Simple question from a new m17x owner

Hi everyone.

This is gonna seem really dumb of me but do i need to create recovery discs for my new m17x-r2?? - i was told by AW UK that i would get discs with it (which i have got 2 - one is a OS disc, the other is a resource disc)

I havent done anything much with the pc yet, turned it on a few times but thats as far as ive gone at the moment, however i did have a window pop up reminding me to create discs?

So, do i or dont i?

Found this thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...create-recovery-cds-alienware-m17x-r-2-a.html So is this what i need to do? - and why not upgrade to premium backup?

Like i said, stoopid question but very important nonetheless....

 

U just need to create it if u want your OS and your drivers in a complete set. But since u got a OS disc and a resource disc, I dont think it's necessary to create a recovery disc. U can always reformat with your OS disc and install your drivers by yourself which I feel is better and cleaner(like a clean install).

 

Cheers, i found the link (in my original post) to a thread about this.....wondering if i should do that or not....

 

like I said, its all up to you.... u just waste 1 disc by doing this, no harm at all.

 

Thanks bud, I think I will do it anyway, then I at least, have the option if things go pear-shaped. May as well create one now as its a completely new system em?

 

yea hehe, u dont wanna wait till u install every softwares and made a mess.

 

Hi Stevie

New systems are no longer shipping with the operating system disks. Sounds like you lucked out and had one shipped with your unit. New purchasers will have to make their own back up disk. I would make the back up anyways as instructed by the software. The first thing I did with my all powerful Alienware was delete McAfee. Microsoft now offers better, free antivirus spyware malware protection called Microsoft Security Essentials.

http://support.dell.com/support/top...&s=gen&docid=62A668E1C399857AE040AE0AB8E12942

 

Hi, thanks for the advice.....when i opened mine, it had 2 discs inside, one called a resource DVD and the other Has MS Win 7 HP 64bit on it so i assume the latter is the OS disc and the former is the driver disc?

Im gonna go ahead and create a recovery disc anyway asap.

Regards Mcafee, i dont think mine shipped with ANY a/v on it but if its there hidind, i will uninstall and run Mcafee clean up tool before installing my 8mths worth of Norton 360 (may as well use it eh?)

So you reckon i got lucky with the discs that came huh? - what do they ship with now as mine arrived 21st June!!!

 

Hi Stevie.

All Canadian customers are forced to accept the 30 day trial. Your right perhaps UK customers had a choice. Check before adding anything else as you will cripple your computer if you add two version of antivirus.

If you do find the McAfee software use the ADD/Delete softeware found in the control panel. Do not run the McAfee removal tool as it itself will junk up your system. Antivirus removal tools are a joke and do not fix registry problems. McAfee once that crippled my operating system, as did Norton. On each occassion I used their respective removal tools and they didn't work. They both left much junk in registry. The scrubbers are for the most part ineffective.

I would not add Norton 360 for three reasons.
1) Will slow your system down
2) some features such are recovery and backup are duplicating windows 7 and Dell data safe features you already have.
3) MSE is free, better, and less resources, works perefectly with games.

Once you install a program like Norton or McAfee it is next to impossible to remove all traces off your computer if you decide to do so. The so called sweepers don't clean the registry and leave all sorts of traces behind.

I think Microsoft is giving away MSE as other alternatives are giving their software a bad rap. There is no other logical reason for Microsoft to give away free software.

 

On May 25'th dell posted that:

"Dell no longer provides the operating system or resource disks in the box for Windows 7 Systems. It is important for you to create recovery disks in case of a hard drive failure. If you do not create the recovery disks, there may be a charge from Dell for the operating system recovery media."

Creating Your System Recovery Discs with Dell DataSafe Local Backup 2.0 | Dell

 

Have checked my system by typing "mcafee" in start bar menu - nothing!, also went to programs.....again nothing about Mcafee or any other a/v that i can see so i assume my system shipped completely trial free which is great for me!

I heard that MSE was very basic in terms of protection and that it doesnt perform as well at identifying malware etc as the others....i know its free which is great but i have already paid for the Norton.

I know Norton used to leave a big footprint, but i think this was a while back and its now alot more resource friendly.

And wont all a/v junk up the system regardless of who you use?

 

I think your previous thread Here should answer your questions regarding Norton. Some people, as mentioned still fall under the old school of thinking regarding Symantec products and their over utilization of resources. You will not get less resource usage or better protection from MS's free product, than you will from Norton's 2010 line of products. I hope this helps,

 

I thought MSE does not have the full covage as Norton does, besides we are talking a small diffrence between the two on system resources. With our systems, there is nothing noticable. Norton even has a option to pause during game play, or you can pause it manualy. I have been running Norton Internet security on a 7 year old single cpu Gateway running XP with no proformance hit. So it comes down to Paying for a good Anti-Virus/Email/Spam/Spyware program, are getting a free anti-virus program. It's up to you.

 

I tried Norton 2010 earlier this year and found it greatly hogged resources. Falcon Northwest recommends all their customers use MSE. They even post that recommendation on their FAQ page. Personally I have been 100% satisfied with MSE. Before MSE I used Windows Live One Care and was also happy with that. I simply had too many major crashes with Norton and McAfee. The vast majority of "the" products on the market were designed with XP in mind. Many of these products offer duplicate services such as back up and restore which makes them obsolete. As far as Norton being better than MSE at finding a virus perhaps but MSE won't cripple your system like Norton will looking for something that doesn't exist either. With MSE you don't need to turn it off and on to work with games. It just runs silently in the background. Windows 7 evolves through windows updates and I think 3rd party utilities may not be aware of some of the Microsoft Security patches and this could be a cause of their instability. The old school method was to turn off anti virus but the problem is they never do turn off fully as they run in the background. Interestingly I was told by Alienware that their help lines were being flooded with support calls as some customers used nothing. For this reason they ship 30 day trial anti virus software to some countries.

Here is a quote from Falcon NW

"The only utility software we recommend installing are security programs to protect against virus infections or scan for malware. It is not recommended to install multiple anti-virus programs - they tend to conflict with each other. Additionally, we do not recommend using full "Internet Security Suites" as tend to bog down the system and have an increased chance of interfering with a game or other application. For firewall protection, we recommend using the operating system's firewall. It is important that the latest service pack and supplemental security updates are applied through Windows Update. For anti-virus and anti-malware, we recommend using Microsoft's Security Essentials anti-virus. You can find more information or download the program at www.microsoft.com/security_essentials. We advise against installing registry cleaners, uninstallers, software to manage the operating system, and similar utility programs. These types of utilities are typically unnecessary and can create problems such as instability and performance issues. Keeping the operating system clean with fewer installed programs will provide better results than bogging it down with unneeded software."


Cnet review of MSE

http://download.cnet.com/Microsoft-Security-Essentials/3000-2239_4-10969260.html

 

XP was a whole different kettle of fish. It had more security holes than swiss cheese. Vista fixed many of those flaws but business for several reasons didn't adapt vista one of which was it was harder to network. Windows 7 is more secure but has the advantage of easier networking than vista. XP is a legacy system almost 10 years old. Windows 7 has more built in features and does not need the same protection that XP did 10 years ago.

 

My point on my xp system, was the hardware not the os. It's a 7 year old system with a 1.6ghz single cpu, 1 gb of Ram, Norton does not effect proformance on that, how could it effect proformace on a M17X R2? I have heard for years about how Norton was a system hog, I agreed up till last year, they have a good product. Norton System works I would not use by the way. McAfee still stinks. I am sure MSE is a good product, Microsoft One Care was not so good. I guess it's in the eye of the beholder, but if a M17X R2 gets brought to it's knees with a anti-virus program, the anti-virus program company would not be in business long.

 

"Despite dramatic performance improvements during the past two years, Norton still doesn't leave the smallest footprint on your CPU, and new efficacy results show that while it continues to be in the top five apps at detecting malicious software, it still doesn't have the highest rate of detection."

I just cant see spending 1000's of dollars and upgrading CPU's just so Norton can kick it down a notch but if If it works for you keep using it. Microsoft One Care was discontinued because it had features that were designed for the XP users. Vista duplicated a few features that came with windows live one care so they discontinued the product and evloved it into MSE which is now free.

 

Good point, but here's the whole statment from Cnet:

"The good: Norton AntiVirus 2010 treads lightly on your CPU, while bolstering last year's reputation-based detection engine with a new behavioral detection system.

The bad: Despite dramatic performance improvements in the past two years, Norton still doesn't leave the smallest footprint on your CPU, and new efficacy results show that while it continues to be in the top five at detecting malicious software, it still doesn't have the highest rate of detection.

The bottom line: Norton AntiVirus 2010 builds on the immense progress made in last year's version, maintaining a low system profile while strengthening its security framework. It's not perfect, but even Symantec's detractors should check it out."
Link:
Norton AntiVirus 2010 (1 User, 1 PC) Antivirus and filtering reviews - CNET Reviews
MSE review link:
Security Essentials graduates to v1.0 | The Download Blog - Download.com


also back to my 1.6ghz cpu point, did not spend a dime on my system to run Norton, and if your a Comcast customer, Norton's free.

 

A new improved Firewall and Back up are FREE with windows 7 so the critque that they are not included with MSE only has merit if you are using XP. As per the review your referencing, if Norton is NOT the lightest on the CPU and NOT the best at dectection and you have DUPLICATE features that Windows already has than what is the point of using it? The free arguement is also moot as MSE is also free. Nortons does make better products but they are only available in corporate editions.

http://download.cnet.com/Microsoft-Security-Essentials/3000-2239_4-10969260.html

 

Well, it's a good discussion none the less, I agree, MSE looks to be a great product, I would like to see more posts on it down the road before I will take the plung

 

just fyi, im now up and running on the m17x...on it now!.....i took the plunge and went with norton 360 v4, it hasnt seemed to slow anything up so far....still boots about the same, seems simplictic etc and as a previous post said, has pause for game play.....

all in all seemed like the good bet for me, i too realised that norton had been a huge resource hog but after reading lots of reviews, i have changed my mind...lots of people say its light and robust with a good performance all round....mse on the other hand, i have heard that it needs to be reinforced to be an adequate a/v...good for free but by no means the best in terms of performance.

Anyway, its in, its up and running (norton) and im quite happy so far......

thanks for all your input and btw...i am loving this laptop....WOW

 

I too have programs from my old system that I paid for and wanted to keep using. But after reading all through all the forums and all the crash's and stuttering while trying to play games. I listened to these fine members who know Alienware really well, and I have no, NO more problems. They truly are very help full.

 

Every time I hear the word Norton I have a flashback of the Alien movie scene where it just won't let go. Stevie no gaming manufacturer in this universe would recommend Norton 360 for a gamming rig especially one that uses Windows 7. Windows 7 has a back up/restore/ feature. Windows live email has a privacy setting to block your identy, and MSE has Anti virus,spyware and malware protection built in. Dell also includes a complete back up called Dell Data safe local and online backup. In simplistic terms Norton 360 turns these features off, or overlays them with Norton features and the end result is slower performance. MSE should have been included with the operating system as should windows live mail but they weren't to avoid anti competition complaints. Norton 360 on the other hand was release for XP long before even Vista came out. They had to completely redesign it just to make it work with windows 7. Basically windows is going to keep sending you security updates and patches for these windows features and Norton will keep juggling them if you get my drift. When reading reviews about Norton 360 V.4 don't forget it came out long before Windows 7 became retail. MSE came out about a month before Windows 7. Most 3'rd party utilities are being heavily discounted at retail for the very reasons I have mentioned. As long as XP is around there is a market for products like 360 but xp is now 10 years old. Onwards and upwards.

 

FalconMachV, I know it's hard to believe this, but Microsoft is not the best on their own os, hence third party anti-virus programs where born. To say Microsoft has there ish together now is a stretch. There are many examples of happy Norton and other antivirus users. MSE sounds like it works for you, but don't down the competition when it works great for others. Heck I may try MSE for kicks, but untill Norton lets me down I'll use it.

 

I've used Norton for over five years now and considering I've tried everything they have 360, AV, I.S. I can say I'm happy with their AV alone. I'm still using the 09 version on my older laptop but when it detects something, worm/backdoor it stops it. I love norton personally as it gets the job done and keeps my computer safe for what I do on it.

Usually if theres something Norton cant get rid of, Avast will. I like both programs.

 

Falcon,

Just to let you know about some issues that i came across upon my installation of Norton 360......

Firstly, after install, the most apparent thing that happened was that my windows 7 starup music totally disappeared.....it was showing as checked in hardware/sounds...played about with it to try and get it back with no joy......

Secondy, I began to get an message about 5-10 mins after boot that said "Error - Bluetooth stack error BTT Tray couldnt start it".....which really started to do my head in.....I phoned AW tech and the guy was extremely helpful....i explained the problem and he took 30 mins to guide me thru various things and we found that by uninstalling the bluetooth and reinstalling it, this error message disappeared.

So, that was fine, apart from no startup sound - which i thought, well not too bad and i can live with that.

I then ran Norton tasks (all) and after reboot, had the bluetooth error message back!

Did the uninstall/reinstall again and it went ok again!

I think that the Norton Registry cleaner had something to do with it as i isolated it down to whenever this was run, the error returned.

Consequently, I have since restored from the partition WITHOUT Norton, downloaded MSE and everything is working as it should.....i have the windows start up sound back upon boot before login screen and i dont have any bluetooth error messages!!!

So thanks very much for advising me about MSE....its worked a treat for me and i still dont really understand why norton was acting like it was...but its history now!

Tell me, do you use anything else in conjunction with MSE?
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It dont matter which antivirus you use a virus can still hit. My suggestion for people who worry about virus run a main antivirus program and every few Months disable the main antivirus and run Known good freeware antivirus program.

Now antivirus that use little resorce as possable is ESET Nod32 or Smart Secureity useing 7 mb ram, 61 mb for the hard drive space.

 

on my previous laptop, i also used "Malwarebytes" and "CCleaner" to assist and seemed to work very well.....anyone else ever use these AS WELL as a free a/v programme?