New Alienware won't run Continuum

[Quil]

Well, I just got a new Alienware, Athlon 64 FX-57, with Windows XP with Service Pack 2.

and I got the problem with Continuum not working.

 

I read the Tech FAQ, and have gone to great lengths to ferret out any possible program that might be "suspicous".

 

I had McAffee Antivirus on the system, and took it off, just in case. Ran Ad-Aware and un-installed both programs, then ran ErrorDoctor to clean up the registry.

 

Still nothing. Keep in mind I have these programs on my old system (also an Alienware) and have had NO problems.

 

I CAN get Continuum to start in Safe Mode, or Safe Mode With Networking... unfortunately, it can't connect to the internet that way, and the graphics are pretty abysmal, and no sound.

 

I tried to boot up in Selective Startup, still no luck. I even tried Diagnostic Startup, which strips off everything but the 3 essential services Windows won't let you shut down. still no good.

 

After a call to Alienware Tech Support, began to wonder if Service Pack 2 was the culprit.

I had a friend who has a Dell computer and SP 2 try to load Continuum up.. it works on his computer. It's probably not Service Pack 2.

 

I tried loading the 0.39 pr1 exec, that did not work either.

 

I disabled Windows Firewall.. any other Windows security settings that might be interferring?

 

My next attempt will be to get a spare hard drive and restore from the OEM CDs, see if that helps (don't want to hose my nice tidy optimaized installation on the original HD and chance having it be for nothing)

 

Any suggestions?

 

-Quil

[spedhead]

i had the same thing happen to me format your computer

[Bargeld]

It's probably a permissions thing... I've worked with a number of alienware laptops, and I've learn a crapload about Alienware:

 

1) Their tech support is useless.

2) Standard Drivers usually suck; in many cases, they won't even work.

3) They install additional user accounts when deploying a unit (a common practice for most manufacturers).

 

Sometimes you get the 'new guy' on the production line, and they screw up; hence permission problems. A re-install will work (get used to it, cuz you may need to do it a lot because it's an Alenware). Before you re-install, make sure you have both a CD of the OEM drivers (or most recent versions) as well as an external floppy drive, or a USB device that can be accessed by the bios (you may need custom alienware raid drivers when you reinstall windows, if you need them and don't have them available, then windows will not recognize any drives to use for installation.)

[Quil]

Alienware gave me an "image" DVD (going to avoid that one), and another set, a Windows XP Restore CD plus a CD with the system and hardware drivers, so I think I am in good shape for a reinstall.

 

I only have a single hard drive, this system is primarily for gaming, and I did not want to complicate things with a RAID setup... although I think the BIOS includes RAID support if I wanted it.

 

Again, I have a new hard drive to try the reinstall with, so I don't spoil my new optimaized installation that came with it, in case this does not work (I have been down that road before, doing a clean reinstall on a computer's hard drive only to find out that was not the problem, and lamenting the loss of the old setup I had).

 

For the most part, the Alienware installation is pretty sharp- my old Alienware has lasted for over 3 years- the only problem I found was their Alien Autopsy memory resident diagnostic slowed things down and caused problems.. uninstalling that fixed this up.

 

I will post when I get the reinstall done, and let you all know how things turned out..

[Bargeld]

Oh yes, the Alien Autopsy disk. If you lose it (like the owners of the laptops I've worked on) you are basically screwed. They (alienware support) told me that they can't make a copy of the disk because it is custom for each machine, made at the time they put it together. If you lose it, they can't replace it.

[Quil]

Well, I reinstalled from the Windows CD and system drivers CD that came with the system.. everything worked fine, so I redid it on the original drive. Everything is running perfectly.

No problems with any of the software I was running on the system, either.

Must have been some weird code installed when Alienware made it, who knows what.

 

Thanks again for the advice, it helped.

 

-Quil