A quick search on the Internet revealed that the WMPSideShowGadget.exe process enables Windows Media Player information to be displayed on Sideshow capable devices. Windows Sideshow basically transfers information from the PC to another display that can either be integrated into a computer or only remotely linked to it.

The only possible device that could have triggered the WMPSideShowGadget.exe was the Logitech G15 keyboard which uses an LCD display to show information whenever compatible applications are running on the PC.

The easiest way to disable WMPSideShowGadget.exe and wmplayer.exe from running is to go into the Windows Control Panel. Locate Hardware and Sound > Windows SideShow in the Control Panel. This should display a screen that looks like the following.

Uncheck the checkboxes next to the Windows Media Player entry (and every other entry that you do not need). This should immediately kill the two processes which can be checked by pressing Ctrl Shift Esc to open the Windows Task Manager.

Logitech G15 users might also want to check the device’s settings by opening the Logitech LCD Manager which lists a number of programs that are also automatically started with Windows. This includes LCD Pop3 Monitor and RSS Reader. All of those applications use computer memory even if they are not being used at all. It is recommended to disable the programs that are not needed to free up computer memory and speed up startup time of the operating system. A reboot is required before the changes take effect.

Today’s monitors however are not prone to those burn-ins which makes screensavers for that purpose obsolete. If you want to save energy you should therefor turn off the monitor. I have set the Energy Saving options to turn off the monitor after fifteen minutes of inactivity.

Moving the mouse turns the monitor on again and work can resume afterwards. Screensavers these days serve mainly two purposes. The first is entertainment. A wide variety of possibilities exist including video screensavers, virtual tours or graphic demos. The second is a basic protection of the computer which can be configured to ask for the user password before work can commence.

How is your computer configured to handle inactivity ?

The software Monitor Calibration Wizard [homepage] tries to aid the user in calibrating his monitor correctly by walking him through several steps that configure the monitor’s brightness, contrast and color settings. These settings can be saved as profiles which can be started during Windows startup.

Every part of the calibration process displays patterns that can be used to find the best setting for the connected monitor. The first test deals with the monitor’s brightness and contrast setting, after that the three colors red, green and blue will be tested before slight corrections can be made during the final test.

It does not take that long to calibrate the monitor. If you do not want to start another program during system start you can still use the calibration wizard but use the settings of your graphics card to make the changes.

Most monitor manufacturers have a policy of replacing TFT monitors if they have a certain amount of dead pixels. The software Dead Pixel Tester is able to identify dead pixels by filling the monitor with straight colors. If a pixel is not able to display that color it will display a different one which means that you just discovered a dead pixel.

Using Dead Pixel Tester is not complicated at all. After downloading the application start it. Please note that it does not need to be installed which is always nice. A menu will appear that makes it possible to configure some settings but this is not necessary at all.

If you left-click your mouse on your screen you will notice that it will change color. A right-click will hide the menu so that you can inspect the full screen to see if there are any dead pixels on the screen.

If you spot none you can cycle through all colors to see if a dead or stuck pixel appears when the screen is shown in a different color. You could try to fix a dead or stuck pixel by launching the pixel exerciser and moving its window over the area of the dead pixel but the author himself is not so sure if this is working at all.

Ask the manufacturer of the monitor about their replacement policy to know if they replace the monitor if you found some dead or stuck pixels.

Read More:

Dead Pixel Tester

I still hope that you enjoy this display of modern technology as much as I do. Which one would you want to have at home ?

• Touchless Touchscreen
  
  
• Toshiba Interactive 3D Display Technology
  

• Mitsubishi Diamond Touch (showing Warcraft 3)
  
  

You simply apply pressure to the dead pixel and remove it at a certain time. Sounds easy ? well try it out and tell me if it worked.