How to manage Search Indexing

You have three options when it comes to Windows Search Indexing:

  1. Remove folders from indexation to reduce the scan time
  2. Disable content indexation
  3. Disable Windows Search indexing completely
  • Remove folders from indexation

It may be enough sometimes to limit the folders that you want Windows Search to index. Windows Search indexes some folders, like Downloads, Documents or Desktop by default. If you are a heavy downloader, the downloads folder may be full of files and folders all the time. Additionally, file and folders may get deleted regularly as well which means that indexing has a lot of work to do to process that folder.

Tip: It is a good idea to limit indexation to folders that you want Windows Search to index. If you work with a lot of documents and use Windows Search to find them, you may want to keep the Documents folder but remove others that you don’t require.

  • Indexing Options

You manage the indexing locations in the Indexing Options. To load the configuration, tap on the Windows-key, type indexing options, and select the result of the same name.

The Indexing Options window lists all folders that are included or excluded from indexation. It furthermore highlights the number of items that are in the index currently, and the status of indexing.

Select Modify at the bottom to manage the indexing locations. This opens a dual-pane window that lists all available locations in the top pane, and all folders selected for indexation at the bottom.

Tip: Make sure you click on the “show all locations” button to reveal locations that may not be shown by default.

You add new locations by checking boxes in front of items in the top pane, and remove existing ones by removing the checkmarks from the boxes. Since you may not want to navigate the top folder structure to locate all indexed locations, you may click on a location in the lower pane to jump straight to it. This allows you to remove it with just two clicks.

When you remove a location from Windows Search indexing, Windows Search won’t scan it anymore when it runs scans for changes in those locations.

You may also exclude subfolders from indexation. This is useful if you want some locations of a folder to be indexed but not others. Using exclude options may further help reduce the load of indexation when Windows Search indexing runs.

Check the Advanced options once you are done. Make sure that the options “index encrypted files” and “treat similar words with diacritics as different words” are not selected.

You may delete and recreate the index on the page as well, and change the location of the index. The latter may be useful if the computer’s main drive is slower than another drive connected to the device.

  • Disable content indexation

Another thing that you may want to check is whether Windows Search is allowed to index file content and not only file properties on select drives. It takes more time obviously to scan the content of files as well, and if you don’t need that, you may want to make sure that this is not done on the Windows machine in question.

You need to repeat the following steps for any drive of the Windows 10 PC:

  1. Open File Explorer.
  2. Right-click on the drive, e.g. Local Disk (c:), and select properties from the context menu.
  3. Go to the General tab if it does not open automatically.
  4. Remove the checkmark from “Allow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties”.
  5. Confirm the Attribute changes by selecting “apply changes to drive, subfolders and files, and click ok.

The process may take a while before it completes. It can run for minutes and even longer than that depending on the size of the drive. You may get an access denied error. I suggest you select “ignore all” when that happens to tell Windows that it should ignore any future access denied error automatically.

  • Disable Windows Search Indexing completely

The final option that you have is to disable Windows Search indexing completely. This prevents any indexation processes and should improve the situation on all devices that are affected by high load or performance issues that are caused by Windows Search indexing.

  1. Tap on the Windows-key, type services.msc, and tap on the Enter-key. This opens the Windows Services Manager.
  2. Locate Windows Search when the services listing opens. The services are sorted automatically, so jump to the bottom to find it more quickly.
  3. Right-click on Windows Search and select properties from the menu.
  4. Switch the startup type to “disabled”.
  5. Select “stop” under service status to block the service from running in that session.
  6. Click apply and then ok.

You may still run searches, but without indexing. This means that searches may take longer to complete.

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Find Out List of All Open Ports in Linux

In computer networking, and more definitely in software terms, a port is a logical entity which acts as a endpoint of communication to identify a given application or process on an Linux operating system. It is a 16-bit number (0 to 65535) which differentiates one application from another on end systems.

The two most popular Internet transport protocols, Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and other less known protocols use port numbers for communication sessions (source and destination port numbers in conjunction with the source and destination IP addresses).

In addition, a combination of an IP address, port and protocol such as TCP/UDP is known as a socket, and every service must have a unique socket.

Below are the different categories of ports:

  1. 0-1023 – the Well Known Ports, also referred to as System Ports.
  2. 1024-49151 – the Registered Ports, also known as User Ports.
  3. 49152-65535 – the Dynamic Ports, also referred to as the Private Ports.

You can view a list of different applications and port/protocol combination in /etc/services file in Linux using cat command:

$ cat /etc/services 
OR
$ cat /etc/services | less
Network Services and Ports
# /etc/services:
# $Id: services,v 1.48 2009/11/11 14:32:31 ovasik Exp $
#
# Network services, Internet style
# IANA services version: last updated 2009-11-10
#
# Note that it is presently the policy of IANA to assign a single well-known
# port number for both TCP and UDP; hence, most entries here have two entries
# even if the protocol doesn't support UDP operations.
# Updated from RFC 1700, ``Assigned Numbers'' (October 1994).  Not all ports
# are included, only the more common ones.
#
# The latest IANA port assignments can be gotten from
#       http://www.iana.org/assignments/port-numbers
# The Well Known Ports are those from 0 through 1023.
# The Registered Ports are those from 1024 through 49151
# The Dynamic and/or Private Ports are those from 49152 through 65535
#
# Each line describes one service, and is of the form:
#
# service-name  port/protocol  [aliases ...]   [# comment]

tcpmux          1/tcp                           # TCP port service multiplexer
tcpmux          1/udp                           # TCP port service multiplexer
rje             5/tcp                           # Remote Job Entry
rje             5/udp                           # Remote Job Entry
echo            7/tcp
echo            7/udp
discard         9/tcp           sink null
discard         9/udp           sink null
systat          11/tcp          users
systat          11/udp          users
daytime         13/tcp
daytime         13/udp
qotd            17/tcp          quote
qotd            17/udp          quote
msp             18/tcp                          # message send protocol
msp             18/udp                          # message send protocol
chargen         19/tcp          ttytst source
chargen         19/udp          ttytst source
ftp-data        20/tcp
ftp-data        20/udp
# 21 is registered to ftp, but also used by fsp
ftp             21/tcp
ftp             21/udp          fsp fspd
ssh             22/tcp                          # The Secure Shell (SSH) Protocol
ssh             22/udp                          # The Secure Shell (SSH) Protocol
telnet          23/tcp
telnet          23/udp

To list all open ports or currently running ports including TCP and UDP in Linux, we will use netstat, is a powerful tool for monitoring network connections and statistics.

List All Network Ports Using Netstat Command
$ netstat -lntu

Proto Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address               Foreign Address             State      
tcp        0      0 0.0.0.0:22                  0.0.0.0:*                   LISTEN      
tcp        0      0 0.0.0.0:3306                0.0.0.0:*                   LISTEN      
tcp        0      0 0.0.0.0:25                  0.0.0.0:*                   LISTEN      
tcp        0      0 :::22                       :::*                        LISTEN      
tcp        0      0 :::80                       :::*                        LISTEN      
tcp        0      0 :::25                       :::*                        LISTEN      
udp        0      0 0.0.0.0:68                  0.0.0.0:*

Where,

  1. -l – prints only listening sockets
  2. -n – shows port number
  3. -t – enables listing of tcp ports
  4. -u – enables listing of udp ports

You can also use ss command, a well known useful utility for examining sockets in a Linux system. Run the command below to list all your open TCP and UCP ports:

List All Network Ports Using ss Command
$ ss -lntu

Netid State      Recv-Q Send-Q               Local Address:Port       Peer Address:Port 
udp   UNCONN     0      0                    *:68                     *:*     
tcp   LISTEN     0      128                  :::22                    :::*     
tcp   LISTEN     0      128                  *:22                     *:*     
tcp   LISTEN     0      50                   *:3306                   *:*     
tcp   LISTEN     0      128                  :::80                    ::*     
tcp   LISTEN     0      100                  :::25                    :::*     
tcp   LISTEN     0      100                  *:25
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Find Out Which Process Listening on a Particular Port

1. Using netstat Command

netstat (network statistics) command is used to display information concerning network connections, routing tables, interface stats, and beyond. It is available on all Unix-like operating systems including Linux and also on Windows OS.

In case you do not have it installed by default, use the following command to install it.

$ sudo apt-get install net-tools    [On Debian/Ubuntu & Mint] 
$ sudo dnf install net-tools        [On CentOS/RHEL/Fedora and Rocky Linux/AlmaLinux]
$ pacman -S netstat-nat             [On Arch Linux]
$ emerge sys-apps/net-tools         [On Gentoo]
$ sudo dnf install net-tools        [On Fedora]
$ sudo zypper install net-tools     [On openSUSE]

Once installed, you can use it with the grep command to find the process or service listening on a particular port in Linux as follows (specify the port).

$ netstat -ltnp | grep -w ':80'
Check Port Using netstat Command

In the above command, the flags.

  • l – tells netstat to only show listening sockets.
  • t – tells it to display tcp connections.
  • n – instructs it to show numerical addresses.
  • p – enables showing of the process ID and the process name.
  • grep -w – shows matching of exact string (:80).

Note: The netstat command is deprecated and replaced by the modern ss command in Linux.

2. Using lsof Command

lsof command (List Open Files) is used to list all open files on a Linux system.

To install it on your system, type the command below.

$ sudo apt-get install lsof     [On Debian, Ubuntu and Mint]
$ sudo yum install lsof         [On RHEL/CentOS/Fedora and Rocky Linux/AlmaLinux]
$ sudo emerge -a sys-apps/lsof  [On Gentoo Linux]
$ sudo pacman -S lsof           [On Arch Linux]
$ sudo zypper install lsof      [On OpenSUSE]

To find the process/service listening on a particular port, type (specify the port).

$ lsof -i :80
Find Port Using lsof Command
3. Using fuser Command

fuser command shows the PIDs of processes using the specified files or file systems in Linux.

You can install it as follows:

$ sudo apt-get install psmisc     [On Debian, Ubuntu and Mint]
$ sudo yum install psmisc         [On RHEL/CentOS/Fedora and Rocky Linux/AlmaLinux]
$ sudo emerge -a sys-apps/psmisc  [On Gentoo Linux]
$ sudo pacman -S psmisc           [On Arch Linux]
$ sudo zypper install psmisc      [On OpenSUSE]

You can find the process/service listening on a particular port by running the command below (specify the port).

$ fuser 80/tcp

Then find the process name using PID number with the ps command like so.

$ ps -p 2053 -o comm=
$ ps -p 2381 -o comm=
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How to delete a service in Windows

1.Deleting Services Using Windows Registry

All services are listed in the Windows Registry. If a service’s Registry key is removed, it will be deleted from the system. This method is a lot faster usually. Here is how it is done:

  • Use the hotkey Windows-r to open a run box, enter regedit in the box and press enter. Some users may see a UAC prompt that they need to accept.
  • The window displays folders on the left side, and subfolders or parameters on the right. Locate the following Registry key by following the folder structure on the left.

                  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services

  1. A click on services lists all available Windows Services as subfolders of that key. Please note that the service’s Service Name is used as the folder name which means that you may need to open the Services listing once again to identify the right services.
  2. I suggest you back up the key first before you start deleting services. Left-click on the services folder and select File > Export to backup the key. Type in a file name and save it to the hard drive.

You can import the backed-up key again by selecting File > Import and the file that you have previously exported.

Locate the service that you want to delete in the listing. A left-click selects the service and displays its parameters on the right pane. To remove a service press delete on the keyboard, or right-click the service and select delete from the context menu.

To summarize this method:

  • Open the Windows Registry
  • Navigate to the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services
  • Backup the services key
  • Identify the service that you want to delete
  • Left-click on that service and press delete on the keyboard
2.Removing Services from the Command Line

This is probably the most complex yet the most effective solution. You may need to open an elevated command prompt first, depending on the version of Windows. You can try and open the command line normally with the hotkey Windows-r, typing cmd, and pressing Enter.

If you face an issue with the command and get an “access denied” error that you need administrative privileges you need to click on the Windows start button, select Programs (or All Programs), then Accessories. Locate Command Prompt, right-click the item in the start menu, and select Run as Administrator from the context menu. This may trigger a UAC prompt under Vista, Windows 7, or 10 that needs to be accepted.
The command prompt displays Administrator: Command Prompt if the operation was successful.

Windows 7 and Vista users who have the search box enabled in the start menu can enter cmd instead in the box to open the elevated command prompt with Ctrl-Shift-Enter.

Windows Services are deleted with the command sc delete followed by the name of the service. Since it is likely that you do not know the name you need to open the Windows Services listing. This is done with the keys Windows-r, typing services.msc and Enter on the keyboard.

What you need is the service name, not the display name that is shown in the main listing. The names may be identical sometimes. Double-click the service that you want to delete to see both names. Apple Mobile Device is for instance the service name and display name of the service. Microsoft on the other hand often uses short cryptic service names and longer display names. The Bitlocker Drive Encryption Service (display name) is listed with the service name BDESVC.

The name may have implications on the command. Let’s say we want to delete the Apple Mobile Device service, a leftover piece after uninstalling iTunes. The command to do that on the command line is sc delete “Apple Mobile Device”.

Notice the quotation marks around the service’s name? A space is generally seen as a new command or parameter, which means that it is necessary to use quotation marks if names or commands make use of spaces to basically tell the program that they are all part of a word or phrase. Take a look at the screenshot below to see what happens if the command is issued without quotation marks, and then with.

To summarize: To delete services from the command line, do the following:

  1. Open an elevated command prompt.
  2. Open the Windows Services management listing.
  3. Identify the service name and not the display name by double-clicking on a service.
  4. Run the command, make sure you use quotation marks if the name contains spaces.
  5. The message [SC] DeleteService SUCCESS indicates that the service has been successfully removed from the operating system.
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How to enable the Group Policy Editor on Windows 11 Home

Microsoft ships a useful tool called the Group Policy Editor, commonly known as Gpedit.msc or just GPEDIT, with the Pro version of its Windows operating system. It is handy for enabling or disabling functions of various elements in the OS, by changing Registry values, but in a more user-friendly way. Unfortunately, Home Edition users don’t get access to this nifty tweaking utility. But, there is a way to enable the Group Policy Editor on Windows 11 Home.

Group Policy Editor in Windows 11
Let me remind you that simply enabling the utility only lets you access the GPEDIT console’s interface, it does not apply the changes for the policy settings (at least not for the ones I tried to modify). It is still worth a shot though, especially for the price of free, and the GUI definitely works.

Note: If you have Windows 11 Pro, don’t bother with this, as you will already have the fully-functional version of the tool.

How to enable the Group Policy Editor on Windows 11 Home

1. Download the ZIP archive from our website, extract it to a folder, and you will get a BAT file.

Or, copy the code below and paste it in Notepad. Save the file with the .BAT extension like Script.BAT or GPEDIT.BAT, the name doesn’t matter.

@echo off
pushd “%~dp0″

dir /b %SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\Microsoft-Windows-GroupPolicy-ClientExtensions-Package~3*.mum >List.txt
dir /b %SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\Microsoft-Windows-GroupPolicy-ClientTools-Package~3*.mum >>List.txt

for /f %%i in (‘findstr /i . List.txt 2^>nul’) do dism /online /norestart /add-package:”%SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\%%i”
pause

2. Right-click on the BAT file and run it as administrator.

gpedit enable with a bat file

3. A command-prompt window should open. This is the DISM command, which installs the relevant packages to enable GPEDIT on your computer. Wait for the process to be completed, it may take a few seconds. You’ll know when it’s done, when you see a message that says “Press any key to continue”.

How to enable the Group Policy Editor on Windows 11 Home

4. Tap any key and the command window should close.

5. Click the Start button and type Gpedit.msc, and you should see the tool appear in the result click on it (or use the Run command with Win + R, followed by Gpedit.msc), and you will be able to access the Group Policy Editor.

GPEDIT in Windows 11

You don’t need to reboot the computer for the utility to show up, you may want to turn off the system and turn it on again. If you try to modify a policy, but it doesn’t appear to take effect, don’t be surprised. As I mentioned earlier, it’s a bit of a hit-and-miss, the tool seems to work sometimes. There is no known workaround to enable the functionality in Windows 11 Home or Windows 10 Home, besides upgrading your operating system to the Pro version, of course.

I recommend using the third-party program, Policy Plus, to make changes to the operating system. It is essentially the same as the Group Policy Editor, but with a slightly better interface.

Policy Plus in Windows 11

Please be aware that some antivirus programs detect it as a threat (I observed 4 detections on VirusTotal), these are not from major AVs, and I’m fairly certain these are false-positives.

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How to Automatically Save Screenshots in Windows 10

Are you tired of taking screenshots and pasting it in your Microsoft Paint software and then save them? There’s a much easier way to do it in Windows 10. You can automatically save the screenshots you take with a very simple technique.

The traditional way of taking screenshots is quite tedious. First you press the “Print Screen” key on your Keyboard then you paste the image in a photo editing software. In most cases people use the built-in Paint app to do it.

To take screenshots in Windows 8 or 10 and automatically save them as files, follow these steps:

  1. Press the Window + PrintScreen key on your keyboard.
  2. The screen will fade for a second which will indicate that the screen has been captured successfully.
  3. Browse to the “Pictures” folder in your Windows Explorer window. You will see a folder named “Screenshots” inside.
  4. All your screen images will be available as image files in that folder.

That’s it. The all you need to do to make that happen. The procedure involves pressing a key combination only, but it makes life much easier. If you want to capture multiple screens, simply keep pressing the key combination and all of the screens will be saved as image files in that folder.

This technique works for both Windows 8 and Windows 10.

[mai mult...]

How to Block Ads on your Smart TV in Router

Ads can be very annoying. Especially on Smart TVs like the Samsung, LG, Roku and Sony some ads can be overwhelming. It’s not a nice feeling when you just brought in a new TV and turned it ON for the first time. You would not expect to see Ads immediately.

Worry not. We are going to share a couple of ways to block ads on your Smart TV. With those controls, you will be able to completely block the ads on your TV, even the in-app ads. Sounds cool right?

Here are the 2 ways to block ads on your Samsung, LG, Sony and Roku Smart TVs:

  • Filtering specific Ad URLs to your Home Internet Router
  • Installing BlockADA app for Android (Works on Android TVs only)

Now we will discuss each method in detail and explain all the steps required to effectively block all the annoying ads:

 Blocking Ads with your Home Internet Router

This method requires you to access your Home Internet Router’s settings and configure the Website black-listing or Parental control settings to block some specific Ads URLs.

Step-1: Access your Router’s configuration page

The first step is to access the configuration of your Home router. For this step you will need the URL address of the Router and Login / Password information.

Block websites with Content filter

The most common Router configuration URLs for some popular brands are:

  • LinkSys Router: http://192.168.1.1
  • Netgear / D-Link Router: http://192.168.0.1
  • ASUS Router: http://192.168.50.1/
  • Belkin Router: http://192.168.2.1
  • AT&T Router: http://192.168.1.254
  • Comcast Router: http://10.0.0.1

If you have a router that is not listed above, you can Google it like this “Router-brand login URL”.

When you open the page, you will be asked to login with the Administrative user and password. If you don’t remember your password you will need to contact your Internet Service Provider.

Step-2: Filter / Block specific Ad URLs

Now we will look into the procedure of blocking ads on each of the Brands Smart TVs:

For Samsung:

For Samsung you need to block the following URLs:

config.samsungads.com
gpm.samsungqbe.com
log-config.samsungacr.com
samsung.com
samsungacr.com
samsungads.com
samsungotn.net
www.samsung.net/ads
ads.samsung.com

Some of these URLs are for older TV models so you can put all of these in the Web filter to make sure that you’re fully covered.

For LG:

To disable ads that appear on your LG TV’s “My Content” tab, you need to put these links into the web filter:

ngfts.lge.com
us.ad.lgsmartad.com
lgad.cjpowercast.com
edgesuite.net
us.info.lgsmartad.com

For Sony:

For Sony Smart TVs you need to follow a different procedure which is actually easier than the ones we’ve discussed. Follow these steps:

  1. Go into Settings
  2. Find “Android TV Core services”
  3. Roll back all Updates on it. It will give you a warning that you’re rolling back to the initial version. Just Skip it.
  4. Return to the Home Screen and click on the minus ‘-‘ sign on the far left corner of the row to remove the Sponsored channel.
  5. Go back to “Apps” in Settings and look for Android TV Core services. Now Force stop it and disable it.

For Roku:

For Roku TVs here’s an easy way to remove the Interactive pop-up ads that display during commercials on Live TV:

  1. Go to Settings > Privacy > Smart TV experience
  2. Disable the “Use Info from TV inputs” option

You can also remove all other kinds of Ads on Roku Smart TVs by blocking the following URLs:

amoeba.web.roku.com
assets.sr.roku.com
cloudservices.roku.com
prod.mobile.roku.com
wwwimg.roku.com

Of course you can also disable ads from tv settings.

Go to Settings > Privacy and look for the option Use information From TV Inputs. Turn the option off to disable the ads.

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How to use Microsoft’s Windows File Recovery Tool

Here’s a great news for Windows 10 users: Microsoft released a  free built-in Windows File recovery app which is available in the Microsoft Store. With the recovery tool, you will be able to recover lost files that cannot be recovered from the Recycle Bin.

This feature has been introduced only for the Windows 10 version 2004 or newer. So, if your Windows OS is not updated, you need to update it now to get it.

Windows File Recovery is a command-line based application that can be downloaded directly from Microsoft store. This tool works for all types of local storage devices including internal drives, external drives and USB storage devices.

Here are the different use cases when the app can be of use:

  • If you have accidentally deleted an important file
  • You have deleted a file with the shift+D switch that removes it from Recycle Bin as well
  • Hard drive has been wiped clean
  • Windows or Hard Drive has corrupted data
The Three Modes of Windows File Recovery

Windows supports different types of File systems belonging to different types of storage devices. Here’s a quick summary of the different file systems support by Windows:

File Systems OS and Device Types
FAT and exFAT USB drives, Flash drives, SD Cards (Less than 4 GB)
ReFS Windows Servers and Windows Workstations (Pro)
NTFS Internal HDD, SDD, External Drives, USB and SD Cards having Greater than 4 GB storage capacity

The tool supports three modes of operation. Here’s a brief description for all three modes:

  1. Default Mode: Default mode uses the Master File Table (MFT) to locate the lost files. It works best for files that were deleted recently. It only support the NTFS file system.
  2. Segment Mode: This mode does not require MFT, it only requires segments of data. It works best for situations when the data was deleted a while ago or after the disk was formatted. It also works for recovering data from corrupt drives.
  3. Signature Mode: Signature mode works for both types of partitions, i-e FAT, ReFS, exFAT and NTFS. This mode only works for large files and searches for specific file types. Data from external storage devices and USB devices can only be recovered with Signature mode.

Here are the different types of data that can be recovered with this tool (audio, video, photos, documents, archives):

  • wma, wmv, asf
  • jpg, jpeg, jpe, jif, jfif, jfi
  • mp3
  • mpeg, mpg, mp4, m4v, m4a, m4r, m4b, mov, 3gp, qt
  • png
  • pdf
  • zip
  • xlsx, pptx, docx, odp, ods, ott, otg, otc, ots, otf, oth

Steps to Recover Deleted Files in Windows 10

Here’s how you can use the new Windows File Recovery tool to recover the deleted data:

Download the Free Windows File Recovery app from Microsoft Store for free.
Microsoft's free Windows File Recovery Tool

  1. Once you’ve downloaded and installed the app, it will be accessible in your Windows OS. To run it, type “Windows File Recovery” in the Search box. Click on the program that shows up.
  2. If you receive a prompt that asks you to allow the program to make changes to your PC, click ‘Yes’.
  3. In the command-line recovery prompt, enter the following command:
    winfr source-drive-letter: destination-drive-letter: [/switches]
    When you’re recovering files from the Operating system drive (usually C:), use the /n switch to specify user folders and files.

Now we will see how to use the three modes to recover files from your PC:

Default Mode

Let’s assume that you want to recover a file named “SampleDocument.docx” from your C: drive to your Recovery drive E:

winfr C: E: /n \Users\<username>\Documents\SampleDocument.docx

Now let’s say, you want to recover .png and .jpg images from your “Photos” folder to the recovery folder on E: drive:

winfr C: E: /n \Users\<username>\Photos\*.JPG /n \Users\<username>\Pictures\*.PNG

If you need to recover a complete folder from C: drive to the recovery folder on E: drive:

winfr C: E: /n \Users\<username>\Documents\

Always remember to put the backslash ‘\’ at the end of the folder name.

Segment Mode (/r)

Segment mode uses the /r switch to recover files.

For example, if you need to recover MS Word files and PDF files from your C: drive to E: drive:

winfr C: E: /r /n *.pdf /n *.docx

If you need to recover a specific file that has the word “statement” in the file name:

winfr C: E: /r /n *statement*

Signature Mode (/x)

It is always advisable that you check the supported extension groups before using the Signature mode to recover files. To do that, here’s the command:

winfr /#

Now let’s assume you want to recover PNG and JPEG photos from your C: drive to the recovery folder on E: drive:

winfr C: E: /x /y:JPEG,PNG

To recover .zip files from your C: drive to the recovery folder on E: drive:

winfr C: E:\RecoveryTest /x /y:ZIP

These are the basic commands you need to know for recovering lost files on your PC. Of course there are advanced command as well that give you more detailed recovery options. However, the ones explained above are sufficient in most cases.

One more thing that is very important to note is that you can increase or decreases the chances of recovering files on your Computer. The maximum chances are when you haven’t created too many files after deleting the ones you want to recover. When you delete a file, the space is marked as free space. If you put another file on that free space, the chances of recovering the old file decrease. Try not to over-write the free space if possible.

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How to fix Dism.exe error 1392 on your Windows computer

  • In case of looking for a solution to fix the Dism.exe error 1392 on Windows 10, let us help you out.
  • You can try to perform an SFC scan or use a different antivirus that interferes less with the system.

Dism.exe error 1392 is usually displayed whenever a file or directory is corrupted, and unreadable.

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

How can I fix the Dism.exe error 1392?
  1. Temporarily disable the antivirus program
  2. Perform an SFC scan
  3. Clean out junk files
  4. Run Check disk to check and fix disk errors
  5. Scan your computer for malware
  6. Perform a system restore
1. Temporarily disable the antivirus program
  1. Go to your taskbar next to the clock, and click on the antivirus security software icon.
  2. Right-click on it.
  3. Select the option to disable.

Antivirus software can help protect your computer against viruses and other security threats. In most cases, you shouldn’t disable it. When you have to temporarily disable it to see whether it causes such issues or not, do note that your computer is open to attacks all this time.

Therefore, it’s time to think of an alternative. For top-rated protection, don’t hesitate to give a try to Vipre antivirus. That’s the least intrusive program you should try out, not to mention the anti-threat and ransomware protection that always keeps you away from system performance and security issues.

2. Perform an SFC scan
  1. Click Start.
  2. Go to the search field box and type CMD.
  3. Go to Command Prompt.
  4. Right-click and select Run as Administrator.

Type sfc/scannow.

Press enter.

Whenever you find the dism.exe error 1392, most likely there are corrupted files, and a system file checker scan will help you replace the incorrect versions, with the genuine, correct Microsoft versions.

Restart your computer and check if dism.exe error 1392 goes away after completing the above procedure.

3. Clean out junk files

As you use your computer, over time, junk files accumulate and if not cleaned out, they may cause your computer to slow down or lag. This may also bring up the dism.exe error 1392 due to file conflicts, or an overloaded hard drive. You are no stranger to these things.

Cleaning them up can solve the error and improve your PC’s performance and speed. In order to do so right away, make sure to use CCleaner. You’re one step away from freeing up space and making your computer run like new again, so don’t hesitate to install this nifty tool.

4. Run Check disk to check and fix disk errors
  1. Right-click Start.
  2. Then, select Command Prompt (Admin).

  1. Type the following command: chkdsk /f h: and then press enter (h is the drive with the disk.exe error 1392 problem).

You should every so often use the Check Disk tool to check the integrity of disks. This examines disks and can correct many types of common errors on FAT16, FAT32, and NTFS drives. One of the ways Check Disk locates errors is by comparing the volume bitmap with the disk sectors assigned to files in the file system. Check Disk can’t repair corrupted data within files that appear to be structurally intact. You can run Check Disk from the command line or through a graphical interface, as described above.

Note: Check Disk will analyze the disk and return a status message regarding any problems it encounters.

Unless you specify further options, Check Disk won’t repair problems, but, in order to find and repair errors on drive C, use chkdsk /f C:

When you use this command, Check Disk performs an analysis of the disk and then repairs any errors it finds, provided the disk isn’t in use. If it is in use, Check Disk displays a prompt that asks whether you want to schedule the disk to be checked the next time you restart the system. Click Yes to schedule this check.

The complete syntax for Check Disk is as follows:

CHKDSK [volume[[path]filename]] [/F] [/V] [/R] [/X] [/I] [/C] [/L[:size]]
  • V is for volume so as to set the volume to work with
  • path/filename specifies files to check for fragmentation (FAT16 and FAT32 only)
  • /F fixes errors on the disk
  • /V displays the full path and name of every file on the disk (FAT16 and FAT32); displays cleanup messages if any (NTFS)
  • /R locates bad sectors and recovers readable information (implies /F)
  • /X forces the volume to dismount first if necessary (implies /F)
  • /I performs a minimum check of index entries (NTFS only)
  • /C skips checking of cycles within the folder structure (NTFS only)
  • /L:size sets the log file size (NTFS only)
  • /B re-evaluates bad clusters on the volume (NTFS only; implies /R)
5. Scan your computer for malware

The dism.exe error 1392 could be related to a malware infection on your computer system, as these, can damage, corrupt, or even delete runtime error-related files. The error could be related to a malicious program’s component. Conduct a full scan to rule out malware issues and remember that Vipre is a great choice in that regard.

6. Perform a system restore
  1. Click Start.
  2. Go to the search field box and type System Restore.
  3. Click Create a restore point in the list of search results.

  1. Enter your administrator account password or grant permissions if prompted to.
  2. In the System Restore dialog box, click System Restore.

  1. Click Next.
  2. Click a restore point created before you experienced the problem.
  3. Click Next.
  4. Click Finish.

To go back to a restore point, do the following:

  1. Right-click Start.
  2. Select Control Panel.
  3. In the control panel search box, type Recovery.
  4. Select Recovery.

Click Open System Restore.

  1. Click Next.
  2. Choose the restore point related to the problematic program/app, driver, or update.
  3. Once again, click Next.
  4. Click Finish.

Here you can find some other things that you could try:

  • Update your computer device drivers as 1392 errors can be related to corrupt or outdated device drivers. Finding the exact driver for the dism.exe error 1392 problem can be hard, so make sure to use the best driver update software.
  • Install all available Windows updates as Microsoft constantly updates system files related to the error so resolving runtime error issues may be done by installing the latest updates or service packs, or other patches released regularly
  • Uninstall and reinstall the program associated with the dism.exe error 1392.
  • Perform a clean Windows installation. Backup all your files and data before beginning this time-consuming process. It is the last resort in trying to resolve the error 1392 issue, but it will erase everything from your hard drive, so you can start with a fresh system. It also cleans out accumulated junk.

If dism.exe error persists after a clean install, your runtime errors are not software but hardware related so replace the hardware that is causing dism.exe error 1392.

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Windows 10 can’t click anything?

  • Nowadays mice have become so complex that they even come with their own drivers and updaters.
  • However, this means that they are more easily affected when said drivers become damaged or missing.

Sometime you may experience issues with the mouse or trackpad disabling the right and left clicks in Windows 10. Several users have reported that they can’t click anything after booting up the computer or when in the middle of something.

I Started my computer today and I couldn’t click anything at all. Its a Windows 10 computer. It not jut the start menu but everything. I can’t press cancel when I’m in Carl+alt+del. I tried  safe mode and the problem was still there. The mouse works fine I just can’t click anything at all

This error can occur if the Windows Explorer has crashed or if you have an old Windows build with a glitch installed. In this article, we have listed a couple of troubleshooting tips to help you resolve the can’t click anything issue in Windows 10.

What to do if I can’t click anything in Windows 10?

1.  Restart the explorer.exe process

  1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open the Task Manager.
  2. You can also press Ctrl + Alt + Delete and then use the Tab key to open Task Manager.
  3. In the Task Manager, press the Tab key until one of the processes is select.
  4. Use the down arrow keys on your keyboard to select Windows Explorer.
  5. Since the right-click is not working, we will use Shift + F10 (shortcut for right-click).
  6. Press  Shift + F10 to bring up the context menu.
  7. Use the down arrow key and select End Task.

  1. Click Enter to end the explorer.exe task.
  2. Once the explorer.exe process is killed, you may see a black screen for a short time.
  3. Press Windows Key + R.
  4. Type explorer.exe and hit Enter.
  5. This will relaunch your Windows Explorer.
    • Try using the mouse to click anything to see if the issue is resolved.

If your Windows Explorer has crashed or frozen, it may lead to can’t click anything issue in Windows 10. However, ending and restarting the explorer.exe process can resolve this issue.

2. Check your keyboard for issues
  1. Faulty keyboard keys can prevent the mouse from performing the right-click and left-click actions.
  2. Check if your keyboard if it has any broken keys or long hold keys that are pressed without your knowledge.
  3. Spacebar is one of the common keys to break or get stuck in your keyboard. Make sure the keys are working fine.
  4. You may also unplug the keyboard and restart your computer to see if the mouse and clicking functions work.
  5. If the mouse works in the absence of a keyboard connected to your computer, check the keyboard for faulty keys.
3. Check for pending Windows updates

  1. Press the Windows key on your keyboard.
  2. Type update.
  3. Use the arrow key if required and open Check for updates.
  4. In the Windows Update section, use the Tab key to navigate.
  5. Select Download updates and hit Enter.
  6. Windows will download and install any pending Windows 10 updates.

Some of the older version of Windows is known to have mouse-clicking issues in Windows 10. Make sure you are running the latest stable Windows 10 build to fix any issues caused by a glitch in the OS.

4. Check your mouse and third-party software
  1. The above fix will only work if your mouse is in working condition.
  2. Try unplugging the mouse and connect a secondary mouse to your computer.
  3. Right-click on any app or the desktop and check if the secondary mouse is working.
  4. If the mouse works, you may need to replace the device with a new one.

Check for a third-party software

  1. If you had recently installed third-party software to customize a mouse or keyboard, it might create issues with the pointing device.
  2. Close any apps such as Razer Synapse or other customization software from the Task Manager.
  3. Disconnect and reconnect the mouse to see if that resolves the issue.

5. Use a restore point

  1. Press the Windows key and type restore.
  2. Select Create a restore point and hit enter to open System Properties.

  1. Press the Tab key to select the System Restore button and hit enter.
  2. Select Recommended to restore and then use Tab key again to select Next and hit enter.
  3. To confirm your restore point, select Finish and hit enter.
  4. Windows will restore your system to the state it was in before the date selected.
  5. The process may take some time to complete, so wait till the PC reboots and shows a success message.

If System Restore is not successful, repeat the steps again but with an older Restore Point.

Windows 10 can’t click anything problem is most likely to be triggered by an unresponsive explorer.exe process. However, follow other steps in this article if restarting Windows Explorer did not resolve the issue.

[mai mult...]