Monday, 16 December 2019

Fix the error: "Computer policy could not be updated successfully, The processing of Group Policy failed"

Fix the error: "Computer policy could not be updated successfully, The processing of Group Policy failed"
In Windows, we can use gpupdate.exe command to forcefully update the group policy changes. While using this command, if you are getting the error message "Computer policy could not be updated successfully, The processing of Group Policy failed", then to fix this issue, you would need to follow some simple steps as mentioned below:
  1. Exit out of command prompt and close any opened files and folders.
  2. Now navigate to the following path: C:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicy\Machine
  3. In the Machine folder, you would find a file named "Registry.pol", just rename this file to "Registry.bak".
  4. Now restart your computer and then try to run the gpudate.exe command in the elevated window of the command prompt, the issue won't appear now.
That's it. This was how to fix the error: "Computer policy could not be updated successfully, The processing of Group Policy failed". Keep visiting for more tips and tricks.
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Monday, 28 October 2019

Why do we need an Antivirus software for our PCs?

Why do we need an Antivirus software for our PCs?
Computers are very common these days and you would hardly be able to do your work without computers. Whether you are a student or a working professional, you would definitely require a computer to complete your assignments or manage your day to day tasks. But today, there are a lot of threats everywhere which would infect your computer and it could cause a serious problem, like data loss and OS corruptions, etc. Imagine you are a very busy businessman and you have several important meetings and appointments scheduled in Outlook and suddenly one day, all your appointments are deleted from Outlook and all your emails are gone. That would definitely be a nightmare! Just a single virus program can do this to you and you would be helpless once the damage is done. This is why we should always keep our PCs protected with any good antivirus software. Following are a few more points to explain why antivirus programs are required for our computers:


1. Keep your computer free from adware
You might have seen in some computers that after launching the web browser, some strange pop-ups start opening automatically which show ads related to random downloads, dating, and some adult stuff, etc. These are actually generated by adware which infects the web browser and installs unwanted extensions in your browser and changes the default search engine to any malicious webpage. The default Windows Defender antivirus can’t stop these adware and that’s why we need any other good antivirus program installed in our machine to protect it from adware.

2. Keep your data safe
Hackers can easily install ransomware in your machine and encrypt all your data. The recent wannacry attack was the best example of it. The ransomware changes the extension of all your files and locks the computer with a message on the screen which asks you to pay money to the attacker through cryptocurrency. There is no assurance that your files will be back again even after paying the amount. Suppose you become a victim of this type of attack and lose all your data, doesn’t it sound horrible? This is another reason why do we need to install a good antivirus software with ransomware protection enabled. Not only this kind of attack takes place on the internet. For ransomware to take over your PC, you have to download it first and open the file that contains it. As many may not know, there's a huge importance of security of the browser itself and the protections that each website that we visit has. There are many different online businesses that fall under heavy attacks of hackers. There are clear statistics that show a steady increase in the number of attacks. Among the targets you will find: E-commerce sites, Banks, Pharmacies, private companies, online casinos and many more. The user MUST first check the website. Some of the checks are user reviews, SSL, payment methods and more. Casinos are often a target if they are not secured correctly. The casino might do everything right, but if it has a lack of security, the transactions that are made may be exposed to third parties. A very popular game is online pokies, which gained popularity thanks to its low stacks and fast gameplay. That's why users are often doing many transactions that include deposits and withdraws. Some of these might be "sniped" by a third party and both the user and the casino will lose the money. That is why it's very important to check the website background, the same as you would do in a regular restaurant or business.

3. Avoid system slowdowns
Several malware run in the computer as background processes which impacts the performance of your machine. The RAM and Processor are utilized a lot by these malware which causes system slowdowns and system crashes. These malware gets linked with the important system processes and it becomes almost impossible to remove them from PC once they infect the machine. So to avoid these malware from getting installed in the machine, a good antivirus software is required to be installed on the computer.

4. Prevent automatic restarts and blue screen of death errors
Some viruses create several unwanted shortcuts in the machine and they come back automatically even if you delete those shortcuts. If you click on these shortcuts, either they create more copies of them or they restart the machine and sometimes it results in a blue screen of death error. It becomes really frustrating to distinguish between the original shortcut icon and the malware. So, these viruses fill your hard drive with multiple junk files and slow down the machine which impacts your productivity. This is also a good reason we need a good antivirus to prevent these viruses from getting installed in the machine.

5. Prevent keyloggers and screen capturing malware
This is a very serious issue which you could face if you don’t have any good antivirus installed on your machine. If any keylogger gets installed in your machine through any malicious email or through any infected USB drive, whatever you do in your computer would get recorded and would be sent automatically to the attacker. If any keylogger is installed in the machine, it would secretly capture the keystrokes and screenshots and would send them to the attacker remotely. All your user IDs, passwords, screenshots of your online activities and everything you do would be sent to the attacker which would compromise your privacy and would put you in a serious risk. The attacker would be able to login to your bank websites, he would have your card details etc which can be misused. This kind of data is already being sold by hackers on the dark web. So, it is always smart to keep a good antivirus installed on your machine to avoid these kinds of problems.
So, the overall idea of this article is, that if you want to be safe online and offline, you MUST use a good antivirus in your PC. Without any antivirus, you are prone to cyber-attacks and once you become a victim of it, there would be very fewer chances to recover from it. So, I would recommend using any of these antiviruses as your primary antivirus: AVG Internet Security, Quick Heal Antivirus, Norton Security, Kaspersky Internet Security, and McAfee Total Protection.
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Tuesday, 17 September 2019

Outlook keeps asking for Gmail password: Easy Fix

Outlook keeps asking for Gmail password : Easy Fix
Recently several users who are using Gmail email addresses in Outlook reported that they are facing issues with Outlook. After launching Outlook, the login prompt for Gmail pops up and even after entering the correct password, the prompt keeps popping up and doesn't disappear. Because of this error, Outlook users are not able to send and receive emails.
This issue is actually not an Outlook issue and it is being caused by Gmail itself. I will guide you on how to fix this issue by making a few changes in Gmail settings. Follow the steps mentioned below if you are also facing a similar issue.

Outlook keeps asking for Gmail password: Easy Fix
1. Close Outlook and login to Gmail.com using your Gmail email address.
2. After logging into Gmail, click on your photo on the top right corner and then click "Google Account" option. It would open the Google account settings page.
google account
3. Now click on the "Security" option from the Google account settings page and scroll down. You would find "Less secure app access" which would be turned off by default. Just turn it on and then refresh the webpage and make sure the option remains turned on.
turn on less secure app access
turn on less secure app access
4. Now try launching Outlook and check if the error is still there. If the error is still there, then go to Gmail inbox and check if you received an email with the subject "Critical Security Alert". If you would open this email, you would find that Google blocked the sign in attempt made by Outlook. So in this email, you have to click on "Check Activity" button.
sign in attempt blocked
5. After clicking on the Check Activity button, another page would open which would inform you that Google blocked a sign-in attempt from a suspicious app. That suspicious app was actually Outlook and it is a Microsoft product so Google blocked it's sign in attempt as it won't allow any non google app to sign into Gmail account directly. On that page, click on "Yes, it was me" so that Google would recognize that the sign in attempt was made by you.
yes, it was me
6. Now come back to Gmail and click on the gear icon from the top right side of the page as shown in the image below and click on "Settings".
Gmail settings
7. Now from the settings page, click on "Forwarding and POP/IMAP" and enable POP and enable IMAP and then save the settings as shown in the image below.
enable POP and IMAP
8. Now open control panel in the PC and search for the mail app from the control panel and launch it.
mail app
9. In the mail app, double click on the default profile and it would open the dialog box to see the emails and data files. Click on the Email Accounts button to list the configured emails in Outlook.
Outlook profile
10. Now the list of the configured emails would open. Double click on the Gmail email which is creating problems with Outlook.
open email settings
11. Now the email settings would open. Change the IMAP settings to imap.googlemail.com and smtp.googlemail.com and then test the account settings.
gmail settings
12. Now if you click Next, the email would be configured properly and the tests would give positive results.
tests finished
13. That's it, you may launch Outlook now and it would be back to normal.

NOTE: If you have enabled two-step verification in your Gmail account, you need to generate an app password and update the generated password in the Outlook settings in step 11. To generate app password for Gmail, click This Link.

Keep visiting PC Tricks Guru for more tips and tricks.
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Monday, 19 August 2019

Direct download links for Office 2007 and Office 2010 All Editions

Direct download links for Office 2007 and Office 2010 All Editions
Office 2007 and Office 2010 are the legacy products now and there is no direct download link available to download the installers for these Office versions. So if you have purchased Office 2007 or Office 2010 but you don't have the installation disk or if your computer doesn't have an optical drive then you might be in problem because you won't be able to install Office, even if you have the genuine product key. Office 2010 (Home and Student, Home and Business and Pro) can still be downloaded from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/office but other editions of Office 2010 are not available on the Microsoft's website. Office 2007 is completely removed and you would not be able to download its installer from anywhere. Microsoft has offered Office 365 and Office 2019 products now but still, there are so many people who are comfortable with the older versions of Office and due to unavailability of the installer, they are not able to use it. So, to make it more convenient for the users who want to download the legacy Office products, I am sharing the download links for every edition of Office 2007 and Office 2010 in this post. So if you are looking for the installer of Office 2007 or 2010, your search ends here. Following is the list of download links for Office legacy products (copy and paste the link in browser to start the download):

Office 2007 Download Links:
  1. Office 2007 Home and Student: https://web.archive.org/web/20111006143949/http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X12-30107/X12-30107.exe
  2. Office 2007 Standard: https://web.archive.org/web/20111006143949/http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X12-30263/X12-30263.exe
  3. Office 2007 Small Business: https://web.archive.org/web/20111006143949/http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X12-30283/X12-30283.exe
  4. Office 2007 Professional: https://web.archive.org/web/20111006143949/http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X12-30196/X12-30196.exe
  5. Office 2007 Basic: https://web.archive.org/web/20111006143949/http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X13-82303/X13-82303.exe
  6. Office 2007 Professional Plus: https://web.archive.org/web/20111006143949/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-69453.exe
  7. Office 2007 Ultimate: https://web.archive.org/web/20111006143949/http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X12-30307/X12-30307.exe
  8. Office 2007 Enterprise: https://web.archive.org/web/20111006143949/http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X12-30062/X12-30062.exe
  9. Word 2007: https://web.archive.org/web/20111006143949/http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X12-30323/X12-30323.exe
  10. Word 2007 Home and Student: https://web.archive.org/web/20111006143949/http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X12-70337/X12-70337.exe
  11. Excel 2007: https://web.archive.org/web/20111006143949/http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X12-30085/X12-30085.exe
  12. Excel 2007 Home and Student: https://web.archive.org/web/20111006143949/http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X12-69984/X12-69984.exe
  13. PowerPoint 2007: https://web.archive.org/web/20111006143949/http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X12-30180/X12-30180.exe
  14. PowerPoint Home and Student 2007: https://web.archive.org/web/20111006143949/http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X12-70261/X12-70261.exe
  15. OneNote 2007: https://web.archive.org/web/20111006143949/http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X12-30151/X12-30151.exe
  16. Outlook 2007: https://web.archive.org/web/20111006143949/http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X12-30152/X12-30152.exe
  17. Publisher 2007: https://web.archive.org/web/20111006143949/http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X12-30247/X12-30247.exe
  18. Access 2007: https://web.archive.org/web/20111006143949/http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X12-30055/X12-30055.exe
  19. Groove 2007: https://web.archive.org/web/20111006143949/http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X12-30093/X12-30093.exe
  20. SharePoint Designer 2007: https://web.archive.org/web/20111006143949/http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X12-30236/X12-30236.exe
  21. Project 2007 Standard: https://web.archive.org/web/20111006143949/http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X12-30221/X12-30221.exe
  22. Project 2007 Professional: https://web.archive.org/web/20111006143949/http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X12-30222/X12-30222.exe
  23. Visio 2007 Standard: https://web.archive.org/web/20111006143949/http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X12-30372/X12-30372.exe
  24. Visio 2007 Professional: https://web.archive.org/web/20111006143949/http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X12-30351/X12-30351.exe
  25. Accounting 2007 Express: https://web.archive.org/web/20111006143949/http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X13-40153/X13-40153.exe
  26. Business Contact Manager 2007: https://web.archive.org/web/20111006143949/http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X13-11296/X13-11296.exe
  27. Accounting 2007 Professional: https://web.archive.org/web/20111006143949/http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msoffice/pub/X13-40152/X13-40152.exe
Office 2010 Download Links:
  1. Office 2010 Single Image x86 (H&S, H&B, Pro): https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-32007.exe
  2. Office 2010 Single Image x64 (H&S, H&B, Pro): https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-31970.exe
  3. Office 2010 Standard x86: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-32324.exe
  4. Office 2010 Standard x64: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-32361.exe
  5. Office 2010 Pro Plus x86: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-32250.exe
  6. Office 2010 Pro Plus x64: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-32213.exe
  7. Word 2010 x86: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-33159.exe
  8. Word 2010 x64: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-33122.exe
  9. Excel 2010 x86: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-30356.exe
  10. Excel 2010 x64: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-30329.exe
  11. PowerPoint 2010 x86: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-32694.exe
  12. PowerPoint 2010 x64: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-32657.exe
  13. OneNote 2010 x86: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-32472.exe
  14. OneNote 2010 x64: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-32435.exe
  15. Outlook 2010 x86: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-32583.exe
  16. Outlook 2010 x64: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-32546.exe
  17. Publisher 2010 x86: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-32967.exe
  18. Publisher 2010 x64: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-32930.exe
  19. Access 2010 x86: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-29933.exe
  20. Access 2010 x64: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-30247.exe
  21. Sharepoint Workspace 2010 x86: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-30938.exe
  22. Sharepoint Workspace 2010 x64: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-30868.exe
  23. InfoPath 2010 x86: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-30496.exe
  24. InfoPath 2010 x64: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-30459.exe
  25. Project 2010 Standard x86: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-32864.exe
  26. Project 2010 Standard x64: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-32837.exe
  27. Project 2010 Professional x86: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-32783.exe
  28. Project 2010 Professional x64: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-32756.exe
  29. Visio 2010 x86: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-33056.exe
  30. Visio 2010 x64: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-33029.exe
  31. Business Contact Manager 2010 x86: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-56886.exe
  32. Business Contact Manager 2010 x64: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-56921.exe
  33. Lync 2010 x86: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X17-30021.exe
  34. Office 2010 Home and Student x86 C2R: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-42918.exe
  35. Office 2010 Home and Business x86 C2R: https://web.archive.org/web/20110930003223/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X16-57061.exe
  • Streets & Trips 2011 North America: https://web.archive.org/web/20111129110435/http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/office2010/X17-47494.exe
  • Microsoft Mathematics 4.0: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=15702
Note: All the setup files are official files from Microsoft itself and there is no crack or serial number included with the setup. To be able to use them, make sure you have a genuine product key for the product you are downloading.

I hope you would find this post useful. Please share it with your friends if they too are looking to download Office 2007 and Office 2010 installer.
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Monday, 1 July 2019

Fix wrong clock time in Windows 10

Fix wrong clock time in Windows 10
If your Windows clock is showing the wrong time in the taskbar, you may fix the wrong clock time by using the following methods.

1. Change date and time settings
Click on the start button and click on the gear icon to open settings. After "Settings" is opened, click "Time and Language" and then "Date and Time". Now turn on the "Set time automatically" and "Set time zone automatically" options and check if this fixes your issue. If it doesn't, turn off both the options and set the time and time zone manually.
windows date and time setting

2. Start the Windows time service
Press Windows and R keys together to open RUN. Now in the RUN box, type services.msc and it would open the list of Windows services. Now look for "Windows time" and double click on it. After double-clicking on it, Windows time properties would open. Set the startup type to Automatic and then click on Start to start the service, then click Apply and then click OK.
windows services
windows time properties

3. Change internet time server
To change the internet time server, open control panel. Now click on "Clock and Region > Set the time and date > Internet Time > Change Settings". Now change the time server to time.nist.gov and click "Update Now" and then click OK and OK.
change internet time server

4. Re-register Windows time dll file
To re-register windows time dll file, open command prompt as admin and run the following command:
regsvr32 w32time.dll

5. Re-register Windows time process
To re-register windows time process, open command prompt as admin and run the following commands one by one:
net stop w32time
w32tm /unregister
w32tm /register

6. Force windows to sync time through the command prompt
To force windows to sync time through cmd, open command prompt as admin and run the following commands one by one:
net stop w32time
w32tm /unregister
w32tm /register
net start w32time
w32tm /resync
After running these commands, restart your computer and check if it helps.

7. Change the CMOS Battery
If none of the above methods work, consider replacing your motherboard's CMOS battery. After replacing the CMOS battery, the date and time should function normally. To get the battery replaced, you may visit any local repair shop or if you have the knowledge of CMOS battery replacement, you may buy a CMOS battery and replace it with your motherboard's battery.

For more tips and tricks, keep visiting PC Tricks Guru.
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Sunday, 30 June 2019

How to remove vocals from a song and create high-quality karaoke

How to remove vocals from a song and create high-quality karaoke
Removing vocals from a song and creating high-quality karaoke track is not an easy task. There are so many free software available like Audacity, Wavosaur, etc which can remove vocals from a song and there are several paid software available like Mixcraft Pro Studio, FL Studio, etc but I was not satisfied with the results provided by these software. After removing the vocals, the songs sounded like mono songs and the instruments in the songs also seemed to be compressed which didn't sound good at all.
But now I would tell you about a software which I found the best among all the tools which can remove vocals from any song, the software is iZotope RX 7 Audio Editor. It is awesome and the vocal removal technique of this software is too good. After removing the vocals, the stereo quality of the song remains the same and only a very faded part of the vocal is noticeable if you try to hear it carefully. Let's see how to remove vocals from a song and create high-quality karaoke:
  • Install iZotope RX 7 Audio Editor in your computer (Click Here)
  • Now launch the application and click on "Open File".
  • Now open any song which you want to remove the vocals from.
  • One the song is loaded in the waveforms, press ctrl and A keys together on the keyboard and the whole song would be selected.
  • Now look at the Repair options in the right sidebar of the software and click on "Music Rebalance".
  • Once music rebalance is opened, set the voice slider to infinity by dragging it downwards and set its sensitivity to 10. Do the same with the other sliders and set the gain slider at +2.0 dm and sensitivity at 7.0
iZotope RS 7 settings for Voxal
  • Now click the "Preview" button to listen to the preview of the final karaoke. If the song sounds good, click on "Render" to render the song. 
  • Once the render is completed, you may click on File > Export and export the song as high-quality MP3.
  • After the mp3 file is exported, you can keep it with you and record your own vocals over it.
If you want to watch a video about this setup and get an idea to know how to use this software, go through the video below:

If the video doesn't play here, click this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0R4hkb82vM

Note: Even after rendering the song, you need to mix the music part from the original song and the vocal removed part from the karaoke track you exported to make the final karaoke sound better (you may create a new mp3 file after adding the music part of the original song using any multi track audio editing software. I'll publish an article about it soon). Keep visiting PC Tricks Guru for more tips and tricks.
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Sunday, 23 June 2019

Setup Cannot Continue because Outlook isn’t Configured to have a Default Profile : Fix the error

Setup Cannot Continue because Outlook isn’t Configured to have a Default Profile : Fix the error
iCloud is a handy tool when it comes to syncing your contacts and calendars in Outlook and other Apple devices. It is well known that Microsoft brings new issues with it's every new update and it's the user who has to face the issues. Earlier also, Outlook had issues with iCloud where users were getting an error that said "Set of folders can't be opened" after launching Outlook. Now another issue is going on with Outlook and iCloud. In this error, when you try to configure iCloud with Outlook, you would get an error stating that "Setup Cannot Continue because Outlook isn’t Configured to have a Default Profile". Whatever you try, reinstalling Office and iCloud doesn't work. So, I'm sharing a simple fix for this issue, just go through the steps given below:

1. Perform an Online Repair for Office:
  • To perform an online repair of Office, open run box by pressing Windows and R keys together from the keyboard and type appwiz.cpl and click OK.
  • After this, search for Microsoft Office (the version which is installed in your machine) from the list of installed applications. Right click on it and click Change.
repair office

  • After clicking change, a window will appear with the options, "Quick Repair" and "Online Repair". Select online repair and proceed. When the repair gets completed, don't launch Outlook.
office online repair

2. Set Outlook as default Windows email client
  • Click on the start button and start typing "Default Apps" and from the search results, open the Default Apps setting.
set outlook as default app
  • Now, set Outlook as a default email application.
3. Repair iCloud
  • Open the iCloud app and sign out of your account. If it opens the browser to remove the chrome extension of iCloud, remove the extension.
  • Follow the steps mentioned in step 1 and complete the repair of iCloud. Instead of Office, select iCloud and repair it.
  • Now restart your machine
4. Use the PowerShell to fix the issue permanently
This is the final step which will actually resolve the issue now. If you want to skip the above 3 steps, you may skip them and try this fix directly.
  • Open PowerShell window as admin and run the following commands:
run powershell as admin

Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online | where-object {$_.packagename –like “*Outlook*”} | Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage –Online

powershell
  • Now run the following command in the same PowerShell window:
Get-AppxPackage “*Outlook*” | Remove-AppxPackage
  • Now close the PowerShell window and open PowerShell again as a regular non-admin app and run the following command:
Get-AppxPackage “*Outlook*” | Remove-AppxPackage
  • Now open iCloud and sign in using your iCloud credentials. After iCloud opens, tick the checkbox of "Mail" in iCloud and then click Apply.
icloud

You would see that iCloud would download your contacts and calendars and would merge them in Outlook.

For more tips and tricks, keep visiting PC Tricks Guru.
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Friday, 21 June 2019

How to fetch Product Key of Windows 7/8.1/10 if COA is not available

How to fetch Product Key of Windows
Windows product keys are very important to keep because if we reinstall Windows or change the hardware of the machine, we would need to re-activate Windows and it requires the product key of Windows. Without the product key, you won't be able to activate Windows. Although Windows 10 activation is now digitally linked with Microsoft account but still, after changing the hardware, you might face issues with the activation of your Windows OS. So here are a few steps which you can follow to fetch the product key of the Windows operating system from the installed machine.

1. Using Command Prompt
To fetch the product key using the command prompt, you may open cmd as admin and run the following command:
wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey
Remember that this command can fetch the product key only if you are using an OEM machine which came pre-installed with Windows and the key was injected in the Motherboard of the machine.

2. Using PowerShell
To fetch the product key using the PowerShell, you may open PowerShell as admin and run the following command:
powershell "(Get-WmiObject -query ‘select * from SoftwareLicensingService’).OA3xOriginalProductKey"
Remember that this command can fetch the product key only if you are using an OEM machine which came pre-installed with Windows and the key was injected in the Motherboard of the machine.

3. Using VB Script
To fetch the product key using the VB Script, you may copy and paste the following code in a notepad file and save it as keyfinder.vbs and then run the file. It would show the product key in a small pop-up:

Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
MsgBox ConvertToKey(WshShell.RegRead("HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\DigitalProductId"))

Function ConvertToKey(Key)
Const KeyOffset = 52
i = 28
Chars = "BCDFGHJKMPQRTVWXY2346789"
Do
Cur = 0
x = 14
Do
Cur = Cur * 256
Cur = Key(x + KeyOffset) + Cur
Key(x + KeyOffset) = (Cur \ 24) And 255
Cur = Cur Mod 24
x = x -1
Loop While x >= 0
i = i -1
KeyOutput = Mid(Chars, Cur + 1, 1) & KeyOutput
If (((29 - i) Mod 6) = 0) And (i <> -1) Then
i = i -1
KeyOutput = "-" & KeyOutput
End If
Loop While i >= 0
ConvertToKey = KeyOutput
End Function

This command can fetch product key from OEM and non OEM PCs both.

4. Using the ProduKey tool
If none of the above methods work, you may use the NirSoft ProduKey tool to fetch the product key of your Windows. This tool can fetch the keys of Windows and MS Office also. Just download the tool from this link and run it as admin in your PC and it would show the product keys installed in your machine.
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Friday, 1 March 2019

Fix error 0xc03f6506 while upgrading from Windows 10 Home to Pro

Windows 10 Home comes preinstalled with many computers and most of the home users are offered Windows 10 Home but Windows 10 Pro has more features than Windows 10 Home. So users sometimes want to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro from Windows 10 Home and while doing so, they could encounter error code 0xc03f6506.

Fix error 0xc03f6506 while upgrading from Windows 10 Home to Pro

1. Using registry editor
If you have upgraded to Windows 10 Pro and you are getting this error code while the activation of Windows, you may fix this issue by making a small modification in Windows registry. Follow the steps given below:
> Press windows key + R to open RUN and type regedit and hit enter.
> After opening the registry editor, navigate to
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
> Now look for a DWORD named EditionID. Double click on it and change its value to Windows 10 Professional.
> Now look for another DWORD named as ProductName. Double click on this as well and change its value to Windows 10 Professional.
> Now restart your computer and try activating the Windows, it should be activated now.

2. Using command prompt
For this method, you need to get a bootable USB flash drive. If you have a bootable flash drive for Windows 10, follow the steps below to upgrade your Windows 10 edition and activate it:
> Plug in the Windows 10 installation USB media.
> Now launch the command prompt with admin rights.
> Suppose your USB drive is assigned the letter H, then in command prompt, type H: and hit enter to select the H: drive.
> Now type this command and press enter:
setup.exe /auto upgrade /pkey <YOUR WINDOWS 10 PRO EDITION PRODUCT KEY>
> Your Windows edition would be changed now and if your key is genuine, it would be activated.

3. By disabling the Internet
If you are not able to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro from Windows 10 Home, just disconnect your computer from the internet and try upgrading the edition using your product key. It should be upgraded without any errors. Later on, you can activate it by connecting your PC to the internet.

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Sunday, 24 February 2019

How to reset each Windows Update Component to default manually

How to reset each Windows Update Component to default manually
Most of the times, we face issues with Windows updates. There are several error codes related to Windows updates and most of the times, they get fixed by running Windows Update troubleshooter. But sometimes, if the Windows update components get corrupted, we need to reset the Windows update component to default by performing some manual actions which include running commands to reset windows update components. In this article, I will mention the steps to reset the Windows Update component to default:

1. Windows Updates work properly if three windows services work properly. These three services are Background Intelligent Transfer Service, Windows Update and Cryptographic Services. There are a few more services that are responsible for proper functioning of Windows updates but we won't have to worry about them. So the first task would be, disabling these services. To disable these services, open cmd with admin rights and run the following commands:
net stop bits
net stop wuauserv
net stop appidsvc
net stop cryptsvc

2. Next step is, to delete the qmgr*.dat files. In order to do so, run the following command in elevated command prompt window:
Del "%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Network\Downloader\qmgr*.dat"
(This step can be skipped if you are trying to resolve the windows updates issues for the first time. This step is suggested to be used only if everything has failed and you have no option left to troubleshoot windows updates issue)

3. SoftwareDisribution and Catroot2 folders store the downloaded update files and some old unwanted cache also remains in these folders. So we will rename these folders and will create new copies of these folders now. To do so, run the following commands in elevated command prompt window:
Ren %systemroot%\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.bak
Ren %systemroot%\system32\catroot2 catroot2.bak

4. Now we need to reset the BITS service and the Windows Update service to the default security descriptor. To do so, run the following commands in elevated command prompt:
sc.exe sdset bits D:(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;SY)(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;BA)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;AU)(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;PU)
sc.exe sdset wuauserv D:(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;SY)(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;BA)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;AU)(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;PU)

5. Now run the following commands one by one in the elevated cmd window to re-register the Windows Updates related dll files:
cd /d %windir%\system32
regsvr32.exe atl.dll
regsvr32.exe urlmon.dll
regsvr32.exe mshtml.dll
regsvr32.exe shdocvw.dll
regsvr32.exe browseui.dll
regsvr32.exe jscript.dll
regsvr32.exe vbscript.dll
regsvr32.exe scrrun.dll
regsvr32.exe msxml.dll
regsvr32.exe msxml3.dll
regsvr32.exe msxml6.dll
regsvr32.exe actxprxy.dll
regsvr32.exe softpub.dll
regsvr32.exe wintrust.dll
regsvr32.exe dssenh.dll
regsvr32.exe rsaenh.dll
regsvr32.exe gpkcsp.dll
regsvr32.exe sccbase.dll
regsvr32.exe slbcsp.dll
regsvr32.exe cryptdlg.dll
regsvr32.exe oleaut32.dll
regsvr32.exe ole32.dll
regsvr32.exe shell32.dll
regsvr32.exe initpki.dll
regsvr32.exe wuapi.dll
regsvr32.exe wuaueng.dll
regsvr32.exe wuaueng1.dll
regsvr32.exe wucltui.dll
regsvr32.exe wups.dll
regsvr32.exe wups2.dll
regsvr32.exe wuweb.dll
regsvr32.exe qmgr.dll
regsvr32.exe qmgrprxy.dll
regsvr32.exe wucltux.dll
regsvr32.exe muweb.dll
regsvr32.exe wuwebv.dll

6. Now we need to delete the incorrect registry values. To do so, open registry editor by running regedit in the Run box and locate the path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\COMPONENTS
Now in the right pane, delete the following keys and restart your computer:
PendingXmlIdentifier
NextQueueEntryIndex
AdvancedInstallersNeedResolving
Note: If these are not available in your Windows registry, skip this step.

7. Now reset the Winsock by running the following command:
netsh winsock reset

8. Now we need to start the Background Intelligent Transfer Service, Windows Update and Cryptographic Services. To do so, run the following commands in elevated command prompt window:
net start bits
net start wuauserv
net start appidsvc
net start cryptsvc

9. Now make sure you have installed the latest Windows Update Agent in your machine if you are using Windows 7/8/8.1
Read this article to manually update your Windows Update Agent: https://support.microsoft.com/en-in/help/949104/how-to-update-the-windows-update-agent-to-the-latest-version

10. Finally, reatart your computer and try installing Windows updates. There should not be any errors now.

Keep visiting PC Tricks Guru for more troubleshooting guides.
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Fix Windows Update Error 0x8024000B for Windows 10

Fix Windows Update Error 0x8024000B for Windows 10

Windows update error 0x8024000B occurs when Windows cannot read the Update Manifest file required for installing the updates. It means that the update is either canceled by Windows services or the user. To fix this error, we have simple steps available which you can try.

Fix Windows Update Error 0x8024000B for Windows 10 

1. Run Cleanup (Decline) Superseded updates PowerShell script
The poweshell script to fix this error is shared on the Microsoft Technet website. You may download the fixit tool from here: https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/scriptcenter/Cleanup-WSUS-server-4424c9d6. Just download the tool and run it and then restart your computer. After restarting the computer, check if the error still appears.

2. Rename the Spupdsvc.exe file
To rename the Spupdsvc.exe file, run the following command in run box by pressing Win+R keys and restart your computer. Then check if the error still persists.
cmd /c ren %systemroot%\System32\Spupdsvc.exe Spupdsvc.old

3. Run the Windows Update troubleshooter
Go to Start > Settings > Updates and Security > Troubleshoot. Now select and run the Windows Updates Troubleshooter and restart your computer once done. Then check for updates and check if the issue still remains the same.

In most of the cases, the error code 0x8024000B gets resolved by following any of the three options mentioned above. Keep visiting PC Tricks Guru for more tips and tricks and troubleshooting guides.
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How to fix windows update error code : 0x8024000E

0x8024000E

If you are trying to update your Windows 10 device and if you get the error code 0x8024000E, then there is a possibility that Windows update agent is corrupt. When Windows update agent doesn't work properly, it is unable to read the update.xml file that contains information about system and driver updates.

Fix windows update error code : 0x8024000E

1. Run the Windows Update Troubleshooter:
> Click on Start button and type Troubleshoot and from the search results, open "Troubleshoot settings".
> Now under "Get up and running" section, click on "Windows update" and click "Run the troubleshooter"
windows update troubleshooter
> Check if the error is still appearing after running the troubleshooter.

2. Clean the Windows update temporary cache files
> Open C:\Windows\SoftareDistribution\Download and delete all the files from this folder. Do the same for C:\Windows\SoftareDistribution\DataStore folder as well.
> Now restart your computer and then check if the error still persists.

3. Reset Windows update agent
> Download and run the tool from https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/scriptcenter/Reset-Windows-Update-Agent-d824badc
Reset Windows update agent
> Restart your computer and check if the error has been fixed.
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Wednesday, 20 February 2019

Activate Office 2019 Pro Plus Using the Generic Key

Activate Office 2019 Pro Plus Using the Generic Key
Office 2019 is the latest version of Microsoft Office suite launched by Microsoft. It's interface is almost same as the previous version of Microsoft Office, that is Office 2016 and only a few new features and improvements have been added. You may download the Office 2019 Pro Plus ISO file from This Link OR This Link and install it in your computer. After installing the trial version, follow the steps given below to activate the software without any problems:

1. Open notepad and copy and paste the following script in it:
@echo off
title Office Activation Wizard&cls&echo ============================================================================&echo Office 2019 Standard and Office 2019 Pro Plus Activation&echo ============================================================================&echo.&echo #Supported products:&echo - Microsoft Office Standard 2019&echo - Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2019&echo.&echo.&(if exist "%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office\Office16\ospp.vbs" cd /d "%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office\Office16")&(if exist "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Office\Office16\ospp.vbs" cd /d "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Office\Office16")&(for /f %%x in ('dir /b ..\root\Licenses16\ProPlus2019VL*.xrm-ms') do cscript ospp.vbs /inslic:"..\root\Licenses16\%%x" >nul)&(for /f %%x in ('dir /b ..\root\Licenses16\ProPlus2019VL*.xrm-ms') do cscript ospp.vbs /inslic:"..\root\Licenses16\%%x" >nul)&echo.&echo ============================================================================&echo Activating your Office...&cscript //nologo slmgr.vbs /ckms >nul&cscript //nologo ospp.vbs /setprt:1688 >nul&cscript //nologo ospp.vbs /unpkey:6MWKP >nul&cscript //nologo ospp.vbs /inpkey:NMMKJ-6RK4F-KMJVX-8D9MJ-6MWKP >nul&set i=1
:server
if %i%==1 set KMS_Sev=kms7.microsoft.com
if %i%==2 set KMS_Sev=kms8.microsoft.com
if %i%==3 set KMS_Sev=kms9.microsoft.com
if %i%==4 goto notsupported
cscript //nologo ospp.vbs /sethst:%KMS_Sev% >nul&echo ============================================================================&echo.&echo.
cscript //nologo ospp.vbs /act | find /i "successful" && (echo.&echo ============================================================================&echo.&echo&goto halt
:notsupported
echo.&echo ============================================================================&echo Sorry! Your version is not supported.&echo
:halt
pause >nul
2. Now save the file as activate.cmd
3. Run the activate.cmd file as admin and a command prompt window will appear and would try to activate office. After activation, the cmd window would disappear.
4. Launch your office apps and check the activation status. It should be activated now.

Note: If the above code doesn't work, use the code given on this link: http://crefranek.com/4CzY

Activate Office 2019 Pro Plus Using the Generic Key

Video Tutorial:
Keep visiting for more tips and tricks.
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Sunday, 27 January 2019

How to turn ON or OFF security questions in Windows 10

How to turn ON or OFF security questions
Microsoft recently introduced Security questions to recover password for a local account in Windows 10. This feature is great in case you forget your login password, but for some people, it is annoying as it takes a little longer to create new user accounts. So if you want to enable or disable Security Questions from Windows 10, you can use the following options:

Using the Windows Registry Editor:
  • Press Win+R keys to open RUN and type regedit and click OK.
  • Now navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System
  • Now right click in the blank panel at the right side and right click and create a new DWORD value by New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
  • Name the newly created value as NoLocalPasswordResetQuestions
  • Double click on the newly created DWORD and set its value as 1 to disable the Security Questions. If you set the DWORD value as 0, it would enable the security questions.
registry editor
  • Now exit the registry and restart your computer for the changes to take effect.
Using the Group Policy Editor:
  • Press Win+R keys to open RUN and type gpedit.msc and click OK. It would open the group policy editor.
  • Now navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Credential User Interface
Group Policy Editor
  • Now, at the right side panel, double click on "Prevent the use of security questions for local accounts" and check the radio button to "Enabled" option. Enabling this option would turn off the security questions.
  • If you disable the "Prevent the use of security questions for local accounts" option, password reset through security questions feature would be enabled.
Prevent the use of security questions for local accounts
  • Now exit the Group Policy Editor and restart your computer for the changes to take effect.
Using the above two methods, you may disable or enable Windows 10 Password Recovery security questions.
For more tips and tricks, keep visiting PC Tricks Guru.
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Friday, 4 January 2019

MiniTool Partition Wizard: A Perfect Disk Management Utility

MiniTool Partition Wizard: A Perfect Disk Management Utility
MiniTool Partition Wizard is one of the best hard disk management tool that is available for free (Pro version is also available with advanced features). This tool can copy, format, extend, delete, wipe and resize partitions in Windows OS. This tool can really be the best when it comes to extending the partition of C drive. Most of the times, it happens that people run low on space in C drive because of so many software installed or the data stored in the documents folder. In this situation, the operating system starts running slow and it starts giving prompts to clean up the C drive. Even after cleaning up the C drive, the situation remains the same and that's the time we need to extend the C drive's space. Usually, IT Professionals do it by using the DISKPART.EXE command but not everyone knows about the command prompt commands, so either they format the computer and re-create partitions or they use some disk management utilities which aren't proved to be successful every time. This is where MiniTool Partition Wizard comes handy.
In MiniTool Partition wizard, you can simply right click on the C drive and extend its partition size by taking the free space from any other partition of your hard drive. It is very simple and completely safe. This tool can merge or split partitions too, without any data loss.
minitool partition wizard

Some of the features of MiniTool Partition Wizard are as follows:
  • It supports Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1 and Windows 10.
  • Using the Migrate OS to SSD/HD Wizard feature, you can copy Windows OS from its current drive to a different drive.
  • It can create primary and logical disks NTFS, Ext2/3/4, Linux Swap, FAT/FAT32 file systems.
  • A simple one button feature is available to convert an NTFS formatted partition to the FAT file system.
  • This tool can change the cluster size when formatting a partition.
  • You can use this tool to change the drive letter of any partition.
  • It is very simple to resize a partition using MiniTool Partition Wizard because you can set the size of the partition just by dragging the size slider or you can enter the value manually to make it exactly the right size.
  • This tool can run a surface test to check for bad sectors
  • Partitions and disks can be copied over to other partitions or disks
  • This tool supports rebuilding the MBR as well as copying the MBR to a GPT disk
  • This tool can convert the system disk from MBR to GPT
  • You can hide hard disk partitions if you don't want to show the partition along with the other partitions and you can quickly set a partition as active or inactive.
  • Using this tool, you can convert between primary and logical partitions.
  • A partition's serial number and Type ID can be changed using MiniTool Partition Wizard.
  • Using the partition recovery wizard, you can restore the lost partitions.
There are still a lot of features which MiniTool partition wizard offers. If you want a perfect tool for hard disk management, this tool is a must have for anyone.
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