Chrome won’t clear Browsing History and Data

If we are to believe news from Intel, new series of processors based on Alder Lake architecture are about to be released somewhere in October. Alder Lake is the 12^th Generation Core of Intel processors and it is meant to have all advantages of the current CPU structure. I9 is aimed to pack a punch against its competitors with technology including eight high-performance Golden Cove cores (P-cores) with Hyper-Threading and eight energy-efficient Goldmont (E-cores) equipped with a 30MB L3 cache and operating at high clock speeds. During the benchmark test, the new CPU outperformed all of Intel’s previous Rocket Lake structure processors which is logically expected but the big surprise came from results that indicate better performance than Apple’s new M1 processor even in single-threaded performance which is supposed to be best in that field. Another surprise was really beating AMD Ryzen 9 in each field. If we take into account that i9 has 16 cores in total and can process 24 threads against Ryzen 9 with 16 Cores and 32 threads this is an impressive feature. Now truth to be told Alder lake has massive L3 cache and microarchitectural advantages and consumes much more power but the results of performance are high. Also, note that this early CPU is not really a mass production one and maybe some things will still change but early results are very satisfactory. We will see what will price tag be since in this age of shortage and competition that will also play a big role in its overall success. Speaking of competition I eagerly await AMD’s response to this, in any way it seems that the CPU market is for some turbulence which is always a good thing for the final customer and I welcome it.

The Windows Defender program can both scan and monitor almost the entire folder on a Windows 10 computer. So if you have a folder that may have files that could trigger an alarm to Windows Security, then it would be better if you add an exclusion to Windows Security. Note that it is okay to do this as long as you’re certain that the contents of the folder you want to exclude are safe and that Windows Defender is only throwing out warnings for nothing. This way, Windows Defender won’t scan those folders in the future. And besides, there are also some Windows folders and files that you may exclude from the Antivirus scans, especially if you want to save your scan time. This kind of feature also comes in handy when you trust a file type or folder or any process that you believe is safe but the Windows Security considers as malicious. To exclude a folder or a file or process or a file type from the Windows Security scan, here are some steps you can follow. Make sure to do them carefully. Step 1: Search for “Windows Security” in the Search box and then click on it from the search results to open it. Step 2: Next, click on Virus & threat protection > Manage settings > Add or remove exclusions. Step 3: After that, on the next screen, click on Add an exclusion > Folder. It will show you a list that includes File, Folder, File Type, and Process. Step 4: Now click on “+Add and exclusion” on the next window and then select a folder you want to exclude and click OK to add it in the Exclusions list. Step 5: Click on the down arrow button to remove it and then click on the Remove button. Note: If you want to only ignore a few file types, it’s better if you configure your antivirus program to ignore these files with a specific extension. This way, it will ignore all of them no matter what their location is. Also keep in mind that when you select a folder, all the subfolders in it will also be excluded from the scan. Thus, you need to understand what you’re about to do. Once you’re done excluding the folder, it is recommended that you protect the folder using the Controlled Folder Access since this folder is not monitored for threat. The Controlled Folder Access will ensure that an external program does not alter it. This way, you can be sure that even though this folder is not included in the scan, it is still secure.

USB Kill, a USB device is able to fry and damage your computer, mobile phone, router, etc. This device is quite dangerous and can kill electronics the moment it is inserted into an available port. By now people should know that they should not put unknown USB sticks into their devices because of potential virus and malware threats but this raises using unknown sticks to a whole new level.

Kill kits are not really new to the market, they have existed before but lately, technology really progressed and the latest USB sticks are really good, their success rate is around 95% which is pretty high and should not be taken lightly.

The second thing that you really should not play with strange USB sticks is that they dropped in price really hard, although top Kill kits will still go as high as around 300 USD, there are really cheap ones lurking in Ali Express that are just 6 USD!!! that makes them affordable devices for the mass market.

The device is made to take energy and current from the port it is plugged in, multiply it and release its charge back into the device, successfully frying some components immediately. Some more professional Kill sticks can even fry devices even when the device itself is not powered and can be even started remotely.

The point of this article is to make you aware that you should not in any kind of circumstances use and plug-in USB sticks into your devices that you do not know where they come from, especially from the mail!!

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.

Building your skill set could be a very important thing, especially in today’s world, and what’s the best way other than online learning classes. You are not exposing yourself to pandemics, staying safe in the warmth of your home and most of the courses are free. Presented here are sites that I believe will and can help you with your goal of learning desired material whatever that might be. Sites are listed in no particular order with a description of what each has to offer.

Coursera

https://www.coursera.org/ Coursera was one of the pioneers when it comes to college education online. When it started all courses were free and offered certificates if the taker has done tasks with a passing grade. Today not everything is free but still, there are tons of free courses that can help you to learn something new and to advance in your work or hobby. Google is using the Coursera platform to deliver its courses to the audience and besides google a lot of academic professors from Princeton, Stanford, John Hopkins and many more are presently offering their course material.

edX

https://www.edx.org/ edX has evolved from MITx, MIT’s free initiative to place some free academic lectures from its classrooms free into the world. Since it was rebranded into edX it started including other big university names like Berkeley, University of Texas System, Harvard, and many more. Since its infant days, edX has expanded and included many areas that it offers coursework from arts to science. Certificated today are mostly not free but course videos are, so if you care to learn and not wave certificates around this is a great place to do it.

Udemy

https://www.udemy.com/ Udemy has a little different approach to course material than previously mentioned websites. Teachers on Udemy are mostly people that are working in a given field. Programmers will teach programming, fitness instructors will teach training, etc. There are vas variety of topics even on lifestyle, hobbies even gaming to more serious ones like software developing hardware, etc. There are free courses but mostly are one-time purchases with unlimited access to course material and with frequent discounts udemy might be a good place to look if you can find anything interesting.

Alison

https://alison.com/ Alison is kind of Udemy if we are talking about course material and who is teaching, the difference however is that it has more free content and it is one of the rare websites on this list that has Language courses. Courses vary from beginner level to more advanced ones.

Udacity

https://www.udacity.com/ Udacity was also one of the earlier websites to offer free courses, in today’s world it still has free material but there is also paying one. The big difference from other competitors is that Udacity focuses mostly on programming, data science, and web development and it is very strong in this field. There are no courses about art. Music or similar, mostly IT stuff is covered here. If this is something that interests you, make a free account and give it a go.

Codecademy

https://www.codecademy.com/ Codecademy is a website mainly focused on teaching you how to code. Pro plan is there but there are a lot of basic and free courses on the mentioned subject. The curriculum is really wide covering Python, R, Java, JavaScript, SQL, Ruby, C#, C++, Swift, PHP, HTML, CSS and more so I am sure that if you are interested in coding this would be a pretty good place to find things. Besides pure language coding courses site offers also, Cybersecurity, Web design, Data science, web development, Game Development, Mobile Development, and many more courses on provided subjects.

Academic Earth

https://academicearth.org/ Academic Earth has been built with one simple premise: Everyone deserves access to education. Lead by this kind of mindset on Academic Earth you will find well, academic courses similar to ones found on edX and Coursera, but from mentioned sites here all courses are free and you will find only academic ones, there are no entrepreneur or expert courses here, just pure academic ones. If you wish to see and learn something the way it is taught in Harvard, Berkeley, MIT, etc this is the place for you.

Khan Academy

https://www.khanacademy.org/ Khan academy is completely free and it is offering courses matching certain grades for children. It is offering courses for all 8 years of elementary school, math courses for high school and college with some coursework on topics like science, arts & humanities, reading, life skills, etc. Despite not being on the same level as some university courses presented on other mentioned websites Khan Academy is a good place to learn a lot of basic skills that you could build upon later.

Conclusion

I hope that I have helped you in some way to expand your skill set and learn something new with provided sources and I hope to see you again on errortools.com

In case you don’t know, Windows contains a feedback mechanism that generates error reports from hardware and software problems. These reports are temporarily stored in the system and send them back to Microsoft so that it can find solutions to the reported problems and fix them in the upcoming updates.  However, as time goes by, these reports actually take a lot of space in your computer which is why end-users like you are free to delete them with the help of the new Free Up Space feature in Windows 10. As useful the Free Up Space feature may be, there are times when you won’t be able to use it for some reason which is why in this post, you will be guided on how to use alternative ways in deleting very large System queued Windows Error Reporting file, some of which may run in Gigabytes. Every time the Windows Error Reporting or WER sends out an error file and looks for a solution, the WER server at Microsoft sends out a solution instantly. And if the solution is under investigation or is unknown, then you will be notified about it right away and will be asked for more details. As mentioned, even though the Free Up Space feature in Settings will be able to clear the error reporting files, there are instances when it won’t be able to delete very large System queued Windows Error Reporting files. Alternatively, there is an option to delete these files using the Disk Cleanup Utility. Feel free to select which option you’d like to use to get rid of Windows Error Reporting Files.

Option 1 – Delete Windows Error Reporting Files via Settings

• Go to Settings.
• From there, go to System > Storage > Free Up Space and then click on it to launch it.
• Afterward, give it some time to populate all the files and folders. Once it’s done, select “System created Windows Error Reporting files” to mark its checkbox while leaving the other options unchecked.
• Next, click on the Remove files button to delete all the Windows Error Reporting files from your computer.

Option 2 – Manually delete the Windows Error Reporting Files

• Tap the Win + E keys to open File Explorer.
• Next, enable the Hidden Files view from the menu.
• Then go to C:/ProgramData/MicrosoftWindowsWER.
• From there, you will see various folders like LocalReportArchive, ReportArchive, ReportQueue, and Temp.
• Open each one of the aforementioned folders and delete the archive files. Note that these files will have names similar to “00c58c1f-b836-4703-9bcf-c699ca24d285”.

Note: If you are not able to delete any of these files, you have to take ownership of the folder. To do so, refer to these steps:

• Right-click on the folder and 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.

On the other hand, if you do not want to go through all these troubles in deleting the Windows Error Reporting files, you can just disable it especially if it already becomes a daily annoyance as the files generate every day and their sizes are mostly gigabytes. And besides, there are times when these files do not make it to the Microsoft WER server and end up only occupying a lot of space for nothing.

The latest Windows 11 update has brought with it not so popular widget from Windows 10, the weather widget that will reside into the taskbar and constantly show stuff like temperature, weather conditions, etc. The weather widget is not a bad thing but most users found it a little annoying and turned it off in Windows 10. If you wonder how can you do the same but this time inside Windows 11 please keep reading. The first step is to right-click  anywhere on the taskbar (in empty space) and choose Taskbar settings Once the taskbar settings are opened, find Widgets and click on the switch on the far right to turn it off, immediately no more information will be shown on the taskbar and it will be free again. And that is all there is to it.

Many Windows 10 users use a Bluetooth headset as these kinds of Audio devices, as you know, lack wires since wires tend to get entangled and break which could get quite inconvenient. This is why using a wireless headphone is more preferable since it’s much simpler, however, using a wireless headphone also means it comes with a charging requirement and if it fails to charge, there is no music or audio or anything that you need a Bluetooth headphone for. However, wireless headphones are also susceptible to problems as you might encounter some problems when connecting your wireless headphone to your Windows 10 computer. One of these problems include when you try to get sound from the wireless device but nothing happened. This indicates that the Bluetooth headphone is disconnected in some way for some unknown reason even if you’ve already plugged it in. Thus, if you encounter this scenario, then there are several options you need to check out to fix the problem. To start troubleshooting the problem, here are the options you need to use as a reference.

Option 1 – Try turning off the device and turning it back on

The first thing you can do to resolve the problem is to turn off your wireless audio device and wait for a couple of seconds before you turn it back on. In most cases, this should fix the problem. In fact, you can also try to unpair and pair the Bluetooth audio device and see if it fixes the problem or not.

Option 2 – Try to set the headphone as the default device manually

There are times when you plug a headphone, it does not toggle the default audio device. Thus, to fix this issue, you have to set the default audio device to the headphones manually. To do that, follow these steps:

• First, right-click on the volume icon located on the system tray.
• Next, select the Open sound settings option to open the Sound section in the Windows 10 Settings app.
• After that, go to the Output section and select Headphones for the “Choose your output device” option. This should fix the problem for you.

Option 3 – Try running the Bluetooth Troubleshooter

As you know, Windows 10 has various troubleshooters with user-friendly interfaces where you can utilize them to fix issues in your PC. And since you’re dealing with some Bluetooth problem, you have to run the built-in Bluetooth Troubleshooter. To do this, follow these steps:

• Open the Windows 10 Settings.
• Then go to Update & Security > Troubleshoot.
• You should find the option for Bluetooth on your right-hand side – click on it then click on the “Run the troubleshooter” option.
• Now follow the next screen options.

Option 4 – Try to update or reinstall the Bluetooth driver

The issue might have something to do with the Bluetooth drivers. It could be that it is outdated and needs to be updated or that you recently updated it and since then you have trouble in removing the Bluetooth devices and so to fix the issue, you can update, roll back or uninstall the Bluetooth drivers. How? Follow the steps below.

• Tap the Win + X keys to open the Device Manager.
• Next, look for the Bluetooth device and right-click on it.
• Select the option “Update driver”.
• After that, a new popup window will appear. In there, select the option, “Search automatically for updated driver software”.

Note: Checking the update may take a few minutes so you’ll have to wait until it finishes. If it is able to find an update, you must install it. And if you want to reinstall the Bluetooth driver, just select the “Uninstall driver” option and follow the next on-screen instructions that follow.

Error 501 - What is it?

Error 501 is an error code that sometimes may occur while you are using Internet Explorer on your Windows PC. The error message is displayed as:

'Error 501: Not implemented or not supported.'

Solution

Error Causes

It is difficult to narrow down the ultimate cause of error 501. This is because this error code can be triggered by multiple reasons such as:

• Third-party confliction or due to an incorrect HTTP 1.1 setting
• Improper program installation
• Changes in the “LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy” registry key
• Corrupted Registry Database

Further Information and Manual Repair

The occurrence of this error regardless of what the cause is may cause a lot of inconvenience to you. And if not fixed on the time it can lead to system failure too. To repair the error 501, identifying the cause for the error really helps. By identifying the cause, you can easily select the most suitable solution to fix it.

Let us walk you through the solutions to fix error 501 timely:

Cause: Third-party conflicts or due to an incorrect HTTP 1.1 setting

Solution: If the above cause is the reason for error 501, this means the Local Policy Rights Settings have been altered. And because of that, Windows is not running your desired program. To solve this error simply log on to Windows as an administrator. Then run local computer policy snap-in. Open it and click on the computer configuration. Here you will see the Windows settings option. Click on it and then open security settings, local policies, and click on properties. Now in the add users section select the user which you want to add to the policy and save by pressing OK. After you’ve made changes, now try using internet explorer again. If this is the cause for the error pop, the error will not occur. If it still occurs then this means there is some other underlying cause for the error. Read on to find out.

Cause: Improper Program Installation

Solution: Error 501 may also occur due to improper program installation. The best way to resolve it is to uninstall recently installed programs.

Cause: Changes in the “LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy” registry key

Solution: Sometimes during installation registry keys also get damaged or changed. If changes in the LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy” registry key is the issue, then you need to alter the registry key ‘LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy settings and its value. This key inside the registry database allows Windows to control the various access options that you have. However, due to wrong settings, it denies access and shows error 501 when you open Internet Explorer. To alter registry key settings can be tricky and complex if you are not a computer programmer. In such as scenario it is advisable to download Restoro. This is a user-friendly and multi-functional repair tool embedded with a powerful register cleaner. In addition to this, it also functions as anti-virus and a system optimizer.

Restoro Solution

Restoro is simple and easy to use. To operate this tool on your PC and to reset registry settings you don’t need any technical expertise or sound knowledge. Its smooth navigation makes it easy for users to scan and repair errors like 501 due to registry misconfiguration in seconds.  With this helper, you don’t have to modify Windows registry settings manually. It will do it automatically. Furthermore, if Error 501 is triggered by a corrupted registry database, you can run it to repair this issue too. It cleans and wipes out all the unnecessary and obsolete files that could be corrupting your registry. This includes junk files, internet history, and invalid registry entries. It clears up your hard disk space and repairs your corrupted registry. If your PC’s registry is damaged due to malicious software like viruses and malware, then it uses advanced antivirus to remove them from your system. It has a value-adding backup feature that enables you to create a backup of your files for data safety and recovery in case of loss during repair. Restoro is compatible with all Windows versions.

Starting with Restoro

Here are 3 simple steps to get started:

1. Click here to download Restoro.
2. Once the installation is complete, run it to scan for errors
3. After scanning the errors, simply click repair to resolve the issues including the error code 501.

Along with fixing error code 501 triggered by registry damage, it also repairs all other PC-related issues. It helps maintain a stable and error-free system for the longest time.

If you receive an error message saying, “Windows Update cannot currently check for updates because updates on this computer are controlled”, while trying to change the Windows Update preferences or manually update, then read on as this post will guide you in fixing it. You can mostly encounter this error in managed systems where an Administrator controls the permission on the operating system. The reason why you are not able to modify the Windows Update preferences or manually update your system is that a group policy prevents you from doing so and that the only user who can do these things is none other than the administrator of the system. Troubleshooting this kind of problem is the same as when you troubleshoot an error message that says, “Some settings are managed by your organization”. In such cases, you need to check both the Windows Update Group Policy and Registry settings. If you’re just a standard user, you have to contact your system administrator regarding this issue and if you are the administrator, you can make adjustments to the system settings via the Registry Editor and the Group Policy Editor. Refer to the instructions given below for detailed instructions.

Option 1 – via the Registry Editor

If you are using the Home edition of Windows 10 and you want to change the policy for non-admin users on your local computer, then you can use the Registry Editor for that. Here’s how you can do it:

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

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindows

• From there, look for the key named “WindowsUpdate” in the Windows folder and if it does not exist, you can just right-click on the Windows folder and select New > Key.
• Now name the new key “WindowsUpdate” and create a new sub-key under the newly created key and input “AU” as its name.
• Keep AU selected and then right-click anywhere in the right pane and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
• Then name the Value as “AUOptions” and right-click on AUOptions and select Modify.
• Next, change the value of the Value data to “5” and click OK to save the changes made to the settings. Note that the Value Data of 5 refers to the policy to allow the local admin to choose the setting.
• Now restart your computer once you’re done and check if non-admin users can now modify the Windows Update settings or update Windows.

Option 2 – via Group Policy Editor

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box and then type “gpedit.msc” and hit Enter to open the Group Policy Editor.
• Next, navigate to this folder: Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update.
• Now look for the “Configure Automatic Updates” policy on the right pane and double click on it to open its Properties.
• After that, shift the Radio button to “Enabled” and from the drop-down menu for Configure automatic updating, select option 5: Allow local admin to choose the setting.
• Then click on Apply and OK to save the changes made to the settings.
• Restart your computer and check if the problem’s fixed or not.