Cortana is your personal digital assistant fully integrated into Windows 10 designed to help you make your life easier. The more you use it, the more Cortana can learn about you, and the experience becomes more personalized and accurate. It can perform a variety of tasks, and it's full of handy tricks, but perhaps one of the best features is the advanced speech recognition that enables Cortana to understand the context of a natural voice conversation.
On Windows 10, and across platforms with the Cortana app on iPhone and Android, the assistant can understand virtually any voice command and perform tasks. For example, by just speaking you can find facts, create reminders and manage your calendar, launch applications, change settings, and a lot more.
Now, if you're looking for an official list of all the voice commands Cortana supports, you'll never find it because it doesn't exist. Cortana can understand natural language and context, there's no particular set of commands to make things happen. In a sort of way, you are speaking to Cortana as you would to any other person.
Invoking Cortana
Before using voice commands, it's important to know the ways in which you can invoke Cortana using natural language:
You can click the microphone icon in the taskbar next to the Start menu.
You can use the Shift + ⊞ Windows + C keyboard shortcut to open Cortana in listening mode.
You can use the Hey Cortana feature, which lets you invoke the assistant by simply saying Hey Cortana followed by the command. For example, Hey Cortana: How's the weather?.
On Windows 10 Mobile devices, you can press and hold the search button to open Cortana in listening mode.
Comprehensive list of Cortana voice commands
The following list of commands are examples you can use to learn how to control Cortana with voice commands. Keep in mind that there isn't a specific way to speak the commands. For example, Hey Cortana: Let me listen to some tunes is the same as asking for a more systematic command like Hey Cortana: Play music.
Cortana basic voice commands:
Getting the time for any location:
"What time is it?"
"What time is in New York?" or "What time is in Greece?"
Getting weather information for any location:
"What's the weather like?"
"What's the weather in Madrid?" or "What's the weather in Slovakia?"
"When does the sun set?"
"Is it hot in Hawaii?"
"How's the weather looking for tomorrow/next week?"
Opening (Store and desktop) apps and websites:
"Open Photoshop" or "Go to Firefox"
"Open errortools.com."
Getting news information:
"Show me top headlines."
"Show me the latest news."
"Show me weather news."
"Show me Blizzard stock."
"Show me bitcoin exchange rate."
"What was the score of the last Brazil football game."
Creating a note:
"Create a note."
"Create Shopping note."
"Create Shopping note: Buy a basket of eggs"
"Take a note."
"Draft a note."
"Write a note."
Translating to a different language:
"Translate."
"Translate Hello to German"
"Translate Where is the nearest park? to Spain"
Doing math:
"What's 34% or $764.89?"
"What's 43 times 59?"
"What the square root of 26509?"
"What's 29 times 6 divided by 12?"
"Convert 6.9 cups to fluid ounces."
"How many miles are in 89 Kilometers?"
Defining a word:
"Define Space."
Tracking packages:
"Where is my package?"
"Show me my packages."
Cortana search voice commands:
Finding documents, photos, videos:
"Find photos from August 1998."
"Find cat videos."
"Find document called Collection of poems."
Searching the web:
"Search the web for Heroes of Might and magic."
Finding facts:
"How tall is Mount Everest?"
"Who is Steve Jobs?"
"When Arnold Schwarzenegger was born?"
"Who is Mercedes CEO?"
"When does spring begin?"
"What's the capital of Zimbabwe?"
"When is Thanksgiving?"
It's important to note that Cortana is capable of conversational understanding, which means that you can also ask follow-up questions without having to be very specific.
For example, if you ask Cortana: "Who is the president of the United States", you can then ask a follow-up question, such as "Who is his wife?" or "When was he born?" and the assistant should be able to answer those questions accurately.
Discovering food places nearby:
"Find food places near me."
"Find restaurants near me."
"Find bars near me."
"What's a good restaurant near me?"
"What's interesting nearby?"
"Show me Chinese restaurants near me."
"Show me Italians restaurants in Los Angeles."
Cortana health and fitness voice commands:
"How was my sleep last night?"
"What was my step count yesterday?"
"How many calories did I burn today?"
These commands require a tracking device, such as the Microsoft Band 2 to enable your fitness and health activities, and you need to connect Cortana with the Microsoft Health (Microsoft Band) service.
Cortana settings voice commands:
Opening the Settings app:
"Open Settings."
"Open Action Center."
Controlling settings:
"Turn on/off Bluetooth"
"Turn on/off Wi-Fi"
"Turn on/off Airplane Mode"
Cortana reminders voice commands:
Creating reminders:
"Remind me to wash the car."
Creating location-based reminders:
"Remind me to buy CDs next time I go to Walmart."
Creating person-based reminders:
"Remind me to ask for vacation time next time I talk to Goran."
Creating time-based reminders:
"Remind me to watch the basketball game at 6 PM."
"Remind me to buy the food for the d&d session on Sunday at 3 PM."
Viewing reminders:
"Show me my reminders."
Cortana calendar voice commands:
Viewing calendar events:
"How's my schedule looking today?"
"Show me my appointments for next week."
"When is my dentist appointment?"
Adding new calendar events:
"Add dental appointment for Monday at 2 PM."
Moving calendar events:
"Move dental appointment to Friday at 5 PM."
Cortana alarms voice commands:
Creating alarms:
"Set an alarm for next Monday at 5:30 AM."
"Set an alarm for Saturdays at 9 AM."
Viewing alarms:
"Show my alarms"
Removing alarms:
"Cancel alarm for Saturdays at 9 AM."
Cortana timer voice commands:
Creating a timer:
"Set a timer for 5 minutes."
You can only start a one-timer at one point in time. If there is a timer already running, Cortana will ask you to restart it at a new time.
Viewing timer:
"Show timer."
"How much time is left on the timer?"
Canceling timer:
"Stop timer."
Cortana location voice commands:
Knowing your exact location:
"Tell me where am I?"
Cortana messaging voice commands:
Sending text messages:
"Send a text to Milan: I'll be late for lunch today."
Sending quick emails:
"Send email to Milena: See you later tonight."
"Send email to John and Claudia: How is the project coming along?"
Cortana location voice commands:
Getting directions:
"What's the traffic like on the way home?"
"How do I get home."
"How long would it take to drive to Madison Square Garden?"
"Get me directions to Port Authority."
"How do I get from my location to Long Beach, New York?"
"How far away is the moon?"
"Show me walking directions to the nearest gas station."
"Show me public transit to 11 Times Sq, New York, NY 10036."
"Show me the map of San Francisco."
Tracking flights:
"Track flight 1056."
"Is my flight delayed?"
"Is my flight on time?"
Cortana entertainment voice commands:
Controlling music:
"Play Metallica."
"Put some Symphonic music."
"Shuffle music."
"Play and Justice for all by Metallica."
"Stop music"
"Pause music"
"Pause song."
"Play next"
"Next track"
"Skip track."
Identifying what's playing:
"What is this song?"
"What's playing?"
Movies & TV:
"What's Blade Runner run time?"
"Who was the director of Gladiator?"
"What movies are playing near me?"
"What are the showtimes for Star Trek lower decks?"
Cortana technical support voice commands:
"How do I install a printer?"
"How do I project my screen?"
"How do I change my background?"
"How do I update Windows?"
"How do I make a backup?"
"How do I change default apps?"
"How do I change Privacy?"
"How do I connect a wireless device?"
Sometimes asking a "How to do I" question will result in a web search response.
Many Windows 10 users often change the IP addresses of their computers’ network adapter in order to connect to the internet or network they belong to in times when there is no automatic connection for their computers. In most cases, access to modifying this setting is restricted for some odd reason even if you are an administrator. So if you are one of the users whose Windows 10 VPN IPv4 Properties are not working, this post can help you remedy that so that you can open and edit the IPv4 Properties on your Windows 10 PC.
The common way to change IP settings is by going to Settings > Network and then to Internet > Change adapter options > Select Network adapter > right click and open Properties. From there, you can select TCP/IP 4 and modify it. If you aren’t able to do this, refer to the instructions laid out below to troubleshoot the problem in accessing the IPv4 Properties.
Option 1 – Try using PowerShell to manually set the IPv4 properties
As you are not able to set it using the interface, you can do so using PowerShell instead. Note that this option will only work for you if you run PowerShell with administrator privileges.
After opening PowerShell, according to many users, you have to run the this command – set-DnsClientServerAddress -InterfaceAlias “Ethernet” -ServerAddresses xxx.xx.xxx.xxx,x.x.x.x,xxx.xx.xxx.xxx,x.x.x.x
Usually, Ethernet is the name of your network adapter which is set by default. If you want to see the actual name of your network adapter, you can just type this command and tap Enter after doing so – Get-NetAdapter -physical | where status -eq 'up'
After entering the given command, you will see a list of active Ethernet adapter in your computer as you can see on the image above. Note that the 4 sets of X like the one on the image below should match with the sequence:
Option 2 – Try editing the rasphone.pbk files
The rasphone.pbk files stores property for the connections and since you are not able to access the IPv4 properties, it is most likely that it has been disabled here. The good thing is that you can open these files and edit them using Notepad. Refer to the steps below to do so.
Open the Windows Explorer and then enable the show hidden files option.
After that, look for the files at this location – C:Users <username>AppDataRoamingMicrosoftNetworkConnectionsPbk_hiddenPbkrasphone.pbk
Then right-click on it and select the “Open with” option and choose the Notepad app.
After opening the file, look for “IpPrioritizeRemote” from the long list.
Once you found it, set its value from “1” to “0”.
After that, look for “IPInterfaceMetric” and set its value to “1” and tap Ctrl + S to save the changes you’ve made, and then exit and try accessing the IPv4 properties again. It should work, but if you’re still unable to access it, try the next option below.
Option 3 – Enable the Split Tunneling if you use VPN
All data goes back and forth when you are using a VPN service on your computer. And since you are using VPN, it could be that it disables the IPv4 interface. If that’s the case, you need to stay connected with both the local network and VPN and to do so, you have to enable Split Tunneling. How? Follow these steps:
Open PowerShell with administrator privileges.
Next, type in “Get-VpnConnection” and tap Enter. After doing so, it will give you the exact name of your VPN.
After that, type in “Set-VpnConnection -Name “yourVPNName” -SplitTunneling $True” and tap Enter. Once you enter the command, it will free your IPv5 settings so that you can change it to connect with your local network if you prefer it to.
A very serious data breach has happened to the unfortunate GoDaddy hosting service placing a little over 1.2 million accounts affected. Security breaches sadly are not a rare occurrence but this time it is a little different.
Each time when the company is breached data is stolen and that places the company in a bad light usually because its user database has been compromised and people are concerned about their data being misused. This is very rational fear and concern but this time things are a little bit different than usual, why is that, you might ask?
Well, as before mentioned GoDaddy is a hosting company and the vector of attack was aimed at the part where it is hosting WordPress. Attackers were able to get their hands on the sFTP credentials of customers on that server meaning that all of the websites are also been relieved of their user base as well.
This potentially means that there is a high chance that all of the hosted web site's content is also compromised, meaning that your data could also be compromised even if you were not a GoDaddy customer, all you needed to do is to be a member of any site hosted on their platform.
GoDaddy has reset WordPress passwords and private keys, so it’s already taken the steps required to stock the attacker from exploiting anything with the passwords obtained. The company is in the process of generating new SSL certificates for customers.
Bad thing is that the attack used a compromised password to get into systems all the way back around September 6th, 2021, the breach was discovered on November 17th, 2021, which is more than a 2-month active time where the attacker could harvest tons of data. The outcome of this attack will be seen in the upcoming time, until then be safe, and Just in case change your passwords.
Computer voice control has moved a long way from its beginning routes and in today's age controlling your PC with voice is truly a reality and fully possible. Voice control is taking up the steam in everyday life, from simple commands in cars, Alexa, smartphones, TVs, etc. to modern computers.
Windows 10 has introduced voice control into PC with Cortana even during the installation process but a lot has changed from having a virtual assistant in begging days and in today's modern Windows 11 OS. You can now freely open apps, move, copy delete files, and even dictate in order to create a word document.
However, in order to take this advantage, you will need to turn it off first since it is disabled by default. Of course, you will need a microphone and some spare time to train Windows in understanding you properly.
Setting up Voice Control
Just like in Windows 10, in Windows 11 voice control is also in accessibility options and the first step is to turn ON Windows Speech Recognition.
Click on the Start button and type Settings into the search bar, click on Open, or press ENTER. On the left side of the settings, window locate and click on Accessibility. On the right part once Accessibility is selected scroll down and find a section titled Interaction and click on Speech. Turn on the switch next to Windows Speech Recognition.
A pop-up will appear that will lead you through the rest of the setup and that's it.
Improving Voice Control
In order to make your voice control better, if you are not satisfied with the results, you can sample more of your voice into the algorithm to tune it more to your liking. Sadly this option is still deep in Control Panel.
Click the Start button and type in Speech recognition into the search bar, look for the search result with Control Panel displayed under it, and click on Open. Click on Train Your Computer to Better Understand You and follow the instructions.
The process will probably take a few minutes. The more data you provide to the speech recognition model, the more accurate it will be when interpreting your instructions. You can train the model multiple times, and each time you do, it should improve the accuracy.
If you are trying to install a Feature Update in Windows 10 but you got the error code 0x80190001, then it means that there is something wrong with the installation files. The installation files are either corrupted or some of them failed to be downloaded. On the other hand, the issue might also have something to do with a driver issue.
When you encounter error 0x80190001, you will see the either of following error message on your screen:
“Something went wrongCouldn’t download Windows 10, please check your network settings and try again. You can contact Microsoft support for help with this error. Here’s the error code 0x80190001”.
Or:
“An unexpected error was encountered while attempting to download files required for the upgrade”.
Here are some fixes that could help you resolve the error 0x80190001. Follow them carefully.
Option 1 – Run the Network Troubleshooter
As mentioned in the error message the issue might have something to do with the network settings of your computer so you can try to run the Network Troubleshooter and then try updating or installing Windows 10 again.
Option 2 – Update Network drivers
Tap the Win + R keys to launch Run.
Type in msc into the box and tap Enter or click OK to open the Device Manager.
After that, look for Network Adapters from the list of device drivers displayed. Once you find it, expand it to see the Network drivers.
Right-click on it and select the option “Uninstall device” – do the same thing for the other Network drivers.
Restart your PC so Windows can detect and reinstall the drivers you just uninstalled.
Option 3 – Use Storage Sense to clean up temporary and junk files
Open Setting > System > Storage from the WinX Menu.
From there, you will see a list of all the local and connected storage devices along with the details on the free space.
Now make sure that the Storage Sense feature is turned On then go find a link that says “Free Up Space” and click it to open.
After that, a screen which is the built-in program in Windows 10 will appear and will scan your computer for the following junk files so you can free up disk space:
Windows Upgrade Log Files
The system created Windows Error Reporting Files
Thumbnails
Temporary Internet Files
Previous Windows Installation Files
Delivery Optimisation Files
DirectX Shader Cache
Note: Once you’re done freeing up space on your drive, try to run the setup file again.
Option 4 – Delete the contents in the SoftwareDistribution folder
The Software Distribution folder in the Windows operating system is a folder that can be found in the Windows directory and is used to store files temporarily which might be required to install the Windows Update on your PC. Thus, it is required by the Windows Update and maintained by WUAgent. A lot of users tried deleting the files in this folder to fix the problem and so far it has worked. Like them, you can try clearing the Windows Update cache by simply deleting the contents of the folder named “SoftwareDistribution” since Windows apparently can’t clear and re-download the update contents once they are corrupted. Thus, deleting the contents of this folder will make Windows download the contents again which will fix the problem. To do that, follow 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 wuauservnet stop bits
After entering these commands, it will stop the Windows Update Service and the Background Intelligent Transfer Service.
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.
Once all the contents in the Software Distribution folder are deleted, restart your PC and then go back to Command Prompt and input the following commands again.
net start wuauservnet start bits
Since the folder has already been flushed, it will be populated afresh the instant your restart your computer and open Windows Update.
Option 5 – Run the Windows Update Troubleshooter
You might also want to run the Windows Update Troubleshooter as it is also known to help users resolve Windows Update errors like error 0x80190001.
Option 6 – Try to disable your antivirus program
Disabling the antivirus program or any security software installed in your computer is always a good idea you can try when the Windows Update process does not go smoothly. So before you try updating your computer again, make sure to disable the antivirus or security program and once the Windows Update is done, don’t forget to enable the antivirus program back again.
Option 7 – Try to use the Media Creation tool
The Media Creation tool in Windows allows you to use the ISO installation file to make a bootable device that you can use to install Windows on your PC. Note that this is kind of different from the usual installation process as it could erase your computer’s current settings and data on the primary drive. Thus, before you proceed, you need to backup all your data into some removable drive and then use the Media Creation Tool to make a bootable drive.
After making the bootable drive, you need to plug it into your computer and then reboot.
Next, tap the F10 or Esc key to open the boot options.
Now set the boot priority of the removable drive the highest. Once the setup comes forth, follow the next onscreen instructions and install Windows without any problems.
Mscomctl.ocx is a Microsoft library Windows Common Controls file. The Mscomctl.ocx error occurs when this file is either lost or gets corrupt.
The error is displayed on the screen when the user tries to run a program that is dependent on this file. It appears as:
“Component 'MSCOMCTL.OCX' or one of its dependencies not correctly registered: a file is missing or invalid”
Solution
Download Available to Completely Repair the Error Mscomctl.ocx
Error Causes
Installing and then uninstalling a large number of applications on the Windows operating system often corrupts or unregisters the Mscomctl.ocx library.
This message will continue to appear on the screen until you re-register the library file again on your system.
Further Information and Manual Repair
You don’t need to have the sound technical knowledge or call a professional to resolve Mscomctl.ocx error on your PC. The Mscomctl.ocx error is easy to repair and can be fixed in a couple of minutes.
Here are 2 solutions to repair the Mscomctl ocx error code on your system:
Cause: Error occurs because the Mscomctl ocx file is unregistered
Solution:
Go to the start menu and type ‘Mscomctl.oxc and press enter
Copy the ‘Mscomctl.ocx’ file and paste it in "C:WindowsSystem32" folder
Now click the start menu again and type ‘CMD’ in the search box. This will open your computer's command prompt.
Once this opens, type either of the following commands and then press enter. If you have a 64-bit operating system, then type: Regsvr32 "C:WindowsSysWOW64MSCOMCTL.OCX” and if you have 32-bit operating system, then you should type ‘Regsvr32 "C:WindowsSystem32MSCOMCTL.OCX"
By doing this, you will be able to register the Mscomctl.ocx file on your PC and then you will no longer receive Mscomctl.ocx error code.
Cause: Error code occurs because the Mscomctl.ocx file is missing
Solution:
First search for MScomctl ocx on your local drive to see if it is missing.
If the file is missing, then download the MScomctl.exe file from a reliable website.
Now extract the file to your C:WINDOWSsystem32 directory
Then click start and run.
Now type ‘REGSVR32 MSCOMCTL.OCX’ and press enter
Please note to implement any of the two solutions stated above, you will need administrator rights. If you have the administrator rights then only can you make the above registry changes.
Therefore to make the following changes you will have to access the PC using the Administrator account.
Simply follow the instructions given above to repair this error code problem right away!
As you know, Windows Hello offers you quick access to computers since you can log in to your Windows devices three times faster compared to passwords with the help of the camera via Face recognition and fingerprint reader. This way, Windows Hello will recognize you right away. However, there are also times when you might encounter some problems when using Windows Hello. For one, if you are trying to add the PIN method to Windows Hello on your Windows 10 computer but you suddenly encountered an error code of 0x801c004d or if you are trying to use your existing pin and you encounter an error code of 0x80070490 along with an error message that says, “Not recognized”, then read on as this post will guide you on how you can fix both of these errors. Here is the complete content for both errors:
“0x801c004d – Unable to enroll a device to use a PIN for login”
“0x80070490 - Not recognized, Pin and fingerprint are no longer options for signing in”
If you got any of these two errors, there are several potential fixes you can check out to resolve them. You can try to check for any Windows Updates or create the PIN again or check the CNG Key Isolation Service. You could also try to reset the TPM or create a new User Account. For more information, follow the instructions provided below.
Option 1 – Try checking for any available Windows Updates
The first thing you can do is to check for any available Windows Updates. It is possible that your computer may be outdated and is the reason why you’re having troubles with Windows Hello. To check for Windows Updates, just go to Settings and from there, head over to the Update and Security section and click on Windows Updates located on the left pane, and then click on the Check for Updates option. Wait until the process of checking updates is completed and if it finds new updates, install it. After you install the new Windows Updates, check if you can now add the PIN on Windows Hello or not.
Option 2 – Try creating the PIN again
The next thing you can do is to create the PIN again by signing out and signing in again and then try creating the PIN once more. If this does not work, you can try restarting your computer and creating the PIN again. You could also try removing the PIN and then change it.
Remove the PIN by going to Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options.
From there, go to the PIN section and click on the Remove button.
You will be asked to verify your account to proceed in removing the PIN, enter your credentials.
Restart your computer and then set up a new PIN.
Once you’re done, restart your computer and check if the error is gone now.
Option 3 – Try checking the CNG Key Isolation Service
The CNG Key Isolation Service is the one that stores and uses long-lived keys in a secure process complying with the common criteria requirements and it is possible that the error could be related to this service. This service is hosted in the LSA processes and provides key process isolation to private keys and associated cryptographic operations as required by the common criteria. Thus, you need to check this service to see if it’s the one that’s causing the error.
Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box and type “services.msc” in the field and hit Enter to open the Windows Services Manager.
Next, locate the “CNG Key Isolation Service” and once you find it, double click on it to open its Properties box.
After opening its Properties, check its Startup type and select Manual. This is the default setting and if it is Disabled, then it’s no wonder why you’re getting errors with Windows Hello, thus, you need to enable it.
Once done, restart your computer and check if you can now add the PIN to Windows Hello. If you still get the error, then you might want to try setting the CNG Key Isolation Service from Manual to Automatic and then click on the Start button and see if it fixes the error or not.
Option 4 – Try to reset the Trusted Platform Module or TPM
You might also want to try resetting the Trusted Platform Module or TPM to fix the error. You can do this by opening Windows PowerShell and then executing the “Clear-Tpm” command. After that, check if the error is now resolved.
Option 5 – Try to create a new User Account
You could also try to create a new User Account on your Windows 10 computer to fix the Windows Hello error. Once you have created a new local user or administrator account in Windows 10, check if you are now able to add the PIN from this newly created user account.
Can you use an MS-Outlook e-mail account to send and get workplace e-mails on a daily basis? Are you using the exact same Outlook e-mail account for a long time? Are you getting PST Mailbox Errors?
Then you have developed awareness and knowledge about Outlook PST Errors. Ms-outlook essentially stores the email items in a PST record. This includes all attachments, contacts, calendar items, your e-mails and records.
You might encounter various kinds of Outlook Inbox error messages exhibited on the display in extended formats eg. 0x80040600 0x8004060c or 0x80040116.
All all these are Outlook mailbox malfunctions that stop the Outlook program from executing jobs correctly and thus restricting your capacity to gain access to your e-mail account, see attachments, contacts, and calendar items that are significant.
Error Causes
There's not a single particular trigger for Outlook email malfunctions. A few causes can trigger these, but, the most frequent are virus contamination, 2 GB limit is exceeded by PST file and broken.
There are no specific signals which will help help you identify but some pointers to look at include the following:-
You cannot access certain parts of your Outlook interface
Obscure error messages start popping on your screen
You can’t add new contacts or change entry data in your calendar
Further Information and Manual Repair
When you experience these signs related to PST Inbox errors, it is advisable to repair the problem immediately to ensure it does not cause inconvenience for you and hampers your communication via Outlook emails. Remember this error not only inconveniences you but also hinders proper communication between various business partners.
Determining the ultimate reason for distinct Outlook email malfunctions could be tricky, time-consuming, and might need specialized knowledge to nail it down with regards to fixing the Outlook mailbox malfunctions.
In case you are not a specialist, working out and fixing this problem is an uphill process. To simplify this process, obtain and install an Outlook PST Repair Tool!
This is an intelligent solution to fix all kinds of Outlook errors. You do not have to go deeper into the technical details of the problem.
The Outlook PST Repair tool does it for you. An inbox repair tool identifies and also repairs all sorts of MS Outlook errors in seconds. It is easy to use, highly functional, safe and efficient.
By installing an Outlook repair tool, Outlook errors can be easily removed from your computer and keep the errors from happening again. It also fixes damaged PST files and damaged e-mails can help regain data.
Whatever you should do is to begin:
The Local Security Authority Subsystem Service or LSASS.exe is a process in the Windows operating system that is valuable as it enforces the security policy on the computer. Every time you log in to the Windows Server, the LSASS.exe is the one that handles the password changes and creates the access tokens while updating the security log. However, it is also frequently targeted by malware and is often imitated. The original location of this file is at “C:/Windows/System32” so if you open the Task Manager and notice that a process with a similar name has a different location then it is definitely a threat and is exploiting the security of your computer.
To resolve issues related to LSASS.exe, here are some fixes that could help.
Option 1 – Use the Performance Monitor’s Active Directory Data Collector
Note that this option will only work on the recent Windows server versions. Refer to the steps below to use the Performance Monitor’s Active Directory Data Collector set on your computer.
Tap the WINKEY + R button to open the Run dialog box.
Then type “Perfmon.msc” in the field and hit Enter to open the Performance Monitor and from there open the Server Manager.
Next, navigate to Diagnostics > Reliability and Performance > Data Collector Sets > System from the left side of the navigation bar.
Then right-click on “Active Directory Diagnostics” and select Start from the context menu. This will take about 5 minutes or 300 seconds depending on the performance capabilities of your hardware to gather the data required and then take some more time to compile a report from the gathered data. Note that these timings are dependent on one another.
After the report is compiled, you can find it under Diagnostics > Reliability and Performance > Reports > System > Active Directory Diagnostics. The report will contain all the information as well as conclusions. However, it does not mean that it will also contain the exact cause of the problem with LSASS.exe. Nevertheless, it should help you in fixing the problem.
Option 2 – Try to run the System File Checker
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 to good system files that might be the cause why the LSASS.exe file is having some issues. To run the SFC command, follow the steps given below.
Type “cmd” in the Start search and then right-click on the appropriate search result.
Next, select “Run as administrator” to open Command Prompt with admin privileges.
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:
Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.
Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them.
Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them.
Now restart your computer and see if the problem is fixed or not.
Option 3 – Put your computer in a Clean Boot State
If none of the options given above helped, you can try putting your computer in a Clean Boot State as this can help you in finding any incompatible programs that’s causing the problem.
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.
Once you’ve found any incompatible programs, you need to uninstall them. Refer to the steps below to do so.
In the search box, type in “control” and then click on Control Panel (desktop app) among the search results.
After that, select Programs and Features from the list which will give you a list of all the programs installed on your computer.
From there, look for the concerned program and select it and then uninstall it.
Note: If you have downloaded the app from the Windows Store, you can simply right-click on it from the application list and then uninstall it.
If you got an error message saying, “Folder Redirection Failed, Failed to build the list of regular subfolders, Access is Denied” after you configured a new Group Policy Object or GPO which redirects User folders to a new network share or when you click on Reset default location under the Windows File Explorer or Folder Options, then you’ve come to the right place as this post will show you how to resolve this kind of error on your Windows 10 computer.
Follow the given options below carefully to fix the “Folder Redirection Failed” error.
Option 1 – Take Ownership of the folder
If you are not able to access the folder could be one of the reasons why you’re getting the “Folder Redirection Failed” error and so you need to take ownership of the folder to resolve the problem. Before you proceed, make sure that your account is an admin account.
First, locate the concerned folder and right-click on it then select Properties.
Next, click on the Edit button in the Properties window and click OK to confirm if you got a User Account Control elevation request.
After that, select user/group from the permission windows or click on the Add button to add another user or group. It would be best if you add “Everyone” to give permission.
Then check “Full Control” under the “Allow” column to assign full access rights control permissions.
Now edit the permission to Full Control for “Everyone”.
Click OK to save the changes made and then exit.
Option 2 – Try to add Authenticated Users or Domain Computers
Make sure that the Folder Redirection group policy removal option is set to “Redirect the folder back to the user profile location when the policy is removed” when using the Folder Redirection. After that, you have to add Authenticated Users group with the “Read” permissions on the Group Policy Objects or GPOs.
And if the Domain computers are part of the group of “Authenticated Users”. Note that by default, the “Authenticated Users” have these permissions on any new Group Policy Objects or GPOs. Once again, you have to add just “Read” permissions and not “Apply Group Policy” for “Authenticated Users”.
Furthermore, to fix the “Failed to build the list of regular subfolders” errors, here are some options that could help.
Option a – Try to clear disk space
You might have to check if your disk is running out of space because if it is, then it will fail to create a list abruptly. And so you need to free up some disk space. You can either check on the files manually especially if you tend to keep your files at random places in your disk drive.
Option b – Find the Target route
You need to find the target route of the folder and then restore it if you are getting the “Failed to build the list of regular subdirectories” when you try to relocate the folder to the original location.
Option c – Try to change Ownership/Reset Defaults for all the User folders
If the “Failed to build the list of regular subdirectories” error pops up when you are trying to move a large number of files from one location to another, then you need to change the ownership of the folders as pointed out earlier.