Okay - another computer problem

[Barb D]

You should have gotten a restore CD with the computer. Maybe it's still in the box? Or mixed up with some of the papers or manuals you got with it?

 

[Dan Murphy]

......I don't need the restore CD you mentioned earlier?

Based on what I read on the Dell support site (lots of good info there), it seems that there is not a disk per se, but rather it resides on your PC. You get to it by following the steps outlined on the Dell site I linked you to.

 

[kbkids]

Based on what I read on the Dell support site (lots of good info there), it seems that there is not a disk per se, but rather it resides on your PC. You get to it by following the steps outlined on the Dell site I linked you to.

Great! Thanks!!

 

[NJBlackBerry]

They are instructing you to run the System Restore, which puts your PC back to an earlier date configuration. That may solve the problem. I still urge you to 1) make sure you have an updated Anti Virus program and 2) Download and install the Microsoft Anti Spyware tool (from http://www.microsoft.com) and Ad-Aware or Spybot Search and Destroy.

If you don't, the malicious program that was loaded and corrupted IE will probably return.

 

[kbkids]

They are instructing you to run the System Restore, which puts your PC back to an earlier date configuration. That may solve the problem. I still urge you to 1) make sure you have an updated Anti Virus program and 2) Download and install the Microsoft Anti Spyware tool (from http://www.microsoft.com) and Ad-Aware or Spybot Search and Destroy.

If you don't, the malicious program that was loaded and corrupted IE will probably return.

See, this is what I don't get. Norton (factory-installed) is on the computer. Shows nothing. I also downloaded Microsoft Anti Spyware, and it is showing clean. I don't see how it's a virus or spyware - that's what Dell kept telling me was my problem.

 

[NJBlackBerry]

Because you need a suite of tools - and not just Norton and MS Anti Spyware. I'd bet that Spybot would show something...

Unfortunately, once you connect a PC to the Internet, bad things are bound to happen...

 

[kbkids]

Because you need a suite of tools - and not just Norton and MS Anti Spyware. I'd bet that Spybot would show something...

Unfortunately, once you connect a PC to the Internet, bad things are bound to happen...

We had Spybot on our other computer - haven't put it on this one yet, so I'll have to try that. By a suite of tools, you're meaning like the Norton package I had before - firewall, norton antivirus, etc.

 

[NJBlackBerry]

Sorry - not a suite like Norton Internet Security, but a "bunch" of anti spyware tools since one won't catch them all. There are well over 100,000 pieces of spyware out there and no single product can stop or even detect them all. So my "bunch" include MS Anti Spyware (which is OK), Spybot (my favorite) and Ad-Aware. The key on all of them is to make sure that they stay updated.

Good luck.

 

[agnes!]

I'm kind of techno-illiterate myself, but sounds like your new computer has been infected with some kind of computer virus(adware, spyware, etc). The System Restore and installing some good anti-virus stuff might do the trick.

Any anti-virus software needs to be constantly updated, there are new viruses being propagated every day. So if your Norton was older, a new nasty virus/spware/adware could have slipped through the cracks and onto your computer.

Good luck! My PC crashed twice last year. The first time we had multiple infections because our McAfee had expired plus my DH had turned off the security in order to access one of his clients' sites. The second time the security update caused all the Trend clients' computers to crash...had to phone up Geeks On Call twice last spring(ouch!).

Trend Systems did give me two free years of updates/system support to compensate us for the trouble they caused us the one time. Haven't had a problem since.

agnes!

 

[kbkids]

Sorry - not a suite like Norton Internet Security, but a "bunch" of anti spyware tools since one won't catch them all. There are well over 100,000 pieces of spyware out there and no single product can stop or even detect them all. So my "bunch" include MS Anti Spyware (which is OK), Spybot (my favorite) and Ad-Aware. The key on all of them is to make sure that they stay updated.

Good luck.

Got it! Thanks. I'm familiar with all of them - just had only installed MS on this one so far.

 

[bicker]

Actually, it started 2 days after we set up the computer.

If it didn't happen the first time you brought up IE, it is almost surely related to some configuration or installation done after that point. Please understand that the kind of problem you're talking about, if it was inherent in the production ghost image that the distributor uses, would affect thousands of customers, and they'd unquestionably issue a recall. It is very very very easy for a user to do this to their own machine, or have it occur to their own machine due to measures beyond anyone's practical control, such as a power-spike. That's why every distributor would go forward with this kind of problem as Dell has, as opposed to implicit warranty service.

Regardless, it gives me a bad taste for Dell.

Which is the real shame, since the most likely scenario is that Dell is not at fault. Their customer service, as bad as it is, is the best in the industry sector. That's pretty-much the cost of the marketplace's drive toward the lowest-possible price: It means you end up having to deal with more of the problems yourself, or paying someone else, instead of someone helping you for free. However, we do get really low prices this way, and when you're lucky you end up saving a lot of money. It's a choice we have to make. There are more expensive ways of buying a computer that provide a much higher level of service.

Dell is the one for OS problems, since the OS was installed by them

Dell's responsibility for OS ends when the system is booted up for the first time. Distributors only cover problems if they're caused by a bad install, not by corruption after delivery. It sucks, I know. However, that's a reflection of how little we pay for computers these days.

It just really burns you up when you spend over $1000 on a system

That's actually really inexpensive, for what you get. That's actually the problem. Companies that provide truly excellent customer service, like IBM, have been getting out of the personal computer business bit by bit because there is so little money to be made. People just aren't willing to pay.

 

[jfulcer]

Sorry to barge in on your thread kbkids, but I'm wondering why FireFox is considered safer than IE?

In addition to Bicker explaining there are less people that are trying to hack firefox, there is the simple fact that firefox does not allow malicious websites to download spyware/trojans and other crap on your system in it's default configuration. I can list numerous sites that you can visit with firefox just fine, but if you visit with Internet Explorer you will get hopelessly taken over and would come close to having to reset your whole system. And those are just the budget sites that are listed commonly here on the budget board.

Not to mention it's faster, there's a quicker turnaround when there ARE fixes to be made, and it's supported and written by users, instead of Micro$oft.

It's just yet another way to help reduce the chance that your system will be hacked.

 

[jfulcer]

I just fixed a Brand new Dell machine - it wouldn't even boot. The lady I fixed it for was ready to send the machine back to Dell because it was defective. She would have been in for a costly surprise because the machine wasn't defective - it was Windows XP running it's SP2 update that caused it to go down. Ten minutes of work for me that she would have spent $100-200 for Microsoft to fix. It amazes me that things like this happen.

I'd almost recommend making best friends with any computer guy that you know because they can help you without the costly service calls. My payment? I asked for a donation to my DD's Brownie troop. I don't need the money, and it helps someone else. Pay it Forward!!!!

 

[bicker]

Thanks for this first-hand experience. It highlights a major problem for computer owners, the fact the most likely source of all their problems is something intangible -- something they might not even realize is running.