ASUS AiCloud is a very useful and powerful feature of its routers if you would like to access the shared folders of networked computers anywhere there is an internet connection. However, there is one glitch that may cause problems accessing the computer even though it is shown on the list of devices. User ID and password will keep pop up even though correct information is entered. The cause and the solution are not well documented anywhere.

If you are using Windows 10, there has been a security patch which has turned off SMB1 network sharing. You might need to re-enable this. Go to Control Panel, Programs, Turn Windows Features on or off and turn on both options under SMB1.0/CFIS File Sharing Support. You will need to restart after this. And that should resolve the access problem.

Duplicati 2.0 is free backup software and open source. It is quite unique among many such free backup programs. The web-based user interface is clean and logical, although some of the more advanced features are hidden by default and you may want to pay notice to this. It runs extremely efficient and fast compared to many commercial counterparts. The storage requirements for backup are also amazingly slim. You can store many versions of the backup in the same location without worrying about overflowing the disk. File restoration also works perfectly. Duplicati 2.0 offers a serious alternative to File History that came with Windows in terms of the overall backup strategy.

If you are still using Windows 7 for whatever reasons and encounter problems doing Windows Update (like one of errors indicated on the title), you may want to try installing the following two updates and it may resolve the problems

KB3138612 update
KB3020369 update

Windows Network Neighborhood is a historic mechanism to access other Windows computers in the same network. The concept of network has evolved over the years and there is now a pretty standard way of using TCP/IP for that purpose in most platforms. However exploring other computers in the same network using “File Explorer –> Network” is still very convenient and works in modern Windows versions, although issues may pop up from time to time mostly related to computers not showing up. Check out this article for potential solutions and ideas on how to fix some of these problems.

Depending on the version of VMware Workstation and the guest operating system, problems may occur when connecting a USB 3 device (e.g. external disk) from the host to the guest system. Error messages may include “not recognizing the USB device” or there is no message displayed at all. Device Manager will indicate that the device is not working properly even if it is detected.

Adding the following line to the configuration file (.VMX) of the virtual machine may help resolve the problem. Follow these steps: shutdown the guest operating system, edit the configuration file and restart the system.

usb.generic.keepStreamsEnabled = “FALSE”

This seems like a common issue when a mouse has been used for some time, say after a year or so. When you do a click, the mouse actually does a double click causing potential problems depending on what you are doing at the time. There are a number of “solutions” in the web trying to resolve the issue but most of them require disassembling the device with a lot of skill that is too much for the majority of us. Try the following simple solution by all means. It works in my case, and it may work for you too.

Logitech Mouse Double Click Fix – The Most Simple Method. No Dis-assembly Required – YouTube

If you are still holding onto a Microsoft Windows Media Center machine, its remote is critical in operating such a device. The button on the remote can actually be remapped to perform a different function to your liking. One practical usage is to remap the ‘sleep’ function to a button that is seldom used, to supplement the ‘power’ button that may start working inconsistently due to wear and tear over the years. Download the remapping program from here.

If you cannot see other computers in Windows Explorer –> Network, check the following link for solutions that could potentially resolve the problem caused by the dated protocol with reduced support in newer versions of Windows.

Can’t see other Computer on Network – Microsoft Community