Software review series: Visual studio code

Mapping network drive has many benefits in terms of speed and ease of access of files via network. It lets you access the hard drive over the whole network like it was the hard drive inside your PC case. In order to easily and quickly map a folder as a network drive follow the guide below.

1. Open File Explorer
2. Click on the three dots icon in the Toolbar
3. Select Map Network Drive
4. Click the Drive drop-down menu
5. Select a driver letter that you wish to assign as a network drive
6. In the folder field enter network device and share name (click on browse to see all devices on local network)
7. Check the box beside Reconnect at sign-in if you wish to automatically connect to a network drive on Windows startup
8. Check Connect Using Different Credentials if you wish to connect to a network drive using different credentials that one used to login into Windows.
9. Click Finish

After finishing setting Windows 11 will try to connect to the network drive and if successful drive icon will appear inside File Explorer and the drive will open up to see its content. If for any reason it cannot connect try checking user credentials, cables, network adapters, etc.

There are times when you might notice that the Drive letter from the File Explorer is missing, right after you install an update in your Windows 10 computer. So if you are facing this issue right now, then you’ve come to the right place as this post will guide you on what to do to fix it. In case you don’t know, a drive letter represents a single alphabetic character which is through A-Z typically. This could be assigned to a physical disk partition, floppy disk drive or the removal device/ CD-ROM/ mapping network drive in your PC. In most cases, the drive letter “C:” is assigned to the first disk partition where the running Windows is installed. Thus, if the assigned letter is missing from either the Disk Management or the Windows File Explorer, it could result in inconveniences or will leave the partition inaccessible. To fix this problem, you can try to show the missing drive letters manually or make sure that the drive has a drive letter assigned in the Disk Management as well as assign the letter using a tweak in the Windows Registry. For more details, refer to the options provided below.

Option 1 – Try to show the missing drive letters manually

• Open the Folder Options from the Start Search and go to the View tab,
• Next, scroll down on the list of given options until you see the “Show drive letters” option and then check the box that’s marked against this option.
• After that, click on the Apply and OK buttons and then go back to the “This PC” window. You should now see the drive letters

Option 2 – Make sure that the drive has a drive letter assigned in Disk Management

As you know, every drive is assigned a drive letter in Disk Management. However, if it goes missing, you can still get it back through Disk Management. To do so, follow the steps below.

• Open Disk Management and from there, right-click on the menu of a partition or volume and you should see a function named “Change Drive Letter and Paths”.

Note: This function allows you to add the drive letter, remove the drive letter and change the drive letter. If the last option, namely, “Remove”, is selected and applied, the letter of the drive will be removed and won’t appear in Disk Management. Thus, this could be one of the reasons why a drive letter is missing.

• You need to click on “Add” to assign a letter to the selected drive in order to reverse the change. Note that you must assign the drive with the original letter because if not, the programs that rely on the original letter might not work as expected.
• If the original letter is already taken by a new drive, you need to change the letter of that new drive to another available letter.
• Then allocate the released letter of the targeted drive.

Option 3 – Try assigning the letter using a Registry tweak

The next thing you can do to fix the problem is to assign the letter using a tweak in the Windows Registry but before you do that, make sure that you create a System Restore point first, after that, follow these steps:

• Tap the Win + R keys to open Run and type “Regedit” in the field and then tap Enter to open the Registry Editor.
• Next, navigate to this registry path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMMountedDevices
• From there, check if a device is shown as being mounted at the specific drive letter and then right-click on that drive letter.
• Select the “Rename” option from the right-click menu to change the letter to any other available letter.
• Exit the Registry Editor and restart your computer.

Option 4 – Try to format the destination drive

Formatting the drive can also help you resolve the error. To format it, follow these steps:

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

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.

If you got encounter an error message saying, “Error opening file for writing” while running a setup file to install some program on your computer, read on as this post will give you some suggestions on how you can fix it. You can encounter this error when running a setup file for installing a program like GlassWire, Notepad++, VLC, Steam, OBS, Mod Organizer, WinpCap, NSIS, FileZilla, BSPlayer, Kodi, Wireshark, rtcore64, qt5core.dll, MSI Afterburner, GWCtlSrv.exe, npf.sys, vcredist_86 and many more. And so when this error pops up while you run a setup file, refer to the steps given below which might help resolve the problem. Step 1: First, you have to make sure that there is no other installation in progress as multiple installations can most likely cause this error to show up. You can restart your computer and try to run the setup file again. Step 2: If you still got the error even after your restart your computer, click on Retry to try again and if it does nothing, click Abort to terminate the installation. After that, go to the folder where you’ve placed the setup file and then delete it. Step 3: Make sure that you have enough disk space on your computer. You can use the Windows 10 Storage Sense feature which can clean all the temporary files from your computer and help you save storage space. To use Storage Sense, follow the steps below.

• Open Setting > System > Storage from the WinX Menu.
• From there, you will see a list of all the local and connected storage devices along with the details on the free space.
• Now make sure that the Storage Sense feature is turned On then go find a link that says “Free Up Space” and click it to open.
• After that, a screen which is the built-in program in Windows 10 will appear and will scan your computer for the following junk files so you can free up disk space:
• Windows Upgrade Log Files
• The system created Windows Error Reporting Files
• Thumbnails
• Temporary Internet Files
• Previous Windows Installation Files
• Delivery Optimisation Files
• DirectX Shader Cache

Note: Once you’re done freeing up space on your drive, try to run the setup file again. Step 4: If freeing up space didn’t help, you can just delete the setup file and download another one from the official homepage of the program. From there download the setup file and place it in a different location. After that, run the setup file once again. Step 5: Make sure that you have downloaded the correct setup file according to your operating system, i.e. x64 or x86. Step 6: Restart your computer once more and make sure that you sign in as administrator. After that, right-click on the setup file and click “Run as administrator”. If it still didn’t help, you might want to take ownership of the folder where you saved the setup file. How? Follow the steps below but before you do that, you have to create a System Restore Point first, once that’s done, proceed.

• First, locate the concerned folder and right-click on it then select Properties.
• Next, click on the Edit button in the Properties window and click OK to confirm if you got a User Account Control elevation request.
• After that, select user/group from the permission windows or click on the Add button to add another user or group. It would be best if you add “Everyone” to give permission.
• Then check “Full Control” under the “Allow” column to assign full access rights control permissions.
• Now edit the permission to Full Control for “Everyone”.
• Click OK to save the changes made and then exit.

If you have encountered the NO_USER_MODE_CONTEXT Blue Screen error when using your computer, read on as this post will walk you through a couple of suggestions you can try to resolve this Stop error. This kind of Blue Screen error can occur when a program is trying to leverage the use of a system driver but fails to do so. Some of the common causes of this BSOD error are incompatible or corrupted drivers, incorrect configuration of entries in the Registry, damaged memory locations, malware infection, and many more. In addition, this Stop error does not often occur and indicates that an attempt to enter user mode with no context was made. If this is the first time you’ve restarted your computer after you’ve installed additional hardware, you have to remove the hardware and then restart your computer once again and then check the Microsoft Hardware Compatibility List to confirm that the hardware and its drivers are compatible with your operating system. If it doesn’t help, you can check out the given suggestions below to fix the NO_USER_MODE_CONTEXT Blue Screen error in Windows 10.

Option 1 – Try to update or rollback your device drivers

The first thing you can try to fix the NO_USER_MODE_CONTEXT Blue Screen error is to either update or roll back 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 locate the device drivers and right-click on them to open the Properties. Note that the main drivers that might be the cause behind the NO_USER_MODE_CONTEXT Blue Screen error will be listed under the “ID ATA/ATAPI controllers” section as well as the “Storage controllers” section.
• 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 also directly download the relevant drivers of your computer from the manufacturers’ website. So if you have an SSD, the issue might be due to an old storage driver.

Option 2 – Try running System File Checker or SFC 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 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

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.

 Reboot your PC.

Option 3 – Try running the Memory Diagnostic Tool

The Memory Diagnostic tool in windows can help resolve the NO_USER_MODE_CONTEXT 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 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.

Option 4 – Perform System Restore

• First, 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 5 – Run the Blue Screen Troubleshooter

Troubleshooting Blue Screen of Death errors wouldn’t be complete without the Blue Screen troubleshooter. As you know, it is a built-in tool in Windows 10 that helps users in fixing BSOD errors like NO_USER_MODE_CONTEXT. 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.

The Clear Linux Project creates an operating system and software stack that offers highly optimized performance, security, versatility, and manageability. Clearly optimized for Intel CPUs and based on GNOME it will offer you incredible speeds if you are on Intel CPU. The big news, though, is that Clear Linux sports the shiny new Gnome 40. This is a fresher Gnome than you'll find even on Ubuntu's more experimental 21.04 release. The only big names that let you test drive Gnome 40 are Fedora and Arch Linux.

Packages only when you need them

Installation of packages is used by Swupd, a Clear Linux* package management tool. It is easy to use and pretty straightforward.

• "bundle-list" for showing what's installed
• "bundle-info" for details on installed bundles (such as owned files via the "‑‑files" flag)
• "search" for repository searching
• "bundle-add" for installation
• "bundle-remove" for uninstallation

The only problem here is the packages themselves. Clean Linux* has been imagined as a developer distro focusing mostly on well-development tolls. In intel’s words: “A Linux OS built for Linux developers”, so some things will be left out. Strangely enough some things as FFmpeg which if you want to have and blast some youtube videos while you work will have to complete manually by yourself.

Clear Linux* modular philosophy

Everything in Clear Linux* is based on a modular philosophy approach. There is no /etc/fstab file, the /boot directory is totally empty. Every partition to be mounted is enabled as a systemd "mount unit." Intel reaping the benefits of systemd's modular philosophy, where everything is a unit. If you know your way around systemd, intermediate-level configuration tasks should be straightforward. Any advanced configuration likely demands deep systemd knowledge.

Clear Linux* performance

As stated earlier this is Intel’s distro, optimized for Intel hardware meaning that Intel as the developer has every possible tool at its disposal to make use of hardware to its maximum potential and it shows. Distro almost leaves other ones two times in speed performance. So if you are looking for a distribution that will deliver you speed and it is aimed for developer Clear Linux* is for you.

Conclusion

Clear Linux* is a really interesting distro and seeing how Intel is adding new software packages on its official website it might have a bright future. But as always, be the judge for yourself and see if it can fit your needs. Go get it at: https://clearlinux.org/

Same as Windows 10, Windows 11 also keeps track of date and time using an internet time server. But in a case that you need to change the date or time for any kind of reason here is a guide for that process:

1. Press ⊞ WINDOWS + I to open settings
2. Click on Time & Language in Taskbar
3. Inside Time & Language click on Date & Time
4. Turn off Set Time Automatically by clicking on the switch next to it
5. Below find Set the date and time manually and click on Change
6. Inside, Change Date and Time window use the drop-down menu to set desired date and time

There are a lot of online services and a lot of ways to get your public IP address. One of them being typing whats my IP in Google search and you will get immediate results. But there is a way to get the same information inside Windows 10 which could be very useful if for any reason you can not connect to mentioned services. By checking public IP directly inside your windows you can make sure that the issue for not being able to open some websites is not due to your public IP. In order to use this Windows feature, we will be checking our public IP using Windows PowerShell. To open Power Shell in Windows first press ⊞ WINDOWS + R to open the run dialog Inside run dialog type Powershell and press ENTER In the Powershell type in the following command and press ENTER

(Invoke-WebRequest -uri "http://ifconfig.me/ip").Content

When the command finishes you will see what is your public IP address, if you wish to know more about your connection type in and press ENTER:

Invoke-RestMethod -Uri ('https://ipinfo.io/')

This command will provide you with further information like city, region, country, and others.

In today's time, Wi-Fi is a common occurrence, each household has it, on town squares, there are free Wi-Fi hotspots, etc. But sometimes when relaxing at home WI-Fi can fail on us and stop working. If this happens to you do not lose your mind because we have several troubleshooting help tips and ways to get it back quickly so you can continue with your browsing and using your internet.

Restart the Router and Computer

Yes, we will start with this typical cliche in IT and tech in general. Surprisingly this method still proves over and over again to be true and effective. Over time some electric components simply start working a little bit differently, electrostatic electricity can accumulate on some parts and they can cause issues. By turning off the device and leaving it for some time you are discharging accumulated electrostatics and placing it again into normal working mode.

Unplug your router and leave it for at least 30s like that, a full 1 min is recommended, and then plug it back. Turn it on and restart your computer in order to reboot addresses.

Reset DHCP

If simple have you tried unplugging it and plugging it back in did not work let us reset DHCP. Click on the start button and type in PowerShell, then click on Run as administrator. Once inside the PowerShell type in the following command followed by ENTER: ipconfig /release and after the command finishes, type in: ipconfig /renew also followed by ENTER key. Try the connection again.

Reset TCP/IP stack

The next thing that we will try if the previous one failed is to reset the TCP/IP stack to eliminate corruption of settings files. Like in the previous step, press Start and type in PowerShell and click on run as administrator. inside type in: netsh int IP reset and press ENTER key. Wait for the process to finish and reboot your PC.

Reset WinSock

WinSock is yet another part of Windows OS that is responsible for network communication and resetting it could solve the issue. Again go to PowerShell as described in previous steps and type in this time: winsock reset and press ENTER. Wait for the process to finish and restart your computer.

Other things you can try

Change TCP IP setting back to automatic if you have set manual Ip address on your computer.

Update your network driver via the manufacturer's website of your network adapter. There is a chance that somewhat updates are available to address some issues discovered.

Factory reset your router on the back by locating the reset button on it and pressing and holding it for around 10s.

Turn off your firewall and antivirus protection in order to eliminate it from blocking your internet access.

Error Code 1007 - What is it?

This is a typical system error.  This error means the requested operation cannot be performed in full-screen mode. It hampers your ability to run your desired program on Windows PC. It is displayed on computer screens in the following format:

"ERROR_FULLSCREEN_MODE" and/or as the hexadecimal value 0x3EF.”

Solution

Error Causes

The system error code 1007 can be triggered due to several reasons. This includes but is not limited to:

• Windows registry damage or corruption
• Device driver conflicts
• Spyware or viral infection
• Hardware malfunction
• Software file damage or corruption

Unlike the blue screen of death error codes, this error is not fatal. But it may hamper your ability to run and work on your desired program. To avoid the inconvenience, it is advisable to fix it immediately.

Further Information and Manual Repair

Try these easy and effective do it yourself methods to repair the system error code 1007 on your PC:

Method 1 - Scan Your System for Viruses

If the underlying cause of error 1007 on your system is viral and spyware infection, then it is advisable to download a powerful antivirus and scan your entire PC. An antivirus not only detects but also removes all types of viruses including spyware, Trojans and adware. Once removed, try running your desired program again, if the program runs successfully, this means the error is resolved.

Method 2 - Update the Drivers

When the error code 1007 occurs due to driver conflict, then it is advisable to update the drivers. To do so simply use the driver update wizard from within Device Manager. The wizard will guide you through the entire driver update process, making it extremely simple for you to update the drivers in minutes.

Method 3 - Clean and Repair the Registry

You may experience the error 1077 because of registry damage or corruption. If this is the reason, then it is suggested you download Restoro. This is a user-friendly and multi-functional PC Fixer deployed with a powerful registry cleaner. It scans your entire system for registry related errors and issues, removes all unnecessary and obsolete files like cookies, junk files and bad registry entries, notorious for registry corruption. In addition to this, it also repairs the registry and damaged system files, thereby resolving the system error code 1007 immediately. Click here to download Restoro on your PC and fix system error code 1007 today!