No hotfixes if Dell?

In the UK, at least, phoning MS customer services and stating that you need a hotfix only obtainable from them (not available as download) has worked for me in the past. Get that bit of info in before they ask you if it is an OEM install. They will then give you an incident number and pass you on to technical services; give them the incident number, explain why you need the hotfix and they will send you an email with a link from where you can download it.

I assume this was the one you were refrring to:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=812400

At the bottom it says the problem was resolved in SP2. Have you not installed that?

It also gives a workaround: disable Human interface device access service (Click start, run, type services.msc, click OK. In the window that opens, scroll down to Human interface device access; double click on it to open its properties. If the service is started, click stop; then in the startup type box select disabled, click apply, OK).

I have that service disabled with no ill effects. In fact that is the default setting in Windows XP SP2.

For the other one, I assume is

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=812960

that also was fixed in SP2.

Message Edited by JRosenfeld on 03-25-2005 09:07 PM

Thanks so much for your help!

Unfortunately, the workaround doesn't work for me.  The option was already disabled, and I already have Service Pack 2, but the problem still occurs.  Do you think I should bother getting the hotfix, or do something else?

I DREAD calling tech support.  The chances you'll get in tough with someone with half a brain is so slim... many reps seem to be reading off of a screen I could access myself on this site, and it takes hours and hours.  So any help you could give me here would be very much appreciated!

Thanks,

Fg

You have not stated what symptoms you have/what is broken that prompted you to look for those fixes. Please do so an we will try to help. Any specific error messages?  Are there any relevant errors logged in event viewer? If so, Source, event ID and description of the event could be useful.

Event viewer: right click my computer, click manage; or click start, run, type eventvwr.msc, click OK.

There are application events and system events (and security events, but these are probably not relevant); look at these in turn. Look for warning or error events. To get the properties of any event double click on it or right click click properties. If you are online, clicking on the link in the description box will bring in a help and support window from MS that (sometimes) has useful info. Or, with Source and event ID, go to

http://www.eventid.net/

Click on search at the top, enter source and event ID. If there are any comments in their database, they will show up. (search is free, posting there costs $)

BTW, both the hotfixes you mention install copies of the same three files with versions that are older than the ones in SP2. So as you have SP2, I don't think either of those hotfixes would do anything for you (would probably not install anyway); so any solution must lie elsewhere. You might just check what versions you have for them (in C:\windows\system32). The files are listed at the bottom of the pages in the links I gave.

Message Edited by JRosenfeld on 03-26-2005 04:06 PM

Message Edited by JRosenfeld on 03-26-2005 04:10 PM

Message Edited by darimini on 03-26-2005 12:35 PM

Message Edited by darimini on 03-26-2005 12:46 PM

I don't have Mcafee and have no experience of it, so I can't really comment on that error message. As far as I've been able to find out Naifilter is a service that is part of Netshield, part of Mcafee, but I may be wrong about that. The message suggests that the virus scanner had problems with it, but it's not clear to me that this is related to not being able to schedule a scan (if that was your original problem). It does suggest that there is something not quite right with your McAfee installation. Did you note source and event ID of that error message?

I can only suggest that you try the McAfee help file or their web site to see if they have any articles about that error message or about setting a scheduled task. Or you could try completely uninstalling, then reinstalling McAfee if you think it has got corrupted. Completely uninstalling would include steps to clear all possibly corrupt keys in the registry.

Also, look in start, help and support, type scheduled task in search. It will bring up a lot of info links on the left on how to set one up. If you have set up the settings in Help and support and you are on line, you will also get relevant knowledgebase articles.

Maybe someone else can chip in here?

Message Edited by JRosenfeld on 03-27-2005 06:54 PM

Message Edited by JRosenfeld on 03-27-2005 07:03 PM

Message Edited by JRosenfeld on 03-27-2005 07:05 PM

         It does suggest that there is something not quite right with your McAfee installation.

I don't see how that can be -- I already went to McAfee, and Microsoft, and as you saw, has identified it as a problem in Windows XP.  That's why I'm trying to fix it here.

Anyway, after ten or so emails to Dell tech support, they finally figured it out.  I needed to get into services.msc, and then stop Task Scheduler, start it, and wait ten minutes.  For some reason, this clears the buffer:

There is a scavenger tool in task scheduler that runs 10 minutes after the service is started. This tool frees the memory that is still being used by deleted or scheduled jobs.

And now it works!

Thanks anyway!