Should you buy used GPU in current market?

Microsoft is trying to make Windows into a personalized OS, more and more features and parts can be customized to user liking. From larger things to smaller ones nowadays you can almost personalize every detail of Windows itself. In this article, we will tackle how to bring back the names of running applications on the taskbar. Placing names beside icons on the taskbar is a pretty simple and straightforward task easily done. First, right-click the Taskbar and select Taskbar settings. In Taskbar settings, click the menu labeled Combine taskbar buttons. Select Never. That's it, now all of your running applications have a name beside them. If you change your mind, you can always undo it by selecting Always hide labels in the Combine taskbar buttons menu.

If you have a dual monitor setup on your Windows 10 computer and you mostly use the second screen when you are presenting something, this makes the Taskbar completely unnecessary and is not really required. So if you are using your computer generally and do not want the taskbar on your second screen, read on as this post will guide you in disabling Taskbar on your second display. The good thing is, Windows comes with a built-in feature to disable Taskbar on your second screen or projector connected to your computer. In this post, you will be guided on how you can hide or disable the Taskbar from the second monitor in Windows 10. This post is coming in handy especially if you are using projectors or multiple displays. Refer to the steps given below to disable Taskbar on the second display in Windows 10. Step 1: Go to Settings and click on Taskbar from the left menu. Step 2: After that, scroll down to lo look for Multiple Displays. Step 3: Next, turn off the toggle labeled, “Show taskbar on all displays”. Note: After completing the steps given above, it will disable the Taskbar on all the secondary displays. Bear in mind that these settings will work only if you are running a second screen in Extended mode. Contrariwise, if you are in the Duplicate mode, this setting will not work but you can always set your Taskbar to Autohide so that it won’t be displayed.

On the other hand, if you are facing some issues in finding which screen is primary and which one is secondary, refer to these steps:

Step 1: Go to Settings and select System. Step 2: Next, from the left menu open Display. Step 3: From there, select the desired display and make it the primary one as required by your setup.

When you upgrade or update your Windows 10 computer but you suddenly got Error 0x8024a206 while trying to install the updates, it is due to a rouge update that was downloaded or because of some corrupted component in Windows. In case you don’t know, any file downloaded by Windows is verified for its integrity and if the files don’t pass the integrity test, then Error 0x8024a206 will most likely pop up during the Windows update or upgrade.

Option 1 – Reset the Windows Update components to the default

You have to stop a couple of services such as BITS, Cryptographic, MSI Installer, and Windows Update Services. And to do that, you need to flush 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. Aside from that, it also contains all the Windows Update History files and once you delete them, you will most likely lose the Update history. As a result, the next time you run the Windows Update, it may result in a longer detection time.

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

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

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

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

• Type each one of the following commands.

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

• After that, exit Command Prompt and restart your computer, and then try to run Windows Update once more.

Option 2 – Re-register DLLs related to Windows Update

DLL files, also known as Dynamic Link Library, are parts of applications that are separated from the core program so that they can be used again as well as independently be updated. The DLL files are loaded into memory and then used. Note that they have to be registered with Windows so they can be loaded. So if they’re not, the main program will fail. And this is the same with the DLL files related to the Windows Update. Thus, you need to register them in order to resolve Error 0x8024a206.

• In the Cortana search box, type “command prompt”.
• From the search results that appear, right-click on Command Prompt and select the “Run as administrator” option.
• After that execute the commands listed below one after the other and don’t forget to hit Enter right after you key in each one of them.
  • regsvr32 JSCRIPT.DLL
  • regsvr32 MSXML3.DLL
  • regsvr32 WUPS2.DLL
  • regsvr32 WUPS.DLL
  • regsvr32 WUAUENG.DLL
  • regsvr32 WUAPI.DLL
  • regsvr32 WUCLTUX.DLL
  • regsvr32 WUWEBV.DLL

Note: You also have the option to run the commands together via a batch file. Simply create a batch file by copying all the commands in a notepad and then save it as “WURegisterDLL.bat”. After that, run the batch file and it will execute the commands all at the same time. Then you have to restart your computer and see if it has fixed the Error 0x8024a206.

Option 3 – Run the System File Checker

The SFC or System File Checker scan could detect and automatically repair damaged system files that could be causing the Error 0x8024a206. 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. 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 and hit Enter.

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 4 – Run the Windows Update Troubleshooter

Running the built-in Windows Update troubleshooter could also help you resolve the Windows Update Error 0x8024a206. To run it, go to Settings and then select Troubleshoot from the options. From there, click on Windows Update and then click the “Run the troubleshooter” button. After that, follow the next on-screen instructions and you should be good to go.

Hello and welcome everyone, just a few years ago we had FLASH video content on the internet, we had FLASH games, full FLASH website experiences, and more, but then flash was shut down mostly due to security reasons meaning that in just a few months we have lost most of FLASH web content. However, there is still FLASH content on the internet even today, there are still FLASH videos and flash games, but we can not play any of that content since browsers do not support FLASH and you can not get the FLASH plugin for browsers. So what might be the solution for this situation?

Ruffle and FLASH emulation

Emulation of course. We will not be able to get the flash player working, well at least not the original and official one, but we can make flash content playable again inside our browsers. The first thing is first, we need to get an emulator package from the internet in order for this trick to work, one we will be using is RUFFLE. It is lightweight, it is free, it is open source and it is reliable, everything we need. Download RUFFLE from its official website here. For Chrome and Edge download the ZIP package, for Firefox, go to the Firefox section of the tutorial. There is also a desktop version of RUFFLE there so if you are keen on playing your flash content on your desktop computer you might well grab that as well, but for the sake of this tutorial where we are enabling flash in our browsers, we will not focus on that part since it is pretty straightforward. Now once you have downloaded the RUFFLE emulator, please extract it to the desired folder somewhere on your computer. Once it is extracted, start your browser of choice and follow instructions.

FOR CHROME:

1. Navigate to: chrome://extensions/
2. Turn ON developer mode in the top right corner
3. Click on Load unpacked
4. Navigate to the folder where you have extracted RUFFLE

FOR EDGE:

1. Navigate to: edge://extensions/
2. Turn ON developer mode on the bottom left corner
3. Navigate to the folder where you have extracted RUFFLE
4. Turn RUFFLE ON

FOR FIREFOX:

1. Go to the RUFFLE download page, we can not use the zip package we were using for Chrome and Edge
2. Right-click on the Firefox download link
3. Save link by clicking on Save link as...
4. Navigate to about: debugging
5. Click on this Firefox
6. Click Load Temporary Add-on
7. Select the .xpi that you have downloaded

BONUS:

If you want to enable FLASH content live on your website use:  <script src="path_to_ruffle/ruffle.js"></script>

Microsoft has officially announced details about the newest upgrades to its office 365 suite moving forward along with its new OS release. It seems that Microsoft has listened to its user base and feedback since Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are getting much-needed redesign taking into account many suggestions from the community. The new office should feel more like an application suite guiding focus on the interconnection of applications themselves providing users with a much more natural experience of using them.

The new office features so far

From Microsoft themselves:

“This Office visual refresh is based on feedback from customers who asked for a more natural and consistent experience within and between your applications, specifically on Windows. With this update, we deliver an intuitive, coherent, and familiar user interface, using the Fluent Design principles, across all your applications: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access, Project, Publisher, and Visio. We aligned this visual refresh with the design of Windows 11 to provide seamless experiences on your PC.”

It is always refreshing to hear when a company listens to its user base and actually does what is needed instead of trying to invent the wheel.

How to switch

Since beta is already rolling and if you have an active 365 subscription to office suite visual refresh will be automatically available to all Office insiders running beta channel builds. It can be turned on and off using the coming soon feature in the top right corner of the menu in any application. Just click on the megaphone icon to open the coming soon pane and apply settings to all office apps. Note that The Coming Soon feature is not available in Access, Project, Publisher, or Visio. If you turn on the visual refresh in any of the 4 apps mentioned above (Work Excel, PowerPoint, or OneNote), it will also be available in these 4 apps.

Difference themselves

The Home tab menu still has a familiar look with a few tweaks. For example, accessing frequently used Word commands will be a lot easier. By navigating to Designer > Show Quick Access Toolbar, users can add a customizable shortcut ribbon to Word that houses conveniently placed options. Also, the office will not match your Windows operating system color theme so if you have a dark theme enabled, the office will also have a dark color theme. Color palettes are more neutral, corners are a bit softer but customizable ribbons are a win here for me.

Conclusion

There was not much said other than visual upgrades and small tweaks that were supposed to make your life easier but then again Windows 11 itself is in the same boat. I am not sure if this is a great update offering just some visual tweaks and focus on workflow mechanics or just being plain lazy and trying to cash in visuals as a completely new product.

What is AppCrash Error?

As the name implies the AppCrash error is an error code that indicates a crashed program/application on your system. This term is used by Windows to designate an application crash. It is reported and displayed on the system as “Problem Event Name: AppCrash,” which is followed by additional technical information which unless you are a computer programmer, you may not fully decode. There are various symptoms that trigger the occurrence of this error code on your system such as:

• Application becoming unresponsive and intermittent
• Momentary application freezing
• Application times out and then successfully recovers itself

Solution

Error Causes

The reason for AppCrash error occurrence cannot be narrowed down to a specific cause. This error code is triggered by multiple causes such as:

• The system is stressed out. This happens when your CPU is held at 100% usage for an unacceptable length of time.
• Lack of system resources
• Windows version incompatibility with the application
• Malware and viral infection
• Poor PC maintenance
• Registry damage and corruption
• Data overload

No matter what the cause for the AppCrash error may be, if you experience this error on your system you must repair it right away before the damage sets in. This is a serious error posing severe consequences. If not repaired on time, it not only hampers your ability to use your desired application but also exposes your PC to fatal crashes, data loss, and system failure.

Further Information and Manual Repair

Though this is a serious Windows error, the good news is that it is an easy-to-fix error code, so resolving it is not a problem. There are three ways to fix the AppCrash error:

• Hiring a technician, this by the way is quite costly. You may have to pay hundreds of dollars to get professional assistance to fix this error code.
• Giving your computer adequate rest to cool down. Stressing out your PC heats the hardware which triggers such errors and eventually results in system failure. Try cooling it, and see if it fixes the error.
• Downloading Restoro. This is by far the best, simple, quick, and money-saving way to resolve the AppCrash error on your system. Restoro is an innovative, performance-driven and multi-functional user-friendly PC Fixer that helps resolve practically all types of PC-related errors including the AppCrash error. It has an intuitive and powerful in-built registry cleaner which scans and detects all types of registry issues on your PC in seconds. It helps you clear up all the unnecessary files saved on your hard disk like junk files, internet history, invalid entries and files from the programs that you’ve uninstalled. Such files not only occupy a lot of disk space but they also lead to registry damage and corruption thus shooting error code pop-ups like the AppCrash error.

Restoro features

Restoro performs an in-depth scan and removes all these files cluttering the system and repairs the damaged registry. It resolves the error AppCrash and simultaneously boosts the speed of your PC making it easy for you to access and run applications fast and smoothly without any application errors. Sometimes malicious software programs like malware and viruses may also damage and corrupt the registry. If the underlying cause of the AppCrash error is a viral infection on your PC corrupting the registry, then don’t worry; Restoro, with the help of its built-in anti-virus program, resolves it too. It scans for viruses on your system and removes them immediately. Restoro is easy to use. Whether you are a novice or an experienced user, working around this PC Fixer is simple. It has a user-friendly interface that allows users to navigate through it without any hassle. In addition to this, it offers enhanced compatibility. It smoothly runs on all Windows versions.

Get Restoro

To get started, all you need to do is Click here to download Restoro. Once it is installed on your system, run it to scan for registry issues like the AppCrash error. This intuitive tool will detect all the errors on your PC in just a few seconds and display them on your Windows screen in the form of a comprehensive scan report. Now simply hit the repair tab to resolve. Once repairing is successfully complete, try running your desired application. You will notice two significant differences:

1. No AppCrash error code message pop-ups
2. The application runs fast and smoothly regardless of whether it’s Windows Media Player or any gaming application.

The use of Biometrics is supported by Windows 10. Aside from that, it also supports PIN, password, picture password on all computers and if your computer has the proper hardware, Windows 10 also supports facial scanning, iris scanning, and even fingerprint scanning. You can see all these exciting features inside Settings > Accounts > Sign In Options. On the other hand, you can’t really expect to make use of all the above-mentioned features since it depends if the hardware is available to support them. One of the most interesting features is the use of Biometrics which is really useful in workplaces and so this post will show you how you can enable or disable the Domain Users Sign In on Windows 10 using Biometrics via Registry Editor or Group Policy Editor. But before you go on, you need to create a System Restore Point first since the modifications you’re about to do might affect the functioning of your computer. So in case something went wrong, you can always undo the changes you’ve made.

Option 1 – via Registry Editor

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• Next, type “Regedit” in the field and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor.
• After that, navigate to the following registry path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftBiometricsCredential Provider

• From there, right-click on the right-side panel and click on New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
• And then set the name of the newly created DWORD as “Domain Accounts”.
• Afterward, click on “Domain Accounts” and set its value to “1”. This will allow the domain users to sign in to Windows 10 using Biometrics. While the value of 0 will disable the domain users sign in to Windows 10 using Biometrics.
• Exit the Registry Editor and restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

Option 2 – via Group Policy Editor

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• Next, type “gpedit.msc” in the field and hit Enter to open the Group Policy Editor.
• After that, navigate to the following setting:

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Biometrics

• Then double click on the following entries located on the right-side panel and set the radio button to Enabled on all of them.
  • Allow the use of Biometrics.
  • Allow users to log on using Biometrics.
  • Allow domain users to log on using biometrics.
• Now exit the Group Policy Editor and restart your computer to apply the changes made properly.

Recently, a number of users reported not being able to use the Restore, Minimize and Close buttons on their Windows 10 computers. This kind of issue can be quite annoying as you won’t be able to use your computer properly, especially when you navigate between programs and windows. In such cases, the buttons on the right side of the title bar won’t respond to any inputs which could be caused by a number of factors such as different input modes, corrupted system files, and many more. If you are one of the users who are currently facing this problem, worry not for this post will guide you on what you can do to resolve it. There are several potential fixes you can check out to fix the issue. You can try to check if Tablet Mode is enabled and if it is, you have to disable it. You could also boot your computer in a Clean Boot State to check if a third-party program is the one that’s causing the problem. In addition, you could also reinstall the program where you experience the problem or run built-in utilities like System File Checker and DISM tool.

Option 1 – Make sure that you are not in Tablet Mode

Since Windows 10 is designed to work on both desktop and mobile devices, it could be that your computer has slipped into Tablet Mode which explains why you’re not seeing the Taskbar. To check if your computer is really in Tablet Mode, follow these steps:

• Go to the Start menu and select Settings.
• Next, select the System setting and from the left pane select the Tablet Mode.
• From there, make sure that the buttons next to the options given below are set to the off position:
  • Hide app icons on the taskbar in tablet mode
  • Automatically hide the taskbar in tablet mode

Option 2 – Put your computer in a Clean Boot State

As pointed out, it is possible that some third-party program or service is the one that’s behind the problem. To isolate this possibility and to identify the culprit, you have to put your computer into a Clean Boot State. To do so, follow the steps below.

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

Option 3 – Try reinstalling the program

If the first two options didn’t work, then you might want to consider uninstalling the program and then install it back with its latest version. This should resolve the problem.

Option 4 – Try to run 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 Restore, Minimize and Close buttons don’t work. 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:

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.

• Now restart your computer and see if the problem is fixed or not.

Option 5 – Run the DISM tool

You can try running the Deployment Imaging and Servicing Management or DISM tool to fix the problem. Using this built-in tool, you have various options such as the “/ScanHealth”, “/CheckHealth”, and “/RestoreHealth”.

• Open the Command Prompt with admin privileges.
• Then type in the following commands and make sure to hit Enter right after you type each one of them:
  • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
  • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
  • exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
• Do not close the window if the process takes a while as it will probably take a few minutes to finish. Once it’s done, restart your computer.

Error Code 48 – What is it?

Error Code 48 is a device driver error code that users can encounter on any Windows 2000 operating system and later versions.

It occurs when the connected peripheral device cannot be run as the Windows operating system’s driver required to install the programs for peripheral devices has either been corrupted or is incompatible with the system.

It prompts the user with the following message on the screen:

The software for this device has been blocked from starting because it is known to have problems with Windows. Contact the hardware vendor for a new driver. (Code 48)

Solution

Error Causes

Like most other Windows error codes, error code 48 is triggered by the following factors.

• Corrupted system registry files
• Presence of viruses in the device
• The device driver is out-of-date

If this error code is not rectified, it could give birth to other driver device errors such as error code 52.

Further Information and Manual Repair

Method 1 – Run a complete scan for malware and spyware

Identifying and removing the viruses in the system registry and in the connected devices is the easiest method to fix the corrupted registry files.

Viruses such as spyware and malware infect the registry entries and eat up the files that lead to incomplete or missing data. This creates problems for installing external devices as the driver required to install them is not complete.

Method 2 – Use System Restore

You can also use system restore to eliminate the problem. Here is how you can use it:

• Log in using an Administrator account
• Click ‘Start’ button and select All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore
• Click ‘Restore my computer to an earlier time’ and click ‘Next’
• Select the last Windows to restore point from the ‘On this list, click a restore point’ list, and click ‘Next’
• Click ‘Next’ on the confirmation window to proceed
• Restart your PC after restoration is complete

By restoring the system via the last saved system checkpoint, you can obtain undamaged Windows system registry files that can help resolve the error code.

Method 3 – Manually uninstall and reinstall the device driver

Since Error Code 48 is due to a missing or an out-of-date device driver, uninstalling and then reinstalling the device driver can help solve the error.

You can do this by firstly logging in as Administrator and opening Device Manager. Select the device that is causing the problem and double click it; make sure that the peripheral is connected properly to the PC.

Upon opening, click on the ‘Driver’ tab and then select ‘Update Driver’. Make sure to refer to the system documentation that you received with your PC or computer to check for the motherboard details and driver specifics.

Method 4 – Use software to automatically download the driver

Manually uninstalling and reinstalling the driver will do the trick; however, it may be time-consuming especially when you would have to resort to your hardware user manual. Therefore, using a program such as DriverFIX can save you a lot of time and frustration in having your device work properly on your computer. DriverFIX, with its user-friendly approach to help you fix your PC issues, comes with an integrated database that detects which drivers you need to reconfigure within just a few seconds and downloads it automatically. It further ensures that your drivers are installed in their entirety leaving no room for any incomplete files to remain that create Error Code 48. It also has the added advantage of being able to backup and restores your files should there be the slightest possibility of system file damage. DriverFIX is the answer to fixing your PC error codes accurately and quickly. Click here to download DriverFIX to fix Error Code 48 quickly and effectively!

Driver state power failure error can be linked to three things happening in your computer. Incorrect power settings, driver issues, or incompatible hardware. Sadly when this error happens you only receive a blue screen of death with this message: Sadly receiving this blue screen does not really explain which of the three cases is the correct one and causing the unwanted issue. That being said, this article will not offer you a direct solution this time, it will be more like a guide on what to check and to do in order to remove this error, reason for this is the nature of the error itself. If your computer is booting properly and you can enter Windows without issues the first thing you can try is going into power options and set it to high performance, if you are on a laptop set high performance both ways, when plugged and when on battery. Power performance settings can reflect on some hardware and can cause mayhem. After setting reboot the computer and see if the error repeats itself. If the error persists go to the device manager and see if there is hardware that has any kind of warning beside it. If there is, update the driver or remove the driver of the device to see if this fixes the issue. If all of the previous two things fail there is another thing you could try. Turn off your computer and disconnect all hardware except the most basic one. Now, this may take a long period of time but boot your computer and then repeat this process but each time add a new piece of hardware to eliminate and find which one is causing the issue. When found try to see if it is repairable through driver updates or get a new device.