why do i need to restore?

Because i had the following installed on my laptop :

aston shell, macromedia MX studio 2004, adobe standard 8, tune up utilities 2007, getright 6.2a, utorrent, nero smart, office 2007, blah blah blah..

so it would take forever for my laptop to get up from sleep or to start afresh, and i practically avoided formatting since 4 months, so im glad that there is a secret dell partition eating up 4 GB of my hard-disk and saving an image of the hdd.

All i had to do, was restart the machine, before the os loads, hold to CTRL + F11 key and booom…

the dell semantec ghost server launched  and the image started loading..

cool han? brand new as if i opened the laptop from the box!!
asked me to accept the dell license,  gave me the service tag details(wot do i use that for??) and thats it!
20 more minutes and im ready with the new media center XP on my laptop! YUHOOOO!!!

oh yeah, now starts the pain,

i gotta install OFFICE 2007, dreamweaver, getright, utorrent, blah blah…

here we go again! 

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PLUG n PLAY INSTRUCTIONS: CASE I:

1.Download the drivers, (extract them using winrar/winzip, or directly download all the files) to specified location(usually drivers need to go to C:\windows\system32\drivers)

2. Plug in the usb cable from the modem to the laptop/PC.

3. WINDOWS will detect the new hardware and ask for the drivers CD

4. Select “Specify location” option and browse to “C:\windows\system32\drivers” or which ever location that you extracted the drivers to

5. Click on next and everything should load properly

To check if there is some problem: CASE II:

1.go to Device Manager (Right Click on MY COMPUTER, Properties>hardware> Device Manager)

2. Check if there are any unresolved hardware (Usually with a yellow question mark against the name)

3. If there is, right click on the item, click on update driver

4. Specify the location if you downloaded it as in the above case, or look up on the internet

5.OR, uninstall the driver, plug it back in, and follow the first case.

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During my googling around for usb drivers for my modem that came with INSIGHT, i found practically nothing.

So what if someone has to reinstall thier OS? what if you loose the CD and need it??

Oh yeah, call technical support ! We all know how that works!

So if anybody needs Thompson RCA DCM425 modem USB drivers, here they are!

DOWNLOAD: drivers(ZIP)

TO LOCATION: C:\windows\system32\drivers

I am looking at a lot of people struggling to find these drivers, and am glad to help. Feel free to have your say at the comments section!

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Finally it is time to fix the internet issue on my laptop.

STEP #1: Restart the laptop

Nope, still nothing

STEP #2: Check modem status
What the heck is the modem flashing so much for??

So, i look up for what it means. I dont know where i kept the manual, and we all know that things like manuals are always thrown away. And there is google.

I found interesting article on Thompson RCA modem troubleshooting.

After all that research, it could be that my Ethernet cable is whacked out on its way back from India! Great! Now i need to buy another cable! JUST GREAT!
Workaround? YES!

My room-mate uses usb cable from the modem to Acer Laptop. We used to use the Ethernet from Acer to mine, and work on WINPROXY.

So i figured, let me use the usb cable and see if that works.

And, YES, it does work.

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Ive been to India recently. Had SIFY BROADBAND while i was in Hyderabad. The funny thing after returning home is, INSIGHT internet wont work!! Thank goodness that there is a free wireless that i could use to check mails regularly, but this is wierd.

Being a Tech Support at UofL, i knew i could figure this out. The only obstacles in me working on it are:

1. Crappy feeling after cutting the trip to India short,

2. Moved into a new apartment and all the stuff needed to be out of the cartons!

3. My biological cycle just finds the right time to kick in!

4. Just not in the mood for it !!

Well, anyways, after all that, i thought maybe i should call insight tech support.

Being in that role for sometime, i know that the fellow on call can see my account and tell me whats working and whats not!

But listen to this conversation:

TECH SUPPORT GUY: blah blah blah blah how can i help you?

ME: Hi, i have a weird problem, my internet on insight used to work, but now it doesnt. The LAN connection says its connected, the modem lights are on and flashing, but no internet!
TECH SUPPORT GUY: Can you check with another cable? Maybe problem with your laptop.

ME: NO, that cant be, because i can connect to internet at my work and wireless at home too.

TECH SUPPORT GUY: Then you will have to call your PC guy!

ME: uhuh!

TECH SUPPORT GUY: let me get you you PC support no, what model is ur laptop?

ME: DEL Inspiron E 1505

TECH SUPPORT GUY: ok, here it is: 1-800-624-9896

ME: uhuh, thanks

TECH SUPPORT GUY: blah blah anything else blah blah

ME: UHUH! bye

My laptop came with windows media center, but trust me, i tweaked into it with Aston shell, and a lot of crap, that there is no way, a dell tech support will be willing to do anything with it!

So what now?

I’ll take care of it myself…L A T E R !

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