Shop RadioShack for Great Gifts
Windows XP: Registry tells a tale?
Registry tells a tale?
by work4fun - 3/28/05 12:41 AMWhile perusing my registry as part of running RegSeeker, I came across references to a number of programs (pathfinder, phobus, WinAmp for example) which have never been installed on this computer - at least not since I bought it from Dell in December 04. Is this my clue that this really ISN'T a new computer - that someone had installed these programs at some point, uninstalled them, and never cleaned up the registry? Or am I just being paranoid?
Any insight would be greatly appreciated!
If the computer is second hand
by MarkFlax
- 3/28/05 12:45 AM
In reply to: Registry tells a tale? by work4fun
then I would guess that your first thought is correct, that someone had installed WinAmp, etc.
Perhaps they uninstalled through the Add/Remove programs utility in the Control Panel and never bothered to do a sweep with a Registry Cleaner.
Very often files and registry entries will be left over after an uninstall, but XP handles them much better than Win 9x or ME ever did.
Not much to worry about I feel.
Mark
I paid the "new" price
by work4fun - 3/30/05 8:41 AM In reply to: If the computer is second hand by MarkFlax
Thanks, Mark.
So, if this was sold to me as NEW, and I paid the NEW price to Dell, should I be concerned?
Also, I sometimes get an error on startup re: GDWH not responding (which is why I was scanning the registry to begin with). Might these things be related?
You should be talking
by tcantrelln - 3/30/05 10:15 AM In reply to: I paid the "new" price by work4funLoudly to Dell and pounding on the virtual counter....
Just a note.
by R. Proffitt - 3/30/05 10:22 AM
In reply to: Registry tells a tale? by work4fun
Dell preloads many many drivers so support calls are reduced. It is far away from what you would see installed from a plain Retail XP CD...
I see nothing wrong here.
Bob
Thanks!
by work4fun - 3/31/05 5:52 PM In reply to: Just a note. by R. Proffitt
Thanks for the input.
I seem to have eliminated the GDWH problem (at least for now) with SpySubtract.
Fingers crossed....
Look at the original invoice
by glb613 - 3/30/05 11:08 AM In reply to: Registry tells a tale? by work4funIt should list everything that was factory installed.
Is it "New?" or is it "Used?"
by miwin1000 - 3/31/05 8:45 PM In reply to: Look at the original invoice by glb613I have had suspicions of used products being sold as "New". I have gotten bad hard drives that were supposedly "new", that had tales in them of previous installations. I would look in System Information" and look at the history sheet. (Start/all programs/accessories/system tools/system information/view/system history) What you see might surprise you.
GDWH error message
by P8TYS - 11/2/05 3:49 AM In reply to: Registry tells a tale? by work4funI posted this message also in Dell's Community Forum:
Regarding the mysterious and frustrating error message "End Program GDWH - Not Responding"
I was setting up a new Dell PC with McAfee SecurityCenter preinstalled by Dell. I configured everything except the Privacy Service and the Spamkiller. I wanted to wait until I was with the user to set these up.
Until I uninstalled the Privacy Service component (under Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel) I could not find the source of this error - nothing in registry or services etc. Very frustrating. I will reinstall this at a later time when I have user info to complete the setup.
I would suggest trying this and see if this solves your problem. I wonder why Dell doesn't document this?
(NT) Perhaps a Refurbish or Remanufature
by caktus - 11/2/05 10:48 AM In reply to: Registry tells a tale? by work4fun
| Forum legend: | |
 |
Locked thread |
 |
Moderator |
 |
CNET staff |
 |
Samsung staff |
 |
Norton Authorized Support team |
 |
AVG staff |
 |
Windows Outreach team |
 |
Dell staff |
 |
Intel staff |
