Windows 10 Reboot Loops after Update KB3081424

Windows 10 forced update KB3081424 was released last week. While installing it, many users are facing the problem of an endless restart loop on their Windows 10 machines. Here’s a Windows Registry editing fix mentioned ahead and Microsoft too is rolling out an “update to fix this bad update”.

This forced Windows 10 updates has started creating problems to the users and earlier people complained about the unstable graphics and buggy security graphics. Now, the update KB3081424, which is supposed to be a roll up fix, is failing to install and users are getting the message: “We couldn’t complete the updates, undoing the changes.” This message is followed by a forced system reboot and as soon as your Windows 10 PC restarts, it tries to install KB3081424 update again and your PC is stuck in an infinite loop.

Update problems are nothing new to Windows, but the forced nature of Windows 10 updates are causing this headache. Microsoft is yet to release a fix for this forced Windows 10 update problem ending up in an endless loop.

However, Microsoft forum users have found a bad entry in the Windows Registry that is causing this update to fail. If you edit the registry manually, you can solve this problem. So, before KB3081424 forced update tries to install again, follow the instructions given below.

I found this fix on Forbes and it’s as vague as it could be. Trying to edit Windows Registry without much knowledge can cause more problems, so proceed at your own risk:

• Type “regedit” in the desktop search and click on it to open the registry editor.
• In the window that opens, navigate to this path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
• fossBytes advises you to backup your registry key as it could be risky (to back up, with ProfileList highlighted, click File and Export by choosing a backup name)
• Then scan through the ProfileList IDs and delete any with ProfileImagePath found in it as it shouldn’t be there
• Close regedit and reboot your PC. Next time, KB3081424 forced update should install properly.

For those who are not much confident about the whole workaround suggested by Forbes, wait for next Windows update. You’ll be getting the new update soon as Microsoft is now pointing to a newer update that fixes the bug, a Microsoft spokesperson told Mashable in an email.

Kali Linux 2.0 is Released, Download ISO and Torrent Files Here

Kali Linux 2.0 comes with new 4.0 kernel and is now based on Debian Jessie. It comes with improved hardware and wireless driver coverage. The official Linux Kali 2.0 ISO and Torrent files are released and you can download them from the website (links given ahead). The new Linux Kali version supports a variety of Desktop Environments including gnome, kde, xfce, mate, e17, lxde and i3wm.

Linux Kali 2.0 release has made it an up-to-date OS in a global and continuous release and thus it has transformed into a rolling distribution. It means that Kali is pulling continuous packages from Debian Testing and upgrading the Kali core system. This enables Kali Linux 2.0 and other future versions to take advantage of the newer Debian packages.

Along with the Kali Linux 2.0, you get an upstream version checking system that alerts you about the new upstream versions of tools. With this new system, core tool updates will take place more quickly.

As I mentioned above, Kali Linux 2.0 now natively supports gnome, kde, xfce, mate, e17, lxde and i3wm. The move to gnome 2 has come at a price of the minimum RAM requirement that has been increased to 768MB for a full gnome 3 session.

Also read: Laika BOSS: Lockheed Open Sources Secret Cyber Threat Detection Weapon

The ARM image section of Kali Linux 2.0 now supports boards like Raspberry Pi, Chromebooks, Odroids etc.

The mobile penetration testing platform NetHunter too comes with an update and now includes Kali Linux 2.0. Also, versions for OnePlus One, Nexus 5,6,7,9 and 10 has been released. The company has also released new VMware and VirtualBox Kali 2.0 images including 32 and 64-bit flavors of the gnome 3 full Kali environment.

How to download Kali Linux 2.0?

Visit the Kali Linux 2.0 Download page to get the OS images. (Alternate link)

How Do I Upgrade Kali 1.x to Kali 2.0?

To upgrade Kali 1.x to Kali 2.0, you need to edit the source.list entries and run a dist-upgrade. If your Kali repos are incorrect or has overwritten Kali packages outside of apt, your upgrade could fail. In such case, you need to perform a clean install of Kali Linux 2.0. For the usual upgrade, run the upgrade as shown below:

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

cat << EOF > /etc/apt/sources.list deb http://http.kali.org/kali sana main non-free contrib deb http://security.kali.org/kali-security/ sana/updates main contrib non-free EOF   apt-get update apt-get dist-upgrade # get a coffee, or 10. reboot

Choosing Correct Wi-Fi Channel and Increase to Wi-Fi Speed

Still stuck buffering your You-Tube videos? Agonising over the long time it is taking for the page to load while sulking at the screen and cursing your Internet Service Provider? Worry not! Here is a tweak that might help you to increase Wi-Fi speed.

If you have been surfing the internet in the hope of finding a solution to help overcome this problem you might have encountered the word channel. No, well most of the Wi-Fi home  networks use a narrow radio frequency range of around 2.4GHz for signal transmission. This range has been distributed further into a number of smaller bands or channels, similar to television channels.  There are 14 channels designated in the 2.4 GHz range spaced 5 MHz apart (with the exception of a 12 MHz spacing before channel 14).

his paltry signal range leads to overlapping of channels which combined with the fact that other electronic devices such as microwave ovens, cordless phone etc. along with the wireless networks of your neighbors may also use the same frequency range can lead to interference with the wireless home network, affecting its performance adversely.

The interference could be due to the following causes:

But as you might have observed in the picture above Channels 1, 6 & 11 are spaced far enough so as to not overlap with each other and are as such the best channels for usage along a Wi-Fi network.

Further as interference leads to the reduction in the throughput of the system usage, selection of the proper channel to improve the performance of the WLAN equipment is also necessary.

To change your routers’ Wi-Fi channel you need to simply log into your router’s web interface in a web browser. Go to Wi-Fi setting and find the Wi-Fi Channel option and choose your new Wi-Fi channel.

The next question which might be buzzing in your mind would be how to select the correct channel for usage. Besides using channel 1, 6 and 11, you could further use the following methods to select the best channel:

How to Increase Wi-Fi speed by choosing right channel?

Android-WiFi Analyzer App:

One of the best android apps for selecting the most appropriate channel is the Wifi Analyzer App. Once you have installed the app from Google Play, it shall give you an overview of the wireless networks in your area and the channels which they are using, while also suggesting the best Wi-Fi channel for your Wi-Fi Network. You can also view the channel and star rating of Wi-Fi channels from the view menu and increase Wi-Fi speed.

Linux – The iwlist Command

Open the terminal and just type in the following command which is inbuilt in all popular Linux distributions:

Sudo iwlist wlan0 scan | grep \(Channel

Next you just have to simply study the output and select the Wi-Fi channel which is the least congested for optimum Wi-Fi performance and increase Wi-Fi speed.

Mac OS X – Wireless Diagnostics:

Mac OS X has this feature integrated into it.

Simply Hold the Option key & Click the Wi-Fi icon on the menu bar->Select Open Wireless Diagnostics-> Click the Windows Menu->Select Open Wireless Diagnostics->Click the Window Menu-> Select Utilities-> Select the Wi-Fi Scan Tab & Click Scan Now. The “Best 2.4 GHz Channels” and “Best 5 GHz” Channels” fields will automatically recommend the ideal Wi-Fi channel one should be using on their router and increase Wi-Fi speed.

Windows:

Windows users can simply opt for the inSSIDer utility or Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector or perhaps NIrSoft’s WifiInfoView to judge the Wi-Fi channel which is the least congested and choose it to increase Wi-Fi speed.

(News from fossBytes.)

Fix High RAM and CPU Usage of Windows 10 System

(ntoskrnl.exe) Process

Lots of Windows 10 users are reporting on Reddit and Microsoft forums that some processes (stokrnl.exe) in Windows 10 are slowing down the OS by consuming tons of RAM and CPU power. Here are some ways to fix high RAM and CPU usage in Windows 10.

I’m here to tell about a bug in Windows 10 that is worrying the Windows 10 users and they are voicing their problem on Reddit and Microsoft’s forums. According to them, some processes in Windows 10 are slowing down the OS by consuming tons of RAM and CPU power.

The main process that is being observed as troublesome is the System (stokrnl.exe) process. Reportedly, this process uses an increasing amount of RAM after PC starts. It remains calm for few hours, but then it eats up all the free RAM and a large portion of CPU juice.

The good people at Business Etc have confirmed the issue and we are sharing some simple fixes to fix high RAM and CPU usage issue:

How To Fix High RAM and CPU Usage of Windows 10 System (ntoskrnl.exe) Process?

Instead of changing any advanced system settings on your PC, make sure that your PC isn’t affected by some malware. Most of the users have upgraded their PCs from older Windows 7 and 8.1, thus any malware in previous OS gets migrated to Windows 10. You can install the anti-malware tools like Malware Bytes to deep scan your Windows 10 PC.

After the scan, reboot your PC. Now, move to the next solution to fix high RAM and CPU usage if this problem stills persists.

On Reddit and Microsoft forums, people have claimed that the root cause of this Windows 10 memory leak is some faulty driver. If you have RAID disk drive setup, update those drivers. Also, try updating the remaining hardware drivers as it’s a problem caused due to un matching OS and drivers. It is a known fact that Microsoft has decided to take control of the update process. Still, we recommend you to update the network, graphics and sound drivers manually. This step has worked for the most of people.

Some discussion threads suggest that Run time Broker is one such system process that eats large chunk of CPU power due to the poor memory optimization. This process doesn’t deliver any functionality as such, so you can disable it.

To disable the Run time Broker, open the Settings app and go to System. Inside System window, locate Notifications & Actions and unselect “Show me tips about Windows.” Now restart the PC to bring it back to the normal and fix high RAM and CPU usage.

Source: http://fossbytes.com

Windows 10 Error Code 80240020 Fixed

The error code means that your downloading file is corrupted or the file is unable to complete downloading. and This video might probably help you guys to fix the ERROR CODE 80240020 when downloading Windows 10 through Windows Update..

This is a simple fix recommended by Microsoft for those who faces this issue.

Windows 10 to Windows 7 or 8.1 in Simple Steps

How to Uninstall Windows 10 / Downgrade Windows 10 to Windows 7 or 8.1?

As the name downgrade suggests, here I’m going to tell you how to uninstall Windows 10 if you’ve upgraded your genuine Windows 7 or 8.1. Note that this method isn’t applicable if you’ve performed a clean install to get Windows 10.

To downgrade to Windows 7 or 8.1, you need to access the Recovery option in your Windows 10 PC. To access this, press the Start Button and click on the Settings option.

Now, you’ll be seeing the Settings window with options like System, Devices, Accounts etc. Find the Update & Security option and click on it.

In the new Update & Security window, you’ll find the Recovery option. Here, your Windows PC hides recovery options like Reset this PC and rolling back to the older version of Windows. Reset option makes your Windows 10 installation a fresh one while Go back to Windows 7 or 8 will take your system to a previous version of Windows. Click on Go back to Windows 7.

You’ll be asked the reason for Windows 10 downgrade. After filling up an option, you’ll be taken back to the previous OS.

Note:

If your Windows 10 installation is older than a month, then you can not downgrade Windows 10 to Windows 7 or 8.1. You are unable to do so because the Windows.old folder in your system drive gets deleted after a month. This option won’t work even if you had run the disk cleanup utility to clean up the older installation files.

Source: http://fossbytes.com

Windows 10: Most Important Features

Short Bytes : With Windows 10, Microsoft is making a strong step towards its goal of One Microsoft by looking forward to connect all the Windows devices more effortlessly. Now, Windows 10 is released and we are going to tell you the best features of Windows 10.

Return of the Start Menu:

Microsoft tried hard to make a single operating system for desktop PCs and touch devices with Windows 8, but the absence of the classic start menu wasn’t welcomed. With Windows 10, Microsoft has brought the start menu back. The start menu has undergone drastic visual change and it expands to a full-screen view.

As I’ve written in earlier posts, Microsoft has designed a special feature called Continuum for the convertible devices. There is an action center which provides fast access to settings like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth etc.

Edge Browser is a reality:

Brand-new Microsoft Edge has arrived on PCs along with Windows 10. Microsoft has brought a cleaner and more powerful web-browser with new features in Windows 10.

As I’ve written in earlier posts, Edge has some of the most advanced features ever for a web browser. These features include web-page annotation, brand new way to group tabs together etc.

Cloud is more prominent with OneDrive:

Microsoft wants to make OneDrive a larger contributor when it comes to Windows 10. It will be used for syncing data like music and photos.

Must Read: Our complete Windows 10 coverage.

Xbox meets PC:

Microsoft has decided to launch the Xbox app for each kind of device running on Windows 10. Microsoft has a prominent presence in the gaming market and it is looking forward to make PC gaming Network Windows Live more playable.

With Xbox app, users will be able to stream games from Xbox One on PC and this is definitely an exciting addition.

Windows 10 for phones:

Unifying the devices of all shapes and sizes, Microsoft’s Windows 10 will come for phones too. There is a special version of the OS which made of the devices smaller than 8 inches. The notifications and information will be syncing in real-time between the desktop and mobile device.

Universal apps:

Microsoft announced that universal apps will be coming to the Windows ecosystem.

With Windows RunTime coming to Windows Phone 8.1, developers can now write the app using a common code and it’ll work across phones, tablets, PCs and even the Xbox One.

With the universal apps, Windows 10 can fulfill the dearth of apps because mobile and desktops will be able to support each other.

Microsoft has made some bold and risky moves in the announcement and is trying to leave the failures of Windows 8 and Windows Phone behind. It showed believe in cloud and the goal to achieve a unified operating system for all devices. To ensure its success, Microsoft will have to show the customers the superiority of Windows 10 over Windows 8.