Windows Tips

Has this happened to you? Infopackets Reader Dave C. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have been completely locked out of my Windows 10 machine! I tried to uninstall Avast Antivirus using Safe Mode (as this was recommended), and now Windows is asking me for ... a password, when before I was using a PIN number. I have NO IDEA what my password is as I have been using a PIN for the last two years. I've tried rebooting without Safe Mode but the option to use a PIN is no longer there. I am desperate! Can you help? " My response: There are a few ways to reset your Windows password - whether you ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Steve C. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am running a Windows 10 PC, which I share with my daughter. Lately I have begun receiving Facebook notifications / popups on the lower right corner of my desktop. These notifications appear every ... few minutes and it is literally driving me insane. I cannot figure out how to shut this setting off. Searching Google for 'windows disable facebook popups' isn't of any help because I am getting different answers. One says to disable the Facebook app, another says it's a Facebook setting. I have no idea how to do either because I don't even use ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Ramona A. writes: " Dear Dennis, Recently My Windows 7 laptop kept popping up with ' Windows has detected that your computer's performance is slow ' error messages. I disabled the color scheme to fix the issue (as recommended) but ... the popups kept coming every 3 minutes or so. I suspected I was infected with malware, so I downloaded Malwarebytes Antimalware and did a scan. MBAM found over 1,700 'threats' - one of them was a rootkit. I quarantined all the items, then rebooted and things are much better, however - now the 'mbamservice.exe' is constantly causing high CPU load ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Bob P. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am running Windows 10 and I have thousands of cab_xxx files in my c:\windows\temp directory. Many of the files are 135 megabytes each, while some are 0 bytes. They keep generating themselves ... throughout the day, and I can't seem to stop it! The problem is that I am almost running out of disk space. You've fixed my computer using remote desktop support before so I am more than willing to have you look at it again. Thanks! " My response: I connected with Bob using my remote desktop support service and found some very interesting things. ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader William C. writes: " Dear Dennis, I'm have a problem with my sound after the latest Windows Update in Windows 10 (version 15063.540). If I use System Restore to roll back the sysetm (which then uninstalls the update), my sound ... works perfectly fine. In my Device Manager I have: a 'High Definition Audio Device' with yellow exclamation point warning, and two 'Realtek High Definition Audio Device' with no warning. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the Realtek audio drivers to no avail - the sound will simply not work! My system is connected to a TV via HDMI cable. If I use ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader John B. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am running Windows 10 and every once in a while I receive a popup notification from ' Smart System Care ' that I have errors on my PC and I need to remove them. It then says that if I want to ... remove the problem I have to pay money. I realize this program is most likely a scam, and I tried to remove it from my system but it is nowhere to be found. I have researched the problem using Google however there are so many posts and many steps, and it seems very convoluted. Can you please help? " My response: I asked John if he would like me to ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Susan S. writes: " Dear Dennis, I just read your article ' How to Fix: Constant Spinning Cursor (Circle) in Windows ' - I have a similar problem! I own an Asus x551 laptop with Windows 10. The mouse pointer constantly spins with a ... blue circle every other second, and I can't figure out why this is happening. I thought perhaps I had a virus, so I formatted the computer - but it did nothing to stop the spinning blue circle. I am going crazy. Can you help? " My response: I asked Susan if she would like me to connect to her machine using my remote desktop service and she agreed ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Priscilla writes: " Dear Dennis, I am running Windows 10 and my computer seems to be infected with a rootkit from what I read online. In Task Manager's Startup , I have the following programs running: cpx.exe , svcvmx.exe , and ... ct.exe . I have tried to disabled these from startup but I get 'Access denied'. I have tried to download Malwarebytes Antimalware to scan the computer but the setup file simply won't run. I have tried downloading other antivirus programs but Edge reports that the file is corrupt. I have tried resetting Windows 10 but it fails and tells me I cannot ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Bill W. writes: " Dear Dennis, I recently upgraded to Windows 10; prior to that I was running Windows 7. In both Windows 7 and 10 I have this extremely annoying issue where the mouse exhibits a constant spinning circle (cursor) - ... as if the system is busy doing something. The spinning circle goes on all day long; it pops up for a few seconds, then disappears, and then maybe 30 seconds to a minute later it will pop up again. The spinning blue circle / mouse pointer happens even if the system is idle. I would like to get this fixed and am willing to pay to have you remote into ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Michael B. writes: " Dear Dennis, Thank you so much for helping me to patch my Windows 2003 Server against the SMB attacks and for removing Windows_Update.exe virus a few weeks back . A have yet another problem that is causing ... high CPU usage! In Task Manager of Windows Server 2003, I see two processes that are eating 50% of my CPU each, namely: SystemTask.exe and SystemTaskInfo.exe . If I try and delete either process, it simply comes back and starts eating my CPU again, which makes everything else on the server painfully slow. Can you please help? " My response: I asked ... (view more)