New Windows 11 keyboard shortcuts

Windows 10 has displayed one of the most efficient and user-friendly interfaces. However there have been many issues on the backend of this commonly praised operating system: For example, Windows Update is still a wonky and error-laded system application. One example of this error is Windows Update Error 0x80073712 which stands in the way of users just wanting to keep their PCs updated hassle-free. The error code 0x80073712 signifies that a file needed by Windows Update to function is either damaged, missing, or corrupted. However, this does not mean that your Windows version will forever stay as-is with no mode to update it. Windows Update Error 0x80073712 is perfectly fixable with the set of provided steps below and some of Windows’ built-in troubleshooting steps:

Solution 1: Open Windows Update Troubleshooter

1. Open the Windows Update Troubleshooter by pressing the Windows and S keys simultaneously.
2. Enter the word “Troubleshoot” in the search box and select the Troubleshoot result
3. On the new window, select “Windows Update” to troubleshoot.
4. Run the troubleshooter, then open Windows Update and try to install the update again.

Solution 2: Run the DISM tool

1. Open the command prompt by pressing Windows and S keys simultaneously
2. Enter “cmd” in the search box. Right Click command prompt among the results and select “Run as administrator”
3. In the Command Prompt window type the following and press the Enter key after every command

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Scanhealth DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth

4. To close the Administrator: Command prompt window, type Exit, and then press Enter.
5. Run Windows Update again.

Solution 3: Rename the Software Distribution folder

1. Open the command prompt as previously mentioned
2. Input the following command pressing Enter after every line net stop wuauserv net stop cryptSvc net stop bits net stop msiserver rename c:/windows/SoftwareDistribution/softwaredistribution.old net start wuauserv net start cryptSvc net start bits net start msiserver exit
3. Restart the PC and run the updater if it works again.

Solution 4: Restart Windows Update Services

1. Press the Windows logo key and R together to open Run -> Input services.msc -> and press Enter
2. Search for the Windows Update service -> Check its status
3. If it is not indicated, right-click on the service and select Start to force start your Windows Update
4. If you see an error, locate the Startup Type option and set it to Automatic
5. Now you should reboot your computer and see if your Windows Update is OK

Solution 5: Fix Registry Issues

If after all the aforementioned solutions, you still experience problems with Windows Update, the problem may lie in the registry that is either damaged or corrupted. You may choose to do manual editing of your Windows registry by opening your Windows registry editor. But doing so is risky as one wrong letter may do incalculable damage to your system. To do so safely for more inexperienced users we recommend using a third-party registry cleaner/tools, many of which can be found online.

Error Code “Windows 10 isn’t activated after upgrading for free” – What is it?

Windows 10 isn’t activated error occurs when Windows users attempt to upgrade to Windows 10 for free and end up in a non-activated state. It is a Windows 10 activation error affecting PC owners who attempt to upgrade their Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 operating systems. A message box will appear with the following message: “Windows 10 isn’t activated after upgrading for free from Windows 7 SPI or Windows 8.1 update.”

Common symptoms of this error code include the following:

• Inability to upgrade for free to Windows 10
• The appearance of activation error code in the message box

Solution

Error Causes

To understand the cause of this activation error, users will need to understand activation within Windows. Activation is a process that allows Windows to verify that you are upgrading your operating system based on the Microsoft Software Licensing Terms. These terms specify, for instance, the number of devices upon which you can use Windows.

Once you have a genuine copy of Windows and you are following the terms mentioned earlier, you should be able to activate and complete the upgrade to Windows 10. However, the activation fails when these conditions are not met. Note also that the error may occur if users fail to upgrade to Windows 10 before reinstalling, requiring them to repeat the installation process by first going back to the previous version of Windows present on their system. Once the upgrade process is not done as should, you might encounter other Windows 10 errors such as error code 0xc0000142

If you see this error code, “Windows 10 isn’t activated after upgrading for free” proceed to rectify it using manual repair methods below.

Further Information and Manual Repair

To fix this activation error code in Windows 10, users will need to employ at least one manual repair procedure. This process can successfully be completed by non-technical Windows users. However, you may also consider getting assistance from a Windows repair technician if you are not certain you have the requisite skills needed to complete the manual repair tasks below.

The main methods to resolve the error code “Windows 10 isn’t activated after upgrading for free from Windows 7 SPI or Windows 8.1 update” is as follows:

Method One: Manually Activate Windows

If you attempted upgrading for free to Windows 10 and ended up with the activation error you will need to first perform a manual activation. Follow the steps below to complete the process.

• Step one: Tap or click the Start button
• Step two: Select Settings then Update & security
• Step three: Select Activation
• Step four: Once activation status is Connect to the Internet to activate Windows, click or tap Activate

The steps above enable users to successfully activate Windows 10 if the issue involves a connection problem. However, if Windows is not activated, it may mean your copy of Windows is not genuine. This may require you purchase a copy of Windows to rectify the issue. However, if you have a genuine copy of Windows proceed by applying the steps found in method two.

Method Two: Use Product Key to Verify Copy of Windows

A valid product key is one way you can verify your copy of Windows is genuine. This will enable you to complete activation and allow you to access the free upgrade to Windows 10. Follow the steps below.

• Step one: Click or tap the Start button
• Step two: Select Settings then Update & security
• Step three: Click Activation
• Step four: Select Change Product Key then type in the product key. (Ensure you type the 25 characters in the correct order.)

Method Three: Use an Automated Tool

Error codes in Windows often occur due to poor maintenance of one’s PC. To improve your system and reduce your machine’s risk of experiencing error codes, download a powerful automated tool. This tool is both powerful and user-friendly, making its benefits accessible to even the most non-technical Windows users.

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.

As you know, the Videos folder can be found under “This PC” by default on your Windows 10 computer. However, as per the reports of some users, there are a few occasions where it somehow gets replaced by the Documents folder. In other words, the Videos folders are replaced by a duplicated copy of the Documents folder. Out of the two Documents folder, one Document folder will contain all the usual files and subfolders while the second one is empty. Although when you click the Documents icon on your Desktop (if you have a shortcut), it will still take you to the right Documents folder. To fix this particular issue and get the Videos folder back in the File Explorer, here are some potential fixes that should help.

Option 1 – Run System Restore

The first thing you can try to do to resolve the problem is to run System Restore. This can help you go back to the previous state of your computer before the issue with the Videos and Documents folder.

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• After that, type in “sysdm.cpl” in the field and tap Enter.
• Next, go to the System Protection tab then click the System Restore button. This will open a new window where you have to select your preferred System Restore point.
• After that, follow the on-screen instructions to finish the process and then restart your computer and check if the problem is fixed or not.

Option 2 – Try to restore Defaults

The next thing you can do is to restore Defaults. How? Refer to these steps:

• Open File Explorer and then right-click on any of the two Documents folders.
• After that, select the Properties option from the context menu and switch to the Location tab and click on Find target.
• Next, copy the address and paste it in the field above the “Find target” option, and then click the “Restore Default” button.

Option 3 – Try to change the Registry Path

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• Then type “Regedit” in the field and tap Enter to open the Registry Editor.
• Next, navigate to this registry path: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerUser Shell Folders
• After that, edit the path for {35286A68-3C57-41A1-BBB1-0EAE73d76C95} under the “User Shell Folders” key to match the path shown for My Videos: %USERPROFILE%Videos.
• Once you’re done, open the folder under “This PC” that has the Documents icon and tap Shift + right-click in the folder background, and then select the “Open PowerShell window here” option to fix the naming of the Documents folder. The path should read: “C:users<UserName>Documents.
• Next, execute this command: ri desktop.ini –force
• The command you entered will delete the files and folders and so when added for Documents, it will get rid of the empty Documents folder.
• Now all you that’s left to do is to find where the target location is going to be for both folders and check if anyone foes to the user name location.
• Then delete the one which goes to the incorrect location.

if you were following our articles you are aware that Windows 10 has a build-in-game mode that you can summon by pressing ⊞ WINDOWS + G. But did you know that you can use this to capture and record your screen? Hello and welcome to another great tutorial about how to get the maximum out of your Windows 10, today our topic will be recording your screen using Windows 10 game mode.

• In order to start recording first, we need to bring game mode by pressing ⊞ WINDOWS + G
• In the Game Bar overlay screen, look for the “Capture” window.
• If you don’t see it, click the Widget menu icon on the left. It looks like several lines with bullet points to their left.
• A drop-down list will appear; click “Capture.” The “Capture” shortcut may also be in the Game Bar toolbar.
• Look for the “Capture” widget window in the overlay. There are four buttons on the Capture widget (from left to right):
  • Screenshot: Takes a screenshot of the active window.
  • Record last 30 seconds: Creates a recording of the previous 30 seconds.
  • Start recording: Starts recording your active window.
  • Turn on the mic while recording: If this option is enabled, Windows 10 will capture audio from your computer’s microphone and include it in the recording.
• You’ll notice text underneath the buttons. This is how you’ll know what the active window is, aka what will be recorded. For example, if you’re browsing the web, it will show the title of the open tab.
• To start recording your screen, you must first decide whether you want to use your mic, which is useful if you’re trying to explain something on the screen.
• Next, simply click the Start Recording button.
• The screen recording will begin, and you’ll see a little toolbar appear in the corner of the screen. It will show the running time of the recording, and it also has buttons to stop recording and toggle the microphone.
• When you’re finished, click the Stop icon to end the recording.
• From the Capture widget, click “Show All Captures” to see your recording.
• Your recording will be at the top of the list. Click the folder icon to see all recordings and screenshots in File Explorer.
• These recordings are stored under your Windows user folder at C:\Users\NAME\Videos\Captures by default.

intelppm.sys blue screen of death is linked to an outdated driver, if you received this error do not sweat we have simple solutions for you. Please keep on reading in order to find out what can you do to fix this error.

1. Update driver Go to the device manager and manually update old-dated drivers. Note that this will take some time because you will need to update each device manually through the device manager but in the end, it will fix the issue.
2. Use automated application Instead of going through each device one by one manually get a dedicated driver fixing device like DRIVERFIX and update all drivers automatically.

If VirtualBox suddenly displays a black screen without any text or mouse cursor when you are trying to boot a guest operating system, then read on as this post will guide you in fixing such an issue. This black screen occurs when Windows 10 failed to provide a specific setting that VirtualBox requires. Consequently, you will not be able to install or use any guest operating system in VirtualBox even if your PC has virtualization support, the best thing you can do now is to fix this black screen issue. There are two ways you can fix this black screen in VirtualBox, you can either try to disable Hyber-V or disable 3D Acceleration. For more details, refer to each one of the given options below.

Option 1 – Try to disable Hyper-V

Hyper-V is a built-in virtualization tool available in Windows that helps users in creating a virtual machine as well as install a guest operating system without using any third-party tool like VMware, VirtualBox, and many more. However, the problem with this virtualization tool is that some systems cannot run it and VirtualBox simultaneously which is most likely why the screen abruptly turns into black. Thus, you have to disable Hyper-V to resolve the problem. How? Refer to these steps:

• In the Start Search, type “Turn Windows features on or off” and then click on it from the results.
• Once you’ve opened the Windows Features window, remove the checkmark from the Hyper-V box.
• Click the OK button and then restart your computer.
• Now try to use VirtualBox again and see if the problem is fixed.

Option 2 – Try to disable 3D Acceleration

The guest operating system will use the host computer’s GPU to render 3D graphics if you enable the 3D Acceleration for the virtual machine. To simply put it, it will enhance the graphics of the virtual machine and will let you use 3D graphics. Although it may seem nice, it can actually cause the black screen to appear as well so you might have to disable it to isolate the problem. In fact, a lot of operating systems have failed to use the 3D Acceleration for the guest operating system because of this black screen issue. To disable it, follow these steps:

• Open VirtualBox on your computer and select the virtual machine.
• Next, click on the Settings button and go to the Display section.
• After that, look for a checkbox named “Enable 3D Acceleration” located on your right-hand side and then uncheck it.
• Save the changes you’ve made and reboot your PC and see if you can now run the virtual machine without any problem.

Recently, several Windows 10 users have reported an issue with the Windows folder sizes in their PCs. If you are one of these affected users, read on as this post will walk you through fixing this issue. For instance, if you have a folder with 100 GB worth of data and when checking its size using its properties, you see the wrong size instead of 100GB. The size displayed will most likely be a random number which can either be bigger or smaller than the real size of the folder. This incorrect folder size issue does not happen to any specific drive or certain kinds of folders as any folder can be affected by this incorrect folder size issue. When you try to rename the affected folder, the size will change but its size still remains to be incorrect. The root cause of this particular issue is in Windows 10 itself. It is a known bug that came along with one of the latest Windows Updates which prevents the File Explorer to accurately read the metadata of a certain folder or file and leads to displaying incorrect and unexpected file sizes and the reason why you might also notice that your drive is also not correct. Since this is brought upon by one of the recent or latest Windows Updates the good thing is that Microsoft will most likely release a fix on its next upcoming updates but until then, you will be left with no choice but to deal with an incorrect folder or file size. To remedy that, here are some suggestions you can try that might fix the problem.

Option 1 – Try using the System File Checker

The 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 causing the incorrect folder or file size in Windows 10. 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.

Option 2 – Try resetting Windows 10

To fix the folder and file size issue, you can try resetting Windows 10. Doing so won’t get rid of any file in your system – instead of erasing all your media files and documents, this reset option resets all the system settings and files. That way, you won’t have to deal with inaccurate folders or file sizes as you browse and use your files.

Option 3 – Wait for the Windows Update

As mentioned, this is already a known issue and a lot of Windows 10 users have already complained about it to Microsoft so a bug fix will be soon released in the latest Windows Updates.

Krita Desktop is a free and open-source painting application. Krita is a full-featured free digital painting studio for artists who want to create professional work from start to end. Krita is used by comic book artists, illustrators, concept artists, matte and texture painters, and in the digital VFX industry. Krita has been in development for over 10 years and has had an explosion in growth recently. It offers many common and innovative features to help the amateur and professional alike. Krita has a user-friendly interface. The dockers and panels can be moved and customized for your specific workflow. Once you have your setup, you can save it as your own workspace. You can also create your own shortcuts for commonly used tools. In addition to painting, Krita comes with vector, filter, group, and file layers. Combine, order, and flatten layers to help your artwork stay organized. There are also three different views on how to see the layers. Krita supports full color management through LCMS for ICC and OpenColor IO for EXR, allowing you to incorporate Krita into your existing color management pipeline. Open PSD files that even Photoshop cannot open. Load and save to PSD when you need to take your artwork across different programs. Krita is the only dedicated painting application that lets you open, save, edit and author HDR and scene-referred images. Furthermore, with OCIO and OpenEXR support, you can manipulate the view to examine HDR images, and use it in the most cutting-edge workflows from the film and visual effects industries.

Upgrading your computer from Windows 7 or Windows 8 to Windows 10 or even upgrading Windows 10 to a new version is not that simple. The setup initially checks for all the drivers and other software utilities installed on your computer and verifies and blockages or upgrade or upgrade blocks with respect to any of those drivers or any of those software utilities regardless if you use the Windows 10 ISO or the Windows 10 Upgrade Assistant. One of these common errors, when you upgrade or update your computer, is the “The Display is not compatible with Windows 10” error. This kind of Windows Upgrade error is related to the compatibility of the Graphics Driver installed in your computer. But worry not for this post will guide you in fixing this problem. The “The display is not compatible with Windows 10” error has the same workarounds as the following errors:

• These devices aren’t fully compatible with Windows 10.
• The display is not compatible with Windows 10. Check with the manufacturer for support.
• The display manufacturer hasn’t made your display compatible with Windows 10. Check with the manufacturer for support.

To resolve this Windows Upgrade error, here are some suggestions that could help:

Option 1 – Check for incompatible drivers in your computer

• Open the Device Manager from the WinX Menu.
• Then expand the list for Display Adapters.
• Next, right-click on the NVIDIA Graphics Card list and select Enable.
• After that, right-click on it again and click on the “Update Driver Software…” option.
• After doing so, a new window will appear and from there, click on the “Search automatically for updated driver software” option.
• Then check if Windows is now able to detect your Graphics Card as well as the latest driver for it. If not, proceed to the next step.
• Right-click on the driver again and click on the “Update Driver Software…” option.
• Now click on the Browse my computer for driver software option and then click on Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer.
• Afterward, select a compatible driver for your computer named NVIDIA Graphics Card and then proceed.
• Wait for the whole process to be completed and restart your computer to successfully apply the changes made.

Option 2 – Get the latest version of Graphics drivers from the manufacturer’s website

In case you don’t know the manufacturer of the Graphics Processing Unit or GPU of your computer, you need to check first. They’re usually NVIDIA, Intel, or AMD. So if your computer’s Graphics Processing Unit is manufactured by NVIDIA, you need to get the latest version from their official website.

Option 3 – Try to install the latest Graphics driver in Compatibility Mode

If you’re not able to install the Graphics drivers you’ve downloaded, you can try installing them again but this time using Compatibility mode. Follow the steps below to do so:

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

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

Option 4 – Try to run the Program Compatibility Troubleshooter

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