Latitude E6400 Owner's Lounge

I use Comodo Firewall on my Vista 32. Independant tests have shown it's among the best available. It's not for the neophyte but it's very effective, sometimes to the point of annoyance. The new versions come with their own antivirus bundled but it's installation is optional. I use Avira free AV.

http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/download_firewall.html

Firewall tests : http://www.matousec.com/projects/firewall-challenge/results.php

 

If your system comes already with Vista 64-bit, then a re-install won't be needed as the system already comes with nothing. Well in Canada, it came with nothing, just drivers, dell logo at the systrem properties, those cellular internet type of things in Program Files, and Roxio, oh and PowerDVD. All full versions, no trial. So these can be easy to uninstall, I guess.

 

Excellent, that will save me some time. Dave (still begging Dell for free upgraded overnight shipping.)

 

I have found that dell's OEM installs are frequently buggy. If you have an non-OEM disc to install off of and use your key for activation, that is probably the better bet.

 

I strongly suggest a clean install, the dell OEM installs have had issues for me over the years, and it never hurts to start fresh. if you do, make sure to install the Intel-provided versions of the chipset software rather than the dell provided. also, do not both installing the software marked dell system software-urgent. it is just basically a backdoor for dell to install things directly to your computer, and not urgent at all.

as for 64 bit firewalls, the only one i have had any real success with is comodo, which is both free and very configurable. it comes with its own AV component, but you can choose not to install this if you prefer a different product (i use symantec av corporate).

 

I've reloaded my E6400 twice now from scratch with Vista Ultimate. On reboot, it will often blue screen and reboot. After the reboot, it loads fine. I wonder if I'm alone or others have the same issue and just have not spoken up. I'm suspecting a driver problem or DCM. It's not a big issue as it always comes up on the 2nd try. I'm hoping it will go away in time after more updates come down the pike. T9600, Nvidia, Webcam, 5300, 5530, fingerprint reader, 4GB, WXGA+.

 

Magic doesn't occur. It's bad and won't go away. You should talk to Dell technical support, it might be a bad driver or a faulty motherboard. You can call or chat online with them. My experience with Dell tech support (and well all other services) was ultra fast, no wait times on the phone and very professional (not from India). Also remember that you can have a Dell certified technician pass-by your place for free at the time and day you want (if you call early morning you might be able to get it the same day, else it will be the next business day). Well I have that service.

If you have a dell technician pass by your place, just setup a work area of the technician, like put a soft cloth or something on the table, if you don't want your machine scratch. Also if the technician damages something, than Dell takes responsibility even if you are not covered. For me, they'll send me a new machine because the dell technician scratch the screen lid by accident (drop his screw driver). heh.

 

have you analyzed the minidump files? it easily could be the webcam driver. if you want help with analyzing it, either feel free to upload your minidump file, or ask me, and i can run you through the process. very useful to debug them.

 

I know how to view the logs, but where do I find the dump files?

 

Search C: for *.dmp (which finds the dump files created by any application) or look in C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\ (that's where XP puts them).

John