XPS M1330 - problems for software and hardware

Hi there. Never posted before but I have been having issues and figure someone out there might know what I can do. My laptop arrives a few weeks ago and I love it. There is the cover coming off on the top right side above the screen, so I'm getting a replacement from Dell. In the meantime, I am using this one and I really have no problems...except:

- When I use Firefox, I can't upload pictures on Facebook or any other photo printing services! I tried re-installing Firefox but it hasn't helped. When I try and upload pictures, Firefox freezes and I have to close it and reopen it and never try it again

- I can load pics using Internet Explorer no problem BUT I can't close it no matter what I do! I tried to reload IE but because I already have it, microsoft won't let me! So it freezes when I try and shut it down

- Is there any way to turn off Windows Defender? I think maybe this is my problem?

- is the fingerprint scanner scroll function really that insensitive?

Thanks to anyone who has an answer! This will help me truly love this computer. The screen is awesome and the keyboard is surprisingly good to type on (used to have a thinkpad so I was missing the little red nub and 3rd mouse button).

 

Get flash. You might not have it installed.

 

Is this Adobe Flash?

 

Thanks waveblade. I just added the add-ins of Java and Adobe Flash and nothing changed. And then in IE something really strange happened where my screen faded and I got a lot of garble and saw Skype in the error message. So I uninstalled Skype and voila, no problems with IE or Firefox. Go figure.

Now if only I didn't have to reload every website on Firefox twice!

 

I've been trying to get Skype to work. Haven't been able to login.
However, in a wireless cafe it connected fine.

So I am wondering if Skype is provoking my wireless router (or DSL modem) to think some kind of attack is in progress and then start to block access - often Internet access becomes terrible after trying to use Skype at home.

 

Did you set it to use port 80 and 443 in settings?

 

Tried with and without and with and without allowing it to modify my firewall settings. Allowing to modify firewall settings seems to get as far as "Signing in" as opposed to "Connecting" without.
(Also my D-LINK DI-624 wireless router has UpNP enabled if that makes a difference - it becomes unstable if I try and disable it!)

I need to find the time to have a detailed go at it and study the docs on the Skype website.

 

Do you have kaspersky anti-virus? It's known to block some applications that can collect information of the computer and send it via the internet. you can disable "file anti-virus" or allow permissions to it.

 

my browser problems didn't start happening UNTIL I downloaded the latest version of skype (about a week or so ago?). The new updates are what caused something to go wrong.

 

I am still on the 30-Day McAfee trial - which should expire soon. I am having trouble sending email via one account which I think might be the McAfee - but it probably it not responsible for this Skype problem because Skype connected OK from a wireless cafe.

 

I am facing a new problem with my m1330 while in Vista Ultimate. The mute button does not work; although the OSD turns on. I can mute manually. I can increase/decrease the volume using the touch-sensitive volume buttons. But when I press the mute button, only OSD.
The button works fine in Windows XP (mine is in dual boot)