As you know, NVIDIA is one of the topmost graphics cards used and it has been that way for several years already. And in those years, the company has managed to release the best cards on the market. However, there are still times when some things fail and don’t work as expected due to some NVIDIA driver issues. As of late, one of the issues users reported about NVIDIA drivers is that it keeps on crashing on a daily basis. It gets to the point where they aren’t able to play games anymore while some users experience lag and rendering issues. In addition, some users also reported that their computer display tends to freeze sometimes, and then things would seem to go back to normal but only for a short span of time as the crash seems to happen every 10 minutes. This can be extremely annoying as you won’t be able to use your computer properly. If you are one of these users, worry not for there are several ways you can try to resolve the problem in your Windows 10 computer. Make sure to carefully follow the options given below.

Option 1 – Try checking if the NVIDIA graphics card is enabled

Although the problem is quite massive, the fix could be as simple as enabling the NVIDIA graphics card if it turns out to be disabled. There might be some strange reason why your graphics card disables itself. Thus, the best and first option you can try is to check if the NVIDIA graphics card is enabled or not. To do so, follow these steps:

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• Then type “devmgmt.msc” in the field and hit Enter to open the Device Manager.
• After opening the Device Manager, look for the Nvidia graphics card option among the list of device drivers. Once you found it, check if it is enabled or not. If it’s not enabled, you should see a gray arrow pointing downwards. Right-click on the card and select Enabled.
• Next, right-click on the graphics card once more and click on the Update Driver Software option and then click on the “Search automatically for updated driver software” option.

Option 2 – Try to choose Maximum Performance and disable Vsync

If the first option didn’t work out for you, then you might want to try turning off Vsync and adjust the performance to the maximum. Refer to these steps to disable Vsync and adjust performance to the maximum.

• The first thing you have to do is right-click on your desktop and select the NVIDIA Control Panel among the options.
• After opening the NVIDIA Control Panel, select Manage 3D Settings.
• After that, set Vsync to off, and then in the Power Management Mode, set it to Maximum Performance. That should fix the problem.

Option 3 – Try updating the drivers from the official site of NVIDIA

If both the first and second given options didn’t work, you can also try updating the drivers from the official NVIDIA website. And in case you don’t know the type of Nvidia graphics card that your computer is on, follow the steps below:

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• Next type in “dxdiag” in the field and click OK or hit Enter to open the DirectX Diagnostic Tool.
• From there, you can see what type of Nvidia graphics card that your system is on.
• Take note of your graphics card information and then look for the best drivers for your operating system. Once you’ve downloaded and installed the file, restart your PC.

If you encounter a Recovery Error code 0xc000000e, “Your PC needs to be repaired” error on your Windows 10 computer, then it means that there is some hardware failure or an incorrect drive configuration. Apart from the error, it may be accompanied by different error message such as:

• A required device is inaccessible
• The selected entry could not be loaded
• A required device isn’t connected or cannot be accessed
• The selected entry could not be loaded because the application is missing or corrupt
• The boot selection failed because a required device is inaccessible.

As mentioned, the error code 0xc000000e or STATUS_NO_SUCH_DEVICE error indicates that there is a hardware failure or an incorrect drive configuration and to fix it, you have to check your cables as well as check the drive with the diagnostic utility available from the manufacturer of the drive. And if you are using older PATA (IDE) drives, then this kind of error also indicates an incorrect master/subordinate drive configuration. There could be different causes for this error. It could be that the winload.exe file is not accessible or is corrupted or that the boot location for the operating system cannot be found. Thus, for you to boot into and access the operating system, you can try the suggestions given below.

Option 1 – Try rebuilding the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) file

• Once you get to the Welcome Screen part, click on Next.
• Afterward, click on the Repair your computer option located on the bottom-left part of the window.
• Then click on Troubleshoot.
• Next, select the Advanced Options and then Command Prompt.
• Once Command Prompt has been pulled up, the following command to rebuild BCD files.

bootrec /rebuildbcd

• Once the command line is successful in finding out a Windows installation, hit Y to let it boot from the list which will successfully rebuild BCD.
• Now type “exit” to close Command Prompt and then restart your computer to successfully apply the changes made.

Option 2 – Try to run the Automatic Repair Utility

You might also want to use Automatic Repair in fixing the error code 0xC000000E. To do so, follow the steps below.

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

Option 3 – Try checking the physical device connections

You might also want to try checking if there are other devices that are connected to your PC. This is because of the configuration of the BIOS or UEFI might be configured in a way that any external device connected to the computer has a higher boot priority compared to the hard disk.  And if it’s really the case, the externally attached disk might be the drive your computer is trying to boot into and not the hard disk. In such cases, Pen Drives, USB storage devices, CDs, DVDs, and so on, are included in this category of physical device connections.

Option 4 – Try updating the BIOS

As you know, the BIOS is a sensitive part of a computer. Even though it is a software component, the functioning of the hardware depends on it largely. Thus, you must be careful when modifying something in the BIOS. So if you don’t know much about it, it’s best if you skip on this option and try the other ones instead. However, if you are well-versed in navigating the BIOS, then follow the steps below.

• Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• Next, type “msinfo32” in the field and press Enter to open System Information.
• From there, you should find a search field on the bottom where you have to search for the BIOS version and then press Enter.
• After that, you should see the developer and version of the BIOS installed on your PC.
• Go to your manufacturer’s website and then download the latest version of BIOS on your computer.
• If you are using a laptop, make sure that you keep it plugged in until you have updated the BIOS.
• Now double click on the downloaded file and install the new BIOS version on your computer.
• Now restart your computer to apply the changes made.

Option 5 – Try resetting the BIOS/UEFI configuration

You might also want to reset the BIOS configuration which will lead to arranging the boot configuration since it is intended by the manufacturer. Note that this will get rid of any blockage in the boot process.

Option 6 – Try marking your Disk as Online

Marking your Disk as Online can also help in resolving the error code 0xC000000E. To do so, follow the steps below.

• You need to first create a bootable Windows 10 Media and then boot from it.
• After that, click on Repair your computer on the first window of the Windows 10 installation setup.
• Now, choose the operating system partition from the options and click on Next.
• Then select Command Prompt from the System Recovery Options box.
• Next, type in “diskpart” and hit Enter to initiate the Diskpart utility inside the Command Prompt.
• Now type in either “list disk” or “list volume” and hit Enter. Either of these commands will help you in listing all the Disk connects or all the partitions on those disks formed. So you have to select one command depending on the list command you entered.
• Afterward, type in “select disk #” or “select volume #” and hit Enter to select the Disk or Partition you want to select.
• Now type in “online disk #” or “online volume #” and press Enter to mark the disk you selected as Online.

Recently, a number of users reported an error in Google Chrome that says, “ERR_SOCKET_NOT_CONNECTED”. If you are one of these users, read on as this post will guide you in resolving this error. This kind of error in Chrome is kind of vague so it could be caused by a couple of factors like DNS server issues, Socket Pools, third-party plugins or extensions, and many more. Whatever the cause may be, there are several options you can check out to resolve the problem. You can try to flush the Socket Pool or change the DNS address or remove unwanted extensions or reset your Google Chrome browser.

Option 1 – Try to flush the Socket Pool

• Open Google Chrome and in the address bar, type “chrome://net-internals/”.
• After that, select Sockets on the left side panel.
• Next, select Flush socket pools from the right-side panel.
• And once it’s done, restart your Chrome browser and check if the “ERR_SOCKET_NOT_CONNECTED” is fixed or not.

Option 2 – Try to change the DNS Server

In this option, you can try changing your current DNS settings to the Google Public DNS as it could also help in fixing the “ERR_SOCKET_NOT_CONNECTED” error. To do so, follow the steps below.

• The first thing you have to do is right-click on the network icon in the Taskbar and select Network and Sharing Center.
• Next, click on the “Change Adapter Settings” option.
• After that, search for the network connection that you are using to connect to the internet. Note that the option might be “Wireless Connection” or “Local Area Connection”.
• Right-click on your network connection and click on Properties.
• Then select the new window to choose the “Internet Protocol 4 (TCP/IPv4)” option.
• After that, click on the Properties button and click the checkbox in the new window for the option “Use the following DNS server addresses”.
• Type in “8.8.8.8” and “8.8.4.4” and click OK and exit.

Option 3 – Get rid of any conflicting browser extensions

• Open Chrome and press Alt + F keys.
• Go to More tools and click Extensions to look for any suspicious browser extensions or toolbars.
• Click the Recycle bin and select Remove.
• Restart Chrome and press Alt + F keys again.
• Proceed to On Startup and mark Open a specific page or set of pages.
• To check if the browser hijacker is still active, click Set pages, if it is active, overwrite the URL.

Option 4 – Try to reset Google Chrome

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

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

Repair Error 12031

Error 12031 - What is it?

Error 12031 indicates that the connection with the server has been reset or is not properly connected. In other words, it signifies that the File Transfer Protocol which is the standard network protocol that is used to transfer files from one host to another over the internet is either reset or not working properly. For example, if you are using a wireless adapter, then you may experience this error code when the adapter loses its association with the access point. The error code is often displayed in the following format:

• "ERROR_INTERNET_CONNECTION_RESET"
• "Cannot Connect to the FTP Server"

Solution

Error Causes

Though the error 12031 is largely caused by poor internet connection and failure to obtain files from the FTP server, however, sometimes the error may be caused by invalid registry entries and outdated drivers. Furthermore, it may also be a Firewall issue.

Further Information and Manual Repair

To resolve this issue on your system, we have listed down the best and easy DIY solutions. These solutions are simple to perform and do not require any kind of technical expertise or knowledge. Just follow the steps and you will be able to resolve it in a couple of minutes.

Solution 1: Disable Firewall

If you are unable to connect to the server and you encounter the error code 12031 on your system, then to resolve this issue, disable the Firewall on your PC.

Solution 2: Reset IE (Internet Explorer) Settings

This error is typically experienced by IE7 users.  If you can’t access some websites in Internet Explorer and you come across a 12031 error code, then try resetting your IE settings. To do this, open Internet Explorer, click on tools, and then click on Internet Options. Now go to the advanced tab and select Use Passive FTP. After checking the box, exit and then try accessing those sites that were not accessible before. If after modifying IE settings you are able to access the sites without any error message display, then this means the error is resolved. Nonetheless, if the error still persists, then the error could be generated due to invalid registry entries.

Solution3: Download and Run Restoro

To remove invalid registry entries from your system and resolve the 12031 error immediately, it is advisable to download and run Restoro. This is a new, cutting-edge, and multi-functional PC repair tool integrated with multiple utilities like a powerful registry cleaner, an antivirus, and a system optimizer. The registry cleaning utility scans your PC for all registry errors. It wipes out unnecessary files, bad and invalid registry entries, repairs damaged files, and restores the registry thereby resolving the 12031 error on your PC. This error tool has a user-friendly interface and simple navigations. It is easy to use and compatible with all Windows versions. In addition to this, you can also use it to scan for malicious software and remove malware. It also functions as a system optimizer and boosts your computer’s speed dramatically. Click here to download Restoro on your PC and resolve error 12031 right away!

Cortana is your personal digital assistant fully integrated into Windows 10 designed to help you make your life easier. The more you use it, the more Cortana can learn about you, and the experience becomes more personalized and accurate. It can perform a variety of tasks, and it's full of handy tricks, but perhaps one of the best features is the advanced speech recognition that enables Cortana to understand the context of a natural voice conversation. On Windows 10, and across platforms with the Cortana app on iPhone and Android, the assistant can understand virtually any voice command and perform tasks. For example, by just speaking you can find facts, create reminders and manage your calendar, launch applications, change settings, and a lot more. Now, if you're looking for an official list of all the voice commands Cortana supports, you'll never find it because it doesn't exist. Cortana can understand natural language and context, there's no particular set of commands to make things happen. In a sort of way, you are speaking to Cortana as you would to any other person.

Invoking Cortana

Before using voice commands, it's important to know the ways in which you can invoke Cortana using natural language:

• You can click the microphone icon in the taskbar next to the Start menu.
• You can use the Shift + ⊞ Windows + C keyboard shortcut to open Cortana in listening mode.
• You can use the Hey Cortana feature, which lets you invoke the assistant by simply saying Hey Cortana followed by the command. For example, Hey Cortana: How's the weather?.
• On Windows 10 Mobile devices, you can press and hold the search button to open Cortana in listening mode.

Comprehensive list of Cortana voice commands

The following list of commands are examples you can use to learn how to control Cortana with voice commands. Keep in mind that there isn't a specific way to speak the commands. For example, Hey Cortana: Let me listen to some tunes is the same as asking for a more systematic command like Hey Cortana: Play music.

Cortana basic voice commands:

Getting the time for any location:

• "What time is it?"
• "What time is in New York?" or "What time is in Greece?"

Getting weather information for any location:

• "What's the weather like?"
• "What's the weather in Madrid?" or "What's the weather in Slovakia?"
• "When does the sun set?"
• "Is it hot in Hawaii?"
• "How's the weather looking for tomorrow/next week?"

Opening (Store and desktop) apps and websites:

• "Open Photoshop" or "Go to Firefox"
• "Open errortools.com."

Getting news information:

• "Show me top headlines."
• "Show me the latest news."
• "Show me weather news."
• "Show me Blizzard stock."
• "Show me bitcoin exchange rate."
• "What was the score of the last Brazil football game."

Creating a note:

• "Create a note."
• "Create Shopping note."
• "Create Shopping note: Buy a basket of eggs"
• "Take a note."
• "Draft a note."
• "Write a note."

Translating to a different language:

• "Translate."
• "Translate Hello to German"
• "Translate Where is the nearest park? to Spain"

Doing math:

• "What's 34% or $764.89?"
• "What's 43 times 59?"
• "What the square root of 26509?"
• "What's 29 times 6 divided by 12?"
• "Convert 6.9 cups to fluid ounces."
• "How many miles are in 89 Kilometers?"

Defining a word:

• "Define Space."

Tracking packages:

• "Where is my package?"
• "Show me my packages."

Cortana search voice commands:

Finding documents, photos, videos:

• "Find photos from August 1998."
• "Find cat videos."
• "Find document called Collection of poems."

Searching the web:

• "Search the web for Heroes of Might and magic."

Finding facts:

• "How tall is Mount Everest?"
• "Who is Steve Jobs?"
• "When Arnold Schwarzenegger was born?"
• "Who is Mercedes CEO?"
• "When does spring begin?"
• "What's the capital of Zimbabwe?"
• "When is Thanksgiving?"

It's important to note that Cortana is capable of conversational understanding, which means that you can also ask follow-up questions without having to be very specific. For example, if you ask Cortana: "Who is the president of the United States", you can then ask a follow-up question, such as "Who is his wife?" or "When was he born?" and the assistant should be able to answer those questions accurately.

Discovering food places nearby:

• "Find food places near me."
• "Find restaurants near me."
• "Find bars near me."
• "What's a good restaurant near me?"
• "What's interesting nearby?"
• "Show me Chinese restaurants near me."
• "Show me Italians restaurants in Los Angeles."

Cortana health and fitness voice commands:

• "How was my sleep last night?"
• "What was my step count yesterday?"
• "How many calories did I burn today?"

These commands require a tracking device, such as the Microsoft Band 2 to enable your fitness and health activities, and you need to connect Cortana with the Microsoft Health (Microsoft Band) service.

Cortana settings voice commands:

Opening the Settings app:

• "Open Settings."
• "Open Action Center."

Controlling settings:

• "Turn on/off Bluetooth"
• "Turn on/off Wi-Fi"
• "Turn on/off Airplane Mode"

Cortana reminders voice commands:

Creating reminders:

• "Remind me to wash the car."

Creating location-based reminders:

• "Remind me to buy CDs next time I go to Walmart."

Creating person-based reminders:

• "Remind me to ask for vacation time next time I talk to Goran."

Creating time-based reminders:

• "Remind me to watch the basketball game at 6 PM."
• "Remind me to buy the food for the d&d session on Sunday at 3 PM."

Viewing reminders:

• "Show me my reminders."

Cortana calendar voice commands:

Viewing calendar events:

• "How's my schedule looking today?"
• "Show me my appointments for next week."
• "When is my dentist appointment?"

Adding new calendar events:

• "Add dental appointment for Monday at 2 PM."

Moving calendar events:

• "Move dental appointment to Friday at 5 PM."

Cortana alarms voice commands:

Creating alarms:

• "Set an alarm for next Monday at 5:30 AM."
• "Set an alarm for Saturdays at 9 AM."

Viewing alarms:

• "Show my alarms"

Removing alarms:

• "Cancel alarm for Saturdays at 9 AM."

Cortana timer voice commands:

Creating a timer:

• "Set a timer for 5 minutes."

You can only start a one-timer at one point in time. If there is a timer already running, Cortana will ask you to restart it at a new time.

Viewing timer:

• "Show timer."
• "How much time is left on the timer?"

Canceling timer:

• "Stop timer."

Cortana location voice commands:

Knowing your exact location:

• "Tell me where am I?"

Cortana messaging voice commands:

Sending text messages:

• "Send a text to Milan: I'll be late for lunch today."

Sending quick emails:

• "Send email to Milena: See you later tonight."
• "Send email to John and Claudia: How is the project coming along?"

Cortana location voice commands:

Getting directions:

• "What's the traffic like on the way home?"
• "How do I get home."
• "How long would it take to drive to Madison Square Garden?"
• "Get me directions to Port Authority."
• "How do I get from my location to Long Beach, New York?"
• "How far away is the moon?"
• "Show me walking directions to the nearest gas station."
• "Show me public transit to 11 Times Sq, New York, NY 10036."
• "Show me the map of San Francisco."

Tracking flights:

• "Track flight 1056."
• "Is my flight delayed?"
• "Is my flight on time?"

Cortana entertainment voice commands:

Controlling music:

• "Play Metallica."
• "Put some Symphonic music."
• "Shuffle music."
• "Play and Justice for all by Metallica."
• "Stop music"
• "Pause music"
• "Pause song."
• "Play next"
• "Next track"
• "Skip track."

Identifying what's playing:

• "What is this song?"
• "What's playing?"

Movies & TV:

• "What's Blade Runner run time?"
• "Who was the director of Gladiator?"
• "What movies are playing near me?"
• "What are the showtimes for Star Trek lower decks?"

Cortana technical support voice commands:

• "How do I install a printer?"
• "How do I project my screen?"
• "How do I change my background?"
• "How do I update Windows?"
• "How do I make a backup?"
• "How do I change default apps?"
• "How do I change Privacy?"
• "How do I connect a wireless device?"

Sometimes asking a "How to do I" question will result in a web search response.

Cortana phone voice commands:

• "Call wife on speakerphone."
• "Call David at home."
• "Call Goran."
• "Redial."
• "Send a photo to my PC."

Cortana random voice commands:

• "Tell me a joke."
• "Tell me a riddle."
• "Tell me something interesting."
• "Tell me something funny."
• "Tell me a scary story."
• "Sing me a song."
• "Surprise me."
• "Do an impression."
• "What do you look like?"
• "Which is the best smartphone?"
• "What is love?"
• "Which is better, Google or Bing?"
• "Why should I buy this phone?"
• "What do you think about Google?"
• "Do you like Google?"
• "What do you think about Yahoo?"
• "Do you like Windows 10?"
• "Play the movie game."
• "Are you better than Siri?"
• "Where is Clippy?"
• "What do you think about Clippy?"
• "Heads or tails?"
• "Rock, paper, scissors."
• "Roll a dice."

If you are using UEFI and you encountered an error message that says, “Selected boot image did not authenticate”, then read on as this post will show you what to do it fix it. This kind of error indicates that UEFI is having an issue in figuring out if the boot image has tampered with. UEFI offers Secure Boot and if the boot image seems to be invalid, you won’t be allowed to boot into your computer. Aside from that, it could be that you may be using endpoint encryption and the software can’t validate the certificate. To fix the “Selected boot image did not authenticate” error in UEFI, you need to first check if the error has given any reference to any software that you might have for encryption. If it has, then you need to disable the Encryption tool to resolve the problem. In addition, you could also try to disable Secure Boot or perform Startup Repair in case the disabling Encryption tool didn’t work. For more details, make sure to use each one of the options provided below as a reference.

Option 1 – Try to disable the Encryption tool

The first thing you can do to fix the “Selected boot image did not authenticate” error is to disable the Encryption tool. Many users reported that some encryption tools like the ESET Endpoint Encryption won’t let them boot into the computer if the system manufacturer does not include the correct certifications as a part of the UEFI BIOS. And since there is no way to bypass this, you have to disable Secure Boot in order for you to boot into your computer.

Option 2 – Disable the Secure Boot in the BIOS

Disabling the Secure Boot in the BIOS settings is definitely recommended to resolve the error. To disable Secure Boot, here’s what you have to do:

• First, boot your computer into Windows 10.
• Next, go to Settings > Windows Update. From there, check if there is anything that you have to download and install if you see any available updates. Usually, OEMs send and update the list of trusted hardware, drivers, and operating systems for your computer.
• After that, go to the BIOS of your computer.
• Then go to Settings > Update & Security > Advanced Startup options. If you click on Restart Now, it will restart your computer and give you all the advanced options.
• Next, select Troubleshoot > Advanced Options. As you can see, this screen offers you further options including System restore, Startup repair, Go back to the previous version, Command Prompt, System Image Recovery, and UEFI Firmware Settings.
• Select the UEFI Firmware Settings which will take you to the BIOS.
• From there, go to the Security > Boot > Authentication tab where you should see Secure Boot. Note that every OEM has its own way of implementing the options so it varies.
• Next, set Secure Boot to Disabled and set Legacy Support to On or Enabled.
• Save the changes made and exit. Afterward, your computer will reboot.

Option 3 – Try to run the Automatic Repair Utility

If disabling Secure Boot did not fix the problem, you might also want to run the Automatic Repair utility in fixing the error. To do so, follow the steps below.

• You can start by booting into the Advanced Recovery Mode.
• After that, select Troubleshoot > Startup Repair.
• Next, follow the on-screen instructions that appear on the screen and finish the Automatic Repair process.
• Now check if the block is gone once the reboot is completed.

A lot of users rely on keyboard shortcuts to carry out tasks on their PCs. One of the most common keyboard shortcuts used is the Ctrl + Shift + Esc which opens the Task Manager. As you can see, the Shift key is not just used to capitalize a text as it can also be used for other functions and plays an essential role in operating a computer. However, if you suddenly find it not working, read on as this post will help you fix the problem. If your Shift key is not working, there are several potential fixes you can check out to fix it. These are the different ways to get rid of the Shift key not working issue on Windows 10:

1. Physically clean the key and keyboard
2. Disable Sticky Keys.
3. Update, Reinstall, or Rollback Keyboard driver.
4. Test the keyboard on another system.
5. Check your connections
6. Run the Hardware troubleshooter
7. Troubleshoot in Clean Boot State.

Option 1 – Clean the keyboard keys physically

Your keyboard might not be working properly due to some dirt or other corrosion. Thus, you need to clean your keyboard, especially the Shift key. First, you need to shut down your computer and then unplug the keyboard if you are using a desktop computer and then prepare it for cleaning. After that, use a small cotton ear cleaning tool to get between the creases and clean them. You can dip it slightly in alcohol to make it more efficient in cleaning dust and dirt. And if you can, you have the option to pull apart the keyboard completely and then wipe away all the corrosion from the inside. Once you’re done, put the keyboard back together and then plug it back into your PC. Now turn your PC on and check if the Shift key is now working.

Option 2 – Try to disable the Sticky keys

Another thing you can try is to disable the Stick keys. How? Refer to these steps:

• Tap the Win + I keys to open the Settings app.
• After that, navigate to the Ease of Access section, and here, select Keyboard.
• Next, make sure that the option for Press one key at a time under the Sticky Keys is toggled off.

Option 3 – Reinstall, update or rollback your keyboard driver

Once you’ve determined that the problem is in the software part of the keyboard, it is now time to try to reinstall, update or roll back your keyboard drivers. To reinstall the driver for your keyboard, refer to these steps:

• From the WinX Menu, open the Device Manager.
• In the Device Manager, you should find your laptop’s keyboard under the “Keyboards” option. Right-click on it and select the “Uninstall” option.

Note: If you’re not quite certain about your laptop’s keyboard, you can uninstall all the keyboards if there’s more than one.

• After that, restart your PC and see if the keyboard driver is installing automatically. If not, open the Device Manager again and right-click on Keyboards, and select the option “Scan for hardware changes” to install it.

Once the keyboard driver is installed again, check if your keyboard is now working properly or not.

Option 4 – Try connecting the keyboard to a different USB port or another computer

The problem might have something to do with the USB port that’s currently in use by your keyboard. It could be that it’s not working so it makes sense to unplug it and attach it to another USB port. You can also clean the USB port on both ends to ensure that they are not affected by corrosion. In addition, you can also try connecting the keyboard to a different computer and see if the Shift key works there or not.

Option 5 – Try to check your connections

You can also try checking if the connection mode you are using for your keyboard is functioning properly. For instance, if you are using a Surface 2-in-device, you can clean the connection pins and see if it resolves the problem.

Option 6 – Run the Hardware and Devices Troubleshooters

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

Option 7 – Put your PC in a Clean Boot State

You might also want to put your computer in a Clean Boot State to fix the problem with the Shift key. It could be that there is a third-party program that’s preventing the Shift key from functioning. To isolate this possibility, you need to put your computer in a Clean Boot State.

• 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.)
• Now try to connect the external devices and check if the error is now gone.

As you can notice in Blue Screen errors, most of them point out a file that’s related to the errors. One of these files is the Storport.sys file which is a system file related to the storage of data in the storage unit of a computer. This file is created by the Microsoft Storage Port Driver. So if this file ends up getting dragged on Blue Screen errors, there can be a number of reasons for why it’s happened. Blue Screen errors related to the Storport.sys file may include conflicts with the hardware, incompatible firmware issues, corrupted drivers, missing or corrupted system files, to name a few. Here are some of the common Blue Screen errors related to the Storport.sys file:

• KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
• KERNEL DATA INPAGE
• PAGE FAULT IN A NONPAGED AREA
• SYSTEM THREAD EXCEPTION NOT HANDLED
• IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL
• SYSTEM SERVICE EXCEPTION

Microsoft Windows is the one that provides the Storport.sys file a storage port driver that is suited especially for the use of high-performance buses like fiber channel buses and RAID adapters. There are a number of advantages in using Storport instead of the SCSI Port, according to Microsoft:

• “Improved performance, both in terms of throughput and the system resources that are utilized.
• Improved Miniport driver interface that addresses the needs of high-end storage vendors, particularly host-based RAID and fiber channel vendors.”

If you encounter any of the above-mentioned Blue Screen of Death errors, then here are some troubleshooting options that might help but before you get to them, you can try to perform a System Restore first especially if you have the habit of creating System Restore points. This might fix the problem. To perform a system restore, refer to these steps:

• 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.

If System Restore didn’t help in fixing the Blue Screen error, now’s the time for you to resort to the troubleshooting tips provided below but before you get started, make sure that you create a System Restore point first. In addition, you also have to boot into Safe Mode with Networking before you carry out the troubleshooting steps below.

Option 1 – Try to update or rollback your device drivers

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

• Open the Devices Manager from the Win X Menu.
• Then locate the device drivers and right-click on them to open the Properties. Note that the main drivers that might be the cause behind the Storport.sys Blue Screen error will be listed under the “ID ATA/ATAPI controllers” section as well as the “Storage controllers” section.
• After that, switch to the Driver tab and click on the Uninstall Device button.
• Follow the screen option to completely uninstall it.
• Finally, restart your computer. It will just reinstall the device drivers automatically.

Note: You can also directly download the relevant drivers of your computer from the manufacturers’ website. So if you have an SSD, the issue might be due to an old storage driver. Option 2 – Try to recreate the Storport.sys file If the first option didn’t work, the next thing you can do is to recreate the Storport.sys file. Every time your Windows 10 PC boots up, it looks for all the system drivers in place and if it is unable to find them, it tries to create them. This is why if you remove your corrupt driver file, chances are, you might get a fixed file recreated just for you. How? Refer to the steps below.

• Boot your Windows 10 PC in Safe Mode.
• Then open File Explorer and navigate to this location: C:/Windows/System32/drivers
• From there, look for the file named sys and rename it to Storport.old.

Note: As you can see, the file’s extension has changed from .sys to .old.

• Now restart your computer and check if the Storport.sys Blue Screen error is now fixed.

Option 3 – Run System File Checker or SFC scan

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 to good system files. To run the SFC command, follow the steps given below.

• Tap Win + R to launch Run.
• Type in cmd in the field and tap Enter.
• 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.

 Reboot your PC.

Option 4 – Try to run the DISM commands

You might want to repair potentially corrupted files in your system as having them could also trigger the Storport.sys Blue Screen error. 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 dxgkrnl.sys Blue Screen error is now fixed.

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.

Default applications in previous Windows versions were a pretty straightforward process. The user went to the settings application and picked for each category which application he would like to choose from the list of installed ones. In Windows 11 things are little changed. In this article, we will show you how to choose the default internet browser inside Windows 11, and sadly it is a more tedious task than in previous versions.

Choosing default browser in settings

As in previous versions of the Windows operating system you will need to use the settings application in order to change your default Internet browser. Previously, in Windows 10, a variety of general categories like email, web browser, and photo viewer were all listed under the Default Apps section of the Settings panel. It was easy to click on one of those categories and click on the option you like best from the small pop-up suggestion window. In the Windows 11 Insider Build, you’ll see a gauche list of an individual file or link types that you’ll need to specify your preferred browser for. The types include: HTM, HTML, PDF, SHTML, SVG, WEBP, SHT, FTP, HTTP, and HTTPS. There are additional optional types you can specify your preferred browser for as well. The issue here is in order to use a single browser which most users do you will have to go through each file type and set your preferred one. I am really not sure why this was introduced or why it has to be this way, all I can do is hope that in the final release of Windows 11 this feature will be rolled back as it used to be and that you could set your default browser in just one simple click.

As of the time of writing this article you no longer need or are required to have a password if you plan to log in to your Microsoft account. Microsoft explored various options for account security and came to the conclusion that passwords are obsolete. Microsoft is letting you access your account through the Microsoft Authenticator app, Windows Hello, a security key, SMS verification, or email verification code. All of these methods are way better in terms of security than passwords.

How to turn these features on?

To get rid of your Microsoft password, the process is simple. You simply need to go to your Microsoft account, click “advanced security options,” then “enable passwordless accounts” under the Additional security section.