got a new computer and it doesnt' work

A

ahgar

Joined
Jan 4, 2005
Messages
1,794
okay people i let you pressure me into getting a new computer since my trusty compaq was only suitable for a "wheel chock". well just opened my spanking new DELL e310 and tried to update it, everything goes fine until you reboot and then you get the dreaded blue message screen. I pretty much disgusted by the whole thing, when you call dell for help you get someone with a heavier accent than i have which is really bad. I think i'm just going to tell them to come pick it up and get my money back. In only 2 days it's given me more frustration than 7 years of compaq. now i know what you're going to say, anyone can have a bad one slip through, and you're right but dangit why did i have to get it. well if anyone has any ideas please post, in the meantime i going to sit here and dream about the good old days of the reliable compaq. later,ahgar

and by the way, xp sucks really hard.
 
I got a Dell for Christmas. In less then a month the power module burned out. They sent a guy out to replace it and it's worked great ever since. I'd at least give them a chance to make it right. You are correct though. It is a bitch when that .001% happens to you.

Jack
 
dell has good service and should satisfy you soon in my opinion. sometimes production gets screwed up and you get something not so complete. my dell came with a somewhat faulty dvd drive. called them and they were here first thing in the morning to patch things up. now it runs nice and smooth...

and xp doesnt suck? why does it?
 
You haven't described the situation very well...but if you are experiencing the "Blue Scrren of Death" after you "tried to update it" then it may be a software issue that might be resoved by doing a system restore.

See if you can get into "Safe Mode" and the do a System Restore.

Start the computer, press and hold down the F8 key until you hear a beep and the Startup Menu appears. Then select Safe Mode and press ENTER.

Good luck!
 
I don't know the current state of dell computers, but from 1999-2004 a good amount of them went out with bad software loads.
You might try wiping the hard drives out and doing a fresh install of windows & whatever of the software that comes with it that you might want.
If you didn't get a windows cd with it, you should at least have gotten a set of restore disks you can run.
BTW, I don't know who your isp is, but the sbc yahoo software (which isn't even necessary to use their broadband or dial up service) caused an incredible amount of problems with dell and compaq pcs in the last few years, like "blue screens", only booting into safe mode, not even booting into safe mode etc.
 
thanks for the help.
okay xp may not suck but it doesn't work like 98 and that's what i'm use to. so i should say "to me xp sucks"
it probably is a software issue and i've already done a system restore and it didn't help. as stated above, "to me xp sucks" oh and to make it even better it won't load into safe mode. kinda defeats the purpose doesn't it?????
luckily i posted on the dell board and was told by a poster that i have a 21 day window to return this pos. by the way you're not going to believe this but in a post i referred to the unit as a pos, when i submitted the post it kicked it back with the messsage, pos is not legal, it kind of makes me think they've had this problem before. it's sad when you buy a new computer and right off the bat you get to play with tech support. of course on the bright side it's kind of cool in a way, i never thought i would be talking to people in india, or pakistan, or guam, or the phillipinesfor hours on end. I guess it is a small world after all. later,ahgar
 
jerrinfla said:
I don't know the current state of dell computers, but from 1999-2004 a good amount of them went out with bad software loads.
You might try wiping the hard drives out and doing a fresh install of windows & whatever of the software that comes with it that you might want.
If you didn't get a windows cd with it, you should at least have gotten a set of restore disks you can run.
BTW, I don't know who your isp is, but the sbc yahoo software (which isn't even necessary to use their broadband or dial up service) caused an incredible amount of problems with dell and compaq pcs in the last few years, like "blue screens", only booting into safe mode, not even booting into safe mode etc.
Click to expand...

thanks i didn't know that, i may just dump the sbc software and configure it using the xp software. it would be nice if this was the problem but this whole deal has left a really bad taste in my mouth regarding dell. thanks again, ahgar
 
ahgar said:
thanks for the help.
okay xp may not suck but it doesn't work like 98 and that's what i'm use to. so i should say "to me xp sucks"
it probably is a software issue and i've already done a system restore and it didn't help. as stated above, "to me xp sucks" oh and to make it even better it won't load into safe mode. kinda defeats the purpose doesn't it?????
luckily i posted on the dell board and was told by a poster that i have a 21 day window to return this pos. by the way you're not going to believe this but in a post i referred to the unit as a pos, when i submitted the post it kicked it back with the messsage, pos is not legal, it kind of makes me think they've had this problem before. it's sad when you buy a new computer and right off the bat you get to play with tech support. of course on the bright side it's kind of cool in a way, i never thought i would be talking to people in india, or pakistan, or guam, or the phillipinesfor hours on end. I guess it is a small world after all. later,ahgar
Click to expand...

Click "RUN" on the start menu and type in "msconfig" and hit enter. It will bring up a set of option menus that you can use to make the thing look more like win-98 if you want. Under Dell Accessories youll find a crash analysis program that will go check your drivers. There is also a problem with "tfsnifs.sys" that has been causing people blue screens (it is part of the Sonic dvd/cd creator stuff they load on it... there are newer versions of the sonic stuff under application downloads on Dell's support site).
 
thanks i'll give that a try tool. I'm hoping that dumping the sbc software will take care of the problems but it's nice to have all the info possible. i already have change it to the "classic"setting. still don't like it. thanks,ahgar
 
hi ahgar i wouldnt wait the 21 days to send it back why bother with the pos use the extra 2+ weeks to modify/customize/tweak your new machine (i like ibm) good luck
 
buckman#10 said:
hi ahgar i wouldnt wait the 21 days to send it back why bother with the pos use the extra 2+ weeks to modify/customize/tweak your new machine (i like ibm) good luck
Click to expand...

you've got a good point but my wife ordered this puppy for me and she would gut me like a fish and let the buzzards feast on my decaying corpse if i sent it back. that's one thing about having a little bit older computer you can tweak and mod without fear of voiding your warranty. later,ahgar
 
ahgar, since sbc is your provider, the problem is almost for sure the sbc software. I used to do support for them, and there was a serious problem with the yahoo software working with both dell and compaq computers running XP.
One of the problem files the sbc software installed was the "broadband client foundation", but there were a few other files, I think 2 of them that I can't remember that also contibuted to the blue screen problem or not even being able to boot insto safe mode.
I'd suggest you wipe the hard drive and do a fresh install on it, and then set up your sbc connection without using their software at all. You don't need any of it. If you're a fan of the yahoo browser, you can try installing that seperately from the sbc portal, but I would avoid it. It really is just a different "skin" for IE anyway.
The only thing you would lose is that with the yahoo browser, your favorites and addresses are stored on the server side, with IE you have to back them up yourself and save them to a disk or something.
Setting the connection up manually is a breeze, and should take a lot less time then installing the yahoo software anyway. All the dsl modems they've shipped in the last couple of years have PPPOE built right into the modem. In other words, all you should have to do is connect the modem to the computer, plug it into a power outlet & the phone line, open IE, and type the address of the modem into the address box of IE and click go. (Something like 192.168.0.1) The address should be right on the modem. If it's not, you can click on file - run and type in command and click ok, which will give you a dos window.
nopw type "ipconfig /all" without the quotes and press enter - that will give you all the information on ip addresses your computer is using. The number that is labeled "default gateway" is the address of your modem.
Once you've typed the address of the modem in the address box of IE and clicked go, you should see a screen to enter your user name and password. Type them in and click Connect. That should be all you need to do, and you should be good to go without installing the sbc software.
If you are using a dialup modem, well .... then you need to configure a dialer for windows to use. XP is different than 98 in doing that.
Go to start and click on control panel, and in the column on the left click on Create a new cionnection. Then you will have a wizard pop up that is similiar enough to the '98 wizard that you should be able to set up your dialup connection pretty easily.
Once again, your problem is 99.9% likely to be the sbc software .... give a fresh install and set your connection up manually and see how it goes.
BTW, when I first started using XP, I probably disliked it more than you do right now ....but when you get used to it, you probably will not want to go back to using 98. Although I did make a shortcut for windows explorer (cause I am no fan of "my computer" and for IE (I can't stand MSN explorer").
 
jerrinfla said:
ahgar, since sbc is your provider, the problem is almost for sure the sbc software. I used to do support for them, and there was a serious problem with the yahoo software working with both dell and compaq computers running XP.
One of the problem files the sbc software installed was the "broadband client foundation", but there were a few other files, I think 2 of them that I can't remember that also contibuted to the blue screen problem or not even being able to boot insto safe mode.
I'd suggest you wipe the hard drive and do a fresh install on it, and then set up your sbc connection without using their software at all. You don't need any of it. If you're a fan of the yahoo browser, you can try installing that seperately from the sbc portal, but I would avoid it. It really is just a different "skin" for IE anyway.
The only thing you would lose is that with the yahoo browser, your favorites and addresses are stored on the server side, with IE you have to back them up yourself and save them to a disk or something.
Setting the connection up manually is a breeze, and should take a lot less time then installing the yahoo software anyway. All the dsl modems they've shipped in the last couple of years have PPPOE built right into the modem. In other words, all you should have to do is connect the modem to the computer, plug it into a power outlet & the phone line, open IE, and type the address of the modem into the address box of IE and click go. (Something like 192.168.0.1) The address should be right on the modem. If it's not, you can click on file - run and type in command and click ok, which will give you a dos window.
nopw type "ipconfig /all" without the quotes and press enter - that will give you all the information on ip addresses your computer is using. The number that is labeled "default gateway" is the address of your modem.
Once you've typed the address of the modem in the address box of IE and clicked go, you should see a screen to enter your user name and password. Type them in and click Connect. That should be all you need to do, and you should be good to go without installing the sbc software.
If you are using a dialup modem, well .... then you need to configure a dialer for windows to use. XP is different than 98 in doing that.
Go to start and click on control panel, and in the column on the left click on Create a new cionnection. Then you will have a wizard pop up that is similiar enough to the '98 wizard that you should be able to set up your dialup connection pretty easily.
Once again, your problem is 99.9% likely to be the sbc software .... give a fresh install and set your connection up manually and see how it goes.
BTW, when I first started using XP, I probably disliked it more than you do right now ....but when you get used to it, you probably will not want to go back to using 98. Although I did make a shortcut for windows explorer (cause I am no fan of "my computer" and for IE (I can't stand MSN explorer").
Click to expand...
thank you very much for the information i really appreciate it. i'm stuck here at work today and i have a bucket of honey dos on sunday so it will be monday before i can get to it. I really hope you're right{you certainly sound right to me}regarding the sbc software. I think i'll be pretty happy with the computer once i get this problem solved. I don't know if i'll ever get used to xp but i know i've got to so i guess i'll just quit whining like a little girl and get on with it. thanks again, later, ahgar
 
Ahgar, I recently upgraded my system and switched to XP at that time from 98. Although the system itself worked beautifully, I was frustrated for about a week trying to find everything! :)

Once I got used to XP, though, I decided it is much easier to use, and even prompts me more than 98 did to clue me in on different functions, which helped the learning curve a lot.

Get your computer working, relax with XP, it will do the job. And it has never crashed on me, the first Windows NEVER to crash! (Knock on wood ...)
 
I'm going on almost 4 years using XP and I've also not had a crash. (knock on wood)

I'm also on a Dell, and this thing is probably the best machine I've had. No problems whatsoever.
 
well you guys are probably right but i still think that xp is quite possible of the devil, or lynn thompson, i don't know which. as far as the dell goes i've cooled off a little so i probably won't take a ball peen hammer to it, at least not for a couple of days. I'm not really that demanding of a customer i just expect things to work when you take them out of the box. After stomping and crying like a little girl i did search the dell data base and found numerous articles about a software conflict between sbc and dell. they really should work that crap out after a couple of years. anyway thanks for the post. later, ahgar
computer genius
 
Apple , bah..... yea if you want to spend 4 times as much on a box with hardly any software made for it then Apple is fine , mind you this is coming from an ex "Mac Head" long time , anyways.

XP doesnt suck dude , XP is 1000 times better than 98-ME-2K , well 2000 comes close but still..
The beauty of XP is it works seemlessly with almost any hardware out there , I havent seen a single problem on an XP box that couldnt be solved easily.

Now to be honest , I would have chosen a different model than the E class.
That onboard sound and video is half decent at best , just IMO.

Your problem can easily be solved by a re-install of XP , along with whatever drivers were sent with your PC.
My guess is , somewhere in transit something just 'popped' , it happens.
I dont know about Dell's warranty on that box , but see if a re-install voids any warranty , although I dont know why it would.

The bad luck isn't really bad luck , it's just the way things go sometimes in the world of computers , tyhe one poster who said he got one with a bad power supply , understand those things are mass produced on an hourly basis by someone who probably isnt making as much money as you and I , a few bad ones are bound to slip thru production , I doubt they have fancy shmancy unions in China.:rolleyes:
 
You shoulda got a Mac. I've had Macs since 1987 & hardly ever have any problems & what I do have I can fix it myself. If things get real tough I take it to the Apple store & they straighten it out while i wait.
 
I mentioned clicking start - run and typing in "command" without the quotes and clicking okay to open a dos window in windows xp.
That's wrong - you don't type "command" with xp, you type "cmd" without the quotes.
 
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