Windows Dynamic Lock is missing or not working

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.

Bad or good news, depending on your view comes from RIOT for their game Valorant. It seems that Riot has decided to enforce Windows 11 TPM 2.0 feature into Valorant running on Windows 11 and there is a rumor that it will be de facto standard and that it will move to Valorant in general no matter on which system it runs. Furthermore, there is a rumor circling around that other developers are also talking about implementing TPM 2.0 requirements so they can harvest advanced security features of Windows 11 in order to prevent hacks and other cheats in their games. This is an interesting point to stand on, on one side, sure, advanced features that will prevent cheating and hacking is a great thing. On other hand denying access to many computers that do not support TPM 2.0 and removing them from the game can be a permanent loss of customers and therefore loss of money. It is a risk to be sure and I am not really sure that alienating gamers is a good choice for long-term income, especially when you will be able to install Windows 11 on an unsupported PC as stated by Microsoft. We will all see how this Riot decision will reflect on their business, as not a big Valorant player myself I am not impacted too much with this decision, but it will be interesting to see if others will indeed go with this trend or they will decide to wait a while until much more PC’s are upgraded.

Usually when online service is not working or when something goes wrong online it is DNS, well that is what most of the time is the case. And yes, DNS or Domain Name Server seems to be an issue with Facebook being completely down along with Instagram and wassap. The true cause is that there is no working Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routes into Facebook's sites. BGP is the standardized exterior gateway protocol used to exchange routing and reachability information between the internet top-level autonomous systems (AS). Most people, indeed most network administrators, never need to deal with BGP. Cloudflare VP Dane Knecht was the first to report the underlying BGP problem. This meant, as Kevin Beaumont, former Microsoft's Head of Security Operations Centre, tweeted, "By not having BGP announcements for your DNS name servers, DNS falls apart = nobody can find you on the internet. Same with WhatsApp btw. Facebook has basically de-platformed themselves from their own platform." Many people are very annoyed by this and with the fact that they cannot use their social media platforms but it seems that Facebook employees are in even bigger annoyance as it was reported that Facebook employees can't enter their buildings because their "smart" badges and doors were also disabled by this network failure. If true, Facebook's people literally can't enter the building to fix things. Reddit user u/ramenporn, who claimed to be a Facebook employee working on bringing the social network back from the dead, reported, before he deleted his account and his messages: "DNS for FB services has been affected and this is likely a symptom of the actual issue, and that's that BGP peering with Facebook peering routers has gone down, very likely due to a configuration change that went into effect shortly before the outages happened (started roughly 1540 UTC). There are people now trying to gain access to the peering routers to implement fixes, but the people with physical access is separate from the people with knowledge of how to actually authenticate to the systems and people who know what to actually do, so there is now a logistical challenge with getting all that knowledge unified. Part of this is also due to lower staffing in data centers due to pandemic measures." Ramenporn also stated that it wasn't an attack, but a mistaken configuration change made via a web interface. Both BGP and DNS are down, the "connection to the outside world is down, remote access to those tools don't exist anymore, so the emergency procedure is to gain physical access to the peering routers and do all the configuration locally." Technicians on site don't know how to do that and senior network administrators aren't on site. It seems that it will all be down for a couple of more hours before the issue is resolved.

Error Code 0x80070422 - What is it?

Error Code 0x80070422 can be found on many versions of the Windows operating system including Windows 7, Windows 8, and 8.1, and Windows 10. The reason for its occurrence may vary, however, depending on the version of the operating system that you use.

In the case of error code 0x80070422 in Windows 8, it often occurs when users attempt to update their firewall or download apps from the Windows store. When this error occurs the user is unable to complete the updates and will need to apply different solutions to correct the issue.

Solution

Error Causes

Whenever error code 0x80070422 is encountered on Windows 8 or 8.1, it might be a result of various factors. These error codes include:

• Registry errors – This occurs when new programs are installed over old ones
• Malicious software such as adware, spyware, and or viruses

Further Information and Manual Repair

You do not need to be a Windows expert to attempt to solve errors like the 0x80070422 Windows 8 error code. Simply try the solutions below. If however, you feel you need a professional’s help, contact a certified Windows technician.

• Check for any viruses or malicious software

Viruses and other malicious software are often the cause of various issues within the PC. For this reason, be sure to check your machine for a possible virus infestation. If you are unable to use your anti-virus software or if none is present you might need to download an automated tool that offers overall repair and other solutions.

• Disable third-party security apps

Another step you can take is to disable third-party security apps. When these apps are downloaded onto your device, it can lead to the disabling of your Firewall and the inability of your device to download other apps. If this is the source of the 0x80070422 error code on your machine, the issue will be resolved after you disable the third-party apps and reboot your computer.

• Disable Firewall

If error code 0x80070422 in Windows 8 or 8.1 occurred while you attempted to update Windows firewall, one of the best solutions you can try is to disable the firewall. Note however that disabling your firewall should be temporary as it protects your computer from worms as well as hackers that might infect or compromise your PC. Access the firewall by swiping right on the screen then searching for “firewall”. Click “Windows firewall” then select “Turn off Windows firewall”.

• Performs a clean boot

Another option is for you to perform a clean boot. This simply refers to a reboot in Windows where only a minimum set of drivers and programs are used. A clean boot can help resolve issues related to software conflict which can occur when Windows users install programs or updates or simply run a program. Note that you must log on to the computer as an administrator. Otherwise, you will not be able to perform the clean boot.

• Clean registry

The source of many errors related to Windows can lie within the registry. This is because the registry is involved in every aspect of a Windows computer’s operation. If there is an issue in the files of the registry or if it has been hacked, your computer will not function. For this reason, begin by cleaning the registry regularly. To clean our registry, use a powerful tool that is both reputable and user-friendly. Research your option before you make a selection as choosing the wrong tool could lead to even more errors or computer malfunctions.

• Set Windows Update to Automatic

Another important method to solve issues related to error code 0x80070422 in Windows 8 or 8.1 is your Windows Update service. Though you may have never noticed this feature before now, the Windows Update services allow PC owners to access updates to their operating system automatically. This leads to a properly functioning PC as your machine will always have the latest features and tools available. However, if the setting is not correct, your computer may end up experiencing error code 0x80070422. Check if this is the source of your problems by verifying if your Windows Update settings are automatic. Once the settings are on automatic, reboot your machine to ensure your computer responds to the changes.

• Download an Automate Tool

Always be prepared for the possibility of other errors. You can do this by downloading powerful software. This enables users to regularly check for issues that may cause errors on their Windows device.

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.

For PC users that are blind or have low vision, the Narrator accessibility feature in Windows 10, lets you use your PC without a display or mouse to complete common tasks – it reads and interacts with things on the screen, like text and buttons. The narrator can be used to read and write an email, browse the internet, and work with documents. In Windows 10, there are a lot of options for Narrator that you can customize. You can change its keyboard shortcuts, personalize Narrator’s voice, enable Caps Lock warnings, and more. You can choose the voice for the Narrator, adjust the speaking rate, pitch, and volume. To change the default audio output device used to play the voice of the Narrator in Windows 10:

• Press the ⊞ WINDOWS + I
• From the Settings menu, click Ease of Access.
• Click Narrator on the left pane.
• In the Narrator window, on the right pane, toggle the button to On to enable Narrator if required.
• Scroll down to the Personalize Narrator’s voice section.
• For the Select where you hear Narrator’s voice option, click the drop-down and select the audio output device you want from the list. Please know that you will not be able to choose if you do not have multiple audio output devices connected to your Windows 10 computer.
• Exit Settings when done.

If you would like to read more helpful articles and tips about various software and hardware visit errortools.com daily.

If you suddenly find the middle mouse button not working as you use it on your Windows 10 computer, then you’ve come to the right place as this post will provide some suggestions that can help you fix the issue. This kind of problem can affect your experience in using your computer as the middle mouse button helps you in scrolling through long web pages and screens with a lot of data. So if that stops, you will end up using your keyboard instead which is kind of a hassle compared to using the middle mouse button. It is possible that this problem could have something to do with either the hardware or software. To isolate the possibility of a hardware failure, you can try to connect the mouse to a different computer and see if it works just fine there or if it still has the same problem. If the mouse works properly on a different computer, then the issue is software-related. It is possible that a software update, especially gaming software, could have been misconfigured in a way that the middle button does not respond like it’s supposed to. To resolve the problem, you might want to try reinstalling or updating the mouse drivers or run the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter. You can also install OEM-specific mouse drivers or modify some entries in the Windows Registry.

Option 1 – Reinstall or update the Mouse driver

The problem may be caused by a corrupted or an outdated mouse driver. To fix it, you have to update or reinstall the mouse driver. How? Follow these steps:

• Open the Devices Manager from the Win X Menu.
• Then locate the Mouse and other pointing devices and right-click on the mouse driver to open the Properties.
• After that, switch to the Driver tab and click on the Uninstall Device button.
• Follow the screen option to completely uninstall it.
• Finally, disconnect the mouse and plug it back in to reinstall the mouse driver.

Note: You can install a dedicated driver on your computer in case you have it or you could also look for it directly from the website of the manufacturer.

Option 2 – Try running the Hardware Troubleshooter

The next thing you can do to fix the problem is by running the Hardware Troubleshooter. Although it won’t make much of a difference, there’s still a possibility that it could automatically fix the problem with these function keys. To use it, refer to these steps:

• The first thing you need to do is click on Start and then on the gear-like icon to pull up the window for Settings.
• After opening Settings, look for the Update and Security option and select it.
• From there, go to the Troubleshoot option located on the left-hand side of the list.
• Next, select Hardware and Devices from the list and open the Troubleshooter and run it. Once it is doing its job, wait for it to complete the process and then restart the system.
• After the system restarts, check if the problem’s now fixed. If not, refer to the next option given below.

Option 3 – Try to install OEM specific mouse drivers

Aside from updating or reinstalling the mouse drivers, you might also want to try installing OEM-specific mouse drivers. When you install Windows, it will use a generic driver for all its components. The disadvantage of generic drivers for the mouse is that it limits its functionality. In fact, some also configure the middle mouse button to respond to specific action which does not work without the correct drivers. In such cases, you need to visit the website of your computer’s manufacturers to download and install the latest drivers and then open the software and configure it the way it was before. Keep in mind that some OEMs also offer gestures, so you also have to check on that.

Option 4 – Try to modify some entries in the Registry

If a Windows Update is the one that caused the problem, you could correct it by making some modifications in the Registry but before you proceed, make sure that you create a System Restore point first.

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run utility.
• Then type “Regedit” in the field and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor.
• Next, navigate to this registry path: HKEY_CURRENT_USERControl PanelDesktop
• After that, double click on the “WheelScrollLines” entry on the right pane to open its Properties.
• Now change its value data to “3” and exit the Registry Editor and then see if the issue with the middle mouse button is fixed or not.

When experiencing internet connection problems, most users run the built-in troubleshooter to fix the problem. However, you might come across another problem when instead of fixing the problem, the troubleshooter throws up an error message saying, “The Windows Wireless Service is not running on this computer”. After displaying this error message, the troubleshooter would exit. Usually, this kind of error indicates that Windows has failed to initialize the wireless service so it can start searching for broadcast signals and try to connect to them. So in this post, we have prepared some workarounds that might help you resolve the issue.

Option 1 – Try to check the WLAN Status

You have to make sure that the wireless service is enabled in your computer before you proceed to the other troubleshooting options below as this error could occur for a simple reason as the wireless capability is turned off from your PC either on some built-in settings or physically. This is why you need to make sure that Wireless is enabled. And if it turns out that it is disabled, you need to turn it back on and then reconnect to the wireless network again. You should now be able to connect to the internet without any issue.

Option 2 – Try to check the WLAN AutoConfig Service

The WLAN AutoConfig service is the one that provides the logic and functionality required to discover, connect and configure wireless networks with your PC. Aside from that, it also contains the module that allows your PC to be discoverable to other systems on a network. Thus, you need to verify if the WLAN AutoConfig service is on or not.

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• And in the field, type in “services.msc” and hit Enter to open Services.
• After opening the Services window, look for the entry named “WLAN AutoConfig” and then right-click on it and select Properties from the context menu.
• Next, click on the Start button to turn on the service and then set the startup type as “Automatic”.
• Then try to connect to your Wireless network again and check if the issue has been resolved.

Option 3 – Try to reset the Network Configurations

Resetting the Network Configurations can also help you in fixing the Windows Wireless service as the network settings often get disrupted or corrupted in a variety of different cases every now and then. Note that this module will reset all the network settings stored on your computer.

• Tap the Win + S keys to open Search and then type in “command prompt” in the field.
• From the search results that appear, right-click on Command Prompt and select the “Run as administrator” option.
• After opening Command Prompt, copy and paste the following command and hit Enter to execute it:

netsh winsock reset

• The command given will reset the Winsock data. Once it is executed, restart your PC for the changes to take effect and then check if the internet connection is now fine.

Note: Do make sure that the WiFi drivers are up to date. To do that, follow these steps:

• Tap the Win + R keys to launch Run.
• Type in devmgmt.msc into the box and tap Enter or click OK to open the Device Manager.
• After that, a list of device drivers will be displayed. If you see a red or yellow sign that shows up against the driver, right-click on the driver’s name and select “Update Driver Software” or “Uninstall”. And if you find any “Unknown device”, you need to update it as well.
• Select the “Search automatically for updated driver software” option and then follow the instructions to complete the process.
• Restart your PC.

Note: You also have the option to go directly to the website of your graphics card manufacturer and check if there’s a new update – if there is, download it.

Option 4 – Perform System Restore

Recently, a lot of issues have resurfaced after users installed the latest Windows update. So the wireless service issue might also be related to it. To fix the problem, you can perform System Restore to roll back your Windows to the last time when it was working just fine. It automatically creates backups in time whenever you install a new update or periodically. Follow the steps below to perform System Restore.

• Tap the Win + S keys to open Search and then type in “restore” in the field and select the topmost result.
• Once you’ve opened the restore settings, click on System Restore located at the beginning of the window under the System Protection tab.
• After that, a wizard will appear that will guide you through all the steps needed to restore the system. You can choose either the recommended restore point or a different one.
• After you select the restore point, click Next to proceed to the next on-screen instructions.
• Then select the restore point where the Windows Update was installed on your computer. If you have more than one restore point, you can just select the latest restore point and check the functionality from there. If it doesn’t work, you can just try another restore point.
• Another prompt will appear and will ask you to confirm your actions. Click OK and wait for the system to be restored. Once it’s done, check if the problem’s now fixed.

In the past, CDs, DVDs, and floppy drivers used to be the primary sources of external storage for many users – that is until the USB storage devices took over. These days, a lot of devices no longer have a built-in CD or DVD writer or reader as it contributes to the thickness of the device. On the other hand, there are still various devices that still come with a built-in CD or DVD writer or reader. However, recently, users who still use CD or DVD on their devices reported a problem where the CD or DVD icon is not visible in the File Explorer as well as in “This PC” or the My Computer page. The cause of this issue is still unknown at the time of writing, but there are still some potential fixes you can try to fix it. You can try to update or roll back the device drivers or apply some tweaks in the Registry Editor. For more details, refer to the given options below.

Option 1 – Try to update or rollback device drivers

The first thing you can try to fix the missing CD or DVD icon is to either update or roll back the device drivers. It is most likely that after you updated your Windows computer that your driver also needs a refresh. On the other hand, if you have just updated your device drivers then you need to roll back the drivers to their previous versions. Whichever applies to you, refer to the steps below.

• Open the Devices Manager from the Win X Menu.
• Then locate the device drivers and right-click on them to open the Properties. Note that the concerned drivers will be listed under the DVD/CD-ROM drives section as well as the IDE/ATAPI Controllers section.
• From there, look for the following drivers:
  • ATA Channel 0.
  • ATA Channel 1.
  • Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller.
• Now, right-click on each one of the listed drivers and update them all. You could also try to roll them back to their previous versions.

Note: You can also directly download the relevant drivers of your computer from the manufacturers’ website. So if you have an SSD, the issue might be due to an old storage driver.

Option 2 – Try to use the Registry Editor

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box and type “Regedit” in the field and then tap Enter to open the Registry Editor.
• Next, navigate to this registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlClass{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
• After that, look for the DWORD values named “UpperFilters” and “LowerFilters”.
• Right-click on each one of these DWORD values and select Delete.
• Now restart your computer and see if it fixes the problem.

Option 3 – Try creating a new Registry entry

There is another option you can try in the Windows Registry to fix the missing icon of the CD/DVD. You can try adding a new entry. How? Refer to these steps:

• Tap the Win ­+ R keys to open the Run dialog box and type “Regedit” in the field and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor.
• After that, navigate to this registry path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesatapi
• From there, right-click on “ATAPI” and select New > Key.
• After that, name it is “Controller0” and right-click on the sub-key and then select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
• Now name it as “EnumDevice1” and double click on it and then set its value data to “1”.
• Click OK and restart your computer to apply the changes made successfully.