If you get an Error Code 15 or Error Code 16 while you are browsing the web and you notice that your access is blocked to a particular website, then read on as this post will guide you in resolving this problem. Both Error Code 15 and Error Code 16 have the same message that states, “Access Denied: This request was blocked by the security rules”. Note that the error depends on what kind of browser you are using, as well as the operating system and network that you are using. On the other hand, the fixes for this error are the same and there is a handful of them that you can check out just make sure to follow each one of them carefully.

Option 1 – Sync Date and Time

The first thing you can try is to sync the Date and Time of your computer as the wrong Date and Time settings are one of the most common causes of connection problems like Error code 15 or Error code 16. This is because of the incompatibility between the SSL Certificate validation date and the System Clock. Thus, you have to sync your System Clock. Refer to the steps below to do so.

• Right-click on the Taskbar and click on the Adjust Date and Time option.
• Next, click on the Sync Now button to synchronize the Date and Time with the Microsoft Servers.
• Now make sure that the Time Zone that’s set on the same page is correct.

Option 2 – Try to reset the affected browser

Resetting the affected browser might help in fixing Error Code 15 or Error Code 16.

Mozilla Firefox

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

Google Chrome

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

Internet Explorer

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

Option 3 – Temporarily disable Firewall and third-party antivirus

Firewall and antivirus programs are known to block files the instant it detects a threat to the system. However, there are some cases when it can also block a file even when it’s a safe one. Thus, your antivirus or firewall programs might be the reason why you can’t download anything on your Windows 10 computer. To isolate the issue, you need to temporarily disable both the Firewall and antivirus programs and then check if you can now download anything from the internet. Do not forget to enable them again as disabling them can leave your computer vulnerable to cyber threats.

Option 4 – Disable the Proxy server

You can also try to disable the Proxy server for your LAN to fix Error code 15 or Error code 16 especially if your computer was attacked by some malware or adware recently. In such cases, there is a chance that the malware or adware has changed your network settings in order to generate intrusive advertisements. Thus, you have to disable the proxy server and you can do that by following these steps:

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• Then type “inetcpl.cpl” in the field and hit Enter to pull up the Internet Properties.
• After that, go to the Connections tab and select the LAN settings.
• From there. Uncheck the “Use a Proxy Server” option for your LAN and then make sure that the “Automatically detect settings” option is checked.
• Now click the OK and the Apply buttons.
• Restart your PC.

Note: If you are using a third-party proxy service, you have to disable it.

Option 5 – Check your VPN

If you are using a VPN application, there are times when it causes some issues like this error. If that’s the case, you can try to disable your VPN temporarily and see if the error is resolved or not and if turns out that your VPN is the culprit, you have to uninstall it and install a new one or its latest version. To uninstall it, follow the steps below.

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box
• Then type “appwiz.cpl” in the field and hit Enter to open the Programs and Features in Control Panel.
• From there, look for the VPN service you are using, select it and then click on Uninstall to remove it.
• After that, restart your computer and try to install the latest version of the program again. It should work now. If not, proceed to the next available option below.

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Backup Error 0x80070002

What is Backup Error 0x80070002?

Error 0x80070002 shows once you’re done backing up files through the Windows Backup program on a system running Windows 7, you see a notification that pops up with a message that reads something like: “Check your backup results. The backup completed but some files were skipped.” You try finding out the reason and you hover over to the Options button beside the message, then you get to read the following lines: “Check your backup results. The backup completed but some files were skipped. View skipped files.” Upon clicking the “View Skipped Files” option, the backup error 0x80070002 pops up on your screen and you’re left scratching your head, wondering what you’re going to do now.

Solution

Error Causes

There are multiple error logs that you will encounter in backup error 0x80070002 as per different conditions. The two most common cases in which this error shows up are stated below:

Case 1

You will see the following message when you press “View skipped files”: “Backup encountered a problem while backing up file C: Windows/System32/config/systemprofile. Error: (The system cannot find the file specified. (0x80070002))” You will face this case if you have backed up a library that included custom folders that were located in your user profile.

Case 2

Upon pressing “View Skipped files” you will encounter the below-mentioned messages: “Backup encountered a problem while backing up file C:/Users<User>AppDataLocalLow. Error: (The system cannot find the file specified. (0x80070002))” “Backup encountered a problem while backing up file C:/Users<User>Contacts. Error: (The system cannot find the file specified. (0x80070002))” “Backup encountered a problem while backing up file C:/Users<User>Searches. Error:(The system cannot find the file specified. (0x80070002))” You are likely to encounter any of these messages in case:

• The Windows Backup program is trying to back up your files in either one or all of these folders (LocalLow, Searches, Contacts).
• All three of these folders don’t exist in your system.

Keep in mind that all three of these folders exist due to the installation of certain programs and applications on your system.

Notes

The backup error 0x80070002 is also found to occur while using USB devices instead of storage devices. Other occurrences include the times when input/output (I/O) operations are performed on the USB device, which results in failure.

Further Information and Manual Repair

To make sure this issue is resolved, you will have to follow either one of the following solutions as appropriate to your situation:

Solution for Case 1

1. Ignore the error. The store files of the custom library in your user profile will not be created as backups.
2. Transfer the library folder from where it currently exists to a place outside its current folder (user profile). For instance, you can move the library folder to an entirely new destination such as “C: My Folders”
3. Remove the library folder from the list of files that you are backing up using the Windows Backup program. Then, add the original place of the library’s content in the list.
4. Go back and check step two. If carried out successfully then add a link to the folder you moved from the library. Check to see if the backup includes the library folder. To make sure, you have to do as follows:

• Go to Start and select your username.
• Hover across to the folder you wish to move, right-click on it and select “Cut”.
• Head to the navigation pane and search for the area you will store the folder in, right-click and select “Paste” so that the folder is moved to that location.
• Right-click on the folder that you just moved and select “Copy”.
• Go back to Start, select your username, right-click any vacant space in your folder and select “Paste Shortcut”.

Note: If you want to store the folder in a different place other than the folder in which it currently exists (user profile), you will need to create a new folder. In order to do so, go to the Windows Explorer menu and look up the root of the drive. Hit “New Folder” and then choose edit to change its name. You can set it as any name for instance, “My Folders”.

Solution for Case 2

You can ignore this error safely. However, if you wish not to see this error in the future during your backup operations then you will need to carry out the following steps:

1. Create all the folders listed in the error message including LocalLow, Contacts, and Searches.
2. Remove all of these folders from the Backup settings to make sure they aren’t being backed up then add the folders which are in their original place. To carry out this procedure, you will have to follow the below-mentioned steps:

• Head over to the Control Panel and open “Backup & Restore”.
• Go to the Backup section and select “Change Settings”.
• Click Next in the Setup backup dialog box.
• Select “Let me choose” in the dialog box termed “What do you want to back up” then proceed by clicking Next.
• Expand Data Files, expand <user> Libraries, expand Additional Locations then proceed by clearing out the AppData Folder, searches, and Contacts check boxes.
• Expand Computer as well as the item for your system drive (expand Local Disk (D:)), expand users, expand <user>, then go to AppData, Searches and Contacts and mark them if they are present.
• Proceed by clicking next and select “Save Settings” then exit.
• Back to Backup & Restore, select Back up now and your new backup will begin proceeding. The entire process will complete without any errors now.

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So you just have turned your computer ON only to find out that your device which was working perfectly yesterday is not working anymore. This situation can be very stressful and disappointing but do not despair, before you toss your device through the window know that this kind of behavior can be traced back to a software issue. In this article, we will give you hints on what to do and where to pay attention when something like this happens so you get the device back in working order.

1. Check if it not a hardware malfunction

   To save yourself time and unnecessary frustration with juggling through Windows first inspect the device to be sure that indeed it is working properly, check all led lamps which could indicate that the device is working and receiving power, and if it is an internal device try opening the case and visually check if there are signs of working like rotating fans or led lamps on it.

2. Check Cables

   If it is an external device that has stopped working try checking power cables and cables which go to your computer, see if they are tightly connected. If it is an internal device also check cables, nudge them and if possible disconnect and clean them.

3. Disconnect and reconnect the device

   Try this solution to see will Windows register the device again and start it.

4. Update Windows

   If there is a Windows update not installed, install it and see if the device will start working.

5. Update device drivers

   Go to device manager and update the device driver to its latest version or go to the manufacturer's site and download the latest driver version.

6. Reinstall the device

   In the device manager, uninstall the device driver and reboot Windows. When Windows boots it will recognize the device and install the necessary drivers for it.

7. Disable antivirus and firewall

   Sometimes antivirus can prevent certain devices from working properly, especially if they rely on some system files to which antivirus or firewall has cut access. Try disabling your PC protection to see if this will resolve the issue.

8. Use dedicated error software

   Use DRIVERFIX to automatically search and fix driver issues.

One of the most interesting innovations that were released by Microsoft is the Surface Dial. This only goes to show that Microsoft is very competent not just in hardware but in overall innovation. Although it’s quite a piece of technology and as far as the consensus is concerned, it works pretty well, there are still some issues encountered by users. One of the particular issues experienced by users is that the Surface Dial fails to pair with every Windows 10 PC. At a time of writing, it is still not clear what the cause of the problem really is. However, their possible solutions are provided in this post that might help you resolve the problem. Before you get started troubleshooting the problem, make sure that there are two AAA batteries fitted inside properly.

Option 1 – Check if your PC supports Bluetooth 4.0 LE

In case you don’t know, the Surface Dial only works with the Windows 10 Anniversary Update and later PCs that support Bluetooth 4.0 LE. Thus, you have to check if this is supported or not before you troubleshoot further.

• Tap the Win + R keys on your keyboard to open the Run dialog box.
• Next, type “devmgmt.msc” in the field and hit Enter to open the Device Manager.
• From there, click on Bluetooth and select “Microsoft Bluetooth LE Enumerator” from the drop-down menu. However, if it is not there, then it simply means that your computer does not support this standard which is most likely why you were unable to pair with other Windows 10 PCs. On the other hand, if you were able to see it, then proceed to the next troubleshooting steps below.

Option 2 – Check if Bluetooth is on

The next thing you have to do is to check if Bluetooth is turned on. As you know, the Surface Dial connects to your computer using Bluetooth and so you need to check if it’s really on or not. Aside from that, you also have to verify pairing.

• Tap the Win + I keys to open Windows Settings.
• Next, select Devices from the menu and click on Bluetooth.
• After that, make sure that the toggle switch for Bluetooth is turned on.
• Now all you have to do is to verify pairing by pressing and holding the pairing button located beside the batteries and then wait for a few seconds until the Bluetooth light begins to flash.
• Then go back to the Bluetooth section and click on Bluetooth or other devices.
• From there, click on Add Bluetooth and select Surface Dial.
• Follow the next instructions on the screen and click on Done once everything is completed. That should fix the problem.

Option 3 – Check if Surface Dial is connected to another PC

If you think that connecting a Bluetooth device to two different PCs at the same time is wise, then think again as it does not really bode well for the overall user experience. Thus, you need to disconnect the Surface Dial from the system that you are currently using. On the other hand, if everything fails, then it’s most likely that the Bluetooth adapter is the one at fault. So you may have to get a third-party device that connects to your system via USB and then see if it works or not.

Hello everyone, I hope you are all doing well. Today we will be changing the Windows Lock Screen background. Changing the lock screen background is a very easy task and it can be done in a very short time. So let's jump right into it. The first thing you need to do is to press the Windows start button on the bottom left and then press settings. Once the settings screen appears, choose and click on Personalization. Inside personalization, click on the Lock Screen tab. On the right screen, under the picture, you will find Windows spotlight, click on it to bring a drop-down menu up. Your choice is presented as a single picture for background or slideshow, a series of pictures that are going to be looped in a given time interval. If you would like just a single picture for your background, choose that and click on it. Once you are in choose picture dialog, click on the browse button and navigate to the picture on your storage which you would like to have as a background. If however, you fancy slideshow as your lock screen background, click on the background drop-down menu and choose the slideshow. Next, click on add a folder and navigate to a folder where you have pictures that you would like to have as a slideshow for your Windows lock screen.

Dism.exe error 1392 is usually displayed whenever a file or directory is corrupted, and unreadable. The location specified in the error message states that some temporary files are corrupt. Since the files are only temporary, you could delete the mentioned file in the error message and check if the issue persists. The error is caused by missing system files or broken corrupt data, which should be fixed as soon as possible. Taking action should prevent further hardware and app damage, as this can lead to system crashes, data loss, or hardware failure in most cases.

1. Temporarily disable the antivirus program

   Antivirus applications are well known that they can detect certain things as false positives and quarantine them or cut their system access, to make sure that this is not the case in this situation, disable your antivirus and try the operation again.

2. Perform an SFC scan

   Press ⊞ WINDOWS + X to open the windows menu Click on Command prompt (admin) In the command prompt window type: sfc /scannnow and press ENTER Wait for the operation to complete Reboot

3. Run Check disk to check and fix disk errors

   Press ⊞ WINDOWS + X to open the windows menu Click on Command prompt (admin) In the command prompt window type: chkdsk /f c: where c: is hard drive with issue and press ENTER

4. Scan your computer for malware

   Malware and other malicious software can be a problem for this type of behavior, run your security's software scan on the whole system and remove any found malware.

5. Perform a system restore

   If anything else failed run system restore and bring Windows back to a date when everything was working fine.

Windows 11 provides several different ways to make your cursor stand out and be easier to spot inside it. You can make the mouse pointer larger, invert it, or change its color.

1. Press ⊞ WINDOWS + I to open settings
2. Click on Accessibility in the sidebar
3. Select Mouse Pointer and Touch
4. Adjust mouse cursor size with size slider by clicking on circle and dragging it left or right
5. Under Mouse Pointer Style pick desired style from White, Black, Inverted, and Custom
   1. White: The cursor is white with a black outline (standard setting)
   2. Black: Cursor is black with a white outline
   3. Inverted: Cursor automatically changes color to an inverted version of the color it is currently hovering over
   4. Custom: You can pick the color for the cursor that you want.

And that is all about it, once you are done with pointer customization just close settings, all changes are saved automatically.

It has been reported that there are systems out there with Windows 11 operating systems that do not use the whole RAM memory installed in the system. If by any chance you are one of the unfortunate users that has encountered this issue, fear not, we have a solution for you.

Run the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool

1. Press ⊞ WINDOWS + S to open the search menu
2. Type in Windows Memory Diagnostic tool
3. Click on the found app
4. Select Restart now and check for problems
5. Wait for the tool to finish

Memory Diagnostic tool is a built-in tool in Windows, it was designed to automatically find and repair memory issues and should be your first step toward resolving this issue.

Check page file

1. Press ⊞ WINDOWS + S to open the search menu
2. Type in View advanced system settings
3. Click on the search result
4. Click on settings under performance
5. Click on the Advanced tab
6. Click on Change under Virtual memory
7. Uncheck the box for Automatically manage paging file size for all drives
8. Then select the drive and check the No paging file option
9. Click on Set
10. Repeat for all drives on the system
11. Reboot the system for changes to take effect

If after reboot system still does not see and use whole available RAM, repeat this process and turn back ON paging. After you are done move to the next solution.

Modify usable RAM

1. Press ⊞ WINDOWS + S to open the search menu
2. Type in System configuration
3. Click on the search result
4. Go to the Boot tab and click on Advanced options
5. Check the box for Maximum memory
6. Enter the installed RAM on your system in the field box and click on OK
7. Confirm once again on the OK and close the System configuration window
8. Restart the system

If the provided solution has not worked, uncheck the Maximum memory checkbox and save the changes. Move to the next solution.

Change and modify the registry

1. Press ⊞ WINDOWS + R to open the run menu
2. Type in Regedit and press the OK button or hit ENTER
3. Click on YES if prompted by UAC
4. Locate the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory
5. On the right side find and double click on the ClearPageFileAtShutdown DWORD
6. Enter 1 under Value data and click on OK to save the changes
7. Close the registry and reboot the system

Enable memory remapping inside BIOS

In order to do this fix, you will need to enter BIOS on your system. How entering BIOS is different from system to system depending on your manufacturer, especially if it is a laptop this step you will have to do alone. Go to your motherboard manufacturer or laptop manufacturer and see how to enter BIOS.

1. Enter BIOS (80% of the time this can be done by pressing DEL or F12 while the system is turned ON)
2. Locate System Agent Configuration option
3. Select Memory Remap Feature and Enable it

Your BIOS might be different from ours and you might not have the System Agent Configuration option, in this case, go through the setting and try to locate Memory Remap Feature. If this feature is missing as well move to the next step.

Rearrange RAM modules on the motherboard

Sometimes RAM memory cannot be slotted properly or just purely switching them in slots can solve the issue. Take RAM out, clean memory slots, clean motherboard connectors for them, and place them back in a different order. If by any chance none of the methods worked, then the issue might be in the hardware itself, either memory banks themselves, motherboard, power supply, etc. If this is sadly the case, you will have to locate the issue and replace the faulty part. If you are not technical enough for this adventure, the best solution is to take a PC to a computer repair shop.

The dialog boxes that you see on your Windows computer exist to send you a message or to notify you. However, you can also encounter issues with them. Recently, some users reported that they’re getting empty or blank dialog boxes. It’s definitely hard to choose between Yes or No or to click OK when you don’t know the context of the dialog box. If the same thing happened to you, worry not for there are some possible solutions that can help you fix the problem. This kind of problem usually happens when there are some issues with the graphics driver or when there is some corrupted software. Whichever the case is, here are some fixes you can check out to fix the empty or blank dialog boxes on your Windows 10 computer.

Option 1 – Run the System File Checker

System File Checker or SFC is a built-in command utility that helps in restoring corrupted files as well as missing files. It replaces bad and corrupted system files with good system files that might be the cause why you’re getting the errors 0x8024a11a and 0x8024a112. To run the SFC command, follow the steps given below.

• Type “cmd” in the Start search and then right-click on the appropriate search result.
• Next, select “Run as administrator” to open Command Prompt with admin privileges.
• After opening Command Prompt, type in sfc /scannow

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

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

 Now restart your computer and see if the problem is fixed or not.

Option 2 – Try to update or rollback the Graphics driver

You can try to update your Graphics card driver using the Device Manager in your computer to resolve the blank dialog boxes problem or you can also go directly to the website of your graphics card manufacturers like NVIDIA, Intel, or AMD and go to the section called Drivers then check if there’s a new available update – if there is, download and install it. To update your Graphics driver via Device Manager, refer to these steps:

• First, boot your computer into Safe Mode.
• After that, tap the Win + R keys to launch Run.
• Type in devmgmt.msc into the box and tap Enter or click OK to open the Device Manager.
• After that, a list of device drivers will be displayed. From there, look for the Display Adapters and click on them.
• After that, right-click on each entry under the Display Adapters and select the “Uninstall Device” option from the menu.
• Now restart your computer.
• After restarting your computer, go to the Settings app and Check for Updates in the Windows Update section.

Note: If updating the Graphics driver didn’t fix the problem, you can also try to roll back to its previous version and see if that helps.

Option 3 – Run the DISM tool

The next thing you can do is run the DISM tool. This tool is known to repair potentially corrupted files in your system as having them could also system issues like the blank dialog boxes. To repair these corrupted system files, you can run the DISM commands:

• Tap the Win + X keys and click on the “Command Prompt (Admin)” option.
• After that, input each one of the commands listed below sequentially to execute them:
  • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
  • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
  • Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

• Once you’ve executed the commands given above, restart your computer and check if the problem is now fixed.

Option 4 – Try to repair or reinstall the software

If the issue with the empty dialog boxes only occurs in a specific program, you can either try to repair the program or reinstall it. You can find the Repair option in the Add/Remove program section when you select the concerned program. If repairing the program didn’t work, you might have to uninstall it and then reinstall it.

Option 5 – Try troubleshooting the problem in a Clean Boot State

You might also want to troubleshoot the problem in a Clean Boot State. Doing so will help you isolate the problem. Refer to the steps below to do so:

• Log onto your PC as an administrator.
• Type in MSConfig in the Start Search to open the System Configuration utility.
• From there, go to the General tab and click “Selective startup”.
• Clear the “Load Startup items” check box and make sure that the “Load System Services” and “Use Original boot configuration” options are checked.
• Next, click the Services tab and select the “Hide All Microsoft Services” check box.
• Click Disable all.
• Click on Apply/OK and restart your PC. (This will put your PC into a Clean Boot State. And configure Windows to use the usual startup, just simply undo the changes.)

Interesting information has come out from Microsoft, Windows 11 dark theme will include a different sound theme from its standard light one. When in dark mode on Windows 11, the system sounds generally become softer, and they echo a bit, creating a more soothing experience that matches the overall look and feel of the dark mode. Flipping back to light mode brings the system sounds back to their normal level. However, even though the light model has slightly louder sounds than the dark mode, Microsoft has taken great care to make sure the audio is more soothing, according to a report from CNBC. The designers of Windows 11 took inspiration from an approach called calm technology. Microsoft’s Christian Koehn and Diego Baca wrote about calm technology in a post on Medium. In it, they said, “Windows 11 facilitates this through foundational experiences that feel familiar, soften formerly intimidating UI, and increase emotional connection.” According to a Microsoft spokesperson in a statement to CNBC, “The new sounds have a much rounder wavelength, making them softer so that they can still alert/notify you, but without being overwhelming.”