fixed.

Hello and welcome to How To Speed Up PC Startup where we will explore how to make your PC boot-up system faster. When your computer gets older, you'll see a decrease in your PC's load time. This can be very annoying and frustrating, especially if you're not accustomed to exercising patience. Your computer's boot time does not need to be sluggish, even if it's old. While there are reasons why your computer is acting up and giving you the 'slow' sign, there are ways that you can optimize how fast your PC starts up at the beginning. Once you start speeding things up, you’ll never look back!

Start With your BIOS

You may need to tweak your PC’s start-up menu. Since the majority of issues encountered on your PC might not be related to the software running in the back end, you can focus on your computer's hardware. The ideal way to speed up your PC startup is to access your computer's BIOS when booting up. This can be accessed by holding the DEL key or whichever button is used to tap into your BIOS. You can change where your computer boots from. You can opt to put your hard disk right at the top which would elude searching for CDs and other storage media devices when your PC starts up.

Tweak Startup Programs

There are many programs that execute when your computer starts up. These programs normally run in the back end. Most times back-end programs are unnecessary and do not contribute to the productivity or performance of your computer when in use. Instead of allowing these programs to execute when your PC boots up, why not disable them?  By deactivating these programs, you'll be reducing the amount of CPU usage which will accelerate your PC performance. Additionally, there are some installed programs that you never use. Instead of leaving these programs to occupy needed space on your computer system, you can uninstall these to create more room on your computer. This actually increases your PC startup speed.

Put Malware on a Leash

Malware and spyware can cause problems for your start-up. A slow computer is an indication that your computer is plagued by malware. This affects your computer's boot time and whether or not it'll startup as quickly as you intend it to. If your computer gives you the 'virus alert', you need to download an antivirus program that will be able to eradicate all virus threats. Be mindful of where you download antivirus programs since many of them are viruses or have viruses attached to them. Some viruses are tough on your computer. This means that if an antivirus works for your best friend, it may not work for you. Since malware differs in functions and the havoc they cause, it's best to know what you're up against by doing research.

Clean Your Registry

You should also clean out your registry. The fewer unused registry keys you have lying around on your computer, the faster your computer will go. Getting a good registry cleaner from a clean source can help tremendously, but be careful; registry cleaners have the potential to be very dangerous so make sure you backup everything on your computer and only download registry cleaners from a reliable source. By implementing the above tips, you'll see quick improvements when using your computer.

Error 12031 - What is it?

Error 12031 indicates that the connection with the server has been reset or is not properly connected. In other words, it signifies that the File Transfer Protocol which is the standard network protocol that is used to transfer files from one host to another over the internet is either reset or not working properly. For example, if you are using a wireless adapter, then you may experience this error code when the adapter loses its association with the access point. The error code is often displayed in the following format:

• "ERROR_INTERNET_CONNECTION_RESET"
• "Cannot Connect to the FTP Server"

Solution

Error Causes

Though the error 12031 is largely caused by poor internet connection and failure to obtain files from the FTP server, however, sometimes the error may be caused by invalid registry entries and outdated drivers. Furthermore, it may also be a Firewall issue.

Further Information and Manual Repair

To resolve this issue on your system, we have listed down the best and easy DIY solutions. These solutions are simple to perform and do not require any kind of technical expertise or knowledge. Just follow the steps and you will be able to resolve it in a couple of minutes.

Solution 1: Disable Firewall

If you are unable to connect to the server and you encounter the error code 12031 on your system, then to resolve this issue, disable the Firewall on your PC.

Solution 2: Reset IE (Internet Explorer) Settings

This error is typically experienced by IE7 users.  If you can’t access some websites in Internet Explorer and you come across a 12031 error code, then try resetting your IE settings. To do this, open Internet Explorer, click on tools, and then click on Internet Options. Now go to the advanced tab and select Use Passive FTP. After checking the box, exit and then try accessing those sites that were not accessible before. If after modifying IE settings you are able to access the sites without any error message display, then this means the error is resolved. Nonetheless, if the error still persists, then the error could be generated due to invalid registry entries.

Solution3: Download and Run Restoro

To remove invalid registry entries from your system and resolve the 12031 error immediately, it is advisable to download and run Restoro. This is a new, cutting-edge, and multi-functional PC repair tool integrated with multiple utilities like a powerful registry cleaner, an antivirus, and a system optimizer. The registry cleaning utility scans your PC for all registry errors. It wipes out unnecessary files, bad and invalid registry entries, repairs damaged files, and restores the registry thereby resolving the 12031 error on your PC. This error tool has a user-friendly interface and simple navigations. It is easy to use and compatible with all Windows versions. In addition to this, you can also use it to scan for malicious software and remove malware. It also functions as a system optimizer and boosts your computer’s speed dramatically. Click here to download Restoro on your PC and resolve error 12031 right away!

The TWCU.EXE or TP-LINK Wireless Client Utility is a configuration application required to run wireless adapters successfully. The TP-LINK Wireless Client Utility application only exists on computers that are using the TP-LINK adapters. Upon the installation of this application, the service will be automatically added to the Windows service list that will continuously run in the background. The Twcu.exe is placed at the C:\Program Files\TP-LINKTP-LINK\Wireless Utility folder and is used by TP-LINK to connect to the internet. The name of the main executable file is twcu.exe and can be viewed in the Services tab of the Task Manager. If you are one of the users who just upgraded to Windows 10 from the previous Windows versions, then you’ll most likely see an error saying, “Failed to load the library file!” that has something to do with twcu.exe or TWCU. This error pops up when you go to your desktop and every time you log into your Windows 10 PC. Like pointed out, this error is related to the TP-LINK Wireless Client Utility and every user who is using the TP-LINK Wireless Client Utility is experiencing this problem which may be due to some compatibility issues especially when you start getting this error right after you upgraded to Windows 10. To fix this problem, follow each one of the options given below.

Option 1 – Try running in Compatibility Mode

The best thing you can do is to run the TP-LINK Wireless Client Utility in the compatibility mode since the problem is due to some compatibility issue. To run this utility in the compatibility mode, here’s what you have to do:

• Look for the TP-LINK Wireless Client Utility which should be located on your desktop.
• Once you find it, right-click on it and select Properties from the context menu.
• After that, go to the Compatibility tab and mark the checkbox for “Run this program in compatibility mode for:” and from the drop-down list, select either Windows 7 or Windows 8.
• Click the Apply button and then click OK to save the changes made and check if it has resolved the issue or not.

Option 2 – Try troubleshooting compatibility

This option is almost the same as the first one except it is an alternative way of fixing the TP-LINK Wireless Client Utility in case the first one didn’t work. In this option, you will troubleshoot the compatibility issue of the TP-LINK Wireless Client Utility.

• Look for the TP-LINK Wireless Client Utility which as mentioned, is on your desktop.
• Then right-click on it and select the “Troubleshoot compatibility” from the context menu.
• After that, click on the “Try recommended setting” option. Once the process is done, the error message should be gone.

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

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

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

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

Option 2 – Try to troubleshoot compatibility

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

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

Option 3 – Run the DISM tool

You can run the DISM tool as well to help fix the error code 0x80244022 during Windows Update. Using this built-in tool, you have various options such as the “/ScanHealth”, “/CheckHealth”, and “/RestoreHealth”.

• Open the Command Prompt with admin privileges.
• Then type in the following commands and make sure to hit Enter right after you type each one of them:
  • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
  • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
  • exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
• Do not close the window if the process takes a while as it will probably take a few minutes to finish.

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

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

Today most users have an SSD drive, times have changed and SSD has become your typical computer equipment. A lot of time has passed from the first SSD hard drives up to today and technology has evolved and improved but still, there are some cool tricks and tips to speed up and extend the lifespan of your SSD hard drive. That being said let us dive right into what I would like to call the essentials of having an SSD hard drive.

1. Keep your SSD firmware up to date.

   This one really is a no-brainer, keeping your firmware updated at all times will ensure longer life and SSD stability. The trick here is that each SSD manufacturer has its own ways of updating firmware so this is not something universal, you will have to go to the official website of your SSD manufacturer and get firmware updates and instructions from them directly.

2. Enable ACHI.

   Advanced controller host interface or short ACHI is a feature that will ensure that your Windows will support all of the features that come with running SSD on your computer. It controls the TRIM feature which is crucial in helping Windows itself in its garbage collection on your hard drive. In order to enable ACHI, you will have to do it from your BIOS and it would be very good if the feature is enabled before Windows itself is installed so it can take full advantage of it.

3. Enable TRIM.

   TRIM feature is vital in extending your SSD lifespan and it should be enabled by default in Windows but you can never be too cautious and double-check and enable if needed. To make sure it is enabled, open your command prompt and type in: fsutil behavior set disabledeletenotify 0

4. Make sure your system restore is enabled.

   In the first SSD days, system restore was really a feature that you wanted to be disabled in order to prevent and extend the life span of your SSD drive, but we came a long way from there and today there is no reason to keep this feature turned off since it can be helping many ways with both your system and SSD.

5. Disable Indexing in Windows.

   A large portion of the speed of your SSD drive is used for indexing files in Windows. Of course, the indexing feature is great if you store everything on your SSD drive but if by any chance you have another drive for your backup, pictures, music, etc. it would be highly beneficial for you to turn it off on your SSD. To turn indexing off click on your start menu, click on the computer. Right-click on your SSD and then click on properties. De-select box that says: Allow files to have contents indexed in addition to file properties and click OK. Once you do this the operating system will apply this to all the files and folders on the drive. If you see a dialog telling you that it couldn’t remove a file from the index, click Ignore All.

6. Keep Windows defrag ON.

   This also was the option in early SSD days which was better to be OFF, but as said before since technology has been making progress and Windows has been improved and made aware of SSD drives, defrag has evolved as well, and now it is more of optimization tool then defragmenter which was once.

7. Disable Prefetch and Superfetch.

   Windows is placing information in both physical and virtual memory for applications that you are not currently using but they are used often in order to speed their response time. If you are running low on space or having struggles with virtual memory it would be best to turn them both off. Go to registry manager and find: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters, there you have 2 values: EnablePrefetcher and EnableSuperfetch, set both values to 0.

8. Disable Search and Superfetch services.

   Disabling Superfetch in the registry is not all work, Press WINDOWS + R to bring run dialog, type in it services.msc, Find both Search and Superfetch and disable them.

9. Configure Write Caching.

   Write caching can be enabled and disabled in the device manager by expanding disk drives, right-clicking on SSD, then click properties, select the policies tab. In the tab, there is the option to Enable write caching on the device. Now trick in this is that you will need to try and benchmark your SSD with both options turned ON and OFF since different manufacturers have different performances with this option being ON or OFF.

10. Disable CleanPageFileAtShutdown and LargeSystemCache.

    Page file and a large cache of page files are not something that we longer need, since SSD writes with great speed in its flash memory both of these options can be disabled and you will both speed up shut down the process of your system and save some SSD life since page files will not be written. Find both options in the registry under the key: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management set both to 0

11. Set high performance in Power options.

    This option in power management will prevent your SSD from constantly shutting down and bringing it up increasing speed without sacrificing its life span.

These are tips and tricks for having great and longer life as well as speed for your SSD drive. We hope that you have found them useful and that you will come again to check new articles published daily for easier IT life.