Drivers Installation Snapshot

Resource CD

The Inspiron™ system also has a Resource CD that contains system drivers, utilities, and a user's guide.
When you insert the CD, it attempts to install the Resource CD applet onto the system. The following message for installation appears:

Once the Resource CD applet is installed, launch it from the Start menu. You must also use the actual CD.

Resource CD Interface

Once the Resource CD is installed, an introduction message for the Resource CD appears. You can check the option to prevent the message from appearing on future use.

After the welcome screen, the Resource CD layout is displayed in a custom browser window. The Resource CD automatically detects the installed hardware and places a check mark next to the specific hardware for the computer.

Installing Files

Peruse the driver list or select other options (e.g., the User's Guide) in the browser, which displays the available files in the same format as the one shown above. Once you click an item, the installation page is displayed. Simply click the Extract or Install button to extract the appropriate driver or utility file(s) to begin the installation.

ERROR: Service Tag in DSOE Does Not Match the Current System

Issue : Service Tag in DSOE Does Not Match the Current System message pop up might appear randomly while working in windows

Root Cause : The following error message could be caused by the Dell Datasafe Online factory installed activation application

Resolution:

1)      Check for the current version of DSO from ICARE , in case customer already has account .

2)      Uninstall the Dell DataSafe Online from Program and Features

3)      Reinstall the DSO application

For V1 accounts –

o    Dell agent should log into ICare to view customer account details

o    Confirm customer account is still active

o    Click the Send Download Link. A confirmation screen will then be displayed stating an e­mail with the re-install link has been sent to the user.

o    The e­mail will supply a link which will allow the user to re-install DataSafe Online.

For V2 accounts -

o    Log on to Dell DataSafe Online.

o    On the home page, click Add a Computer.

o    On the Add a Computer page, click Terms of Service and read the terms of service agreement.

o    Check I have read and agree with the Terms of Service.

o    Click Download for Windows and save the file to a location.

o    The user will then proceed through the standard installation process.

Windows 7 : Upgrade Paths

Just one clarification here. From what I’ve read about the Windows 7 SKUs which will be sold in the US, only Windows 7 Home Premium, Pro and Ultimate will be sold, with Home Basic being set for release only in emerging markets. I suppose we can remove Windows 7 Home Basic from this list. The same could be said for Enterprise as that would not be sold to consumers at all, only to corporate and Volume License customers

Also, the list is missing Windows 7 Starter. Starter is primed to be sold with Netbooks, pre-installed by OEMs. It doesn’t have to be included in the list as we don’t support Netbooks here

In my opinion, the Windows 7 Upgrade Paths should be as below

Why are all my files hidden? Malware/virus

There is a new cool virus/malware out there folks.  I’m sure you’ve already heard of it, but I wanted to take a moment and give you some more information about it and provide a good solution for resolving it.

The Malware/Virus hides all the files on your computer and it’s accompanied by the lovely fake repair utility pictured below.  Customer may call in saying all the icons on their desktop have disappeared or that their Start Menu is now blank.  If you go to the C: drive you will not see any listed files.  If you click on the link below it will take you to the Bleeping Computer website.  The site has a great description of the various “errors” that you will see as well as a complete listing of the solution steps.

Please keep in mind that Malware/Virus infections is not fully supported by us.  While it’s okay to refer a customer to this site and maybe get them started on the fix; this is something that they can and should be undertaking on their own.  Our official support policy is to OSRI systems infected with Viruses/Malware.  There is also the option of sending them to the fee based RAS team, however someone good at following step by step instructions should be able to easily follow the steps laid out on the linked site.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-windows-repair

How does the depot box looks like ?

Please note.

1.       Also see the kind of foam packing which insures that there is no damage during transit.

2.       It contains tech note sheet where customer can mention the issue while sending the system to depot.

3.       Request you all to ensure you all are asking customers to make a note of waybill number before shipping the system to depot. This helps us track systems faster and reduce systems lost in transit or other cases, that have come to our notice recently.

Dell Stage R4 Released

Dell Stage R4 is an expansion of the Stage suite of software and focuses mainly on the framework and tiles associated with the framework. Stage R4 enhances the framework to provide a rich media experience.

Stage R4 Installation.

Existing Customer With Dell Stage	Dell Stage R4 Reinstall	New Systems
Starting 02/01/2012, customers will get an update notification to download and upgrade to Dell Stage R4.	Dell Stage R4 will be available on My Dell Downloads.	Dell Stage R4 will be factory installed on new systems.

Getting to the System recovery options if F8 is not working

System keeps going to the Windows Error Recovery screen and ‘Start Windows Normally’ option fails to load windows. Even the Advanced Boot Options are inaccessible through F8.

In this case, run PSA to make sure that the hardware is fine. If PSA pass, try the following steps:

1.       Initiate the Startup repair using the ‘Launch Startup Repair (recommended)’ option.

1.       Startup repair will try to repair the problem and if its unable to do so, following message will appear:

1.       Select ‘Don’t send’ and on the next screen select ‘View advanced options for system recovery and support’. Don’t click on Finish or Cancel.

1.       Select the Keyboard input method on the next screen and hit Next. That will take you to the System Recovery Options. 

1.       You can now try System restore/Factoy image restore.

Office 2010 Setup Err- 'There was a problem setting up MS Office Starter 2010'

Please try the below provided workaround and update if the issue is getting fixed.

Workaround :

The issue is caused by incorrect value introduced into the registry at the following location:

[HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-18\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders]

"AppData"

This “AppData” location should be “%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming. However on the machine where this bug repro’s this value is set to: “%APPDATA%”.

This creates a sort of infinite loop and end result is CSIDL_APPDATA, and %APPDATA% are no longer defined for system account and App-V connect fails.

Here is also a KB article which addresses similar issue for current user.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/886549

Calendar gadget in Windows 7 may display blank content in an Orange background

Issue: Calendar gadget in Windows 7 may display blank content in an Orange background.

Resolution:

1.       Close all the gadgets on the desktop. Also, close Sidebar.exe & dwm.exe if you see these in the task manager.

2.       Open command prompt in elevated mode and type REGSVR32.EXE –u VBSCRIPT.DLL and hit enter. Press OK on the dialog box which appears next. Restart the computer.

3.       Again, open command prompt in elevated mode and type REGSVR32.EXE VBSCRIPT.DLL and hit enter and press OK on the dialog box.

1.       Re launch the Sidebar and the calendar should work this time.

System Mechanic issue

Had the same issue multiple times. The following resolution works 100% of the times.

1.       Initialize setup for System Mechanic. Don’t it Next. Stay on the first screen.

2.       Open Task Manager and kill the Explorer.exe task.

3.       Proceed with the installation till completion.

4.       Within Task Manager go to New Task and type Explorer.exe to get back the Desktop again. Reboot.

Having an issue with system mechanic pro and basic one that in some cases the screen gets stuck on installing PC  gadget and takes 40 mins to install. Have already tried following steps:

·         Disabling firewall and Removing security

·         Unchecking gadget installation during the start of the installation

·         Clearing startup

·         Internet speed is fine

MS Office Error : "Microsoft office has stopped working Windows is checking for a solution to the problem"

KCS Solution ID # 436233  

Problem Description :

MS Office Error : “Microsoft office has stopped working Windows is checking for a solution to the problem”

Issue Parameters

MS WORD

Root Cause

Corrupt Add-Ins

Instructions :

Open MS Word. Go to  File > Options > Add ins > Click Manage > GO > Uncheck Or Disable Add ins > Click on Apply > Ok.

Close and reopen MS Word. 

Steps for downloading Mozilla through FTP

Scenario : Customer cannot open Internet Explorer or Internet Explorer is not open any web page and you are able to ping external websites indicating that the Internet connectivity is intact.

Steps you can try: To make sure if the issue is with Internet Explorer, you can download the alternate browser through FTP

Use the following Steps to Download Mozilla Firefox using FTP:

·         Go to Start >Run > type command and click OK. You’ll get a DOS prompt.

·         Type ftp 204.152.184.113 and hit ENTER. You’ll be prompted for a username

·         Type anonymous and hit ENTER. You’ll be prompted for a password, type your email address and hit ENTER.

·         At the ftp prompt, type cd pub/mozilla.org/mozilla/releases/mozilla1.8a1 and hit ENTER.

·         Type binary and hit ENTER.

·         Type lcd c:\ and hit ENTER.

·         Type get mozilla-win32-1.8a1-installer.exe and hit ENTER.

·         After the download is complete, install Mozilla by double-clicking the installer icon located in c:\

Your user profile was not loaded correctly

Getting message:- Your user profile was not loaded correctly! You have been logged on with a temporary profile. Changes you make to this profile will be lost when you log off. Please see the event log for details or contact your system administrator.

Customer is not able to locate his/her data.

Cause:-

Customer was logon to Temp profile because of which all his/her data would be invisible.

How to check that:-

Right-click on documents

Go to Properties

Location:- users/temp/documents

Solution:-

Open the Start Menu and type Regedit on the Start Search field

NOTE: If unable to boot to OS even in safe mode then boot to WinRE, go to command prompt - type regedit.exe to perform below steps:

1.       Go to the following entry:

a.        HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Profile List

2.       There you will find the following

3.     On the “.BAK” file you will find an entry with ProfileImagePath with the name of the user.

4.     Delete the repeated entry that does not contain “.BAK”

5.     Right click on the other entry and select Rename. Delete the extension .BAK for the original entry.

6.  Exit Regedit

7.  Restart computer.

Details Of DSL Emergency Backup/Restore Option...

The option of “Emergency Backup/Restore” of DSL works regardless of whether customer is running Basic or Premium version.

And, The “Emergency File & Folder” backup during restore is meant to save the customer’s Data that is not included in the factory. This is meant to only save their Pictures, music, documents, etc… not OS settings.

If the customer has already performed the backup and the backup file has been successfully created, they can run the backup file as a standalone application.

All they would need to do is run the file as administrator and they would see the options to restore the files.

Once, the restoration is completed, there will be a “Emergency Backup” folder created on the Desktop.

To restore the files and folders, customers just need to right click on the backup and run it administrator. This will restore the files and folders to the respective location of where it was.

Only time it might not work is if customer has changed the USERNAME or tries to restore files/folders from a different USERACCOUNT.

NOTE:

Once the “Backup” activity is completed, all the options under “Restore” tab will be highlighted.              

How to run PCRestore on Dell systems preinstalled with Windows Vista when the F8 menu is not accessible.

Howto run PCRestore on Dell systems preinstalled with Windows Vista  when the F8 menu is not accessible.

Note: This only work if the "Recovery" partition is not damaged (The recovery partition is shown as drive "D" with volume label "Recovery" in Windows Explorer).

1) Boot to WinRE using the Dell OEM DVD/CD (For How to boot to WinRE please search DSN for article #316051)

2) Click on Command Prompt (See Figure 1) 

Figure 1

3) Type path d:\windows;d:\windows\system32 and press <ENTER> key (See Figure 2)

Figure 2

4) Type d: and press <ENTER> key (See Figure 3)

Figure 3

5) Type cd tools and press <ENTER> key (See Figure 4)

Figure 4

6) Type PCRestore and press the <ENTER> key and Dell Factory Image Restore window will appear (See Figure 5)

Figure 5

7) Click on Next and Confirm Data Deletion dialog will appear (See Figure 6)

Figure 6

8) Place a check mark beside "Yes, reformat hard drive and restore system software to factory condition" for the final confirmation and click on Next when ready(See Figure 7)

Figure 7

Note: The restoration process takes approximately 10 to 15 minutes, the format bar will run back and forth (See Figure 8)

Figure 8

9) Click Finish to reboot system (See Figure 9)

Figure 9 

How to Activate Microsoft Office Starter 2010, then How to Launch Office Starter 2010 Applications

I’ll be glad to show you this in person, as well.  But want to send you the attached so you’ll know how to coach your customer:  From what your customer has said, I conclude that your customer has been clicking on the incorrect button in the Microsoft Office 2010 “Out-of-Box-Experience”(OOBE) screen:

·         Sounds like the customer has incorrectly clicked on the “Activate” button in this screen:

·         Rather, in order to specifically activate Microsoft Office Starter 2010, the Customer should be clicking on the “Use” button:

See the attached Powerpoint file.