[Fix] Media Creation Tool Error 0x80042405 – 0xA001A

Microsoft’s Media Creation Tool (MCT) is used to download Windows 10 ISO or create a bootable Windows 10 installation USB drive. MCT is one of the most useful tools by Microsoft, but at the same time, it’s one of the buggiest utilities out there which throws some obscure errors like 0x80042405.

media creation tool error 0x80042405

In this post, we’ll be talking about Media Creation Tool Error 0x80042405 - 0xA001A in Windows 10, and how to workaround or fix the problem.Read more

[Fix] Windows Defender Yellow Exclamation Icon and “Set up OneDrive” Warning

The Windows 10 action center may show a prompt with a black exclamation inside a yellow triangle icon in the Notification area. When you click on that, it opens Windows Defender Security Center. In the Windows Defender Security Center, underneath the “Virus & threat protection” icon the exclamation mark inside a yellow triangle shows up again, with the note reading “Set up OneDrive for file recovery options in case of a ransomware attack.”

The Windows Defender warning shows up even though OneDrive is already be configured, syncing and working perfectly fine. Also, clicking the “Dismiss” link beneath the warning message may do nothing.

windows defender set up onedrive - yellow exclamation warning

If OneDrive is already setup correctly and working fine, then the yellow exclamation warning can be safely ignored. But if you’re desperate to stop Windows Defender from issuing the false alert, this post tells you how to do so.Read more

[Fix] Windows Update 0x80070BC2 Error in Windows 10

When you attempt to install updates via the Windows Update channel, error 0x80070BC2 may occur and the update repeatedly fails to install. The Windows Update page may show “Awaiting restart”. And after restarting, the Windows Update installation history page shows the following error under that particular update(s):

Last failed install attempt on [date] – 0x80070BC2

0x80070bc2 error windows update

And the Windows Event log records this error, referencing the KB number:

Installation Failure: Windows failed to install the following update with error 0x80070BC2

For example:

Installation Failure: Windows failed to install the following update with error 0x80070BC2: 2018-01 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1709 for x64-based Systems (KB4056892).

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Cannot Boot into Windows after installing KB4100347 Intel CPU Update

Intel recently announced that they have completed their validations and started to release microcode for recent CPU platforms related to Spectre Variant 2 (CVE 2017-5715 [“Branch Target Injection”]). The Windows Update KB4100347 includes microcode updates from Intel.

Right after installing the update KB4100347 via Windows Update channel or the Microsoft Update Catalog, many users faced a problem where the system became unbootable, especially Xeon workstations. Although not necessary, some users wiped their drive, formatted it and installed Windows 10 from scratch to come out of this problem.

But there is no need to clean install Windows 10. This post explains how to make your Windows 10 computer bootable again by undoing/uninstalling KB4100347 offline via Windows Recovery Environment.Read more

Taskbar Volume Control Icon does not Work in Windows 10/11

Sometimes, the Taskbar volume control icon in Windows may not respond to the mouse click. The slider doesn’t appear when you click on the speaker icon, and nothing happens when you right-click on it. The audio may still work in all applications, but only the controls don’t open. Due to this, users have to open sndvol.exe from the Run dialog to open the Volume Mixer and control the sounds.

This post explains how to fix the volume control (speaker) icon in Windows 10 and Windows 11.Read more

What is “Program” in Task Manager Startup Tab

When you open Task Manager and click on the Startup tab to manage auto-start entries, you may notice one or more entries showing up as “Program” showing up with a blank or generic icon and without any Publisher information.

unknown program entry in task manager startup tab command line

The unknown “Program” entries are most likely caused if both of the following conditions are true:

  1. The startup entry refers to an invalid or non-existent file under “Program Files” folder.
  2. The registry value data corresponding to that startup entry is not enclosed within double-quotes.

This article tells what does the “Program” entries in the Startup tab mean and how to get rid of those entries.Read more

How to Trim or Crop Images in Windows 10 Using Photos App

The Windows 10 Photos app has some interesting features that makes it a useful image previewer & editor (although only basic editing features supported). All these days, you may have been using Microsoft Paint or some third-party editors to crop or trim images, such as IrfanView, GIMP, etc. The good news is that you can not only resize images but also can crop images, rotate, add filters and effects using the Photos app.

It’s always very convenient to have a single app to preview as well as to accomplish the basic image/video editing tasks. This post tells you how to trim or crop images using the Photos app in Windows 10.Read more

[Fix] Media Creation Tool Error 0x80004005 – 0xA001A

When you use the Media Creation Tool to create a bootable USB Windows 10 setup disk, error 0x80004005 – 0xA001A occurs during the process. Precisely, the error happens after the ISO download is complete, and during the ‘creating media’ stage when it nears 50%.  Here is the full error message: There was a problem running this … Read more

How to Enable Preview of .eml (Email Message) Files in Explorer

Many users of Windows Mail or Windows Live Mail (part of Windows Live Essentials) used to backup individual emails and save them as .EML files. Since Windows Live Mail has been discontinued, users are forced to use third-party mailers or even buy Microsoft’s own produce, Microsoft Outlook. However, the preview pane in File Explorer shows “No preview available” when a .EML file is selected.

.eml file no preview available

This article tells you how to preview .EML files in File Explorer Preview pane, in Windows 7 through Windows 10.Read more