If you have just installed the latest Cumulative Update on your Windows 10 computer and you find that since then, the Windows 10 Start Search is not displaying any results when you try to use it to search for something in your computer, then this post might help as it will give you some suggestions to fix the problem. This problem might be caused by some bugs brought in by the new cumulative update you’ve installed. It is also possible that Cortana is having some issues or that the Windows Search service hasn’t been initialized. Whatever the cause is, here are some suggestions you need to follow to fix this issue. You can try running the Search and Indexing troubleshooter or configure the

1. Run Search and Indexing Troubleshooter
2. Configure the Windows Firewall
3. Reinstall Cortana.

Option 1 – Try to run the Search and Indexing troubleshooter

The first thing you can do is to run the Search and Indexing troubleshooter in Windows 10 as it checks whether the settings for Cortana are in place and automatically corrects any issues if the update or software installation has changed the settings. To run it just click on the Start button and select Settings > Updates and Security > Troubleshoot. From there, select the Search and Indexing Troubleshooter.

Option 2 – Restart Cortana’s process in the Task Manager

Restarting Cortana’s process in the Task Manager could also help you resolve the problem. Refer to the steps given below to do so.

• Tap the Ctrl + Alt + Del keys to open the Security options window.
• From there, look for the Task Manager in the given list and open it.
• Next, look for the process of Cortana and right-click on it, and then select the End Task option to end its process.
• After that, the Cortana process will restart by itself and re-initialize.

Option 3 – Try resetting Cortana

• Open Cortana and go to the Settings section where you’ll see the “Turning off Cortana clears what Cortana knows on this device, but won’t delete anything from the Notebook. After Cortana is off, you can decide what you’d like to do with anything still stored in the cloud” option. Turn this option off.
• Restart your PC.
• After your computer boots, launch Cortana again and check.

Option 4 – Try to configure the Windows Firewall

• Tap the Win + Fn + Shift (Pause) keys to open Control Panel.
• From there, open the Windows Defender Firewall applet and click on the Advanced Settings to open the Windows Firewall with the Advanced Security panel.
• Next, click on the Outbound Rules section and look for Cortana and then double click on it to open its Properties.
• After that, make sure that the “Allow the connection” is selected although this is the default working setting.

Option 5 – Try to reinstall Cortana

If none of the options given above works, you must consider reinstalling Cortana.

• First, right-click on the Taskbar and select the Task Manager.
• Next, select File menu > Run new task and type “Powershell” in the field and then select the “Create this task with administrative privileges” option.
• Click on OK to open the PowerShell console.
• After that, type the following command and hit Enter to execute it:

Get-AppXPackage -Name Microsoft.Windows.Cortana | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)AppXManifest.xml"}

• Restart your computer and check if the Windows Start Search is now working.

Error Code 0x80072EE2 – What is it?

Windows 10 error code 0x80072EE2 usually occurs as a result of a disruption during the upgrade process when users attempt to upgrade their operating system using Windows Update. The disruption may be caused by a loss of Internet connection. Error code 0x80072EE2 may also occur due to problems related to one’s firewall. Common symptoms of this error code include the following:

• Upgrade process fails to complete
• A message box pops up highlighting the presence of error code 0x80072EE2

Solution

Error Causes

Upgrade error codes like error code 0x80072EE2 usually occur when disruptions or problems related to system files, or third-party apps prevent Windows Update from completing an upgrade. In the case of error code 0x80072EE2, the most likely cause is a bad Internet connection.

Further Information and Manual Repair

Windows 10 error codes are numerous and so are the solutions to fixing these problems. In most cases, Windows users have access to several manual repair solutions depending on the error code present on their device. These manual repair methods are usually easy to implement, with the exception of a few solutions that require technical knowledge and skills. In such cases, you may need to consider using an effective automated tool or you may contact a Windows repair technician to assist you.

In terms of error code 0x80072EE2, however, no technical skills are required. Manual repair solutions for this error code involve checking and troubleshoot network problems if your connection was disrupted. Also, you may need to check your firewall settings and disable it temporarily to verify whether or not your firewall is preventing you from accessing the upgrade. Further details are provided below.

Method One: Verify Internet Connection

If for whatever reason you lost Internet connection while attempting to upgrade your operating system via Windows Update, your upgrade will time out and error code 0x80072EE2 in Windows 10 may occur. For this reason, it is important for you to check your connection once you notice the presence of error code 0x80072EE2 on your device.

There are many ways you can verify your Internet connection but one of the simplest ways is to first open your preferred Internet browser and type the web address of a site you normally visit. Once you are able to access the website, you will know for sure that your connection is not an issue. Simply restart your PC and reattempt the upgrade.

If you are unable to complete the upgrade process, however, this simply means that there is another issue causing error code 0x80072EE2 to occur. Proceed to the next manual repair method. This method may also apply if you were unable to connect to the Internet.

Method Two: Troubleshoot Network Problems

Though you may be able to access a website or open your Internet browser, there may be other issues affecting your network that are causing the error code to occur. To verify for certain whether or not the issue causing error code 0x80072EE2 in Windows 10 is related to your network, troubleshoot your network using the Network Troubleshooter tool found on your PC.

• Step one: Type Network Troubleshooter in the search box near the Start button
• Step two: Select Identify and repair network problems
• Step three: Wait until the troubleshooter has verified and fixed problems related to the network
• Step four: Restart PC

Once the issue has been resolved, it is time to verify if the error code is fixed. Open Windows Update then select the option which enables you to access the latest upgrades to your machine. Wait to see if the error code reoccurs or if you can now access the upgrade to your operating system. If the error code reoccurs, move to the next manual repair method.

Method Three: Disable Firewall Settings

Another issue that may be causing an error code to occur is your firewall. To verify if your firewall is preventing you from accessing the upgrade, disable your firewall. If you are using third-party security software, simply open the security app and check its firewall settings. Select disable or turn off the firewall.

Restart your computer, then open Windows Update to reattempt to upgrade your device. If this proves successful, you will be able to access the upgrade. Error code 0x80072EE2 in Windows 10 will no longer be present.

Method Four: Download an Automated Tool

If you wish to always have at your disposal a utility tool to fix these Windows 10 and other related issues when they do arise, download and install a powerful automated tool.

One of the biggest annoyances in Windows 10 is that it’s upgrading from one version to another. Although these upgrades are necessary to fix some bugs or improve user experience, some of them actually bring bugs into the computers instead. And in one of the recent Windows 10 updates, a lot of issues were found especially for users who use Remote Desktop on a daily basis. The error stacks up as Windows 10 Remote Desktop Protocol client is not working or won’t connect and can’t find the computer HOSTNAME generally. Based on the reports by users who experienced this issue, there are two cases around it:

1. Users who try to reach a specific website or folder on the network

Some users encounter this error when they try to run the Network Troubleshooter. Even when they add the server name inside it, it still won’t identify the problem, and unpredictably, the driver seems to appear and disappear every now and then. And even after connecting, the network commands don’t work at all. This is really troublesome for users who have lots of PCs and all the other systems do not appear on the network.

2. Remote Desktop isn’t able to find the computer HOSTNAME

Some other users reported that the error appeared when they use the classic remote desktop software. It keeps on failing and throwing the error message, “Remote Desktop can’t find the computer “HOSTNAME”. If this is the same scenario you are having, it means that “HOSTNAME” does not belong to the specified network. So you need to verify the computer name and domain where you are trying to connect to. There are times when it used to work after some users tried connecting to the domain a couple of times. However, when users try to use the UWP version of Remote Desktop, it seems to connect most of the time. This kind of problem is definitely a DNS issue. It could be that there are two different records on the DNS server which is why it connects and other times it doesn’t. When it is able to resolve the correct address, the drives connect to the PC however, after a couple of minutes, they will suddenly go missing. Using “nslookup” for the hostname, multiple times, you can check this and see if you’ll get identical results all the time.

nslookup [–SubCommand …] [{ComputerToFind| [–Server]}]

If you’ve determined that the drives disappear each time, you may have to change the DNS server or ask your admin to resolve the problem for you. Alternatively, you can also check out another option that has worked for a lot of users. This second option is disabling the IPv6 on the network adapter. In case you don’t know, Windows 10 prefers IPv6 over IPv4 so if you now have issues using IPv6 to connect to the servers, you can change your computer’s settings so that it’ll only use IPv4 instead of IPv6. To do so, follow these instructions:

• Open Settings > Network and Internet > Ethernet > Change Adapter options.
• From there, right-click on the adapter for where you want to disable it and then select Properties.
• Next, look for the checkbox labeled, “Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6)” then uncheck it.
• Now click on OK and restart your PC to save the changes made.

We have all been there, unfortunately, the application freezes, and sometimes it can even freeze whole windows. Well if the whole Windows freezes because of the application there is not much we can do except hard reset but if only the application freezes we can still kill it and return the PC in working condition. The first thing you can try is to press ALT + F4, this shortcut is for closing the program, if the application is frozen Windows will try to close it when using this shortcut, and if it succeeds you will find yourself on the desktop environment in Windows with non-responsive application taken care of. If however, this fails and the application is not closed, try ending it in the task manager. To open task manager press CTRL + SHIFT + ESC, locate unresponsive application select it, and click on the end task button on the bottom right.

We are all waiting for the release of Intel’s Alder Lake series of processors and real-world results on its performance. Sadly lately it came to our attention that some games might have issues with the processor. Now before you go on the bandwagon on bashing Intel itself take note that it is not Intel’s fault at all. The issue that arises is mostly due to DRM software and how it works. As you might know or not, Alder Lake has two sets of cores, standard performance cores, and power cores, and with Intel’s Thread Director on-chip right cores will be used for the right tasks, and here lies the issue. DRM software might detect Thread Director as something suspicious and malicious, and then cut access to the game because of this. Intel, of course, has reached DRM manufacturers and places documentation about how software should be developed with this hybrid technology in mind. Of course, newer games will be updated if needed and everything will work fine, also games on GOG will work fine because of GOG’s policy of no DRM store but some older ones might be left in limbo. They could work fine but DRM might be triggered and prevent them from loading, usually, game developer itself removes DRM protection after some time but that is not really always the case and there is a chance that some games might simply just not work on Alder Lake CPU only because of DRM protection.

Conclusion

I will admit that I have not been a great fan of DRM in general, I understand that game developer want to protect themselves from piracy but how it looks they were not really successful with it. Even today single-player games get pirated on the day they are released and legally bought ones always make trouble for people that actually paid for them. I remember times when DRM was awful and you could install a game a limited number of times, luckily this was removed but it seems that many old habits still remain sadly and DRM is present even today in various forms. GOG is proof that people will buy DRM-free games and that they will support this kind of model. Maybe it is time to forget about fighting against piracy, you will not make it go away and people who do not want to buy games will not buy them, on other hand many users that do buy games, if they cannot use them they will rest to pirated version since that one will work. It is sad to see that pirated software can work better than a legal one and offer a more pleasant experience.

One of the most important components of a computer in the network. The network, with the help of network devices, makes it possible for all kinds of devices to exchange information. One of the files associated with the network driver is the netio.sys file. It is a system file used by third-party programs to interact with the devices on the network. If you encounter a Blue Screen of Death error that’s related to the netio.sys file then you’ve come to the right place as this post will guide you in fixing it. Here are some of the Blue Screen errors related to the netio.sys file:

• KMODE EXCEPTION NOT HANDLED
• PAGE FAULT IN A NONPAGED AREA
• IRQL NOT LESS EQUAL
• SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION
• DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL
• SYSTEM THREAD EXCEPTION NOT HANDLED

To fix the netio.sys Blue Screen errors on your Windows 10 computer, you can check out each one of the following suggestions.

Option 1 – Try to use the System File Checker

One of the built-in tools in Windows that you can use to fix Blue Screen errors is the System File Checker. This built-in command utility can help you restore corrupted or missing files as well as replace bad and corrupted system files. Chances are, the netio.sys file might be corrupted so to fix it, use System File Checker.

• First, right-click on the Start button and click on the “Command Prompt (Admin) option.
• Next, type in the sfc /scannow command and hit Enter to execute it.

The command will start a system scan which will take a few whiles before it finishes. Once it’s done, you could get the following results:

1. Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.
2. Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them.
3. Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them.

• Finally, restart your computer.

Option 2 – Try checking the Memory for any errors

The first thing you can do to check the memory for errors is to run the CHKDSK utility. The CHKDSK utility repairs hard drive errors that might be causing the problem.

• You need to open “This PC” first.
• And then right-click on your operating system partition for Windows.
• Next, click on Properties and navigate to the Tools tab.
• After that, click on the Check button under the Error Checking section.
• A new mini window will appear and from there, click on Scan drive.
• Now let it scan your disk drive partition to check for errors and then restart your computer.

After running the CHKDSK utility, it’s now time to fix issues with your RAM by running the Memory Diagnostic tool. This tool in windows can help resolve the Blue Screen errors related to the netio.sys file by checking and automatically fixing any memory-based issues. To run it, refer to these steps:

• Tap the Win + R keys to open Run and type mdsched.exe and hit Enter to open the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool.
• After that, it will give two options such as:
  • Restart now and check for problems (Recommended)
  • Check for problems the next time I start my computer
• Once your computer has restarted, perform a basic scan or you could also go for the “Advanced” options such as “Test mix” or “Pass count”. Simply tap the F10 key to start the test.

Note: After you select your preferred option, your computer will restart and check for memory-based issues. If it finds any issues, it will automatically fix them and if there’s no issue found, then it’s most likely not a memory-based issue so you should try the other options given below.

Option 3 – Try to update or rollback or disable Network drivers

You might also want to update, roll back or disable your Network drivers to resolve the netio.sys Blue Screen errors.

• Tap the Win + R keys to launch the Run window and then type in the “mdsched.msc” command and hit Enter to open the Device Manager window.
• Under the Device Manager, you will see a list of drivers. From there, look for the Network Adapters and expand it.
• Then right-click on each one of the Network drivers and depending on your preference, you can either select “Update driver”, “Disable device” or “Uninstall device”.
• After that, restart your PC and see if it helped in fixing the netio.sys Blue Screen error.

Option 4 – Perform System Restore

Performing System Restore can also help fix BSOD errors, including the ones related to the netio.sys file. To run System Restore, follow the steps below.

• First, tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• After that, type in “sysdm.cpl” in the field and tap Enter.
• Next, go to the System Protection tab then click the System Restore button. This will open a new window where you have to select your preferred System Restore point.
• After that, follow the on-screen instructions to finish the process and then restart your computer and check if the problem is fixed or not.

Option 5 – Run the Blue Screen Troubleshooter

Troubleshooting Blue Screen of Death errors wouldn’t be complete without the Blue Screen troubleshooter. As you know, it is a built-in tool in Windows 10 that helps users in fixing BSOD errors like Storport.sys. It can be found on the Settings Troubleshooters page. To use it, refer to these steps:

• Tap the Win + I keys to open the Settings panel.
• Then go to Update & Security > Troubleshoot.
• From there, look for the option called “Blue Screen” on your right-hand side and then click the “Run the troubleshooter” button to run the Blue Screen Troubleshooter and then follow the next on-screen options. Note that you might have to boot your PC into Safe Mode.

Random freezing in a Windows in the middle of work can be a very frustrating experience and can even cost us the loss of work. From time delays to sometimes complete crashes this behavior is something that every PC user wants to avoid or at least have very little of. In this article, we will cover solutions on what to do and how to fix the random freezing of computers.

1. Run a virus scan on your computer.

   Viruses and other malware can cause freezes and other issues in your computer, run a complete system scan for any kind of viruses and malware and if needed remove them.

2. Uninstall applications that you are not using

   Besides taking your hard drive space some applications can have and require to have some services always running on your computer which can cause some issues, if an application is not needed and it is not used, removing it might solve freezing issues.

3. Increase RAM memory

   Sometimes the problem with freezing is not a software issue, having less RAM memory than the application requires can cause the application not to work properly and it can cause freezing of the entire system since precious RAM can not be allocated to the required application.

4. Run system checker

   Corrupted Windows system files can cause freezing of the entire system, to fix this, start the command prompt in administrator mode and type sfc /scannow

5. Keep running applications to a minimum

   Having too many applications running in the background can drain system resources and can cause system freezes because of lack of memory. Close applications that are running in the background and keep them minimal.

6. Delete files and folders which you are not using

   Having many files and/or folders on the hard drive can cause a lot of system resources to be wasted, from indexing size to less free space for caching. If you have files that you no longer need, removing them will free up space and can increase performance and introduce the stability.

7. Run memory check

   Memory issues could lead to system freezing. When an application needs to write or read to a corrupted memory cluster, freezing will occur since it can not. To check memory bring up run dialog and type in ti mdsched.exe, click on restart now and let the memory test finish.

8. Update all drivers

   Hardware issues can cause freezing of applications and having the latest drivers can make a world of difference. Make sure that you have all device drivers to the latest versions.

9. Optimize Disk drives and check for errors

   Windows 10 has built-in tools to check hard drives for errors and to optimize them, use them in order to see if this issue is causing freezes.

10. Clean your registry

    A Clean registry is a happy registry and Windows is appreciating it. Make sure that you do not have any keys which you do not need in the registry and that long-forgotten application trails are deleted for good.

11. Upgrade SSD firmware

    Like updating drivers, updating firmware is also important, and having the latest firmware for your SSD can help a lot, newer firmware can eliminate freezing if the issue was in Windows not using SSD properly.

12. Update BIOS

    Like updating SSD firmware can help so it can update Firmware on your BIOS. Make sure that you have the latest firmware version and freezing can go away if that was the issue.

Most scrollbars are hidden by default if they are not used in Windows 11. If you are not ok with this feature and want scrollbars to be always visible and available do not worry, turning them ON is very easy.

• Press ⊞ WINDOWS + I to open Windows settings
• Click on Accessibility in the sidebar
• Select Visual Effects
• Inside visual effects settings find Always show scrollbars and switch it ON

Windows 11 will save settings automatically and apply setting right away. Close settings and continue with work.

High Efficiency Image File Format (HEIF) is a container format for individual images and image sequences. The standard covers multimedia files that can also include other media streams, such as timed text, audio, and video. A HEIF image using High-Efficiency Video Coding, HEVC, requires only about half the storage space as the equivalent quality JPEG. HEIF also supports animation and is capable of storing more information than an animated GIF or APNG at a small fraction of the size. HEIF files are a special case of the ISO Base Media File Format (ISOBMFF, ISO/IEC 14496-12), first defined in 2001 as a shared part of MP4 and JPEG 2000. Introduced in 2015, it was developed by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) and is defined as Part 12 within the MPEG-H media suite (ISO/IEC 23008-12). HEIF was adopted by Apple in 2017 with the introduction of iOS 11, and support on other platforms is growing.

HEIF files can store the following types of data:

Image items

Storage of individual images, image properties, and thumbnails.

Image derivations

Derived images enable non-destructive image editing and are created on the fly by the rendering software using editing instructions stored separately in the HEIF file. These instructions (rectangular cropping, rotation by one, two or three quarter-turns, timed graphic overlays, etc.) and images are stored separately in the HEIF file, and describe specific transformations to be applied to the input images. The storage overhead of derived images is small.

Image sequences

Storage of multiple time-related and/or temporally predicted images (like a burst-photo shot or cinemagraph animation), their properties, and thumbnails. Different prediction options can be used in order to exploit the temporal and spatial similarities between the images. Hence, file sizes can be drastically reduced when many images are stored in the same HEIF file.

Auxiliary image items

Storage of image data, such as an alpha plane or a depth map, which complements another image item. These data are not displayed as such but used in various forms to complement another image item.

Image metadata

Storage of EXIF, XMP and similar metadata which accompany the images stored in the HEIF file.

If you are using a Windows 10 PC that has different processors clubbed together, chances are you might encounter an error saying, “MULTIPROCESSOR CONFIGURATION NOT SUPPORTED” during a Windows upgrade or software installation. This error is actually caused by a bug check with a value of 0x0000003E. This error also indicates that the processors in your computer are asymmetric in relation to one another. So if you want to upgrade you need to have all the processors of the same type and level. But worry not for this guide will help you in fixing this error. The MULTIPROCESSOR_CONFIGURATION_NOT_SUPPORTED error can occur in several cases such as during an installation of Windows 10, or when the driver is loaded, or when Windows Start or Shutdown and the chances of you getting a blue screen is very much high. To fix this error, refer to the options given below and make sure to follow them carefully.

Option 1 – Try to disable the Hyper-Threading in your BIOS

Hyper-Threading in the BIOS lets a processor (multi-threaded) run various tasks in a simultaneous manner. To disable this, here’s what you have to do:

• Restart your computer and boot into it right after. To do that, tap the F2 key.
• Once you’re in the BIOS, locate the Hyper-Threading option which should be located under the Performance section along with other options like Multi-core support, Rapid Start technology, and many more.
• Disable Hyper-Threading and then make sure to save the changes and exit BIOS.

Note: Although Hyper-Threading is only used when necessary, there are some OEMS that don’t have the option to disable it and if that’s the case, you need to try other options given below.

Option 2 – Try to disable the Virtualization in the BIOS

Virtualization in the BIOS allows users to run a single physical resource such as the server or storage device to appear that it is running as multiple logical resources. It is also properly termed as “HYPER-V”.  To disable it, refer to these steps:

• Boot into the BIOS as you did earlier.
• Then look for the Security options.
• After that, from Security options, look for Virtualization Technology or VTX among the options given.
• Then turn it off and restart your computer.

Note: Although Windows 10 offers features such as the Device Security for Core Isolation and Memory Integrity, if you turn them off at the software level, it will not help at all. If you’re able to resolve the error, you can do some further research and see what software or hardware you can use to further help you.

Option 3 – Try checking if there are any BIOS updates available for your PC

Updating the BIOS may help you resolve the MULTIPROCESSOR CONFIGURATION NOT SUPPORTED error. You can just go to the OEM’s website as they offer utility software that can download BIOS firmware and update it without any problem. BIOS updates usually offer enhancements and fixes to some issues like this one.