Windows requires a digitally signed driver

Spying via some malicious app on the target phone is not a new thing but it can be very uncomfortable and even against the law in some countries.

Infecting the target phone can be done in various ways, another person can intentionally download and install applications on it, and you can install them via some phishing attacks or by an online scam. Once installed this piece of software presents a very serious invasion of privacy since it can track text messages, track phone location in real-time, record calls in real-time, eavesdrop on calls, take control of the camera and microphone, and many other applications.

Here are some common symptoms of mobile phones infected with spyware.

Symptoms of spyware

Random reboots
Slow performance
Strange text messages
Overheating
Unusual high data usage
Non-familiar apps in the app list
The fast drain of the battery
Long shutdown time
Strange interference and sounds during calls
Signs of activity during standby mode

If your phone exhibits any of these symptoms you might have a spyware app installed and running on it.

Common spy apps

There are many apps that have been designed to spy on people that can be downloaded in the app store or on Google Play today. Most of these spyware apps are aimed at parents wanting to keep an eye on and protect their children. However, these can be used by anyone in order to spy on a target person via their phone.

Below is a list of common apps that can be used to spy on you. Many spyware apps require a phone to be ‘jailbroken’ or ‘rooted’ before being installed, this is when the phone’s operating system is changed to allow the phone to become unlocked and customizable.

mSpy : An undetectable spying app for iOS devices. It can be used to read your chats, see your location, view your email, check your call history, record your keystrokes, and more.

Spyera : This app requires rooted and jail-broken iPhones to work. It can go undetected and monitors phone calls and your call history. It even allows call recording and eavesdropping on live calls.

Flexispy : Flexispy prides itself as the #1 phone monitor for parents and can monitor everything from calls to social texts.

Umobix : This powerful spyware app has a dashboard that allows users to easily monitor someone’s location, calls, texts, keystrokes, all major social media, and more. You can detect Umobix because it heats up the infected phone and greatly affects the battery life of the infected device.

Ikey Monitor : Although it requires the device to be rooted for Android or jailbroken for iPhones, this spy app captures keystrokes, passwords, and screenshots, allows for call recording and supports multiple languages.

Clevguard : Available for both iOS and Android, Clevguard allows users to track GPS and Wi-Fi locations, capture screenshots remotely, and more. Due to a recent update, the spy app drains the target phone’s battery significantly.

Remove spyware from your phone

If any of the beforementioned apps are present on your phone you need to remove them right away.

Go to your phone settings and remove the malicious applications, then download some protection suite and scan the whole phone for any other trace of software remains or other malware apps.

NVIDIA is undeniably the market leader as a Graphics Card manufacturer. Recently, NVIDIA came about a feature known as NVIDIA Share. This feature allows users to carry out a number of tasks such as streaming, recording, and sharing their gameplay with other users. NVIDIA Share allows users to take multiple snapshots of the gameplay which brings in capabilities to get the memories of the moments that happen during an awesome game. However, as of late, there were reports that NVIDIA Share is not working or responding. So if you are one of the users who are currently facing this issue, then read on as this post will guide you in resolving it. Make sure to follow the options given below carefully for a successful result.

Option 1 – Try to update the drivers from the official site of NVIDIA

The first thing you can do is to update the drivers from the official site of NVIDIA. And in case you don’t know the type of Nvidia graphics card that your computer is on, follow the steps below:

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• Next type in “dxdiag” in the field and click OK or hit Enter to open the DirectX Diagnostic Tool.
• From there, you can see what type of Nvidia graphics card that your system is on.
• Take note of your graphics card information and then look for the best drivers for your operating system. Once you’ve downloaded and installed the file, restart your PC.

Option 2 – Try to roll back the driver to the previous version

If the first option didn’t work for you, then it’s time to roll back the device drivers. It is most likely that after you updated your Windows computer that your driver also needs a refresh.

• Tap the Win + R keys to launch the Run window and then type in the “msc” command and hit Enter to open the Device Manager window.
• Under the Device Manager, you will see a list of drivers. From there, look for the NVIDIA Drivers and expand them.
• Next, select the driver entries that are labeled appropriately.
• Then select each one of them and double click to open a new mini window.
• After that, make sure that you’re on the Driver tab and if you are not, just navigate to it then click the Roll Back Driver button to switch back to the previous version of the NVIDIA Drivers.
• Now restart your computer to successfully apply the changes made.

Option 3 – Try disabling NVIDIA Share

If the first two options given above didn’t work then you might want to try disabling NVIDIA Share. In case you didn’t make any modifications to the driver, chances are either your driver is out of date or there are some issues with the installation of the drivers. For you to find out, you need to first check if your NVIDIA drivers are really up to date. Once you’ve confirmed it, you can now disable the NVIDIA Share feature. Just refer to the steps below to do that.

• Search for the NVIDIA GeForce Experience in the search box and then click on the appropriate result to open it.
• After you open the NVIDIA GeForce Experience, go to the General tab.
• Next, scroll down to the NVIDIA Share section and then select the toggle to turn off this feature.
• Now restart your computer and try to check if there are any updates available for the NVIDIA Graphics card and install them again if there are any.

In this post, you will be guided on how you can turn on or turn off the Tailored Experiences feature in Windows 10 using three methods – via Settings, Registry Editor, and Group Policy Editor. The Tailored Experiences feature in Windows 10 helps Microsoft in delivering recommendations about Microsoft Products. The diagnostic data that comes with it allows Microsoft to know about its consumers’ experiences as well as collect feedback. To simply put it, tailored experiences are personalized tips, ads, and recommendations that enhance Microsoft products and services for consumer needs. And when you enable this feature, Windows will collect information from your browser, apps, features, and many more. After collecting information, it will offer contents that are tailored based on the data gathered on the lock screen of your computer, Windows tips, and other related functions. On the other hand, the diagnostic data is the one that allows Microsoft to get feedback from the customer. So if you’ve noticed some prompts when you use Windows that ask you about the experience, that’s actually a part of the diagnostic data. A lot of users find this feature useful. However, there are also skeptical ones that don’t share the same sentiments. If you are one of the skeptical ones, you actually have the option to turn this feature off if you do not want Microsoft to show ads, recommendations, and so on. It is also recommended that you enable the Diagnostic Data collection as you can choose to delete any collected data, as well as control the feedback frequency from Automatic to Once a day, or once a week, or to never. As mentioned, there are three methods you can choose from to either turn on or turn off Tailored Experiences. You can do it via Settings, Registry Editor, and the Group Policy Editor. To get started, follow the options provided below.

Option 1 – via Settings

To turn on or off Tailored Experiences using Settings, refer to these steps:

• Go to Settings and here, click on Privacy.
• Next, go to Diagnostic and Feedback.
• From there, toggle off the control under the Tailored experiences option to turn it off or toggle it on, if you want to turn it on.

Option 2 – via Registry Editor

To turn on or off Tailored Experiences via Registry Editor, follow the steps below.

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box and type “Regedit” in the field and then tap Enter to open the Registry Editor.
• Next, navigate to this registry path: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPrivacy
• After that, look for the DWORD named “TailoredExperiencesWithDiagnosticDataEnabled” and change its value to 0 if you want to turn it off or 1 if you want to turn it on.

Option 3 – via Group Policy Editor

To turn on or off Tailored Experiences using the Group Policy Editor, here’s what you have to do:

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run prompt and type “gpedit.msc” in the field and hit Enter to open the Group Policy Editor.
• Next, navigate to this policy setting: User ConfigurationAdminstrative TemplatesWindows ComponentsCloud Content
• Here, double click on the “Do not use diagnostic data for tailored experiences” option and select Enabled. Once you do that, you will see the following description:

“This policy setting lets you prevent Windows from using diagnostic data to provide tailored experiences to the user. If you enable this policy setting, Windows will not use diagnostic data from this device (this data may include browser, app, and feature usage, depending on the “diagnostic data” setting value) to customize the content shown on the lock screen, Windows tips, Microsoft consumer features, and other related features. If these features are enabled, users will still see recommendations, tips, and offers, but they may be less relevant. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, Microsoft will use diagnostic data to provide personalized recommendations, tips, and offers to tailor Windows for the user’s needs and make it work better for them. This setting does not control Cortana tailored experiences, since there are separate policies to configure it.”

If you are trying to install Office but got an error saying, “Something went wrong, Sorry we ran into a problem” with error codes 12002-4, 12007-4, or 12152-4 instead, this indicates that you have a problem with your internet connection. Aside from internet connection issues, the problem could also be due to some programs that block the installation files to be downloaded so when they time out, you get these error codes. There are several options you can try to fix the 12002-4, 12007-4, or 12152-4 error codes. You can try to install Office offline or turn off the proxy server or VPN (if you’re using one). You can also try to temporarily disable your antivirus program or Firewall. Refer to the given potential fixes below to troubleshoot and fix the problem.

Option 1 – Try to install Office offline

The first thing you can do if you encounter the error codes 12002-4, 12007-4, or 12152-4 when installing Office is to download an offline copy of Office especially when you’re certain that your internet connection is slow. Once you’ve downloaded it, install it again. The offline installer will download both the 32 and 64-bit versions of Office. Keep in mind that you must download the correct version.

Option 2 – Disable the Proxy server

The first thing you can do is to try disabling the Proxy server as it might be the reason why you’re getting error 0x80244022 for Windows Updates. To disable the proxy server, refer to the steps below.

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• Then type “inetcpl.cpl” in the field and hit Enter to pull up the Internet Properties.
• After that, go to the Connections tab and select the LAN settings.
• From there. Uncheck the “Use a Proxy Server” option for your LAN and then make sure that the “Automatically detect settings” option is checked.
• Now click the OK and the Apply buttons.
• Restart your PC.

Note: If you are using a third-party proxy service, you have to disable it. In addition, if you are also using a VPN, you can try to disable it as well.

Option 3 – Temporarily disable the Antivirus and Firewall

As mentioned earlier, the downloading of the installation files could be blocked by either the antivirus program or Firewall or it could be both especially when the link seems suspicious. To fix this problem, you have to disable both the antivirus like Windows Defender and the Firewall or any third-party software you might be used temporarily and then download the installation files again. Once the download is completed, make sure to turn on the antivirus program and the Firewall again. On the other hand, you can also try downloading in a different location which also means that you have to try a different network. It could be that the load on the current system is too high which is why it’s not able to offer enough bandwidth to download the installation files of Microsoft Office.

In today's world any professional, whatever be design, print, web design or similar is using one or more Adobe programs. Adobe has cemented itself as a must-have software for any kind of serious and even amateur work. Sadly in the latest Windows 11 adobe software in some instances can slow down your computer and put some hard load on the CPU. If you are one of these unfortunate users, keep reading because we have a few things you can do to solve this.

1. Run SFC scan

SFC scan is a built-in Windows tool aimed at diagnosing and repairing system files inside Windows itself. Running an SFC scan usually solves most issues of these kinds so we will try that one first.

1. Press ⊞ WINDOWS + S to open the Search bar and type in cmd
2. Select command prompt and on the right side click on Run as administrator
3. Inside command prompt type in: sfc /scannow and press ENTER
4. Wait for the whole process to finish and reboot your system

2. Update Windows

Windows updates are designed to fix issues and solve problems, check to see if a new update is available to install.

1. Press ⊞ WINDOWS + I to open the Settings app
2. Click on Windows Update in the bottom left pane
3. On the right check visually if there is an update pending and if there is, install it

3. Temporary turn off antivirus and firewall

Antivirus and firewall can interfere with adobe applications and background services, try turning your preferred protection software temporarily off and check if your CPU is still under high load.

4. Reinstall Adobe suite

Uninstall and install a clean version of the adobe creative suite or individual applications that you are using. Check your CPU load after reinstallation.

5. Uninstall Adobe CEF Helper

This is not a really advisable course of action but if non of the previous solutions have produced results then this might be the only option if you would like to keep using the software. Open File Explorer and paste the following line in the path box on top: C\:Program Files>Adobe Systems>Adobe CEF Helper or Adobe Creative Cloud >Adobe CEF Helper_uninstall.exe. Double click on the file and uninstall the CFT helper.

We tend to move and copy tons of files on our PCs and mostly, the process of copying or moving files, especially if the file has the size of 1GB or up, tends to take quite long. This may be caused by some issues which is why you face slow copy or move speed. So if you are experiencing this issue on your Windows 10 computer, then read on as this post will give you a couple of solutions you can try to increase the speed in copying or moving files. Follow the given instructions below.

Option 1 – Try to change the USB port

You might want to change the USB port since modern computers have a variety of USB ports. So if your USB drive supports USB 3.0 or 3.1, make sure that you plug it inside a USB 3.0 or 3.1 ports. If you’re not sure which port, just keep in mind that the USB 3 port is usually blue or you can also use your computer’s documentation or manual as a reference to locate it. It may sound nothing but changing the USB port can actually improve the copying or moving speeds drastically so this should be the first thing you can try to speed up the process of copying or moving files.

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 – Check for any hard disk errors

• On your desktop, right-click on the “This PC” or computer icon and then select Manage to open the Disk Management. Here you get to check your drive’s health.
• Next, click on Disk Management on the left side panel.
• From there, check the state of your drives. If it shows that all your partitions are healthy then it means all is good and that the problem may have something to do with some physical issues with your hard drive.

You might also want to run the CHKDSK utility to help you fix any issues with your hard disk. If your hard drive has issues with integrity, the update will really fail as the system will think that it’s not healthy and that’s where the CHKDSK utility comes in. The CHKDSK utility repairs hard drive errors that might be causing the problem.

• Open Command Prompt with admin privileges.
• After opening Command Prompt, execute the following command and hit Enter:

chkdsk /f /r

• Wait for the process to be completed and then restart your computer.

Option 4 – Try to disable Windows Auto Tuning

Disabling Windows Auto-Tuning can also help in increasing the copying or moving of files in your computer. It is said that this feature improves the performance of programs that receive TCP data over a network by adjusting the receive buffer size dynamically throughput and latency of the link. Thus, if you are trying to copy some data over the network, then the Auto Tuning feature is playing a role here. And in some cases, disabling this feature completely resulted in a lot faster copy speeds over the network.

Option 5 – Try changing the USB Removal Policy

• First, plug your USB drive or external device into your PC and then open This PC.
• Next, right-click on your device and select Properties.
• After that, go to the hardware tab and select the storage media that you want to enhance and then click on the Properties button.
• From there, you can select the Better performance option if you wish for your device to have a better performance. Once you select this option, it will enable write caching in your Windows 10 computer but you need to use the “Safely Remove Hardware” option from the notification area to safely disconnect the device otherwise it may result in data corruption.

Option 6 – Format your drive

• To get started formatting your drive, tap the Win + E keys and then go to the access page of the drive.
• Next, right-click on the drive and select Format.
• After that, uncheck the “Quick Format” option and then format your drive properly.
• Now once the formatting process is finished, unplug the drive and plug it back in afterward.
• Check if the error is already fixed. If the drive is not initialized, tap the Win + R keys and hit Enter.
• After opening the Run dialog box, type “diskmgmt.msc” and hit Enter to open Disk Management.
• From there, right-click on the drive volume and select initialize disk.
• Next, select the correct partition type and proceed.

Resize icons on desktop in Windows 10 in a matter of seconds! Hello everyone and welcome to today's quick tip. If you have ever been dissatisfied with icon size on your desktop and any of the default sizes like small, medium large, etc have not been appropriate know that there is a quick way to resize icons on your desktop in between sizes. All that you have to do in order to use this built-in feature is: Press and hold CTRL and scroll with the mouse. That's it! Find your appropriate size for icons and enjoy.

If you encounter an error code of 0xa0000400 while trying to upgrade your Windows 10 computer using the Windows 10 Upgrade Assistant or the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool, then you might find this post useful as it will guide you in resolving this problem. When you get this error, you will see the following error message:

“Something went wrong You can contact Microsoft support for help with this error. Here is the error code 0xa0000400.”

As you know, keeping your computer up to date with all the Windows Updates is important and is imperative especially if you are experiencing a couple of issues like the Windows Upgrade error 0xa0000400. At the time of writing, there is no specific cause that has been found for this error. However, there are some potential fixes that might help you. You can try to recreate the Windows 10 installation USB and get the ISO files or you could also get a newer version of the Windows Media Creation Tool, or turn off your internet connection at a specific time or run the Windows Update troubleshooter. For more details, refer to the options given below.

Option 1 – Try to recreate the Windows 10 installation USB

Recreating the Windows 10 installation USB might help in fixing the problem. You can use a USB drive to do so but make sure that it has a great read-write speed. Follow the steps below to recreate Windows 10 installation USB”

• Click this link and then click the Download Tool Now button.
• Next, click the “Use the tool to create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file)…” option and follow the next given instructions on the screen.
• Now select the ISO file option in step 5.
• After that, you should now have an ISO file.
• Next, go to the location where you’ve downloaded the ISO file.
• Then right-click on the Windows 10 ISO file and select the Open with option and then select File Explorer.
• Now click on “setup.exe” and follow the next instructions that appear on the screen. When asked, you have to select either Nothing (clean install) or Keep personal files only option. Take note that you must not select the “Keep personal files, apps, and Windows settings since it doesn’t really work.

Option 2 – Try turning off the Internet connection at a specific time

You might want to turn off your internet connection at a specific time. This option can be quite tricky so what you need to do is to disconnect the internet connection when the update is downloaded using the Windows Upgrade tool. It’s actually okay since all the files you need would be downloaded safely and the Windows Upgrade tool will be the one to install the newer updates using those files.

Option 3 – Try to get a newer version of the Windows Media Creation tool

You can also fix the Windows Upgrade error 0xa0000400 by using the latest version of the Windows Media Creation tool. And so if what you have is an older version, you need to update it in order to resolve the error and upgrade your Windows 10 computer.

Option 4 – 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 or upgrade errors like error code 0x800701E3. 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 5 – Try running Disk Cleanup

You might want to run the Disk Cleanup utility as it is a useful tool that could delete temporary and useless files in your computer.

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box and then type “cleanmgr” in the field and hit Enter to open the Disk Cleanup window.
• After that, select the drive you want to clean.
• Now click OK to clean the disk and restart your computer.

What is error 0x800ccc17?

This is a typical Outlook Express error code. Outlook Express is email software by Microsoft. This error may pop up when sending or receiving emails on your Outlook Express. It cancels email sending and receiving operations. In other others, the 0x800ccc17 error code hampers your email communication via Outlook Express account. This error message is displayed in the following format:

0x800CCC17 - User cancelled operation

Solution

Error Causes

0x800ccc17 error code may appear on your PC due to multiple reasons. These include:

• Issues with Pop3uid.dbx file (this file supports Outlook Express software on Windows Vista)
• Viral infection
• Registry corruption

No matter what the underlying reason for this error code may be, it is advisable to resolve the issue right away without any delay. This error may cause great deal of inconvenience. It may lower your office productivity badly especially if you interact and communicate with people of other office departments via your Outlook Express account.

Further Information and Manual Repair

Here are some of the best and efficient do-it-yourself methods to resolve the 0x800ccc17 error code on your system. These methods are very easy to work around and do not require any kind of technical expertise.

Method 1 - Restart Your PC

Sometimes this might error can be resolved by simply rebooting your system. So, restart your PC and try using your Outlook Express account again. If it works, the error is resolved. However, if it persists then try other methods given below.

Method 2 - Rename pop3uid.dbx File on Your System

If the underlying cause of error 0x800ccc17 is related to pop3uid.dbx file damage, then simply rename it to resolve. This can be done by searching for the file pop3uid.dbx. After locating it rename it to ‘pop3uid.bak’. Now reopen Outlook Express and try sending or receiving emails again. If the operations are executed successfully then the error is resolved.

Method 3 - Remove Viruses

Viruses can infect your PC without you knowing about it. These malicious programs usually enter your system through phishing emails and file downloads. If the error 0x800ccc17 is triggered due to viral infection then it is advisable to install a powerful antivirus and remove all viruses from your PC.

Method 4 - Repair the Registry

If you don’t clean the registry frequently it fills up with unnecessary and obsolete files like junk files, cookies, internet history, and bad registry entries. These files then corrupt and damage the registry thereby generating codes like error 0x800ccc17. To resolve this, you first need to remove all these unnecessary files and repair the registry. Though this can be done manually if you are not technically sound, it may be time-consuming and slightly tricky. Therefore it is advisable to download Restoro. This is a powerful registry cleaner that wipes away all obsolete files instantly, cleans the registry, and repairs it in seconds. Click here to download Restoro and fix error 0x800ccc17 on your PC today.

If the Task Manager is either blank or is not showing processes on your Windows 10 computer, then here are a few things you can do to resolve this issue. This kind of problem can occur due to some system file corruption or some malware infection in the system. Here are some suggestions you can try to resolve the problem with the Task Manager on your Windows 10 PC.

Option 1 – Try restarting your computer

The most common and most of the time effective way to resolve this kind of issue is to simply restart your computer. Thus, you have to restart your computer and see if it helps in fixing the Task Manager issue or not. If not, you can try the next given options below.

Option 2 – Run the DISM tool

If the first option didn’t work, then running the Deployment Imaging and Servicing Management tool can help you resolve the issue with the Task Manager as it will repair the Windows System Image as well as the Windows Component Store in Windows 10.

• After you access the Advanced Startup options, select Command Prompt by using the arrow keys on your keyboard.
• Next, type in this command: DISM /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 3 – Make sure that the display columns are selected in the Task Manager

You have to make sure that you have checked or selected the display columns you want to be displayed. So if none of them are selected, you might not see any details at all. Thus, you need to right-click on the space near Name and select the columns.

Option 4 – Run the System File Checker Scan

System File Checker or SFC is a built-in command utility that helps in restoring corrupted files as well as missing files. It replaces bad and corrupted system files with good system files that might be the reason why the Task Manager is blank or is not showing processes. 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.

Option 5 – Troubleshot the problem in a Clean Boot State

There are some instances that some conflicting programs installed in your computer might be the one that’s causing the Task Manager issue. To identify which program is causing the problem, you need to put your computer in a Clean Boot State. To do so, follow the steps below.

• Log onto your PC as an administrator.
• Type in MSConfig in the Start Search to open the System Configuration utility.
• From there, go to the General tab and click “Selective startup”.
• Clear the “Load Startup items” check box and make sure that the “Load System Services” and “Use Original boot configuration” options are checked.
• Next, click the Services tab and select the “Hide All Microsoft Services” check box.
• Click Disable all.
• Click on Apply/OK and restart your PC. (This will put your PC into a Clean Boot State. And configure Windows to use the usual startup, just simply undo the changes.)
• From there, start to isolate the problem by checking which one of the programs you installed recently is the root cause of the problem.

Option 6 – Try scanning your computer using Windows Defender

As mentioned, the Task Manager issue might be caused by some malware in the system and so to eliminate the malware, you have to scan your computer using security programs like Windows Defender.

• Tap the Win + I keys to open Update & Security.
• Then click on the Windows Security option and open Windows Defender Security Center.
• Next, click on Virus & threat protection > Run a new advanced scan.
• Now make sure that Full Scan is selected from the menu and then click the Scan Now button to get started.