The article describes the procedure of removing wmpscfgs.exe virus, a dangerous Trojan agent. The methods described here are simple and correct to the date. It is, however, recommended that users follow and implement these accurately. It will essentially save them from facing problems and eventually looking for online virus removal support options. Wmpscfgs.exe virus is a nasty and hard-to-remove Trojan virus. It can hijack all the processes or applications currently running in your system. Common symptoms of this virus include warning in the Internet Explorer that it is not your default browser, oddly behaving Windows UAC, or Microsoft Security Essentials showing your startup programs as a virus. Don't worry as we are here to help you. The guide mentioned below will help you step-by-step to completely eliminate this beast from your system and make it healthy again.

Instructions: Reboot your computer in Safe Mode. To do so, restart your computer and start pressing the F8 key on the keyboard before the Windows logo appears. Continue pressing the key until the Windows shows you the Advanced Boot options. Launch Windows Explorer from the Start menu and then navigate to All Programs> Accessories> and then Windows Explorer. Click on the Tools tab and then select Folder Options. When the Folder Options window opens up, click on the View tab, scroll down and then select the Show hidden files and folders option. Also make sure that the option Hide Extensions for known file types is not checked. Click on the Apply button and then OK to exit the current window. Ads by Google Open Task Manager by right clicking anywhere on the taskbar. Highlight the Processes tab, click to select the box Show processes from all users, select the wmpscfgs.exe process, and then click on the End Process button to stop it from running. For Windows Vista users, go to the directories C:\> Program Files> Internet Explorer as well as C:\> Users> AppData> Local> Temp. Look into both the locations for wmpscfgs.exe and remove the file or folder from there. Click on the Start menu and navigate to Run. When the Run window appears, type ‘regedit' (without quotes and as is) in the box and click on the OK button. If prompted for an admin password, key it in to proceed to the Windows Registry Editor. Before you begin and if you are not sure, take help of a techie friend or an expert to modify the Windows Registry. A wrongly modified registry can leave your computer partially or fully non-operational. You can also take backup of your registry before starting the modifications. Click on the ‘+' sign (to expand it) next to HKEY LOCAL MACHINE and navigate to Software> Microsoft> Windows> CurrentVersion> and Run. Search for the ‘%ProgramFiles%\Internet Explorer\wmpscfgs.exe' entry and delete it. Keep searching for this entry and deleting it until you stop seeing it in search results. Use the Find dialog box to search the entry. Press Ctrl + F keys together on the keyboard to bring up the box. Copy and paste this entry in the box and then click on the Find Next button. It will make searching easier for you. Look for these processes and/or files also and remove them viz. vmwareuser .exe; C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\js.mui; C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\wmpscfgs.exe; C:\Program Files\vmware\vmware tools\vmwareuser.exe; C:\Windows\Tasks\At1.job; C:\Windows\Tasks\At2.job; C:\Windows\Tasks\At3.job; C:\Windows\Tasks\At4.job; C:\Windows\Tasks\At5.job; C:\Windows\Tasks\At6.job; C:\Windows\Tasks\At7.job; C:\Windows\Tasks\At8.job; C:\Windows\Tasks\At9.job; C:\Windows\Tasks\At10.job; C:\Windows\Tasks\At11.job; C:\Windows\Tasks\At12.job; C:\Windows\Tasks\At13.job; C:\Windows\Tasks\At14.job; C:\Windows\Tasks\At15.job; C:\Windows\Tasks\At16.job; C:\Windows\Tasks\At17.job; C:\Windows\Tasks\At18.job; C:\Windows\Tasks\At19.job; %Temp%\wmpscfgs.exe. Search everywhere in the computer and Registry Editor too for these entries, files etc. and remove them. If you find any of these processes running in Task Manager, then kill the process (see above for the procedure). Double check every process, file, or entry in the Registry Editor so that all the traces of this virus can be removed. This is to ensure that the virus has been removed fully and doesn't come back. This nasty virus has the ability to come back and take over your system after reboot even if a single trace is there. Update your antivirus/anti-spyware program and run a full scan on your system. It will double ensure that there is no virus left in your computer. It is must to update your security software with latest updates on a regularly basis. Download and run a registry cleaner, an automatic tool, from a trusted website. Save the file to desktop and then run. It will clean up all the unnecessary or empty registry keys from the system. Make a backup or create a restore point before running the cleaner. When done, reboot your computer in normal mode. Update your antivirus to download any latest updates if available any.

It is very important to defrag the hard drive on your PC sporadically in order to improve its performance and extend its life. All the latest Windows operating systems come with built-in defrag utilities. The tool is good but can not render satisfactory performance. They fail to defrag all files and can not optimize the placement of files on the hard drive. Due to this reason, computer users feel the importance of third-party disk defraggers. In this article we have talked about some of the best defraggers. Computer support providers also help the PC users to deal with hard drive related issues efficiently.

Why you need disk defraggers? As you work on your PC, file fragmentation occurs. This is inevitable because if any file is read, changed, and re-written, it gets saved in various parts of the hard drive. And later, when you open this file, performance suffers as computer looks for the fragmented parts in all parts of the hard drive.

By defragmenting the hard drive, you can put all of the parts of a fragmented file back together in the same place. And this ultimately enhances the system's performance. It is always recommended to run defrag utilities in Windows Safe mode as if the file is in use it can not be defragmented. It has also been noticed that even in Safe mode, Windows defrag utilities fail to defrag some files. And here comes the third-party defraggers into the picture.

There is no dearth of such software programs. Let's take a look at some of the best in business. If you're in a hurry and want to accomplish defragmentation process quickly, go for Defraggler. A complete defragmentation of the hard disk could take more than an hour. But Defraggler allows the users to select file(s) that you want to defragment.

You can also consider PageDefrag to defrag some important files. This is a free specialty defragger that defragments the pagefile.sys, hyberfile.sys, and the Windows registry files. The application could be set to run every time Windows is rebooted. Another popular name is IObit's SmartDefrag. This is also a placement optimizer and a complete system tune-up and optimization suite. SmartDefrag can run in background and keep your files defragmented.

When it comes to perform file defragmentation and placement comprehensively, you may consider UltimateDefrag. The placement of the file is very important because the rotational speed of the disk is more near the outer edge of the disk platter as compared to near the center. Due to this reason, large and frequently accessed files need to be placed near the outer edge of the disk. And UltimateDefrag does exactly the same. It places every file according to its requirements. This program is free to use for 30 days.

Norton SpeedDisk is another impressive suite of Norton Utilities. This is a paid program and it does the job exceedingly well. The program defrags hard disks, optimizes registry entries, and other things to boost up disk's performance.

For one who is not a computer wizard, it may be noteworthy to mention that drivers are very important components of a computer. A driver is likened to an interpreter between the programs and the device used by a program itself. Only a driver can translate the special commands for every device and accepts commands from a certain program for a specific device. Without the driver, the program does not run.

In other words, device drivers simplify the operating systems or OS particularly for higher level hardware applications like the BIOS which is also referred to as system firmware. The bios contains the codes that control the computer keyboard, display screen, serial communications, disk drives and various miscellaneous functions such as execute or delete.

It is of utmost importance to understand some other rudimentary facts about computer bios. Basically, the PC bios must start up first upon turning the computer on checking hardware with its Power On Self Test or POST. With everything in the system running properly, the BIOS directs the OS into the random access memory or RAM of your computer. The system firmware stores system data like the time, date, and system configuration inside the Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor or CMOS.

Most often, the PC firmware system is updated only when it is showing system errors or malfunctioning. However, in the event your bios is experiencing trouble make sure you know how to update drivers specifically for the bios. Take note that incorrect bios updating may cause the locking of the system, hence you cannot boot anymore. Obviously, that becomes a real big issue!

Henceforth, taking proper care of your PC bios is of great importance but not necessarily updating it too often. It is not advisable to abuse updating bios driver for that can lead to the untimely demise of your computer. You only update drivers for computer BIOS when it is apparently required. If you want to avoid any form of damage to the overall computer system, you must have the software that is capable of performing perfectly the needed task.

You may not be a computer literate or a highly technical person but with the assurance of a virtual assistant that can update drivers while you sleep is already a great consolation. It is likewise assured that your computer is always at its optimum performance if drivers are functioning properly. It is of common knowledge that computers in these days have already become a very important tool due to its various uses.

With the right type of software, which is a virtual expert on this area, you can eliminate unwanted worry regarding outdated drivers. Leave the hassle to the expert software that saves you from the risky trial and error troubleshooting. You can check on some helpful assistance from the driver robot, or the driver checker or the driver finder to update drivers for computer bios in particular.

Since all of us use computer monitors on a daily basis it would be advisable to learn and know something about them. In fact, many people do not know anything about them. Most of them do not know what kind of monitors we have. I'll do my best to explain you in short what types we do have and how to select proper monitor.

First of all, we may separate computer monitors into two main categories, those are flat screen and flat panel monitors. Flat screen displays are CTR monitors while flat panels are LCDs and LEDs. Since CRT monitors are not produced anymore, we will not bother spending time learning about them but we should know that they are called CRT as they use cathode ray tube for image reproduction.

LED and LCD monitors are pretty much the same since both of these types use very same technology for image reproduction. Only difference between them is in the backlight that is used. LCDs use cold cathode fluorescent light (CCFL) for illuminating liquid crystals while LEDs use white diodes that may be placed on the one edge of the monitor rim or all around monitor rim. We call those Edge LEDs. Also, white diodes may be placed all around panel matrix and we call those monitors Full Array or Direct LED monitors.

LCD computer monitors have many advantages over CRTs and because of their advantages they managed to suppress CRTs from the market. Their usage and implementing started during 1990s but since technology was expensive during that time they were not produced in huge numbers, they are mainly used for producing laptops. During 2000s all mayor manufacturers start producing LCD monitors in bigger amounts and from then until today we may find them on the market.

Main advantage of LCDs over CRTs is size since they are lightweight and more compact. Also, they use much less power energy making them more efficient. There is no image flickering and no voltage hazard during repairing.

Few years ago manufacturers started to produce LED monitors and during that time they were also pretty much expensive. Since most common type, Edge LEDs, have not had significant advantage over LCDs they have not suppressed them from the market. Nowadays, since they are in same price range we may see that people slowly start to change their LCD for LED monitors since they use less power and may produce more vivid colors, better brightness and deeper black levels. In fact, LEDs use about 20-30% less power compared to LCD monitors.

To be honest, LEDs are capable of producing better and sharper image than LCDs but that is different from model to model and from manufacturer to manufacturer. We may see many LCD displays on the market that may produce magnificent colors and black levels with high response time of just 5ms but that bears the price of almost $1000. Because of that, it is best to spend more time when choosing between LCD and LED computer monitor and closely compare one model to another.

USB Flash Drives are one of the most popular electronic products in the world behind mobile phones and as with mobile phones; the price can vary greatly depending on the quality of the USB and also the memory size. The Flash memory chip inside a USB flash drive governs its price and this pricing can fluctuate greatly over time for a number of reasons.

Flash memory is a commodity and the price is governed by the old economic rule of Supply and Demand. Pricing on the whole as with most electronic products is on a steady decline, but every so often there are sudden events that can push pricing up over night. A recent example of this was the devastating earthquake over in Japan, where Toshiba who produce around a third of the world's flash memory were badly affected. Toshiba's factory wasn't actually directly damaged by the Earthquake, but a number of the factories that produce the raw materials such as the silicone wafers (used inside a flash chip) had to stop production causing Toshiba to lower their output which lead to a drop in supply and an increase in price. Over the weekend of the disaster pricing went up by around 30%. This was mainly caused by panic and uncertainty over the supply of Flash memory and it took a couple of months for pricing to return to the levels they were at before the disaster.

There is also one company big enough to have a huge effect on the USB flash price and that is Apple. The iPad, iPod and iPhone all utilise flash memory and every so often Apple places huge bulk orders which can buy up months of stock from the top manufacturers leaving everybody else fighting for the scraps. In 2009 Apple bought up 4 months production of Samsung's flash memory and the fact that Samsung produce around 40% of the worlds flash memory caused another huge price hike. This didn't begin to correct itself until the order was completed.

Pricing on the whole is on a steady decline. The pricing on the lower memory drives seems to have bottomed out now as fewer and fewer manufactures are producing them due to low demand. There is little to no value purchasing anything below a 1GB drive as the current price difference between a 32MB and a 1GB drive (32 x the size) is only now around $1. As technology keeps on improving we should see pricing on the higher memory capacity drives continue to come down until it reaches the same stage as the 1GB seems to have done. There is little to no room for a 1GB to get any cheaper, any further drop in price would lead to the manufacturer losing money and there is no future in that.

If you are a consumer buying the odd USB Flash Drive for personal use, you may not notice these price fluctuations and they will have little effect on you, but if you are buying in bulk for promotional or educational use, it will be worth your while to sign up for regular USB price updates so that you can ensure that you are not buying when pricing is at a peak.

James Thomas is the US Sales Manager for USB-Flashdrive.com. If you are looking for custom USB Flash Drives in bulk then visit us on our website.

Everybody knows that if the device drivers are not updated regularly, they may result in some serious consequences, such as freeze, blue screen, computer not responding and even crash. Facing such painful problems, would you like to find an easy and safe way to update your device drivers? Choosing a driver update program is the easiest and fastest way to keep your drivers up to date.

A good update program can fix bugs and repair the outdated and corrupted device drivers. What the key elements that a top update tool should have? What features should you pay close attention to before you select one? I will give you a guide for your reference in this article.

First of all, the best updater should have a massive database. The larger of the size of database, the more hardware devices can be supported to update. At least, the database should contain more than 100,000 unique device drivers from various manufacturers all over the world. Some update software only support some common devices, such as CPU, sound card, display card, mouse, motherboard, etc. An excellent driver updater can not only support the devices like these, but also support some special devices like game controller, wireless mouse and wireless router.

Secondly, the most important feature is that a top update tool should provide perfect scanning. The purpose of the scanning is to detect any outdated, corrupted and unknown drivers on your computer. A good driver update program should detect all the outdated and corrupted devices drivers on your computer. And you can automatically download and install the latest ones to update your window system.

Thirdly, you should notice that whether the update tool offers customer support or not. Top update software should provide professional technical support in case you have difficulty in handling problems with your computer. Before you choose one, you have to take notice of this feature.

At last, you should be aware that the easy-to-use interface is also an important feature for a good update tool. And it is difficult for people to use some programs that require a lot of computer knowledge. For average computer users, the best driver update software should be easy to use and be able to complete the whole processes of driver update with just several clicks.

The 4 key elements I have mentioned are the criteria for you to select the best driver updater. To avoid and repair the troubles that the outdated and corrupted drivers bring about, you should select the best driver update software to keep your computer drivers up to date.

In most of the forums related to PCs and hardware, you will see that a lot of people ask recommendations for good power supply units (PSUs or SMPS). But many of them end up buying substandard and cheap ones just because they can save some money. Even bad is that many of the folks with no hardware knowledge at these forums even recommend useless PSUs. But everyone has to know the simple fact that a PC is powered by a PSU and it decides the ultimate fate of it in the long run.

A power supply unit is an important component of any PC. When you decide on the hardware configuration, you should be in a position to know which one to buy and how many wattage it should carry. But the maximum watts rating printed on the sticker on any PSU can be deceiving and you have to do further research before purchasing it. For example, a 500W PSU can in fact be a 350W part and installing high end components including a power hungry graphic card can lead to burnt hardware. If you are somewhat tuned to the hardware scene, you will already know that manufacturers do not honor warranty for burnt components. Thus purchasing the wrong PSU can lead you into trouble.

So how do you know which PSU is suitable for your configuration? Firstly, you can try some of the online calculators to get a rough idea. But they are just estimates and the real-world power consumption can be different depending on what you are going to do.

Do go cheap

Those cheapo, Chinese made PSUs are simply not recommended for any type of systems. If you are building a PC, never get the no-name PSUs just because you can get it for a bargain deal. They are always overrated and simply don't have any protection against over current, over voltage etc. They are very power inefficient that they waste power unnecessarily. If you look carefully on the sticker, you can clearly see that they over exaggerate the maximum power output. As a thumb rule, you can be sure that they cannot even provide 60% of what they are rated for. For instance, a cheap PSU rated at 500W will simply blow up if you try to pull 350W from it. Just avoid them. You get what you pay for.

Don't be obsessed with official ratings

Most of the manufacturers overrate the maximum wattage. The fact is it's not only the maximum wattage that matters but also the electrical noise (ripple) a PSU produces. Check for online reviews and make your purchasing decisions.

More is not always better

You need not get a power supply that far exceeds the calculated power consumption. That is, if the power supply calculator reports your configuration would consume 350W, you need not get a PSU that can provide 750W. While it won't hurt, you end up wasting money. Secondly, most of the PSUs perform best at 50% to 70% load. Thus getting a good 450 or 500W PSU will make more sense. In this scenario, a 750W PSU won't be as efficient as a 450W PSU.

Always get PSUs from well known brands like Seasonic, Corsair, OCZ, Antec etc. Look for reviews on specific models as different OEMs make different models for a same company. Look for reviews and the OEM. The UL number that is printed on the PSU will be useful in finding the OEM. If a PSU model from company X is excellent, it doesn't necessarily translate to all other models from the same company.

Look for these in a PSU: Efficiency, Active PFC, OCP, OVP, OLP and ripple and you will be good.