said by CylonRed :

Maybe in Hawaii trhey have but not most other cities of any size.

said by gracie :

to my mind after reading this long thread, the best thing to do with any new machine from one of these vendors is probably just reformat and reinstall everything you want, but in these days of having to fight for an xp cd and software on disk rather than a recovery image (which includes crap) that option is not so easy.

said by catseyenu :

ran Hijack This and removed several instances of it there.

said by Libra :

I thought I removed it by the procedure I described in my other post, but when I followed your path in the registry I have that too :(
The Dell 8400 I purchased in September did not have MyWay in add/remove. The replacement I received in December had it. So it looks like I removed it from add/remove, but that registry item with "no remove" etc. remains.

said by gracie :

...
1 W8400 PROCESSOR, 80547, PENTIUM 4 PRESCOTT DT, 630, SKT-T, MALE

aha! it's male! no wonder it's unreliable! ;) and ducking and running very very fast.

seriously, don't mean to hijack the thread, but what the heck does that mean?

said by catseyenu :

Registry Search shows an installation key after searching "My Way" :
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18\Products\7D449D87B79A4004BAA05BDA60389904
Notice the "No Edit", "No Modify" & "No Remove" strings.

said by gracie :

i can say that the highend machine i got 18 months ago had none of it on there; the highER end machine they sent me as a replacement after nightmares had it all over the place.

additionally, there is a file called winbom.ini that dells uses to automate their install. i found the winbom.bak still on this machine, so took a look with PEEK. in plain text, all the installation instructions. found both the install instructions for myway and wild tangent.

however, when i got this replacement, i had no trouble removing all traces of myway, but i really did use a slash and burn method to get the potential spyware out---add/remove was only part of it...registry editing, msconfig., disabling both the extra "support" users and the default shares they put in there, etc.

by the time i finished, i eventually did run webroot, but nada found, for better or worse. check out that winbom.bak if any of you have it (it may have been left by accident) and see where all this stuff is installed. very helpful ;).

btw, the THIRD replacement is now coming friday ;). third time's a charm?

said by damox :

While they may sell budget PCs, they also sell high quality systems, many which sell for under $1000.00! There is no way you can compare Dell with Packard Bell. Just about everything Packard Bell sold was crap. Generally speaking, Dell products are quality, but that's not to say they don't sell some low quality stuff as well.

said by gracie :

...(wondering where lilhurricane and her frying pan are.)

said by CylonRed :

No such file on my Inspiron 6000 either....

said by hpguru :

I thought it was the female PCs that were fine one minute and then crash the OS the next minute for no apparent reason.

said by gracie :

aha! it's male! no wonder it's unreliable! ;) and ducking and running very very fast.

said by gracie :

additionally, there is a file called winbom.ini that dells uses to automate their install. i found the winbom.bak still on this machine, so took a look with PEEK. in plain text, all the installation instructions. found both the install instructions for myway and wild tangent.

said by Mele20 :

The 8400s come with no reinstallation disk. (I was told that the only way to get one now is to have your hard drive fail and then Dell sends the installation disk with the new drive).

said by hpguru :

There was no My Way SA or any other type of malware preinstalled on the XPS Gen 3 I purchased last Sept.

said by Mele20 :

I don't think the Dimension 8400 that Libra has could be considered "low end". :D or my 8300.

said by hpguru :

Is Dell only doing this on their low-end systems? There was no My Way SA or any other type of malware preinstalled on the XPS Gen 3 I purchased last Sept.

said by SUMware :

»Dell rejects spyware charge

said by CylonRed :

Sunbelts CounterSpy does NOT catch My Way Search Assistant - it detected RealVNc and somne cookies but that is it. I updated the definitions and did a deep file scan.

said by Mele20 :

As for the warranty you bought, I bought a 4 year warranty (from Small Business also...god forbid that anyone buys from Home as that is a guaranteed nightmare that will never end). Dell NEVER sent an invoice. I still, to this day, cannot get them to send me an invoice. Lacking the invoice, I only have the print out I made when I bought this box online. That print out shows a four year in house, next business day repair warranty. Dell takes forever (about 2-3 months after a purchase) to get your information into their computer base. Plus, they took even longer with me because the first tower failed within two weeks and they sent another and so the tech support information was all messed up for many months.

Anyhow, it was only many months later when they finally got the correct information for the second tower in their data base that a tech told me I had a three year warranty. Customer service had said, on the phone, more than once, that I had a four year warranty and they said just be patient and eventually the tech support data base will be updated to reflect this. I had said to Customer Service, but I don't have an invoice. Please send the invoice. I need the invoice in case it doesn't get straightened out with tech support. I need the invoice for all sorts of reasons. Over and over, I called and begged for the invoice. They said they had sent it. Then they said they couldn't locate any invoice. Then I was told Dell does not send invoices any longer. Anyhow, I have never gotten the invoice. So, back to the warranty, I said to the tech "No, your data base is wrong. I have a four year warranty". He tells me to call Customer Service. Customer Service says according to their records I have a four year warranty, but if tech support sees a three year warranty on their screen that is the correct one!!

After considerable hassle and several more phone calls, I finally learned that Dell had made a mistake with very poor wording on their website the weekend I bought my box. They admitted that the wording was so misleading that I was not the only person who believe they bought a four year warranty for the price of a three year one. They claimed they were sorry for the confusion, it wouldn't happen in the future when they had a special on the purchase of the warranty, as they frequently were doing at that time, but they could not honor the four years that I believed I had bought. They'd be happy though to sell me a fourth year at the full price, of course, no discount because of their messup.

I suppose I could have pursued it further with the Resolution Center but that supervisor was an ass. He told me that I must be crazy because I kept saying the monitor had fuzzy fonts. (This was after the first three monitors had such severe problems I couldn't use them at all and I was on the fourth one that actually worked). He told me I should send the Dell monitor back (it was their top of the line one at the time) and go buy one at CompUSA. I had to ask here to find the simple solution to the problem. I figured that later when I found out about the warranty problem and couldn't get an invoice that I would probably get him again if I asked for the Resolution Center or get some other ass. Heck, on my first Dell in May 99, I got a three year warranty as standard. I wasn't going to buy a fourth year after all this, but with all the equipment failures, and the strong advice of the Dell field tech and his predictions about how many more failures I face during the life of this box, I think I need to buy a fourth year, (and a fifth year, if Dell will allow that).

said by CylonRed :

I have installed it but I need to reboot then run it and I am currently workign so I hope to have an answer this evening if all goes well.

said by CalamityJane :

Did anyone answer this yet? I'm wondering too. We're seeing it in HijackThis logs and people are asking. I saw one here:
»www.help2go.com/postt14927.html

It begins with......

quote:

---

I have had antispyware packages indicate that MyWay ( also known as MyWay Search Assistant) is spyware.

It reads as follows on the HJT log:

R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = »www.dell4me.com/myway
R3 - URLSearchHook: (no name) - {4d25f926-B9FE-4682-BF72-8AB8210D6D75} - -C:\Program Files\MyWaySA\SrchAsDe\1.bin\deSrdAs.dll (file missing)

This has appeared on my hijackthis log before, and I have removed it with the assistance of the wonderful people here. Guess What! It's back on my hjt log again!! Must be rewriting itself back in periodically.

---

said by CalamityJane :

Did anyone answer this yet? I'm wondering too. We're seeing it in HijackThis logs and people are asking. I saw one here:
»www.help2go.com/postt14927.html

It begins with......

quote:

---

I have had antispyware packages indicate that MyWay ( also known as MyWay Search Assistant) is spyware.

It reads as follows on the HJT log:

R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = »www.dell4me.com/myway
R3 - URLSearchHook: (no name) - {4d25f926-B9FE-4682-BF72-8AB8210D6D75} - -C:\Program Files\MyWaySA\SrchAsDe\1.bin\deSrdAs.dll (file missing)

This has appeared on my hijackthis log before, and I have removed it with the assistance of the wonderful people here. Guess What! It's back on my hjt log again!! Must be rewriting itself back in periodically.

---

said by CylonRed :

Any idea on how to remove it? There is no option ot remove it via Add/Remove Programs...

said by sullim4 :

This is exactly why I build my own PC... that way I know exactly what's on my computer and I have complete control over it.

said by bob2136:

Is there any option in online ordering, or ordering by phone so that I can order an XP home cd and all software/driver cd's with it. Also, I am going to purchase Adobe Acrobat Elements. Does this come with a cd?

It's hard for me to see how Dell is saving money by putting restore data on the hard drive.

said by bob2136:

It's hard for me to see how Dell is saving money by putting restore data on the hard drive. CD's cost less than 5 cents to fabricate. I bet putting 6 GB of info on the hard disk must take some serious time.

said by eliotj :

I agree. First off XP is a resource hog. that's spelled

SUCKS

Also not as compatible with many things. Take into consideration that IE is also a security risk.

said by bigyeah :

I always thought Dell should give the customer the option of ordering the computer with nothing installed, or have it pre-installed like it is now. Just my 2 cents.

said by Mele20 :

I have an 8300 Dimension which, when bought in Nov 2003, it was THE top of the line model. As many of you know, I have had one problem after another with the hardware. ...Thank goodness I bought a three year, next business day, in house repair warranty

said by unclebob :

Man, where are you from? NO current machine uses EISA...I dont recall the last EISA machine I saw.

Hidden partitions on current machines often contain the software to reinstall the system back to the original configuration.

Some (don't know if Compaq still does this) contain setup information.

said by dave :

Are current Dell machines shipping with a genuine XP installation CD (as opposed to a 'restore CD') ?

said by DELLSUCKSBENDOVERAND
In other words--Dell pc's/SERVERS ALL come loaded with code that tracks pc users all inclusive use. More importantly they sell that info TO ANYONE.

THAT IS THE WAY IT WILL ALWAYS BE!!!!
[/BQUOTE:

Dell is not tracking my usage. You may speak for yourself. You don't speak for me.
--
Around 2005 a sudden spark will catalyze a Crisis mood. The very survival of the nation will seem to be at stake.Sometime before 2025, America will pass through a great gate in history. The risk and promise will be very high. The Fourth Turning Wm. Straus]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13912228 Sun, 17 Jul 2005 05:18:57 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13912223 Mele20 : I have an 8300 Dimension which, when bought in Nov 2003, it was THE top of the line model. As many of you know, I have had one problem after another with the hardware. This computer and a 19" LCD flat panel digital monitor from Dell cost over $2000 and that was after I used DOUBLE coupons that saved me about $700. EVERYTHING had to be replaced within the first 30 days. Dell sent four monitors before I got one that was ok. The first was DOA, the second had a bad power supply, the third would not come out test mode for digital (it would work on analog and the tech had the gall to tell me to just use analog)! The tower failed after about one week, the Altec Lansing speakers two of them were DOA.

Thank goodness I bought a three year, next business day, in house repair warranty and will be buying a fourth year and fifth year (if allowed)as it obvious I will make lots of use of it. :( Since then, the Conexant modem died back in January and that was replaced. The floppy drive died (with a floppy in it that I couldn't eject) about a month ago and that was replaced. Currently, on Friday I had to call Dell regarding my CDROM RW drive. I ran Dell Diagnostics (after I tried every program under the sun to make an ISO image and none worked) and the drive failed to read a data disk properly. A CDRom drive has been dispatched.

The Dell field tech who has been over twice now in six months and will be over again next week, told me that Dell is experiencing greatly excessive hardware failures in Hawaii and this is with their expensive computers both high end Dimensions and Optiplexes. He told me to expect the power supply to need replacing within the next three months and to need a new floppy drive and power supply about every six months for the life of the box. He said there are also problems with optical drives. Only the hard drive, RAM and monitors seem to not have undue problems in Hawaii now.

I am a repeat Dell customer. I was extremely happy with my older Dell which is now over six years old and still running great in the same condo, same desk, etc. as this newer Dell which has had so many hardware problems. The older Dimension XPS 450 PIII only needed the floppy drive replaced and that was after five years. I think Dell hardware has taken a severe nose dive and it is quite inferior to older Dell hardware. The tech support was outstanding when I bought my first Dell in May 99. By Nov 2003, it stank. Dell got so many complaints that they do appear to be finally listening as they built the excellent call center in Alberta, CA but it is only repeat cue so one still gets India frequently on the first call. That will be changing soon though. A huge call center is being built in Texas and tech support will be pulled from India is what the Dell field tech told me. (So maybe there is some hope for Dell...just maybe)?

I have a full reinstallation XP Pro CD. No ghost image on the box. (That started with the 8400s). I installed XP Pro on MS Virtual PC a couple of weeks ago from the Dell reinstallation CD. I had no problems and it was so nice to not have any Dell junk installed. I also have a small 32MB hidden partition that holds the Dell Diagnostics that I can boot to. I think I was one of the last to get a paper manual and a disk for the Conexant modem, Dell Diagnostics, Drivers, etc. I have a bunch of disks. I told Dell I wouldn't purchase from them if they refused to send me a reinstallation disk (no restoration crap for me), all other pertinent disks and a paper manual. I didn't get a paper a manual for the monitor like I did with the 17" Trinitron I have from Dell with my older computer. I was furious about that and complained loudly. I couldn't believe the manual was on the monitor CD! I couldn't look at the manual because the monitor wouldn't turn on. It is so stupid to send troubleshooting for a monitor on a CD.

At least, I bought my 8300 before Dell started putting spyware on their boxes. Thank goodness. It is really hypocritical of Dell to put "My Way Search Assistant" on their boxes when they are PARTNERS with Sunbelt who makes CounterSpy which detects My Way Search Assistant as spyware. I just don't understand what has happened to Dell. I guess Michael Dell doesn't feel that having a trillion dollar home on Maui, and another being built currently on my island, is enough. He sure doesn't think he should make his computers reasonably able to handle the weather here like he did his older computers.
--
Around 2005 a sudden spark will catalyze a Crisis mood. The very survival of the nation will seem to be at stake.Sometime before 2025, America will pass through a great gate in history. The risk and promise will be very high. The Fourth Turning Wm. Straus]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13912223 Sun, 17 Jul 2005 05:16:18 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13912199 anon : As someone who has done DELL's work for 7 years with Fortune 50 Dell customers and the poor individual unsuspecting Dell buyer dimwits. Sunbelts' spyware classification of Dell's junk and what they put on ALL their boxes is a gift OF WORDS and REALLY put mildly.

In other words--Dell pc's/SERVERS ALL come loaded with code that tracks pc users all inclusive use. More importantly they sell that info TO ANYONE.

THAT IS THE WAY IT WILL ALWAYS BE!!!!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13912199 Sun, 17 Jul 2005 04:58:01 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13912120 aarskringspi : That partition is about 6 GB's, its there, supposedly, to restore your PC back to the way it was when you took it out of the box. Just FYI, my XPS Gen 4 came with all drivers on CD including a Genuine XP Professional Disc.

I formatted the machine, nuked the partition and merged it with Partition Magic.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13912120 Sun, 17 Jul 2005 04:11:54 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13912035 Zyniker : I couldn't agree with you more...except I would take the Dell, I just wouldn't use it. I would raid it for parts and then play with some black powder and... :D
--
Join the Theuth.com Distributed Computing Team! »distributed.theuth.com/deep_thought.htm]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13912035 Sun, 17 Jul 2005 03:42:32 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13912006 Zyniker : I don't know if it's true on the newer Dell computers...but I know on the old ones if you delete that wonderful little partition you cannot use the Dell CD to reinstall Windows...
That was fun finding that out the first time...luckily it was in a classroom with about 40 computers and I had a copy of Norton Ghost handy...
--
Join the Theuth.com Distributed Computing Team! »distributed.theuth.com/deep_thought.htm]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13912006 Sun, 17 Jul 2005 03:33:56 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13911732 damox :

said by denzilla:

Can someone confirm that DELL allows the user to burn a set of CDs from the recovery partition?

Never heard that before. I did visit the Forums at: »forums.us.dell.com/supportforums

and found this:

The non-DOS partition that you are seeing was put there to install the operating system image at the factory. It should not cause you any problems. If you ever re-install W2k, you can delete both partitions, then create one large partition.

Respectfully,
Carrie Sallwey
CSD Network Technician
Dell Workstation Technical Support
--
DAMOX Proud to be a member of Team Discovery]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13911732 Sun, 17 Jul 2005 02:07:15 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13911706 jhh : When I screwed up my restore partition on my hp, they sent out the cds for only $20. But those restore cds install the exact same borderline spyware programs that were originally there when I bought it. My compaq presario labtop on the other hand has a cd for the os, crapware, and drivers. Which is rather nice. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13911706 Sun, 17 Jul 2005 01:59:27 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13911673 damox : If you have access to a third party tool that allows you to mount the hard drive and the registry while booting outside the OS, then it's easy! I normally use ERD Commander, but there are other utilities that do the same thing. In any case, my approach to removing nastyware, is to boot up to ERD Commander, locate all of the malicious files, and either delete them or move them to a holding folder (in those cases when I'm unsure), and then I go through the Run Key in the registry and remove anything I am certain is spyware. After manually cleaning anything I can find, I boot up normally and run Spybot S&D, and Hijack This to clean up the remnants, which are usually buried registry entries! It's safer to remove registry entries (except for those in the run key) from within Windows because you can save the keys first. Usually that takes care of just about anything. I've removed the "My Way Search Assistant" many times, but to be honest, I go through it so fast I don't remember the names files of any of the spyware/adware that I remove, though I know 'em when I see 'em. After you do a few of them, it's easy to figure out. On occasion I miss something and have to go back through again. One thing to remember, if you are unsure, move it instead of deleting it. You just need to remember where you got it from. Hope that helps.
--
DAMOX Proud to be a member of Team Discovery]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13911673 Sun, 17 Jul 2005 01:53:42 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13911617 anon : Can someone confirm that DELL allows the user to burn a set of CDs from the recovery partition? This kinda crap pisses me off! What is the average user supposed to do if their HDD dies unexpectedly? Dell got this idea from HP and other junk PC makers. There will be a backlash from all this, just like the Indian tech support.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13911617 Sun, 17 Jul 2005 01:41:00 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13911311 unclebob : Man, where are you from? NO current machine uses EISA...I dont recall the last EISA machine I saw.

Hidden partitions on current machines often contain the software to reinstall the system back to the original configuration.

Some (don't know if Compaq still does this) contain setup information.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13911311 Sun, 17 Jul 2005 00:43:15 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13911046 viperpa33s : I just bought a new Dell, I reformatted it and reinstalled only the programs I wanted and needed. All my other computers I did the same thing. With all the deals being made, it's hard to know what certain software is put on your computer and what it does. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13911046 Sun, 17 Jul 2005 00:01:05 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13910603 md911 : That would depend if its user fault , who have no knowledge of securing a computer and visits all these web site and click on ads, etc. It be no wonder that this said user has a bunch of junk. DELL is probably a major seller of computers and have you seen their agressive advertising? OR so called "sales"? They now have kiosks in major malls in Southern California and in other States. It be no surprise that you would probably see a larger number of DELLs being in for service whether a hardware OR spyware issue. Spyware is probably the number one problem. DELL constantly advertises in daily newspapers more so with the Sunday edition ( Los Angeles Times)

In the 19 months I had my DELL 4600, there has not been a single problem. My computer is on almost every day 24/7 to play on game servers. I just don't like the "junk" DELL puts on their new computers even when you dont ask for them.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13910603 Sat, 16 Jul 2005 22:57:29 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13910482 az kiwi : Interesting thread on Dell. "a Friend" has ties with a local nation-wide store that have their tech staff drive distinctive VW's.... The most popular system coming in to that store for repair (as distinct from virus/spyware removal) is..... a Dell.

Personally, i wouldn't take one if it was given to me free!

Unkle]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13910482 Sat, 16 Jul 2005 22:40:59 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13909962 CylonRed : Thanks - I will look into it... :)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13909962 Sat, 16 Jul 2005 20:28:41 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13909957 md911 : Sunbelts CounterSpy will catch it.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13909957 Sat, 16 Jul 2005 20:27:23 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13909953 md911 : Sort of what you described. High profitability at the expense of quality. You notice all these "sales" that DELL have been advertising? Lack of CD's, no documentation (paper format), the manual is on the hard drive, 90 day limited warranty as compared to the normal one year warranty found in their more expensive computers. DELL is cutting corners to lower prices.. My Inspiron 2200 doesnt have a paralel port for older printers or a ps 2 connector for an older style connector mouse. These connectors are found on higher end DELL Laptops. My 2200 is just barebones. I will probably extend the one year warranty before it expires though. The warranty was only 90 days but I paid an extra 30 dollars to extend it to one year.

As for reliability, that remains to be seen. I have a used Toshiba Protegee and that has lasted 5 years and still going...]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13909953 Sat, 16 Jul 2005 20:26:29 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13909838 CylonRed : I have run Spybot and Adaware (work put them on) - neither catch it or remove it.
--
Brian
America's Army Forum Moderator and America's Army Beta Tester]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13909838 Sat, 16 Jul 2005 20:08:23 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13909731 vannyx : PB used to be the computer to get , but someway along the line they started concentrating on increased profitability at the expense of Quality and it seems that dell is doing the same thing. I always bought dell laptops because of their high resale value and how upgradeable they were. A friend of mine bought a dell with P4 chip when it first came out with RAM BUS so a few days ago it died. now he only had the machine 2 maybe 3 years but in that time he had to purchase a new HD new video card and because of the outrageous price of ram bus hasn't had more than 256mb of ram inside. Now at the time he bought the machine he pay ed about 1500 for it and it was considered top of the line. A co workers cousin bought a new dell to do his video editing on and he called me saying the computer keeps beeping it wont turn on ( right out of the box from dell).

I opened the case looked at the ram , the chips were falling off the ram stick (DDR). I call dell , prajeet at the lahore Pakistan office tells me " no no sir , you must be wrong in what you see, ram chips can not fall of sticks , it must be the weather in new York that is getting to you." After explaining to prajeet he cant help me i was transferred to a real tech support specialist back in the US and was told that its highly unlikely what i saw happen happened but they will send someone out to look at it. When the tech from dell came he was shocked at what he saw and replaced it. On my way out i said to my co workers cousin ( in my best steve impression) " DUDE YOU GOT A DELL".

Dells quality isnt going down the drain its being flushed down the toilet. What is going on with that company.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13909731 Sat, 16 Jul 2005 19:50:39 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13909631 AMDUSER : Download SpyBot S& D, install it, have it do a detections update. Then have it scan the entire computer.

This should detect it, and allow you to remove it.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13909631 Sat, 16 Jul 2005 19:29:11 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13909537 md911 : Sears was selling them at the time I purchased one. I think I paid almost 1800 dollars!! Looking at what I can buy for 1800 now, it shows how much computer technology improved over 10 years and even further. An IBM PC Jr was selling for 3 thousand when that first came out. I dont think packard bell is making computers now.. I have seen companies like E Machines, Systemax, and Averatec today. I don't know why people are calling Packard Bells "Junk". I think it was back in 93 or 95 when I purchased the computer new. Maybe after a certain year, Packard bell changed their "labor" and computer reliability went downhill thereafter. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13909537 Sat, 16 Jul 2005 19:09:20 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13909228 CylonRed :

said by damox :

Maybe if users inundate Dell with complaints about the "My Way Search Assistant" software, they'd drop it. Where I work we use Optiplex model, so those systems don't come with that crap, but users often pick it up from the internet on our Windows 2000 computers, and whenever I see it, I remove it! I certainly consider it junkware.

]
Any idea on how to remove it? There is no option ot remove it via Add/Remove Programs...
--
Brian
America's Army Forum Moderator and America's Army Beta Tester]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13909228 Sat, 16 Jul 2005 18:13:06 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13908990 Raj Dynel : I am sure Dell is better than it used to be, but the last time I bought from Dell [years ago], I got a bad hard drive. I could not convince them of it, so I went to a local store and sent the bad drive in to Western Digital and THEY replaced it.

Meanwhile, I never really got to see half the software that was pre-installed because of the bad drive, and in those days there were no restore CD's.

Not to mention their tech support barely spoke English.

A more recent experience has steered me toward Sony. I bought a great Media Center PC for $1200 with a $100 rebate. The computer works great and Sony sent me a message saying my rebate was approved. After that it came fairly quickly.
--
"Experience The Magic" Jerry L. Pianka Mountain View, CA - USA ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13908990 Sat, 16 Jul 2005 17:31:38 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13908512 redwolfe_98 : edited]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13908512 Sat, 16 Jul 2005 16:00:08 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13908285 mglunt :
Someone at work has a new Dell laptop - probably 3-4 months old. She brought it in the other day with a boot problem. It did have an OS disk. It was a blue Dell branded disk with XP Home OEM. I needed to boot into the recovery console, and in doing that, the disk appeared to be a regular Windows XP CD. All options of the regular XP disk were there.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13908285 Sat, 16 Jul 2005 15:21:28 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13908151 gracie :

said by md911 :

My first computer was a "Packard Bell junk computer", but it had lasted 5-6 years before I broke down and upgraded ... While a majority of Packard Bell computers may be junk, there were some that got past the assembly line and have been proven to be reliable.

thank you for confirming my experience! maybe it was the very earliest PBs that were good and then they got bad, but my very first AT type desktop (after commodores and then a toshiba lapatop) was a packard bell that was fabulous---it tolerated everything i did to it while i was a geek-goddess-in-training (not a pretty sight); when i finally sold it to a neighbor after about 3 years (only because it was TIME for a more powerful one), it served her for more years---when she moved away, she still was using it.
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graciella! "not tonight dear, I have DSL."
Creating SuperOrganizations Worldwide
Creating & Hosting SuperSites Worldwide]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13908151 Sat, 16 Jul 2005 15:02:00 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13907775 md911 : My first computer was a "Packard Bell junk computer", but it had lasted 5-6 years before I broke down and upgraded to a used Pentium 100.I didnt want to spend much for a computer. My pentium 100 got zapped with all sorts of crapware and stuff and I upgraded to Pentium 4 , hence my current Dell 4600. DSL was also starting to become popular and I needed a faster machine to handle DSL requirement and such.
While a majority of Packard Bell computers may be junk, there were some that got past the assembly line and have been proven to be reliable. I never had a problem with mine and it was still running strong when I sold it. I still have the disks that came with that system: Win 3.11 and Dos 5.0 It may not run todays applications but it did have basic word processing and older dos based games. It was a 486 25 mhz machine. Maybe I should have kept that computer.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13907775 Sat, 16 Jul 2005 14:00:56 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13907624 PTS : Step 1: Get Darik's Boot And Nuke.

Step 2:

said by JamPony9 :

...obtain all necessary drivers and patches, put them on CDR...

Step 3: Reboot PC to DBAN CD.

Step 4:

said by JamPony9 :

...install a fresh copy of your favorite OS.

--
We're Not Afraid!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13907624 Sat, 16 Jul 2005 13:35:16 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13907594 damox : Maybe if users inundate Dell with complaints about the "My Way Search Assistant" software, they'd drop it. Where I work we use Optiplex model, so those systems don't come with that crap, but users often pick it up from the internet on our Windows 2000 computers, and whenever I see it, I remove it! I certainly consider it junkware.
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DAMOX Proud to be a member of Team Discovery]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13907594 Sat, 16 Jul 2005 13:31:19 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13907524 damox : While they may sell budget PCs, they also sell high quality systems, many which sell for under $1000.00! There is no way you can compare Dell with Packard Bell. Just about everything Packard Bell sold was crap. Generally speaking, Dell products are quality, but that's not to say they don't sell some low quality stuff as well.
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DAMOX Proud to be a member of Team Discovery]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13907524 Sat, 16 Jul 2005 13:19:02 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13907370 feverfive : At least for my i9300, there was an option in the programs menu for a one-time burning of the OS + drivers; no bloat included. I also played what I now know is called the "Dell game" to get an XP Pro install CD--took a lot of emails & online chats to accomplish though. I used the install CD that I burned; I have a lean install of XP. Just needed to go to the Dell updates/drivers page to update everything...]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13907370 Sat, 16 Jul 2005 12:58:23 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13907206 glynmiester : Absolutlely... unless you buy a Dell that Costs $2000 or more , from any techs point of view its a disposable POS i get more and more of these so-called Budget PCs ($399)from Dell on my bench lately than almost any other brand, and when ... no more rants , sorry for going off topic ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13907206 Sat, 16 Jul 2005 12:29:09 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13907165 novaflare :

said by glynmiester :

Looks like Dell is well on they're way to becoming like Packard Bell

Na packerd bell only has 2 4 and 8 meg vid systems. More like compaq and hp and their not on their way they already are at least with their advertiseing scams. Essentialy conning customers in to thinking that 300 dolor dell heap will run all todays newest software. They love to qoute specs on hd space ram and cpu or some times just cpu and hd depending on model. Some times they qoute cpu ram and hd specs because the comp has tons of ram 1 gig 100 gigs hd space p4 yada yada yada but the video is like 16 megs shared. They typically have no agp slot so your limited to a pci vid card (say a nvidia 5200 pci includeing the flawed gpu or a ati 9200 or 9250 depending on if your in use or ca).

Im a gm in a couple games answering tech tickets regarding errors etc is what i do most of the time. I commonly see isues regardign errors on dx or the games failign to load. After some diggign and questions often times it turns out they just bought this brand new top of the line dell compaq or hp qouted specs high cpu high ram and hd space nothign about the vid card. Turns out in all such cases the most these people have are 32 meg video systems on their comps that do most d3d in software emulation aka slow as crap.

Sorry for the rant but it was sort of ontopic. You buy a named brand thats what your buying the name.
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DSLR security chat at us.ausirc.net chanel #dslr_sec lets pack this channel open source dns server for *nix and windows »powerdns.com]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13907165 Sat, 16 Jul 2005 12:21:26 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13907093 glynmiester : Looks like Dell is well on they're way to becoming like Packard Bell ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13907093 Sat, 16 Jul 2005 12:09:16 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13905711 gracie :

said by md911 :

DELL also put a hidden partition in the hard drive

this "hidden" partition (easily seen by just unhiding it, or when you use a tool like acronis true image, etc.), usually about 16 Mb. and formatted as FAT, is indeed a "restore" and "rescue" partition. if your active partition (usually c:, whereever windows is installed) gets hosed, the machine is set to make this one active and allow you to still boot it.

while i also clean off the dell crap immediately (and agree that it is a PITA), i leave this "hidden" partition, as it actually saved my butt once when i hosed my c: partition. there doesn't seem to be any "crap" on that partition; YMMV! if you also reformat all your drives when you first get a machine (as some of us do), AND reformat/unpartition this one as well, you'll need either a current image or a real windows installation CD to get a really clean install back.
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graciella! "not tonight dear, I have DSL."
Creating SuperOrganizations Worldwide
Creating & Hosting SuperSites Worldwide]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13905711 Sat, 16 Jul 2005 04:44:55 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13905382 BlackSpider : I have just bought a Dell desktop only a couple of weeks ago.

Here in the UK at least, Dell does not ship any CD's at all now; so no drivers and no OS on disc. Now, they are all on a separate partition on the hard-disc.

Looking at their forums, this policy now seems to be in the States as well.

The only CD which is still part of the package is the Monitor one.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13905382 Sat, 16 Jul 2005 02:25:20 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13904670 hpguru : Mine is even labeled "Reinstallation CD". It seems to have all the same files the retail disk has including a couple folders added by Dell. All the drivers and additional software are on different CDs. One of my clients has the same Reinstallation CDs. When I had occasion to use one of them recently the installation progressed no differently than it would have with a retail disk.
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Get hpHOSTS! Member ASAP
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REMEMBER 1776! NEVER FORGET!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13904670 Sat, 16 Jul 2005 00:07:35 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13904198 CylonRed : I have not seen anything but a restore CD for the Dell's at any of my work places for the last couple of years. Even the desktops that were 3 years old had restore cd's.
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Brian
America's Army Forum Moderator and America's Army Beta Tester]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13904198 Fri, 15 Jul 2005 23:02:12 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13904133 feverfive : Just bought a Dell Inspiron 9300; first thing I did was re-format & reinstall, nuked all factory partitions. This is my first Dell, but I had heard of all the bloat that is installed at the factory.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13904133 Fri, 15 Jul 2005 22:51:31 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13904084 hpguru :

said by dave :

Are current Dell machines shipping with a genuine XP installation CD (as opposed to a 'restore CD') ?

My Dell (a few months shy of a year old) came with a Dell branded installation CD. Supposedly the restoration files are on the disk in a third hidden partition, but it doesn't work. I tried to restore after COM+ got hosed and was forced to reinstall instead.
--
Get hpHOSTS! Member ASAP
Downing St. memo: BUSH LIED, YOUR SON DIED.
REMEMBER 1776! NEVER FORGET!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13904084 Fri, 15 Jul 2005 22:44:42 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13903948 dave : Are current Dell machines shipping with a genuine XP installation CD (as opposed to a 'restore CD') ?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13903948 Fri, 15 Jul 2005 22:26:42 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13903941 CylonRed :

said by Steely :

said by SUMware :

Dell has rejected allegations that its PCs come pre-loaded with an intrusive application that spies on users' surfing habits.

Anyone who has tried removing "My Way Search Assistant" via "Add or Remove Programs" knows that there will be an unpleasant surprise waiting for them after the reboot. Regardless, Dell shouldn't be preloading My Way in the first place.

On my copy of XP that I get with my work laptop - it does nto even give me the OPTION to remove it... I would like to find a way to remove it as it si a work PC and do not have all of the programs I need - like a full copy of Oracle.
--
Brian
America's Army Forum Moderator and America's Army Beta Tester]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13903941 Fri, 15 Jul 2005 22:26:11 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13903898 NyQuil Kid : I like Dell desktops, but I always wipe and reinstall right after delivery - I do, however, feel sorry for those who aren't familiar with that task (aka average Joe) and has to put up with that nonsense.

[8F] The NyQuil Kid
--
[8F] The NyQuil Kid comes into town not looking for trouble... n00bz gang up, but he ain't seein' double,... pulls and draws, his deagles two... n00bz litter the ground you know it's true.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13903898 Fri, 15 Jul 2005 22:19:00 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13903838 richrf : I was kind of getting cold on Dell products already. I just spent a ton of time cleaning a Dell laptop of all the junk they put on the systems nowadays. Now, for sure, I will not be buying any of their PCs in the future. It isn't worth the time and aggravation - not to mention the fact that they are loading up the system with stuff to track my usage. As far as I cam concerned, they can figure out other ways to make money. Not a cent from me.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13903838 Fri, 15 Jul 2005 22:08:52 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13901730 dave :

said by md911 :

DELL also put a hidden partition in the hard drive, makes you wonder why this was done.

That's a standard feature of some OEM machines; it's called an 'EISA configuration partition', and I think it's used for storing utilities that can be run from the firmware.

Absent documentation, it wouldn't seem to be very useful. But that doesn't make it suspicious.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13901730 Fri, 15 Jul 2005 17:29:44 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13901643 md911 : I dont think its a glitch but rather intentional. Dell probably don't want owner removing it easily. DELL also put a hidden partition in the hard drive, makes you wonder why this was done. Yes, they claim incase something goes wrong with the lapptop you can restore it to its original state. I dont use IE anyways...]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13901643 Fri, 15 Jul 2005 17:17:26 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13901441 JamPony9 : It is indeed spyware, if the description in the Register article is accurate, no matter what Dell says.

The best thing to do with a new PC is to obtain all necessary drivers and patches, put them on CDR, then format the disk and install a fresh copy of your favorite OS.

If your choice is Windows, a full retail copy is expensive, but has important advantages. It is transferrable from one PC to another; saves you from a forced up(or down-)grade when replacing the PC; avoids any unwanted software; and assures that you have a backup if needed.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13901441 Fri, 15 Jul 2005 16:52:37 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13901131 Steely :

said by SUMware :

Dell has rejected allegations that its PCs come pre-loaded with an intrusive application that spies on users' surfing habits.

Anyone who has tried removing "My Way Search Assistant" via "Add or Remove Programs" knows that there will be an unpleasant surprise waiting for them after the reboot. Regardless, Dell shouldn't be preloading My Way in the first place.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13901131 Fri, 15 Jul 2005 16:19:05 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13900952 rgillis70 : I just wish the thing would fully un-install. When we get a new Dell - I select it for un-install, and of course it says it will happen on the next boot, but it always stays there.

Maybe just a glitch in the installer package - but frustrating anyway.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13900952 Fri, 15 Jul 2005 15:57:08 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13900942 md911 : It is difficult to remove from the IE browser. If users dont want it, then it should be their choice and not DELL. This seems to be happening with their newer PC's. I just bought an Inspiron a month ago and have dellmyway4say.

It is very supsicious that this particular folder should be difficult to remove.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13900942 Fri, 15 Jul 2005 15:56:17 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13900780 SUMware : From The Register:

Dell has rejected allegations that its PCs come pre-loaded with an intrusive application that spies on users' surfing habits. The equipment manufacturer said there was nothing untoward about My Way Search Assistant despite complaints from customers that the toolbar impairs computer performance, changes browser settings and is difficult to remove.

Anti-spyware firm Sunbelt Software defines My Way components as a "potential privacy risk" that pose a moderate threat to users.

]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13900780 Fri, 15 Jul 2005 15:36:21 EDT