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Off Topic => Engineering => Topic started by: Clark Kent on January 16, 2007, 01:53:40 pm

Title: Dell down
Post by: Clark Kent on January 16, 2007, 01:53:40 pm: OK, I was having a bit of a problem with my Dell Inspiron 9300. It's 18 months old, and really doesn't get used all tha much as I mostly rely on my iBook. In any event, it worked well on friday as far as I can tell, but come saturday, when i booted it up explorer didn't work right. This is right after a virus scan that only came up with two possible spyware fiels (one was gamespy, the other i cleaned out). I know, i know, why use explorer? Well my work's remote access only supports explorer. In any event, explorer opened, but the page remained blank and the program basically froze and I had to use the task manager to shut it down. Several reboots later I opened up Firefox, and that as well did not work (same issue), and that is when it hit me: each time I rebooted, McAffee didn't come on at all. Normally I get the privacy program that requires me to log in to mcaffee, but not anymore. I am unable to load any of the mcaffee suite- security, antivirus, anti spyware, nothing will launch.
SO that is where I am at with my dell: no protection and no ability to get on the net because my web browsers are down for the count.
COuld anyone give me a hand? I know what I think it is, but I thought I would ask in here for opinions in the hope that I can still salvage the system without a complete reinstall and low level format.
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Commander Maxillius on January 16, 2007, 08:08:44 pm: Sounds like you deleted a piece of McAfee.
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Clark Kent on January 16, 2007, 08:56:28 pm: Quote from: Commander Maxillius on January 16, 2007, 08:08:44 pm
Sounds like you deleted a piece of McAfee.

Is that really likely? I mean, mcafee recommended the file to be deleted.
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Javora on January 16, 2007, 09:04:16 pm: I would suggest totally uninstalling and then reinstalling McAfee and see if that does anything for you. Very small chance McAfee may have messed up some of your settings with Internet connection so you may want to take a second and double check them while you are at it. Other than that I would suggest looking into another Antivirus software program besides McAfee or Norton. I haven't had those types of problems since I left those companies behind. Hope this helps.
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: IAF Lyrkiller on January 16, 2007, 10:46:34 pm: Hmmmm, What have you tried outside of getting rid of the virus.

You can do a "sfc /scannow" and see what it does. (start/run(need the windows cd in the cdrom drive)).

Uninstall and reinstall IE.

try that and see what happens. :)
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Commander Maxillius on January 17, 2007, 05:38:36 am: I've got something far easier and slightly cheaper in the long run:

Get a Mac :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: IAF Lyrkiller on January 17, 2007, 01:21:41 pm: I have seen Macs get corrupt. ;D
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Clark Kent on January 17, 2007, 02:09:06 pm: Quote from: Commander Maxillius on January 17, 2007, 05:38:36 am
I've got something far easier and slightly cheaper in the long run:

Get a Mac :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Punk. ;D
I already have two. I do need the remote access capabilities on this one though, since my work really doesn't like macs. Maybe a mac looked them funny when they were kids or something, I dunno.
I will try unistalling mcafee, and will also try to get IE 7 on there, see if that helps.
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Clark Kent on January 19, 2007, 07:14:34 pm: I have been unable to find my install disks for mcafee. I did notice, though, there are a LOT of settings that are off on this computer all of a sudden. All of the sounds I had set are not working, and the task bar is really messed up for starters. I don't think a simple reinstall of two programs will fix this.
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Javora on January 19, 2007, 07:30:48 pm: Quote from: Clark Kent on January 19, 2007, 07:14:34 pm
I have been unable to find my install disks for mcafee. I did notice, though, there are a LOT of settings that are off on this computer all of a sudden. All of the sounds I had set are not working, and the task bar is really messed up for starters. I don't think a simple reinstall of two programs will fix this.

Yikes, you maybe looking at reformating and reinstalling everything. First though look and see if you have a restore point on WinXP that has a date before you started having problems. Otherwise locate those disks, download drivers and everything you may need and see about reformating/reloading your hard drive. Make sure you have these files saved on a CD or secondary hard drive so they are not lost when you format the hard drive that your OS is on.

Again I would also look into another anti-virus program than McAfee or Norton. I'm told the free version of AVG is pretty good and more stable that McAfee or Norton.
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Fedman NCC-3758 on January 19, 2007, 07:49:35 pm: Have you tried system restore?
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Clark Kent on January 19, 2007, 09:01:24 pm: Quote from: Fedman NCC-3758 on January 19, 2007, 07:49:35 pm

Have you tried system restore?

I thought I needed my reinstall CD to do a restore, which I can't find right now. Was I wrong?
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Fedman NCC-3758 on January 19, 2007, 09:57:37 pm: Quote from: Clark Kent on January 19, 2007, 09:01:24 pm
Quote from: Fedman NCC-3758 on January 19, 2007, 07:49:35 pm

Have you tried system restore?

I thought I needed my reinstall CD to do a restore, which I can't find right now. Was I wrong?

You should be able to do a system restore without a re-install.

If you have to, you can also do it in safe mode.
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Commander Maxillius on January 20, 2007, 12:08:17 am: I forgot about System Restore! You don't need the disk. You also don't need to be in Safe Mode, though if there's something it can't get it'll tell you so, then ask if you want it to try again in Safe Mode.

System Restore fixes nearly everything. If it can't (and I mean after winding the clock back a number of months), then find your disk.
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Clark Kent on January 20, 2007, 12:47:10 pm: System restore is not working, and neither are most of my programs by this point. I am seriously doubting that deleting one .dll did all this- boned system settings and preferences, no working internet, security/virus protection down...
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Fedman NCC-3758 on January 20, 2007, 01:30:43 pm: Other than doing a dos prompt command ..... I'd say give Dell a call.

I remember trying to uninstall SP2 .... had a heck of a time after that.

Anyone with SP2 .... DO NOT tamper with it. Believe me on this.
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Clark Kent on January 21, 2007, 08:47:30 pm: Quote from: Fedman NCC-3758 on January 20, 2007, 01:30:43 pm

Other than doing a dos prompt command ..... I'd say give Dell a call.

I remember trying to uninstall SP2 .... had a heck of a time after that.

Anyone with SP2 .... DO NOT tamper with it. Believe me on this.

Well, Del says that this problem is not in the scope of my warranty because it is software not a hardware. they also said a reformat and reinstall would not do that trick, and they would fix my problem for $99 for this one time, or $238 for a year's coverage. screw that.
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Javora on January 21, 2007, 09:03:45 pm: Quote from: Clark Kent on January 21, 2007, 08:47:30 pm
Well, Del says that this problem is not in the scope of my warranty because it is software not a hardware. they also said a reformat and reinstall would not do that trick, and they would fix my problem for $99 for this one time, or $238 for a year's coverage. screw that.

What Dell told you is complete crap, sorry but I don't know how else to say it. A reformat/reload of the hard drive would solve it because everything would have a clean install without any files inadvertany deleted. They just want some money out of you.
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Clark Kent on January 21, 2007, 09:50:17 pm: Quote from: Javora on January 21, 2007, 09:03:45 pm
Quote from: Clark Kent on January 21, 2007, 08:47:30 pm
Well, Del says that this problem is not in the scope of my warranty because it is software not a hardware. they also said a reformat and reinstall would not do that trick, and they would fix my problem for $99 for this one time, or $238 for a year's coverage. screw that.

What Dell told you is complete crap, sorry but I don't know how else to say it. A reformat/reload of the hard drive would solve it because everything would have a clean install without any files inadvertany deleted. They just want some money out of you.

I could see some remnants being left over after one reformat, but do it few times and i would think that just about anything would be wiped out.
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Javora on January 22, 2007, 08:17:14 am: Quote from: Clark Kent on January 21, 2007, 09:50:17 pm
I could see some remnants being left over after one reformat, but do it few times and i would think that just about anything would be wiped out.

One through reformat is enough to wipe out the data enough to keep a newly installed OS from reading deleted data by mistake. A OS isn't going to go looking for data to use that has already been deleted, at least not on its own. Remember that you don't want to through reformat a bunch of times before reloading the software as all that reformatting will shorten the life of the hard drive.
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Clark Kent on January 22, 2007, 08:34:58 am: Quote from: Javora on January 22, 2007, 08:17:14 am
Quote from: Clark Kent on January 21, 2007, 09:50:17 pm
I could see some remnants being left over after one reformat, but do it few times and i would think that just about anything would be wiped out.

One through reformat is enough to wipe out the data enough to keep a newly installed OS from reading deleted data by mistake. A OS isn't going to go looking for data to use that has already been deleted, at least not on its own. Remember that you don't want to through reformat a bunch of times before reloading the software as all that reformatting will shorten the life of the hard drive.

My iBook has a setup where it will zero out all data a certain number of times (3 is the minimum I think) to ensure data is for the most part unrecoverable. I was hoping to do something similar with the dell, that's all. Takes forever, but in this case I think it will be worth it. I don't know what that will do to the lifespan of this drive; how much does this type of thing detract from the life of a hard drive?
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: IAF Lyrkiller on January 22, 2007, 12:22:51 pm: I used a drive cleaner called Disk Washer by Stompsoft. It worked like a charm for the hdd on my server.

Priced at $30 where I live.
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Clark Kent on January 22, 2007, 12:38:51 pm: Quote from: CayneG on January 22, 2007, 12:22:51 pm
I used a drive cleaner called Disk Washer by Stompsoft. It worked like a charm for the hdd on my server.

Priced at $30 where I live.

Sounds like a good choice, but that's a fair amount of money for a program I will most likely never use again (god willing)
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: The Bar-Abbas Anomaly on February 02, 2007, 09:44:41 pm: Send me your lappy... I'll fix it and send it back. It'll only cost you round-trip shipping.
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Fedman NCC-3758 on February 02, 2007, 10:57:29 pm: Now there's a deal! :woot:
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Clark Kent on February 03, 2007, 09:14:19 pm: Quote from: B'Rabbas on February 02, 2007, 09:44:41 pm

Send me your lappy... I'll fix it and send it back. It'll only cost you round-trip shipping.

Are you for real man? that's an awefully generous offer...
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Sirgod on February 04, 2007, 01:45:02 pm: Quote from: Clark Kent on February 03, 2007, 09:14:19 pm
Quote from: B'Rabbas on February 02, 2007, 09:44:41 pm

Send me your lappy... I'll fix it and send it back. It'll only cost you round-trip shipping.

Are you for real man? that's an awefully generous offer...

He's For Real. I trust him as much as I trust you Brian, he's a good guy .

Stephen
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Clark Kent on February 05, 2007, 08:40:31 am: Quote from: Stephen NCC -73070 on February 04, 2007, 01:45:02 pm
Quote from: Clark Kent on February 03, 2007, 09:14:19 pm
Quote from: B'Rabbas on February 02, 2007, 09:44:41 pm

Send me your lappy... I'll fix it and send it back. It'll only cost you round-trip shipping.

Are you for real man? that's an awefully generous offer...

He's For Real. I trust him as much as I trust you Brian, he's a good guy .

Stephen

Oh, I didn't mean to call trust in to question, it was just very kind of him to offer something that much of a pain to do. I feel bad for imposing is all.
Let me hold off on that for now. I've been unable to find my reinstall disks, so after talking to a friend, he agrees this sounds like the work of a virus (the computer is more unusable now than before) so he gave me a utility used by the DOD that will do a 7 layer low level format which should eradicate anything on the HD, I will talk to Dell and see if they are willing to send me a fresh reinstall disk. Seems like that should do the trick best, and I'd rather go with easy if at all possible rather than getting someone to weed out whatever nasty elements are involved here via hours of work and searching.
My friend also recommended I get a second layer of virus/spyware protection on top of mcafee to run in tandem. Jesus, what kind of world are we living in that I need two virus protection programs to take care of a notebook I hardly use?
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Clark Kent on February 05, 2007, 08:46:54 am: On a related note, I haven't bothered with password protecting my wireless for some time now as I've never found anyone trying to get on my system that was unwelcome. But after this development I decided to pay better attention to who is logged on to my network, and low and behold last night I found someone dinging around on ym internet connection screwing around. I thought I would power off the base station to give him the hint to get the hell off my connection, but as soon as I powered it back on he jumped right back on again. Repeat, and same results. I heard him throwing a tantrum next door both times, so I said, screw this, I hooked it up with a WEP and the strongest password I have right now and will not make sure to turn off my wireless router at night and when I'm not around. I don't need some asshat dinging around playing with my network as well as using up my cable internet bandwidth.
I heard a lot of stuff being thrown around his apartment after that. Tough sh*t dickhead. ;D
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Sirgod on February 05, 2007, 08:58:24 am: LOL, I would have introduced him to my louisville slugger. :D but that's just me.

Stephen
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: E_Look on February 05, 2007, 10:40:32 am: "Screwing around?" What was he doing to your system?

Quote from: Clark Kent on February 05, 2007, 08:46:54 am
On a related note, I haven't bothered with password protecting my wireless for some time now as I've never found anyone trying to get on my system that was unwelcome. But after this development I decided to pay better attention to who is logged on to my network, and low and behold last night I found someone dinging around on ym internet connection screwing around. I thought I would power off the base station to give him the hint to get the hell off my connection, but as soon as I powered it back on he jumped right back on again. Repeat, and same results. I heard him throwing a tantrum next door both times, so I said, screw this, I hooked it up with a WEP and the strongest password I have right now and will not make sure to turn off my wireless router at night and when I'm not around. I don't need some asshat dinging around playing with my network as well as using up my cable internet bandwidth.
I heard a lot of stuff being thrown around his apartment after that. Tough sh*t dickhead. ;D
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Sirgod on February 05, 2007, 10:46:11 am: Quote from: E_Look NCC-9091 on February 05, 2007, 10:40:32 am
"Screwing around?" What was he doing to your system?

Quote from: Clark Kent on February 05, 2007, 08:46:54 am
On a related note, I haven't bothered with password protecting my wireless for some time now as I've never found anyone trying to get on my system that was unwelcome. But after this development I decided to pay better attention to who is logged on to my network, and low and behold last night I found someone dinging around on ym internet connection screwing around. I thought I would power off the base station to give him the hint to get the hell off my connection, but as soon as I powered it back on he jumped right back on again. Repeat, and same results. I heard him throwing a tantrum next door both times, so I said, screw this, I hooked it up with a WEP and the strongest password I have right now and will not make sure to turn off my wireless router at night and when I'm not around. I don't need some asshat dinging around playing with my network as well as using up my cable internet bandwidth.
I heard a lot of stuff being thrown around his apartment after that. Tough sh*t dickhead. ;D

Brian just doesn't want people to know that he was downloading Pr0n and that's why his Dell Crashed. ;D

Stephen
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Clark Kent on February 05, 2007, 10:49:48 am: Quote from: E_Look NCC-9091 on February 05, 2007, 10:40:32 am
"Screwing around?" What was he doing to your system?

Quote from: Clark Kent on February 05, 2007, 08:46:54 am
On a related note, I haven't bothered with password protecting my wireless for some time now as I've never found anyone trying to get on my system that was unwelcome. But after this development I decided to pay better attention to who is logged on to my network, and low and behold last night I found someone dinging around on ym internet connection screwing around. I thought I would power off the base station to give him the hint to get the hell off my connection, but as soon as I powered it back on he jumped right back on again. Repeat, and same results. I heard him throwing a tantrum next door both times, so I said, screw this, I hooked it up with a WEP and the strongest password I have right now and will not make sure to turn off my wireless router at night and when I'm not around. I don't need some asshat dinging around playing with my network as well as using up my cable internet bandwidth.
I heard a lot of stuff being thrown around his apartment after that. Tough sh*t dickhead. ;D

No clue, he was just logged in trying to get into my workgroup settings when I pulled the plug on him. I guess it helps that macs don't have the same workgroup set up that a PC has.
Oh, and Brian has been very good to his dell- no pron is allowed on it or near it, the worst that little baby has seen is the bewbies thread. I store all my francine dee, sora aoi and Tila nguyen on my 8 year old B&W powermac (OS X). No need keeping it on a computer that has viruses written for it.
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: The Bar-Abbas Anomaly on February 05, 2007, 03:41:31 pm: Quote from: Clark Kent on February 03, 2007, 09:14:19 pm
Quote from: B'Rabbas on February 02, 2007, 09:44:41 pm

Send me your lappy... I'll fix it and send it back. It'll only cost you round-trip shipping.

Are you for real man? that's an awefully generous offer...

It's just what I do... I fix computer stuff for a living & come home to a house full of computer junk and play with that! :-D

If you have no internet connection I'd need to have it in hand to fix things. If you have internet (on DSL or Cable - no dial-up!) I could do it remotely some evening.
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Clark Kent on February 05, 2007, 08:10:55 pm: Quote from: B'Rabbas on February 05, 2007, 03:41:31 pm
Quote from: Clark Kent on February 03, 2007, 09:14:19 pm
Quote from: B'Rabbas on February 02, 2007, 09:44:41 pm

Send me your lappy... I'll fix it and send it back. It'll only cost you round-trip shipping.

Are you for real man? that's an awefully generous offer...

It's just what I do... I fix computer stuff for a living & come home to a house full of computer junk and play with that! :-D

If you have no internet connection I'd need to have it in hand to fix things. If you have internet (on DSL or Cable - no dial-up!) I could do it remotely some evening.

No, there's no internet, web browsers, tcp/ip, everything is disabled.
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: The Bar-Abbas Anomaly on February 05, 2007, 11:12:41 pm: Quote from: Clark Kent on February 05, 2007, 08:10:55 pm
Quote from: B'Rabbas on February 05, 2007, 03:41:31 pm
Quote from: Clark Kent on February 03, 2007, 09:14:19 pm
Quote from: B'Rabbas on February 02, 2007, 09:44:41 pm

Send me your lappy... I'll fix it and send it back. It'll only cost you round-trip shipping.

Are you for real man? that's an awefully generous offer...

It's just what I do... I fix computer stuff for a living & come home to a house full of computer junk and play with that! :-D

If you have no internet connection I'd need to have it in hand to fix things. If you have internet (on DSL or Cable - no dial-up!) I could do it remotely some evening.

No, there's no internet, web browsers, tcp/ip, everything is disabled.

...Which is why you should PM me & send it to me! :D
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Clark Kent on February 19, 2007, 07:21:25 am: Well, I found out how to do a factory restore without a CD. Dell said that they would not send me a replacement install CD, it's my problem if it's lost. These guys are so irritating the hell out of me.
FOr now it's working, though I'm not certain if the problem is truly gone. Now here is the thing that really gets me: whatever did this had to go through the firewall in my wireless router, which is so anal it won't even allow gaming ports to be used, the mcafee firewall set to max, got past the mcafee privacy protection, virus scans and anti-spyware tools and it was hardly ever on the internet to begin with. I think it's safe to say, after going through all that, I won't be resubscribing to mcafee again, and I won't be "getting a dell" either.
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Fedman NCC-3758 on February 19, 2007, 05:16:03 pm: Quote from: Clark Kent on February 19, 2007, 07:21:25 am
Well, I found out how to do a factory restore without a CD. Dell said that they would not send me a replacement install CD, it's my problem if it's lost. These guys are so irritating the hell out of me.

They told me that when I thought I needed a complete re-install. I told them if that is their official position, then this was the last Dell I ever purchase.

I received my XP w/SP2 by FedEx in four days.

I worked out the bugs without the disc.
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: DellTechnician on February 21, 2007, 09:50:28 am: hi, im trent... i work as technical support for dell. acutally, reinstalling winxp is covered by the warranty. instead of doing a complete reinstall using the winxp cd, i prefer you use dell pc restore by symantec... you can still use if you havent deleted the non-dos partition of your hdd. you can access dell pc restore by symantec by pressing CTRL+F11 as soon as you see the blue banner that says "www.dell.com" when you start up your computer... dell pc restore by symantec will reinstall everything within 15-20 minutes only. upon completion, it would be like as if this would be the first you received your computer...

hope my post not that late... im really sorry if you feel bad about dell...

thanks and more power!

NOTE: im posting this message upon my own discretion, not because im working for dell, inc.

Quote from: Fedman NCC-3758 on February 19, 2007, 05:16:03 pm
Quote from: Clark Kent on February 19, 2007, 07:21:25 am
Well, I found out how to do a factory restore without a CD. Dell said that they would not send me a replacement install CD, it's my problem if it's lost. These guys are so irritating the hell out of me.

They told me that when I thought I needed a complete re-install. I told them if that is their official position, then this was the last Dell I ever purchase.

I received my XP w/SP2 by FedEx in four days.

I worked out the bugs without the disc.
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: Clark Kent on February 21, 2007, 10:09:09 am: Quote from: DellTechnician on February 21, 2007, 09:50:28 am
hi, im trent... i work as technical support for dell. acutally, reinstalling winxp is covered by the warranty. instead of doing a complete reinstall using the winxp cd, i prefer you use dell pc restore by symantec... you can still use if you havent deleted the non-dos partition of your hdd. you can access dell pc restore by symantec by pressing CTRL+F11 as soon as you see the blue banner that says "www.dell.com" when you start up your computer... dell pc restore by symantec will reinstall everything within 15-20 minutes only. upon completion, it would be like as if this would be the first you received your computer...

hope my post not that late... im really sorry if you feel bad about dell...

thanks and more power!

NOTE: im posting this message upon my own discretion, not because im working for dell, inc.

Quote from: Fedman NCC-3758 on February 19, 2007, 05:16:03 pm
Quote from: Clark Kent on February 19, 2007, 07:21:25 am
Well, I found out how to do a factory restore without a CD. Dell said that they would not send me a replacement install CD, it's my problem if it's lost. These guys are so irritating the hell out of me.

They told me that when I thought I needed a complete re-install. I told them if that is their official position, then this was the last Dell I ever purchase.

I received my XP w/SP2 by FedEx in four days.

I worked out the bugs without the disc.

Hi Trent, thanks for your post. Prior to your post I had already done as you suggested, though I am a bit concerned that whatever hit my computer is still tthere and could rear its ugly head again. We'll see in time, I guess. Mostly I wanted a 7 layer low level format for the sake of being thorough, but it's working fine for now, time will tell I guess.

I like the Inspiron very well, I just could have done without the techs I worked with playing games with me.
Title: Re: Dell down
Post by: DellTechnician on February 23, 2007, 08:26:40 am: that's nice to hear! just in case you experience troubles or problems again with your dell systems (be it an inspiron or dimension), just post a message. i'll come to your help as soon as i can... right now, i'm situated here in manila, phillippines. thanks as well... 'til then... Ü