Interesting... If the company reimaged the machine, they *should* according to the rules, have used a Volume License Key, rather than Dell's own OEM_SLP Key for the job.
Having said that - Home Premium doesn't qualify as a base license for a Volume Upgrade....
This actually makes things easier, since it's not possible for them to lock the system down in the same way as they could a Pro machine
I doubt that it's going to be possible for us to do much until you can attach the machine to a newtork of some kind, so I'll give you a big chunk to do now and produce some data.
The order here is rather important - and the first one can take considerable time (4hrs isn't uncommon), so make sure that the machine is plugged in for it.
Please run a full CHKDSK and SFC scan....
Click on Start > All Programs > Accessories
Right-click on the Command Prompt entry
Select Run as Administrator and accept the UAC prompt - the Elevated Command Prompt window should pop up.
At the Command prompt, type
CHKDSK C: /R
and hit the Enter key.
You will be told that the drive is locked,
and the CHKDSK will run at he next boot - hit the Y key, and then reboot.
The CHKDSK will take a few hours depending on the size of the drive, so be patient!
After the CHKDSK has run, Windows should boot normally (possibly after a second auto-reboot) -
then run the SFC.
SFC -System File Checker - Instructions
Click on Start > All Programs > Accessories
Right-click on the Command Prompt entry
Select Run as Administrator and accept the UAC prompt - the Elevated Command Prompt window should pop up.
At the Command prompt, type
SFC /SCANNOW
and hit the Enter key
Wait for the scan to finish - make a note of any error messages - and then reboot.
Copy the CBS.log file created (C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log) to your desktop (you can't manipulate it directly) and proceed to the next step (make a note whether it found anything to fix or not)
Download and save the CheckSUR tool from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947821
(you'll need to look in the details for Method 2)
Run it - The tool can take anywhere from 5 mins to a couple of hours to run (or 'Install') depending on how much it has to do, and may exit silently - it may appear to freeze for most of that time, but be patient.
The result is logged in the C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CheckSUR.log file - and an archive …\checksur.persist.log file
Then zip the CheckSUR.log and the CBS.log (from your desktop) and attach it to a reply so I can take a look - post a link in your reply.
If you still can't get the machine to a network, open the CheckSUR.log file in Notepad, and see what it says in the Summary report ..
I only need the following for the moment
Summary:
Found xx errors
CSI Manifest All Zeros Total count: x
CBS MUM Corrupt Total count: x
CBS Catalog Corrupt Total count: x
(and any corresponding 'fixed' values)
By that lime, I'll be long abed
- so no hurry, just do things as and when it suits you, and post what data you can, when you can.
