When you select “Windows Spotlight” from the list of background choices in the Personalization page in Windows 11 Settings, the default choice is immediately reset to “Picture”. This problem occurs if you’ve turned off background apps globally.Read more
Fix: Printer Error 0x00000bc4 or 0x00000709 in Windows 11 22H2
After updating Windows 11 to version 22H2, your network printers may stop working. Also, the error code 0x00000bc4 (Desc: ERROR_PRINTER_NOT_FOUND) or 0x00000709 (Desc: ERROR_INVALID_PRINTER_NAME) appears when adding a new network printer.
Operation could not be completed (error 0x00000bc4). No Printers Were Found.
Does System Restore Delete My Files?
A common misconception among Windows users is that System Restore wouldn’t touch your personal files and data stored under your user shell folders, such as Documents, Pictures, Music, etc. This is not fully true!Read more
Restore the Legacy Print Dialog in Windows 11 22H2
In Windows 11 22H2, Microsoft has replaced the legacy Print Dialog for all classic (win32) apps, e.g., Notepad, WordPad, Notepad++, etc., with a new dialog. Earlier, this dialog was available only for UWP apps (aka Store apps). Also, there is a new Print Queue dialog introduced in this version.Read more
Can’t Open CMD.exe After Uninstalling Python/Anaconda; Exit Code 1
After uninstalling Python/Anaconda on your Windows computer, Command Prompt may not open. When you run cmd.exe, it flashes on the screen and immediately quits. Also, running DISM and SFC (to repair corrupt system files), repairing Windows installation, and running a thorough malware scan may not fix the issue.Read more
Fix: “Microsoft WinRT Storage API” Appears in Open With Menu
After installing Windows 11 Feature Update, when you right-click on an image file such as JPG, PNG, BMP, etc., and click Open With, you might see a strange entry named “Microsoft WinRT Storage API” with no icon.Read more
Windows Update Something went wrong, Try to reopen Settings Later
When you launch Settings and click Windows Update, the Windows Update page may show the following error:
Something went wrong. Try to reopen Settings Later
Use Default Apps Registry Finder [DARF.vbs] to Fix App Registration Issues
Default Apps Registry Finder [DARF.vbs] is a script I wrote, which dumps the complete Default Apps registration information for a specified keyword/app name. This script is very useful in resolving application registration issues and removing orphaned entries from the Default Apps window.Read more
How to Add “Edit with Paint” Context Menu in Windows 11
Windows 11 comes with the modern Paint app that doesn’t add the “Edit” context menu item for images. Note that Windows 10 includes the “Edit” right-click menu option by default, which launches the classic Paint app. In this article, we’ll see how to add the “Edit” option to the right-click menu for image file types in Windows 11.Read more
Fix: System Sounds Not Playing in Windows
On some systems, the system sounds don’t play even if the Sound Scheme is set to “Windows Default”. Also, if you open the Sounds Control Panel (mmsys.cpl) and click “Test”, the audio may not be played.
However, you may be able to play the C:\Windows\Media\*.wav files (and any other audio file format) separately using Windows Media Player or any other player.Read more