Keyboard shortcuts and hotkeys are not working

You might be trying to play music files using the Windows Media Player, but were unable to do so since you encountered an error saying, “Windows Media Player Error – Server Execution Failed” error. If you encountered this error, worry not for this post will guide you on how to fix it using some potential fixes. In the error message, the “Server execution failed” indicates that the “wmplayer.exe” is still running or shutting down at that point and it is possible that it is stuck which is not able to close properly. To fix this error, there are several potential fixes you can try. The first one is to run the Video Playback troubleshooter. While you could also try to disable the WMP Network Sharing Service or register both the jscript.dll and vbscript.dll files. For more information, refer to the options provided below.

Option 1 – Try to run the Video Playback troubleshooter

The first thing you can do to fix the problem, you can try to run the Video Playback troubleshooter instead. To run it, simply go to Settings > Update & security > Troubleshoot. From there, scroll down until you see the Video Playback option and then click on the “Run the troubleshooter” button to get started. This troubleshooter will detect and automatically fix any problems related to video playback so it should help fix the error.

Option 2 – Try to disable the WMP Network Sharing Service

If the Video Playback troubleshooter didn’t work in fixing the problem, the next thing you need to do is disable the Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service. The WMP Network Sharing Service is used to share the libraries of the Windows Media Player to other users on the network as well as media devices using the Universal Plug and Play. And since you are not using any network here, then you can disable this service to fix the problem. How? Refer to the given steps below.

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box and type “services.msc” in the field and tap Enter to open the Services Manager.
• Next, look for the Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service from the list of Services and right-click on it.
• After that, click on the Stop option and see if it fixes the Windows Media Player error.

Option 3 – Try to register the jscript.dll and vbscript.dll files

• Tap the Win + X keys and from the menu select the Windows PowerShell (Admin) option to open an elevated Command Prompt.
• Next, type this command to register the jscript.dll file and click on the confirmation box: regsvr32 jscript.dll
• After that, execute the regsvr32 vbscript.dll command to register the vbscript.dll file.
• Once you’re done, these DLL files will be re-registered and should fix the Windows Media Player error.

Hello everyone and welcome to our useful tips and tricks and problem-solving article blog. This time we are doing something different, instead of solving issues this time we are focusing on some quality of life tips like keyboard shortcuts in your Windows 10.

Shortcut Keys	Description
Windows Key	Opens/closes the Start menu.
Windows Key + Up Arrow	Maximizes the selected window.
Windows Key + Down Arrow	Reduces the window size. (Restore down.)
Windows Key + M	Minimizes all open windows.
Windows Key + Shift + M	Opens minimized windows.
Windows Key + Tab	Shows Task View.
Windows Key + L	Locks the screen.
Windows Key + A	Opens the Action Center.
Windows Key + V	Opens Clipboard History.
Windows Key + I	Opens the Settings menu.
Windows Key + F	Opens the Feedback hub.
Windows Key + H	Opens the dictation toolbar.
Windows Key + P	Opens the projection settings.
Windows Key + . (Windows Key + ;)	Opens the emoji panel.
Windows Key + C	Opens Cortana in listening mode.
Windows Key + C (Windows Key + Q)	Opens Windows Search.
Windows Key + G	Opens the Xbox game bar.
Windows Key + X	Opens the secondary start menu.
Windows Key + <number>	Opens the app in the taskbar relative to the number input. For example, if Chrome is the fourth app on the taskbar, using Windows Key + 4 will open Chrome.
Windows Key + Alt + <number>	Opens the right-click menu for the app in the taskbar relative to the number input. For example, if Chrome is the fourth app on the taskbar, using Windows Key + Alt + 4 will open Chrome’s right-click menu.
Windows Key + D	Shows/hides open apps on the desktop.
Windows Key + E	Opens File Explorer.
Windows Key + U	Opens Ease of Access in the Settings menu.
Windows Key + Print Screen	Takes a screenshot of the desktop.
Windows Key + Control + F	Opens the Find Computers window.
Windows Key + Control + D	Creates a virtual desktop.
Windows Key + Control + Left Arrow	Switches to the virtual desktop on the left.
Windows Key + Control + Right Arrow	Switches to the virtual desktop on the right.
Windows Key + Control + F4	Closes the active virtual desktop.
Windows Key + Space	Switches between installed languages (for writing text).

If you are currently facing the “A required device isn’t connected or cannot be accessed” error with codes 0xc0000185, 0xc0000225, 0xc0000001, 0xc00000f, and 0xc000000e on your Windows 10 computer, worry not for this post will help you resolve this problem. All these error codes point out the same thing – your computer needs to be repaired. Some of these error codes are related to the “winload.efi” file which means that you are using the UEFI system. This file also loads up important drivers in order to start the Windows Kernel. And if you got a remark from any of these error codes indicating that there is a hardware failure or that the driver configuration is incorrect, then you must physically check if the wires are connected properly. This kind of error occurs mostly when your computer wasn’t able to locate the system files that are needed to boot up your computer. Thus, the only way to fix this problem is to correct the boot record. It is recommended that you utilize the “/RebuildBCD” option in order to rebuild the BCD files. To do so, follow these steps:

• You can start by booting into the installation environment for Windows 10 from an installation media.
• After that, click on Repair your computer and on the blue screen, select Troubleshoot and then select the Advanced options menu.
• From there, select Command Prompt and once you open it, enter each one of the commands given below by sequence.
  • bootrec /FixMbr
  • bootrec /FixBoot
  • bootrec /ScanOS
  • bootrec /RebuildBcd
• Once you’re done executing the commands given above, type “exit” to close the Command Prompt window and then restart your computer and see if it fixed error code 0xc000014c.

On the other hand, if rebuilding the BCD using the /RebuildBCD option didn’t help, you can try a crude way to rebuild the boot record from scratch. You can do that by following the given steps below which will export and delete/backup the BCD available in the system.

• Go to the Advanced Recovery Mode.
• From there, go to Command Prompt and execute the commands given below and make sure to enter them one after the other.
  • bcdedit /export C:BCD_Backup
  • c:
  • cd boot
  • attrib bcd -s -h –r
  • ren c:bootbcd bcd.old
  • bootrec /RebuildBcd

If it still didn’t help, then troubleshoot the problem further with the help of the following instructions.

Option 1 – Disable the Secure Boot in the BIOS

Disabling the Secure Boot in the BIOS settings is definitely recommended to resolve the error. To disable Secure Boot, here’s what you have to do:

• First, boot your computer into Windows 10.
• Next, go to Settings > Windows Update. From there, check if there is anything that you have to download and install if you see any available updates. Usually, OEMs send and update the list of trusted hardware, drivers, and operating systems for your computer.
• After that, go to the BIOS of your computer.
• Then go to Settings > Update & Security > Advanced Startup options. If you click on Restart Now, it will restart your computer and give you all the advanced options.
• Next, select Troubleshoot > Advanced Options. As you can see, this screen offers you further options including System restore, Startup repair, Go back to the previous version, Command Prompt, System Image Recovery, and UEFI Firmware Settings.
• Select the UEFI Firmware Settings which will take you to the BIOS.
• From there, go to the Security > Boot > Authentication tab where you should see Secure Boot. Note that every OEM has its own way of implementing the options so it varies.
• Next, set Secure Boot to Disabled and set Legacy Support to On or Enabled.
• Save the changes made and exit. Afterward, your computer will reboot.

Option 2 – Run System File Checker

You could also run a System File Checker or SFC scan. All you have to do is select Command Prompt from the Advanced Options. Once you’ve opened Command Prompt, type the “sfc /scannow” command and tap Enter to execute it.

Option 3 – Disable the Early Launch Anti-Malware Protection

• You need to restart your computer in the Start Menu first while holding down the Shift key on your keyboard.
• After that, it will restart your computer to Startup Settings.
• Now ensure that the 8^th option is labeled as “Disable early launch anti-malware protection.
• Then tap the F8 key since the aforementioned option above is listed at number 8. This should launch and load Windows on your PC with the Early Anti-malware protection disabled for that session only when you try to carry out the same task and then check if the error related to the Winload.efi file is now fixed.

Option 4 – Try to run Automatic Startup Repair

In this option, you need to boot your computer into the Advanced Startup Options and from there, run the Automatic Startup Repair and then wait until the process is completed.

Option 5 – Try to reset the BIOS or the UEFI Settings

If updating the BIOS didn’t help in fixing the error, you can try to reset the BIOS instead.

• Start your computer and tap the F10 key during the booting process to enter the BIOS. If it does not work, you can try tapping the F1 or F2 key as well as the Del key.
• Once you’re already in the BIOS, tap the F9 key to get the prompt to RestoreLoad default configuration now for the BIOS.
• Next, click on Yes and then follow the next on-screen instructions that appear to set the BIOS back to its default settings.
• Once you’re done restoring the default settings of the BIOS, restart your computer and then check if it now boots properly.

Option 6 – Try to physically check the hardware

You should also check the physical status of the hardware in your computer. You can clean the dust off the hardware components like the Network Card of the computer. You might want to use a small blower or you could also use a soft cloth and run the components gently. Make sure that you don’t damage any parts with moisture or cause harm to any circuits while you carry out this task.

There are times when the Windows Search results do not include what you want to search. However, if you are trying to search for something that’s located on your desktop and Libraries, they would appear right away on the search results. Actually, the issue is not with the search but with the list of files and folders that Windows can index. If you encounter this issue, read on as this post will guide you on how to fix it. The Windows 10 operating system, ever since Windows v1903 was released, offers two kinds of searches – the classic and the enhanced search. You may have to add more folders to the classic search or use the enhanced mode to resolve the issue. In other words, to fix the problem with the Start Menu Search, you can try to enable the Enhanced Mode or add folders to the Class Search or remove the excluded folders, as well as run the Search and Indexing troubleshooter. For more information, refer to each one of the options provided below.

Option 1 – Try to enable the Enhanced Mode

To fix the problem, you have to enable the Enhanced Mode search and configure the folders you want to be indexed. How? Follow these steps:

• First, you have to go to Settings > Search > Searching Windows.
• Next, select the radio button for the Enhanced option.
• After that, select the folders you want the Windows Indexer to exclude from the Enhanced Search mode.

Option 2 – Try to add folders to the Class Search

If you don’t want to enable the Enhanced search mode, then you might want to add folders that are important to you. All you have to do is configure the Search Indexing Options by following these steps:

• Go to Settings > Search > Classic and from there, click on the “Customize search locations” option.
• Next, click on Modify in the pop-up window that appears.
• Then add drives and folders that are important to you. Once the indexing is completed, Windows will be able to find the file and display it in the search results.

Option 3 – Try removing the excluded folders

If you have already enabled the Enhanced mode but your files still don’t appear, then you might want to check out the excluded folder list.

• The first thing you have to do is go to Search and from there, you will find a list of folders under the Excluded folder list.
• Next, click on the excluded folder that you want to remove by clicking on the “Remove Excluded folders” button.
• If you are using the Classic search, you have to check if the index has restrictions on the file type. You can find it in Advanced options > File Types.

Note: If you want to search in Documents, you could also enable the Index Properties and File Contents. This should resolve the problem.

Option 4 – Try to run the Search and Indexing troubleshooter

You might also want to run the Search and Indexing troubleshooter in Windows 10 as it checks whether the settings for the Windows Start Search are in place and automatically corrects any issues if the update or software installation has changed the settings. To run it just click on the Start button and select Settings > Updates and Security > Troubleshoot. From there, select the Search and Indexing Troubleshooter.

One of the cool and interesting features in Windows is the Screensaver which allows users to display animation or change the wallpaper automatically when the computer is not being used. This feature can also time out and lock your computer when it remains idle for quite some time. However, if you notice that the screensaver of your computer turns on a lot earlier, then you’ve come to the right place as this post will guide you on how you can change the timeout settings of the screensaver of your Windows 10 computer. Usually, the screensaver in Windows 10 is turned off by default, however, if some other user has turned it on or if you have turned it on, you can actually change the timeout settings of the screensaver using several methods. You can do it through the Personalization settings, Registry Editor, as well as the Group Policy Editor. Before you proceed with the instructions provided below, make sure that you create a System Restore point first. Once done, follow each one of the suggestions carefully to successfully change the Screensaver timeout settings in Windows 10.

Option 1 – Modify the timeout settings of Screensaver via Personalization settings

• Open the Start menu and type “screen saver” in the field.
• On the search results that appear, click on the “Change Screen Saver” option.
• From there, you have the option to change the screen saver type, preview, open settings, change the wait time, as well as choose to display lock screen on your resume.
• Now to change the timeout settings of your screensaver, you have to increase the wait time from 1 to 15 or anything that works for you.
• Once done, click OK and exit to save the changes made.

Option 2 – Try to change the screensaver time via Registry Editor

The next option you can try to change the timeout settings in the screensaver is using the Registry Editor. To get started, follow these steps:

• Tap the Win + R keys to launch the Run utility and type “regedit” in the field and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor.
• Next, navigate to this registry path: ComputerHKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwarePoliciesMicrosoftWindows
• From there, right-click on Windows located in the right pane and select New > Key.
• Name the key as “Control Panel” and right-click on it and select New > Key and then name it as “Desktop”.
• Once done, click on the newly created Desktop key to highlight it.
• After that, right-click on any empty space in the right pane and select New > String Value and then type “ScreenSaveTimeOut” and hit Enter to save it.
• Now right-click on ScreenSaveTimeOut and select Modify and then set its value data in seconds.
• Click on OK and exit the Registry Editor to save the changes made.

Option 3 – Change Screensaver timeout settings via Group Policy Editor

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box and type “gpedit.msc” in the field and hit Enter to open the Group Policy Editor.
• Next, navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Personalization.
• Then look for a policy setting named “Screen saver timeout” and double click on it and then click on the Enabled option to enable it.
• Add the screen timeout in seconds and click on the Apply and OK buttons to save the changes.
• Restart your computer.

Note: If you want to disable the screensaver feature in your computer, you can always do so by disabling a policy setting named “Enable Screen Saver”.

What is the Blue Screen Locale ID 1033 Error?

Blue screen locale id 1033 error as the name suggests, is a type of BSoD error. This error may occur during Windows startup, program load, or while the program is running. The error indicates poor PC maintenance and occurs without any warning. The error message is prompted in the following format:

Problem signature: Problem Event Name: BlueScreen OS Version: 6.0.6002.2.2.0.16.7 Locale ID: 1033

When the error occurs, the computer screen turns blue and the user is unable to view or access the program. It is advisable to fix the error right away, virtually because BSoD is a critical PC error, it can pose serious threats to your system.

Error Causes

The two most common causes of the occurrence of the Blue Screen Locale ID1033 error code are:

• Registry issues
• Viral infection

Further Information and Manual Repair

You don’t need to hire a technician or be a computer whiz to resolve Blue Screen Locale ID1033 error code. Here are some methods that you can try to resolve this error on your PC. These methods are easy to perform and result-driven.

Method 1: Perform a PC Scan by Downloading an Anti-Virus

Since this error is indicative of a viral infection, it is suggested you perform a PC scan by installing an antivirus on your system. Make sure you download an antivirus that is powerful and has the ability to scan all kinds of viruses.

Method 2: Clean and Repair the Registry

Another alternative method is to clean and repair the registry. The Registry is a component of the PC that stores all information and activities performed on the PC. This includes both important and unnecessary files like junk files, cookies, internet history, temporary files, invalid entries, bad registry keys, and more. These files not only accumulate in the registry but also damage and corrupt it thereby generating error codes like the Blue Screen Locale ID1033 error code.

In this post, you will be guided on how to import and export the WSL distros in your Windows 10 computer. WSL, also known as Windows Subsystem for Linux, is a compatibility layer needed to run Linux binary executable in Windows 10, as well as the Windows Server 2019. In case you don’t know, when you reinstall or reset Windows 10, all of its configuration data stored with the WSL distros gets deleted. Going back or restoring the configuration can be quite challenging but worry not for Microsoft has already got this covered as you can now import and export the WSL or Windows Subsystem for Linux distros. There are three aspects that you have to deal with when you import or export WSL distros in your Windows 10 computer, such as importing WSL distro, exporting WSL distro, and uninstalling the imported WSL distros. Before you proceed to the instructions provided below, make sure that all your installed distros are updated via Microsoft Store. Once you have this covered, follow the options below.

Option 1 – Import the WSL distro

• Type “command prompt” in the Start Search and from the search results, right-click on Command Prompt and then select the “Run as administrator” option.
• After opening Command Prompt as admin, execute this command: wsl --list –all
• The command you entered will list all the installed WSL distros on your computer. And now it’s time for you to import a WSL distro by executing this command: wsl --import <Name of the distro> <Fill path to save the backup .tar file>

Note: In the given command above, replace “<Name of the distro>” with the name of the distro you want to import and replace “<Fill the path to save the backup .tar file>” with the location where you want to save the .tar file.

Option 2 – Export the WSL distro

• Type “command prompt” in the Start Search and from the search results, right-click on Command Prompt and then select the “Run as administrator” option.
• After opening Command Prompt as admin, execute this command to see the list of all the installed WSL distros in your computer: wsl --list –all
• After that, execute this command to export a WSL distro: wsl --export <Name of the distro> <Fill path to save the backup .tar file>

Option 3 – Uninstall the imported WSL distro

• Open Command Prompt with admin privileges.
• Next, execute this command to view the list of all the installed WSL distros: wsl --list –all
• After that, execute this command to uninstall an imported WSL distro: wsl --unregister <Name of the distro>
• Once it’s done, close Command Prompt and restart your computer.

If you are trying to run or starting a program on your Windows 10 computer and you suddenly get an error message saying, “Error 1061 The service cannot accept control messages at this time”, read on as this post will show you what you can do to fix the problem. This kind of error pops up since the Application Information Service does not respond to the requests to raise applications to Administrator in Windows 10 like the Task Manager, Service updates, and so on. Thus, you won’t be able to run or open apps and will only get stuck with this error. The “Error 1061 The service cannot accept control messages at this time” message is a type of network error that typically occurs when there is a temporary mismatch between the requested control and the state of the service to be controlled. It’s most likely that the service is in a state of start-pending, stop-pending, stopped or it may already be used by another user which explains why this error message suddenly appears. You can encounter this error message on any Windows operation. Here are some of the most common occurrences:

• Debugging a Windows service
• Starting Task Manager
• Starting Registry Editor
• Starting Firewall
• Starting services.msc
• Starting dsm.exe
• Updating services
• Asking for file permissions, etc.

According to Microsoft MSDN, the error occurs because:

“There is a temporary mismatch between the requested control and the state of the service to be controlled. The service may be in a state of start-pending, stop-pending, or stopped. Wait a few minutes, then retry your operation.” If after a few minutes, the error still appears, then you may have to follow the options prepared below.

Option 1 – Try to restart the Credential Manager Service

• Go to the Start menu.
• Then type in “services” in the search box.
• From the search results, right-click on “Services” and select the “Run as Administrator” option.
• Next, look for the Credential Manager Service in the Services window.
• Once you found it, double-click on it to open its Properties. From there, you need to click on the Stop button.
• After that, set the Credential Manager Service to “Automatic” and click on the Start button to restart it.

Option 2 – Try to start the Application Information Service

You can also try starting the Application Information Service to fix the “Error 1061 The service cannot accept control messages at this time”. Just open the Windows Services Manager and make sure that Application Information Service is Started. And if you find that it’s already started, you need to restart it.

Option 3 – Try killing the IIS Worker Process via Task Manager

• Tap the Ctrl + Alt + Del keys and select the Task Manager.
• Next, click on More details to expand the Task Manager and then look for the IIS Worker Process entry which should be displayed in the list under the Processes tab. From there, you can see it in the Background processes. Once you find it, kill its process.
• You can also try to look for the “w3wp.exe” entries and end its process. if you find many entries, right-click on some of them and select the End task option from the context menu.
• Now restart your PC. That should fix the problem.

As you know, Windows operating system comes with tons of features. Some of which are not intended to be used by normal customers or users directly which means that only a small percentage of the huge user base of the operating system leverages the use of such features. However, they’ve added some major value to the feature list of the operating system. You can find these features under the “Turn Windows Features on and off” option. This indicates that if you want to, you can just type in “Turn Windows Features on and off” in the search box and then enable any feature that you want to enable. Aside from that, there are other ways you can disable or enable the optional Windows Features in your Windows 10 computer.

Option 1 – via Control Panel

• Open Control Panel and select Uninstall a Program.
• After that, select the “Turn Windows features On or Off” option on the left side.

Option 2 – via Command Prompt

• Tap the Win + X combination on your keyboard or right-click on the Start button and then click on Command Prompt (Admin). Alternatively, you can also type “cmd” in the Cortana search box and right-click on the Command Prompt icon, and select the “Run as administrator” option.
• If a User Account Control or UAC prompt appears, click on Yes.
• Next, type in the following command to see the list of the available features.

DISM /online /get-features /format:table | more

• Now all you have to do is copy the name of the feature that you want to enable and for you to do that, you need to execute the following command:

DISM /online /enable-feature /featurename:[Enter the name of the feature here] –All

Note: Now if you want to disable a feature that’s already enabled in your computer, refer to these sub-steps:

• First, you need to check what features are enabled, and for you to find out, enter this command: DISM /online /get-features /format:table | find “Enabled" | more
• And if you want to check the detailed information about a particular feature, you can enter this command: DISM /online /get-featureinfo/featurename:[Enter the name of the feature here]

Option 3 – via Windows Powershell

As you know, the Windows Powershell is a very important tool in Windows 10, and a powerful one at that since you can do a lot of things using this command line. So while you use this tool you need to populate the list of available features first and then you have to download the feature your desired feature.

• Search for PowerShell in the Cortana search box and then run it with administrator privileges.
• Next, type in the following command to populate the list of available features:

Get-WindowsOptionalFeature –Online

• After that, enter the following command to install any feature you want to enable from the list of available features:

Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName *Type feature name*

• Now enter the following command to enable your desired feature:

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName “Type feature name” –all

• And if you want to disable any enabled feature, just enter the following command:

Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName “Type feature name”

Option 4 – via an external installation source

You also have the option to fetch the latest features from an updated offline source. The source could be an ISO any other type of image or just a folder. So you need to decide if you want to use Windows Powershell or Command Prompt.

• If you want to use Command Prompt, just enter this command: exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:< /All /Source:<Enter the path of the feature here>
• If you want to use Windows Powershell, use this command: Install-WindowsFeature –Source “<Enter the path of the feature here>”

Note: If you want to get the latest features, you need to get the latest version of the image of the operating system that you are trying to install the feature from.

Microsoft sent an email to users on the Dev build channel saying that the company intends to push some builds that don’t represent what consumers will receive with Windows 11 when it officially releases. In other words, these are going to be some rather buggy builds that won’t be too enjoyable to use. The company recommends users switch from the Dev to the beta channel if they aren’t prepared to deal with the instability. We’ll have to wait and see just how buggy these builds are, but if Microsoft is actually sending out a warning about them it is very likely that builds will be plagued with issues and maybe even stability problems.

Back to Windows 10

How we can expect some buggy build of Windows 11 if you prefer a stable system over new features maybe best decision would be to switch back to Windows 10 until the new OS hits official release.

Switching from dev build channel to beta channel

Another solution, if you do not want to deal with too many issues, is to switch from Dev build channel to beta where things will be more stable. Follow the guide below in order to quickly switch to the beta channel. Following instructions only apply to Windows 11 installations that are linked up to the Windows Insider program, not clean installation of OS.

1. Press ⊞ WINDOWS + I to open settings
2. Inside settings click on Windows update
3. In Windows Update click on Windows Insider Program
4. Inside click on Choose your Insider Settings
5. Click on the button next to Beta Channel to select it (you can switch back to the Dev channel here if you change your mind)

The setting will be saved automatically and from now on you will only receive beta channel updates.