Just wanted to chime in on this discussion. There is a lot of DELL-BASHING going on - but clearly there is a KNOWN ISSUE that has affected customers buying certain types (or all) Dell systems. I have experienced this problem on two separate systems, both Dell. One is a Dimension Desktop, and the other, must recently purchased for my home system is an Inspiron 5150.
Interestingly enough, I can to this forum via google, this was the most relvant search result related to "NotifyAlert.exe crash". I have another program that behaves the same way "rwg.exe", and today, for no apparent reason the Dell Support App started up on my computer. When I tried to actually click on Dell Support, it threw many error messages, and never started. Considering that Dell Support required that I have .NET installed, I'm pretty convinced the primary problem lies with .NET - which IMHO despite a neat-o programming environment is just downright too complex to be of any real use.
In my case, I now see that ANY .NET applications fail to "initialize". Here is the interesting thing about this...
I re-installed my software from scratch, as I re-partitioned and setup dual-booting. After installing XP, I proceeded to install all the Dell drivers. When installing the support tools, Dell required that i have .NET installed, so I went to MSUpdate and selected some 20 different "critical" and "XP" updates, including .NET. Dell Support installed correctly after that.
Now, in may case, being the pseudo-hacker that I am (I did setup a dual-boot after all), I decided to look at the .NET Configuration, and was shocked to find what appeared to be a security polilcy that by default allowed any .NET app FULL ACCESS to my entire system. Now, I can't be sure if I changed anything here, but clearly since I've looked at the configuration things have not worked. I think actually that the last time I did a Windows Update this problem occurred.
My solution, and recommendation to Dell -
I am going to uninstall .NET. If Dell Support requires .NET to run - then I guess I wont have Dell Support on my system. My recommendation to Dell, re-write your Support App so it doesn't use, require or otherwise involve .NET. Write it in Java if you need it to be portable. That way, you could even deploy it on Linux systems (which you should also consider selling).
I think some of us are stressing out over a non issue. If a microsoft critical update shut down a hacker's loophole, that is good. If that affected a service that Dell was offering, that is unfortunate. The Support 2.0 reportallert.exe was running in the background using up resources, to do something that has minimal negative effect on us. If you are virus scanning and spyware scanning, and checking for windows updates, the report allert is superfluous.
Go to the control panel, find Support, right click to verify it is version 2.0, and then choose to remove it. It took me a whole two minutes.
The Dell Knowledge base documents the same error message with version 1.0. The fix then was the release of 2.0. I bet the fix this time will be the release of 3.0.
When the new version comes out, if you miss it, install it. Me, I'm gonna do without.
I spent several hours on the phone with two different Dell techs and never got a satisfying answer to my problem. Like everyone else, I began to spontaneously received an error message telling me something had failed to initialize. It happened every time I started my computer and several times while in use. Thank the internet for Google, which brought me here.
After reading through this thread, I did the following, which seems to have eliminated the error message from my computer. Anyone who has an Inspiron laptop (mine is a 300m) with Windows XP on it (mine is the Home edition), is welcome to give this a try. Remember, though, that I'm not a Dell technician so I can't guarantee this will work for anyone else.
1) Click on start. Click on "Control Panel."
2) Double-click on "Add or Remove Programs."
3) Scroll down to "Dell Support" and click on it. "Dell Support" should be highlighted.
4) Click on the "Remove" button.
5) Let the computer remove the program. If it asks you to restart the computer, do so.
When your computer restarts, the error message should stop appearing. If it doesn't, I suggest re-reading this thread to check out other suggested solutions. Some people seem to have trouble un-installing Dell Support if they don't have Microsoft .NET on their computer. I don't think I have .NET but I was able to uninstall successfully.
If you're concerned about what removing Dell Support will do to your computer, it doesn't seem to remove anything but Dell's abillity to auto-update itself. I can't guarantee this because I'm not associated with Dell, but so far my computer works *just fine* without it.
Those are all the thoughts I have on the matter. Sorry if this doesn't help; I hope it does!
Normally I don't take the time to post anything, but I purchased a new Dell in 3/2004. When it arrived, I took it out of the box, booted it up and started getting strange errors. Windows Installer was messed up, but I found out how to fix that problem from another web page using regedit . However, I was also constantly getting a message stating that both notifyalert.exe and rng.exe failed to initialize. The windows installer problem was expected (Microsoft, need I say more.....), but I did not expect a bunch of Dell software that I don't even need to be causing problems. Long story short, I guess both notifyalert.exe and rng.exe are components of Dell support software that come pre-loaded on all pc's that dell ships. I tried to un-install Dell Support, but, of course, certain errors made that task impossible to complete successfully. To me, if they cause problems, they can be done without. So I solved my problem by doing the following:
I renamed the following directory:
C:\Program Files\Dell\Support\Alert
to
C:\Program Files\Dell\Support\_Alert
Note the underscore before the Alert subdirectory.
Please understand that I have no idea what capabilities I'm currently doing without, but I am no longer getting the pesky error messages.
Dell should be ashamed of shipping products that they know will have a problem from the start without at least providing some type of documentation for the consumer.
P.S. I was impressed with the Hardware for the price I paid for the system.
The Dell Support utility that ships with Dimension and Inspiron systems requires .Net Framework to be installed. .NET can be installed from the Windows XP CD or the latest version of .NET can be downloaded
here.
Message Edited by DELL-ChrisM on 03-17-2004 08:37 AM
Finally some explanations though I am still unsure of what to do about the "failed to initialize" message other than click "ok". I have a Dell Inspiron laptop 5100 series and in the last 4 weeks have been getting the above error msg. I would appreciate help in the renaming as you seem to have completed. Thanks for all the informative tech talk though much of it is over my head.
I just followed Rukenau's suggestion re: renaming AlertView2 and RemDelAlert2 so hopefully this will suffice as a solution to the ridiculous error msgs--though in the midst of typing this msg I received the "failed to initialize" msg again...ahhh me.
Rod :-) Thanks for the input! Appreciate it greatly! I spent the entire weekend reading through all the threads and have renamed the file with an "_" so all is well in cyberland. I searched and found I did indeed have .NET version 1.0 so that wasn't my problem. I too came to this site thru google.com after no satisfaction in dealing with DELL directly. Thanks!!! You've all done very well!
Seems to me, that we have a lot of very upset people in this forum. I to have the same probably. Fortunately I still have lots of hair on my head that I can keep pulling out
I have been having no particular problems. I just don't want the icon in my tray. I turn it off, and it turns itself back on for no reason. I was here looking for a registry key change that will stop the automatic launching without necessarily disabling the ability to launch the program manually. So, no luck on that.
So I went to C:\Program Files\Dell\Support\bin and changed the same of Dell Support.exe to xDell Support.exe
Still started itself on reboot.
Then I went to C:\Program Files\Dell\Support and changed the names of folders bin and Alert to xbin and xAlert.
So far, no more launching. I'll see if it continues to behave itself. Now I just have to remember what I did if I ever need to update for some reason.
I have come across this NotifyAlert.exe error. I was cleaning up my Dell Inspiron, deleting files, cookies, what not. Not realizing that I needed Microsoft .net Framework for my Dell support to work, and I uninstalled it. I started getting that NotifyAlert.exe error. after trying a system restore a few times, I started researching the error online and came across this forum among others. Dell's support site has an article that I followed that has fixed the error. First it had me go to Add/Remove programs and look for Microsoft .net Framework 1.1 to see if was installed. Yes it was listed there. then the article had me go to msinfo32 by clicking 'start', 'run' and typing 'msinfo32.exe and search for .net to see if Microsoft .net Framework 1.1 was listed there. No it was not. Then the article suggested reinstalling the Microsoft .net Framework 1.1 either off the windows xp install cd or by downloading it from Microsoft's web site. I chose to download it from Microsoft then installed. I no longer have the error and my Dell support is working fine. I did go back to msinfo32 and searched for .net Framework and it is there.
I wanted to add this info to the forum for all those still having issues with the NotifyAlert.exe error. I understand that this may not work for everyone but it is worth a shot to try.
I would like to thank you all for all your idea's. I did notice that some of you had suggested this. As a computer Tech I know that not all fixes work for all systems even though they may have the exact same error. It's always nice to have more than fix to try just in case one doesn't work.
filmjbrandon
1 Message
0
February 1st, 2004 17:00
Just wanted to chime in on this discussion. There is a lot of DELL-BASHING going on - but clearly there is a KNOWN ISSUE that has affected customers buying certain types (or all) Dell systems. I have experienced this problem on two separate systems, both Dell. One is a Dimension Desktop, and the other, must recently purchased for my home system is an Inspiron 5150.
Interestingly enough, I can to this forum via google, this was the most relvant search result related to "NotifyAlert.exe crash". I have another program that behaves the same way "rwg.exe", and today, for no apparent reason the Dell Support App started up on my computer. When I tried to actually click on Dell Support, it threw many error messages, and never started. Considering that Dell Support required that I have .NET installed, I'm pretty convinced the primary problem lies with .NET - which IMHO despite a neat-o programming environment is just downright too complex to be of any real use.
In my case, I now see that ANY .NET applications fail to "initialize". Here is the interesting thing about this...
I re-installed my software from scratch, as I re-partitioned and setup dual-booting. After installing XP, I proceeded to install all the Dell drivers. When installing the support tools, Dell required that i have .NET installed, so I went to MSUpdate and selected some 20 different "critical" and "XP" updates, including .NET. Dell Support installed correctly after that.
Now, in may case, being the pseudo-hacker that I am (I did setup a dual-boot after all), I decided to look at the .NET Configuration, and was shocked to find what appeared to be a security polilcy that by default allowed any .NET app FULL ACCESS to my entire system. Now, I can't be sure if I changed anything here, but clearly since I've looked at the configuration things have not worked. I think actually that the last time I did a Windows Update this problem occurred.
My solution, and recommendation to Dell -
I am going to uninstall .NET. If Dell Support requires .NET to run - then I guess I wont have Dell Support on my system. My recommendation to Dell, re-write your Support App so it doesn't use, require or otherwise involve .NET. Write it in Java if you need it to be portable. That way, you could even deploy it on Linux systems (which you should also consider selling).
pmammen
1 Message
0
February 29th, 2004 00:00
I think some of us are stressing out over a non issue. If a microsoft critical update shut down a hacker's loophole, that is good. If that affected a service that Dell was offering, that is unfortunate. The Support 2.0 reportallert.exe was running in the background using up resources, to do something that has minimal negative effect on us. If you are virus scanning and spyware scanning, and checking for windows updates, the report allert is superfluous.
Go to the control panel, find Support, right click to verify it is version 2.0, and then choose to remove it. It took me a whole two minutes.
The Dell Knowledge base documents the same error message with version 1.0. The fix then was the release of 2.0. I bet the fix this time will be the release of 3.0.
When the new version comes out, if you miss it, install it. Me, I'm gonna do without.
hunter_03
14 Posts
0
March 1st, 2004 03:00
Just go thru the following DOC. this shud answer all ur querries.
http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/document.asp?dn=1071660
Hunter_03
msugh
1 Message
0
March 3rd, 2004 20:00
I spent several hours on the phone with two different Dell techs and never got a satisfying answer to my problem. Like everyone else, I began to spontaneously received an error message telling me something had failed to initialize. It happened every time I started my computer and several times while in use. Thank the internet for Google, which brought me here.
After reading through this thread, I did the following, which seems to have eliminated the error message from my computer. Anyone who has an Inspiron laptop (mine is a 300m) with Windows XP on it (mine is the Home edition), is welcome to give this a try. Remember, though, that I'm not a Dell technician so I can't guarantee this will work for anyone else.
1) Click on start. Click on "Control Panel."
2) Double-click on "Add or Remove Programs."
3) Scroll down to "Dell Support" and click on it. "Dell Support" should be highlighted.
4) Click on the "Remove" button.
5) Let the computer remove the program. If it asks you to restart the computer, do so.
When your computer restarts, the error message should stop appearing. If it doesn't, I suggest re-reading this thread to check out other suggested solutions. Some people seem to have trouble un-installing Dell Support if they don't have Microsoft .NET on their computer. I don't think I have .NET but I was able to uninstall successfully.
If you're concerned about what removing Dell Support will do to your computer, it doesn't seem to remove anything but Dell's abillity to auto-update itself. I can't guarantee this because I'm not associated with Dell, but so far my computer works *just fine* without it.
Those are all the thoughts I have on the matter. Sorry if this doesn't help; I hope it does!
SomeBodyInAusti
1 Message
0
March 15th, 2004 01:00
Normally I don't take the time to post anything, but I purchased a new Dell in 3/2004. When it arrived, I took it out of the box, booted it up and started getting strange errors. Windows Installer was messed up, but I found out how to fix that problem from another web page using regedit . However, I was also constantly getting a message stating that both notifyalert.exe and rng.exe failed to initialize. The windows installer problem was expected (Microsoft, need I say more.....), but I did not expect a bunch of Dell software that I don't even need to be causing problems. Long story short, I guess both notifyalert.exe and rng.exe are components of Dell support software that come pre-loaded on all pc's that dell ships. I tried to un-install Dell Support, but, of course, certain errors made that task impossible to complete successfully. To me, if they cause problems, they can be done without. So I solved my problem by doing the following:
I renamed the following directory:
C:\Program Files\Dell\Support\Alert
to
C:\Program Files\Dell\Support\_Alert
Note the underscore before the Alert subdirectory.
Please understand that I have no idea what capabilities I'm currently doing without, but I am no longer getting the pesky error messages.
Dell should be ashamed of shipping products that they know will have a problem from the start without at least providing some type of documentation for the consumer.
P.S. I was impressed with the Hardware for the price I paid for the system.
DELL-Chris M
Community Manager
•
56.9K Posts
0
March 17th, 2004 12:00
The Dell Support utility that ships with Dimension and Inspiron systems requires .Net Framework to be installed. .NET can be installed from the Windows XP CD or the latest version of .NET can be downloaded here.
Message Edited by DELL-ChrisM on 03-17-2004 08:37 AM
cefmcf
1 Message
0
March 31st, 2004 07:00
Thank heavens I found these answers.
Has anyone had a problem with the Roxio 5 not formatting?
Both started at the same time, when the computer was six months old.
I have gotten use to clicking ok every morning, would kind of miss it.
heroness48
4 Posts
0
April 1st, 2004 17:00
heroness48
4 Posts
0
April 1st, 2004 17:00
I just followed Rukenau's suggestion re: renaming AlertView2 and RemDelAlert2 so hopefully this will suffice as a solution to the ridiculous error msgs--though in the midst of typing this msg I received the "failed to initialize" msg again...ahhh me.
heroness48
RodCarroll
8 Posts
0
April 5th, 2004 11:00
The tip provided by SomeBodyinAustin seems to have done it for me.
Renaming C:\Program Files\Dell\Support\Alert to C:\Program Files\Dell\Support\_Alert
seems to have gotten rid of failed to initialize: NotifyAlert.exe, rng.exe. and others. Please note the underscore.
heroness48
4 Posts
0
April 5th, 2004 13:00
heroness48
4 Posts
0
April 5th, 2004 13:00
Rod :-) Thanks for the input! Appreciate it greatly! I spent the entire weekend reading through all the threads and have renamed the file with an "_" so all is well in cyberland. I searched and found I did indeed have .NET version 1.0 so that wasn't my problem. I too came to this site thru google.com after no satisfaction in dealing with DELL directly. Thanks!!! You've all done very well!
heroness48
Tom Smith
2 Posts
0
April 27th, 2004 10:00
Seems to me, that we have a lot of very upset people in this forum. I to have the same probably. Fortunately I still have lots of hair on my head that I can keep pulling out
AlphaCentauri4
1 Message
0
May 27th, 2004 12:00
So I went to C:\Program Files\Dell\Support\bin and changed the same of Dell Support.exe to xDell Support.exe
Still started itself on reboot.
Then I went to C:\Program Files\Dell\Support and changed the names of folders bin and Alert to xbin and xAlert.
So far, no more launching. I'll see if it continues to behave itself. Now I just have to remember what I did if I ever need to update for some reason.
grizzzy33
1 Message
0
June 18th, 2004 03:00
Dear Members.
I have come across this NotifyAlert.exe error. I was cleaning up my Dell Inspiron, deleting files, cookies, what not. Not realizing that I needed Microsoft .net Framework for my Dell support to work, and I uninstalled it. I started getting that NotifyAlert.exe error. after trying a system restore a few times, I started researching the error online and came across this forum among others. Dell's support site has an article that I followed that has fixed the error. First it had me go to Add/Remove programs and look for Microsoft .net Framework 1.1 to see if was installed. Yes it was listed there. then the article had me go to msinfo32 by clicking 'start', 'run' and typing 'msinfo32.exe and search for .net to see if Microsoft .net Framework 1.1 was listed there. No it was not. Then the article suggested reinstalling the Microsoft .net Framework 1.1 either off the windows xp install cd or by downloading it from Microsoft's web site. I chose to download it from Microsoft then installed. I no longer have the error and my Dell support is working fine. I did go back to msinfo32 and searched for .net Framework and it is there.
I wanted to add this info to the forum for all those still having issues with the NotifyAlert.exe error. I understand that this may not work for everyone but it is worth a shot to try.
I would like to thank you all for all your idea's. I did notice that some of you had suggested this. As a computer Tech I know that not all fixes work for all systems even though they may have the exact same error. It's always nice to have more than fix to try just in case one doesn't work.