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Fix Operating System Not Found When Booting Windows 10 / 8

August 19th, 2016 by Admin

While booting Windows 10 or 8 computer, you might receive the following error message:

“Operating system not found. Reboot and select proper boot device.”

This issue can be caused by various reasons, such as MBR (Master Boot Record) or DBR (DOS Boot Record) is damaged, the BCD (Boot Configuration Database) is corrupt, or your system partition is not active. In this tutorial we’ll guide you how to troubleshoot the problem of operating system not found / missing in Windows 10 or 8.

Solution 1: Enable / Disable UEFI Secure Boot

Most Windows 10/8 computers come with UEFI firmware and Secure Boot enabled. The operating system installed on a GPT partition can only be booted in UEFI mode. If you configure a UEFI system to boot in Legacy mode, you’ll get the error message that saying operating system is missing or not found. If you installed Windows 10/8 on a MBR disk, it also cannot boot in UEFI mode.

When you get the error message “Operating system not found or missing” during boot, try to change the boot mode from Legacy to UEFI, or turn off UEFI and Seure Boot, it might fix your problem. To learn more about how to change the boot mode, please check these articles:

Solution 2: Fix MBR/DBR/BCD

To fix the corrupted MBR, DBR or BCD, you just need your Windows installation DVD. Follow these steps:

  1. Start your problematic PC, insert your Windows DVD and hit a key when you are asked to to boot from DVD. It is possible that you have to change the boot order in your BIOS to boot from DVD.
  2. After a few minutes, you’ll see the Windows Setup screen for specifying your keyboard and language settings, just click Next.

    windows-setup

  3. On the next screen, click “Repair your computer” in the lower left.

    repair-windows-10

  4. When the Choose an option screen appears. Click Troubleshoot.

    troubleshoot

  5. Click Advanced options.

    advanced-options

  6. Click Command Prompt in the Advanced options screen.

    command-prompt

  7. At the Command Prompt, enter the following commands one after the other and hit Enter after each:
    bootrec.exe /fixmbr
    bootrec.exe /fixboot
    bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd

    fix-os-not-found

  8. Reboot your computer. This should hopefully make your problem go away!

Solution 3: Mark Windows Partition Active

When the computer is turned on, the BIOS will look for an active partition to boot. If your system partition is not marked as active, you’ll also receive the error message “Operating system not found or missing”. Here’s how to make your Windows partition as active:

  1. Boot your computer from Windows installation DVD. Open the Command Prompt again by the above method.
  2. At the Command Prompt, type diskpart and press Enter. Then type list disk. You will see the list of disk currently attached to your computer. Now type in select disk n, where n is the disk number. In my example, I would type select disk 0.

    diskpart

  3. Now type list volume to get a list of all the partitions on your selected disk. Find the partition where your Windows is installed and type select volume n, where n is number of your Windows partition.

    list-volume

  4. To mark your selected partition as active, just type active and press Enter.

    mark-volume-active

  5. Close the Command Prompt and reboot your computer. Hopefully your problem has been resolved now!

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2 Ways to Set Windows 10 PC to Never Sleep

August 12th, 2016 by Admin

It could be quite annoying if your computer goes to sleep at all the wrong times or if you have trouble coming out of sleep state. In this tutorial we’ll show you 2 ways to put your computer to never sleep & disable sleep mode in Windows 10.

Method 1: Set Windows 10 PC to Never Sleep Using Control Panel

  1. Open the Control Panel in Windows 10. Change your view to either Large icons or Small icons. Look for and click on the Power Options.

    power-options

  2. This will bring you to a place where you can choose your power plan. From the left hand side of the window, select Change when the computer sleeps.

    change-when-pc-sleep

  3. From the drop down box next to Put the computer to sleep, select the amount of time you would like Windows 10 to wait before entering sleep state. If you want to stop Windows 10 from going to sleep, select Never from the list. From there, you can also see an option for making your computer never turn off monitor display.

    put-pc-never-to-sleep

  4. When done, click the Save changes button to exit.

Method 2: Set Windows 10 PC to Never Sleep Using Settings App

  1. To get started, open the Settings app by pressing Win + I keys together, or clicking on the Start button and selecting Settings.
  2. From the Settings window, click on System.

    settings

  3. Select Power & sleep on the left pane. Under the Sleep option, select Never from the drop-down list. You can also click the Screen drop-down list and then select Never if you want your PC to never turn off screen display.

    set-pc-never-to-sleep

  4. That’s it! Your PC will never go to sleep mode again.

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6 Ways to Open Registry Editor in Windows 10

August 9th, 2016 by Admin

Most PC troubleshooting tasks can be done by tweaking the registry settings. To access Windows registry, you need to open the built-in tool – Registry Editor. In this tutorial we’ll show you 6 common ways to open Registry Editor in Windows 10.

Method 1: Open Registry Editor via Run

Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type regedit and press Enter.

regedit-via-run

This should be the simplest and quickest way to open Registry Editor in all versions of Windows.

Method 2: Open Registry Editor Using Command Prompt

Press Win + X keys. Choose Command Prompt (Admin) from the given options.

command-prompt-admin

Type regedit at the Command Prompt and press Enter. It will launch Registry Editor immediately.

regedit-via-cmd

Method 3: Open Registry Editor Using Cortana Search

Click inside the Cortana Search box from the taskbar, type regedit and press Enter.

regedit-via-search

Click regedit from the search result.

Method 4: Open Registry Editor Using PowerShell

Open Windows PowerShell. This can be done by pressing Win + R keys to open Run and then type powershell in the box given.

regedit-via-powershell

Type regedit and press Enter. Click Yes when the UAC confirmation box is displayed.

Method 5: Open Registry Editor via File Explorer

Open File Explorer in Windows 10. Browse to the system32 folder: C:\Windows\System32.

right-click-regedit

Locate the regedt32.exe file. Right-click on it and select Run as administrator.

Method 6: Open Registry Editor By Creating Desktop Shortcut

If you need to access Registry Editor frequently, you can create a desktop shortcut for quick access. Follow these steps:

  1. Right-click on any empty area of your desktop, select New -> Shortcut.

    create-desktop-shortcut

  2. This will open the Create Shortcut wizard. It will ask you the location of the item you want to create a shortcut for. Type %windir%\regedit.exe and click Next.

    regedit-shortcut

  3. Give your shortcut any name you prefer and click Finish.

    type-name-for-shortcut

  4. You’ll see the shortcut on the desktop. Double-click on it and you can open Registry Editor quickly.

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How to Edit Offline Windows Registry from WinPE

August 7th, 2016 by Admin

When your computer no longer boots up or you’re unable to login to Windows, a registry hack might fix your problem. To access the registry for an unbootable Windows installation, you should use a WinPE bootdisk. In this tutorial we’ll walk you through the steps to load / edit offline registry hive from WinPE.

Before get started, we need to know the locations of Windows registry hives:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM: %windir%\system32\config\SYSTEM
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SAM: %windir%\system32\config\SAM
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SECURITY: %windir%\system32\config\SECURITY
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE: %windir%\system32\config\SOFTWARE
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT: %windir%\system32\config\DEFAULT

How to Edit Offline Windows Registry from WinPE?

  1. Boot your computer into WinPE. Open a Command Prompt and run regedit.exe to open the Registry Editor.

    command-prompt-from-winpe

  2. In the left pane of Registry Editor, highlight the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE hive (or HKEY_USERS).

    highlight-registry-key

  3. Click the File menu and select Load Hive.

    load-hive

  4. Browse to your Windows partition and select the registry hive which you wish to load. In my example, the registry hives are located in the directory D:\Windows\System32\Config.

    select-registry-hive

  5. Type a key name whatever you like (e.g. “OfflineReg“) and click OK. The name will be used to create a new node in the tree so one can browser the offline registry.

    enter-key-name-for-loading

  6. Now under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key, you should see a new key named after the name you typed previously.

    offline-registry

  7. Expand the new key, browse to the desired key or value for editing. In my example, I browse to OfflineReg\Software\Microsoft\IdentityCRL\StoredIdentities and delete its subkey.

    modify-offline-registry

  8. When you finish with the modifications, highlight the key you created previously (e.g. “OfflineReg“). Click the File menu and select Unload Hive.

    unload-hive

  9. This will unload the hive and all changes made will be saved to the offline registry.

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Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Vista, Windows XP

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How to Change Default Location for Outlook Data File (PST & OST)

August 2nd, 2016 by Admin

Is there a way to change the default location of new .pst file when create a new e-mail account in Outlook? Different versions of Outlook use different default locations to store pst files. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to change default location for Outlook .PST & .OST data file using a registry trick. It works with all versions of Outlook, including Outlook 2016 / 2013 / 2010 / 2007 / 2003.

How to Change Default Location for Outlook PST/OST File?

  1. Press the Win + R keys in a meanwhile to open the Run box. Type regedit and click OK.

    regedit

  2. When the Registry Editor launches, navigate to one of the following keys, depend on your Outlook version:

    • Outlook 2016:
      HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook
    • Outlook 2013:
      HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Outlook
    • Outlook 2010:
      HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook
    • Outlook 2007:
      HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook
  3. At the right-side pane, right-click on any blank area and select New -> Expandable String Value.

    new-expandable-string

  4. Name the newly created value as ForcePSTPath, then double-click on it. On the Edit String dialog, enter the new default location where you wish to store the PST file for Outlook new profile, and click OK.

    ForcePSTPath

    Note: To change the default location folder of .ost files generated by exchange accounts, you can create an expandable string value and name it as ForceOSTPath.

    ForceOSTPath

  5. Close the Registry Editor and restart Microsoft Outlook application. From now on, when you set up a new email account, Outlook will automatically create a new PST file in the new default location.

This method won’t affect the location of existing .pst files. If you want to change the location of existing pst file, follow these steps:

  1. Exit the Outlook application. Locate your .pst file in Windows Explorer and move it to a new location.

    outlook-pst-location

  2. Restart Outlook. An error dialog box appears that notifies you that an Outlook Data File (.pst) could not be found. Click OK.

    pst-file-cannot-be-found

  3. It will open the Create/Open Outlook Data File dialog box. Browse to the new location, select the Outlook Data File (.pst) that you moved, and then click Open.

    open-outlook-data-file

  4. When you see a warning message, just ignore it by clicking OK. Now you’ve successfully moved your existing pst file to a new location.

    cannot-open-default-pst

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Windows 10 Fix: “Compressed (zipped) Folder” missing from Send To Menu

July 31st, 2016 by Admin

Windows 10 comes with native support for zip files. In File Explorer, select and right-click on the folders or files you want to zip, select “Send To” -> “Compressed (zipped) folder” from the context menu. This will compress your selected folders/files into a single .zip file.

send-to-compressed-folder

However, the “Compressed (zipped) folder” might be missing from the right-click context menu. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to restore the missing “Compressed (zipped) folder” option from the Send To menu in Windows 10.

Part 1: Restore Compressed (zipped) folder shortcut

There is a copy of this shortcut in the default user profile in Windows 10. You can just copy it from the default user profile back to your personal profile and you are done. Here is how.

  1. Open the Send To folder of the default user profile. To do so, press Win + R to open the Run dialog, and type the following command and press Enter:
    %systemdrive%\Users\Default\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo
  2. Right-click the Compressed (zipped) folder shortcut and select Copy from the context menu.

    copy-compressed-folder

  3. Now, type the following path in File Explorer’s address bar. This will open the Send To folder of your current user profile.
    %userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo
  4. Paste the shortcut you previously copied there.

Part 2: Fix the .ZFSendToTarget file association

If the above method is still not working, it’s possible that the .ZFSendToTarget file association is corrupt. Normally, the “Compressed (zipped) folder” shortcut is shown with a zip icon. If its association settings are corrupt, it might show with a generic icon and display ZFSendToTarget in the Type column.

zfsendtotarget

Here’s how to fix it:

  1. Press Win + R and type regedit and press Enter.
  2. When the Registry Editor opens, navigate to:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.zfsendtotarget
  3. Right-click on .zfsendtotarget key in the left pane and select Delete.

    del-zfsendtotarget

  4. Next open an elevated Command Prompt. This can be done by pressing Win + X and select “Command Prompt (Admin)” from the Power User Menu.
  5. Type the following command and press Enter.
    assoc .zfsendtotarget=CLSID\{888DCA60-FC0A-11CF-8F0F-00C04FD7D062}

    assoc

  6. Reboot your computer and the “Compressed (zipped) folder” shortcut should now appear in the Send to menu.

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3 Ways to Stop Automatic Driver Updates in Windows 10

July 29th, 2016 by Admin

While plugging in a new device, Windows 10 automatically downloads and installs the device driver via Windows Update. Every time Windows 10 checks for OS updates, it will also update the device drivers. However, some drivers from Microsoft may not be fully compatible with the device driver you have installed and it might result in system instability.

In this tutorial we’ll show you 3 different ways to stop automatic driver updates in Windows 10. Note that the Local Group Policy Editor is not available to Windows 10 Home users.

Method 1: Stop Automatic Driver Updates Using Windows Settings

  1. Open a File Explorer window. Right-click This PC from the navigation pane and choose Properties.

    right-click-this-pc

  2. Click the Advanced system settings link located on the left hand side of the screen.

    advanced-system-settings

  3. When the System Properties window opens, select the Hardware tab, and click the Device Installation Settings button.

    device-installation-setting

  4. You will be asked whether you want to automatically download manufacturers’ apps and custom icons available for your devices. Select No and click Save Changes.

    stop-automatic-driver-download

    This should stop Windows from automatically downloading and installing device drivers from Windows Update.

Method 2: Stop Automatic Driver Updates Using Group Policy

  1. Press Windows key + R, enter gpedit.msc, and hit Enter to open Local Group Policy Editor.
  2. Navigate to Computer Configuration –> Administrative Templates –> System –> Device Installation –> Device Installation Restrictions. In the right hand pane, find the “Prevent installation of devices not described by other policy settings” policy and double-click on it to modify.

    device-installation-restrict

  3. To turn off automatic driver updates, select Enabled and click OK. This will disable all driver updates.

    prevent-device-installation

Method 3: Stop Automatic Driver Updates Using Registry Editor

  1. Press Windows key + R to launch the Run dialog, enter regedit, and hit Enter to open Registry Editor.
  2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DriverSearching. Double-click on the SearchOrderConfig entry on the right pane.

    driversearching

  3. Set the value data to 0 and it will turn off automatic driver updates. A value of 1 allows downloads of driver updates. Click OK and reboot your computer for the changes to take effect.

    searchorderconfig

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3 Ways to Disable Windows Key Shortcuts (Hotkeys) in Windows 10

July 28th, 2016 by Admin

Did you ever play a game in full-screen mode and accidentally press the Windows key? This might cause your game to minimize or exit full-screen mode. What to do if the Windows keyboard shortcuts conflict with some software shortcuts? In this tutorial we’ll show you 3 simple ways to disable Windows key shortcuts (hotkeys) in Windows 10.

After testing, the first two methods seem to disable only these keyboard shortcuts: Windows + D, Windows + R, Windows + S, Windows + A. It won’t disable the shortcuts like Windows + X, Windows + L, Windows + PrntScr or Windows + Tab in Windows 10. If you want to disable the single Windows key on your keyboard, the 3th method is your choice.

Method 1: Disable WIN+ Keyboard Shortcuts in Using Group Policy

  1. Type edit group policy in the Search or Run box and press Enter. It will open Local Group Policy Editor.
  2. Navigate to User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> File Explorer. In the right-side pane, double-click on the Turn off Windows Key hotkeys policy to edit it.

  3. Select the Enabled option and click Apply and then OK.

  4. Reboot the computer to apply the changes.

Method 2: Disable WIN+ Keyboard Shortcuts in Using Registry Editor

If you’re unable to access the Local Group Policy Editor, you can take help of Registry Editor for the same task. Just follow these steps:

  1. Type regedit in the Search or Run box and press Enter. It will open Registry Editor.
  2. Navigate to the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer. In right-side pane, right-click on the empty space and select New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value.
  3. Rename the newly created entry as NoWinKeys and set its value to 1.

    NoWinkeys

  4. Close Registry Editor and restart your system. After reboot the WIN+ hotkeys will be turned off in your system. If you want to re-enable the WIN+ keyboard shortcuts, just delete NoWinKeys entry.

Method 3: Disable Windows Key Completely

This method allows you to completely disable the Windows logo key for all users in Windows 10, 8, 8.1 and Windows 7. Follow these steps to disable Windows key virtually:

  1. Type regedit in the Search or Run box and press Enter. It will open Registry Editor.
  2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout. In the right-side pane, right-click on the empty space and select New -> Binary Value.

    new-binary-value

  3. Rename the newly created entry as Scancode Map. Right-click on Scancode Map and click Modify. Type in the following value as the value data manually (copying and pasting will not work), then click OK.

    00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
    03 00 00 00 00 00 5B E0
    00 00 5C E0 00 00 00 00

    disable-windows-key

  4. Close Registry Editor and restart the computer. When you boot back into Windows 10, press the Windows key and nothing will happen. If you want to re-enable the Windows logo key, open the Registry Editor again and delete the Scancode Map entry.

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How to Fix “Task Manager is Disabled or Greyed out” in Windows 10

July 27th, 2016 by Admin

Unable to access Task Manager by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc? When you right-click on the taskbar, you might find that “Task Manager” option has been grayed out:

task-manager-greyed-out

Also when you press the Windows key + R and type taskmgr, you’ll receive the following error message:

“Task Manager has been disabled by your administrator.”

task-manager-disabled

Task Manager is probably disabled by an administrator or a virus or spyware. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to fix “Task Manager is disabled or greyed out” in Windows 10, by using Group Policy, Registry Editor or Command Prompt. Either way, you need to log in as administrator before following the steps.

Method 1: Fix ‘Unable To Access Task Manager’ Using Group Policy

  1. Press Win+R to open Run box, and type gpedit.msc command to start the Local Group Policy Editor.
  2. Navigate down to the following:
    User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System -> Ctrl+Alt+Delete Options
  3. Since you’re facing the issue that Task Manager has been disabled by administrator, you’ll see that the “Remove Task Manager” policy in the right pane is enabled. Double-click on it to modify.

    remove-task-manager

  4. To enable Task Manager, you should set this policy to Not Configured or Disabled.

    fix-disabled-task-manager

    Click Apply followed by OK. Reboot and your problem should be fixed now!

Method 2: Fix ‘Unable To Access Task Manager’ Using Registry Editor

  1. Press Win+R to open Run box, and type regedit command to start the Registry Editor.
  2. Navigate to the following keys:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

    DisableTaskMgr

  3. In the right side panel, you’ll see a 32-bit DWORD value named DisableTaskMgr. In order to re-enable Task Manager, double-click and change the value to 0. (If you want to disable Task Manager, just change its value data back to 1.)
  4. Go ahead and reboot your computer for the changes to take effect.

Method 3: Fix ‘Unable To Access Task Manager’ Using Command Prompt

  1. Press Win+X shortcut keys on the keyboard and select “Command Prompt (Admin)” from the Power User Menu.
  2. At the Command Prompt, type the following command and press Enter. This will enable the Task Manager.
    REG add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v DisableTaskMgr /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

    enable-task-manager-via-cmd

    If you want to disable Task Manager again, just run this command instead:
    REG add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v DisableTaskMgr /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Note: If you receive the “access denied” error, it’s likely that you’re running Command Prompt in non-Administrator mode.

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