Dell Resource CD problems

You said that whenever you start up (boot up I am guessing?) that it asks for the resource cd and if you do this, that starts up but if you take it out, it asks for it again. Then you say that when you try to use certain applications, it asks for the Resource cd again...

My first question is: How are you getting into Windows to try and start these programs with the first problem listed of having the Resource CD being asked for?

Second: Is it mentioning the resource cd *specifically* or just the CD/DVD Drive that you were using (it is possible -maybe?- that it is associating the CD drive with that one Resource CD for some reason)?

Three: When you say Start Up, you do mean "Boot Up" of the computer, before it hits loading Windows XP, or you get past the stage where you can enter the BIOS etc, and it starts to load Windows and during this, or during the loading of the actual desktop, it asks for this CD?

My first thought would be that when you used the CD, it changed your boot.ini file which is what tells the system which OS to boot up as a default (if you have more than one, if not, then that one if obviously your default), but in the BIOS area you can change the order that the computer tries to boot from (your default OS usually being first or second in the list). Sometimes people have the first item as the CD/DVD optical drive, as when doing things like re-installing windows, you have to "boot" from the CD and this change (having it first in the list) means it will auto boot from that drive instead of you choosing what to boot up from during the initial system processes. I keep my Windows XP OS as the first in the list (and default) and only go and change the order of possible "boot up from" items when I need to do so. There are some systems that once you use the Optical Drive as a boot up, it will *keep* that as being first in the list afterwards, therefore whenever trying to normallay boot your system, it will try to ask for a CD (possibly stuck on asking for that last CD that you used/booted up from). The easiest way to see if this might be the problem is to go into your BIOS settings, and find this list and correct the order if needed...

If you don't know how to get into the BIOS, when you start up your computer, within the first few seconds (depending on what your settings currently are) you can hit the (I believe it is the) F8 key. Each computer is different (by manufacturer settings I mean) and I haven't used BIOS in quite a while plus I think there is another F key to access something. It also doesn't help that I am now in the middle of learning more about Macs and so I have all these different things confusing me. The other keys to try might be the F12 key or the ESC key, but really, when you are booting up it should tell you at the top of the screen that if you want to enter BIOS to hit "whatever" key now... before it moves on to boot up more into your default OS/Drive.

Try dealing with this first, and then come back with the results and maybe someone else could help you if it didn't help in any way...

I honestly don't know what could be causing it exactly, I have run into the problem of having a window pop up when trying to access a program that would say I needed to put in my Sonic whatever CD (where it was a Sonic program) and I know this was a bug, and that Dell/Sonic both knew about it and created a patch for it. But again, that was program specific, any Sonic program would assume it wasn't installed and wanted the disk to install it.

I would suggest cleaning your system, by using some utilities (that are free downloads) like CCleaner, Advanced Disk Cleaner and TweakNow RegCleaner (do a search for them from www.downloads.com which is CNET's download area).

These should help clean your cache and other stuff like temp log files, temp files, any internet history etc from your web browsers, clean your registry (very simple and basic, part of CCleaner and the only funtion of TweakNow RegCleaner, Advanced Disk Cleaner sticks to cleaning just temp like files).

Doing this might help wash away some of your computer's "memory" as in what it has done the past (well, since the last time you have cleaned it really) and is good to do once a week or 2 in general. Once those temp files are deleted, then you can try and figure out if something actually got changed in the applications that are now reacting like this when you attempt to use them (it seems that the application process has been affected in some way).

A good thing to do, open your task manager and have it on the first tab. This shows the currenly open applications you are using (but only what would be shown down on the menu bar in a tab/window etc). Then switch to the next tab, for processes... This is the list of all currently running processes. You should be able to see which ones might go with any open applications, which are most liekly system or user processes, etc. Look at the number of them listed (Processes: 46 or whatever, listed at the bottom left of the task manager window).

Then go and open the application(s) that are affected. Leave your task manager open and off to the side with the process list showing as you do this. You should be able to see what new processes become active by that program, and what they are, as well as looking at the bottom left corner, knowing how many got added to the list by that action (if it now says 50 then 4 got added obviously). Most of the time the newer processes will get put up at the top of the list, but not always, and sometimes a process that the application needs/uses (usually a system or user process) will already be running and it won't necessarily add it again, but maybe just move it's memory usage number up higher. That is a sign it is being used for more than one thing, when it started off around 6800 and now shows it at 15300...

Try and open some of the different affected applications and see what is similar (if anything) about the processes it uses. A windows system "service" might also actually be involved somehow, though that is a much harder thing to deal with, so we'll work on the easier stuff first and try to rule things out. When doing the "testing", remember that if you leave the task manager window open as you should, you can always switch back to the first tab and "end task" the application that you are trying to run when the window comes up asking for the disk (after looking at the processes of course) and this will get it to go away as you most liekly have noticed that hitting an cancel button will cause the message to go away but it comes right back up again (usually for these things anyways). In these cases using the "end task" or "kill process" (for a specific one if you know what you are doing) is usually the best thing in my experience.

ok...I think that I worded that wrong. I start the computer in the morning, then I get a message that the application I am trying to run/start requires a cd, the Dell Resource CD (specifically), and it asks that I put it in the drive. My Desktop Assistant is in the startup menu so when Windows starts up and that program (as well as a few others) tries to start up, I get the message about inserting the Resource CD. It isn't trying to boot from the disk. It is just telling me that if I want to start my Desktop Assistant and some other programs, I have to use the Resource CD. The stupid CD has nothing to do with these programs, nor is it required for anything that I can think of except what I used it for, diagnostics. (I know that there are other uses but they don't apply.)
Does that make sense? I apologize for the confusion...it is my natural state! lol

Message Edited by kidtamer on 01-06-200701:03 PM

Yes, I have the other applications you mentioned, Process Explorer and Process Viewer, and I like them as well. I did not know what applications you had and used, so I decided to stick with the basics to start off with...

I might try and do a bit of searching on this topic, as there must be some other user experiences that are at least similar to yours and might help out and point you in the right direction at least...

Well, I uninstalled the Resource CD using Add/Remove, this morning. Let's hope that it works for me too. This has gotten to be a really bothersome issue! I will let you know. However, I would still like to know what causes this problem. I may have to use the CD again sometime. I am still looking into it. Thanks to everyone. I'll be back!