Author: Bulldog Tech

AOL Mail Is Dead Today

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Update: AOL reporting issue has been resolved!

While we are not affiliated with AOL, or the outage in general, we’ll keep you posted as to when they fix the issue.

We’ve received numerous calls and emails today to our support line where customers could not reach AOL Mail. For the past several hours AOL has been down and some delivery problems have been noted. While AOL works to correct this, expect continued interruptions and timeouts.

These outages can happen time to time with free services. A hosted email solution is the most reliable way to ensure you always have access to your emails. These free accounts are not reliable, secure, spread viruses and are hacked on an almost daily basis.

Our Hosted Microsoft Exchange Emails gives you the power, flexibility & productivity you demand in business critical email system. Bulldog Tech offers affordable, convenient and secure email packages.

Looking to ditch AOL? Give us a call.

Can’t type in Windows 10 search bar or any other screen except IE

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We had a few issues where client could not type into the search bar in Cortana, skype or other apps BUT could use Edge and IE. This baffled us for a while as we changed keyboards & reloaded machines all to no avail.

After some research, we discovered that a bad windows update or a program installed can damage some files. Here is what we use to fix these issues:

If any of these functions like Start Menu, Settings, Search, Cortana, Microsoft Edge, Action Center and other Windows components are not responding, follow these below methods and check if it helps: 

Method 1:

  • Press Windows + X keys on the keyboard, select Command prompt (admin).
  • Enter the below commands one by one and hit Enter key.

    PowerShell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted

  • It will open the PowerShell window.
  • Now enter the below command and hit Enter key.

    Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers |Where-Object {$_.InstallLocation -like “*SystemApps*”} | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

If the issue still persist, follow the below method.

Method 2:

  • Open the Task manager.  Here’s a tip:  Press CTRL+Shift+ESC.
  • Click File > Run New Task
  • Make sure you have a check mark beside “Create this task with administrative privileges”
  • Type Powershell
  • Type the following in the Powershell prompt:
    $manifest = (Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.WindowsStore).InstallLocation + ‘\AppxManifest.xml’ ; Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register $manifest
  • Close the Powershell window
  • Reboot the computer and check if it helps.

Turn off Windows Programs on Startup

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When loading applications, they sometimes load parts of the program every time you start windows – these apps can slow your machine down when running applications, make startup very slow and at times cause ads to appear.

Its easy to turn off such apps and speed up your computer:

Windows 10

  1. Right click anywhere on the TASK bar at the bottom of the screen
  2. LEFT click on the TASK MANAGER Menu Item
  3. Click the STARTUP Tab – if you do not see the startup tab, on the bottom click MORE DETAILS to show
  4. Select each program you do not want to run and click the DISABLE button – – in our many years experience, you can uncheck ALL except antivirus.
Right Click on Task bar and select TASK MANAGER

 

Select Each App you want removed and press DISABLE

 

Windows up to 8

  1. Click START
  2. CLICK RUN
  3. Type: MSCONFIG and press ENTER
  4. Click on the tab STARTUP
  5. You will see multiple programs – you can UNCHECK each app you do not want to run – in our many years experience, you can uncheck ALL except antivirus.