Microsoft Defender error - "this program cannot search for definition updates"

Have you ever come across the error - "this program cannot search for definition updates" on your Microsoft Windows Defender while trying to update the software?

If yes is the answer then either
your version of defender is not compatible with the update engine used by Microsoft or
the update client for the defender insalled on your PC is corrupted by a spyware, virus or trojan.

Now, here comes the solution...

Open the URL - Microsoft Malware Protection Center

Under the section - Latest Definition Updates --> Windows Defender
Antispyware click on the 32 bit or 64 bit matching the version of Windows installed on your PC.

Save the setup file and run it. Once the update is complete, open windows defender and try to run the update manually. You won't get the error anymore. :-)

Convert DVD to DivX - AC3

Intro

In the new world of DivX, DVDs seems to be out of fashion. One of the main worries a serious movie watcher have when converting his DVD collection to DivX is "preserving 5.1 Surround Sound on DivX"


Software Requirements

1) DivX Codec
2) AC3 Filter
3) Dr. DivX

Howto convert vob to DivX preserving the 5.1 Surround Sound



Open Dr.DivX and click on Open.
Select the vob file that needs to be converted to DivX.
Click on the Advanced tab.
Click on Codec
Select Codec
Select performance as "Better Quality", mode as 2-pass and bit rate as 1300 kbps.
Click on the Audio tab, select the format as AC3.
Click on Encode.
Wait for it to finish. It'll take some time for the process to complete. If you are planning to convert a whole movie, it's better if you do it while you sleep. :)
Once the encoding process is completed, write the ac3 files as data cd or dvd and watch it on your DivX Player. :-)

Do, contact me via google talk - amalji
in case you run across any problems...

Cheers,
Amal. :)

"ORKUT IS BANNED,Orkut is banned you fool"

Do you see one of these messages on your Windows machine?

"ORKUT IS BANNED,Orkut is banned you fool" - when you try to open www.orkut.com

"youtube IS BANNED,youtube is banned you fool" - when you try to open youtube.com

"USE INTERNET EXPLORER YOU DOPE,I DNT HATE MOZILLA BUT USE IE" - when you try to run the firefox browser

The message is often accompanied by a wicked laugh. :-)

If you see one of these messages, then you are most probably infected with the virus - Heap41a / win32.USBworm Worm

To remove the virus, you need to follow the below steps.

1) Restart the pc in safe mode for the windows version which is affected by the virus.

2) Click on Start --> Run

3) Type in taskmgr and click on OK

4) Select the processes tab.

5) Look for the process named svchost.exe ( You will find multiple number of svchost.exe processes )

6) If any one of those svchost.exe processes are owned by the same user as what you logged in as, end all those processes.

7) Click on Start --> Run, type cmd and click on OK.

8) Type in the command - rmdir c:\heap41a ( If Windows is installed on another partition like d:\, then you'll have to modify the command accordingly )

9) Click on Start --> Run, type regedit and click on OK.

10) Go to the Menu Edit --> Find

11) Type "heap41a" and click on Find. Delete all entries with name heap41a. You can continue with your find using the shortcut - F3

PS: You should find the heap41a entries at the location - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\Explorer\Run

12) Restart the PC in normal mode.

Eurekaa, the virus is gone. Now try accessing orkut, youtube, and the firefox browser. All will work fine. :)

Also, to prevent such viruses from infecting your PC, I'll recommend you to install a decent virus scanner on your PC. There are many free virus scanners available. I'll list some of them below.

Avira AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic

Comodo Antivirus

AVG Antivirus free Edition

Among the 3 listed above, I'll recommend Avira Antivir since, it has got the highest amount of virus information in its database. But be aware that the scan done by Avira is one of the slowest probably because of it's extensive virus database. But it won't slow your system down on normal working. :)

Hope, this article is of some kind of use to you. :)