How to Fix Slow file copy speed in Windows 10

Windows 11 has been officially presented during Microsoft’s virtual event on June 24^th. Since presentation internet has been pretty live and busy with a discussion about it, some discussions are positive, some not so much but that is expected and it happens always when a new product is presented. One of information that we have about Windows 11 is tied to the home edition of this OS, Windows 11 home edition will require an internet connection at setup, and a Microsoft account in order to be installed and used. Previous versions of Windows could be installed and used with local accounts but it seems Microsoft has abandoned that idea for its new OS. OS will be delivered mostly as updates or via internet download so internet and online requirement make sense but why it cannot use the local account and must have a Microsoft one is beyond me.

USB storage devices are used to store small and even big files, depending on their sizes. Usually, the sizes of the USB vary from 2GB up to 16GB. And as time passes, they have advanced quite a bit and now it’s common to find USB sticks with a capacity of 32GB, 64GB, or even 128GB. And since they now have large capacities, USB storage devices are often used for storing backups of system data as well as creating an image. However, there are times when you might encounter an error message while trying to create a backup or image on your USB device. The error message states:

“The drive is not a valid backup location.”

One of the causes of this problem is that Windows was not able to recognize the USB drives as a valid backup location since USB storage devices weren’t previously large enough to store system images. To fix this error, here are some possible solutions that might help.

Option 1 – Try creating a sub-folder in the USB drive and backup all the images there

The first thing you can try to do is to create a sub-folder on your USB device. This is one good way you can bypass the USB drive limitation. How? Refer to the steps below.

• First, right-click on the USB storage device and select Format.
• Next, select NTFS as the File System and check the box next to Quick Format.
• After that, click on Start to initiate the formatting process.
• Once the formatting process is completed, open the USB drive and right-click anywhere inside its main drive window, and then select New > Folder.
• Then name the folder to be created as “Image (or anything you please)”.
• Afterward, right-click on the folder and select Properties.
• From there, go to the Sharing tab and click on Share.
• Now check if the Permission level on the System owner which should be your username is labeled as “Owner”.
• Then try to back up your files again using your USB drive while keeping the sub-folder as the backup location.

Option 2 – Update the USB Controller Drivers

• First, click the Start button and type “device manager”.
• Then click on the “Device Manager” from the search results to open it.
• From there, look for the “Universal Serial Bus controllers” option and then right-click on each one of the USB drivers and select the Update Driver from the menu.
• Restart your PC and then click the “Search automatically for updated driver software” option.

You also have the option to update the motherboard and the USB driver from the manufacturer’s official website.

Option 3 – Run CHKDSK utility to check the drive for errors

When it comes to some issues concerning the hard drive or removable devices, there is a utility in Windows that might help which is called “chkdsk”. To use it, follow the steps below.

• Tap the Win + S keys to open the Search box.
• Then type “command prompt” in the field and from the search results that appear, right-click on Command Prompt and select “Run as administrator”.
• After opening an elevated command prompt, copy and paste the following command and hit Enter:

CHKDSK [volume [[path] filename]] [/F] [/V] [/R] [/X] [/C] [: size]]

Note: In the command given above, “[/F]” will try to fix the system errors while “[/R]” will be the one to fix the bad sectors.

• Now if you are prompted to run CHKDSK after your reboot your PC, just tap Y and reboot your PC.
• If CHKDSK is not able to find any errors, tap the Win + E keys and navigate the access window. From there, right-click on the concerned drive and click on Properties.
• After opening Properties, click on the tab Tools and then click on the “Check” button under the Error-checking section.
• Wait until the process is completed and then restart your computer.

A lot of users complain about low storage space each time a Windows Feature update is released as well as to complain about not being able to download the updates, slow update experience, and many other complaints. The main issue is that many users do not have enough storage space available on their PCs. And now to make sure that none of the updates gets stuck because of low storage space, Microsoft presented the Reserved Storage feature which comes preinstalled with v1903 or those where v1903 was clean installed. This guide will be showing you how you can enable or disable the Reserved Storage in your Windows 10 computer. As you know, the Windows Update process should have enough space so that it can download, extract and apply the update on the computer. Usually, the size of the Reserved Storage is around 7GB which gives enough space for the update, temporary files, system caches, apps, and many more. And according to Microsoft, the size of the Reserved Storage space will vary from time to time and will depend on how you use your computer.

Explanation

The Reserved Storage space feature is enabled by default on devices that come preinstalled with the May 2019 update or after performing a clean installation of the Windows 10 OS. To check if your computer has this feature, you need to go to Settings > System > Storage and from there click on the “Show more categories” link and then click on the “System & reserved” option. However, if you can’t find the Reserved Storage from the list, then it’s probably because your computer has limited space on the hard disk or it is not a fresh or new install. On the other hand, if you have this feature but have no use for it and want to disable it instead, then read on as this post will also show you how it’s done.

Solution

Keep in mind that when you disable the Reserved Storage feature, chances are, you might be unable to enable it back so you need to make sure that it’s really what you want to do before you disable it permanently. So if you really want to disable Reserved Storage, you can do so using the Registry Editor. Before you proceed, you have to create a System Restore point first and then carry out the following steps.

• Tap the Win + R keys to launch the Run utility and type “Regedit” in the field and then tap Enter to open the Registry Editor.
• Next, navigate to this registry path: ComputerHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionReserveManager
• From there, double click on the DWORD named “ShippedWithReserves” and set its value to “1”.
• Once you’re done, restart your computer and see if the Reserved Storage feature is now gone.

On the other hand, if you want to reduce the Reserved Storage space, there are two ways you can do that. First, you can go to Settings > Apps > Apps & features > Manage optional features and from there, uninstall the optional features that you do not use. The second one is you have to go to Settings > Time & Language > Language and then uninstall the languages and their add-on which you don’t use. Note: The Reserved Storage feature is also used by system processes and apps to create temporary files and once the Reserved Storage space fills up, Windows 10 will delete them automatically. It is undeniable a useful feature so disabling it is not recommended but if you are running on low storage space and don’t have much choice, then you may disable it at your own risk.

If you are trying to install or upgrade your Windows 10 computer but suddenly encountered an error message saying, “Windows could not configure one or more system components”, read on as this post will show you how you can fix the problem. You are not alone in experiencing this problem as other users also reported having the same scenario. Some of them reported getting the following error message:

“Windows could not configure one or more system components. To install Windows restart the computer with error code 0xc1900101-0x30018.”

When you check on the Windows 10 rollback log, you will see a part with the “iisetup.exe” that’s related to the abort. Usually, the upgrade process completes over 50% and gets stuck and then rolls back later on and generates the error logs. This kind of error, in most cases, appears during the upgrade of Windows 10 and is related with the Internet Information Services or IIS in Windows 10. For some unknown reason, it restricts the installation or the upgrade which causes the error to appear. To fix the “Windows could not configure one or more system components” error, you can try to remove the IIS from the Windows Features or rename the “inetsrv” folder. You could also move all the folders related to IIS to another drive. For more details, refer to the options provided below.

Option 1 – Try to remove the IIS from Windows Features

The IIS is installed from the Windows Features and you can find it at Control Panel > Programs. From there, uncheck the checkbox for the Internet Information Services. Once done, click on the OK button to save the changes. Note that this process will get rid of all the related programs, services, and folders from Windows 10. So if you want to, you can just install them later on or use an offline installer from the official site of Microsoft.

Option 2 – Try renaming the inetsrv folder

The next option you can check out to resolve the problem is to rename the “inetsrv” folder. If you have uninstalled IIS from the Windows Features, this should remove the folders as well, however, it didn’t remove the folder then you have to delete the folders that are related to the IIS by following these steps:

• First, you have to boot into the Advanced Recovery Mode and from there, open Command Prompt.
• Next, execute this command to rename the folder from this location, C:Windowssystem32inetsrv: rename C:/Windows/system32/inetsrv/inetsrv.old
• Once done, boot into your computer normally and try to upgrade Windows 10 again, and check if the problem is fixed or not.

Option 3 – Try to move the folders related to IIS to a different drive

• Tap the Win + R keys to launch the Run utility and type “services.msc” in the field and hit Enter to open the Windows Services Manager.
• Next, look for the Application Host Helper Service from the list of services and stop it.
• Once done, take ownership of the “WinSxS” folder and then move the *windows-iis*.*” folders to another drive. You can just search using the “*windows-iis*.*” keyword in the Start Search.
• Next, tap the Ctrl + X keys and paste the folders to another drive.
• After that, start the update process for Windows 10 again.

So, you just made some popcorns, dimmed light, relaxed in from of the TV, pressed play on your application and Blu-ray drive can not read your movie. Your movie night failed sadly, but there is hope and in this article, we are going to explore and offer you solutions on what to do when something like this happens so you do not miss another movie night and some hard-earned relaxation. Please note that in this article we are assuming that you are using a Blu-ray player on your PC, so some of the solutions presented are meant only for this case. So the first thing that you are supposed to do is to check the disc itself. You can turn the disc around and visually check the disc for fingerprints and scratches which can be fatal for disc playing, alternatively, you can try to play the same disc on another device and if it fails there also it is not the disc, it is your drive. So if it is no issue with the disc let's see that seems to be a problem with the drive. The common thing that could stop disc reading are cables, check all connections and cables in the back of your device to be sure that everything is plugged in correctly and nicely. After checking cables if the issue persists lens cleaning is the next step. Over time lens from the Blu-ray, the device becomes dirty and dust accumulates on it, there are special cleaning discs on market made especially for this purpose, to clean the dirty lens of optical devices. If you have one put it in and clean your lens. After lens cleaning with a specialty disc, a good idea would be to use compressed air in a can to reduce the dust inside so no excess dust will accumulate quickly again on the lens itself.

So the device is cleaned and checked and still no disc playing?

Update firmware first. In order to accomplish this visit your device manufacturer's website and follow instructions there on how to upgrade firmware. If this did not helped also update or reinstall device drivers. Go to device manager and update drivers for your device by right-clicking on it and choosing update driver. If none of the things helped, go to command prompt as administrator and type in SFC /scannow, leave the process to finish, and reboot.

Windows 11 has brought us a new and revamped settings application that will cover most personalization and overall settings for your operating system. But as much as the new settings app is tweaked and modified there are still some things that can be modified only inside Control Panel. Since the Control Panel icon itself is somewhat not right away once clicked on the start button we are presenting you a couple of ways to open it so you can change each detail you want.

Via Start menu

The most straightforward and easiest way to reach and open the control panel is via the Start menu. In order to do it just click on the Start menu and type in the control panel. Then click on Control Panel Icon in the results.

Pin Control panel icon to the taskbar

In order to actually pin the control panel to Taskbar, you will need to open it first. Use the previous simple and fast steps in order to quickly open it then in the taskbar right-click on its icon. Choose Pin to Taskbar and close control panel. Now you can open the control panel quickly just by clicking it on its icon in the Taskbar.

Add Desktop icon

If you liked the idea to have an icon that you can click in order to fast open the control panel but you are not very fond of the icon being located in your Taskbar then let's place it on Desktop instead. In order to place a special control panel icon on the desktop, we will use Windows setting app. Open settings app with ⊞ WINDOWS + I and go to Personalization tab. Inside the personalization tab, go to Themes and click on Desktop Icon Settings. Check the box beside Control Panel and click on OK. The Control Panel icon will appear now on your Desktop and you can double click on it to launch it.

Run Control Panel from the Run dialog box

Same as in the previous version of Windows you can also open the Control Panel via Windows built-in run menu. This is mostly the preferred way to gain access to it by system administrators. Press ⊞ WINDOWS + R to open the run dialog. Inside dialog type in control and press ENTER. Control Panel will open right away.

As you know, Microsoft is consistent in pushing updates to its supported versions of the Windows operating systems in order to make it better and defend it from different kinds of vulnerabilities. And pushing billions of active Windows computers every now and then is really not an easy thing to do since it calls for a complex Windows Update delivery module. These complexities often give rise to various errors like the Windows Update error code 0x80004005. When you encounter this kind of Windows Update error, you will see the following error message on your screen:

“There were problems installing some updates, but we’ll try again later. If you keep seeing this and want to search the web or contact support for information, this may help 0x80004005.”

This kind of Windows Update error occurs due to an issue while either installing or downloading an update. There are several ways you can fix the problem. You can try to replace the dpcdll.dll file, reset the Windows Update-related services, run the Windows Update troubleshooter or manually install the Windows Updates. For more details, check out the options given below.

Option 1 – Try to replace the DLL file with a trusted source

The first thing you can do is to replace the dpcdll.dll file with a trusted source.

• First, you need to get the new dpcdll.dll file from another computer with preferably the same file version number as your computer.
• After that, you need to boot your PC into Safe Mode and navigate to the paths listed below and then replace the file using a USB drive or other external storage devices.
  • For x86: This PC > C:/Windows/System32
  • For x64: This PC > C:/Windows/SysWOW64
• Next, type “cmd” in the Cortana search box and right-click on Command Prompt, and select “Run as administrator” to open it with administrator privileges.
• Now type the “regsvr32 dpcdll.dll” command and hit Enter.
• Restart your PC and check if the error is now fixed.

Option 2 – Try to reset the Windows Update components

If by any chance that the third option didn’t work, you can also try resetting the Windows Update components as it could also help you resolve the Windows Update error. How? Refer to the following steps:

• Open Command Prompt with admin privileges.
• After that, type each one of the following commands and hit Enter after you key in one after the other.
  • net stop wuauserv
  • net stop cryptsvc
  • net stop bits
  • net stop msiserver

Note: The commands you entered will stop the Windows Update components such as Windows Update service, Cryptographic services, BITS and MSI Installer.

• After disabling WU components, you need to rename both the SoftwareDistribution and Catroot2 folders. To do that, type each one of the following commands below and don’t forget to hit Enter after you type one command after the other.
  • ren C:WindowsSoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old
  • ren C:WindowsSystem32catroot2 Catroot2.old
• Next, restart the services you’ve stopped by entering another series of commands. Don’t forget to hit Enter after you key in one command after the other.
  • net start wuauserv
  • net start cryptsvc
  • net start bits
  • net start msiserver
• Close Command Prompt and reboot your PC.

Option 3 – 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 0x80004005. 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 4 – Try downloading and installing the Windows Updates manually

Windows Update Error 0x80004005 might be due to a Windows Update that has failed. So if it is not a feature update and only a cumulative update, you can download the Windows Update and install it manually. But first, you need to find out which update has failed, and to do so, refer to the following steps:

• Go to Settings and from there go to Update and Security > View Update History.
• Next, check which particular update has failed. Note that Updates that have failed to install will be displayed under the Status column which has a label of “Failed”.
• After that, go to the Microsoft Download Center and look for that update using its KB number and once you find it, download and then install it manually.

Note: You can also use the Microsoft Update Catalog, a service from Microsoft that provides a list of software updates that can be distributed over a corporate network. With the help of this service, it can be easier for you to find Microsoft software updates, drivers as well as fixes.

Error Code 0x80070424 - What is it?

The error code 0x80070424 is a Windows PC error. It may occur when using Windows Update, Microsoft Update or while trying to change Windows Firewall settings. This error does not allow you to enable or disable the Firewall on your PC. It is quite common on Windows 7 and Vista. Symptoms of error code 0x80070424 include Windows Firewall may not be listed on Services.msc, inability to change Windows Firewall settings and you may come across this error message when restarting your PC, “Base Filtering Engine Service could not be found in the system”.

Solution

Error Causes

Some of the common causes of the error code 0x80070424 include:

• Base Filtering Engine Service file corruption
• Registry issues

When you encounter this error code on your system, it is recommended to fix it immediately as this error can lead to serious PC damages.

Further Information and Manual Repair

To resolve the error code 0x80070424 here are some of the best DIY solutions for you. By following these solutions, you can fix the error all by yourself. These are simple, easy, and quick PC fixers that require no technical expertise. Just follow the simple steps and the error will be resolved in the shortest time.

Re-Install Windows Firewall & Filtering Engine

If the underlying cause of the error 0x80070424 is Base Filtering Engine Service file corruption, then the best way to resolve it is to download the Firewall and register file from a reliable website. Once you download it extract the zip on your desktop.

• Double click on both files one by one to confirm their installation on your PC. Once installed, restart your PC and click on the start button. Search file type and run and then press enter.
• When the Run window opens, type REGEDIT and click OK. After that, from the left sidebar navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetservicesBFE.
• Now simply right-click on BFE folder and choose permission. Once that’s done, click on add button and type everyone then press OK to confirm settings.  Here you will see the ‘everyone’ added field.
• After that in the below permission panel, tick the box that says Full Control and confirm. Now close the window and go to the menu and type services MSC.

This will open the service window. From the list search for ‘Base Filtering engine file’ right-click on it. Now search for Windows Firewall and see if you can change the settings. This procedure is most likely to resolve the error code 0x80070424 on your PC. It is time-consuming but worth it.

Use a Registry Cleaner

None the less, if the error is triggered by registry issues, then it is advisable to download Restoro. This is an advanced and highly functional PC fixer integrated with multiple utilities including a powerful registry cleaner. The registry cleaner utility detects all registry issues on your system and fixes them in seconds. It wipes out the excess, unnecessary, and obsolete registry entries and files corrupting your system cleans, and restores the registry. It is user-friendly and compatible with all Windows versions. So whether you are using Windows 7, 8, XP or Vista, you can run it on all versions with ease and resolve the error code 0x80070424 generated by registry issues. This software also includes other functional and value-added features like antivirus and a system optimizer. Click here to download Restoro and resolve error code 0x80070424  on your PC today!

Recently Meta has gone viral that it is working on an AI video-making algorithm named Make a Video. AI will like in picture making AI take text input and produce a video from it.

Now, a new player enters the AI video battlefield, its name is GOOGLE!

The Google research project Imagen Video is also text to video generator similar to Meta's Make a Video with one little difference. unlike Meta's offering which includes only sign-up, Google is withholding access for now under the veil of safeguarding issues.

Google has been in the Ai space before with their Imagen, a DALL-E style generator capable of photorealistic picture generation based on text prompts. The new Google tool works in a similar way but with better functions. Ai can generate a diverse range of high-fidelity videos across different aesthetic styles and with a deep understanding of 3D models thus creating high-definition, 24-frames-per-second videos.

"With the help of progressive distillation, Imagen Video can generate high-quality videos using just eight diffusion steps per sub-model. This speeds up video generation time substantially, by a factor of ~18x,”

Jonathan Ho, author of the research paper

Despite filtering for “undesirable content”, the team admits “there is a risk that Imagen has encoded harmful stereotypes and representations”. So, until the AI - and its users - can be trusted, Google refuses to release Imagen Video without additional safeguards in place.

If you are trying to run Windows Update but encountered an Error 0x80070003, read on as this post will guide you on how you can fix it. This kind of error in Windows Update can occur when you activate Windows Firewall or download from the Windows Store. This kind of error indicates that the Windows Update service or WUAUSERV is not started or that the Background Intelligent Transfer Service or BITS can’t be started. Aside from that, you can also encounter this error with the other Windows Update components. To fix the Windows Update error 0x80070003, you can try to run the built-in Windows Update troubleshooter or replace the old Configuration file named “Spupdsvc.exe”. You can also try to reset the Windows Update components or check the status of all the Windows Update-related services, as well as run a System File Checker scan.

Option 1 – Run the Windows Update Troubleshooter

Running the built-in Windows Update troubleshooter is one of the things you can first check out as it is known to automatically resolve any Windows Update errors like error code 0x80070003. To run this troubleshooter, Refer to these steps:

• Tap the Win + I keys to open Settings.
• From there, click Update and Security and go to the Troubleshoot section.
• Next, select Windows Update and click the “Run the troubleshooter” button and wait until it’s finished, and then try to run Windows Update again.

Option 2 – Try replacing the old Configuration file named “Spupdsvc.exe”

The next thing you can do to fix the Windows Update error is to replace the Spupdsvc.exe file. This is a process file that comes under the Microsoft Update RunOnce service. So when an update becomes available for your computer, the process responsible for performing the upgrade is notified. In addition, the RunOnce entry is also added to the registry for the spupdsvc.exe and this process is executed when your computer restarts and when you log on.

• In the Start Search, type “command prompt” and from the search results, right-click on Command Prompt and select the “Run as administrator” option.
• Next, execute this command to replace the old configuration of the Spupdsvc.exe file with a new one: c m d (remove spaces on CMD) /c ren %systemroot%System32Spupdsvc.exe Spupdsvc.old
• After that, try to run Windows Updates again and check if the error is now gone.

Option 3 – Try deleting the files from the SoftwareDistribution folder and resetting the Catroot2 folder

The downloaded Windows Updates are placed in a folder called “SoftwareDistribution”. The files downloaded in this folder are automatically deleted once the installation is completed. However, if the files are not clean up or if the installation is still pending, you can delete all the files in this folder after you pause the Windows Update service. For complete instructions, refer to the steps below.

• Open the WinX Menu.
• From there, open Command Prompt as admin.
• Then type in the following command – don’t forget to hit Enter right after typing each one of them.

net stop wuauserv net start cryptSvc net start bits net start msiserver

• After entering these commands, it will stop the Windows Update Service, Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS), Cryptographic, and the MSI Installer
• Next, go to the C:/Windows/SoftwareDistribution folder and get rid of all the folders and files thereby tapping the Ctrl + A keys to select them all and then click on Delete. Note that if the files are in use, you won’t be able to delete them.

After resetting the SoftwareDistribution folder, you need to reset the Catroot2 folder to restart the services you just stopped. To do that, follow these steps:

• Type each one of the following commands.

net start wuauserv net start cryptSvc net start bits net start msiserver

• After that, exit Command Prompt and restart your computer.

Option 4 – Check the status of some Windows Update Services

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• Next, type “services.msc” in the field and hit Enter or click OK to open Services.
• From the list of Services, look for the following services and make sure that their Startup type is as follows:
  • Windows Update – Manual (Triggered)
  • Background Intelligent Transfer Service – Manual
  • Cryptographic Services – Automatic
  • Workstation Service – Automatic
• After that, check if the Service status of the listed services above are set to Running. If they’re not, click on the Start button to start these services and then check if the Windows Update error 0x80070003 is now fixed or not.

Option 5 – Run the System File Checker Scan

If manually resetting the Windows Update components didn’t work, you can run a System File Checker scan instead. It is a built-in command-line utility that replaces bad and corrupted system files with good system files that might be the cause why you’re getting the error when you try updating your computer. 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

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.

• Restart your computer.