Desperately need help! My firewall will not turn on.

[jholland1964]

No, DDS isn't going to show anything done with checkdisk. You should see a report once check disk is finished. Frankly they are hard to read and much of the time tell you nothing that "mere mortals like us" will understand but it will say if it fixed files as I said much of that will be "technical stuff" that neither you nor I will likely understand.
If the Firewall works, then you'll know it's fixed. That's about all I can say about that. You should check that through services as you did before:

1. Click Start , and then type Services in the Search box.
2. Right-click Services. and then click Run as administrator. If you are prompted, enter your administrator user name and password, and then press Enter.
3. Scroll until you see Windows Firewall, and then double-click Windows Firewall.
4. Click the Startup type box,and then click Automatic.
5. If Service status is Stopped, click Start.
6. Click Apply, and then click OK.

If it starts then it's fixed. If not then you'll know that check disk couldn't fix it.

[jholland1964]

Check disk IS going to take quite awhile. You can sit and watch it work actually as it will show you the progression. Some parts it will seem as if it is doing nothing but rest assured it IS.
You are better off not to watch it cause there are times you will feel it is frozen or something, but it's not, truly. I "think" there are something like 5 or 6 sections that have to complete, can't recall since it's been awhile since I have used it.
Just wait and be patient. I have seen it take well over an hour, depending on how large the hard drive is and how much is on the drive. You have a large hard drive so it will take quite awhile.

[jholland1964]

F.Y.I. will be away from my computer for several hours beginning at 1 pm EDT. will be back A.S.A.P.

[the.avon.lady1]

I am back with not so good news but I think by earlier post that you expected it. Just finished running scandisk and the firewall will still not come on so I guess the choice is made for me. The good news is I seem to have the required disk from Dell. Now comes the questions. Should I go in and save files that are not backed up to disk like things in my documents? Or maybe a better question is can I even do that at this point without risk of reinfecting my computer when I load them? I will wait for your response before doing anything else. I see that you will be away from your computer for a while so you may not even get this before you leave so I will keep a check in for your response when you get back.

[jholland1964]

Figured as much but it didn't hurt to try. You can certainly back up items from My Documents...like paper documents. They can be scanned before putting them back onto the clean computer. Downloaded things like videos, games, no I wouldn't recommend that at all. Anything you have downloaded can always be downloaded again when you get your computer back up and running well.
Back up your email contact list if you use an email program, if you use a web mail then that wouldn't be necessary because those are stored online and will still be there the next time you sign onto that. Be sure you have all your passwords and user names for places that you visit that require those.
Back up your Firefox Bookmarks by going up to Bookmarks, Show All bookmarks. There is an Import and Export option at the top. Choose backup to HTML and it will give you a file that you can save and then backup off the computer also. When you get Firefox back on then you cam Import them back into your new copy of Firefox.

I am leaving now and will be back in a couple hours.

[the.avon.lady1]

Okay, I think I am ready, so when you get back let's get this done so you can finally get me out of your hair. I appreciate all of the time you put in trying to save me from being where we are. However, I am thankful this was caught before it completely killed my computer and we do have this option! Once you walk me through the reinstall ( which I can probably do by myself but I will feel better having you hold my hand through the process) I will still need you to help me with suggestions of what I want to install for protection. Also I want to set all the security settings to the max to hopefully keep this from happening again. But for now let's take one step at a time and get this done when you are ready.

[the.avon.lady1]

I have the operating system disk that is the reinstallation DVD with windows 7 ready and there are three driver disks. Does that sound right for the driver disks?

[jholland1964]

Sorry have been away so long. We had a huge thunder storm and have lost power for who knows how long, 9 hours thus far. Had to go to a hotel.
You will need only one of those driver disks. we can figure that out later.

This link contains the information you need to do the reinstall. It's likely easier if you read this rather than me trying to type it all, especially under my present circumstances.
If you have any questions I will be happy to answer them.

For the actual reinstall you will be using the instructions in Step 4. Be sure to do the steps listed in Reinstall the operating system from the OS Setup Disk. But be sure to read the steps before that to be sure all is ready for you to proceed.

http://support.dell.com/support/topi...&isLegacy=true

[the.avon.lady1]

Thank you for getting back to me especially under your circumstances. It must be frustrating to have to leave home for so long, but in this heat my home would be unbearable without power for even 1 hour. I will start the process and hopefully you will be back home by the time I need you. Thanks, and here goes!

[the.avon.lady1]

HELP!!! I thought this would be simple' apparently not for me, sorry to bother you in your situation but I am stuck right off the top! Okay, trying to follow these directions:
"1 Insert the Windows Install DVD into the DVD drive, and then restart your computer. When the message Press any key to boot from the CD or DVD ... appears, press a key to continue booting to the DVD.
Note:
If the computer does not boot to DVD, follow these instructions. If it does boot to DVD ignore this note.

1 Power on the system and watch for the Dell logo to appear.

2 When the Dell logo appears, press the <F12> key to load the Boot Menu. If the menu does not appear, restart the system and tap <F12> several times at the Dell logo screen.

3 When the Boot Menu appears, highlight the CD/DVD drive (listed as "CDROM", "CD/DVD" or "CD/DVD/CD-RW") entry from the list and press <Enter>.

2 After Windows 7 Setup loads, confirm the Language, Time, Currency and Keyboard Method settings are correct then click Next"

I put in the Operating System disk that has windows 7 and it did not load so I rebooted pressing the F12 key then I got the "boot device" menu, now is where I am running into problems. According to the directions above I am to choose CD/DVD drive. The only thing close to that on my list is "P1-TSSTcorp DVD+/-RW TS-H653G" so I choose this and all that is happening is my computer is booting to my regular desktop screen. Do I have the correct disk in? Because my only other choices on the list is:
"Po-WDC WD50000AAKS-75V0A0
Boot to Utility Partition
Diagnostics
<Enter Setup>"