New E1505

I just received my E1505 that I ordered about a week ago and I have some questions:

Right now it is running 56 processes. How can I bring those down without reformatting? I know you can delete programs in add/remove programs, but is that all you have to do?

Also, I'm having problems connecting to the internet. I already am connected to my wireless network, but for some reason I keep getting error pages when I open up IE. It says: cannot find server. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance,
Justin

 

1.) you can tweak your system. We have a guide called "how to optimize your laptop" in the dummy forums

2.) Do you have other laptops connected to the router that are accessing the internet? Do you have a firewall running?

 

I do have a firewall running, but I have connected another laptop to the network without any problems at all.

Ok, I just found out that for some reason I have Windows XP Professional, even though I ordered XP Meida Center Edition. And what is Microsoft SQL Server Service Manager? It says I'm disconnected to it.....

EDIT: Woops, it is Media Center Edition.

 

Pretty much, you need to reformat.

I don't understand the SQL server thing at all. Both of my E1505 laptops had it. There's also a trial of Office 2003.

One thing I did to drop ~10!!! processes was to replace Intel ProSet Wireless with a driver only install. Of course this would only apply to the Intel wireless. Why it runs 10 processes, I have no idea.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=92044

Media Center is pretty much XP Pro without the ability to join a domain, so that's fine. It does add a proccess or two to handle the scheduler, but, when I turned them off, it was filling my Event log up with errors.

 

I'd reformat it, but if it gets screwed up, then I'll be killed because my parents paid for it.

What's really making me mad right now is that the Internet is not working. I have it connected to my wireless network, but it says "Cannot find server or DNS error". And I need the internet this weekend. I've never had any issue like this before. The other laptop on my network has no problem with connecting to the internet. Must be my luck.

 

Reformatting is not hard. Takes about 1-2 hours. If you have another computer and can still access the internet we're here for you.

It's also something you need to know how to do in the Windows world.

Otherwise, just remove what you can. But, I swear, I reformat just after I make sure that the computer is working ok, then clean install the OS. The performance is night and day.

 

You really can't screw up formatting.

As a technician who deals with problems similar to the ones you're having day in and day out for the last ~1.5 years I could tell you that formatting is something everyone can do.

First, you have your backup Windows XP CD. You just pop that in and follow the onscreen instructions. I am sure you can google specific step by step instructions somewhere if you need them.

I would recommend deleting all the partitions if you don't use those features nor do you plan to and just have 1 Windows XP Partition (yes, the image restore partition has to go to because it is useless since if you use it it will bring back all the bad stuff that makes your computer run like crap and if you format your C drive your fresh Windows XP install will likely remove the MBR's that the restore parition needs to be activated).

Next, once you format your Windows you will have blank Windows. Nothing but the basics. Not even drivers. You may not be able to go online or change your screen resolution at this point. Don't sweat it.

What you will need to do is open your device manager and look at all the hardware you are missing drivers for. Chances are it will be easy to identify. In unknown devices you will see "Graphics Card" or "Network Controller" or descriptions like that.

What you will do then is go to Dell's website (or the specific component vendor's website) and download the drivers (you can burn them on CD if you can't get online from your laptop). Once you install drivers for everything your computer will be clean and ready for use.

I am sure there are guides out there that show this process in detail.

What I am telling you is don't be afraid of screwing something up. As long as you have access to a computer somewhere where you can google the problem you are having or ask it on the forums or something there will be ways to recover from it. You should never worry about SOFTWARE screwing up the HARDWARE. So even if the system "doesn't work" because of problems with Windows or whatever after you format it or try to, you should know that there is always a way to get up and running and you will not have either voided your warranty nor broken the computer.

 

I have all the items (OS DVD, Drivers & Utilities DVD) for reformatting. The only part I don't understand is what partitions to delete. I don't really understand partitions in general.

I do have other computers in case there is a problem.

 

First, i recommend to check out the format guide (link in sig). It has some helpful hints.

The partitions are not hard to deal with. Basically they are sections of your HDD. If you aren't sure what you need to delete, then just delete the largest one. It should be label either partition 2 or XP partition. This is the partition that you will want XP to install on, so you will select it and tell xp to install on that partition.

 

I would delete all of the partitions, then when you see only "unpartitioned space" you make a new one and that becomes your Windows partition.

Unless of course you plan on using the features on those partitions.

Think of partitions as walls. You have one big office -- thats your hard drive. If you need 2 offices though, then you put a wall in the middle and now you have two. If you need 3 individual offices you put another wall in and you have 3.

The trade off is that while you have more independent spaces they are smaller the more you have.

By deleting your partitions you are knocking down all the walls and having just one big room. That's probably the easiest way to manage your computer and make good use of all your space.

Another thing you might wanna consider is deleting all the partitions and making 2 of your own. One for the operating system and programs and one partition for just storing documents. That way if you ever need to wipe out your computer in the future you won't lose any of your important documents or pictures.

In Dell's case though, if you delete the partitions that are originally on there you lose some original functionality like the ability to do restores from your hard drive without the CD and others. If you decide that they are not useful to you, then by all means knock down those walls and make the most out of your computer!

 

My E1505 had four partitions:

1. Media Direct (47MB)
2. the large system partition <- this is the one you want to reformat and install on
3. Media Direct (~4GB)
4. System Restore (~5GB) <- you can wipe this one later. I installed my games on it. It gets kind of orphaned since you probably don't want to erase 3 unless you are going to start from scratch with the Media Direct CD and then install the OS.

 

I want to use media direct, but I have the re-installation DVD for it, so should I still delete that partition?

 

In that case, what you would do is, use the Media Direct CD to format the entire disc. Then you install the OS.

It's probably better this way since you won't have orphaned restore partition.

 

Wait, why would I put it in before the OS DVD?

Sorry, I'm a noob at this.

 

The media direct CD prepared the hard drive for Media Direct.

This involves setting up the partitions and intalling Media Direct.

With the partitions set-up, and with Media Direct installed, THEN you install the OS on the big partition.

Be sure to read the sticky thread on installing XP, just to get some background.

I assume you have Media Center. After it installs, it will do , some weird thing where it flashes a red box on the screen and says not to touch the computer. This lasts about 20 minutes. Then you are good to go.

You will have a fresh install.

One more tip, before you do all this, go to the dell website and download all your drivers and burn them to a CD. At the very least, download the Ethernet driver so you can can on the internet, then you could download the other drivers (modem, chipset, quick keys, Ricoh SD card, video, sigmatel sound, etc)

 

My laptop came with a Dell and Utilities CD. It also came with a Media Center OS DVD and Media Direct DVD. Is that sufficient enough?

 

Neither of my laptops came with the Sonic burner stuff.

I skip the Utilities CD and get the drivers from the Dell website.

Otherwise, yeah.

1. Media Direct DVD
2. XP Media Center DVD

You really can't mess anything up. At worst, you just have to start over.

We're here for you, regardless.

 

I didn't reformat it because I just got my wireless internet issue resolved. Besides, it says I have 31 processes and I still have a couple of things I can remove.

I'm not sure if I should remove these:
-Digital Content Portal
-Digital Line Detect
-Learn2 Player
-Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine
-OutlookAddinSetup (I don't use Outlook)
-Quickset
-Sonic DLA
-Sonic Encoders
-Sonic RecordNow Audio
-Sonic RecordNow Copy
-Sonic RecordNow Data
-Sonic Update Manager
-Viewpoint Media Player
-Otto
-RealPlayer Basic
-URL Assistant

Any suggestions on which ones I should remove?

Also, I've had problems trying to remove AOL (says no version of AOL is installed), MC Office Trial (says patch does not exist), and Live Update 2.7 (says other Norton components should be removed first and I thought I deleted all of Norton). How do I get rid of these?

Thanks in advance

 

Sorry for hijacking the thread but I just got my Inspiron 6400 last week and I was wondering if I should reformat now or wait until I get Windows Vista and then just do a clean install starting from scratch? Will that be harder trying to reformat from a totally new operating system or should I just reformat know (Windows media center) and then transfer everything over to Vista? I'm also new to this reformatting and have read the guide in the dummy forum but I'm still a little scared. Justin this is just a suggestion but I wouldn't use Norton. The program uses up way to much resources and will just slow down your notebook. There are many better programs than Norton that will use less memory. Just my opinion.

 

I know. I think I was being a bit unclear about that. I'm trying to erase the free trial Norton than Dell put on my laptop.

I have Norton on my desktop and I hate it. I got eTrust EZ Armor for free and it isn't bad at all.

 

Hi.

I'm new to these forums, but I ran across this thread as I was googling how to get rid of the Sonic Encoders from my new Dell Inspiron 6400. Everytime I try to uninstall it, it says I need a disc or something. I removed all other Snic Software via Add/Remove Programs.

My Laptop didn't come with any discs at all. No utilities or an OS-Disc for Media Center. I would really love a clean install of JUST the OS, because my laptop, current is running....62 Processes...and that's just with IE7 and AIM open. I would really love to decrease that amount. Please, any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Matt

BTW: Here are my Specs:
-Intel Core 2 Duo 2.16 GHz
-1 GB Ram
-256 MB ATI Mobility Radeon x1400
-Intel Pro/Wireless 3945
-60 GB HDD

 

You're going to have to contact Dell to get the discs for the OS. If you want media direct you're going to have to ask for that disc to.

 

I was wondering, does the Utilities Disc provide all of the drivers required by my laptop's configuration, or would I still need to find others online?

Could I simply go to My Computer, and burn a copy of the "drivers" folder to a disc? Would that be enough?

 

They say that you should go to the dell site and download all the drivers for your laptop and then burn them to a dvd. As for the copying the drivers folder to a cd I really don't know. You should post your questions in http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=91494

As Southern Girl knows what shes talking about and can do a step by step walk through with you as well you can read the How-to's.

Here's the link to the walk through. http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=88032

 

JustinL - Coupla comments - I may be too late with these: Keep Quickset - its the good Dell utility for font size/etc and provides the LCD brightness level indicator. Ditto your comments on AOL - what an awful dirty trick that Dell, Toshiba and others play on us. Even if you are able to remove it using Add/Remove Programs - the registry is still laced with AOL entries. I would recommend that, first, you back up your registry, then do a regedit and search for AOL - and be prepared to delete probably 50 entries. Some "WAOL" entries showed up and I did not delete them since I haven't yet deciphered what they refer to. Then go into your file system, Program Files, etc and delete all of the AOL-related folders. I have had zero problems with my e1505 after I re-installed MCE2005 using the restore media that came with mine (and cost something like $10 extra IIRC). Good luck! Edited to add - Oh - one problem after re-install - popping sounds fromt the sound card when gaming. I was foolish and paid approx $30 for the sound upgrade - which turned out to be the same hardware with just a software "upgrade."