RandyL

WOW!! That is sweet.

Hi dorsil; I put your zip files information in your post as not everyone can unzip them. You could probably get XP to run on it but you won't be happy with how well it runs. With those specs Windows ME is probably the latest version that would function well. Since ME is no longer supported I don't suggest that. Since XP really needs more RAM and a higher processor I don't recommend that either.

Hi bob; Ccleaner and ATF Cleaner which maynard linked you to are both good for removing temp files, history, cookies and more. I commend you for your diligence. If "hidden" files are taking up a huge amount of space that's a different issue. Are you sure they are taking up a lot of space? Or do you just see a lot of them? The "unrelated" reason you chose to view them might matter too. Hidden files have a variety of purposes. Many are system files and folders that are hidden to protect the Operating System and programs from the user. You would not want to delete these and render your system inoperable. They are needed, thus hidden to protect the user. Many other hidden files such as you may see in your documents or on your desktop can be related to different things depending on what the file and extension is. Can you give us an example or two? Often times these are just leftover remnants that can be deleted but extreme caution is needed to ensure you are not deleting something you need. That may or may not be why they are hidden. It could be as simple as a supporting file for another program file. Such as a pic file related to a pic program. It's hard to say without knowing the name of the folders or the file names and extensions. They could actually be very small in size but large in numbers. If they are small in size it's best to be safe and leave them if you don't know what they are. OK back to your post. For some reason you think there are hidden files taking up a lot of your hard drive space. This is possible but not common. There are documented cases of certain programs doing this on rare occasions. PhotoShop and Norton come to mind but there are others. It would tell us a lot if you give us an idea of what you think is taking up space and how much space. Folder names and file names with the extension would help. As an example right click one of these files and choose properties. That might display more info. What is your hard drive size and how much is free might help us too. You might not have a problem at all. Hidden files are usually hidden for a reason. Redundant ones are of no concern and usually small. Others are needed. If you are indeed experiencing a cascading loss of hard drive space that's another matter entirely. Let us know please. I understand your concern.

Hi pure; Try the Dell download page. If the Audio and Video/Intel Drivers don't work we'll need to determine exactly what you have.

I do feel old compared to you guys but you don't need a grandfather figure. I need you to keep me young. Just keep rocking on. lol

I just don't understand you kids today. Crap!! I sound like my father. :D:p:)

Here it is Doug. Except my new surround sound with sub woofer isn't shown. http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh285/randy4468504/deasktop3.jpg

Must have been overclocking. :p Does carpal tunnel count? :rolleyes:

Hi Jon; If you're in XP just follow the instuctions maynard provided. In Vista the instructions are almost the same to choose the default OS. There is no Edit tab to click though. Instead use the dropdown arrow to choose the default OS.

I have a simple layout Doug but it's in the center of my entertainment room. I share my setup with my coffee table. If you look for mine in "Show us your desktop" you'll see it. But I do have surround sound speakers now.

Hi DSTM; A good point and link on this issue. Sure glad you're still here and helping. We need people like you to help us.

I'll bet you're right Ron. It was most likely the MS update KB951748 that you linked to that was the issue. As the link you provided said there were two solutions. Uninstall the update or change zonealarms settings to medium. Thanks to ellan we now know that there is a third solution. It seems zonealarm has a new version which does not conflict. Thanks ellanvannin54 for pointing this out. Come back soon. You might have other advice to offer us.

Hi; I think what you needed to do was type command or cmd in the run box. This would bring up the Command Prompt where you would type in IPCONFIG /ALL and press Enter. After the information is displayed you click on the icon on the left of the title bar at the top. Go to Edit and click Select all. Click on the icon again and this time go to Edit and click Copy. You can now paste the contents where you want. Glad you got your ZoneAlarm/MSUpdate issue resolved. Maybe next time you visit you'll be the one giving help. Thanks for letting us know.

A very possible cause. Please try a PS2 wired keyboard if you can. If that doesn't work it is strange as you can get to the logon screen and type. Or maybe it's just a stuck key. F8 It's really late for me but I'll check back tomorrow.

F8 will get you into boot options if done correctly. It may take you several trys to get it right. It can be tricky at times. Remember to repeatedly tap the key at bootup. If F8 does not work then you have a serious issue.

Have we posted at the same time brunoalan?

Since you're using XP this might just be a password issue if there is one. There is one thing you could try for now. Go into safe mode by tapping the F8 key at bootup. Choose Safe Mode. If you see an account named Administrator log into that. If you see a password prompt click cancel (or similar). Once signed in go to the Control Panel and look for User accounts. Locate your account and remove the password. It's worth a try. I've been able to do this sometimes.

Please do as Dave suggests. Can you please also explain a few other things. Why is your company supplying a corporate or small business edition of Mcafee for your home computer? This Edition was meant for networked or business PC's if I remember right. Since it is a full suite why is the firewall not installed? Is this a laptop and did it work on the job site? Why are you running Safari as that is most unusual on a Windows PC? Is this your personal computer or does it belong to your company? Either way do as Dave suggests. Let us know please as to what happens.

Don't get ahead of yourself pwl; Since your scans were clean this has to be a firewall issue. The way to find out what is blocking it is to disable the most likely programs. Disable all aspects of them for now temporarily. You have three likely suspects. Disable all of them for now to help isolate the cause. Do you know how to disable Mcafee from the Security Center? Right click the Mcafee icon in the system tray and click on the Security Center. From there disable everything. Disconnect the router. Connect directly. Go into Control Panel and Security and turn off the Windows firewall. Try it now. If it works then we can go from there. In regards to your last question there is no simple way. It would be more simple to resolve this issue.

Hi again; Has there been any change? Like I said I don't use Enterprise Edition but I do know the full suite contains a firewall. Enterprise Edition. Either way I suspect a firewall to be an issue here. Windows, Mcafee or your Hardware firewall. One or more might be blocking you. Also if you are running more then one they might be conflicting. Try disabling all of them temporarily just to see what happens.

Did you see my previous post?

Thanks Dave. I usually only compress or zip files when I email to get by the filters on certain file types. I have tried compressing more with Windows when I was dealing with files such as wmv but didn't see much difference in the size. I suppose because it's already compressed. Thanks for the info Dave.

Of course it depends on the file type if compression would make much difference. Am I correct on that Dave? Just curious.

Try what I suggested in the previous post. If that doesn't work temporarily turn off your firewalls just to see what happens. First things first.

Check your Mcafee Enterprise firewall settings to see if the programs IE and FF are being blocked. If so grant full access. I'm going to guess that the way to do that is similar to the Mcafee Personal Firewall. Allow full access for a program You can allow an existing blocked program on your computer to have full inbound and outbound Internet access. On the McAfee SecurityCenter pane, click Internet & Network, then click Configure. On the Internet & Network Configuration pane, under Firewall protection is enabled, click Advanced. On the Firewall pane, click Program Permissions. Under Program Permissions, select a program with Blocked or Outbound-Only Access. Under Action, click Allow Access. Click OK.