Dell Inspiron 1521 Diagnostic
highperf4x4
US
Ok, here's the trouble for the day. Happy to see me? 
I'm having trouble with one of my laptops. I'm pretty sure it's a failed hard drive however, before I buy another one, I'm gonna check for options, opinions.
It started when I did the Service pack1 update for Vista. Upon reboot, I got an error and let it do the startup repair trick. It's happened several times before and this laptop has been known not to always shut down properly anyway. Never been much of a problem before now though just slows down your startup time. However, this time it wacked out. I had alot of trouble finishing any reboot to get the update finished and at one point I lost my sound so I checked Device manager and had like 5 drivers that couldn't load. Shut down and rebooted (another error on the way) and when it loaded next, those 5 drivers appeared fine, 2 others couldn't load. I tossed it all out the window figuring it was related to the update and did a PC Restore from the D: patition on the hard drive. Back to the factory image like it came in the mail. Still............. startup errors. Blue Screens, Stop codes, reboots. Wiped it out, went to a Dell Reinstallation CD. Loaded from scratch (errors and stop messages still) No matter what I try now, I can't get Vista to load and the error messages are going crazy. The only diagnostic I was able to run was the memory test. It passed twice so probably not the issue. At one point I got a startup message that said I needed to check the hard drive for errors so I let it go but it didn't seem to find anything that I noticed.
My question is this, is there a way to run a diagnostic from a "bootable" CD that will test everything including the hard drive and the mobo and show me the results without having to load Vista?
I'm having trouble with one of my laptops. I'm pretty sure it's a failed hard drive however, before I buy another one, I'm gonna check for options, opinions.
It started when I did the Service pack1 update for Vista. Upon reboot, I got an error and let it do the startup repair trick. It's happened several times before and this laptop has been known not to always shut down properly anyway. Never been much of a problem before now though just slows down your startup time. However, this time it wacked out. I had alot of trouble finishing any reboot to get the update finished and at one point I lost my sound so I checked Device manager and had like 5 drivers that couldn't load. Shut down and rebooted (another error on the way) and when it loaded next, those 5 drivers appeared fine, 2 others couldn't load. I tossed it all out the window figuring it was related to the update and did a PC Restore from the D: patition on the hard drive. Back to the factory image like it came in the mail. Still............. startup errors. Blue Screens, Stop codes, reboots. Wiped it out, went to a Dell Reinstallation CD. Loaded from scratch (errors and stop messages still) No matter what I try now, I can't get Vista to load and the error messages are going crazy. The only diagnostic I was able to run was the memory test. It passed twice so probably not the issue. At one point I got a startup message that said I needed to check the hard drive for errors so I let it go but it didn't seem to find anything that I noticed.
My question is this, is there a way to run a diagnostic from a "bootable" CD that will test everything including the hard drive and the mobo and show me the results without having to load Vista?
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http://www.recovery-cds.com/laptop/product.asp?product=2204&ph=search&keywords=system,recovery,boot,dell,cd&recor=1&SearchFor=any&PT_ID=all
however I can't purchase it. For some reason their server takes a dump when I try to checkout. Anybody know where I can find another one????
Your hard drive probably shit the bed.
Download these ISOs:
HitachGST's <a href="http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#DFT" target="_blank">Drive Fitness Test</a> (DFT) CD image
Seagate's <a href="http://download.seagate.com/seatools/registration.nsf/eula/desktop" target="_blank">SeaTools for DOS</a> CD image
Then...
Evaluate the condition of your hard drive by testing it with <a href="http://icrontic.com/articles/hard_drive_diagnostics">Drive Fitness Test</a>. Should DFT fail to correctly function on your system, <a href="http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/crm/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=201271" target="_blank">perform a long scan</a> with SeaTools. If this fails, you need to replace your hard drive after <a href="http://icrontic.com/articles/easy_data_recovery" target="_blank">archiving your information</a>. If simple archival fails, Icrontic has prepared an <a href="http://icrontic.com/articles/advanced_data_recovery" target="_blank">emergency data recovery</a> guide to account for this issue. Replacing your hard drive will require that you <a href="http://icrontic.com/articles/repair_install_windows_xp" target="_blank">reinstall Windows</a>.
What I'm thinking is that I'd like the Complete Restore to function on the new drive just as it did on the old drive. If for some reason it doesn't, do I lose the "key" for the OS that came with the laptop or is that little sticker on the bottom side really all the "license" I need if I install Vista from a reinstallation CD that came with another computer?
Once you have installed the OS and any other drivers and software you could then take an image and store it on a second partition yourself. Just make sure that you leave enough empty space on the disk when you do the install to create a new partition
Whatever "Factory Image" that it restores is coming from the D: partition only. You can format the C: partition, run the restore from the D: partition and you get exactly what you had when it came out of the box. I'm not looking to make a new image, I'd just like the new drive to do the same thing and I'm wondering if I can just do a copy from the old drive to the new one (assuming the data doesn't come corrupted) and still be able to do a factory restore.
The problem is that the D: partition is likely to be on the same physical hard disk. If there are problems with the disk then it may affect both C: and D: partitions.
Hence why I say that you might need to install from a windows CD. Once you have installed you create your own image.
Here's what I've noticed. Most of the blue screen error messages I got while booting up may have had different stop codes but it seemed like they all mentioned "irql_not_less_than" . The trouble I'm having only occurs when "booting" Vista. Once I managed to get it loaded I appear to be in good shape. When I remove the usb reciever/tramsitter for my wireless mouse while booting it seems to have fewer problems. Anybody got any ideas?
Surely if the mobo was kicking the bucket I would have problems even while Vista is running wouldn't I?
OK. That might tell you something. Run it for a while whithout the mouse and see how it runs. If it seems to be OK then try updating your USB drivers. Id be surprised that this wasn't fixed by the re-image that you did though.
Install Avast! anti-virus. It's better, faster, and free for life.
If Avast is so fast and free, how could it be better? lol And is it a complete package like Norton's Internet Security or is it just an anti-virus program only?
This is the information age, man. Free and/or open source software is growing every day, and a lot of it is better than retail products because the people developing these free goods are WAY more interested in quality than a commercial money grinder. Couple that with a fervent community that's obsessed with finding bugs and submitting new virus definitions, and you have yourself a testing department that's bigger than any one company could ever afford.
You name a single security application, and I can tell you a free one that's objectively better in both speed and efficacy. That's just the way it is these days.
That said, AVAST! is anti-virus only. If you have a router, you already have the best firewall you can buy. You don't need a software one like Norton if you have a router.
So for the Norton suite, that leaves:
Anti-phishing. Google and Firefox does this for free and has a larger database.
Anti-spyware. Plain doesn't work. There are perhaps a hundred different viruses actively circulating at any one time, and only one or two of them is common and dangerous. There's 10 years of spyware circulating, and <i>all</i> of it is common and dangerous. If the world's best anti-virus solutions are only 50% effective in identifying and removing infections, how can these programs hope to proactively identify and block spyware which is 10 times as voluminous? The answer is that it can't. Preventative anti-spyware applications don't work.
What <i>does</i> work for spyware is being cautious and having good, free tools on hand to identify and remove the problem once it has already happened. You can't prevent bronchitis, but you can identify its symptoms and cure it. The same is true for spyware.
My company analyzed the infection rates on common users and users with admin powers. After several months, the common users were almost totally clean and those that were infected were only slightly and none effecting the operating system just the profile. The users with admin rights.... infected to the point that they had to be cleaned with several Anti Spyware tools and even wiped in some cases.
I will second that you don't install Norton. It is major bloatware and you PC will grind to a holt! Avast is very good. I personally prefer Avira because I prefer the interface. Don't know how it compares performance wise but it works for me. You dont need a full suite of programs anyway. they will only slow your PC down. In terms of antispy ware... Get MalwareBytes Anti Malware... Also free. And that is a very good program. Look through the AV section on here and it is the first thing that almost everyone recomends. Most of the developers of the AV software will let you use it for personel use free of charge. They only charge you for corperate use.
So as far as my antivirus and antispyware I should use Avast and MalwareBytes? Any other software you guys would recommend? I know the Nortons would give me notices that it blocked an "intrusion attpemt". Anything else I can get that would do that as well?
Keep your OS and browsers up to to date and browse with your brain, not your cock - you won't get malware.
1. I don't use or download toolbars
2. My wife is a hot, blond headed, green eyed bombshell so I have no use for porn sites
3. I don't trust "intelligent broswing habbits" to protect me from anything.
Anybody else have a suggestion on a good anti-spyware program?
My PC has been clean for 18 years and counting.
On top of that, anti-malware software is a load of bunk anyway, and will just waste your time, money, and CPU cycles trying to prevent what will inevitably happen anyway if you find yourself habitually contracting spyware. They just aren't good enough to stop you from installing them.
Funny side note: my mom almost paid for Firefox once, and wouldn't have thought twice about it. Information, logic, and common sense are priceless on the internet. Just keep yourself safe and you'll never have to worry about it, you know?
This is some more background that I got sent from our IT support http://icrontic.com/forum/showthread.php?t=81593
I'm assuming you're still talking about the porn sites? Like I said, I have no use for them.
Look guys, I don't have a malware problem that I'm aware of. I can't remember ever having one. I don't know what the difference is between malware, spyware, phishing but I do know that I've always used something to protect all of my computers from this stuff. For the longest time it's been Norton's Internet Security that was supposed to cover all those bases and keep my Identity safe as well. Now, based on someone's advice in this very thread, I've done away with Norton's Internet Security altogether. I installed one of the recommended anti-virus programs also from this thread. Unless I'm confused, that program is only for viruses. I'm not comfortable leaving the rest to "safe browsing habbits" for myself, my kids, relatives, or anyone else that happens to use one of my computers. I can go do my own research I simply figured that since you recommended I not use the Norton's you could also recommend a replacement. Either way, I'll get it taken care of. Thx for the input.