Windows Tips

Infopackets Reader Jan P. writes: " Dear Dennis, I'm trying to download Windows 10 onto my machine using the Media Creation Tool. I intend to download the .ISO image files so that I can make a Windows 10 DVD, so that I can keep an archived copy for ... later use if needed. The problem is that the Media Creation Tool doesn't work; every time I run it, the Media Creation Tool won't open. A friend of mine tried running it on his machine and the Media Creation Tool won't start for him, either. Any idea how I can get this to work? " My response: Based on my experience, the Windows 10 Media Creation ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'Raburt' writes: " Dear Dennis, A friend of mine migrated his system to Windows 10. Somehow in the process, the home page in his Firefox changed and he has been unable to change the home page back to what it was previously. One of ... the things I suggested was to be sure that his computer is not using a proxy setting. Do have some other suggestions? Thanks. " My response: Assuming that the home page has not been hijacked due to a malware infection, oftentimes the easiest way to fix a program that isn't working properly (and in this case, a web browser) is to reinstall it. ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Phil P. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have installed Windows 10 32 bit and now I am trying to upgrade to Windows 10 64 bit using the clean install method. Since I'm installing Windows 10 from scratch, I am also going to upgrade my C ... drive performance using 2 x 2TB hard drives (for a total of 4 TB usable data) in RAID 0 configuration . The problem is that when I try to install Windows onto my RAID, it tells me that 'Windows cannot be installed to this disk. This computer's hardware may not support booting to this disk. Ensure that the disk's controller is enabled in the computer' ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Frank C. writes: " Dear Dennis, Thanks for your excellent articles on Windows 10. A few weeks ago I upgraded to Windows 10 32-bit, but now I want to upgrade to Windows 10 64-bit. I read your article, ' How to Upgrade from Windows ... 10 32-bit to 64-bit ', but I don't understand why I am receiving the error 'this app can't run on your PC' when attempting to run the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool. I have verified that my processor supports 64-bit, so I don't understand why I am being plagued by this error message. Do you have any idea how I can ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Pam C. writes: " Dear Dennis, I recently purchased an SSD (solid state hard drive) and wish to transfer my existing copy of Windows (from a standard hard drive) onto the SSD. I used Acronis True Image to clone the hard drive to ... SSD, but when I try and boot from the SSD, I receive the error message that 'BOOTMGR is Missing'. I have also tried creating an archive backup of the original hard drive and then restored that to the SSD, but I have the same problem. How can I fix the 'BOOTMGR is Missing' error? " My response: This is a very common problem ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Jeff P. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have the 'get windows 10' app on my PC, however, when try and install Windows 10, I get multiple error codes and it won't upgrade my system to Windows 10. Is it possible for me to reformat my hard ... drive, then reinstall Windows 7 (clean), download all my windows updates, then use the Windows 10 media creation tool and install Windows 10 from that? My major concern is that I will lose my reservation for Windows 10 after I format my hard drive. Can I reserve my Windows 10 upgrade again later, especially after I format my hard drive? " My ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Susan K. writes: " Dear Dennis, I recently upgraded to Windows 10. When my computer booted into the desktop for the first time, I immediately unpinned the Windows Store and Microsoft Edge icons from my taskbar; the reason being is ... that I prefer to have my taskbar completely empty and reserved only for running tasks. Anyhow, the problem is that now I can't seem to find Microsoft Edge using the Start Menu (I'm using Classic Shell). Ideally I'd like to have a shortcut to Microsoft Edge on my desktop. Any ideas how to achieve this? " My response: I was wondering the same thing ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Jan G. writes: " Dear Dennis, Thank you so much for your article on How to Fix: Windows Update Using an In-Place Upgrade . I have the dreaded 80070490 windows update error and can't seem to get past it. That said, I tried to do an ... in-place Windows Repair (as per your guide) but am having another problem. As Windows is getting ready to reinstall, the Windows Compatibility Report is blank, and won't let me proceed with the repair. I have tried doing a repair install on another machine and it works fine. Any ideas as to why the Compatibility Report window is blank and how I ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Alice G. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have not been able to download any Windows Updates for a few months now. I stumbled across your guide on ' How to Fix: Windows Update won't Update ', but when I try and run 'sfc /scannow', I ... receive an error message that 'Windows Resource Protection could not perform the requested operation.' I am basically stuck at this step and am not sure what to do. Researching Google on the Windows Resource Protection error comes up with extremely confusing and conflicting jargon. Can you please tell me how to fix this ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Tim S. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am trying to play Netflix on my computer, which requires Microsoft Silverlight. Every time I try and play a movie, I get an error stating that Silverlight is not installed on the system. But when I ... check in my Control Panel via Add / Remove programs, Silverlight says it's installed. I have tried to install the latest version of Silverlight from the Internet but it won't install. I don't get it. Can you help? " My response: I knew this problem would require some troubleshooting, so I contacted Tim and he agreed to let me access his computer ... (view more)