If your mouse is broken, don't despair. Your computer's mouse may seem like an essential peripheral, but it's actually not necessary for using your PC. If you don't have a working mouse around (or if you just feel like learning some new keyboard tricks) you can use your Windows computer entirely from the keyboard. While it might not be as efficient as the mouse operations you're used to, knowing how to use your computer without a mouse may come in handy someday. Meanwhile, learning these keyboard shortcuts will help you be more productive anytime. How to Open Programs Without a Mouse Launching programs without touching your mouse is easy. Windows has quick shortcuts for accessing your Start menu, Taskbar, and desktop. Accessing and Using the Start Menu Press the Windows key on your keyboard to open the Start menu. As soon as it's open, type part of a program's name to search for it. Press Enter to launch the highlighted program, or use the arrow keys to select another entry first. With the Start menu open, you can also press the Tab key to move around the different sections of the menu. Use the arrow keys to navigate around and Enter to open menus. Using this, you can access the power menu to shut down your system, log out, and similar. Using the Taskbar Without a Mouse To launch or switch to an app on your Taskbar, press the Windows key and a number key at the same time. For example, if the leftmost taskbar icon is Chrome, pressing Win + 1 will launch or switch to it. Win + 2 will do the same for the second icon, and so on. Win + 0 will open the 10th icon, but you can't use this shortcut for any icons beyond that. Press Win + B to focus the cursor on the System Tray, which is the section of icons at the bottom-right of the screen. Access Desktop Icons Without a Mouse Press Win + D to show the desktop (which hides all open windows). Once your desktop is in focus, use the arrow keys to select a desktop icon and press Enter to launch it. You can press Win + D again to restore your minimized programs. Managing Program Windows Without a Mouse While you likely use the mouse to manage open windows, you can easily manage them with a few keyboard shortcuts. Here's a list of the most useful ones: Close a program: Alt + F4 Restore/minimize a window: Win + down arrow. Pressing this once will restore down a maximized window and minimize it if pressed again. Maximize a window: Win + up arrow. Snap a window to half of your screen: Win + left or Win + right Move a window: Press and release Alt + Space, then press M to select the Move option. Use the arrow keys to move the window, then press Enter when done. Resize a window: Press and release Alt + Space, then press S to select the Size option. Use the arrow keys to resize the window, and press Enter when you're satisfied. Switch between open windows: Alt + Tab Open the Task View: Win + Tab Switch virtual desktops: Ctrl + Win + Left/right Using Apps With the Keyboard The exact controls for controlling a piece of software will depend on the app, but there are a few general tips that apply to most programs. See our massive guide to Windows keyboard shortcuts for more help. Press the Tab key to move the focus between elements in a window. This will usually select different text fields or buttons. When you want to activate the highlighted option or button, use Enter (sometimes Space) to activate it. To move the focus in reverse, use Shift + Tab. In some apps, like browsers, Ctrl + Tab will cycle through open tabs. You can also often use the arrow keys to switch between buttons and options in a window. Keep in mind that this won't work if your cursor is currently in a text entry field; press Tab to get your cursor out of it. To use a program's menus, which almost always appear at the top of the window under the title bar, hit the Alt key. You'll see certain letters in the menu bar show as underlined; press that key to activate the corresponding option. For example, in the below screenshot for Firefox, after pressing Alt, tap the H key to open the Help menu, then A to show the About Firefox dialog. If you prefer, you can also navigate using the arrow keys. While most Windows programs use this menu system, not all do. Chrome is a notable exception; Alt + E will open Chrome's three-dot menu. From there, you can use the underlined letters or arrow keys to access its elements. You can perform a right-click at the current location of the cursor with the keyboard, but this isn't consistent across apps. Some will activate a right-click with Shift + F10. Others use Ctrl + Shift + F10, but some don't work with either. If your keyboard has a menu key, which looks like a dropdown menu and usually appears at the bottom-right of the keyboard by Ctrl, you can also use this to right-click. Working With Text Using Just a Keyboard These text editing shortcuts can help even if you're a big mouse user. Because your fingers are already on the keyboard when you're entering text, using keyboard shortcuts instead of reaching for your mouse can speed your workflow up. To scroll up or down in a document or webpage, press the Page Up or Page Down keys. To jump to the top or bottom of the page, use the Home or End keys. Inside a text box, these will move the cursor to the beginning or end of the current line. You can move the cursor by using the arrow keys. To move the cursor one word at a time instead of one character at a time, hold Ctrl as you press the arrow keys. To jump to the beginning or end of a text field, use Ctrl + Home or Ctrl + End. Use Ctrl + Backspace or Ctrl + Del to erase a word at a time instead of single characters. To select text, hold Shift while you use the arrow keys. For faster selection, combine Shift with the above key combos to quickly select a large amount of text. For example, Ctrl + Shift + End will select all the text from the cursor position to the end of the document. Use Ctrl + A to select everything in the current text box or on the current page. With your text selected, press Ctrl + C to copy it or Ctrl + X to cut it. Later, use Ctrl + V to paste at the cursor's current location. Ctrl + Z will undo your last action, while Ctrl + Y will redo an undone action. How to Move the Mouse Cursor Without a Mouse If the above keyboard shortcuts don't work for something you need to do, try the Mouse Keys feature in Windows. Mouse Keys allows you to control the on-screen mouse cursor with the number pad at the right side of your keyboard. To enable Mouse Keys, press the left Alt, left Shift, and NumLock keys at the same time. You should hear a sound and see a prompt for the feature; press Enter to confirm. If you turned off this shortcut combination in the past, you'll need to access the Mouse Keys options manually. You can do this via either the Settings app or the Control Panel, but it's more convenient through Settings. To change it, press Win + I to open the Settings panel. Hit Tab to focus your cursor in the list of categories, then use the arrow keys to select Ease of Access and hit Enter. Next, hit Tab again to move the focus to the left sidebar. Use the arrow keys to scroll to the Interaction section and select Mouse. Then hit Tab again to turn the Turn on Mouse Keys option. Now you can use the number pad keys to move the mouse cursor as long as Num Lock is on; press 5 to left-click. Once it's on, hit Tab again if you want to change any of the options, including the pointer speed. Broken Mouse? The Keyboard Works Just Fine Now you know how to navigate Windows with just a mouse. There are other useful shortcuts, but these ones will help you navigate to most places in Windows. Don't forget that you can use Ctrl + Alt + Delete to open the Windows security screen, which has shortcuts for Ease of Access options, the power menu, and other useful tools.

Microsoft Office on Linux is possible. Here are three methods for getting Microsoft Office installed in a Linux environment. Getting Microsoft Office on Linux is easy. This article covers three methods for running Microsoft's Office software in a Linux environment. The most widely used office productivity suite in the world is Microsoft Office. It doesn't matter if your PC runs Windows 10 or macOS, it's likely that you're using Microsoft Office. If you're not, you have a colleague who is. But your PC runs Linux. How on earth are you going to install Microsoft Office, and use it without running into problems? How to Install Microsoft Office on Linux You have three ways to run Microsoft's industry-defining office software on a Linux computer: Use Microsoft Office on the web in a Linux browser. Install Microsoft Office using PlayOnLinux. Use Microsoft Office in a Windows virtual machine. Each option has its own advantages and disadvantages. Let's look at how to run Office on Linux in more detail. Option 1: Use Microsoft Office Online in a Browser It might not be the full Microsoft Office, but what is made available via your browser is certainly good enough for a big chunk of office-based tasks. It's an easy way to get started without paying for the full Microsoft Office suite. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook can all be accessed via your browser and Microsoft account. Is your copy of Microsoft Office via monthly subscription to Office 365? If so, you'll also have access to the browser-based tools. This is an easy option that delivers productivity benefits to rival Google Docs or Sheets. As the suite is browser based, it's not going to be available offline. However, you can make things smoother by setting office.live.com as a desktop shortcut. As useful as it is, this isn't the full Microsoft Office. It's just a browser-based alternative with a stripped-back collection of features. Though useful in a pinch, it doesn't do everything you expect. Option 2: Install Microsoft Office Using PlayOnLinux Need the full Microsoft Office on Linux? You'll need to install it. Now, you probably think that it isn't possible to install Windows software on Linux, and to a certain degree that is true. Fortunately, other tools are available to help you install Windows software like Microsoft Word on Linux, along with the rest of the office suite. The simplest way to install Microsoft Office is using PlayOnLinux. The following instructions are for Ubuntu, but you'll be able to customize this for distros that use different package managers. Install PlayOnLinux Begin by opening a terminal window and installing winbind: sudo apt install winbind This is a tool that ensures that PlayOnLinux correctly links the Windows login on the software you're attempting to install. You may also need to install cUrl and p7zip-full if they're not already installed. Next, install PlayOnLinux. sudo apt install playonlinux Alternatively, you can open your distro's app installer. On Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, use Ubuntu Software to search for PlayOnLinux and click Install. Wait for installation to complete. Now, all you need to do is launch PlayOnLinux from Menu > Applications. To install Microsoft Office, click the Office tab, then either use the search field or browse the list. Note that you'll need to install the full suite, as no individual apps (aside from Project 2010, and Word Viewer and Excel Viewer) are available. You'll notice that with each app you select in PlayOnLinux, a summary of compatibility is displayed on the right. For further details about this, click the link. A browser window will take you to WineHQ, where you can find out more. On Linux you're limited to Microsoft Office 2016 as the latest version (the 32-bit version, at best). For the best, most stable results, use Microsoft Office 2016 (method B). For this, you'll need the installation media (or ISO file) or setup file, along with a genuine product key. Install Microsoft Office on Ubuntu With PlayOnLinux With the ISO file ready, click Install. The PlayOnLinux Wizard will start and prompt you to select a DVD-ROM or a setup file. Choose the appropriate option, then Next. If you're using a setup file, you'll need to browse to where this is stored on your Linux system. Click Next to proceed with the installation. Once complete, Microsoft Office will be ready to run on Linux. You'll be able to run Microsoft Office from the desktop without separately loading PlayOnLinux, which will run in the background. Need a feature that is only available in the latest version of Microsoft Office? Consider CrossOver, a paid tool with a free trial that can run more recent versions of Microsoft Office. Installation of CrossOver is more straightforward than PlayOnLinux, while installation of Office is along similar lines (there is a developmental connection between the two tools). And yes, having Windows software running effortlessly on your Linux PC really is amazing, isn't it? You'll find that PlayOnLinux can support several other applications, as well as many Windows games. Option 3: Install Microsoft Office 365 in a VM There is another option for anyone wishing to install Microsoft Office on their Linux computer. This isn't as easy as the others, however, unless you're already running a Windows virtual machine. RELATED:How To Set Up A Windows Virtual Machine In Linux In this case, all you need to do is boot your virtual machine, sign into Windows, and install Microsoft Office. This will prove particularly useful if you wish to install Office 365, as this cannot be installed on Linux. Get Microsoft Office on Linux Today! Microsoft Office is not the most ideal option for running office tasks on Linux systems. However, if it's what you need to get the job done, you have four good options to install MS Office on Linux. Yes, open-source alternatives are best for most Linux office productivity tasks but installing Microsoft Office overcomes document compatibility problems. This can prove vital in meeting deadlines or accessing complex spreadsheets and databases. Once you've sorted out installing Microsoft Office on Linux, don't stop there. So much more Windows software can be installed on Linux, often without virtualization.

Storage Sense is the Disk Cleanup replacement for the modern world. It frees up space on your computer by deleting things like recycle bin contents, temporary internet files, and app temporary files. This also includes the Downloads folder, but you can change that if you don’t want Storage Sense emptying it. We’ve mentioned before how the Free Up Space tool in Windows 10 will delete your downloads by default (though you can turn it off, too). Storage Sense is the automatic equivalent to that tool and is the intended replacement for the venerable Disk Cleanup tool. By default, Storage Sense treats your Downloads folder as a temp folder, deleting anything older than 30 days when it runs. If you use your Downloads as a more permanent storage area for downloads, you can prevent Storage Sense from deleting your downloads. How to Prevent Storage Sense From Deleting Your Downloaded Files Open the Settings app by pressing Win+I, then clicking on “System.” On the left side of the System page, click the “Storage” category. Under the “Storage Sense” section on the right, click the “Change how we free up space automatically” link. Now, open the “Delete files in my Downloads folder” drop-down menu and select the “Never” option. After you’ve completed this, Smart Sense continues to run periodically but leaves your precious downloads alone.

A Trusted Platform Module (TPM) is a hardware-based security measure used to authenticate your PC. Sometimes, the TPM may malfunction, resulting in users not being able to access applications such as Outlook or Microsoft Office. Thankfully, there are quite a few ways you can fix the TPM malfunctioning error. Perform a Clean Boot The first step in resolving common Windows errors is to perform a clean boot to check whether third-party software is causing the issue. It's not unusual for third-party software to conflict with your Windows PC. Here's how you can clean boot your PC: In the Start menu search bar, type sysconfig. In the search results, click on System Configuration. In the next window, click on the Services tab. Check the Hide all Microsoft services box. Then select all the services listed in the window, and click Disable all. Click OK and close System Configuration. Now, press CTRL + Shift + Esc to launch the Task Manager. Under the Startup tab, click on each service one by one and click on Disable. Click on OK and close Task Manager. Reboot your computer. If the error doesn't appear, then uninstall any recently installed third-party application. Then reverse the changes you made and use your computer as you would. Alternatively, take a look at how to perform a clean boot in Windows 10 to understand better how the process works. Modify the TPM 2.0 Driver—Error Code: 80090016 One of the most common error codes for the 'Trusted Platform Module has malfunctioned' error is 80090016. Resolving this requires meddling with the TPM driver. Update the TPM 2.0 Driver The first step in diagnosing this error is to update the TPM driver. You can do this using the Device Manager: Press Windows Key + R to open the Run application. In the text box, type devmgmt.msc and press Enter to launch the Device Manager. In the Device Manager window, navigate to Security Devices and expand the menu. Right-click on Trusted Platform Module 2.0 and select Update driver. On the update prompt, select Search automatically for drivers. Windows will automatically download and install the latest version of the TPM 2.0 driver. Reboot your computer. RELATED:What Is A Trusted Platform Module (TPM)? Uninstall the TPM 2.0 Driver If updating the TPM 2.0 didn't work, it may be time to uninstall it altogether and let Windows reinstall it the next time you boot. Press Windows Key + R to launch the Run application. Type devmgmt.msc in the text box and press Enter to launch Device Manager. In Device Manager, scroll down to Security Devices and expand the menu. Right-click on Trusted Platform Module 2.0 and select Uninstall device. Click Uninstall in the confirmation window. Reboot your computer. Clear Your Trusted Platform Module (TPM) Another viable method to resolve this problem is to clear the TPM. Before doing so, be sure to back up any important data you may have on your computer. Read our handy guide to WIndows backup to know which files and folders you should definitely backup. Clearing the TPM Click on the Start button and go to Settings. On the Settings dashboard, click on Update & Security. On the navigation bar on the left, click on Windows Security. Now, click on Device Security, and under Security processor, click on Security processor details. Click on Security processor troubleshooting. In the next window, click on Clear TPM. Disable Modern Authentication—Microsoft Office This solution is for users who are unable to access Microsoft Office because of the Trusted Platform Module error. The solution involves changing some entries in the Windows Registry Editor: Press Windows Key + R to launch the Run application. Type regedit in the text box and hit Enter. Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\Identity Right-click on the white space in the window and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name the new entry as EnableADAL, and then double-click on it. Set the Value to 0. Close Registry Editor and reboot your computer. RELATED:Ultimate Microsoft Mastery: Tips, Tricks, And Tutorials For You Take Ownership of the Ngc Folder and Delete It Another easy way to solve the TPM malfunction error is to delete the Ngc folder. It can be found in the C:\ drive but requires ownership to delete it. This is how you can do it: Open File Explorer and navigate to: C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Local\Microsoft Locate a folder named Ngc and right-click on it, then select Properties. Under the Security tab, click on Advanced. Under Owner, click on Change. You'll require administrative privileges to do so. In the text box, enter your local account username (the one that you're currently using) and click on Check names. Click OK. Check the Replace owner on subcontainers and objects checkbox. Click on OK. Double-click to open the Ngc folder and delete all its contents. Reboot your computer. Remove the Application's Credentials From the Credential Manager This fix is applicable for users facing this issue when launching a Microsoft application such as Outlook or Microsoft Office. The method involves removing the concerned application's credentials using the Credential Manager: In the Start menu search bar, type Credential Manager. From the search results, click on Credential Manager. Click on Windows Credentials. Under Generic Credentials, select each Microsoft Office credential and click on the arrow towards the right to expand them. Then click on Remove, next to Edit. You'll have to do this one by one. Reboot your computer. Login Using a New Local User Account If none of the aforementioned solutions work, then all you can do is create a new user account and use that to login into Windows and Microsoft Office. This can easily be done from the Windows Settings app: Click on the Start button and then select Settings. On the Settings dashboard, click on Accounts. On the navigation bar on the left, click on Family & other users. Under Other users, click on Add someone else to this PC. In the user creation wizard, click on 'I don't have this user's sign-in information.' On the next window, select 'Add a user without a Microsoft account.' Fill in all the fields and click OK. Reboot your computer and sign-in using the newly created user account. TPM Malfunctioning Error Resolved The 'TPM has malfunctioned' error can be a tricky error to resolve due to the variety of error codes associated with it. But one of the listed fixes is sure to help you drive it away.

Unlike most other errors in Windows, error 0x80004005 is an "unspecified error." This means that it could be caused by any number of reasons. The most common reasons for the unspecified 0x80004005 error include Windows Update problems, corrupt files and folders, and errors while extracting compressed files. Due to this, tackling the error can be a bit trickier than usual, but one of these methods is sure to help. So, here's how you fix Windows error 0x80004005. Run the Windows Update Troubleshooter If error code 0x80004005 popped up when you were trying to update your Windows PC, it's best to run the Windows Update Troubleshooter. The utility is competent enough to identify and fix common errors that may occur while updating. Follow these steps to launch Windows Update Troubleshooter: Press Windows Key + I to open Settings, then head to Update & Security. On the navigation bar towards the left, click on Troubleshoot. In the Troubleshoot window, click on Windows Update under Get up and running. Click Run the troubleshooter. Additionally, users can also try other fixes for Windows Update. RELATED:How To Manage Windows Update In Windows 10? Delete Files in the Windows Update Folder To do this, navigate to C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download and delete all the contents of the folder. Run Windows Update Again After deleting Windows Update files and running the troubleshooter, it's time to run Windows Update again. Press Windows Key + I to open Settings, then head to Update & Security. Under Windows Update, click on Check for updates. If prompted, allow Windows to download and install the updates. Clean Boot Windows Sometimes, third-party software can interfere with the functioning of Windows. Since 0x80004005 is a broad error, it's best to perform a clean boot to eliminate third-party apps as the cause of the problem. For more information about clean booting Windows 10, read how to perform a Clean Boot and fix common Windows errors. In the Start menu search bar, type sysconfig. From the search results, click on System Configuration. In the System Configuration window, navigate to the Services tab. Check the Hide all Microsoft services checkbox. Now select all the services in the list and click on Disable all. Click OK and close System Configuration. After this, press CTRL + Shift + Esc to launch Task Manager. Click on the Startup tab. Select each entry in the list of services and click Disable. Unlike System Configuration, you'll have to disable the services one by one. Click on OK and close Task Manager. Restart your computer. After booting, check to see if the error persists. If there was something in particular that triggered the error, try doing it again. In case the error doesn't appear, uninstall any recently installed applications or drivers. In case you're short on time, learn how to uninstall programs on Windows 10 the fast way. Change Registry Entries This fix is for users who are getting this error while accessing shared files or folders. A slight change to a Windows 10 registry entry can put an end to error code 0x8004005. Press Windows Key + R to launch the Run application. Type regedit in the text box and hit Enter. Navigate to the following location in the Registry Editor: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System Right-click on any part of the white area in the window. Go to New>QWORD (64-bit) Value. If you're on a 32-bit system, click on DWORD (32-bit) Value. Change the name of the newly created entry to LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy. Double click on the entry and change the enter 1 under Value. Close the Registry Editor and reboot your computer. Uninstall Microsoft 6to4 Devices Unexpectedly, the Microsoft 6to4 network adapters are also known to cause this issue. In such cases, users should uninstall all Microsoft 6to4 devices from their computer. You can do this using the Device Manager. Press Windows Key + R to open the Run application. Type devmgmt.msc in the text box and press Enter. Since these devices are usually hidden, you should go to View under the Device Manager title bar. Click on Show hidden devices. Navigate to Network adapters and expand the menu. Right-click on each Microsoft 6to4 Adapter and click on Uninstall device. In the prompt, be sure to select Delete driver software for this device. Close Device Manager and reboot your computer. RELATED:CMD Commands To Manage Wireless Networks In Windows 10 Use Third-Party Archiving Software If you see this error code when trying to extract compressed files using Windows Explorer, it may be time to switch to a third-party archiving utility. There are tons of options available out there, the popular ones being WinRAR, 7Zip, and WinZip. Alternatively, you can see this list of the best tools to open RAR files. Third-party archiving software also helps in extracting password-protected archives. Re-Register jscript.dll and vbscript.dll Another simple fix for error code 0x80004005 is to re-register jcript.dll and vbscript.dll files. This can be done using the Command Prompt: In the Start menu search bar, enter cmd. From the search results, right-click on Command Prompt > Run as administrator. In the console, type regsvr32 jscript.dll press Enter. After this, type regsvr32 vbscript.dll and press Enter. Close Command Prompt and reboot your computer. Run SFC to Check for Corrupt System Files Windows has a plethora of tools to diagnose and fix common errors. SFC (System File Checker) is one of them. It checks for missing or corrupt system files and fixes them. It's simple to use and can be executed by a simple Command Prompt command. Press Windows Key + R to launch the Run application. In the text box, type cmd and press CTRL + Shift + Enter to launch Command Prompt as administrator. In the Command Prompt console, type SFC /scannow and press Enter. SFC will automatically scan and fix your system files. Reboot your computer. RELATED:What Is The Difference Between SFC, CHKDSK, And DISM In Windows 10? 0x80004005 Error Fixed One of these fixes will surely drive away your 'unspecified error code' woes. However, a major difference is that users will have to try a broad range of fixes because of the error type. Ideally, you should also try all other common troubleshooting methods in addition to the ones mentioned above.

Windows 10 includes a notification system that's more robust than previous versions. It allows you to control how and when you see notifications from apps and websites. We'll show you how to manage notifications in Windows 10 so you stay in control of alerts. How to Access Notification Settings in Windows 10 First, you should know where the options related to notifications live. Open the Settings app using the Win + I shortcut or clicking the Gear icon in the Start menu. Then select the System entry, followed by Notifications & actions in the left sidebar. RELATED:The Windows 10 Settings Guide: How To Do Anything And Everything Here, under the Notifications header, you'll see some basic options for how notifications work. Turn off the Get notifications from apps and other senders to disable all notifications (except Windows alerts) in one move. In most cases, this isn't necessary as you have more granular control options, as we'll see shortly. Below this slider is a series of checkboxes to tweak other behaviors. Disable Show notifications on the lock screen for increased privacy. Turn off Allow notifications to play sounds to disable all audio alerts at once. And below, you can disable some Windows alerts designed to help you use your device. If you're not aware already, you should also know about the action center in Windows 10. This is a sidebar you can access by clicking its icon in the bottom-right corner of your screen, which looks like a message bubble. The keyboard shortcut Win + A also works. The action center collects all alerts that have shown on your system, allowing you to view them later. Some of the options we'll look at below affect how it works. How to Tweak Notifications for Individual Windows 10 Apps The rest of the notifications options page falls under the Get notifications from these senders section. Here, you can select specific apps and tweak how their notifications work in Windows. Set the Sort by menu to Most recent to easily find apps that have sent notifications lately. Let's walk through the options that you have for notifications. First, disabling the Notifications slider will turn them off for that app entirely. Next, you can decide where visual alerts appear. Disable Show notifications banners to hide the popup alerts that appear in the corner of your screen. You can also uncheck Show notifications in action center if you don't want them to appear in that panel. Use Hide content when notifications are on lock screen if you want to show the alert but not have the potentially sensitive contents of it (like the text of a message) appear. You can turn the sound off using the Play a sound when notification arrives slider—great for alerts that grab your attention frequently. The dropdown menu under Number of notifications visible in action center allows you to choose how many individual notifications appear under that app's entry to prevent it from getting cluttered. There's a See more link under each section in action center when you need to show all of them. Finally, you can choose the app's notification priority. Top will always appear at the highest part of the list, while High will show below those. Finally, anything marked as Normal will appear at the bottom. Managing Notifications From the Action Center If there's an app sending notifications that you want to turn off without having to dive into the Settings app, you can tweak the notifications right from its action center panel. Just right-click on a notification and you'll see two options. Go to notification settings will bring you right to the panel mentioned above for the app in question so you can make changes. If you want to shut the app up, select Turn off all notifications for [app]. You can always come back to it later to turn notifications back on or modify them, of course. If you don't need a notification anymore, click the X button on it to clear the alert. In some cases, you can click the small arrow to expand how much text the notification shows. And to get rid of everything, click Clear all notifications at the bottom of the list. Using Focus Assist in Windows 10 Speaking of notifications, you should know about Focus assist in Windows 10 as well. This is the Do Not Disturb function of Windows, allowing you to suppress all notifications when you don't want to be bothered. To change Focus assist options, open the Settings app and go to System > Focus assist. Here you can turn Focus assist on, pick which apps are high-priority, and choose when it should come on automatically. See our guide to Focus assist in Windows 10 to learn more. Check In-App Notification Settings, Too The above takes care of turning off notifications for apps you don't care about and silencing them when you're busy. There's one other important aspect, however: controlling notification settings for individual apps. For example, say that you're part of many Discord servers and only want notifications for a few of them. Instead of just turning off all Windows notifications for the app, you should go into Discord's options and change what servers you get notifications for there. READ MORE:Discord Tips And Tricks All Users Should Know This offers you much more control—you can mute notifications for an entire server, allow only @ mentions, or similar. You might also toggle on Discord's Do Not Disturb mode to keep those pings quiet while still allowing notifications from most other apps. Your browser is a particular app you should check for this. Lots of websites like to ask for permission to show notifications. These can be useful, such as Gmail alerts. But they can also be annoying, like websites spamming you with links to their articles. Have a look at how to disable annoying notifications in Chrome, Firefox, and other browsers to find instructions for the browser you use. Control All Notifications in Windows 10 Notifications are great for making sure you don't miss timely information. But too many notifications can become distracting and reduce their usefulness. By disabling alerts you don't need and taking control of what sends a ping, you'll have a more productive workspace in Windows.

If someone has access to your PC, they might attempt to log in on your device by guessing your password. This could pose a serious security threat—especially if they end up cracking your password. To protect yourself from this, you can limit the number of failed login attempts on your PC. You can configure these settings either through the Local Group Policy Editor or the Control Panel. Read on to find out how to limit the number of failed login attempts on Windows 10. Why You Should Limit the Number of Failed Login Attempts Limiting the number of failed login attempts on your PC is one of the best ways to secure your Windows 10 PC. Depending on the settings you choose, your locked account won’t be accessible until you reset it or the account lockout duration elapses. Hackers can automate brute force password attacks to try thousands of password combinations to get through your account. Limiting the number of failed sign-ins can help you prevent security threats such as brute force attacks. You can limit the number of failed login attempts on your PC by configuring the Account lockout threshold, the Reset account lockout counter, and the Account lockout duration settings. 1. Limit Failed Login Attempts Via the Local Group Policy Editor If your PC runs Windows 10 Home Edition, you’ll first need to learn how to access the Group Policy Editor in Windows Home. Otherwise, for all other Windows 10 versions, here’s how you can limit the number of failed login attempts using the Local Group Policy Editor. Press the Windows Key + R, type gpedit.msc, and hit Enter to open the Local Group Policy Editor. In the navigation pane on the left-hand side, navigate to Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Account Policies > Account Lockout Policy. Click the Account Lockout Policy key. You should see the following three settings in the right-hand side pane: Account lockout duration, Account lockout threshold, and the Reset account lockout counter after. The Account lockout threshold policy setting allows you to limit the number of login attempts on your PC. Users will not access your locked account until you reset it or the time you’ve specified on the Account lockout duration policy setting expires. To configure the Account lockout threshold, you need to set a value from 1-999. This number will determine the allowed login attempts on your PC before your account locks. Setting the value to 0 will not lock your account—regardless of how many password attempts someone makes. To configure this setting, double-click the Account lockout threshold policy setting. Specify your desired lockout threshold value in the Account will lock out after box. Click Apply and then click OK. The Reset account lockout counter after policy setting helps determine the number of minutes that must elapse before your account locks. This setting requires you first to determine the Account lockout threshold policy setting. As an example, you can set the Account lockout threshold to five attempts and the Reset account lockout counter after policy to five minutes. This will give the user five password attempts within five minutes before your account locks. You can specify a number between one and 99,999 minutes when configuring the Reset account lockout counter after policy setting. To configure this setting, double-click the Reset account lockout counter after policy setting. Specify your desired account lockout counter value in the Reset account lockout counter after box. Click Apply and then click OK. The Account lockout duration policy setting determines how long your account will remain locked before it automatically unlocks. Like the Reset account lockout counter setting, this setting requires you to determine the Account lockout threshold policy setting value. As an example, you can set the Account lockout threshold to five attempts and the Account lockout duration policy setting to five minutes. If a user enters an incorrect password for all five attempts, your account will lock for five minutes before it automatically unlocks. Depending on how long you want your account to lock, you can choose a value between one and 99,999 minutes. Alternatively, you can choose zero if you want your account to lock until you manually unlock it. To configure this setting, double-click the Account lockout duration policy setting. Specify your desired lockout duration value in the Account is locked out for box. Click Apply and then click OK. When you finish, close the Local Group Policy Editor and reboot your PC to save these changes. 2. Limit Failed Login Attempts Via the Command Prompt Open the Command Prompt by following these steps: Press the Windows Key + R and type CMD. Click Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open an elevated Command Prompt. To configure the Account lockout threshold, type the following command in the Command Prompt: net accounts /lockoutthreshold:5 You can replace the value in the Command Prompt with any value from one to 999. This will determine how many failed login attempts your PC will allow. Your account will automatically lock if a user enters incorrect passwords and ends up exceeding the lockout threshold value. Alternatively, you can choose zero if you don’t want your account to lock regardless of the number of failed login attempts. Click Enter after choosing a value. To configure the Reset account lockout counter, type the following command in the Command Prompt: net accounts /lockoutwindow:5 You can replace the value in the Command Prompt with a number between one and 99,999. This will determine the number of minutes that must elapse before your account locks. Click Enter after choosing a value. To configure the Account lockout duration, type the following command into the Command Prompt: net accounts /lockoutduration:5 You can replace the value in the Command Prompt with a number between one and 99,999. This will determine how long your account will remain locked before it automatically unlocks. If you set the value to zero, your account will lock until you manually unlock it. Click Enter after choosing a value. When you finish, close the Command Prompt and reboot your PC to save the changes. Easily Secure Your PC You can easily secure your PC by applying the methods we’ve provided in this article. The process of limiting repeated login attempts is fairly simple and reduces the chance of someone accessing your PC. In addition to doing this, you can set up a strong password so that hackers won’t be able to hack your PC through brute force attacks.

So you've just plugged in your new microphone, and immediately a loud whining sound comes screeching out of your speakers. Congratulations, you're stuck in a feedback loop. Not only is the noise incredibly loud and annoying, but at high enough volumes, they could potentially damage your equipment. Read on to discover how best to solve this incredibly annoying audio issue. How to Fix the Microphone Audio Feedback Loop The first thing you should do is mute the audio output. A microphone audio feedback loop is caused when your microphone's output is played over speakers and then feeds back (hence the title) into your microphone again. RELATED: Everything You Need To Know About The New Sonos Roam Muting your output stops the immediate issue and prevents your speakers from blowing out while fixing the underlying cause of the problem. 1. Stop Live Playback The root cause of a microphone audio feedback loop is typically live playback. Live playback refers to a feature in some recording software that plays the audio coming into the microphone directly out of the speakers or headphones. Mostly this is used by sound engineers when recording to make sure the recording is clean. Follow the steps below to turn off live playback in Windows 10. Right-click the speaker icon in your taskbar and select Sounds. Click on the recording tab and double-click the microphone you are using. Select the Listen tab and make sure the Listen to this device box isn't checked. 2. Use Headphones Whether your recording using a headset or a desk mic, the easiest way to prevent a microphone audio feedback loop is to use headphones when you plus a microphone in. Unless you have your headphone volume set dangerously high, the output shouldn't be loud enough for the microphone to pick up. Not only should this give you time to fix the issue, but it's useful if you actually want to be able to hear your playback live for some reason. RELATED:The Best Vegan-Friendly Headphones 3. Keep Your Microphone Away From Your Speakers If you absolutely have to use speakers while recording, make sure you keep the microphone away from the speakers. The further away your mic is from your output device, the less chance of causing a feedback loop. Fixing the Microphone Audio Feedback Loop Quickly If you've followed all of these steps, your microphone audio feedback loop problems should be over. No more loud screeching noises coming from your speakers unless you make them yourself.

When you connect a USB device to your PC, the USB device descriptor helps identify the connected device, determining which device driver to load. If the USB device descriptor malfunctions, your PC won’t recognize your connected USB device. You’ll get an error message that reads, “Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed).” If you’re experiencing this error, read on to find out how to fix the unknown USB device error on Windows 10. What Causes the Unknown USB Device Error? The “Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed)” error can occur due to hardware or system-specific issues. These are various causes for this error: Your latest software update had issues and ended up corrupting the USB drivers. There was a fault when you were replacing some parts of your PC. You’ve made mistakes when configuring the settings for your PC’s USB drivers. The USB port is broken. The USB device is damaged, corrupted, or infected with malware. The USB drivers are corrupted or outdated. The BIOS system needs updating. Now that you know what causes this error, here are six ways you can resolve it. 1. Quick Fixes Before you can apply some of the detailed methods in this article, here are some quick tricks you could try: Try rebooting your PC and see if this resolves your issue. Try plugging your USB device into a different USB port. If this resolves your issue, then the initial USB port that you used is most likely broken. Plug your USB device into a different computer. This will help you determine whether the USB device is damaged or your system drivers have issues. Disable the Windows fast startup setting. This setting boots up your PC quickly and may cause several issues on your PC’s performance. Disabling it and rebooting your PC could help out. If these quick fixes don’t resolve your issue, move on to the next method. 2. Scan Your PC for Hardware Changes The next method you could try is to scan your PC for any hardware changes. When the scan is complete, your PC could recognize the connected USB device. Plug the USB device into your PC. Open the Device Manager by pressing Windows Key + X and selecting Device Manager. In the header menu of the Device Manager, click the Action tab and select Scan for hardware changes from the list. Wait for the system to recognize all hardware changes and see if this resolves your issue. 3. Reinstall the USB Drivers Faulty USB drivers could be causing this error. To resolve this issue, you’ll need to uninstall the Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Failure) drivers and reinstall them. Open the Device Manager by pressing Windows Key + X and selecting Device Manager. Expand the Universal Serial Bus controllers section. Right-click the Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed) driver and select Uninstall device. When you finish uninstalling the drivers, reboot your system. This will automatically reinstall the USB drivers and should help get rid of the error. 4. Update the Generic USB Hub Drivers If the previous method didn’t work out, you can try updating the Generic USB Hub drivers. There is a chance that this USB driver is outdated and is the reason you’re encountering issues. Here’s how you can update the Generic USB Hub drivers. Open the Device Manager by pressing Windows Key + X and selecting Device Manager. Expand the Universal Serial Bus controllers section. Right-click the Generic USB Hub option and click the Update driver option. In the new window, select Search automatically for drivers. Your PC will search for compatible drivers online. When the update is complete, plug in your USB device and check if this has resolved your issue. 5. Use the Windows Troubleshooting Tool You can also resolve the Unknown USB Device error using the Windows Troubleshooter. This is an in-built Windows 10 tool that helps you search for and fix various system issues. Open the troubleshooter by typing Troubleshoot in the Start menu search bar and selecting the Best Match. Select Hardware and Devices, then select Run the troubleshooter to start the troubleshooting process. When the process is complete, close the troubleshooter and restart your PC to implement the fixes. 6. Disable USB Selective Suspend Setting Another method that could resolve your issue would be to disable the USB Selective Suspend Setting. Open the Control Panel by typing Control Panel in the Windows Search Bar and selecting the Best match. Navigate to System and Security > Power Options > Change plan settings. In the window that pops up, select the Change advanced power settings option. In the Power Options screen, locate and expand the USB settings. Expand the USB selective suspend setting and disable both the On battery and Plugged in options. Click Apply and then click OK. Restart your PC to apply these changes. Plug your USB devices in and check if this has resolved your issue. Fixing the Unknown USB Device Error the Easy Way By now, the “Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed)” Error should be resolved. It is a frustrating error, but most USB issues are resolved after reinstalling the USB drivers.

The Action Center—also known as the Notification Center—is located on the far right of the Windows 10 taskbar. This feature helps you easily access your system notifications and gives you quick access to settings. Sometimes, due to technical glitches, the Windows 10 Action Center will be grayed out and won’t open. This will hinder you from accessing the notifications and settings for various apps. We’ll explore why the Action Center error occurs and show you how you can resolve it. Why Is the Action Center Not Working? The Action Center could be malfunctioning simply because it’s disabled in your system settings. In other instances, the error could occur if you’ve recently updated your Windows 10 PC. This issue could also occur due to a bug or when the system files are corrupted or missing. If there is a problem with your system files, the Action Center can give you issues. For example, the Action Center won’t open when you select its icon on the taskbar. In some instances, you’ll receive notifications but won’t find them when you open the Action Center. Sometimes, the Action Center will continue showing the same notifications that you’ve cleared. Here are a few easy methods you can to help bring the Windows 10 Action Center back to life. 1. Enable the Action Center Via Settings The quickest way to open the Action Center is by selecting its icon on the taskbar's far right. Alternatively, you can press Windows Key + A. If that doesn’t work, chances are that the Action Center is disabled. To enable it, follow these steps. Press Windows Key + I to open Settings, then head to Personalization > Taskbar. In the Taskbar settings, scroll down and select Turn system icons on or off. To enable the Action Center icon in the taskbar, turn on the Action Center option. 2. Rename the UsrClass.dat System File You can rename the UsrClass.dat file to fix this issue. When this file is corrupted, it could lead to system issues that cause several desktop items to malfunction. Renaming it will force Windows to create a new UsrClass.dat file upon reboot, which could fix the Action Center issue. Here’s how you can rename this file. Press Windows Key + R to open the Run command dialog box. Type %localappdata%\Microsoft\Windows and press Enter. Select the View tab in File Explorer and check the Hidden items box. This will show hidden files on your PC. Locate the UsrClass.dat file and rename it to something like "UsrClass.original.dat." Although Windows will automatically restore this file, you shouldn’t completely delete it. In case something goes wrong, you may still need the file to restore your system settings. When you’re done renaming the file, reboot your PC to save these changes. 3. Re-Register the Action Center by Running a PowerShell Command When you get familiar with PowerShell commands, you can use them to solve various system issues. In this case, we’ll show you how you can use PowerShell to re-register and fix the Action Center. Press the Windows Key + X and select Windows PowerShell (Admin) from the options. Type the following command and press Enter. Get-AppxPackage | % { Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppxManifest.xml" -verbose } When you finish, restart your PC to save these changes. If PowerShell gives you trouble, there are various steps you can take to handle PowerShell errors. 4. Enable the Action Center Via the Registry Editor To resolve this error via the Registry Editor, follow these steps. Press the Windows Key + R to open the Run command dialog box. Type Regedit and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor. In the Registry Editor, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Policies > Microsoft > Windows > Explorer. If the Explorer key is absent within the Windows key, you'll have to create it. You'll also have to create relevant files within the new Explorer key. In case the Explorer key is already present, you can skip to the next step. Otherwise, here are the steps you need to follow to create the Explorer key and its relevant files. Right-click the Windows key on the Registry Editor, select New > Key. When you’re prompted to name this new key, type Explorer and press Enter. Right-click on the new Explorer key, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. When prompted to name this value, type DisableNotificationCenter and press Enter. Double-click the DisableNotificationCenter file on the right-hand side pane. When a window pops up, change the Value data from one to zero to enable the Action Center. Select OK to finish. Restart your PC to save these changes. 5. Enable the Action Center Via the Local Group Policy Editor Here’s how you can enable the Action Center via the Local Group Policy Editor. Press the Windows Key + R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter to open the Local Group Policy Editor. Navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar. Double-click the Remove Notifications and Action Center setting on the right-hand side pane. In the window that pops up, select Not Configured or Disabled to enable the Action Center. Select Apply > OK. Restart your PC and check if this resolves your issue. 6. Use the SFC and DISM Tools Lastly, you can try fixing this issue by using the SFC and DISM tools. These tools are useful for fixing various system issues in Windows 10. You’ll use the Command Prompt to run both the SFC and DISM scans. SFC scans your computer for missing or corrupt files, while DISM scans the system image used to make these corrections. In that, you run DISM first to confirm that SFC is working correctly. To get started, open the Command Prompt by following these steps. Press the Windows Key + R and type CMD. Press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open an elevated Command Prompt. Type the following command and press Enter: DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth When the scan is complete, type the following command and press Enter: DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth Wait for the scan to complete, and then restart your PC. Now, open the Command Prompt as per the previous steps, then run the following command. sfc /scannow Wait for the scan to complete. From here, close the Command Prompt and restart your PC.

Drives failing due to logical or physical issues is a common sight. Unfortunately, there is no clear way to know when or how a drive might fail. What we can try, however, is to make a corrupt storage drive usable. This is where DiskPart comes in. Here's how you can use DiskPart to wipe, reformat, and partition a drive ready for use. What Is DiskPart? DiskPart is a command-line utility that Microsoft ships with Windows. In other words, DiskPart is built in every Windows machine, so you don’t need to download it separately. DiskPart allows you to wipe the data of a local or an external drive, reformat the drives into a filesystem of your choice, and make new volumes from an existing block of storage. Now, because DiskPart is a command-line tool, you need to know some commands to use it. How to Reformat a Drive Using DiskPart While physical issues can never be corrected with a software tool, you can resolve logical issues by reformatting. Reformatting a drive involves wiping the drive clean, deleting all the data you have on the drive, and formatting the drive to a filesystem of your choice. The process is simple but results in an unrecoverable loss of data, so back up your files before proceeding. 1. Open DiskPart and Select a Disk Open DiskPart by typing diskpart in the Start menu search bar, then selecting the Best Match. This will open up a Command Prompt window with DiskPart already selected. Once the command-line window is open, type list disk and press enter. You will see the list of all available disks pop up on the screen. You will see the disk's name in the first column, the status in the next column, and the size and the free space in subsequent columns. You can ignore the last two columns as they will be empty if your disk is working properly. In the list, find the drive you want to format. You can find the drive by size. If you don’t know the size, remove the drive, run the list disk command again, and note the first column's disk numbers. Reconnect the drive, run the command, and you’ll see a new disk number in the list. This is your drive, so note the number. Now, choose the drive by typing select disk DISK-NUMBER, replacing DISK-NUMBER with the actual number of the disk that you previously noted from the list. For instance, if I want to select Disk 2, as shown in the image below, I will type the command as select disk 2. Finally, press enter. You will see a confirmation message telling you that your storage drive is selected. To verify this, type list disk and press enter. The list of drives that appears will mark the selected drive with an asterisk (*) in front of the drive's number. If you want to change the drive, repeat the select command with the number of the disk. 2. Clean and Partition the Drive Now, before reformatting, make sure that you have backed up your data. After this, type clean and press enter. This will erase all the data from your drive. Once DiskPart has successfully cleaned the drive, you will see a message on the screen. After cleaning the drive, you are ready to reformat it. One more thing before you move on to reformatting: you need to partition your drive before you can use it again. After cleaning the drive, your computer will no longer recognize the drive as a storage unit. So, you need to partition it into one or multiple blocks for your computer to recognize the device. You should also consider partitioning your storage drive into multiple filesystems if you are going to use it with different operating systems. For instance, you can partition a portion of storage as exFat for Windows and another portion as macOS Extended Partition for use with Macs. RELATED:The Best Free Windows Partition Manager For Your Needs But for now, we are only going to partition the drive into one storage block. So, type create partition primary or create part pri and press Enter. This will partition the drive into one block. After partitioning, make sure to activate the partition as your computer can only use an active partition. So, type active and press enter. This will make the partition you just made an active partition. 3. Format the Drive With a New Filesystem Finally, you can now reformat the drive. Input format fs= FILE-SYSTEM label=DRIVE-LABEL quick and press Enter. Make sure to replace FILE-SYSTEM with the filesystem of your choice (such as NTFS, FAT, or exFAT) and LABEL with the name of the drive. For instance, if you are formatting a removable USB drive to hold music, replace the FILE-SYSTEM with “exfat” and the LABEL with “Music.” A confirmation message will pop up telling you that the drive has been formatted. RELATED:Fixes For The "Windows Was Unable To Complete The Format" Error Assign the New Drive a Letter The final step of the process is to assign your storage drive a letter. Windows needs these letters to display drives in the file explorer. In most cases, the letters “C,“ “D," and “E” are already in use by internal storage devices. So, choose a different one. In any case, make sure to assign a letter that is not already in use by your internal drives. Input assign letter=DRIVE-LETTER, replacing DRIVE-LETTER with “f” and press Enter. You will receive a confirmation message telling you that the letter has been assigned. Now, verify that you have done everything correctly by typing list volume and press Enter. The drive you just formatted will have an asterisk (*) in front of it, and it will reflect all the properties you specified during the process. Close the DiskPart command-line utility by typing exit and pressing enter. Reformatting Only Works for Logical Issues Unfortunately, we can’t solve every storage issue by reformatting. If your drive repeatedly corrupts or fails to show up after reformatting, this can indicate a hardware failure. And nobody can solve a hardware issue with a software tool.

The “BSOD Kernel security check failure” issue is quite common on Windows 10. Whenever you upgrade your Windows to the latest or newer version, the existing drivers become outdated causing this issue. Another possible set of causes can also be corrupted system files, the presence of viruses or malware on your device, incompatible RAM, and more. Image source: Medium In this post, we have compiled a list of few solutions that will allow you to fix BSOD Kernel Security check failure on Windows 10 devices. Let’s get started. Also read: How to Get Rid of BSOD Critical Structure Corruption in Windows 10 PC How to Fix BSOD Kernel Security Check Failure on Windows 10 Solution #1: Run System File Checker System File Checker is an in-built Windows utility tool that scans your device to fix corrupt system drivers and restores any corruptions if found on your machine. To run System File Checker, you will be needing to launch the Command Prompt shell. Open Command Prompt, right-click on it, and select “Run as administrator”. In the Command Prompt window, type “sfc/scannow” command and hit Enter. Wait for a while until a complete scan is performed on your device to look for integrity issues. Windows will list down the scan results and fix any system discrepancies if found on your device. Solution #2: Use Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool You can use the Memory Diagnostic tool to check your RAM and other memory-related problems on Windows 10. To run the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool, follow these steps: Launch the Start menu search bar and type “Windows Memory Diagnostic” in the search box, hit Enter. Select “Windows Memory Diagnostic”. Tap on the “Restart now and check for problems” option to scan your device for memory problems. After running the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool, reboot your device to check whether the BSOD Kernel Security Check Failure issue still persists. Solution #3: Enable Legacy Advanced Boot Menu Open Windows settings, select “Update and Security”. Switch to the “Recovery” option from the left menu pane. Under the “Advanced Startup” section, tap the “Restart now” button. Your device will now reboot, and you will be able to view the Advanced Startup options on the screen. Tap on “Troubleshoot”. Select “Advanced Options”. Tap on “Command Prompt”. In the Command Prompt window, type and hit Enter. In the next line, type the following command: BCDEDIT /SET {DEFAULT} BOOTMENUPOLICY LEGACY This will enable the Advanced Boot Menu on your Windows 10 device. Solution #4: Scan your PC for Viruses and Malware If your device is infected with viruses and malware then you may encounter the BSOD Kernel Security Check Failure issue on your Windows 10 PC. To fix this, you can install a comprehensive antivirus suite on your Windows device that keeps all sorts of malicious threats at bay. Looking for a recommendation. We have something useful in mind! Download Systweak Antivirus for PC that offers real-time protection against viruses, malware, spyware, Trojans, and other malicious threats. By installing the Systweak Antivirus tool, you can safeguard your device and data from zero-day vulnerabilities s and other potential threats. Apart from offering complete virus protection, Systweak Antivirus also improves your device’s performance by removing malicious or corrupt startup items that may degrade your machine speed and performance. Solution #5: Run CHKDSK Command The CHKDSK command on Windows is a powerful tool that helps you remove hard driver errors on Windows 10. To use the CHKDSK command, follow these steps. Launch Command Prompt, right-click on it, and select “Run as Administrator”. In the Command Prompt window, type CHKDSK followed by the driver letter initial and /f, hit Enter. Example: CHKDSK /f Wait for a while until the tool runs a complete scan on your device to hunt hard disk issues and errors. Close the Command Prompt window, reboot your device to check whether you’re still facing the BSOD Kernel Security Check Failure issue on your PC. Solution #6: Update Drivers Outdated system drivers are one of the most common reasons why you may encounter the Kernel security check failure. To update device drivers, follow these steps: Press Windows + R key combination to open the Run dialog box. Type “Devmgmt.msc” in the textbox and hit Enter. In the Device Manager window, find the “Disk Drives” option. Tap on it to expand options. Right-click on each option, select the “Update Driver” option. Follow the on-screen instructions and update all hardware disk drivers to their latest version. Also read: Step-By-Step Guide To Fix Windows Stop Code Memory Management BSOD Error Conclusion Here were a few troubleshooting solutions that will allow you to fix the BSOD Kernel Security Check Failure issue on Windows 10. You can encounter this issue at any instance, while running a certain app or service, after upgrading your Windows OS to a newer version, when memory-related problems persisted on your device, or due to any possible reason.

Sometimes things don’t just happen as we expect. For instance, a certain program or software may fail to launch on your computer while showing the error message “This app can’t run on your PC. To find a version for your PC, check with the software publisher.” It’s undoubtedly one of the most annoying errors and has affected thousands of Windows 10 users. It can appear while trying to access different kinds of applications, with pre-installed Windows programs, old gaming apps, or even third-party software. You can witness the error message in different formats, one of the most common ones are: This app can’t run on your PC, check with the software publisher. This app can’t run on your PC, access is denied. This app can’t run on your PC, game error. This app can’t run on your PC, batch file. This app can’t run on your PC, Windows store error. This app can’t run on your PC, Kaspersky, Avast, Bitdefender. If you are also struggling with the same issue, here’s what you can do: Fix “This App Can’t Run On Your Windows 10 PC”? (2021 Updated Solutions) Follow these tried and tested fixes to troubleshoot the Windows 10 error. Top Six Workarounds{FIXED}: This App Can’t Run On Your PC METHOD 1- Create a New Administrator Account There can be a high probability that your current admin account has turned out to be corrupted. Hence, follow the step-by-step instructions to fix the issue: METHOD 2- Download & Install The Right Versions Of Programs Make sure you are trying to run the appropriate version of programs installed on your PC. If you are running outdated or incompatible software, you might face this issue. METHOD 3- Disable SmartScreen Sometimes, it can get too sensitive that it can stop apps from running properly. Hence try disabling it temporarily to see if it resolves the issue. METHOD 4- Enable App Side-Loading Here’s another effective solution to fix the Windows 10 problem. To enable the Side-loading feature, all you have to do is: METHOD 5- Update Drivers And yet no success? Chances can be the problematic app may have trouble communicating with the hardware involved in functioning. Hence, the best bet is to update all your drivers and eliminate faulty and outdated ones. METHOD 6- Disable Proxy Or VPN There can be times when a particular Proxy or VPN service can block the outgoing connection to Microsoft Store servers and hence you might witness the problem: This app can’t run on your Windows PC. Have queries about how to implement the workarounds mentioned above? Read the step-by-step procedure! METHOD 1- Create a New Administrator Account There can be a high probability that your current admin account has turned out to be corrupted. Hence, follow the step-by-step instructions to fix the issue: Hit the Windows key & I altogether. Navigate to the system settings and click on Accounts. Head towards the Family & other users module. Go to the Other users section. Simply hit the (+) Add someone else to this PC option. You need to select ‘I don’t have this person’s sign-in information’. At this point, click on the option ‘Add a user without a Microsoft account’. Set the new credentials for the new admin account. Now you should see a new account available in the Other users section. Select it and hit the option Change account type. Choose the Administrator option and complete the process by clicking the OK button. Now that you have successfully switched to your new account, you should stop receiving the annoying error: This app can’t run on your PC! METHOD 2- Download & Install The Right Versions Of Programs Make sure you are trying to run the appropriate version of programs installed on your PC. If you are running outdated or incompatible software, you might face this issue. Navigate to This PC icon and right-click to select its Properties. In the new window, you can see the OS (32-bit or 64-bit) under the System header. Simply right-click on the program which refuses to open and go to its Properties. Navigate to the Compatibility tab and check the options: Run this program in compatibility mode for Windows 8 (recommended) & Run this program as an administrator. Hit the Apply button, followed by OK. PRO TIP: If you don’t have enough time to keep your software up-to-date, we suggest using Systweak Software Updater, a one-stop solution to update your Windows tools in just a few clicks. You can easily schedule scans, downloads, and installs regularly to ensure your system is always running the latest and compatible versions! METHOD 3- Disable SmartScreen Observing the malware & phishing scams getting more sophisticated than ever, reliable utilities helps to protect your system thoroughly. Talking about Windows 10, SmartScreen is a case in point. Sometimes, it can get too sensitive that it can stop apps from running properly. Hence try disabling it temporarily to see if it resolves the issue. Hit Windows key + S altogether and type SmartScreen in the box. Click on the result: App & browser control. As soon as the Windows Defender Security Center appears, uncheck the option: Check apps and files. Another pop-up may appear on your screen, hit the Yes button to continue. Simply reinstall the application that you are unable to open. Hopefully, this would resolve the Windows 10 issue: This app can’t be run on PC! METHOD 4- Enable App Side-Loading Here’s another effective solution to fix the Windows 10 problem. To enable the Side-loading feature, all you have to do is: Go to the Windows settings and head towards the Update & Security module. Head towards the For developers tab. Under the same header select the option Developer mode. Once the Developer Mode is activated, the side-loading feature will also be enabled. Hence, restart your PC and see whether you are still facing problems in running an application. METHOD 5- Update Drivers And yet no success? Chances can be the problematic app may have trouble communicating with the hardware involved in functioning. Hence, the best bet is to update all your drivers and eliminate faulty and outdated ones.

Most hard drives and storage devices come pre-partitioned. This allows the user to connect the device and start using it. But there are times when you need to partition your hard drive before you can use it. For instance, when installing Windows for the first time, you may need to partition the drive to separate the OS from the rest of your files. Here's how to use the integrated Windows 10 utility, DiskPart, to partition your hard drive. How to Partition a Hard Drive Using DiskPart Before you start partitioning the drive, make sure that it is properly connected to the computer. If the drive fails to show up in DiskPart, you can be certain that there is no issue with the connection. Next, in the Start menu search bar, input DiskPart. Right-click the Best Match and select Run as administrator to open the DiskPart utility. Once DiskPart is up and running, make sure your computer recognizes the hard drive you’ve connected. To do this, type list disk and press Enter. If everything is connected and working properly, the hard drive will show up on the list. Otherwise, you might need to try other fixes for a hard drive that fails to show up. To identify the un-partitioned hard drive, take a look at the Free column in the list. Drives that aren’t partitioned have all of their storage space displayed under the Free column. Using this characteristic, identify the drive and note its number. Next up, select the hard drive by typing select disk X, replacing X with the number of the drive that you just noted. Press Enter, and you’ll see a confirmation message. Now, type create part pri and press Enter to allocate all the drive's free storage into one primary partition. Type list disk and press enter to confirm all the storage has been allocated. In other words, see if there is anything under the Free column. If the Free column displays zero, then the partition has been created. Alternatively, use list partition to see a list of partitions on the selected disk. After partitioning, you need to format and assign a letter to your hard drive before you can start using it. You don’t need to use another program because you can format a drive using DiskPart. Creating Multiple Partitions Using DiskPart If your drive is sufficiently large, creating multiple partitions can result in increased performance and data preservation. To create more than one partition, you need free, unallocated storage. Remember that you’ve just partitioned all of the available storage under one partition. So, to make multiple partitions, you need to free up some storage to work with. Type shrink [SIZE] and press Enter, replacing SIZE with the amount of storage in Megabytes (MB) that you want to free. Please note that you have to use size in megabytes while using DiskPart. So, if you want to resize by 1 Gigabyte, you would input shrink 1000, while 10 Gigabytes would be shrink 10000. Type list disk, press enter, and you’ll see the free storage under the Free column. To use this free storage, type create part pri and press enter. This will allocate the free storage under a new partition. To confirm that you have created a new partition, type list volume, and press Enter. You’ll see a new volume with an asterisk (*) in front of it. This volume represents the new partition that you’ve just created. Now, format this volume with a filesystem, assign it a letter, and the drive will become usable. Partitioning a Hard Drive Comes With Pros and Cons If you have a sufficiently large hard drive, partitioning can increase the drive's performance and protect your data in case of a virus or malware attack. That said, partitioning can reduce the total amount of storage space that you can use. So, only partition a drive if you can spare the storage.

Windows 10's native web browser—Microsoft Edge is fully capable of playing HDR videos as long as your hardware allows it. However, you can have trouble getting this feature to work properly on some websites. Often, this has to do with your Windows 10 settings for HDR playback, but your browser configuration can have a significant impact as well. Here's how you can set up everything to experience HDR content in Microsoft Edge without any problems. Does Your Hardware Meet the Requirements? First, ask yourself if you have the right hardware to take advantage of HDR content on your Windows PC. Well, if you're unsure, let's just say that you need to meet certain requirements. Shall we see what they are? Microsoft recommends a minimum resolution of 1080p and a recommended max brightness of 300 nits or more for built-in displays. External displays and monitors must support HDR10 and feature either a DisplayPort 1.4 or HDMI 2.0 port and higher. An integrated or dedicated graphics card that supports Microsoft PlayReady DRM with the latest drivers and codecs installed for 10-bit video decoding. To keep things simple, as long as your PC has a modern processor and a graphics card, you should be ready to go. Set Windows to Use HDR and Stream HDR Video Moving on to the important part, you need to double-check if you've actually enabled HDR in Windows 10. Make no mistake; there are two settings to worry about here and not just one. You'll only find these options if your PC is running Windows 10 version 1803 or later. So, make sure your system is updated and follow these steps: Type Windows HD Color in the Windows 10 search bar and then click on the best match to open the related settings. Here, you'll find a toggle for Use HDR that you need to enable. If it's already enabled, make sure the Stream HDR video setting is turned on too. At this point, you can say that your Windows 10 PC is ready to play HDR videos as long as you're using a supported application. Enable Hardware Acceleration in Microsoft Edge Now, it's time to configure your web browser to ensure it checks all the necessary boxes to play HDR content. The first thing has to do with how Microsoft Edge handles video playback. Here's what you need to do: Open Microsoft Edge on your PC and click on the three-dots icon located next to your profile icon in the toolbar. Then, choose Settings from the dropdown menu. In the Edge settings menu, click on System from the left pane. Go to a setting called Use hardware acceleration when available. See if it's enabled already and if not, turn it on. For those who don't know, hardware acceleration makes sure your graphics card is utilized properly to ensure smooth video playback at higher resolutions. Enabling this also unlocks HDR content on popular video streaming platforms like YouTube, Netflix, etc. Force Color Profile Settings in Microsoft Edge By now, you should technically be able to play HDR videos in most cases. However, you may still face issues on some websites like Netflix or Amazon Prime Video due to certain restrictions in place. To get them resolved, you'll need to rely on a couple of key experimental features that Microsoft Edge has to offer. One of them is by forcing Edge to use a specific color profile. Follow these instructions to learn how: Launch Microsoft Edge and type edge://flags into the address bar. Hit the Enter key now to view all the experimental features. You'll see many of them here, and it may not be easy to find the setting we need by scrolling. So, type Force Color Profile in the search bar to narrow down your results. Now, change this particular setting from Default to scRGB linear (HDR where available). Restart your browser for the changes to take effect and you're good to go. From now on, Edge will use the sRGB color profile during normal web usage and switch to HDR for supported content. For instance, when you watch YouTube videos. Enable PlayReady DRM in Microsoft Edge Unlike the other settings we discussed here, this one has more to do with Digital Rights Management rather than hardware utilization. If you're unable to use HDR only on specific websites, it's likely the platform relies on Microsoft's PlayReady DRM rather than the popular Widevine standard. Just go through these simple steps to enable PlayReady DRM in Microsoft Edge. Type edge://flags in the address bar upon launching Edge and press the Enter key. The PlayReady DRM setting is located along with the experimental features. Next, use the search field at the top to filter your results. You'll see that PlayReady DRM is set to Default. Change this setting to Enabled. You're almost set. All you need to do right now is restart Edge for the changes to take effect. Try reloading the content you were trying to watch and it should now be playable in HDR. Note that if you're still using legacy Edge on your computer, you will not be able to force the color profile or access the PlayReady DRM setting. Therefore, make sure you've updated your browser to use the Chromium-based version that supports flags. Other Considerations With HDR Content It's safe to say that you've done everything that you can to play HDR videos in Microsoft Edge at your end. However, this doesn't mean HDR will be available wherever you go since it heavily depends on the streaming provider you use as well. For instance, Amazon Prime doesn't support 4K and HDR on PCs due to copyright restrictions. Unfortunately, in such cases, there's nothing much you can do about it. While your PC may meet the minimum requirements to view HDR content, don't expect the experience to be similar to that on a TV with Dolby Vision or HDR10 support. Sure, you'll notice the difference over SDR, but you're mostly going to be limited by the monitor brightness which rarely peaks at 500 nits, whereas the industry standard is 1000 nits and beyond. The playing field could level out in the future since display technology is constantly evolving.

High Dynamic Range (HDR) is a handy Windows 10 feature that can enhance the visual quality by making it more vivid and colorful. While HDR on Windows 10 is not perfect, it has come a long way from the botched feature Microsoft put out earlier. Here’s how you can calibrate HDR on Windows 10 to significantly improve your graphic display and visual experience. What Makes HDR So Special? HDR is a powerful feature that is available on many latest laptops and external monitors. High Dynamic Range displays support video content with a broader range of color detail and have brighter screen elements to produce a more vivid and colorful display. When compared to Standard Dynamic Range (SDR), HDR video is a vast improvement. Not only does HDR bring brighter and better colors to your display, but it also overcomes the limitations of SDR. Calibrate Built-In Display for HDR If your display is HDR-compliant and you have already enabled HDR video on your PC, you can easily calibrate your display for the best HDR video output. Calibrating the Windows 10 built-in display for HDR is relatively straightforward. RELATED: How To Enable HDR Mode In Windows 10 You can currently calibrate HDR-supported displays through the Windows Settings panel. Complete the following steps to calibrate HDR on your display: Press Windows Key + I to open the Settings panel. Head to System > Display. Under the Windows HD Color section, select Windows HD Color settings. If you have multiple displays connected to your PC, select the HDR display under Choose display. Make sure that the Use HDR and Stream HDR Video toggle options are turned on. Click on Change calibration settings to head onto the HDR video calibration screen. Hover above the sample video and click on the Full-Screen icon. You now need to drag the slider to left or right until you find a good balance between the two images. Once you have positioned the slider perfectly, click the Exit Full-Screen icon, and the changes will automatically take place. If you feel you do not like the changes, hit the Reset calibration button to reset the HDR video settings to default. RELATED: Should You Buy An HDR 4K TV For Gaming? After calibrating your HDR display, you can stream video content and play games on a significantly improved high-quality display. Enjoy a High-Quality Display With HDR in Windows 10 HDR on Windows 10 is better than ever, and we’re excited to see the forthcoming launch of AutoHDR arriving later in 2021. Higher quality HDR displays are a crucial selling point, and we’re keen on seeing them become the industry standard.

Want to take Windows with you, but don't want to lug a laptop around? Thanks to flash technology, you don't have to. USB and HDMI devices can run Windows, and they'll fit snugly in your pocket when you're done working. Here's how you can take a portable copy of Windows 10 with you wherever you go. Why Go Portable With Windows? Perhaps you're heading on a trip somewhere and need a computer with you. Your laptop is too big; you have other luggage, and don't want to pay for the extra weight. Or maybe you're scheduled to give a presentation in a secure building and don't have time for the bag checks. Whatever the reason, taking Windows with you is still an option. If you have access to a display, a keyboard, and a mouse, you can stay productive wherever you are. Windows 10 has several portability options available, which we're going to look at below. While none is a complete replacement for your usual computer, they're ideal for cybercafes, for hot-desking, even in libraries. RELATED: Best Portable Browsers For Your USB Drive Method 1: Make Windows 10 Portable With Windows to Go Windows to Go is a Microsoft feature that enables you to write a copy of Windows to a USB stick. This can then be inserted into any computer and used as the primary boot device. The advantage of this is that Windows to Go will save your state. Anything you're in the middle of working on will be retained, ready to continue next time. Unfortunately, Windows to Go only works on Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows 10 Education. If you're running Windows 10 Home, as most people are, or Windows 10 Pro, Windows to Go isn't for you. Our guide to setting up Windows to Go will help you install a portable version of Windows 10 on your USB flash stick. Method 2: Install Portable Windows 10 With EaseUs ToDo Backup Backup utility software publisher EaseUs has provided an alternative to those users who want to use Windows to Go but cannot. EaseUs ToDo Backup is a general backup tool with added functionality for creating a bootable operating system on USB. You can create a full clone of your existing Windows installation if your USB device is big enough---and take it with you. EaseUs' solution will work on any version of Windows 7, 8, and 10. You can find a free version of ToDo Backup on the EaseUs website, which can be used to create a portable Windows drive. Download: ToDo Backup (Free) Simply connect your drive to your computer and launch EaseUs ToDo Backup. Next, select System Clone, and select the destination disk (your USB device), ensuring it has enough storage. Click Advanced options, then check the box labeled Create a Portable Windows USB Drive. Click OK, then Proceed. Wait while the clone is created and written to your USB device. Safely remove the drive---it's ready to run on another computer! Method 3: Create a Portable Windows Drive With WinToUSB Another solution to create a portable, bootable version of Windows that you can carry anywhere, Hasleo WinToUSB supports Windows To Go and Windows PE. It's designed so that you can install and run Windows 10 on an external HDD or SSD, USB flash drive, or Thunderbolt drive. Windows To Go can be created with WinToUSB from an ISO file, DVD drive, downloaded disk image, and even a virtual disk (VHD). It can also clone an existing Windows operating system as a Windows To Go Workspace. Download: WinToUSB (Free, Premium version available) To create a portable Windows 10 with WinToUSB, first insert a formatted USB disk into your computer. Ensure also that your chosen source media is accessible – this might be an optical disk, a disk image, etc. Next: Run WinToUSB With Image to USB selected (top-left button) select the Image File you want to use Click Next Choose your destination device When prompted, select the preferred partition scheme Click Yes to confirm Wait while the USB device is formatted Select the System and Boot Partition Choose the preferred Installation mode When you're ready, click Next and wait while Windows To Go is written to USB After completion, safely eject the device and stick Windows 10 in your pocket To turn your existing Windows installation portable: Open Tools > Windows To Go Conversion In the dropdown box select the destination disk Ensure Convert Local Disk to Windows to Go is selected Click OK Wait while the process completes As you can see, WinToUSB is a flexible alternative to Microsoft's own solution. Further, it offers extended features with Professional and Enterprise premium licenses, covering all possible uses. Method 4: Go Portable With Intel Compute Stick and Clones Image Credit: Foxlet/Wikimedia Commons Rather than make your own portable PC on a stick, you can also buy one. Since 2015, Intel has been producing Compute sticks, small devices around the size of a Google Chromecast, or Amazon Fire TV Stick, but with a full version of Windows preinstalled. All you need to do is insert the device into your display's HDMI port, and power it up. With a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard connected, you'll be ready to start work. An Intel Compute stick comes with the same advantages of a USB device. It will store the data you create, ready to be accessed again later. Although compact, these little computers feature Atom or Core M series processors, with prices for all budgets. Intel aren't the only producers of such devices, although they're certainly the most notable. 4 Great Ways to Keep Windows in Your Pocket Having a computer with you always is a great idea for productivity and convenience. But it isn't always possible. With Windows 10 in your pocket, you have a great opportunity to just get started, and even pick up where you left off, without worrying about packing everything up when you're done. To recap, here are the four ways to run portable versions of Windows 10. Keep it simple with Microsoft Windows to Go Use the EaseUs ToDo Backup Consider WinToUSB as a third option Keep an Intel Compute in your pocket If all this seems too complicated, there is another lightweight, ultra-portable Windows 10 option – the Surface Laptop and Surface Tablet ranges.

What do you do when you've created some new Windows software—anything from a simple diagnostic tool to a complex PC video game—and you want to share it with the world? Well, you could compress the files into a single ZIP file and distribute that. Or, you can be fancy and create an installer EXE instead. We'll be covering three different ways to make an EXE in this post: a self-extracting package, a simple installer using the built-in IExpress, and an advanced installer using the customizable Inno Setup. 1. Make a Quick EXE File Using 7-Zip You probably already use 7-Zip to extract all kinds of archive files and know that 7-Zip can create archive files, but did you know that you can also use it to create an EXE file that acts as an installer? It's called an SFX archive (self-extracting) and works by compressing all of your end files together, then embedding a special EXE file inside the archive that knows how to extract everything. In other words, the recipient can extract the SFX archive (which appears as an EXE file itself), even if they don't have the right software, which can happen with formats like 7Z, RAR, TAR, and ZIP. Here's how to create an SFX archive with 7-Zip: Prepare all of your files and directories within a single main directory and name the directory whatever you wish. Right-click on the directory and select 7-Zip > Add to archive... Under Options, enable Create SFX Archive and select the following settings...> Archive Format: 7z> Compression Level: Normal> Compression Method: LZMA2> Dictionary Size: 16 MB> Word Size: 32> Solid Block Size: 2 GB Finally, click on OK. Note that SFX archives aren't true installer files. They don't place the extracted files into a designated target directory. They don't modify Windows Registry. Furthermore, they don't create install logs, and they don't show up as installed software in the Uninstall app. They are literally archive files dressed up as EXE files. Download: 7-Zip for Windows (Free) 2. How to Use IExpress to Make an EXE Easily IExpress is a utility that comes bundled with versions of Windows starting with Windows XP and beyond. The utility comes with a front-end graphical interface (called IExpress Wizard), but you can also create installer files using hand-scripted Self Extraction Directive (SED) files. We recommend the Wizard. Like 7-Zip above, this method creates a self-extracting archive, but with two major differences: one, the end-user will proceed through a multi-page Installation Wizard, and two, the end-user can specify the target directory to where the tool will extract the files. And this how you create your installer EXE using IExpress: Open the Run prompt (Windows key + R) and type iexpress.exe to launch the IExpress Wizard. Select Create new Self Extraction Directive file and click Next. Select Extract files only and click Next. For the package title, the name of your app is a safe choice. For the confirmation prompt, choose No prompt or Prompt user with. It doesn't matter either way. For the end-user, including one is always a safe choice. For the license agreement, select Display a license if you want the end-user to agree to an End User License Agreement (EULA). If not, it's fine to select Do not display a license. Add all the files you want to see installed by clicking Add, browsing to where the files are, and selecting them all. Continue through the IExpress Wizard and select your preferred options for the Show Window and Finished Message prompts. For the package name, click Browse, navigate to where you want the installer EXE to be created, and give it a name. This is the EXE file that you are going to distribute to end-users. Click Next. Finally, select Save Self Extraction Directive (SED) file if you want to create a modified installer later on, such as when you've patched the software and need an updated installer. If you select Don't save, then you'll have to run through the entire process from scratch. On the Create Package page, click Next. Your package will be created in a few minutes. Note that IExpress has some quirks and issues: It doesn't allow the inclusion of empty directories. If your installation has subdirectories, the subdirectories won't be included. If you have multiple files of the same name, even within separate directories, the installer creation will fail. Because of these oddities, we recommend using the method below instead. RELATED:What Is A GUI (Graphical User Interface)? 3. The Best Way to Make an EXE: Use Inno Setup Inno Setup is an open-source utility that's been in active development since 1997. It was created partly in response to the at-the-time subpar InstallShield Express. Since then, it has become the installer creator of choice for those who don't care to explore proprietary options. Its biggest draw is its flexibility. Inno Setup uses script files with an ISS extension ("Inno Setup Script") to customize various aspects of the installer: which files are incorporated, where the installation happens, whether to create shortcuts, etc. ISS files use similar formatting to INI files and can be generated using the Inno Setup Wizard. To create your installer using Inno Setup, launch the Inno Setup Compiler app. In the welcome prompt, select Create a new script file using the Script Wizard. From there, enter your Application Name and Application Version. Optionally, you can also include Application Publisher and Application Website details. Click Next. Now, select the Destination base folder, which defaults to Program Files. Enter an Application folder name, which is the name of the main directory where your installation files will go. Click Next. For the Application main executable file, browse and select the main EXE file that will launch your app. If you aren't installing an app, enable The application doesn't have a main executable file. Then add files and folders to your installation with the Add files... and Add folders... buttons. Click Next. On the Application Shortcuts page, leave the defaults or change them to fit your preferences. They're all self-explanatory. Click Next. On the Application Documentation page, you can point to up to three TXT files that will display throughout the end user's installation process. Typically, these will be LICENSE.TXT, INSTALL.TXT, and README.TXT, but they can be whatever you want. Click Next. On the Setup Languages page, keep English, but you are welcome to add as many other languages as you wish. Click Next. Now, follow these steps from below: On the Compiler Settings page, you can customize the installer EXE file: The Custom compiler output folder is where the resulting installer EXE file will be placed. Compiler output base file name is what the EXE file will be called. The default setting is setup.exe. Custom Setup icon file is the icon the installer EXE file will use. This must be an ICO file, which you can download or converted from PNG. Setup password will protect unauthorized users from using your installer. Leave it blank to disable this feature. After configuring your settings, select Finish. When prompted to compile the new script, click Yes. When prompted to save the script, select No if this is a one-time installer file. Select Yes if you plan to modify or update it later. Wait for the process to get completed, and voilà, you'll have an executable file with you. Download: Inno Setup for Windows (Free) Which Method Is Best for Creating EXE Installer? If your software is basic, or if you're only going to distribute to a limited number of people, go with the 7-Zip method. It's easy, fast, and requires almost no technical expertise.

The “Werfault.exe Application Error” dialogue box appears when a program fails to start. There can be many reasons for this error, including werfault.exe crashes. These crashes can result in random application shutdowns and errors. Most of the time, werfault.exe errors are quite easy to fix. The following are some of the ways that you can use to fix werfault.exe errors. What Is Werfault.exe? Windows 10 is a collection of dozens of programs, routines, and tools that work together. It is quite common for some of these programs and routines to experience random crashes and errors due to bugs and other issues. Werfault.exe is the Windows 10 Error Reporting Service responsible for collecting error reports about these crashes and sending them to Microsoft. The error reports that werfault.exe sends to Microsoft help the company fix bugs and improve overall system stability. Werfault.exe also offers fixes that you can try to resolve issues manually. 1. Restart Your Computer The simplest potential fix to any Windows problem is to restart your computer. Rebooting your computer terminates and restarts all Windows tools, including werfault.exe. This can fix almost all random program crashes. 2. Update Drivers Faulty drivers are one of the major causes of werfault.exe errors. If drivers for critical components like the GPU are not working well, they can cause a whole host of issues, including “Werfault.exe Application Error.” So, update all of your hardware drivers. First, press Windows Key + I. Once the Settings panel opens up, click on Update & Security. Next, select View optional updates, and hit Download and install if there any driver updates available. Alternatively, you can update individual components through their respective management applications. For instance, AMD ships Radeon Software with its hardware components. Nvidia GPUs come with the Nvidia Control Panel. You can install and delete driver updates through these applications. In short, whether you are using a new component or a trusty old one, make sure that you are using the latest drivers from the manufacturer. Programs like Driver Booster 8 can help you update drivers easily. So, there is no reason to run old drivers. After updating the drivers and rebooting your computer, check if the error is resolved before moving on to the next solution. 3. Update Windows Windows is always improving. Microsoft pushes security updates and bug fixes every month. These updates aim to improve system stability and reduce program crashes. If you don’t install these updates regularly, you will run into bugs and security issues. Therefore, it is important to update Windows regularly. Press Windows Key + I and click on Updates & Security. If there are any updates available, download and install them. 4. Scan Your Computer for Viruses Viruses can infect application files. In many cases, the files can become corrupt and inaccessible by programs. This leads to program crashes and, potentially, the werfault.exe error. So, you need to make sure your computer is free from any threats. To do this, press Windows Key + I. in the Settings panel, click on Update & Security to open the Windows Update screen. Next, select Windows Security, located in the left panel. Now, select Virus & threat protection and then Scan options. Finally, select Full Scan > Scan now. Windows will run a system-wide scan to identify threats. Once the scan is complete, delete any files that pose a threat and restart your computer. After restarting, check to see if the error is gone. 5. Run the Windows SFC Scan The Windows System File Checker (SFC.exe) tool scans the OS for corrupt system files. Once the tool finds files that need repairing, it repairs them. Corrupt system files are one of the causes of “Werfault.exe Application Error.” First, search for Command Prompt in the Start menu search bar, then right-click the Best Match and select Run as administrator. Next, type sfc /scannow and press enter. The scan can take several minutes, so be patient and don’t close the Command Prompt. Once the scan is complete, Windows will try to fix the corrupt files if there are any. Finally, restart your computer and check if the error is fixed. If the scan finds corrupt files, but Windows is unable to repair them, try repairing corrupt system files using repair tools. 6. Disable Werfault.exe If nothing works, then try disabling werfault.exe. But before we move on to see how to disable werfault.exe, remember that you should only use this option as a last resort. In addition to 3rd party application programs, Windows uses werfault.exe to keep track of errors and suggest fixes. Disabling it means that Microsoft cannot note issues and develop a fix. This can lead to problems sticking around longer than they should. With that disclaimer out of the way, press Windows Key + R, type services.msc, and press Enter. This will open a list of services that Windows runs in the background. Scroll down the list to Windows Error Reporting Service. Next, right-click on Windows Error Reporting Service and select Properties from the list. In the Startup Type, click on the dropdown list and choose Disabled. Finally, click on Apply, and you’ll successfully disable the werfault.exe. Disabling werfault.exe should fix almost all werfault.exe application errors. But if the error persists, your only option is to install a fresh copy of Windows. Werfault.exe Loves to Haunt People That Neglect Updates Keep your OS, application programs, and hardware drivers up to date. Old drivers are a major cause of werfault.exe errors, and they won’t go away unless you commit to updating everything on your computer. Updating also ensures that you don’t have to resort to unnecessarily drastic measures like disabling werfault.exe. Moreover, don’t download programs from unknown websites, don't connect a random flash drive to your computer, and don't open unknown emails. Oh, and don't forget to scan your computer regularly for malware.

Desktop gadgets were useful widgets that could be added to the Windows Vista and Windows 7 desktop to improve productivity. They're long gone, but don't worry---you can add desktop widgets to Windows 10 using these third-party tools. Hold On, What Are Windows 10 Widgets and Gadgets? It might seem difficult to appreciate all these years later, but desktop gadgets were once extremely popular. Capable of displaying the time, weather, sticky notes, and even CPU speed, these widgets were essentially mini apps. Like any Windows applications, desktop gadgets could be positioned around the desktop, but mostly down the right-hand side. They would also hide behind your main apps, acting as if part of the desktop background. Pretty useful, right? Unfortunately, with the arrival of Windows 8, these Windows widgets were abandoned. Suddenly, you couldn't instantly see the time in your Hong Kong office, or get RSS feeds on the desktop. Instead, this sort of information was combined into live tiles on Windows 8. This continued in Windows 10 with integration of improved notifications and Cortana. Dropping Windows desktop widgets in Windows 8 makes sense in hindsight. After all, the desktop was replaced with a Start screen. But with the return to a dominant desktop on Windows 10, widgets, gadgets, and similar tools can be restored. Why Did Microsoft Kill Windows Desktop Widgets and Gadgets? A key reason why Microsoft opted to drop Windows Gadgets after Windows 7 was security related. In 2012, Microsoft announced that vulnerabilities in its Gadgets could allow the running of Remote Code Execution, in which a remote attacker can gain access to your PC. It noted that: "Some legitimate Gadgets… could contain vulnerabilities" You could be tricked into installing a "malicious Gadget." Using both attacks, the hacker could run code under your account profile (potentially opening backdoors for other malware) or even hijack your entire PC. A fix was released to disable the Windows Sidebar and the Gadgets in Windows Vista and Windows 7. A few weeks later, Windows 8 was released, and the Gadgets were no more. How to Add Widgets in Windows 10 These security issues have long since been fixed. As such, there is no reason to let hackers limit your productivity. It's time to bring some new widgets onto your Windows 10 desktop. Four notable tools are currently available that let you add widgets on Windows 10, replicating that Windows Gadget experience. Widget Launcher Windows Desktop Gadgets 8GadgetPack Rainmeter Keep reading to learn how to add widgets to Windows 10 with these tools. Get New Gadgets in Windows 10 With Widget Launcher Available from the Microsoft Store, Widget Launcher lets you put widgets on the Windows 10 desktop. Unlike some other widget tools, these gadgets have a modernised look that fits Windows 10. However, Widget Launcher remains as easy to use as the classic desktop widgets or gadgets in Windows Vista and 7. Install the app Run Widget Launcher Click the widget that you want to use Position the widget anywhere on the Windows 10 desktop While the main app appears "closed" it remains running in the system tray. As with the Windows Vista widgets, hovering your mouse over a Windows 10 widget reveals an X button to close it. You may even see a Settings cog for making customizations. For instance, the Widget Launcher Windows 10 clock widget lets you select your location. The weather widget also uses your location and lets you choose Fahrenheit or Celsius. While free, Widget Launcher offers in-app purchases for additional widget types. These include a news feed, picture gallery, internet speed test, and more desktop widgets for Windows 10. (Note that earlier versions of the app didn't allow individual widgets to be placed on the desktop, accounting for some poor review scores.) Download: Widget Launcher (Free, with in-app purchases) Get Classic Windows Widgets With Windows Desktop Gadgets A popular, lightweight, and straightforward solution is Windows Desktop Gadgets. This solution is designed to work with multiple languages, which can be added in the installation wizard. To use Windows Desktop Gadgets: Unzip DesktopgadgetsRevived-2.0.exe from the downloaded ZIP Double click to install Once complete, right-click your desktop and select Gadgets You'll see that gadgets have been added to Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization where you can add them to the desktop by clicking-and-dragging them into place RELATED:The Windows 10 Settings Guide Once installed, you'll see that Windows Desktop Gadgets is essentially a replacement for the original gadgets. As you'd expect, clicking the cog icon in the corner accesses settings, enabling you to resize and configure each gadget. Download: Windows Desktop Gadgets (Free) Add Widgets to Windows 10 With 8GadgetPack Another lightweight option, 8GadgetPack is free and enables users to run desktop widgets in Windows 10. To use 8GadgetPack, visit the link and download the MSI file via the link on the right-side of the page. Then: Double-click the 8GadgetPack MSI file to install Once complete, launch 8GadgetPack Click the + button to open the list of gadgets Drag your favorite gadget to your desktop Although a Windows Vista-style sidebar is included, the gadgets are not limited to this location. You'll notice that 8GadgetPack is very similar to Windows Desktop Gadgets. Indeed, they both appear to maintain the original Windows Vista gadget experience. Again, each gadget features an options screen. Here, you can set colors, location, and other data to configure the gadget to your purposes. Once you're done, you should end up with a selection of useful Windows 10 widgets to boost your productivity! Download: 8GadgetPack (Free) Get Modern Windows 10 Widgets With Rainmeter If those screenshots of the old-style desktop gadgets aren't exactly floating your boat, you have another option. Rainmeter is a tool for customizing the Windows desktop. Among its features is the ability to introduce information to the Windows 10 desktop in the form of widgets. These include a clock, live hardware statistics, current and forecast weather, and more. You can basically use Rainmeter to display everything old-style Windows gadgets do, but with added style. Now, if you're happy with the gadgets options above, then by all means stick with them. Rainmeter opens a whole new world of stuff to install and tweak. But if you're looking for Windows widgets to improve productivity, beware: configuring Rainmeter can be a massive time sink. Whatever changes you make, keep them as simple as possible. Rainmeter's default theme, illustro, gives you the widgets pictured above and a few more to get you started. Alternatively, use the stunning Win10 Widgets set, available as a bundle with Rainmeter 4.0. Download: Rainmeter for Windows 10 (Free) Download: Win10 Widgets + Rainmeter for Windows 10 (Free) Which Widgets for Windows 10 App Will You Use? Despite Windows 10 shipping without desktop widgets, you can still install them. Each of solution listed here is worth trying and can help improve productivity. For instance, using a clock set to a foreign time zone can be invaluable when collaborating with people overseas, or just checking that your aunt in New Zealand is awake before you call. You can also keep tabs on the weather with these weather widgets for Windows. So, desktop gadgets can still be added to Windows 10. Who knew? It shouldn't come as a huge surprise, though. Various "lost" features can be reinstated thanks to third-party apps. For example, the Aero Glass software restores the Vista and Windows 7 glass effect to Windows 10.

Have you ever dual-booted another operating system alongside your Windows installation? Dual-booting is an excellent way of trying a new operating system without affecting your trusty version of Windows. You can select between operating system versions using the built-in boot manager. But what about when you decide you don't want the second operating system any longer? Is there any easy way to remove the additional operating system entry from the boot manager to stop startup confusion? Let's take a look at four ways you can delete old boot menu options. What Is the Windows Boot Manager? The Windows Boot Manager is a tiny piece of software that runs during the system boot process. Your boot manager code loads from the start of the Active system partition, sometimes given the System Reserved label so that you don't accidentally overwrite it with cat selfies. The boot manager helps your Windows installation start. The Windows Boot Manager itself is generic and unaware of any operating system requirements within the system loading process. When there is only one version of Windows present, the system will boot into this without displaying the boot manager selection screen. However, once you install another operating system, this process changes, allowing you to choose the operating system you want to use. Boot Configuration Data Modern Windows versions store Boot Configuration Data (BCD) in a registry-like database. Previously, you managed your boot screen options using the tiny boot.ini file (and Windows NT boot loader, ntldr). However, a single insecure text file is vulnerable to attack. Hence, this was changed to a more secure but universal solution. Moreover, BCD provides both BIOS and EFI-based systems the same opportunities to edit configuration data using a boot option editing tool like BCDEdit (more on this in a moment). Here are four ways to remove old boot manager options from your system boot process on Windows 10. 1. Hide the Options Okay, so the first option isn't strictly removing the entry, but you can hide the alternative boot options using the Windows Advanced startup menu. Press Windows Key + I to open the Settings panel. Head to Update & Security > Recovery, and under Advanced startup, select Restart now. (Alternatively, press Shift while selecting Restart in the Start menu.) Please note that this instantly restarts your system, so make sure to save any important documents before hitting the button. Select Use another operating system > Change defaults. Here you can set the Windows Boot Manager timer screen and Choose a default operating system. Selecting your default operating system doesn't remove other installations, but it does stop the Boot Manager from appearing in each system startup. Alternative Method: Use MSConfig You can achieve similar results using the Windows System Configuration window. Type msconfig in the Start menu search bar and select the Best Match. Open the Boot tab. You can set your default operating system, the timeout screen, and other boot options. Furthermore, you can "delete" old entries from the boot process, but this doesn't actually remove them from your system (it does stop the boot manager operating system selection screen from appearing, though). 2. Use BCDEdit to Remove Boot Manager Options BCDEdit is the built-in boot manager editing tool. A word of warning: deleting the wrong boot manager entry has very frustrating results. Double-check every edit before hitting Enter. Type cmd in the Start menu search bar, right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator. Once the elevated Command Prompt window opens, type bcdedit /export c:\bcdbackup and press Enter to create a backup of your BCD settings. Next, type bcdedit /v to list the boot loaders currently on your system. Here's what happens when I run this command on my desktop: The Windows Boot Manager section describes the location of the boot manager, along with other identifiers. The Windows Boot Loader section describes the Windows 10 bootloader for this system, the unique identifier, where to find winload.exe to continue the boot process, if the partition has recovery enabled, and the root of the system directory. If you have more than one Windows installation, this is where to find the bootloader information. The type of operating system appears alongside description. Furthermore, a Legacy OS Loader will appear under a separate bracket. Copy the identifier (the long alphanumeric string) of the bootloader you want to delete. Now, input the command bcdedit /delete {identifier}, swapping out identifier for your own alphanumeric string. Double-check you have the correct entry, then press Enter to delete the additional bootloader entry. The integrated BCD Editor is one of the quickest ways to remove a boot option from your BIOS, but it isn't for everyone. RELATED: The BIOS Explained: Boot Order, Video Memory, Saving, Resets & Optimum Defaults 3. Using Visual BCD Editor If using the Command Prompt isn't for you, there is the option of Visual BCD Editor. Visual BCD Editor implements a huge range of BCDEdit commands in an easy-to-use visual GUI. You get the same experience and functionality as using BCDEdit within the Command Prompt, but without worrying about entering the exact command. Deleting an old entry is an easy task. Download and install Visual BCD Editor, then open it. The tool will take a short moment to scan your system. In the left-hand option tree, you'll spot Bcdstore > Loaders > [your bootloader options]. Select the bootloader you want to remove and hit Delete at the bottom of the right-hand information panel. As with the integrated BCD Editor, Visual BCD Editor makes it easy to remove old boot menu entries. However, as Visual BCD Editor comes with a handy GUI, this is likely the easiest boot menu removal option for most users. 4. Removing EFI Boot Manager Options Using BCDEdit I started writing this article because my EFI boot manager had a range of old Linux bootloader entries left behind. Again, they don't cause any issues, but over time they accumulate and become irritating. The EFI boot manager is part of the UEFI firmware management package. You might have found this if you ever boot from a USB flash drive or alternative media source, and is usually accessible by pressing a function key during the boot process. To delete old EFI entries, open an elevated Command Prompt, type bcdedit /enum firmware, and press Enter. Unlike the command used for the Windows Boot Manager, the "enum firmware" command lists all objects available in the BCD store, including any Linux installations. Copy the identifier of the firmware entry you want to delete and run the following command bcdedit /delete {identifier}, again replacing identifier with the alphanumeric string matching your entry. RELATED: Dual Boot Vs. Virtual Machine: Which One Is Right For You? Your Boot Manager Is Now Clean Your Windows Boot Manager is now clean of any unwanted entries. Alternatively, you have streamlined the boot process to ignore any alternative installations on your system, leaving you free to boot to your default operating system.

It's helpful to think of the Windows Device Manager as a real-life office Manager. Just as a Manager—for the most part—isn’t directly involved in any tangible product development but is rather responsible for the management of the staff, the Device Manager plays a similar role. In this short guide, you’ll learn everything you need to get started with the Device Manager. Let’s start with a brief introduction first. What Is Windows Device Manager? The Device Manager is a free troubleshooting applet developed by Microsoft. First introduced with Windows 95, it gives a complete view of all the hardware installed on a Windows computer. Apart from a view feature, the Device Manager also lets you manage and control the working of the various hardware attached to your PC. The hardware that it lets you manage includes everything from a graphics card, audio, and cameras to hard disks, USB drives, and beyond. Here’s a list of some of the most useful tasks you can complete with the Device Manager: Update the drivers Reinstall your drivers Temporarily disable them Scan for any hardware changes View driver properties and much more. Think of the Device Manager as a place that gives you a bird’s eye of all the hardware connected to your computer. You’ll mostly need to access it when you face issues with the hardware on your computer. RELATED:The Best Free Windows 10 Troubleshooting Tools How to Open the Windows Device Manager There are two different ways that you can open the Device Manager on Windows. You can follow whatever approach that you feel most comfortable with. Open Device Manager Using Shortcut Keys To open the Device Manager using a keyboard shortcut, follow the steps below: Press Windows Key + X to open the Power User menu. From there, find and click on the Device Manager option. Open Device Manager Through Start Menu Another way to open the Device Manager is through a simple search in the Windows Start menu search bar. To do that, type devmgmt.msc in the Start menu search bar, and click on the best result, i.e., Device Manager. From here, you can explore the Device Manager for any problems that you might be facing or check the status of drivers and see if everything is working smoothly. How to Use the Windows Device Manager As we have discussed above, Windows Device Manager lists all the installed or connected hardware and drives on your PC. By previewing the displayed list, it becomes easy to find what you're looking for. You can see all the driver problems associated with your Windows computer with its help. For instance, if there’s trouble with your system hardware, such as a missing driver, an accidentally disabled driver, a shortage of CPU resources, and the like, you can try and resolve it from the Device Manager itself. As you can see from the image below, all the drivers are neatly categorized by their type. This makes it easy to navigate the app and helps you deal with driver issues effectively. For example, if you face a problem with one of your audio drivers, you can simply expand the Audio inputs and outputs section and check the specific driver that’s giving you the trouble. Note that you can also change the display or arrangement of the devices from the View tab. Click on View and choose the arrangement of drivers that you would prefer instead. Another interesting fact is that some drivers are hidden by default. To check them, click on View and select the Show hidden devices option. RELATED:How To Fix "Unknown USB Device" Error In Windows 10? How to Update a Driver With Device Manager The Device Manager also comes in handy when you have to update an outdated driver, especially when Windows Update stops working. First, open the Windows Device Manager, then follow the steps: Click on the hardware category that you want to update. (Let's say you want to update one of your System device's drivers, then click on System device and select a particular driver.) Right-click on the driver and select Update driver. Now select Search automatically for drivers and let the process complete. The Device Manager will then search for the latest driver update on your PC and install it. But if it finds that you already have the most updated version of the driver, it will give you that message instead. In our case, the device was already running the latest version, as you can see below. But if you're positive that the driver is not up-to-date, then you can download it directly from the manufacturer's website and install it with Device Manager. If you want to go down this route, jump ahead to the second-last section of this guide, explaining how to deal with a corrupt driver. Checking the Status of Installed Hardware It's not a bad idea to check out the Device Manager if your computer hardware is acting wacky or out of character. After you’ve opened the Device Manager, expand the device type that you want to check out. From there, right-click on a particular driver and open the Properties section. Then from the General tab in the dialogue box, look at the Device Status box to confirm its status. If the device status is "working properly," then the hardware is not experiencing any issues due to driver failure, and you can look for other causes. However, if there's an issue with the component, you’ll see a description or error code associated with the problem. The description or error code in itself, though, won't give you any information on how to fix the driver itself. Head to the next section for that. Dealing With a Corrupted Driver Using the Device Manager Just as there's not a single way to handle the complex affairs of life, Windows 10 also has several methods to fix your corrupted device drivers. One such method is through the Device Manager. If a device driver has become corrupted, you can use the Windows Device Manager to uninstall the faulty device and then reinstall a clean version. Open the Device Manager, right-click on corrupted driver and select Uninstall device. Now, reboot your PC. After rebooting, Windows will automatically detect your system configuration, find and reinstall the removed drivers. However, if the reinstallation doesn't happen, you'll have to do it manually through the Device Manager. Download the driver manually from your hardware manufacturer online. If you get a ZIP file, extract it, and then follow the steps below: Open the Device Manager, right-click on the specific driver. Now click on Update driver > Browse my computer for drivers. Select the driver file that you downloaded from the manufacturer's website and click on Next. The most up-to-date driver will soon be installed on your PC. Reboot your PC once for the changes to take effect. The Device Manager Is a Versatile Tool for System Management The Windows Device Manager makes managing your Windows hardware a walk in the park. Over the years, Microsoft has introduced a slew of such tools to improve the performance of the Windows 10 operating system, which it will hopefully continue to do in the future, too.

If you have a touch-enabled device for Windows 10, you might be wondering how you can enable and disable the touchscreen on your system. While it's not immediately obvious, it is possible to toggle this feature within the Device Manager. Plus, you can even toggle your touchscreen by creating a handy shortcut, which will let you enable and disable it within seconds. How to Toggle the Touchscreen on Windows 10 Windows 10 doesn't have a convenient method to turn your touchscreen on and off—you won't find anything in Settings, for example. Windows 10 is constantly changing and evolving, so hopefully, this option will become available in the future. Though uncommon, your system manufacturer (like Dell, HP, or Acer) may have included its own software to help you manage the touchscreen. Please refer to the guide that came with your system or contact the manufacturer to see if this is possible. For most people, you will need to use Device Manager to disable and enable your touchscreen: Press Windows Key + X to open the quick access menu. Select Device Manager. A new window will open, which lists all the devices detected on your system. Double-click the Human Interface Devices heading to expand the list of devices within. Right-click on HID-compliant touch screen and select Disable device. You will then receive a warning message telling you that disabling this device will cause it to stop functioning. As this is exactly what you want, click Yes to proceed. The touchscreen will instantly be disabled, and no further action is required. Want to turn the touchscreen back on? Simply repeat the above process, but select Enable device instead. You may need to restart your system for the change to take effect. RELATED:Essential Touch Gestures In Windows 10 How to Automate the Touchscreen Toggle If you constantly need to enable and disable your touchscreen, it's a bit of a hassle to keep going into Device Manager. To combat this, you can create a shortcut that will automate the process. It's a bit complicated, so ensure to follow the instructions carefully. 1. Install Windows Device Console First, you need to download software called Windows Device Console, or Devcon for short. Normally this comes bundled with Visual Studio Express, but that download is far too bloated for our purposes. Handily, joequery.me has separated the software into a standalone download. The site is also where this process came from, so many thanks to them. Download the standalone Devcon software. Once downloaded, extract the ZIP file. Navigate inside the windows8.1 folder (it works perfectly for Windows 10, don't worry) and then into the folder for your operating system version: 32bit or 64bit. If you're not sure which you have, check out our guide on discovering your bit version. Press Windows Key + R to open Run, input C:\Windows\System32 (replace the drive letter if necessary), and press OK. Move devcon.exe into the System32 folder. Right-click on devcon.exe and select Properties. Switch to the Compatibility tab. Check Run this program as an administrator. 2. Find the Hardware ID Before you create the automated shortcut, you need to find out the ID of your touchscreen. Press Windows Key + X and select Device Manager. Double-click the Human Interface Devices heading. Right-click the HID-compliant touch screen device listing, then select Properties. With the Properties window now open, switch to the Details tab. Using the Property dropdown, select Hardware Ids. The value of interest to you will be in the following format: HID\VID_####&PID_####&COL## Leave this window open for now. We'll come back to it in a moment. 3. Create a Batch File Now you're going to create a simple batch file to automate a system process. In this case, the process is toggling the touch screen. Open Notepad and paste in the following: set "touchscreenid=ID_HERE" devcon status "%touchscreenid%" | findstr "running" if %errorlevel% == 0 ( devcon disable "%touchscreenid%" ) else ( devcon enable "%touchscreenid%" ) Switch back to the Properties window that you kept open in the previous step. Right-click the relevant Hardware Id and select Copy. Replace ID_HERE in Notepad with the value that you just copied to your clipboard. In Notepad, go to File > Save As and name the file touchscreen.bat. Save this anywhere you like; somewhere like your Documents would be a good place. 4. Create a Shortcut Now, it's time to turn this automated batch process into a handy shortcut. Navigate to the file you just saved, then right-click it and select Create shortcut. Right-click the shortcut and select Properties. Within the Target field, place double quotation marks around the path. Then prefix it with cmd.exe /C. An example Target would be: cmd.exe /C "C:\Users\Joe\Desktop\touchscreen.bat" From the Run dropdown, select Minimized so that Command Prompt doesn't open each time you select the shortcut. Click Advanced and check Run as administrator. Click OK. Finally, click OK. You can also set up a keyboard shortcut that will run the batch file. Within the Properties window, click the Shortcut key file field and enter a key combination that isn't already in use. Maybe something like CTRL + ALT + T. And it's done! Place this shortcut wherever you like, perhaps on your desktop or on your Taskbar (you can drag a shortcut directly onto the Taskbar to pin it there). Then, simply open the shortcut, the batch file will run, and it'll enable or disable your touchscreen automatically. RELATED:How To Clean Up Your Windows Desktop Once And For All Troubleshoot a Faulty Windows 10 Touchscreen If you use Continuum, the feature that allows you to switch between desktop and tablet modes on Windows 10, then you might have wanted to disable your touchscreen when in desktop mode. Or perhaps your system comes with touch abilities that you just don't want to use. Whatever the situation, hopefully, this guide has helped. Alternatively, perhaps you are turning the touchscreen off and on in an attempt to fix it. That's a good troubleshooting step, but you should also try other steps like updating drivers and running the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter.

Users have reported that their PnP Monitor doesn’t work anymore, or it has many glitches. Some of them also reported that their Windows don’t detect any additional Monitor and so on. If it’s not working, then there might be three main causes. It is possible that the PnP Monitor has some hardware issues, so to ensure that try plugging it into another PC and check if it works properly or not. If the Monitor’s hardware is damaged, then the only thing you can do is replace the Monitor. Moreover, it is possible that the PnP monitor is not compatible with your PC, so it doesn’t work. Steps to Fix Generic PnP Monitor Problem on Windows 10: Most of the time, the issue is because of some software or driver related issues. If you are sure that it is driver related issue, then you can proceed with the following fixes that you can try to fix the Generic PnP Monitor problem on Windows 10. Method 1: Update Windows 10 Though Windows updates come with previous bugs and error fixes, so you can pretty much rely on Windows 10 update to fix your PnP Monitor issue. To update your Windows 10, firstly connect to a secure and reliable Internet Connection. Then press the Windows Key + I buttons on your Keyboard to Open up the Windows Settings. Windows 10 Settings Now, go to the Update & Security, and on the next window, click on the Windows Update tab at the left-pane. On the right side of the Window, just click the Check for updates button. Windows will check if there is any update. If there is, Windows will start updating. If Windows doesn’t start updating automatically, then click on the Download and install now option below. Windows Update & Security Method 2: Reinstalling the PnP Monitor Driver People have suggested that reinstalling the PnP Monitor Driver might resolve the issue. The driver may be corrupted. So, reinstalling it will fix the corrupted driver and solve the issue. Step 1) Press the Windows Key + X buttons on your keyboard to open up a menu, select Device Manager from the menu to open up the Windows Device Manager. Windows Device Manager Step 2) Now, on the device manager, click on the Down Arrow beside the Monitor to expand the Monitors attached to your PC. Step 3) Right-click on the Generic PnP Monitor option and select Uninstall from the sub-menu. Step 4) Now, to install the PnP Monitor Driver again, Unplug the Monitor, than Plug it again. On the device Manager, click on the Action from the Menu bar and select the Scan for Hardware changes option from the sub-menu. Windows will automatically scan for the Generic PnP Monitor and will install it’s driver automatically from the internet. Method 3: Updating PnP Monitor and Graphics Drivers The Drivers you have installed in Windows for PnP Monitors might be outdated and have compatibility issues. Also, if you have an outdated graphics driver, it may cause some issues related to the PnP Monitor. Open up the Windows Device Manager by following the steps mentioned in the previous solution, then click on the down arrow beside Monitors, right-click on Generic PnP Monitor driver, and select the Update Driver option. Do similar to the Display Adapters/ Graphic Cards, right-click on it and select Update Driver. A prompt will appear, there you will have to select the preferred way to update your driver. You can either install the driver from the Web by clicking on the Search automatically for updated driver software option. Or you can install the driver from local storage. If you have the drivers downloaded, then select the Browser my computer for driver software option. If you have selected the online method, then if there is an update, Windows Updater will automatically download and install it. However, if you are installing it form the local storage, you will have to go through the Wizard. Select the Let Me Pick From a List of a Device Drivers on My Computer, select the necessary driver’s and continue. Moreover, you can use a third-party application for updating your Windows drivers. Method 4: Performing SFC Scan System File Checker scan will repair all of your Windows Files, so running an SFC scan could fix the issue. Go to the Windows Search Bar and Type CMD, right-click on the command prompt and select Run as administrator. Type the command sfc/scannow in the command prompt and press enter to execute. Ensure you are connected to the Internet. Note: This can take several minutes, so wait until it ends. Then restart your PC and check if the issue is solved. From Editor’s Desk Generic PnP Monitor problem is a common issue son Windows PC. But thankfully, you can solve most of these problems by troubleshooting the device driver. In most cases, updating to the latest Windows build also helps a lot.

The screen refresh rate is something that most PC gamers care about. Since they need to have high refresh rates for smooth gameplay, they adjust this setting to the maximum available point. While this is good, it also drains the battery quickly. Thus, adjusting this setting accordingly is suggested for good. Sometimes our computer screen (Monitor) starts flickering it means there is a problem in the display refresh rate, or maybe it is a hardware fault. Most of the monitors automatically adjust to a specific refresh rate where it works fine. But sometimes you need it manually. So using the below steps, you can manage your monitor refresh rates. Also Read- How to Check Windows 10 Version and Build Number Learn How You Can Adjust Screen Refresh Rate in Windows 10 Before jumping into the settings, it’s recommended you know the basics of screen refresh rate. It’s a display setting defining the number of times the display refreshes per second. Thus, an example of a 60Hz refresh rate means the screen refreshing the display 60 times per second. This quick blinking of bringing new frames makes the picture flow smoother, thus good. While gaming PCs are recommended at a maximum (144Hz or 120Hz), general users can set it the basic level to save their battery life. Since not every task done on PC demands fluid refresh rates, it’s recommended to set them down whenever required. So, here’s how to adjust; First on, right-click on any empty space of display to open the Display settings. You can also get into this through keyboard shortcuts by pressing Windows Key + I to open Windows Settings and then to System and Display. In Display Settings, check below to Advanced display settings, where you’ll get the Display adaptor properties. Under this, choose the display (if you have only one display, then it displays 1) and click on Display adaptor properties for Display 1. It will then open a window to navigate to the Monitor tab and set the refresh rate accordingly. From Editor’s Desk Adjusting the screen refresh rate is not a hard thing to do. Once you read how you can manually set the refresh rate in windows 10 further, you can do it without seeing anywhere. After doing the above steps, you will notice that your display is working smoothly. If you are a gamer, you can adjust it by your need.