Trending October 2023 # What Is Driver Verifier? How To Use It To Troubleshoot Driver Issues # Suggested November 2023 # Top 18 Popular

You are reading the article What Is Driver Verifier? How To Use It To Troubleshoot Driver Issues updated in October 2023 on the website Benhvienthammyvienaau.com. We hope that the information we have shared is helpful to you. If you find the content interesting and meaningful, please share it with your friends and continue to follow and support us for the latest updates. Suggested November 2023 What Is Driver Verifier? How To Use It To Troubleshoot Driver Issues

Driver Verifier is a Windows tool used to monitor and stress drivers to detect any unintended behavior. It’s a tool meant to be used on development systems by driver developers rather than on production systems by normal users. In fact, Microsoft cautions users to do the same.

Windows NT Device Drivers use kernel mode structures called I/O request packets (IRPs) to communicate with the OS and each other. The Driver Verifier monitors these IRPs and checks for IRP assignment and completion errors.

As stated, this is generally done in test environments when developing the drivers. But sometimes, you’ll have to run the Driver Verifier on production machines. And there arises the question, is that even safe?

Well, it’s complicated. First of all, Microsoft has explicitly cautioned against trying to verify all drivers at once as this would severely degrade performance, limit the effectiveness of the verifier, and pretty much make the system unusable. And yet, this is how most users use the Driver Verifier.

But it’s also true that in rare cases, even if you use the Driver Verifier properly, you could still get stuck in a Driver Verifier bugcheck loop. Essentially, it could cause more crashes than it solves. But like we said, this is highly unlikely to happen if proper procedure is followed

Ultimately, our verdict is that you should only use this on production machines if you’ve already tried other debugging tools with no success.

Driver Verifier is included by default on most Windows versions and can be run with the verifier command. But before you run it, there are a few things worth noting first:

You should be in the Administrators group to use Driver Verifier.

It’s recommended to only test non-Microsoft drivers.

You should only test one or a few drivers at once. Running driver verifier against all drivers at once is not recommended.

You should ensure memory dump creation is enabled.

You should create a system restore point before running the Driver Verifier.

When testing the drivers, it’s best to start with any recently installed or updated ones, ones with problematic history, or any others that you suspect.

For maximal effectiveness, Microsoft recommends setting up network debugging. But this isn’t feasible for most users, and regardless of whether you set up the debugging session or not, the steps to follow on the target (crashing) computer are the same:

You can use debugging tools like WinDbg or KD to analyze the dump files and figure out the faulty drivers. In either case, for the CLI methods, you’ll first want to append the symbol path to point to the Microsoft symbol store.

We’ve done the same and confirmed that it worked by using the .sympath command in the shown example. Do note that internet access is required for this to work.

With KD, you can use the kd -y SymbolPath -i ImagePath -z DumpFileName command in CMD to open the dump file. At the KD prompt, you can use !analyze -v to analyze the dump file and !verifier to display the Driver Verifier stats.

WinDbg

In the case of WinDbg, you can do the same with windbg -y SymbolPath -i ImagePath -z DumpFileName. Alternatively, you can also use the WinDbg Preview app via the GUI as such:

Driver Verifier consumes a significant amount of resources when stress-testing the drivers in the background. If you don’t reset it after using it, your system performance will stay degraded, and you’ll continue to face crashes due to the bug checks.

As such, you’ll want to reset it by launching the Driver Verifier Manager as before and selecting Delete existing settings. Alternatively, you could also use the verifier /reset command in CMD.

If you’re unable to disable it due to direct crash upon booting, you can boot into safe mode and disable it from there. Assuming you followed our recommendations, Driver Verifier should only be running against non-Microsoft drivers, which won’t be running in safe mode, meaning you should be able to boot without crashing.

In case this isn’t an option either, you can boot from a Windows Installation Media or Recovery Drive and use system restore to revert your PC to a working state.

Once you’ve singled out the problematic driver, you can take the appropriate steps, whether that be updating it, rolling back, or uninstalling entirely.

You're reading What Is Driver Verifier? How To Use It To Troubleshoot Driver Issues

How To Fix Driver Corrupted Expool Error On Windows

When Windows displays a BSOD error, we’re left bewildered and constantly try to find a solution. Well, the exact thing happens when DRIVER_CORRUPTED_EXPOOL pops up all of a sudden.

As the name suggests, this error is primarily caused by driver-related problems on Windows. Indeed, we might forget to update a certain driver, while sometimes, we might encounter the BSOD on Windows after updating certain drivers that aren’t compatible with our system.

Apart from just drivers, there can be other reasons you see the DRIVER_CORRUPTED_EXPOOL on a blue screen. In this article, we will discuss exactly this error and try eleven possible fixes.

DRIVER CORRUPTED EXPOOL is a stop error that prevents your Windows OS from functioning smoothly. Often, when users encounter this BSOD problem, their system keeps restarting without any sign.

Well, you might face this problem while surfing the internet, when updating your PC, or even when overclocking the CPU and other hardware components. Indeed, if you’re getting this error continuously, it might trouble you at work or even while performing general tasks.

Major issues with device drivers

Both hardware and software issues

Malicious programs

Problems in chúng tôi and chúng tôi files

Issues with your RAM

Corrupted or outdated BIOS

DRIVER CORRUPTED EXPOOL error happens when a device driver isn’t compatible with the Windows OS. Basically, your system tries to access invalid memory, resulting in the Blue Screen of Death.

Well, the quickest technique to fix this is by restarting Windows. However, this may not solve your problem permanently. So, we recommend booting your computer in safe mode to troubleshoot this issue.

Before moving ahead with the fixes, we suggest updating Windows first. Sometimes, your device drivers are stuck and need an update. So, updating Windows to its latest version will resolve anything tinkering with the drivers.

If updating doesn’t resolve your problem, follow the below methods one by one as one of them should fix the DRIVER CORRUPTED EXPOOL error on your PC.

Malware is also known to alter system configuration and even lead to BSOD errors. So, if these harmful viruses affect the device drivers, there’s a high chance you’ll encounter the DRIVER CORRUPTED EXPOOL on a blue screen.

Luckily, an in-built anti-virus software within Windows OS lets you fight against such threats. Here’s how you can scan for possible threats:

Outdated drivers primarily cause the DRIVER CORRUPTED EXPOOL error. So, it’s important to update them regularly. Follow the below steps to update drivers on Windows 11:

Note: If you cannot identify the corrupted driver, you may need to update every adapter to eliminate the BSOD problem.

When the faulty drivers are still creating issues, you can simply disable them if they aren’t important to you. Else, you can uninstall them temporarily. For example, you can fix your ethernet driver if it’s not working. Here’s how you can do just that:

Along with the update, uninstall, and disable option, you can also roll back the recently updated driver on Windows. Basically, this feature takes the device driver to the last version, where the DRIVER_CORRUPTED_EXPOOL error can’t be encountered. Go through the below steps to rollback the latest driver you had updated:

The DRIVER CORRUPTED EXPOOL error often occurs when the required module symbols do not load for Networx.sys file. Moreover, this also happens when Windows can’t verify the timestamp for the same file.

Thus, we recommend removing that particular file itself. This will clear the path, and the error should be resolved. Go through the following steps to delete Networx.sys file on Windows 11:

When you’re on the blue screen, the system suggests you disable the memory options. So, we suggest turning it off from the BIOS:

If you have a defective RAM, there’s a possibility that it could be the reason you’re getting the BSOD error. So, the ideal option is to check if there’s an underlying issue within the physical memory.

Although there are various third-party tools to check your memory, Windows has a built-in utility called the Windows Memory Diagnostic. It’s quite simple to run, and here’s the exact procedure to use this application:

The three system tools, SFC, CHKDSK, and DISM, check for errors in various system files and try to fix them. So, we recommend running the following commands on Windows Terminal:

If you recently updated your OS, that doesn’t necessarily mean it is compatible with your system. Moreover, you may also encounter critical bugs and errors on some versions of Windows updates that might lead to BSOD errors, like DRIVER CORRUPTED EXPOOL. So, we recommend reverting the recent Windows update that might have created this issue:

Restoring Windows takes your OS back to the state when you never experienced the DRIVER_CORRUPTED_EXPOOL BSOD error. This way, anything tinkering with your drivers is fixed, and you’ll no longer face this issue. Here’s a simple guide on how you can create a restore point on Windows 11:

If none of the above fixes help you solve the DRIVER CORRUPTED EXPOOL error, it’s probably because your BIOS is outdated or corrupted. So, updating it will fix all the problems that your driver or Windows update can’t do.

Moreover, updating BIOS will also install new features that help to boost the system performance. This way, anything incompatible before will work on your computer.

However, BIOS update isn’t recommended for everyone. This is because even a slight mistake during the configuration might permanently damage your motherboard. Thus, follow the step-by-step guide below only if you’re willing to take the risk:

Navigate to your motherboard’s official site and download the BIOS update file.

For safety purposes, we recommend backing up your earlier BIOS settings using reliable software.

Now, you can install the update file from the BIOS interface, motherboard’s utility, or bootable media.

To learn the complete guide, here’s our post to help you update BIOS safely on your PC.

How To Install Or Update Driver In Windows 11

If you have a newly plugged in device such as a network adapter, printer, Bluetooth peripheral device, WiFi wireless adapter or any USB device, that couldn’t be recognized by Windows 11, here’s what you can try to do to get it to work.

Any device needs a driver installed and updated so that it can be recognized by Windows and be able to work with it. This short guide will show you how to install and update driver in Windows 11 via Device Manager or Windows Update.

Before we go deep into using Device Manager, if you are plugging in the device to your Windows 11 PC for the first time, the very first thing you should do is to try to restart your computer. It usually takes one restart for Windows to automatically detect and recognize the device, and install the right driver for the device. Meaning that the device should be able to work on the next restart without any action from your side.

If your hardware or device comes with a driver installation disc, which usually in the form of a CD, use the installation disc to install the driver instead. Then, update the driver through Windows Update or by following method 3 below to ensure you have the latest driver for your device.

All devices such as printers, WiFi adapters and most of USB and Bluetooth devices will have a driver installation disc that comes with the device.

If you don’t have a driver installation disc for the device, you can try to manually update driver for the device via Device Manager in Windows 11. Here’s how to do it.

In the Device Manager window, navigate to the device’s category. For example, if it’s a WiFi adapter that you’re trying to update driver for, expand Network adapters; If it’s a printer, expand Printers.

Note: If Windows couldn’t recognize the device, it might show up as “Unknown device” usually categorized under “Other devices“. If you can’t find the device under the category where it supposed to be, look under “Other devices” instead.

Restart your PC after Windows Update has successfully installed any update found, or if Windows Update request for a reboot.

If it shows “The best drivers for your device are already installed“, it indicates Windows has determined that a driver has already installed for your device. At this point, the device should work just fine.

If the device doesn’t work despite driver already installed, you can try to select “search for updated drivers on Windows Update” to allow Windows to search for updated driver for the device, if there is any, from Windows Update.

If not even Windows Update could find the right driver for your device, the only way left is to manually search for the latest driver from the device manufacturer’s website, usually in the support section.

The recommended way to do this is to visit directly to the manufacturer website and search for your device’s driver from within the website. This way eliminates the risk of downloading an incorrect driver from other unofficial websites which may even be a malware.

If you do not know the website address of the manufacturer, you can try to search the “manufacturer + model” of your device as keyword on Google or other search engine to see if there is any relevant result.

What Is Facebook Pay And How To Use It

Facebook Pay is Facebook’s effort to make moving money online easier and more secure. You can use it as a money sending app to split a bill with friends or as a service to order things online.

Facebook introduced Facebook Pay on November 12, 2023. There has been a payment platform on Facebook and Messenger since before then, but it’s only now that Facebook has announced plans to bring it to their other apps and websites – WhatsApp and Instagram.

Table of Contents

The new idea with Facebook Pay versus the old way Facebook has allowed online payments, is that you can have the payment method be used across all their apps. After signing up and choosing a payment method, you can easily buy things and exchange money with recipients from any of their apps.

Where Facebook Pay Works

Facebook Pay currently runs on Facebook and Messenger, but it’s also coming to Instagram and WhatsApp. It works across all platforms, so you can use it through those websites or through the mobile apps.

Only users in the US can use Facebook Pay at this time, but Facebook is planning on rolling it out to other countries eventually.

What Facebook Pay Is For

Facebook Pay serves two purposes depending on where you’re using it – to pay people and to buy things online.

Here’s what you can do (eventually, once implemented) with Facebook Pay from each of Facebook’s apps:

Facebook: Buy things from Facebook Marketplace, donate to fundraisers you support, and buy games and event tickets.

Messenger: Pay friends and family from your phone or computer.

Instagram: Donate and order things from brands you follow.

WhatsApp: Send and receive money just like in Messenger.

How To Use Facebook Pay

The easiest way to start using Facebook Pay is to attempt to send money to someone.

Enter an amount and an optional note, and then choose either REQUEST or PAY.

Add your payment information; you can pick ADD DEBIT CARD or ADD PAYPAL. Desktop users have to use a debit card at this screen.

Select the payment method now that you’ve added it to your account.

Choose PAY or REQUEST to complete the transaction. If you selected PayPal, you’ll have an option to pick which payment method from your account that you want to use. You can also see which methods charge a fee and which are free.

To get back to the screen where you can add a payment method, open the menu in Messenger and choose Payments.

Then Add new debit card or PayPal.

If you’re using Messenger on a computer, open the menu, go to Settings, and then select Manage on Facebook from the Payments section.

Another way to access the Facebook Pay settings is from the Facebook website.

Open your Facebook settings and choose Payments from the left side, and then Account Settings at the top.

To see all your Facebook Pay transactions, open the Payment History page of your Facebook settings, or go here.

Facebook Pay vs PayPal

Should you use Facebook Pay or PayPal? With both options readily available and free for most transactions, it might seem like a tough decision. However, PayPal and Facebook Pay are (currently) vastly different in terms of functionality.

Here’s a quick look at PayPal vs Facebook Pay:

PayPal works at more stores

Facebook Pay is easier to set up

PayPal works in more countries

Facebook Pay doesn’t charge fees

PayPal doesn’t require a Facebook account

Facebook Pay is great for sending money to friends and family. All you need is a debit card number, and you can make payments really easily from any conversation. In its current form, Facebook Pay is just a peer-to-peer payment platform. You can’t actually buy anything with it.

This is where PayPal is different. As you might already know, lots of online stores and even physical stores let you pay with PayPal. All your payment information is stored in your account, and you can just check out with your PayPal account to securely and quickly buy things.

Another difference that’s really only relevant for a short time is that Facebook Pay requires you to have a Facebook account. This is because you have to set up your account through Facebook or Messenger. However, once Facebook makes Facebook Pay available to WhatsApp and Instagram users, you’ll be able to use the service without ever having a Facebook account.

If you don’t have a Facebook account or you don’t like to use it, your only option (between these two payment platforms) is PayPal.

Another difference between Facebook Pay and PayPal is that there currently are zero fees to use the former. PayPal, on the other hand, takes a certain percentage of some transactions.

PayPal also has the upper hand in that you can use it in more than 200 countries/regions, and exchange money in over two-dozen currencies. Facebook Pay only works with the US dollar, and is only available in the US (though they will expand in the future).

What Is Wifi Direct In Windows 10 (And How To Use It)

Bluetooth is the gold standard for device-to-device file transfers and close-range communications, but it has a competitor that you might not have heard of: WiFi Direct.

What is WiFi Direct? This little-known alternative has been around for years but, unlike Bluetooth, you can use WiFi Direct for more than just file transfers.

Table of Contents

Windows 10 has direct WiFi Direct support, but if you’re planning on using it, you’ll need to know what it’s good for (and whether it’s safe to use it or not). There are plenty of devices that support WiFi Direct (under various names), so if you want to know more about WiFi Direct in Windows 10, here’s what you’ll need to know.

What Is WiFi Direct?

WiFi Direct is a standard that allows the use of WiFi radio frequencies (typically 2.4GHz and 5GHz) to make direct, peer-to-peer connections with other devices. You don’t need an existing WiFi network to connect to, as the connection is made directly between two devices.

WiFi Direct works by enabling a software-generated access point on the host device, creating a temporary WiFi network in the process. WiFi Protected Setup (WPS) is then used to authenticate, with a push button or PIN code used to establish a connection. This allows for a seamless (yet secure) connection between the devices.

Other WiFi-specific brands, such as Miracast, also use WiFi Direct to communicate. While Miracast is its own standard, it builds upon the WiFi Direct technology to allow for secure screen mirroring.

Modern Android devices (from Android 4.0 onwards) offer support for WiFi Direct, but you may need a third-party app to make full use of its functionality. It also has some support on certain smart TVs, game consoles, and other WiFi-capable devices.

Checking for WiFi Direct Support on your Windows 10 PC

If you want to use WiFi Direct as an alternative to Bluetooth, then you’ll be best served using a Windows 10 PC or laptop. Windows 10 offers full support for the WiFi Direct standard, but your internal WiFi chip (or external WiFi device) will need to support it.

If you want to check whether your Windows PC or laptop supports the WiFi Direct standard, then you’ll need to use the Windows PowerShell.

In the new Windows PowerShell window, type ipconfig /all and press Enter. A list of your network adapters and connections will be listed. Look through the list of adapters to find the Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter listed.

If Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter is listed, then your PC supports WiFi Direct connections. If it doesn’t, then you’ll need to attach a third-party USB WiFi device to enable support for it.

Connecting to Other WiFi Direct Compatible Devices

If your PC supports it, then you can connect to other WiFi Direct capable devices. To do this, you can use Windows’ search and discovery features to locate other WiFi Direct devices nearby.

In the Windows Settings menu, select the Devices option. From there, you’ll need to select the Add Bluetooth or other device option.

In the pop-up Add a device menu, you can select the type of device you want to connect to. Some WiFi Direct devices, for instance, are largely used for screen mirroring. To add one of these, select the Wireless display or dock option. Otherwise, select the Everything else option instead.

A list of available devices nearby that your PC can connect to will appear next. WiFi Direct-capable devices will also appear, including smartphones, smart TVs, games consoles, and more. To connect to those devices, select the device listed.

Once the device is connected, select the Done button to complete the connection.

The device will then appear in your list of known devices in the Bluetooth & other devices menu in Windows Settings.

While this method should work for most WiFi Direct devices, there may be other methods you can use to connect, so consult the user manual for those devices for further information.

For instance, some devices that support the WiFi Direct standard will have their own always-on WiFi networks that you can connect to. If you had a HP printer or Sony smart TV, for instance, you could connect by joining the DIRECT-XX wireless network for that device.

Sending Files Using WiFi Direct

One of the best uses for WiFi Direct is for file transfers, especially if you have a large number of files. While you could use Bluetooth, transferring large files (or a large number of them) would take much longer than a WiFi Direct connection.

To start, download and install the Feem app for your Android device. You’ll also need to install Feem on your Windows PC. Once installed, open Feem on both devices.

On your Android device, tap the Turn on WiFi Direct slider in the Feem app. This will activate the special WiFi Direct ad-hoc hotspot for your Windows device to connect to. The password required to connect to this network will appear in the top-right corner.

On your Windows device, connect to the temporary WiFi network created by your Android device (for instance, DIRECT-mH-Android). You can do this in your Windows Settings menu, or by pressing the WiFi/Network icon on your taskbar and selecting the temporary WiFi network from there.

Once connected, open the Feem app on your Windows PC. Your Android device should be listed in the left-hand menu. You can send files the other way by selecting your Windows PC in the Feem app on Android instead. Select the device in the list on either platform, then select or tap the Send File option at the bottom to begin sending files across.

Once the files have been sent, tap the WiFi Direct is on slider on your Android device to disable the WiFi Direct hotspot and end the connection.

Connecting Windows 10 PCs to Other Devices

As the name suggests, using WiFi Direct in Windows 10 allows you to make direct connections with other devices. If you want to transfer files from your smartphone to your PC regularly, then you may prefer to use the built-in Your Phone app instead.

What Is Magsafe And How Do I Use It?

One of the new features of the iPhone 12 is something called MagSafe. But, what exactly is MagSafe? Well, MagSafe is a couple of things rolled into one. It is both a mounting and a charging system. The charging system on the new iPhones is still compatible with Qi wireless charging. In addition, MagSafe includes a magnetic component that is also used to attach accessories.

See also: How to Fix When your iPhone Won’t Charge or Charges Slowly

See also: Set Up a New iPhone: How to Transfer Data from your Old iPhone

Although the MagSafe technology is incorporated into the new iPhone models, the new phones still ship with the standard lightning connector. To make use of the new MagSafe tech, you will need to purchase a MagSafe charger or accessory.

See also: How to Share Files and Folders in iCloud Drive

MagSafe Technology

Magnetometer: Senses and reacts to magnetic field strength.

Nanocrystalline shield: Captures magnetic flux

Magnet array and Alignment magnet: Allows an improvement over regular Qi wireless chargers. With Qi charging, if the device and the charger are not lined up properly, the charging efficiency is seriously reduced and devices charge more slowly, or not at all.

Charging Coil: Through magnetic induction, creates the electrical power that charges the device. A charging coil present in all devices that can be charged wirelessly.

NFC: This sensor is separate from the NFC sensor used for things like Apple Pay transactions.

E-shield: Allows the system to safely charge at up to 15 W.

See also: Customize your iPhone Home Screen for Free

MagSafe Chargers

The MagSafe charging technology allows charging at 15 W of power, whereas with a standard Qi charger, you are limited to around 7.5 W.

See also: This Password has Appeared in a Data Leak: Security Recommendations on iPhone

How to Use MagSafe Charger

Although designed to work with the iPhone 12 models and MagSafe accessories, MagSafe chargers can still be used with other Qi-certified devices and accessories, however, you will be limited to the standard Qi charging power. So, you can still use it to wirelessly charge your other iPhones (8 and up) or your AirPods.

See also: AirPods Wireless Charging Not Working, Fix

MagSafe Charger Setup

The charger should be placed, face up on a flat surface. You need to make sure there are no metal objects nearby that will come between the charger and the device.

The USB-C cable on the MagSafe charger should be connected to a power adapter capable of at least 12 W, but works best when connected to an adapter capable of 20 W or more. The USB-C cable may also be connected to your Mac.

See also: iPhone Silencing your Calls? How to Fix iPhone not Ringing Problem

Charging

** Make sure there are no objects nearby that can be harmed by the magnets used in the MagSafe technology; Items that have magnetic strips or RFID chips. Don’t leave your credit cards, hotel key cards, passports, key fobs etc. nearby or let them slip between the iPhone and the MagSafe charger

Remove any cases with metal materials or cases that are especially thick. If you are using the MagSafe wallet accessory, remove that. MagSafe cases can be left in place.

Place your iPhone on the charger, face up. A charge indicator will appear on your screen.