OK, this is what I know...

My Dad has a friend and their laptop just decided to stop working; networking wise. He spent over 3 hours this week on the phone with Dell and SBC to determine if it was a hardware and/or DSL issue. Both companies have said it's a virus; i.e. not their fault.

Evidently, everything was tried, but the bottomline is when the laptop tires to connent either though a Cat5 cable or wireless, it will NOT connect. Can't ping anything... Nada.

So I've said I'd take a look at it.


First... They do not have any anti-virus software on the machine. Are there any windows virii out there that will disable networking ONLY? Everything else on the laptop is apparently working just fine.

Second... What can I take over on a thumbdrive to install and diagnose? Ad-aware for sure... What else?

What steps do I need to take to track this down? I was going to plug the laptop directly into his router and try to troubleshoot from there. If it works right off the bat, then certainly it's a DSL issue at the owner's house. But let's say there is something wrong. How would you all attack something like this?

Thanks.

 

you could also get a copy of free avg antivirus on the thumb drive,
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1

you could also use the mcagee stinger. http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/

and a spyware such as the one you mentioned, Sorry i can't help as i don't know exactly what virus does what.

 

Could be a virus. Does it have a floppy drive?

Install an antivirus program and ad-aware - boot into safe and scan. Reinstall SP2 for XP.

 

Here's the other thing...

Does Dell not provide CDs of Windows any longer? They bought an Inspirion laptop and it didn't come with any install CDs? Are you supposed to rely on Windows Restore???

 

Yes.

 

So wtf... Will that eliminate a virus if I decided to completely restore the drive?

What if the drive completely crashes and restore is rendered useless? Then what?

 

Then the Filipina tech support chick on the phone says "wait a minute"
while she looks for the procedure manual that doesn't exist.

Then she comes back and says you gotta do a format.

Then she hangs up.

 

Yes, generally if you format the drive (even better to use fdisk to completely readd it - you can also remove any boot sector viruses by running fdisk /mbr) it would wipe out the virus if one existed.

If the drive complete crashed, the restore CD should work as long as the drive is working (hardware).

 

Format how??? If no CD exists, how in the fuck do you do it?

 

Boot safe mode with networking and see if it works there. No virus that I know of runs in safe mode.

 

If the drive crashes and you don't have a backup of your files, then they are lost.

 

Stick in the restore CD and boot.....

 

Does ipconfig say that its getting an IP number?

 

I was pretty shure they were still required to give you a copy in some form, but many times like on my acer, it's a system restore cd, not a stand alone copy of windows. Did they buy it directly from dell?

 

It didn't come with a restore CD. Even the laptop he bought from Dell didn't come with one...

 

I'll check that tomorrow when I go over there to look at it.

 

Yep.

I'll check tomorrow, but I don't think they came with media.

 

Look for a program called Image Restore.

 

There's no way you could know such valuable information
unless you're on the inside of Dell Tech Support.





Whiskers [the demon spawn antichrist] ***stole*** the
Sacred Dell Philippines Tech Support Outsourcing Site PROCEDURE MANUAL!!!

awwwww ... now you done it. You know the secrets of the temple.

Fortunately, unlike most government-paid mercenaries, the FBI has no problem going to New Jersey to take people out.

Especially people such as yourself, who pose a threat to the economic vitality of the Philippines, the income stream of Michael Dell, and the security of the entire North American continent.

Don't look at me ... I really hate Dell tech support.

 

Lately Dell has been sticking a restore partition on their laptops and using some kind of Symantec util. You can get the machine back to a "new" condition with that. It is a destructive procedure so get the data off first.

 

Where?

Seriously, I don't remember ever seeing a CD.

 

Dell isn't doing restore CDs. You probably have a Windows CD somewhere in there.

I suggest you, or whoever is working on the restore project, has both the toilet and the refrigerator moved within a 15-second proximity of said PC needing software reinstall.

After all, you'll be busy for a while.

:ibMichaelDellfiendlishlylaughing:

And if you don't even have a Windows CD...

... it's okay, Microsoft knows how to hook you up.

 

It should be on the laptop, installed..... Look for it installed... Not on a CD....The program initiates a process that doopstr mentioned (running the format and install from a small partition).

 

 

Is that how they do it thesedays? Sounds too logical.

Before I buy my next Dell, I'm going to ask and/or insist that whatever I buy comes with something like that. Otherwise I might as well build my own machine from OEM parts.

 

OK, I'll take a look.

Should I go through msconfig to initiate the safemode + networking or go through F8? Does it matter?

 

Just bought a Dell

 

F8

 

fucking windows...

 

Nothing ever works in 'Safe Mode.' That's why it's so, um, safe.

I stopped really learning about computers right about the time networking took off bigtime.
I can't even explain what a 'Winsock' is. But it's probably it, or something like it, that got taken out by a config or virus problem and renders the computer unnetworkable.

Registry Restore always works for me. Haven't used it recently, though.
And ... well, it does run in Safe Mode.

 

 

Cursing at Windows leads to baaaad juju.

 

I would also question if they have installed any packet sniffing software or something to scan for other connections on the wireless card. I have installed something to do this and never got the wireless to work again.

MB may be going as well, I have seen parts of different laptops stop working while other things functioned while a MB was going bad.

 

Fixed.

Nothing wrong with the computer. No virii.

They installed the DSL filters incorrectly, and were getting intermittent service as a result.




Thanks for all the help!

 

 

I think you owe Windows an appology........