Windows Tips

Infopackets Reader Rick B. writes: " Dear Dennis, I administer a Windows Server 2022 machine for a client and the owner reported that Server Manager's Add Roles and Features won't complete without errors. I ran sfc /scannow , but it says Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and was unable to fix some of them. I also ran DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth , and it says the component store is repairable. However, when I run DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth , it fails with error 0x800f081f and says the source files could not be found. I also tried resetting Windows ...view more

A growing number of Macrium Reflect 8 users have reported problems mounting backup images after recent Windows 11 security updates. The issue centers on a vulnerable driver called psmounterex.sys , which Macrium Reflect 8 uses to mount backup images as virtual drives so users can browse backed-up files in File Explorer. Once Windows blocks that driver, the image-mounting feature can fail even though the backup image itself may still exist and rescue media may still be able to restore it. Macrium Reflect 8 Free: No Longer Supported The complaints are especially concerning for Macrium Reflect 8 ...view more

What's one of the best one-stop video/image quality enhancement and editing software available for Windows? Answer: Digiarty's VideoProc Converter AI! From the makers of WinX DVD Ripper and WinX Video Converter comes VideoProc Converter: a multi-award winning software program that is a one-stop video/image processing program that allows you to restore and enhance video image quality in 1 click, convert video/audio, rip DVDs, edit video, download videos, video to GIF maker ... plus much more! The latest version of VideoProc Converter AI includes the ability to restore blurry faces, colorize ...view more

Infopackets Reader Bob V. writes: " Dear Dennis, Recently, I received an email from Mozilla indicating the discontinuing of Mozilla Pocket. I have used Mozilla Pocket for several years and find it quite useful. Can you suggest an useful alternative to Pocket? Thanks, in advance, Bob. " My response: Sure - I'm happy to assist. For those unaware, Mozilla Pocket is (or was) a "read-it-later" app developed by Mozilla (makes of Firefox and Thunderbird) that allowed users to save online content such as articles, videos, and web pages to be viewed later in a clean, distraction-free format. In this ...view more

Infopackets Readers Jay S. writes: " Dear Dennis, Thanks for your article on How to Fix: Brave Browser Slow (High CPU, RAM) Script . I have a similar question, but this time it's with Chrome. As with the other user mentioned in your article, every so often Chrome starts to lag and become unresponsive / slow. When I check Task Manager, I often see some of the chrome.exe processes eating up 2GB+ of memory. I'm not using any extensions, so I'm not sure why this happens, other than perhaps Chrome is caching too much information or there is a memory leak of some kind. Anyhow, I would like to have ...view more

Infopackets Reader Ted S. writes: " Dear Dennis, Thanks for your article on How to Fix: pbeagent.exe 100% CPU Usage (Kill, Respawn Script) and How to Fix: Block YouTube Ads (uBlock Origin Dead) . I have a related question to both of those articles. Since I switched to Brave Browser a few months ago, I've noticed that after a while, Brave gets really slow and laggy - especially when I'm playing videos on YouTube . For example: when I'm browsing Youtube and if I see a video I like, I will press CTRL + Left Click on the mouse to open the video I want to watch in a new tab. That way I can ...view more

Infopackets Reader Jill H. writes: " Dear Dennis, I purchased several uninterrupted power supply units dirt cheap for my home office (model APC 1500 SMX1500RM2U ). They work great - 1500VA @ 48 volts and a nice digital display. I downloaded PowerChute Business Edition which uses ' pbeagent.exe ' executable which is responsible for communicating between the UPS and my PC so that the PC can shut down safely during a power outage. The issue I'm having is that every so often the pbeagent.exe crashes and causes high cpu usage . When this happens, my computer's CPU fan is noticeably louder, and ...view more

Infopackets Reader Jay P. writes: " Dear Dennis, I'm running Windows 11 on the latest version of Chrome. I watch a decent amount of YouTube and have been using the uBlock Origin ad blocker extension for years, but it's no longer supported with the latest release of Chrome. Now when I visited Youtube.com I'm seeing an overlay that says: Video player will be blocked after 3 videos It looks like you may be using an ad blocker. Video playback will be blocked unless YouTube is allowlisted or the ad blocker is disabled. Ads allow YouTube to be used by billions worldwide. You can go ad-free with ...view more

Infopackets Reader Dennis J. writes: " Dear Dennis, What happens when Windows 10 reaches end of life after October 14, 2025? My computer isn't compatible with upgrading to Windows 11. Will I still be able to operate using Windows 10 safely? I have MalwareBytes but I don't understand these things. I'm retired, and just shy of 80, and can't afford a new computer this year. I'd appreciate your advice thank you. " My response: Thanks for your question. As you mentioned, after October 14, 2025 your Windows 10 PC will no longer receive security updates. One option is to pay Microsoft for Extended ...view more

Infopackets Reader Jarold K. writes: " Dear Dennis, I own a small business and have eight PCs running Windows 10, including an already unsupported Windows Server 2012 machine. I had a tech that managed this for us but he's moved on, so I am looking for someone else to manage this for us and came across one of your older articles. At any rate, we keep receiving messages that Windows 10 will reach 'end of life' in October 2025 and will no longer receive security updates . I ran the 'PC Health Check' app, and none of the devices are able to upgrade to Windows 11. I understand upgrading is ...view more