To the people at Xteq...

The BBQ Pit
#1

I hate you.

It is because of your incredibly shoddy product, “Xsetup” that I have not been able to rebuild my PC at work for the past week. You all should be locked up for life for causing my pc to crash with your virus-ridden, sorry excuse for a piece of software. I hope you all rot in hell!

…and if any of you here at the SDMB care to know what exactly happened, you may continue reading:

I downloaded a program called “Xsetup” from ZDNet last week. It was recommended by ZDNet as a good utility to have on your system for making system tweaks. I installed it and immediately started having problems booting my pc up. No problem, I have Gateway GoBack, so I’ll just go back to how my system was configured 2 weeks ago. It boots up one time, then the same thing starts happening again. No problem. I’m a computer tech, I’ll just reformat my hard drive and restart everything from scratch. Well, now I cannot get my PC to log into our network with our network client. I’ve reinstalled the entire operating system (after zeroing out the hard drive with a low level format) and I still cannot get it to work right. Now, every time I boot, I can log in exactly once to our novell network, then when I restart, it will lock up right after the Win98 splash screen. If I restart, I get the option to boot into safe mode, but if I select normal, it will go in only once, then the process repeats.

I implore you, do NOT download “Xsetup”. It will royally screw up your pc. The thing that gets me though is that I just updated my virus signature file just 2 days prior. I am so pissed I could spit venom. If I EVER meet somone who admits to writing virus code, I’ll strangle them right where they stand.

Thanks for letting me vent. You guys are the best.

#2

Thanks for the warning!

Have you tried a running a debug routine? It’ll nuke just about anything. You’ll have to FDisk and format afterwards, but it should clear everything out. If the specific routine I suggested doesn’t work, try the one below it that not only completely clears off your HDD, but it resets CMOS. Nothing can survive that! (Note to non-techies: Don’t use this routine if you’re not sure what you’re doing!)

It’s a pain in the ass that you’d have to do it though.

Fenris

#3

Thanks for the info, Fenris. I’ll keep that in mind. I was able to successfully re-partition the drive using Fdisk so we will see what happens. What a pain.

#4

I’ve repartitioned the HD, I’ve re-formatted and installed the OS, and I STILL cannot the the F***ing thing to work.

Specifically, I get “Internal Divide Error”. This appeared right after I did a clean install of the OS.

I now hate Xteq and Gateway 2000.

I don’t know what else to do. I have no options. This sucks.

#5

I’m certainly not a tech, but I have had Xsetup for over a year now with no problems? I’m sure it’s an earlier version (I haven’t updated it since I d/l’d it), but then again I don’t mess with the settings unless I’m sure about what they’re changing…
Sorry, I know I’m not helping :frowning:

#6

Do the normal step by step Dragwyr.
First, reset your bios and flush your CMOS, there should be two pins on your MB to let you do this.
Take out your network card.
Then, check your default BIOS settings and verify.
Boot with a backup setup disk (You should have one) and do the Format and FDisk with that.
Install the OS, but don’t do any network install yet. First verify that the OS is a clean install.
Install your netcard and then install its drivers.

#7

Disclaimer : I am a Bit Pissed.
Dragwyr
Just wondered whether your original setup had some patch or something on it that you did not reinstal after the complete wipe? Was the ‘internal divide error’ occurring before you did a clean wipe? I presume when you reinstalled you used known clean, write protected media?
My apologies if I am telling you how to suck eggs, but I have known really intelligent, skilled, knowledgeable people to overlook the blindingly obvious on many occasions.

#8

Dragwyr: Seriously, get a boot disk from a clean, undamaged machine, make sure it has DEBUG on it. Turn the unit off, and then boot from the floppy, and run the Debug routine that was below the one I linked to in my earlier post. NOTHING can survive that. When you’re done and back in dos, turn the unit off, and back on. Then run FDISK, Format, etc. If your computer still doesn’t work, I’d guess it’s a hardware issue. (Possibly faulty memory…)

Fenris

Fenris

#9

Seriously… you guys are the greatest.

Narile: I have been doing the step by step, but have not yet tried it by removing the NIC, nor have I flushed the BIOS on the motherboard. I’ll give that a try.

TPWombat: The “Internal Divide error” was immediately after a supposed clean install of the OS. BTW, my boot disk was clean and all software was from CD-ROM. I also have known highly intellegent people who have missed the bleeding obvious, but they have a tendancy to do that when they’re really frustrated. That’s why I posted here. :slight_smile:

Fenris: If Narile’s suggestion doesn’t work, I’m going to try that… if that doesn’t work, then I’m on the phone to Gateway 2000.

Again, you guys are the greatest. I’ll keep you posted.

#10

After being sick yesterday and having the other tech here at work look at the system, we were finally able to rule out a virus and narrow down the problem to the Ultra ATA/EIDE controller card. When we removed that card and had the hard drive connected to the regular IDE controller, it booted up fine every time. We’ve tried the latest updated driver for this controller card, but the problem still persists.

Any more ideas will be appreciated.

Thanks again for all your support.