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The Windows 10 operating system comes with a user-friendly interface as well as better security features compared to its previous versions. One of these new features is the “Recently Opened Files” feature which displays all the files you’ve opened recently in File Explorer. Although it might seem useful, some users see this as a privacy concern especially if there are other users that use the same computer. If you are one of these users, read on as this post will guide you on how you can disable the “Recently Opened Files” feature in Windows 10. There are three ways you can disable the “Recently Opened Files” feature. You can manually clear the recent files, or disable the feature via Control Panel. You can also do it using the Group Policy Editor.

Option 1 – Manually clear the recent files

The first thing you can do is to clear the recent files manually. Since the information about the recently opened files is stored in the form of cached data, you can locate this data and delete it manually, from time to time. To do that, follow these steps:

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run utility and copy this address in the field: %AppData%MicrosoftWindowsRecent
• Next, tap the Ctrl + A keys to select all the items and then tap the Shift + Delete keys simultaneously.
• After that, a prompt will appear where you have to click on Yes. This will delete all the recently opened files in the File Explorer the next time you open it.

Option 2 – Disable the feature via Control Panel

The next option you can try to disable the feature is via Control Panel. Refer to these steps to do so:

• First, click on the Start Menu button and select the Settings icon.
• After that, click on Personalization and then on Start located on the left pane.
• Next, scroll down until you see the “Show recently opened items” in Jump Lists on the Start or the Taskbar and click on it and then toggle it off.

Option 3 – Disable the feature using the Group Policy Editor

If you are using the Windows 10 Pro version, then you have access to edit the functions in the Group Policy. The Group Policy function has the option that can disable all the default services of Windows 10. Note that in this step, you will permanently disable the “Recently Opened Files” feature. So before you proceed, make sure that you really want to disable this feature permanently and not in the meantime.

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box and type “gpedit.msc” in the field and click OK or tap Enter to open the Group Policy Editor.
• Next, on the left side pane, click on the “User Configuration” option and then click the “Administrative Templates” option.
• After that, select the “Start Menu and Taskbar” option and select the “Don’t keep the history of recently opened documents” option in the right pane.
• Now double click on this option and check the “Enabled” option and then click on Apply and OK buttons to save the changes made.

Error 2738 - What is it?

Error 2738 is associated with the VBScript engine. VBScript is the abbreviation for Visual Basic Scripting. It is an Active Scripting programming language developed by Microsoft and modeled on Visual Basic. It is used with a fast interpreter in a large variety of Microsoft environments. Error 2738 indicates that the VBScript engine is not registered properly on your PC. It occurs when you try to install or uninstall VBScript-supported applications on your system. The error message is displayed in the following format:

"Error 2738. Could not access VBScript run time for custom action."

Solution

Error Causes

There are several reasons for the error 2738 message pop up. These include: Incorrect or corrupt registry entries on your system. These entries interfere with VBScript support in Windows thereby generating such error codes.

• Removal of McAfee Antivirus
• Windows registry values are not updated accurately during the uninstallation of McAfee Software
• The Visual Basic Script is registered in the registry under the local user instead of the local machine

No matter what the cause of the error may be, it is recommended that you resolve the issue immediately without any delay.

Further Information and Manual Repair

Here are some of the easy and proven DIY methods to repair error 2738 on your PC:

Method 1

If the error 2738 occurs because the VBScript is not registered correctly, then follow these steps to resolve.

1. Go to the start menu, open Run, and type RegEdit in the box and then press OK. This will open the Windows Registry Editor.
2. Now type KEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClassesCLSID{B54F3741-5B07-11cf-A4B0-00AA004A55E8}InprocServer32, if the key does not have a data value of C:\Windows\System32\vbscript.dll then simply add it.
3. Now go to the All programs option and then Accessories.
4. Here right-click on Command Prompt and then ‘Run as Administrator’.
5. Now type egsvr32 vbscript.dll then press enter. After that type regsvr32 jscript.dll and then press enter.
6. Restart your PC to activate changes.

Method 2

Sometimes error 2738 may occur when you uninstall preinstalled MacAfee antivirus software on your system. Un-installation usually leaves some trace components in the registry. These components must be removed completely otherwise error codes like 2738 may keep occurring on your computer screen. In such an event, the best way to resolve it is to download the McAfee Consumer Product Removal utility from McAfee's official website. Save this file on your desktop. Double click the file and follow the steps to remove this software completely and successfully from your PC. Proper removal of the McAfee program will resolve error 2738 right away. But if the error still persists then try other methods illustrated below.

Method 3

Download Restoro to remove incorrect and corrupt registry entries on your system that may be interfering with VBScript support. Restoro is a new and easy-to-use PC Repair Tool deployed with an intuitive interface and a powerful registry cleaner. The registry cleaner removes all entries corrupting the registry, cleans it, and resumes it to its normal state. Click here to download Restoro.

The File Explorer in Windows 10 provides several ways to organize the contents of folders and files in the system. Windows users can utilize some efficient styles to view the contents of the file system as per the user’s requirement. A user may opt to display the file picture in large size thumbnails while the other one could opt to set the icons of folder and files in a small or medium size list. On the other hand, while setting up several styles for the folder and file icons, some Windows 10 users have experienced some unusual issues where there is the Black background showing up behind folder icons. They tried refreshing the File Explorer a couple of times but it didn’t help in fixing the problem and the black squares are still visible on some folder icons. The black squares behind the folder icons might look disturbing though it’s not really a big problem and is merely a graphical glitch that does not cause any damage or whatsoever to the content of the folder and files. The most likely cause of this glitch might have something to do with the corrupted system files or it could also be caused by outdated thumbnail caches. In addition, graphical glitches like this one could also occur if you are using out outdated graphics drivers. To fix this problem, you need to follow the options laid out below.

Option 1 – Try using the Disk Cleanup to remove Thumbnail files

The Disk Cleanup tool is one of the options you can try to fix the black squares behind the folder icons. Through this tool, you can delete all the Thumbnail files on your disk. To use it, refer to these steps:

• Open the Search bar and type “disk cleanup” in the field.
• After opening Disk Cleanup from the search results, then from the drop-down menu select the C: drive to clean up and click OK.
• Wait for the scanning process to complete. Once it’s done, select the files you want to delete.
• Ensure that you select the box labeled “Thumbnails” under the Files to Delete section then click on OK.
• After that, a confirmation box will appear, just click on Delete files to delete the files permanently.
• Restart your PC.

Option 2 – Try resetting the Thumbnail cache

You have the option to manually delete the Thumbnail Cache to resolve the black square background behind the folder icons issue. Follow the steps given below to reset the Thumbnail cache.

• Open the File Explorer.
• Next, navigate to the View tab and select the option with Hidden items to display all the hidden folders and files.
• Next, go to this path: C:Users<username>AppDataLocal
• In the given path, make sure that you put your actual username in the username field. Then look for a file named “IconCache.db”. Right-click on this file and click on Delete.
• After that, go to this path: C:Users<username>AppDataLocalMicrosoftWindowsExplorer
• From there, select all the files and delete them.

Note: If a prompt appears saying, “The files are in use and cannot be deleted”, simply select the “Do this for all current items” option and then click on Try Again. If you get an error message, click on Cancel to close the window and restart your computer.

Option 3 – Try updating or reinstalling the Graphics driver

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box and then type in devmgmt.msc and tap Enter or click OK to open the Device Manager.
• Expand the section for the outdated device drivers.
• And then select the outdated driver(s) and right-click on it/them.
• From the drop-down menu, select the Update Driver option if you wish to update the driver or select the Uninstall device if you want to uninstall the driver and then follow the on-screen instructions to install the latest version of the driver.
• Restart your PC after the installation to allow the system to reinstall the driver.

If you find that the scroll bar in your Google Chrome browser is missing all of a sudden, and it becomes difficult for you to scroll down the web page and see its content, worry not for this post will guide you on what you can do to resolve this problem. Usually, when the mouse cursor stays hidden in the corner and only appears when you point it to the edge of the screen. However, there are instances when it won’t appear which makes navigating the web page you are visiting quite impossible. So if you encounter this kind of strange behavior on your Google Chrome browser, there are several suggestions you can check out to resolve it. In most cases, updating the browser resolves the problem, but if it does not, you can try restoring the browser’s settings to their default state by resetting Chrome or you could also disable hardware acceleration or disable the overlay scrollbars flag. For more information, follow each one of the options provided below.

Option 1 – Reset Google Chrome

Before you proceed, make sure that the Chrome browser is not running anywhere in the background via Task Manager. Once you’ve made sure that it’s no longer running, refer to these steps:

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• Then type “%USERPROFILE%AppDataLocalGoogleChromeUser Data” in the field and tap Enter to open this location.
• From there, look for the Default folder and then tap the Shift + Delete button and if a confirmation prompt appears, click on Yes.
• After deleting the Default folder, open Google Chrome and click on the three vertical dots icon located in the top-right corner to open the menu.
• Next, click on Settings and scroll down and then click on Advanced to open the Advanced Settings.
• Then scroll down until you see the “Reset and clean up” section and click the “Restore Settings to their original defaults” option.
• After that, you will see a confirmation box and from there, click on the Reset settings button to reset your Google Chrome browser.

Option 2 – Try to disable the Hardware Acceleration

For better performance, Google Chrome uses the Hardware Acceleration by default. Unfortunately, there are just some cases when your hardware, GPU to be specific, might not be able to cope with the requirements, resulting in the black screen issue. And if this is your case, you should try to disable the hardware acceleration from your Google Chrome browser settings panel. To do so, follow the steps below.

• Open the Google Chrome settings page.
• Click on the Advanced button to get more options.
• Look for the option called “Use hardware acceleration when available” and then disable it by toggling the button to the left.
• After that, check if the screen flickering issue in Chrome is fixed.

Option 3 – Try to disable “Smooth Scrolling” in Chrome

Disabling “Smooth Scrolling” in Chrome might also help you fix the issue. To do so, follow these steps:

• Open Chrome and type “chrome://flags” and hit Enter.
• Next, look for a flag named “Smooth Scrolling”. You can scroll down until you find it or search it in the Search Flag bar. Note that Smooth Scrolling is enabled by default in the newer versions of Chrome.
• After that, select the drop-down menu and select Disabled.
• Then click on the “Relaunch Now” button.

If you were trying to copy, move modify or delete a folder or a file in your computer but you’re not able to do so and encountered an error instead that says, “Could not find this item, This is no longer located in <path>, Verify the item’s location and try again”, then you’ve come to the right place as this post will guide you on how you can fix this error. You can encounter this error when you delete, rename, open or copy a certain file which is often created by third-party software and lacks important information like file format, and so on. Although you can see these files in File Explorer, you might not be able to perform some operations in them. To fix this problem, you need to check out the given suggestions below.

Option 1 – Try to rename the file via Command Prompt

If you were trying to rename the file but unable to do so, you can achieve that by executing a command in Command Prompt. Make sure to follow the steps carefully.

• Type in “Command Prompt” In the Start menu to search for it or you could also click the search button right next to the Start menu and then right-click on the related result and select the option “Run as administrator” to open Command Prompt with admin privileges.
• Next, type in “cd” followed by the path where the file is located with this format – “C:/Folder1/Folder2/Folder3”. However, you have to omit the problematic file this time. To put it simply, the last folder in the command must be the folder where the file is located.
• After inputting the command, press Enter on your keyboard and then use the set of commands given below. Note that each command is a new line so you need to tap Enter after copying each line.
  • DIR /A /X /P
  • RENAME (the current name of the problematic file) (a non-problematic name)
  • EXIT

Note: Make sure that you only input the current name and the new name separated by a space. You must not write the brackets in the command. If everything goes well, you will now be able to operate the file like you used to before.

Option 2 – Try to delete the file using Command Prompt

On the other hand, if you were trying to delete the file instead of renaming it, you can execute another command in Command Prompt.

• Open Command Prompt with admin privileges like what you did earlier.
• Once you’ve opened Command Prompt, copy and paste the command given below and tap Entre after you do so. You also have to make sure that you key in the correct path where the file is located as well as its name.

rd /s \?X:badfolderpath

Note: In the command above, “X” is the placeholder letter so you must input the letter that corresponds to the drive’s letter where the file is located.

• After that, you will see the “Operation completed successfully” message on your screen. If you don’t, check if you’ve really inputted the correct location of the file or its name.

Option 3 – Delete the file without any extension

If the file you were trying to delete does not have an extension, this means that Windows does not know what to do with this file which is why it’s throwing an error message. The best thing to do in such cases is to delete the file especially if it takes up a lot of memory. To delete these kinds of files, here’s what you have to do:

• Follow the first two steps from the previous option above so you can navigate to the location of the file accurately just be careful in inputting the folders.
• Don’t forget to tap Enter right after each command and then use the next command below so you can delete the affected file which has no extension:

del *.*

• After you’re done, open the File Explorer and then check if the file is now deleted or not.

Caching is used to enhance the performance of applications in Windows and other operating systems. It helps applications to load faster but there are times when the cache can get damaged or corrupted and as a result, you might encounter some issues. One of them is in the Firefox browser where the “Your Firefox profile cannot be loaded, It may be missing or inaccessible” error message may appear. You could also encounter this kind of error when Firefox is unable to access or find the profile folder. In case you don’t know what the profile folder is, it is where Firefox stores your user data and settings by default. Firefox pulls information from this folder each time you choose to open it. You can find this default Firefox profile folder under the %APPDATA%MozillaFirefoxProfiles folder. If you experience issues when trying to access the Profile Manager, you have the option to create a new default Firefox profile folder. This will fix the “Your Firefox profile cannot be loaded, It may be missing or inaccessible” error. How? Simply follow the given steps below. Step 1: Tap the Win key or click the Windows Start button to open the Start menu. Step 2: Next, type “%appdata%” in the field and hit Enter to open the hidden AppDataRoaming folder. Step 3: Now double click the Mozilla folder as well as the Firefox folder. Step 4: From there, look for the “profiles.ini” file and delete it. Make sure that you don’t delete the Profiles folder which should have the icon of a file folder. Note: Keep in mind that the .ini file extension is identified as the file that features a gear icon beside the “Configuration settings” or “Application settings”. Step 5: Once you open Firefox, a new profile will be created. On the other hand, if you know where your profile exists, you can try the following steps below to help Firefox locate it.

• First, you need to move the profile folder back to its original location.
• Next, restore the profile folder’s original name if you have modified it.
• Then create a new profile using the Profile Manager and give it an appropriate name.
• Now click on the Choose Folder button and select the profile folder you have moved or renamed before you exit the Create a new profile wizard.

As you know, System Restore is a useful tool in Windows operating system that helps users in fixing system issues by undoing any recent changes to the computer that may have caused the problem. However, there are times when you might encounter some issues when running this tool and one of these issues is when System Restore suddenly gets stuck or hangs up on initializing the restoration of the Registry in Windows 10. If you encounter a similar problem, read on as this post will guide you on what you can do in such cases. There are several things you can do when you face this kind of problem in System Restore. First, you can try to wait it out, give it more time to load, which should not take longer than 5 minutes. And if it’s still stuck after that time, give it another hour. However, if nothing changed after an hour, then you need to troubleshoot the problem further. Keep in mind that you must not interrupt System Restore by shutting it down abruptly, it could result in an unbootable system. To get started in troubleshooting the problem, you need to follow each one of the suggestions offered below.

Option 1 – Try to use the Windows Recovery Environment

The first troubleshooting option you need to try is to simply tap the power button for about 10 seconds. This is what you have to do when you have to interrupt System Restore or reset your Windows 10 computer. Tapping the power button for 10 seconds will perform a hard shutdown and once your computer shuts down, restart your computer again and follow the steps below but before you do that, make sure that you have a Windows bootable USB or DVD.

• First, insert the bootable USB or DVD and boot into it, and select the “Repair your computer” option.
• Next, once you see the manufacturer logo on your computer, tap the key to enter into Windows Recovery Environment.
• After that, change the Boot sequence to DVD drive under the UEFI Firmware settings and restart your computer.
• Once your computer has restarted, select the boot order and make changes accordingly as displayed in the BIOS.

Option 2 – Try to run the Automatic Repair Utility

You might also want to use Automatic Repair in fixing the error. To do so, follow the steps below.

• You can start by creating and booting from a bootable Windows 10 USB Stick.
• After that, click on Repair your computer located on the bottom left corner when you are on the initial Windows Startup screen.
• Next, click on Troubleshoot, and then on the other screen, click the Startup Repair option.
• Now select the operating system you want to repair. Once you do that, it will start to repair your operating system. Wait until the process is completed and then check if the problem’s now fixed.

Option 3 – Try to run System Restore in Safe Mode

If you can’t boot into your Windows 10 computer, you can try to run System Restore again in the Advanced Startup Options.

• Boot your computer into Safe Mode.
• After that, select an option > Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Startup Settings > Restart.
• Once your computer has restarted, tap the F6 key to enable Safe Mode with Command Prompt and to run System Restore from there.
• Now in Command Prompt, type the “rstrui.exe” command to run System Restore in Safe Mode. This will help in fixing the problem since it would be safer to perform System Restore of the computer.

Hello everyone, last time we were talking about disk cleanup and its benefits, but as you need to keep your System clean you should also clean and keep your hardware clean as well. Many system issues could be traced and could happen due to dirty PC. In this article, we will give you tips on how to perform safely cleaning on your computer and hopefully point good sides to it so you can develop a healthy habit of regularly cleaning it and keeping it tidy. Keeping your PC clean is not rocket science and you can do it with things you already and probably have in your house. One thing that I would recommend tho to purchase is antistatic gloves since they could prevent any kind of electrostatic discharges thus protecting your electric components. If you have the option to disconnect your PC and get it outdoors, I would highly recommend this approach since all the dust will be dusted outside and not in the room where your computer is. If you can not it is still ok, but since some portion of dust will be set in the room, you might need to dust your room after cleaning your computer.

Cleaning outside case & redusting inside

The first thing after disconnecting your computer is to dust it from outside, here you will need a vacuum cleaner and a brush, gently brush outside dust from your casing and vacuum it with your vacuum cleaner. You can use dustcloth for larger parts but use the brush for fans and connectors. After you have done cleaning the outside part, open the side of your computer casing, put on your antistatic gloves, and get a fine and soft brush, repeat dusting and vacuuming of the inner parts of your computer. If your computer is not regularly been cleaned this part will take a little longer since there would be excess dust inside and it will take a longer time to vacuum it all but keep going until you are left with no dirt.

Cleaning it inside

Fans are troublesome to clean since they will rotate when brushed and that could make you miss certain sports, in order to battle this get a tape and stick the fan into one position, brush areas that you can reach, then unstick it, rotate the head, stick it again in another position and dust off remaining areas which you could not reach before. If your computer is very dirty and some hard dirt is at bottom of the connectors, disconnect desired component and clean the connection properly. plug it back in immediately after cleaning to avoid connecting it somewhere else. Harder stains that could not be dusted could be cleaned with little alcohol. Get your dustcloth just a little wet with alcohol, just a corner, and gently wipe out sticky dust or spills if they are present. Leave it 10 minutes for alcohol to evaporate before plugging it back into an electric socket.

Thermal paste and cable management

If you have money and expertise, every 2 years would be a good idea to change the thermal paste on your processor, all you need to do is buy it from your local computer store online, remove the CPU fan clean the CPU and bottom of the fan and apply new thermal paste, place fan back and lock it. If you do not have expertise in this area, call someone who has to show you how it is done. When cleaning it would be a good idea if you do not have any cable management to do it now, nice and tidy cables not only look good, they also improve your air circulation inside your casing making your computer cooling better. once you are done with it, close back the casing side and plug it back in the wall.

Peripherals

When you are cleaning your computer, do yourself a favor and clean your keyboard, mouse, and screen as well. the keyboard can be quickly cleaned with compressed air in the can and screen and mouse with dustcloth. That's it, remember, keep your PC clean and tidy and enjoy the benefits of non-hardware malfunctions caused by dirt and dust.

One of the important functions in the Windows operating system is the Task Scheduler. It can automatically run various tasks at a certain time where you’ll have to add a task that needs to be executed and then choose the time it has to run at. So when that time comes, the Task Scheduler will run the task automatically. However, some users reported getting an Error 0x80070057 where the Task Scheduler fails to start. This kind of error may be due to a disabled service that prevents the service from running. It is also possible that the antivirus program interfered with the task – it could be that the Task Scheduler is somewhat in the block list since the antivirus adds it to the list automatically when it’s installed. On the other hand, it could be that you lack administrator-level privilege which is why the Task Scheduler was not able to carry out the task. To fix this issue, here are some suggestions you can try.

Option 1 – Try to restart the Task Scheduler service

As mentioned, it is possible that the Task Scheduler service could be disabled. You could have disabled it when trying to enhance your computer’s performance and whatnot. Thus, you need to verify if it’s running or not and then restart it.

• First, you need to tap the Win + R keys on your keyboard to open the Run dialog box.
• Next, type “services.msc” in the field and click OK or tap Enter to open the Windows Services Manager.
• You will see a list of Services and from there, look for the Task Scheduler service and double click on it.
• After that, go to the General tab and click on the Startup Type options and then select “Automatically” from the given list.
• Click on the “RUN” option and select the “Restart the Service” option.
• And click on the “After Second Failure” option and then select the “Restart-Service” option again.
• Now click on the “After Subsequent Failures” tab and select the “Restart the Service” option.
• Finally, click on the Apply and OK buttons and then run the Task Scheduler and see if the issue is now fixed.

Option 2 – Try to temporarily disable the anti-virus program

As mentioned, the error could be due to the antivirus program or the Windows Defender Firewall installed in your computer. Thus, disabling them or any security software installed on your computer is always a good idea you can try when you’re not able to access the shared drive on your computer. There are times when you encounter problems like the Task Scheduler Error 0x80070057 due to interference of antivirus or security programs. Thus, you have to disable both your antivirus program for the meantime and check if it fixes the error or not.

Option 3 – Run the Task Scheduler with an administrator account

Like pointed out, the Task Scheduler Error 0x80070057 may be due to the lack of admin privileges. Thus, you have to log in to an administrator account and try running the Task Scheduler again. It is also recommended that the administrator account you’re going to use as a password when logging in.

Option 4 – Repair the Task Scheduler by deleting corrupted tasks

Note that a single corrupted file can cause big problems so this option is quite important. And for you to delete a corrupted task or any task from the Task Scheduler, you have to use the Registry Editor if you are not able to use the Task Scheduler interface. To do so, follow these steps:

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the dialog box for Run.
• Next, type in Regedit and click on OK or tap Enter to open the Registry Editor.
• Then navigate to this path: ComputerHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionScheduleTaskCacheTree

Note: In this path, you can see all the tasks that are currently set in the Task Scheduler. And since it would be hard to tell which one of them is corrupted, you have to delete the latest one in Task Scheduler last. But before you do so, make sure that you take note of the ID of the tasks. And for you to get the ID, you have to select the task you wish to delete and double click on the ID string located on your right-hand side, and then copy it in the Notepad.

• Right-click on the task name and then delete it.
• After that, delete the very same GUID which you have copied earlier from these folders:
• ComputerHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionScheduleTaskCacheBoot
• ComputerHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionScheduleTaskCacheLogon
• ComputerHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionScheduleTaskCacheMaintenance
• ComputerHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionScheduleTaskCachePlain
• ComputerHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionScheduleTaskCacheTasks

Note: You might not see the same GUID from these folders but if you see it, delete it right away.

• Next, navigate to this location: C:/Windows/System32/Tasks
• Delete the very same tasks you just deleted from the Registry Editor.
• Restart your PC and check if the Task Scheduler is back to its normal state or not.

Error Code  0x80070490 - What is it?

Error code 0x80070490 occurs in versions of Windows including Windows 8 or 8.1 and Windows 7 or Windows Vista. This error often arises when users attempt to install updates via Windows Update or Microsoft Update.

The main reason for the error relates to the Component-Based Servicing (CBS) manifest which has become damaged. When the error occurs, the Windows device is unable to successfully install updates.

Solution

Error Causes

Error code 0x80070490 might appear for various reasons but is most prominent in the following cases:

• Attempts to install Windows 8 or 8.1
• A corrupted Component-Based Servicing (CBS)

Further Information and Manual Repair

The solutions for error code 0x80070490 vary so users may need to attempt each solution to find the best results.

1. Repair Corrupted Windows Files with System File Checker

The System File Checker (SFC.exe) is a Windows-based utility that enables users to check and repair corrupted or damaged system files. It can also restore missing systems files which can be the cause of errors such as error code 0x80070490.

To repair files, begin scan by swiping the right edge of the screen then opening the search box. Type Command Prompt, right-click this option, then select Run as Administrator. Once the scan begins, wait for the process to be completed then restart your device. Check if the error is resolved by reattempting updates. If error code 0x80070490 in Windows 8 or 8.1 persists on your device, proceed to the solution below.

2. Perform Clean Boot

A clean boot is one of the best ways to reduce conflict among files – an issue that may arise whenever users update, install or run programs on their Windows device.

To run a clean boot, your device reboots using limited drives and programs. The process allows you to identify which conflict among programs is causing errors on your Windows device.

You can access the clean boot tool by entering msconfig in the search box. Select Services, then System Configuration. Check the Hide all Microsoft services checkbox then select Disable all. Next, go to the Startup tab, click and open Task Manager. After selecting the Startup tab, make sure you right-click each startup program. Click Disable from the context menu then close Task Manager when done. Select OK on the System Configuration menu then restart your machine to clean boot Windows 8 or 8.1.

If the clean boot successfully identifies and resolves issues with corrupted files, you will be able to access updates using Windows Update or Microsoft Update. Error code 0x80070490 will no longer occur. But if that proves unsuccessful, other options are available below including running Windows Update Troubleshooter.

3. Run Windows Update Troubleshooter

This method can provide a simple solution for users as it verifies whether your Internet connection, network adapter and Windows Update services are functioning properly. However, if you are uncertain as to whether you will be able to troubleshoot, seek assistance from a qualified Microsoft technician.

To run Windows Update Troubleshooter, simply download from Microsoft’s website. Be sure you are downloading the tool recommended for your operating system, in this case Windows 8 or 8.1. After you download Windows Update Troubleshooter, run it to enable the tool to check for and resolve update issues on your device.

4. Use DSIM or System Update Readiness Tool

The System Readiness Tool or DSIM is another method you can use to correct issues related to error code 0x80070490. This tool checks problems on your system that might prevent your computer from performing Windows updates including issues related to damaged system files.

Once you download and install this tool, it will be able to run automatically. The process may be technical, however, requiring specialized knowledge to successfully download and run the tool. Consider getting assistance from an IT professional in this case. Also, check Microsoft's online resources to download the tool.

5. Use an Automated Tool

Having an automated tool at hand will enable users to always be prepared. Download a powerful automated utility tool to provide solutions whenever error codes or other problems affect your Windows 8 device.