Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Annoying Dell Pop Ups

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 08-07-2006, 11:24 PM:

Does anyone else besides me really hate the "Dell Support Maintenance Channel" and its annoying pop ups, which always seem to rise up from the taskbar like a zombie from the dead at the time when you least want them to do so?

Most people who have bought Dell desktop or notebook computers in recent years have seen pop ups like that.

But that's not the most irritating thing I find on a monitor.

The absolute MOST IRRITATING thing I find on a monitor is the "Head On" TV commercial. The people who came up with it should be viciously assaulted by a skinhead gang with baseball bats. Each time they swing they shout:
"HEAD ON! APPLIED DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD!"
"HEAD ON! APPLIED DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD!"
"HEAD ON! APPLIED DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD!"
[Razz]

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 08-07-2006, 11:29 PM:

Never seen either one. I have two Dells purchased in the last year.

Posted by Anslem Rayburn (Member # 1267) on 08-07-2006, 11:55 PM:

You can always remove the Dell Support software :

Dell Support Removal

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 08-08-2006, 12:01 AM:

I don't understand why anyoe would purchase a Dell. If you're gonna use a PC, you might as well build it yourself from scratch.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 08-08-2006, 01:05 AM:

Some of us are too busy to do that.

I hate the "head on" commercial too - I've seen it on TV. The dumbest thing is, THEY DON'T TELL YOU WHAT THE STUPID PRODUCT DOES. Is it a headache remedy? Zit remover? Temporary forehead tattoo? WHAT?!

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-08-2006, 01:15 AM:

I have never seen this either, and I've had two Dell laptops over the last two years, a friend also bought a Dell laptop and has not seen these, plus one of the companies I tech for uses Dell exclusively and their IT guy has never heard of this either.

Is it possible you are installing something extra that is not standard?

Posted by Allison Parsons (Member # 2728) on 08-08-2006, 01:33 AM:

I've get firmwear pop ups for my burner, and something else. It's always when I have my sound up kinda high, and then it pops up and scares the piss out of me.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 08-08-2006, 04:21 AM:

quote: Joe Redifer
I don't understand why anyoe would purchase a Dell. If you're gonna use a PC, you might as well build it yourself from scratch.

For desktop PCs, I agree completely. That option doesn't exist for laptops, of which I've owned or used through work 4 in the last five years: two Dells, an HP/Compaq and an Acer. All come preloaded with an OS image which is full of that sort of shite, and I found that the only way to totally rid yourself of it is to completely repartition and reformat the hard drive, then install your own Windows image on it from scratch.

My routine has now evolved as follows:

Ensure you have all the device drivers and applications software needed before starting. Drivers can usually be downloaded from the manufacturer's website, though you might have to register with them (give a fictitious email address to avoid spam).
Ensure you have a proper Windows installation CD, not just one which restores the manufacturer's system image. If you're using a Windows CD which didn't come with the computer, make sure the install key on the laptop will work with it first.
Flash in the latest BIOS update, plus any firmware updates which are available (e.g. for the optical drive).
Boot using a Drive Image or Norton Ghost CD, and repartition the hard drive into C: (system) and D: (documents/data). This will massively reduce fragging in use, and also mean that should a virus or spyware ever necessitate a cleanout of C:, you can nuke it without losing any documents. I usually partition 15gb for C - all Windows XP will ever need unless you're going to install tons of applications - and the rest for D:.
Install Windows.
Activate Windows, then immediately install Zone Alarm (before establishing any Internet connection) and then run Windows Update. If you need to install a driver to establish an Internet connection (e.g. for a dialup modem, LAN or wireless card), do this before Zone Alarm, so that the latter recognises your communication device on installation.
Windows Update will probably do some of the device drivers, but not all. Once this process is done, do the rest of them, but skip the shitty 'Dell easy advisor', 'Acer SnazzyAds' and all that rubbish.
Install applications, configure and tweak. There are various system settings which I find make a laptop easier and quicker to use (e.g. splitting the page file between C: and D:, map 'My Documents' to a folder in D:), and if you're going to be using the thing for years it's worth taking a few hours to get them right.
Defrag the system drive.
Reboot using a Drive Image (or equivalent) CD, then make a system image backup of C: on D:. Once you're back in Windows, back this up onto CDs or DVDs, and you have a fresh system image that you can put back onto C: should you ever have a big problem. Once the system image backup is done, switch off Windows System Restore - it only slows down the computer and hoovers hard disc space.

It takes me about a day per laptop to do this, but I've found that this is a very worthwhile investment of time to get a bullshit-free system image plus the insurance policy of being able to reinstall Windows exactly as you want it quickly and easily if it should ever get corrupted.

Posted by Thomas King (Member # 2745) on 08-08-2006, 08:47 AM:

You can turn it off really easily by rightclicking the system tray icon, going to options, and telling it not to start with windows.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 08-08-2006, 09:45 AM:

quote: Joe Redifer
I don't understand why anyoe would purchase a Dell. If you're gonna use a PC, you might as well build it yourself from scratch.

Heh. I support 55 users. If I had to deal with building PCs from scratch and supporting them, I'd probably end up slitting my wrists. Dell rocks for corporate customers. The only people who should tackle building their own PC is geeks like us, for personal use.

Dell still provides a Windows XP CD for new PCs (for $10 extra). It's a pure, clean install of XP without all the extra crap. It requires no installation key or activation. When we buy new Dells, I power them up to make sure they're not DOA (which has never happened), then nuke them. None of that factory-installed crap is an issue. I have Ghost images for each basic model of Dell so I can usually have a basic install done, with Office and a lot of other stuff we use, in about 15 mins.

The stuff Bobby is talking about is mostly uninstallable.

Posted by Bruce McGee (Member # 131) on 08-08-2006, 11:35 AM:

HEAD ON is a migrain relief product, and YES, I get one when that damn commercial plays... They should be killed.

Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 08-08-2006, 12:32 PM:

Knowing someone who gets horrible migraines though the stuff actually does help.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 08-08-2006, 04:06 PM:

quote: Leo Enticknap
For desktop PCs, I agree completely. That option doesn't exist for laptops

I cannot stand laptops. They are so... inferior! I can understand why theater technicians use them for their silly little R4D9 THX programs or whatever. And I can understand why some common-fuck people use them as well... they travel. But for me a laptop would be completely useless. They also shouldn't be so inferior to their desktop counterparts. They have wimpy/slow hard drives, slower CPUs and crappier versions of everything just to save battery power. And you pay bunches more for all of this inferiority.

And yes, that includes Mac laptops. They suck as well.

Posted by Steve Scott (Member # 630) on 08-08-2006, 04:42 PM:

HeadOn is another example of laziness in advertising. Unless you've seen the longer ad, the average person must be left to wonder WHY THE HELL IS SHE RUBBING IT ON HER HEAD?! What is the symptom?

Like so many other ads I see floating around the internet on billboards, it seems like the people writing these ads would rather just get away from doing their jobs, but still get paid.

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 08-08-2006, 05:52 PM:

quote: Dustin Mitchell
Knowing someone who gets horrible migraines though the stuff actually does help.

BFD! Why do the 99% rest of us that don't get those have to put up with their asshole ADS?

They should follow up with "BUTT ON" to relieve the pain in the ass to negate their STUPIT SPAM!

I agree with Bruce and Steve, they should be tortured and then KILLED!

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 08-08-2006, 06:43 PM:

You guys actually WATCH television commercials?

Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 08-08-2006, 06:52 PM:

Joe, apparantly the makers of Head On have ventured into internet adverstising. I haven't seen any net ads for 'Head On' yet but I agree, spam sucks.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 08-08-2006, 07:27 PM:

If you watch any news channel or the Weather Channel with any kind of frequency at all you're bound to see that damned Head-On commercial. Either that or you'll see their "FreedHem" Hemmoroid cream thing -where the commercial also has the announcer just repeat the tagline three fucking times over and over again. It makes me think of that shit you pull on a younger brother:
"I'm not touching you."
"I'm not touching you."
"I'm not touching you."

The repetition just makes me want to beat the shit out of something, hopefully just some kind of cheap, inanimate object.

Back to the Dell thing, I use a Dell notebook, an Inspiron 6000 model. I'm wondering if that Dell support channel shit is something that is only installed on Inspiron notebooks and not Latitude models.

YES, I know notebooks are not nearly as powerful as desktop towers. But maybe I don't want my damned ankle chained to a computer desk for many hours on end. Frankly, it kicks total ass to be able to sit in my living room, or outside, or in some restaurant and still be able to get some freaking work done. I'm not stuck in some dismal computer room dungeon! I have a little more freedom to move around.

Years ago I would have never considered buying a notebook. Now I feel as though I cannot live without one. They are that liberating.

My notebook has enough oomph to it to run all of the applications in Adobe Creative Suite 2 Premium and Macromedia Studio 8 very well. It has a 1680 X 1050 pixel desktop, which is reasonably large enough for doing graphics work. I can always hook up a larger external monitor if I like. And I get good battery life (around 5 hours per charge). So I'm more than willing to give up a few CPU cycles in return for not being chained in my office or 2nd bedroom.

This is also one of the reasons why I am so angry with HDTV manufacturers. They need a slap across the back of their heads with a shovel. Frankly there is NO excuse at all for them to still not support BOTH computer monitor connections and all external video connections and give them all native 1920 X 1080 progressive desktop support.

Basically, I want a new HDTV to be able to work with any video player or game console. And the next time I buy a computer desktop tower I'd like the option of sticking it in the living room and attaching it to that huge TV. This can be done and any business asshole that stands between it needs to be run over by an 18 wheel truck for being stupid and greedy.

I'm not a true believer in building desktop towers from scratch.

The last two computers we installed in our office at work were custom built. I'm not convinced we saved any money over just buying a system from Dell. The cost was pretty much a wash, even getting the parts wholesale. Further, we had to send numerous parts back to TigerDirect and NewEgg. A bad ASUS motherboard here, a defective Western Digital 300GB SATA hard drive there. The shit caused a good number of delays. That crap got me close to furious. Add to that the time required of setting up WinXP Pro SP2 on those systems, getting it to work right and hoping everything would work properly in the end.

Making your own kit-built computer with every single part chosen by yourself is great if you have lots of time and a good amount of money to spend. If you need a system to be up and running promptly in a business environment, building your own PC can cause problems. Really, that's one of the reasons why Apple has been able to sell a lot of Macs. People just want to be able to plug in their machine and go. I was certainly able to do that with my Dell notebook. I was up and on the go and actually able to leave the damned house!
[thumbsup]

Posted by Jennifer Pan (Member # 2035) on 08-08-2006, 07:30 PM:

Cliff-notes please.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 08-08-2006, 08:13 PM:

Not from my new Dell Laptop! Of course I've deleted most of the crap that Dell loads on the drive anyway.

Mark

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 08-09-2006, 01:26 AM:

Yea..my Insp6000 came with Media version...Dumped that crap in a quick, wiped the HDD and did a clean install with XP-PRO - easy way to get rid of all of that nonsense.

Just I went to the DELL site and downloaded all of the necessary drivers to put on a 512m thumbdrive before the wipe since XP didn't recognize all of the hardware. Jammed in more RAM and this unit really screams...with no hitch whatsoever..

Posted by Michael Barry (Member # 237) on 08-09-2006, 06:26 AM:

FYI, that 'Head On' product recently made it to the James Randi Educational Foundation's list of nonsense...see www.randi.org for more details.

Translation: according to the skeptics, this product is complete guff. [Big Grin]

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 08-11-2006, 01:32 AM:

We just bought 15 Dells. We are going to completely wipe the crap they come with and reinstall a pure, clean Win XP Pro, do all the upgrades and MS patches, which seem to come two or three every fifteen minutes. Here's the neat thing tho -- then we have the ITS peeps install Centurian. It's a program that supposedly keeps everything you do in a partitioned, protected area of the HD, and then any changes to the operating system that the half-witt Users make when they are surfing the web and looking at porn or playing games or going on ebay, when the computer is rebooted, IT IS ALL LOST, including any viruses or shit they have picked up while they were not doing the work they are getting paid to do. The registry returns to the state it was in before we let a User at it.

This product is supposed to do this transparently (we shall see), but you know what, even if it slows the computer down a bit, good! Make 'em wait so they know what it feels like when we have to waste hours reformating a computer to get rid of worms and crap that the anti-virus programs didn't catch, while listening to them User whine about how it wasn't their fault cause [i]they[/] didn't do anything wrong.

I'll report back to see if this Centurian program does what it claims and if it can really thwart those smart worms that know how to hide. It also may be that certain programs that HAVE to make changes will freak when they can't, although I am not sure they will know because they actually will be changing a mirror registry that will only be erased when the computer is rebooted.

I am sure SOMETHING unforseen will mess with me.

Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 08-11-2006, 01:48 AM:

The local tech school and university both use similar (if not the same) programs on their lab comnputer. I never noticed any slowdown of the system. Apparantly they work very well.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 08-11-2006, 12:19 PM:

Is it even possible to buy a Dell computer with no operating system or other crap installed?

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 08-12-2006, 03:48 AM:

quote: Mike Blakesley
Is it even possible to buy a Dell computer with no operating system or other crap installed?

I tried that when I ordered my DELL - no OS installed, but unfortunately, that didn't work out - just some contract tht these companies has with Microsoft to have the OS pre-installed on shipment.

Only thing that really got me was that with my DELL order, no OS installation disc came with this laptop - where the towers and desktops do come with a OS disc.

Yea, the one junk that came with my laptop was that assisine WordPerfect jazz ... that I couldn't get rid of the startup (even when I went into the registry and deleted the keys to this..) for WordPerfect Granted, WP was great in it's days, esp with the old DOS machines....but kinda got attached to Office 2003. - Monte

Posted by Jarryd Beard (Member # 2543) on 08-13-2006, 03:01 PM:

For those not having seen the commercial, it's here at YouTube.com. There's also a clip from MSNBC related to the stupidity of the commercial.