Taskbar has disappeared from the Desktop

You might have experienced a situation where your Windows computer was interrupted due to some battery issues or power failure. It could be that the upgrade process was interrupted because you’ve signed out of your computer or you restarted it by accident. In this case, you will most likely get a Windows Update or Upgrade error 0x80200056. If you are getting this error, read on as this post will guide you in fixing it. This kind of error pops up when the upgrade process was interrupted and could be caused by anything but the baseline here is that your computer was restarted accidentally or someone could have signed out your PC. To resolve the problem, here are some fixes you ought to try:

Option 1 – Try updating or upgrading your computer again

This is the basic thing to do since the process was suddenly interrupted. Just log in to your account and restart the Windows Update or Upgrade process but make sure that your internet connection is stable and that you don’t touch anything so as not to interrupt the upgrade/update process again.

Option 2 – Check if your PC is plugged in or if the battery is full

It is always best to update your computer always when you’re really sure that the power won’t fail. If you’re using a desktop computer, make sure that everything is plugged in. And if you’re using a laptop when this error occurred, make sure that its battery is at 100% but it’s better if you just plug it into power just in case as there are times when the Windows update or upgrade gets stuck for too long like for hours so it will really help if your device is connected to power.

Option 3 – Try running the Windows Update Troubleshooter

Running the built-in Windows Update troubleshooter could also help you resolve the Windows Update errors as well as the error 0x80200056. 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.

Option 4 – Delete 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. A lot of users tried deleting the files in this folder to fix the problem and so far it has worked. Like them, you can try clearing the Windows Update cache by simply deleting the contents of the folder named “SoftwareDistribution” since Windows apparently can’t clear and re-download the update contents once they are corrupted. Thus, deleting the contents of this folder will make Windows download the contents again which will fix the problem. To do that, follow the steps below.

• 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 stop bits

• After entering these commands, it will stop the Windows Update Service and the Background Intelligent Transfer Service.
• Next, got to the C:\Windows\Software\Distribution 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.
• Once all the contents in the Software Distribution folder are deleted, restart your PC and then go back to Command Prompt and input the following commands again.

net start wuauserv net start bits

Since the folder has already been flushed, it will be populated afresh the instant your restart your computer and open Windows Update.

Option 5 – Try running the System File Checker scan

System File Checker or SFC is a built-in command utility that helps in restoring corrupted files as well as missing files. It replaces bad and corrupted system files to good system files that might be causing the error 0x80200056. 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.

Option 6 – Run the Chkdsk utility to repair hard disk errors

You can also run the Chkdsk utility to resolve the Windows Update error 0x80200056. If your hard drive has issues with integrity, the update will really fail as the system will think that it’s not healthy and that’s where the Chkdsk utility comes in. The Chkdsk utility repairs hard drive errors that might be causing the problem.

• Open Command Prompt with admin privileges.
• After opening Command Prompt, execute the commands listed below, and don’t forget to hit Enter right after you type in each one of them and if you have installed Windows to some different directory, you must replace “C” with the name of the drive you’ve installed Windows with.
• chkdsk C: /r /x
• chkdsk C: /f

Option 7 – Run the DISM tool to repair the Windows Update client

The Windows update/upgrade error 0x80200056 might be caused by some issues in the Windows Update client so you need to run the DISM tool to repair it. Note that you have to use another computer or another Windows from a shared network to fix it.

BigTech platforms Google and Facebook were hit with a series of antitrust lawsuits by the US federal government and states on charges they are operating monopolies and abusing their power. Below is the status of the cases, as well as government probes of Apple and Amazon in their current states

Two lawsuits against Facebook

In a defeat, Judge James Boasberg said the Federal Trade Commission, which had sued Facebook in December asking that Facebook be forced to sell WhatsApp and Instagram, failed to show that Facebook had monopoly power in the social-networking market, among other problems. However, the FTC could file a new complaint by July 29. He threw out a related state lawsuit entirely, saying that the attorney's general had waited too long. They are looking at their options.

Four lawsuits against Google

The US Justice Department sued Google in October, accusing the $1 trillion company of illegally using its market muscle to hobble rivals. A trial date was set for September 12, 2023. A lawsuit by 38 US states and territories accuses Google of abusing its market power to try to make its search engine as dominant inside cars, TVs, and speakers as it is in phones. This was consolidated with the federal lawsuit for purposes of discovery. Texas, backed by other states, filed a separate lawsuit against Google, accusing it of breaking antitrust law in how it runs its online advertising business. Dozens of state attorneys general sued Google on July 7, alleging that it bought off competitors and used restrictive contracts to unlawfully maintain a monopoly for its app store on Android phones.

Justice Department investigates Apple

This probe, revealed in June 2019, appears to focus on Apple's app store. Some app developers have accused Apple of introducing new products very similar to existing apps created by other developers and sold in the Apple Store, and then trying to banish the older apps from the store because they compete with Apple's new product. Apple says it seeks to have only the highest-quality apps in the app store.

Justice Department probing Facebook and Amazon

In July 2019, the Justice Department said it was expanding its Big Tech probes to include "search, social media, and some retail services online", an apparent reference to Facebook and Amazon.

Federal Trade Commission on Amazon

In its investigation of Amazon, the FTC is likely looking at the inherent conflict of interest of Amazon competing with small sellers on its marketplace platform, including allegations that it used information from sellers on its platform to decide what products it would introduce.

What is this particular error?

One common issue when trying to upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 7 or 8 is incompatible software. Any installed software or app that isn’t compatible with Windows 10 will prevent you from continuing with the set-up. Normally, you’ll get an error message “What needs your attention” and it will ask you to uninstall a list of apps manually. Unfortunately, some users reported that they couldn’t find the app it asks to uninstall. In some cases, users said they’ve already uninstalled the app but it still won’t start the Windows 10 Setup.

Solution

Error Causes

This type of issue normally occurs because of the following:

• Incompatible software/apps
• Corrupted software/apps
• Incomplete uninstallation

Further Information and Manual Repair

Here are some steps you can take whenever you encounter this error.

Note: Before taking any steps, make sure that you’re highly equipped to do so. Some steps might affect the system and even do more damage to your computer. You might also want to consider using an automated tool instead.

Method 1 – Perform a clean boot, then retry upgrading

A clean boot is normally done to start Windows using the least set of drivers and startup programs available. By doing this, it eliminates possible software issues that happen when installing or uninstalling a program in Windows 10.

Before performing a clean boot, make sure to take note of the following:

• You need administrative privileges in order to perform this action.
• When doing this, your computer might lose temporarily functionality. However, it will return after start-up.
• It is highly advisable to not use the System Configuration to change advanced boot options.

Here are the steps to perform a clean boot.

• Step 1 – Go to Start and search for msconfig
• Step 2 – Go to System Configuration
• Step 3 – Under Services tab, click on the “Hide all Microsoft services” checkbox. Then, choose to Disable all
• Step 4 – Go to the System Configuration’s Startup tab. Then, click on “Open Task Manager”
• Step 5 – In the Task Manager dialog box, you will see a Startup tab. Choose items that you want to disable and then click the Disable button
• Step 6 – Close the Task Manager dialog box.
• Step 7 – Go back to the Startup tab of the System Configuration box. Click “Ok” then proceed with restarting.

Method 2 – Manually uninstall programs from the Program Files folders

Instead of using the “add or remove programs” feature in Windows, you might need to manually install the program directly from the C drive. To do this, follow the steps below:

• Step 1 – Go to the C drive, and look for the Program Files folders. For 32-bit users, you can find it at C:\Program Files. If you’re using the 64-bit version of Windows, go to C:\Program Files (x86) folder.
• Step 2 – Find the “uninstall” application file
• Step 3 – Right-click, and run the file as administrator. Wait for the uninstallation to finish. In some software, you need to restart your system before the uninstallation will take effect.

Note: In some cases, you may also need to search for files related to the program. You can use the search bar under Drive C to do this. Delete those files as well.

Method 3 – Create a new user account

Before upgrading to Windows 10, create a new user account. Make sure it has administrative privileges. From there, run the upgrade.

Method 4 – Use third-party uninstaller services

If you still can’t run Windows 10 Setup after the above methods, you might need to rely on a third-party service. Microsoft recommends Revouninstaller that can help you.

Before using this software, reinstall the application or utility that Windows 10 wants you to install. Then, use Revouninstaller to delete the program completely.

Method 5 – Disable third-party antivirus software

Some users who experienced this issue reported that it was solved after disabling or completely uninstalling the anti-virus software installed in their system.

Method 6 – Use a trusted automated tool

If after trying the above methods, the problem still persists, it might be best to use a trusted automated tool to fix the issue.

Default applications in previous Windows versions were a pretty straightforward process. The user went to the settings application and picked for each category which application he would like to choose from the list of installed ones. In Windows 11 things are little changed. In this article, we will show you how to choose the default internet browser inside Windows 11, and sadly it is a more tedious task than in previous versions.

Choosing default browser in settings

As in previous versions of the Windows operating system you will need to use the settings application in order to change your default Internet browser. Previously, in Windows 10, a variety of general categories like email, web browser, and photo viewer were all listed under the Default Apps section of the Settings panel. It was easy to click on one of those categories and click on the option you like best from the small pop-up suggestion window. In the Windows 11 Insider Build, you’ll see a gauche list of an individual file or link types that you’ll need to specify your preferred browser for. The types include: HTM, HTML, PDF, SHTML, SVG, WEBP, SHT, FTP, HTTP, and HTTPS. There are additional optional types you can specify your preferred browser for as well. The issue here is in order to use a single browser which most users do you will have to go through each file type and set your preferred one. I am really not sure why this was introduced or why it has to be this way, all I can do is hope that in the final release of Windows 11 this feature will be rolled back as it used to be and that you could set your default browser in just one simple click.

If you own an iPhone, iPad, or iPod you might be aware of the phenomenon of connecting and disconnecting your device. In one moment device is connected and then it somehow loses connection and you have to plug in back again to be recognized. In this troubleshooting guide, we will address ways to eliminate this issue and to connect and have your devices working properly. We will go from the most common ones to the most uncommon so it is advisable to try solutions in order to how they are presented.

1. Check cable

   The most common issue with this kind of behavior comes from a broken cable if you have the opportunity try another working cable to see if the device will behave differently. If everything is working fine with another cable, the issue is in the previous cable.

2. Check USB ports and Cable Jack

   Usually, it is a cable issue, but it can also be a USB jack on cable or even a USB port on a PC, try putting the jack into another port to see if this will solve the issue.

3. Check device settings

   From updates on your device comes a change of setting about privacy which can reflect on connection with the computer. In order to eliminate this, you will need to reset your device. Go to device settings and go to general Scroll down until you find the reset section and go into it In the reset, section click on reset location and privacy You will have to authenticate using your pin/passcode in order to complete the reset function Enter your passcode (or use any other authentication method you have chosen) and you can now reset the Location and Privacy settings. Click on reset Connect the device to PC and choose trust this device

4. Update iTunes

   Outdated iTunes can also be a problem with this particular issue. Go to the apple website and download the latest version of iTunes or updating it via apple updater.

Resource hogging is a term when one single application or few of them are taking all system resources for themself causing extreme slow down in the computer and nonresponsiveness. It can be a very frustrating and time-consuming experience and it can cost you money if you can not finish work on time due to this effect. I believe that everyone has experienced at least one slowdown in their IT carrier because of resource-hogging applications and most users do not know how to deal with this. We are here to help you with this issue. Just to be aware that this method shown here is not a method to miraculously speed up your PC or anything similar, this is to be able to detect and recover from extreme slowdowns. Hardware components are still very important and if you can upgrade your computer if it is outdated, please do it because new applications will require a more modern system, and not any kind of tips and tricks will save you from outdated hardware.

Identifying resource hogging app

Now when we got that out of the way let's talk about slowdowns, it is no secret that sometimes an application has bugs and memory leaks that can cause this kind of behavior, and sometimes the application simply takes up too much memory for any other application to work normally. The most simple and straightforward way is to bring up a Windows task manager and inspect running applications and services. You can bring task manager by the key combination of CTRL + SHIFT + ESC If the system is in deep memory deficit you will have to wait for the task manager to open and show itself on-screen. Once opened, click on more details if that view is not opened by default. Once the view expands you will see all running applications with how much RAM memory have they taken and how much CPU they are using.

What to do with app?

Now you are presented with a choice on what to do with the problematic application. If you press the end task button on the bottom right, Windows will kill the application and its processes but any unsaved work inside the application will be lost and unrecoverable in most cases. Or you can try to remove smaller applications running to free up more memory and CPU in order for the computer to catch up. Any choice you make is up to you, but be very careful not to kill Windows essential service by mistake, that will cause immediate system instability with high chances of a system crash.

The MP4 MIME-type is a video type that is mainly configured in IIS or Internet Information console. It is the one that instructs a web browser to use the default video application when running MP4 files from websites. MIME which stands for Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions which offers a way to identify files on the Internet-based on their format and nature. For example, when a content-type header value like MP4 is defined in an HTTP response, the browser can be configured to open the file with the proper plugin. However, there are some servers that don’t have an associated MIME type to support MP4 files and so they fail to play these files. In such cases, you will encounter the “Unsupported video type or invalid file path” error, especially when you use the Internet Explorer browser in Windows 10. To fix this problem, you may have to configure the MP4 MIME type in IIS but you might find that IIS is not enabled in Windows 10 which is why you need to turn it on or enable it first. For more details, refer to the following instructions below.

Step 1 – Enable IIS:

• Open Control Panel and go to Programs > Programs and Features.
• From there, select “Turn Windows features on or off” to mark its checkbox.
• After that, select “Web Management Tools” and expand its menu and look for “IIS Management Console”.
• Click the OK button and then wait for a couple of seconds to allow Windows to successfully apply the changes made.

Step 2 – Configure the MP4 MIME type in IIS:

• Go to Control Panel and from there, access Administrative Tools.
• Next, click “Internet Information Services Manager” from the list of given options.
• Once confirmed, it will open the IIS console where you have to click the name of your IIS Server located on the left panel. This will enable several options in the central details section.
• Now double click on the icon with the label “MIME Types”.
• After that, you should see an “Add” link option on the right panel. Click on the link to open a configuration dialog box.
• Then type “.mp4” in the File Name Extension field and enter “video/mp4” in the textbox of the MIME Type.
• Click the OK button to save the changes made. This should fix the “Unsupported video type or invalid file path” error on your Windows 10 computer.

Step 3 – Reset your browsers:

Mozilla Firefox

• Open Firefox and click the icon that looks like three stacked lines located at the top-right section of the browser.
• Next, select the question mark icon from the drop-down menu.
• Then select “Troubleshooting information” from the slide-out menu.
• After that, click on the “Reset Firefox” button located at the top-right section of the newly opened web page.
• Now select “Reset Firefox” in the confirmation pop-up window that appears.

Google Chrome

• Open Google Chrome, then tap the Alt + F keys.
• After that, click on Settings.
• Next, scroll down until you see the Advanced option, once you see it, click on it.
• After clicking the Advanced option, go to the “Restore and clean up option and click on the “Restore settings to their original defaults” option to reset Google Chrome.
• Now restart Google Chrome.

Internet Explorer

• Launch Internet Explorer.
• Next, click the wrench icon for Settings.
• Then click Internet Options.
• After that, go to the Advanced tab.
• From there, click the Reset button. This will reset Internet Explorer’s settings to their default condition.
• Now click OK to save the changes made.

As we near the end of 2022 we look at the current best antivirus software for popular platforms, why they are the best, and why you should get them.

Avira, a great free Antivirus

Avira has been around a long time with its free antivirus version of the larger protection suite. It had its ups and downs but the latest versions are really great. With high-speed scans and low system impact, Avira antivirus is really one of the best free antivirus software currently on the market.

The software itself has also received UI & UX updates making it straightforward and easy to use. The virus scanning engine is the same as in paid version that ranks among the top engines in the world for this type of work. The package also gives you some great browser protection and a good firewall as well, there is really no excuse to skip on this if you want a free solution.

The only thing that we would say is not so great in Avira is reporting some false positives, sometimes even for MS updates, it is rare but it can happen.

Malwarebytes, a powerful Windows antivirus

Malwarebytes Premium is easy to use, simple antivirus solution that shies away from complicated UI, and simply put, it just works. Its scanning engine is well-known and places among the top and best in the world often finding some malware that other can miss.

Another great thing is its integration with Windows itself, it is one of the rare applications that can and will work incredibly well beside your typical Windows protection tools so you can have both of them running at the same time.

Installation and running are really simple and every typical PC user will find it as easy as walking in the park. On the other hand, sadly system impact is a little high and it will have issues running on lower-end systems due to its memory requirements.

Intego MAC Internet Security X9, the best Mac antivirus

Gone are the days when MAC had no virus issues, since MAC rose in popularity among the users, also rose the number of viruses and malware. The system itself has some great protection built it inside but for more security and better control of it, you will need a third-party dedicated solution.

Intego was made by Mac antivirus experts who have been building this kind of software last 25 years. The interface is easy to use and premade presets are really helpful, but the security suite can also be customized to fit your needs and desires.

Since this is only available as a security suite, you are getting a firewall and some other security tools along with your antivirus that will run as a part of it.

The bad side is that scans can sometimes run slow, most of the time they are OK in terms of speed but occasionally they can switch to slower speeds and impact scanning time to some annoying times. Also, there is no webcam protection nor VPN service included where others on this list have them.

Bitdefender mobile security: best Android protection

While protection is not only needed for your gaming or workstation, software suites that are dealing with mobile and tablet security exist. The best of them is the Bitdefender antivirus mobile suite. Low on system resources and low on performance impact with the really great virus detection rate Bitdefender is at the top of suites for your phone.

Consistent high virus detection packed with low battery impact is great but the suite comes with tons of other tools as well like browser security tools, email protection, and real-time link and notification protection.

The application will always scan each file and newly installed application in the background and alert and cut off any found threat. App itself is easy to install and use and most of the time it will do everything in the background for you but offer you customization if you need it.

The package also includes VPN and application lock that will let you protect the critical applications from being accessed as well as an online account scanner. Anti-theft and anti-loss tools, which allow you to find, remotely lock or wipe a stolen or lost device, add yet another layer of protection.

One thing that is missing from this great package is fraudulent call protection. Newer Android phones have this feature inside but it would be nice if Bitdefender had it as well.

Bitdefender, the best antivirus software

Now that we have covered specific cases of each platform, there is one player that has all of them covered and with a quality product, that player is BitDefender and it is great. Personally, this is my protection suite of choice and as I type this it is running in the background.

Bitdefender has it all, low system impact, as a matter of fact, it is one, if not, the lowest performance impact engine on the market currently and that is packed with a great and highly consistent virus & malware detection suite. Along with real-time malware protection, browser security, and anti-spam tools, you also get anti-phishing defenses, ransomware protection, and a strong firewall.

Bitdefender scores are very high in both the zero-day threat and real-world protection tests at AV-Test, an established organization that tests antivirus software. Despite being tested against tens of thousands of well-known and widespread malware threats, the software consistently achieves a 100% blocking rate.

The suite also comes with a restricted free VPN and with parental controls as well. Webcam and microphone protection are also included in the suite and on top of all, it has great pricing plans and constant discounts.

BitDefender is really a great package and it might sound too good, but after years and years of personally using it I have not had single malware or virus issue, the only thing that I would put as a negative is that system is severely slowed down when system scans are performed so be sure to run or schedule them when you are not using your computer. This, of course, can put some people off and I will admit it is a serious drawback but for me, the security of my workstation is more important than leaving the computer for 20 or so minutes in order to perform a full scan of the system.

As you know, one of the useful and efficient utilities in Windows 10 is the DISM tool. It can be used with the Command Prompt command line which allows users to carry out various tasks. However, there are instances when the DISM tool could encounter some errors when you try to execute a command. One of these errors is the one that states, “The component store has been corrupted”. This kind of DISM error is due to an error in the image file. When you encounter the DISM Error 14098 when running the DISM tool, you will see the following content in the command line:

“C:>Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:c:testmountwindows /LimitAccess Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool Version: 10.0.10586.0 Image Version: 10.0.10586.0 [==========================100.0% Error: 14098 The component store has been corrupted. The DISM log file can be found at C:WINDOWSLogsDISMdism.log C:>”

There are several fixes you can check out to fix the DISM Error 14098, “The component store has been corrupted”. You can try to run the Restore Health command or reset the Windows Update components, or whitelist the dism.exe in your antivirus program, as well as try to uninstall any recently installed updates. Follow the options provided below for more details.

Option 1 – Run the Restore Health command in a Clean Boot State

• First, you need to put your computer in a Clean Boot State.
• 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.)
• Now open Command Prompt with admin privileges.
• Then type and enter this command to execute it: Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
• Wait until the process is completed and restart your computer.

Note: If the Restore Health command fails, you can use the “/StartComponentCleanup parameter” by executing this command: Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup

Option 2 – Try to reset the Windows Update components

If by any chance that the second option didn’t work, resetting the Windows Update components could also help you resolve the problem. How? Refer to the following steps:

• Open Command Prompt with admin privileges.
• After that, type each one of the following commands and hit Enter after you key in one after the other.
  • net stop wuauserv
  • net stop cryptsvc
  • net stop bits
  • net stop msiserver

Note: The commands you entered will stop the Windows Update components such as Windows Update service, Cryptographic services, BITS, and MSI Installer.

• After disabling WU components, you need to rename both the SoftwareDistribution and Catroot2 folders. To do that, type each one of the following commands below, and don’t forget to hit Enter after you type one command after the other.
  • ren C:/Windows/SoftwareDistribution/SoftwareDistribution.old
  • ren C:/Windows/System32/catroot2/Catroot2.old
• Next, restart the services you’ve stopped by entering another series of commands. Don’t forget to hit Enter after you key in one command after the other.
  • net start wuauserv
  • net start cryptsvc
  • net start bits
  • net start msiserver
• Close Command Prompt and reboot your PC.

Option 3 – Whitelist the “dism.exe” in your antivirus program

The DISM error 14098 might also be caused by your antivirus program which could be interfering it from running. To fix this, you have to whitelist dism.exe. How? Refer to these steps:

• Open the Windows Defender Security Center from the system tray area.
• Next, click the “Virus & threat protection” option and then open the “Virus and threat protection settings”.
• After that, scroll down until you find the “Exclusions” and click on the “Add or remove exclusions” option.
• Then click the plus button and select the type of exclusion you want to add and from the drop-down list, select Folder.
• Next, navigate to this path and select the WinSxS folder: C:/Windows/WinSxS
• When a User Account Control or UAC prompt, just click on Yes to proceed.

Option 4 – Try to uninstall recently installed updates

There are times when some Windows Updates affect some mechanism internally when you update your Windows 10 computer. As a result, it causes issues with other components of the operating system which could be the reason why you’re getting the DISM error 14098.

• Go to Settings and select Update and Security > Windows Update.
• From there, click on the “View update history” option and then click on the “Uninstall Updates” option.
• This will open a new window that contains the list of installed Windows Updates.
• Now right click on the Windows Update you wish to uninstall and click Uninstall.

Often when we connect to the internet were browsing indexed pages through some well-known search engine, usually Google. But beneath the so-called normal internet lurks deep and dark web. You might have heard of the deep web and dark web if you have some geeky friends and we are here to explain what exactly is the deep and dark web. The first thing to know is that the deep and dark web is not the same thing and they coexist separately from one another, you could say that beneath the deep web lies the dark web, yet another layer of the internet. So let us explore first the deep web. What is exactly a deep web?

Deep web, hidden web, or invisible web

as sometimes referenced are part of worldwide web not indexed by search engines, meaning that engines do not basically see and index content of deep web sites. The content of the deep web is hidden behind HTTP forms and includes many very common uses such as webmail, online banking, private or otherwise restricted access social-media pages and profiles, some web forums that require registration for viewing content, and services that users must pay for, and which are protected by paywalls, such as video on demand and some online magazines and newspapers. The content of the deep web can be located and accessed by a direct URL or IP address but may require a password or other security access to get past public website pages. While it is not always possible to directly discover a specific web server's content so that it may be indexed, a site potentially can be accessed indirectly (due to computer vulnerabilities). To discover content on the web, search engines use web crawlers that follow hyperlinks through known protocol virtual port numbers. This technique is ideal for discovering content on the surface web but is often ineffective at finding deep web content. For example, these crawlers do not attempt to find dynamic pages that are the result of database queries due to the indeterminate number of queries that are possible. It has been noted that this can be (partially) overcome by providing links to query results, but this could unintentionally inflate the popularity of a member of the deep web.

Dark WEB

The dark web is the World Wide Web content that exists on darknets: overlay networks that use the Internet but require specific software, configurations, or authorization to access. Through the dark web, private computer networks can communicate and conduct business anonymously without divulging identifying information, such as a user's location. The dark web forms a small part of the deep web, the part of the Web not indexed by web search engines, although sometimes the term deep web is mistakenly used to refer specifically to the dark web. The darknets which constitute the dark web include small, friend-to-friend peer-to-peer networks, as well as large, popular networks such as Tor, Freenet, I2P, and Riffle operated by public organizations and individuals. Users of the dark web refer to the regular web as Clearnet due to its unencrypted nature. The Tor dark web or Onionland uses the traffic anonymization technique of onion routing under the network's top-level domain suffix .onion.

Dark & Deep WEB difference

The dark web has often been conflated with the deep web, the parts of the web not indexed (searchable) by search engines. The dark web forms a small part of the deep web but requires custom software in order to access its content. This confusion dates back to at least 2009. Since then, especially in reporting on Silk Road, the two terms have often been conflated, despite recommendations that they should be distinguished. Darknet websites are accessible only through networks such as Tor ("The Onion Routing" project) and I2P ("Invisible Internet Project"). Tor browser and Tor-accessible sites are widely used among darknet users and can be identified by the domain ".onion". While Tor focuses on providing anonymous access to the Internet, I2P specializes in allowing anonymous hosting of websites. Identities and locations of darknet users stay anonymous and cannot be tracked due to the layered encryption system. The darknet encryption technology routes users' data through a large number of intermediate servers, which protects the users' identity and guarantees anonymity. The transmitted information can be decrypted only by a subsequent node in the scheme, which leads to the exit node. The complicated system makes it almost impossible to reproduce the node path and decrypt the information layer by layer. Due to the high level of encryption, websites are not able to track the geolocation and IP of their users, and users are not able to get this information about the host. Thus, communication between darknet users is highly encrypted allowing users to talk, blog, and share files confidentially.

Darknet

The darknet is also used for illegal activity such as illegal trade, forums, and media exchange for pedophiles and terrorists. At the same time, traditional websites have created alternative accessibility for the Tor browser in an effort to connect with their users. ProPublica, for example, launched a new version of its website available exclusively to Tor users.