How to Rectify Error 0xC1900101, 0x20017 in Windows 10

Over time Applications change, some for the better some for worse. Some of them even stop receiving updates and are old and vulnerable. Sometimes standards change and some file types are not used anymore. Software evolves along with technology and that is good. Keeping old and useless applications inside your Windows is not so good. From various exploits to simply taking up space, maybe even slowing down OS it is always wise and good to clean your Windows from unwanted old applications. In this article, we will be mentioning some relics of old and providing you with an explanation of why you should remove them from your system if by any chance you still have them on it.

Silverlight

Silverlight was meant to be a competitor for Adobe Flash, it is a WEB framework that enables rich media content inside your WEB browser. The issue is that it is not developed anymore and today's browsers do not support it. The only browser that actually can support it is internet explorer which itself is not supported and how there is practically 0 content on today's modern WEB that will require Silverlight, it is safe and recommended to remove it.

Adobe Flash

Speaking of Adobe Flash, you should remove it as well. Flash has stopped receiving support as of January 2021 and browsers have dropped support for it and even blocked it due to security issues. However, there still might be some local installation of Flash itself inside Windows along with the old Shockwave player that stopped receiving support in 2019. You should remove them both.

JAVA

Now this one is tricky, by itself JAVA does not present any security issues since browsers do not support it anymore and the desktop version is not really slowing down your computer. This one has simply put just another media runtime that is not used and simply takes up space and resources. However if you have some applications that you do use that rely on it (I can really just think of JAVA Minecraft at this point) leave it of course but in any other case, it is just purely not needed.

Quicktime

While we are at media runtime and stuff that just simply is not needed, Quicktime is one of them. Now this Apple Video player and codec is still pretty developed and active in Apple’s iOS environment, Windows version has not been updated since 2016 and it was discovered that it contains some critical vulnerabilities. Uninstall it and if you need a player that could play MOV files, just use a VLC player that can play them without any separately installed codec.

uTorrent

This one, the same as CCleaner was once a good application, as a matter of fact, it was the best torrenting application. Sadly it has fallen from its grace very low, from getting tons of ads in its interface to findings in 2015 that code of torrent client was packed with a crypto miner that used system resources of an installed computer to mine crypto without user’s awareness. You should uninstall this torrent client if you would like to get your PC back and not provide it for cryptocurrency mining for the company that developed it. Use qBittorrent or TIxati, open-source and free ones that have everything needed for any torrenting needs.

Toolbars and Browser extensions

There are a lot of toolbars for browsers and extensions that are malicious in nature or simply not updated providing security issues. It is very advisable to remove this as soon as possible.

WinRAR

WinRAR has gained its large popularity solely for the reason that you could download it from the official site like shareware and use it forever. The license never expired and you could use it indefinitely. Sadly not much has been improved in the application itself and it is slowly falling out in its range of what it can do. There are better open source and free options today like 7zip, PeaZip, ZIPvare, and more that are working the same as WinRAR if not even better.

Windows and manufacturers Bloatware

Yes, applications that come bundled with Windows and with some laptops that include manufacturers made software for different tasks like its own specific media players, calculators, etc. It is known that these applications are not better than their open-source rivals and there are too many of them including some that you will probably never use. It is the same as buying a new phone bundled with tons of applications that you do not need, did not ask for, and do not use. Delete all of them. Considering Windows there are also some Store application like Candy Crush Saga demo and other are safe to remove if not needed. That’s it, our advice for old and not needed applications so you can keep your PC safe and fast.

According to some reports, using RDP or Remote Desktop Protocol on recent versions of Windows 10 results in a black screen. One encounters this issue is when using the Remote Desktop Connection feature on Windows 10. The real causes of this black screen are either the display drivers or some misconfiguration with the Remote Desktop Connection utility. In most cases, the Remote Desktop in Windows 10 will display a black screen and then disconnects afterward. To fix this kind of issue on your Remote Desktop, there are two suggestions you need to check out. First, you can try to disable the persistent bitmap caching, and then you can also try to update your display driver. Follow the given options below for more troubleshooting instructions.

Option 1 – Try to disable Persistent Bitmap caching

The first thing you can do to resolve the black screen issue with the remote desktop is to disable the persistent bitmap caching. All you have to do is follow these steps:

• First, open the Remote Desktop Connection client.
• Next, click on the Show Options button to configure the Remote Desktop Connection.
• After that, go to the Experience tab and uncheck the Persistent bitmap caching option.
• Once done, you should now be able to connect to the remote computer without the black screen.

Option 2 – Try to update or rollback the Graphics driver

You can try to update your Graphics card driver using the Device Manager in your computer to resolve the blank dialog boxes problem or you can also go directly to the website of your graphics card manufacturers like NVIDIA, Intel, or AMD and go to the section called Drivers then check if there’s a new available update – if there is, download and install it. To update your Graphics driver via Device Manager, refer to these steps:

• First, boot your computer into Safe Mode.
• After that, tap the Win + R keys to launch Run.
• Type in devmgmt.msc into the box and tap Enter or click OK to open the Device Manager.
• After that, a list of device drivers will be displayed. From there, look for the Display Adapters and click on them.
• After that, right-click on each entry under the Display Adapters and select the “Uninstall Device” option from the menu.
• Now restart your computer.
• After restarting your computer, go to the Settings app and Check for Updates in the Windows Update section.

Note: If updating the Graphics driver didn’t fix the problem, you can also try to roll back to its previous version and see if that helps or you could also try to roll back, update or reinstall the Network Adapter drivers.

Option 3 – Try performing a System Restore

You might also want to perform a System Restore that might help you in fixing the error. You can do this option either by booting into Safe Mode or in System Restore. If you are already in the Advanced Startup Options, just directly select System Restore and proceed with the next steps. And if you have just booted your PC into Safe Mode, refer to the steps below.

• 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.

The Photos app in Windows 10 is the default photo viewer. However, there are times when it might encounter some problems while you use it. One of these problems in the Photos app reported recently is where users try to export or share the images and videos from the app but weren’t successful in doing so. This can be really quite a hassle in opening images on your computer, especially since the Photos app is the default photo viewer in Windows 10 and if you don’t have any other photo viewer app installed. This kind of problem in the Photos app can be noticed when you try to use the “Remix” function for both photos and videos. In other words, this problem can occur with just pictures, videos, as well as a combination of both. So if you are trying to watch a video using this app, then you wouldn’t be able to play it. In such a case, the only thing you can hear is the audio but you wouldn’t see anything except for a hazy purple screen that has not export or share option. There are several possible causes for this problem and it could be fixed by updating the display driver/graphics driver or disabling the hardware-accelerated video encoding. You could also try updating or resetting or reinstalling the Photos app. For more details, follow each one of the suggestions provided below.

Option 1 – Try to update the Graphics driver

You can try to update your Graphics card driver using the Device Manager in your computer to resolve the blank dialog boxes problem or you can also go directly to the website of your graphics card manufacturers like NVIDIA, Intel, or AMD and go to the section called Drivers then check if there’s a new available update – if there is, download and install it. To update your Graphics driver via Device Manager, refer to these steps:

• First, boot your computer into Safe Mode.
• After that, 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, a list of device drivers will be displayed. From there, look for the Display Adapters and click on them.
• After that, right-click on each entry under the Display Adapters and select the “Uninstall Device” option from the menu.
• Now restart your computer.
• After restarting your computer, go to the Settings app and Check for Updates in the Windows Update section.

Option 2 – Try disabling the hardware-accelerated video encoding

The next thing you can do to fix the problem is to disable the hardware-accelerated video encoding in your computer. To do that, follow these steps:

• Open the Photos app and click on the visible three dots located in the upper right corner of the app and then select Settings.
• From there, you should see the version number of the app in the “About this app” section. So if your app is version 2018.18071.****0.0 or greater, you should see the Video section which has a toggle button.
• Turn that toggle button off to disable hardware-accelerated video encoding in the Photos app. This should fix the problem, if not, simply follow the next given options below.

Option 3 – Try to update the Microsoft Photos app

• Open the Microsoft Store and click on the three horizontal dots for the menu located on the top right portion of the window to see the options.
• Next, select Downloads and updates and then click the Get updates button in the top right. This will install any pending updates for all the apps including the Microsoft Photos app using the Microsoft Store.

Option 4 – Try resetting the Photos app

• To get started in resetting the Photos app, open the Windows 10 Settings.
• Then go to Apps > Apps & features.
• After that, scroll down until you see the Photos app option – click on it and open its Advanced options.
• From there, you will see the Reset button, click on it and click and then click on it once more to confirm.

Note: The process may take a couple of minutes to complete. Once it’s done, open the pictures again using the Photos app.

Option 5 – Try reinstalling the Photos app

If none of the options given above worked, then you might want to consider reinstalling the Photos app. Unlike what most users think, it isn’t really that hard reinstalling preinstalled apps as you have the Windows PowerShell for that. To use this program in reinstalling the Photos app, follow these steps:

• Open the Windows PowerShell program with admin privileges and key in the following command:

Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted

• After that, execute this second command to re-register and reinstall the Microsoft Photos app.

Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)AppXManifest.xml"}

Note: In the command given, do not forget to replace the “PackageFullName” with the actual package name for the Photos app. After executing the command, it will uninstall the Photos app from your computer so you need to install it again from the Windows Store by simply looking for it. Once you found it, just click on install to start the installation process.

Microsoft just released Windows 11 Insider build 22000.71. Let’s dive in and see what it brings with you.

Changes and features

New entertainment widget. The entertainment widget allows you to see new and featured movie titles available in the Microsoft Store. Selecting a movie will direct you to the Microsoft Store to see more information about that title. Just open widgets and click or tap on the “Add widgets” button and choose the entertainment widget. For now, the entertainment widget is available for Insiders in the following countries: US, UK, CA, DE, FR, AU, JP. The new context menus and other right-click menus have been updated to use acrylic material. We are testing the usability of a SplitButton for making new folders and files in the File Explorer command bar. The Taskbar previews (when you mouse-over open apps on the Taskbar) have been updated to reflect the new visual design of Windows 11.

Fixes

Taskbar:

• We fixed an issue where if you drag app icons on the Taskbar to rearrange them, it was making the apps launch or minimize when you released the icon.
• Using a long press with a touch on an app icon in the Taskbar to open the jump list should now work.
• After right-clicking the Start icon in the Taskbar, clicking somewhere else should now dismiss the menu more reliably.
• Shift + Right-click on an app icon in the Taskbar will now bring up the window menu like it used to and not the jump list.
• We’ve addressed an issue that was making your mouse move slowly when hovering over the Taskbar previews.
• We’ve included the fix for an issue when using multiple Desktops where an app icon in the taskbar might give the appearance of multiple windows being open when that wasn’t the case on that Desktop.
• When using the Amharic IME you should no longer see an unexpected X next to the IME icon in the taskbar.
• The issue where if you click on the input indicator on the Taskbar and it would unexpectedly highlight Quick Settings has been fixed.
• When you hover over Task View, the preview flyout for your Desktops will no longer pop back up after using Esc to dismiss them.
• We made a fix to address an issue where explorer.exe might crash after hovering over the Task View icon in the Taskbar.
• We fixed an issue where the selected date in the calendar flyout was out of sync with the date in the Taskbar.
• We made an update to address a scenario resulting in some Insiders not seeing the lunar calendar text in the calendar flyout when enabled in Settings.
• This flight addressed an issue that could unexpectedly make the Taskbar background transparent.
• Right-clicking the focus assist icon in the taskbar should now show a context menu.
• The issue from the previous flight where icons in the taskbar corner were getting crushed against the top of the Taskbar has been addressed.
• The tooltip for the location in use icon in the Taskbar should no longer appear blank sometimes.

Settings:

• We fixed an issue making Settings crash on launch periodically.
• Using the volume mixer sliders in Sound Settings should be more responsive now, as well as the page responsiveness as a whole.
• We fixed an issue resulting in Disk and Volumes Settings’ change size option being clipped.
• There was a non-functional verify link under Backup Settings – this has been fixed.
• The Power and Battery Settings page should no longer be reporting that the battery saver is engaged if it’s not.
• The Power and Battery Settings page should also now not crash when launched from Quick Settings.
• We fixed a grammatical error in the Sign-in Settings text.
• The “I forgot my PIN” link was unexpectedly missing in Sign-in Settings when a PIN was set up and has now been returned.
• The issue where the Move option under Apps & Features in Settings wasn’t working reliably should be addressed in this build.
• We’ve mitigated a problem where some of the colors in Settings weren’t updating after switching between dark and light mode, leaving the unreadable text.
• We’ve done some work to help improve the performance of Settings when switching between light and dark mode.
• We addressed an issue where some of the elements of the Themes page in Settings would end up crowded together when the window size was small.
• We resolved an issue where the Pen menu toggle under Taskbar Settings was not in sync with the actual state of the feature.
• Changes made to “Dismiss notification after this amount of time” in Accessibility Settings should now persist.
• Some of the icons you could enable in Taskbar Settings were erroneously labeled Windows Explorer even though that’s not what they were – this should now be fixed.
• The Connect text in Quick Settings has been updated to say Cast.

File Explorer:

• Clicking the command bar button twice should now close any dropdown that appeared.
• The new command bar should now appear when “Open folders in a separate process” is enabled under File Explorer Options > View.
• This build addresses an issue where right-clicking a file and selecting Open With > Choose another app might launch the file in the default app rather than opening the Open With dialog.
• Fixed an issue the desktop and File Explorer context menu would stop launching.

Search:

• We fixed an issue where the option to verify your account in Search wasn’t working.
• Hovering over the Search icon on a secondary monitor will now show the flyout on the correct monitor.
• Search should now work if you open Start and start typing after having gone to the apps list and back.

Widgets:

• When using the Outlook client with a Microsoft account, Calendar, and To-Do updates should sync faster down to the widgets.
• We addressed an issue where if you added multiple widgets quickly from the widget's settings, it could result in some of the widgets not being visible on the board.
• We fixed a bug where widgets could all become stuck in a loading state (blank squares in the window).
• The traffic widget should now follow the Windows mode (light or dark).
• The title of the sports widget should no longer mismatch with the content of the widget.

Other:

• This build addresses an issue where ALT + Tab was getting stuck open sometimes after you released the keys and had to be manually dismissed.
• We made a fix for an issue where Narrator's focus wasn’t ending up on the emoji panel after using the keyboard shortcut to open it.
• Magnifier’s lens view has been updated so the lens now has rounded corners.
• We found an issue that was noticeably impacting Start launch reliability for some Insiders, and have addressed it with this flight.
• We’ve updated the “Most Used” text in the Start menu’s app list so it should no longer be getting clipped.
• Using the semantic zoom in Start’s app list should no longer result in the list being pushed down and to the right off the edge of the window.
• We fixed an issue where if you pressed ⊞ WIN + Z you would need to press Tab before you could use the arrow key to navigate through the snap layouts.
• We addressed an issue where an acrylic area could get left on the screen after repeatedly snapping and unsnapping a window with touch.
• We’ve done some work to mitigate an unexpected flash when moving a snapped window with touch.
• We made a change to help window borders have a little more contrast when “Show accent color on title bars and windows borders” was turned off.

Known issues in Windows 11 repaired

Start:

• In some cases, you might be unable to enter text when using Search from Start or the Taskbar. If you experience the issue, press ⊞ WIN + R on the keyboard to launch the Run dialog box, then close it.
• Based on feedback, we are working on adding access keys to ⊞ WIN + X so that you can do things like “⊞ WIN + X M” to launch Device Manager. Insiders may see this functionality in this build, however, we are currently investigating an issue in which sometimes the option is unexpectedly unavailable.

Taskbar:

• There is an issue in this build where Explorer.exe will crash when the date and time button on the Taskbar is clicked to access new notifications with Focus Assist turned off. The workaround for this is to enable Focus assist to priority or alarms mode. Note that when focus assist is turned on, notification popups won’t appear, but they will be in the notification center when opened.
• The Taskbar will sometimes flicker when switching input methods.
• Taskbar previews may draw partially offscreen.

Settings:

• When launching the Settings app, a brief green flash may appear.
• When using Quick Settings to modify Accessibility settings, the settings UI may not save the selected state.
• The button to rename your PC doesn’t work in this build. If needed, this can be done using sysdm.cpl.
• Settings will crash when clicking “Facial recognition (Windows Hello)” under Sign-in Settings if Windows Hello is already set up.
• Reset this PC and Go back buttons in Settings > System > Recovery does not function. Reset and rollback can be accessed from the Windows Recovery Environment by selecting System > Recovery > Advanced startup, and pressing Restart now. Once in Windows Recovery, choose Troubleshoot.
• Choose Reset this PC to perform a reset.
• Choose Advanced options > Uninstall Updates > Uninstall latest feature update to perform a rollback.

File Explorer:

• exe crashes in a loop for Insiders using the Turkish display language when the battery charge is at 100%.
• When right-clicking the desktop or File Explorer, the resulting context menu and submenus may appear partially off-screen.
• Clicking a desktop icon or context menu entry may result in the wrong item being selected.

Search:

• After clicking the Search icon on the Taskbar, the Search panel may not open. If this occurs, restart the “Windows Explorer” process, and open the search panel again.
• When you hover your mouse over the Search icon on the Taskbar, recent searches may not be displayed. To work around the issue, restart your PC.
• The search panel might appear black and not display any content below the search box.

Widgets:

• Widgets board may appear empty. To work around the issue, you can sign out and then sign back in again.
• Launching links from the widgets board may not invoke apps to the foreground.
• Widgets may be displayed in the wrong size on external monitors. If you encounter this, you can launch the widgets via touch or WIN + W shortcut on your actual PC display first and then launch on your secondary monitors.

Store:

• The install button might not be functional yet in some limited scenarios.
• Rating and reviews are not available for some apps.

Windows Security:

• Device Security is unexpectedly saying “Standard hardware security not supported” for Insiders with supported hardware.
• “Automatic sample submission” is unexpectedly turned off when you restart your PC.

Localization:

• There is an issue where some Insiders may be missing some translations from their user experience for a small subset of languages running the latest Insider Preview builds. To confirm if you have been impacted, please visit this Answers forum post and follow the steps for remediation.

That's is so far, the latest update information on Windows 11 insider build. Stay tuned for more information when it comes as it comes.

Microsoft allows its users to download a copy of Windows to install on PCs. However, when you enter the key after the installation and you got the Activation Error 0xC004F212 instead, then it means that the license key and the Windows version you’ve just installed, do not match. When you encounter this error, you will see the following error message on your screen:

“The product key used on this PC didn’t work with this edition of Windows. Activation Error 0xC004F212.”

Every time Microsoft generates a license for a copy of Windows, it is associated with one particular Windows variant. Windows comes in many editions like Enterprise, Home, Professional, and so on. For instance, if you bought a license for Windows 10 Enterprise but you have installed Windows 10 Professional instead, then the activation will surely fail and you’ll encounter the Activation Error 0xC004F212. You will be asked to select which edition you want to install when you reinstall Windows 10 using a digital license. If you opted for an edition other than the one you are licensed to use, then you will most likely get the Activation Error 0xC004F212. If you have purchased your license key from a store or some website, you might want to check back with them about the exact version of Windows. Doing so will help you narrow down the problem. And if you have second thoughts about the license key’s validity, you can just reach out to a Microsoft Support agent to check the validity of the license key. Also, if have bought it from the store, there should be an option to get a refund. That way you can choose to buy the right version of Windows.

Option 1 – Try running the Windows 10 Activation Troubleshooter

The first thing you can do to resolve the Activation Error 0xC004F212 is to run the Windows 10 Activation Troubleshooter. To do so, follow these steps:

• Go to Settings and then select Activation.
• After that, click on the Windows Activation and then troubleshoot. This will help you address most of the commonly found activation issues in Windows devices.

The Windows 10 Activation Troubleshooter will determine if your license key is a valid Windows 10 digital license for an edition that is not currently installed. If it turns out that it’s not, then the troubleshooter will show you how to install the correct edition.

Option 2 – Try forcing Windows 10 ISO to use the right version

You can also try to force Windows 10 ISO to use the correct version depending on the product key. Note that this option only works between Windows 10 Home and Professional version since they both have a common ISO. So if it’s Enterprise, then this option won’t work for you.

• Extract the Windows 10 ISO files using an extractor.
• Then browse to the folder you created and go to the sources folder.
• From there, you need to create a text file named “PID.txt” and make sure to follow the exact format given below:

[PID] Value=xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

Note: “xxxxx” is the KEY to your Windows version.

• Next, you need to create the ISO again or bootable media that will repack everything and then create the Media file. You can use the Media Creation tool for this.

Note: Windows will check the key during the installation and will figure out the right version of Windows.

Option 3 – Contact Microsoft Support for assistance

If you’re at your wits’ end in trying to update your Windows 10 computer, you should consider contacting Microsoft Support for help as they can offer you various options that would make fixing Windows Activation Error 0xC004F212 a lot easier and faster.

Rtl70.bpl Error - What is it?

To understand Rt170.bpl error code, it is important to have a good understanding of .bpl files first. BPL is the abbreviation of Borland Package Library. BPL is a developer file format used by Borland. It contains dynamic link libraries which are used for constructing Borland programs. BPL files are most commonly used for Borland Delphi programs. Delphi competes with Visual Basic as an offering for an object-oriented visual programming approach to application development. There are many programs/applications on your system that use rtl70.bpl file format to run successfully on Windows PC. The rtl70.bpl error occurs when this file gets damaged or corrupted. It fails to execute the command and run the application on your system. When your computer experiences this problem with this file, the following error messages are likely to appear:

• rtl70.bpl is not responding
• Runtime error: rtl70.bpl
• Symantec User Session has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience. Application Name: rtl70.bpl

This error code exposes you to system freeze, crash, abrupt system shutdowns, blue screen of death errors, and it also reduces your PC performance.

Solution

Error Causes

The potential causes of rtl70.bpl error code includes:

• DLL file was damaged due to viral infection or spyware
• DLL file was overwritten by an incompatible version
• Poor program installation
• Too many invalid and obsolete registry entries stored in the RAM
• Related Registry entries are corrupt

Further Information and Manual Repair

Here are some of the best yet simple solutions for you to resolve rtl70.bpl error on your PC:

1. Reboot Your PC

Sometimes this error can be resolved by simply restarting your system. Try rebooting your system and running .bpl supported program. If the program runs after you reboot your PC, then that’s great! But you should keep in mind that this is a temporary solution. The error may reappear anytime soon. So, it is advisable to consider a long-term solution for repairing the error code for the longest time.

2. Uninstall and then Reinstall the Program Causing the Error

If the error occurred after a certain program installed on your system,  it is advisable to uninstall it and then reinstall the program. Simply go to the control panel, select Add/Remove program option and uninstall the program that you recently installed that could be triggering the rtl70.bpl error code. Now reinstall and run it on your system. If the error is resolved, then this means the poor installation was the cause. If not, then this means the cause of the error is related to the registry.

3. Registry Restore to Fix rt170.bpl error

There are two ways to go about it. The first one is to click on the start menu, type registry editor, and press run. This will open the registry editor. Now click on the computer option then click file and import. This helps restore the registry but it is possible that the problem might persist. The error code may pop up again. Also, if the registry is damaged due to viral infection, then this solution may not work and you may still experience the error on your system. Then you will also have to download an antivirus which may further reduce the speed of your PC. However, the best way to restore the registry and to get rid of the error code for the longest time is to download Restoro. This is a new, user-friendly, high and multi-functional repair tool that functions as a registry cleaner and a system optimizer. It cleans the registry by scanning and removing all the unnecessary and obsolete files saved in RAM such as junk files, internet history, invalid registry entries, and more. It also repairs the damaged dll files and restores the registry thereby resolving the rtl70.bpl error. Restoro is easy to use, safe, efficient, and compatible on all Windows versions. To get started and resolve the rtl70.bpl error code in just a few seconds on your system click here and download Restoro.

Microsoft’s initial Windows 11 hardware requirements were not really well received by users and they were not really clearly represented from the start making a lot of potential customers slowly drift away from the hype. It seems that Microsoft has acknowledged this since they have changed their tune about system hardware requirements for the upcoming Windows 11. It seems that Windows 11 will be able to be officially installed on unsupported computers but with a little inconvenience.

What is a catch?

Windows 11 will still have the same hardware requirements and if the PC meets them, that computer will be officially supported, other ones (any that can run Windows 10) that do not meet system requirements can still run Windows 11 but the system will have to be clean installed. So no upgrade option for old computer users, just a clean install. This means of course that you will need to download the ISO image and make a bootable USB in order to install it. Also since you will be doing a clean install do a backup of the hard drive since it will need to be formatted. Also, Microsoft has stated that with unofficially supported PC some driver updates might not be delivered leaving you with either older driver versions or relying on your hardware manufacturer on them. This is still not confirmed by Microsoft, just stated as an option. We will see how it goes.

Conclusion

It is very good that Microsoft has reconsidered its system requirements and will not stubbornly push its initiatives over the top requirements allowing even older computers to install new OS. I am sure over time lot of users will upgrade their hardware and drive into officially supported waters, but it is good that they will be able to use new OS on their current hardware.

A lot of users lately reported getting an error that says, “The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect”. This kind of error can pop up when you try to open a number of programs, regardless of their origin, the developer, and compatibility. Here’s the full context of the error message:

“<PATH OF THE EXECUTABLE FILE>, This application has failed to start because its side-by0side configuration is incorrect. Please see the application event log or use the command-line sxstrace.exe tool for more detail”.

This kind of problem has something to do with the C++ runtime package in the background. It could also be related to an error for a registry value. Whatever the cause is, you can fix this error with the help of some suggestions provided in this post. You can try to reinstall the application or check the registry setting or reinstall the suitable Visual C++ Runtimes or re-enable the Microsoft .NET Framework. For more details, refer to the instructions given below.

Option 1 – Try to reinstall the application

There are times when some supporting module for your application under the hood could have messed up the application. And so to fix that, you need to uninstall the concerned application and then try reinstalling it again. Once you’re done, check if it fixed the problem or not.

Option 2 – Try to change the Registry setting

• Tap the Win + R key combination to open the Run dialog box.
• Then type “Regedit” in the fields and tap Enter to open the Registry Editor.
• Next, navigate to this registry key: Computer HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft Windows NT CurrentVersion SideBySide Winners x86_policy.9.0.microsoft.vc90.crt_1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b_none_02d0010672fd8219 9.0
• From there, look for a String value named “default” and double click on it.
• After that, change its Value data to match the one as the third value in BINARY.
• Now restart your computer to successfully apply the changes made.

Option 3 – Try reinstalling the appropriate Visual C++ Runtime

• You need to open the Event Viewer first by searching for it in the Windows Search box.
• After opening Event Viewer, look for the error events that are sourced by SideBySide.
• Next, look for the actual Visual C++ Runtime module that’s causing the error.
• Now download the module from the official website of Microsoft Support and then install it and see if it fixed the problem.

Option 4 – Re-enable the Microsoft .NET Framework

You could also try to disable the Microsoft .NET Framework then enable the latest version of the .NET Framework on your PC and check if the error is fixed.

As you know, Microsoft constantly releases new updates with the main goal of fixing bugs as well as deliver users with new and exciting features. However, there are times when the latest update comes with an unwanted bug. One of these bugs is an error message saying, “Low Disk Space. You are running out of disk space on Local Disk (G:). Click here to see if you can free space on this drive.” So if you have recently installed a Windows 10 update, then you’ll most likely see a completely new drive on your computer which will appear right after the installation of the update and you’ll also start seeing the aforementioned error message. It gets irritating as this error message keeps on popping up even if you still have a lot of free space on your other drivers. Obviously, the main reason why this error message pops up all the time is the bug brought along by the Windows Update. This bug unhides the recovery partition drive and allocates it a drive letter which is why you are seeing a new drive in your computer. Thus, you can get rid of the pesky error message by simply removing the letter of the new drive. Just remember that you must not delete anything from the recovery partition drive nor format the drive. Formatting or deleting the recovery partition drive can heavily affect the recovery of Windows since the data on the drive is used by the Windows Recovery Environment or your system’s manufacturer. A lot of users have reported that removing the drive letter has resolved the issue. And if you worry that removing the drive letter will delete the drive, you are mistaken. This solution is basically harmless and is proven effective to make the notifications go away. Carefully follow the instructions below to get rid of the Low Disk Space notification by removing the drive letter.

• Step 1: Tap the Windows key once.
• Step 2: Next. In the Windows Start Search, type in “command prompt” and right-click on Command Prompt from the search results and select the “Run as administrator” option or you could simply tap Win + R keys and then input “cmd” and hit Enter to open Command Prompt.
• Step 3: After opening Command Prompt, type in “diskpart” and tap Enter.
• Step 4: Next, type in “list volume” and tap Enter. After that, you will see a list of drives.
• Step 5: Take note of the letter associated with the newly created drive.
• Step 6: Afterwards, type in “select volume <drive letter>” and tap Enter. Take note that you must replace the <drive letter> with the drive letter you’ve found in Step 5.
• Step 7: Now type in “remove letter=<drive letter>” and then tap Enter. Once again, replace the <drive letter> with the letter you took note of in Step 5.

The Volsnap.sys is a Windows operating system file that is related to the Volume Shadow Copy Service or VSS. It is known to cause a Blue Screen of Death error. The main cause of the Volsnap.sys Blue Screen errors include conflicts with the RAM, issues with the hard disk, incompatible firmware, corrupted drivers, malware infection, and many more. Despite its many possible causes, its fixes are quite straightforward so won’t have any problem following them. The Blue Screen errors that are related to the Volsnap.sys file are:

• KMODE EXCEPTION NOT HANDLED
• PAGE FAULT IN A NONPAGED AREA
• SYSTEM THREAD EXCEPTION NOT HANDLED
• IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL

You might want to try performing System Restore as it could resolve Blue Screen errors like the ones related to the Volsnap.sys before you proceed with the troubleshooting tips given below. To run System Restore, follow these steps:

• 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.

If System Restore didn’t help in fixing the Blue Screen error, now’s the time for you to resort to the troubleshooting tips provided below but before you get started, make sure that you create a System Restore point first.

Option 1 – Check if the Volume Shadow Copy service is running and restart it

The first thing you need to do is check if the Volume Shadow Copy service. To do that, refer to the following steps:

• Click on Start and type “cmd” and right-click on Command Prompt from the search results.
• Then select the “Run as administrator” option to open Command Prompt with admin privileges.
• After that, type “net stop sdrsvc” and hit Enter to execute the command in stopping the Volume Shadow Copy service.
• Next, type the “net start sdrsvc” command and hit Enter to start the service again.

Note: You can also restart the service using the Windows Services Manager.

• In the Cortana search box, type “services” and click on the Services icon to open the Services Manager. Alternatively, you can also tap the Win + R keys to launch the Run prompt and then type “services.msc” in the field and hit Enter to open the Services Manager.
• From there, look for the Volume Shadow Service (sdrsv) from the list of services. Its Startup type should be set to Manual by default.
• Restart the service and if you don’t encounter any error while you turn it on, re-run the backup service and see if the backup process runs successfully.

Option 2 – Try checking the Memory for the Errors using Memory Diagnostic Tool

The Memory Diagnostic tool in windows can help resolve the Volsnap.sys Blue Screen error by checking and automatically fixing any memory-based issues. To run it, refer to these steps:

• Tap the Win + R keys to open Run and type mdsched.exe and hit Enter to open the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool.
• After that, it will give two options such as:
  • Restart now and check for problems (Recommended)
  • Check for problems the next time I start my computer
• Once your computer has restarted, perform a basic scan or you could also go for the “Advanced” options such as “Test mix” or “Pass count”. Simply tap the F10 key to start the test.

Note: After you select your preferred option, your computer will restart and check for memory-based issues. If it finds any issues, it will automatically fix them and if there’s no issue found, then it’s most likely not a memory-based issue so you should try the other options given below.

Option 3 – Try to update or rollback your device drivers

If the first option didn’t work for you, then it’s time to either update or rollback the device drivers. It is most likely that after you updated your Windows computer that your driver also needs a refresh. On the other hand, if you have just updated your device drivers then you need to roll back the drivers to their previous versions. Whichever applies to you, refer to the steps below.

• Open the Devices Manager from the Win X Menu.
• Then go to the section of IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers as well as Storage Controllers and right-click on them to open the Properties.
• After that, switch to the Driver tab and click on the Uninstall Device button.
• Follow the screen option to completely uninstall it.
• Finally, restart your computer. It will just reinstall the device drivers automatically.

Note: You can install a dedicated driver on your computer in case you have it or you could also look for it directly from the website of the manufacturer.

Option 4 – Try to run the CHKDSK utility

Running the CHKDSK utility might also help you resolve the Volsnap.sys Blue Screen error. 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 5 – 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. 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 6 – Run the Blue Screen Troubleshooter

The Blue Screen troubleshooter is a built-in tool in Windows 10 that helps users in fixing BSOD errors like Volsnap.sys. It can be found on the Settings Troubleshooters page. To use it, refer to these steps:

• Tap the Win + I keys to open the Settings panel.
• Then go to Update & Security > Troubleshoot.
• From there, look for the option called “Blue Screen” on your right-hand side and then click the “Run the troubleshooter” button to run the Blue Screen Troubleshooter and then follow the next on-screen options. Note that you might have to boot your PC into Safe Mode.