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Posted by glee on October 8, 2006, 2:08 pm
If you were Registered and logged in, you could reply and use other advanced thread options > wrote:
>
>>Hi Lisa,
>>I think what you may be seeing are programs that were installed by the OEM
(Dell,
>>in
>>this case) that they did not want the end user to remove, possibly because
they
>>are
>>integral to certain features of the laptop, or to their support plan. Most if
not
>>all of the entries appear to be for troubleshooting and configuring an Intel
>>wireless adapter and drivers (does the laptop have an integrated wireless
>>adapter?).
>>Removing the items may well be "shooting yourself in the foot" if the
applications
>>are needed for the functioning of your wireless adapter. I would *not* remove
any
>>of them for that reason. Have you asked Dell support personnel about them?
>>
>>The most likely reason they all have an "m" at the front of their names is
that
>>one
>>method to hide an item in the Registry's uninstall keys is to use the
>>"ApplicationDisplayName" string to identify the items to be hidden. The OEM
may
>>have used a script to hide all entries in the Uninstall key whose DisplayName
>>began
>>with "m" at the time the system was built (before you got it and installed more
>>apps).
>>
>>I would be wary of the suggestion to wipe the system and install fresh from a
>>Windows CD only because you may find items such as the integrated wireless
adapter
>>no longer work, unless you can download and install the drivers and
configuration
>>apps from Dell.....in which case you'd likely be back where you began, but
with
>>the
>>items perhaps no longer hidden. That assumes that Dell has those apps
available
>>for
>>download.
>>
>>Hope this helps.
>
> Oop. I already deleted some of them. And, YES, I DO have a wireless
> card installed by the manufacturer. I'd better hold off on deleting
> them I guess. I got rid of about half of them. I generally don't use
> the wireless card but I do use it when I travel.
> Lisa
Well, I don't have a Dell laptop to check on, so I can't say what, if any,
functionality or configuration may be affected. Have you contacted Dell Support
about the issue? Considering how many cleaning utilities may show those hidden
and
unexplained items, it would behoove them to explain what they are and if they
are
required for proper function, and if so, how to reinstall them without restoring
the
whole system.
What model is the laptop, and how old? It may be that you can use the wireless
without those items. If they are needed, it may be that you can easily
reinstall
them using the Application CD's that came with the system. Dell Support
*should* be
able to tell you, though you may have to ask the first-tier support person to
escalate your call to a supervisor.
It would have been nice if they hadn't hidden the items in the first place,
causing
this kind of confusion. I have an Acer laptop with integrated wireless. Since
some
Acer's use the same wireless adapter as Dell, I am going to run CCleaner on the
laptop and see if it also shows such entries.
You can see in this copy of an Acer installation .ini file that the Intel Pro
wireless adapter installs the items you are seeing (just remove the "m" from the
beginning of the names and search the page for them):
http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:2KMN4tXEZR8J:www.ph-karlsruhe.de/wp/sheykhon/Treiber/Drivers%2520for%2520Acer%2520TravelMate%25204020%2520Series/Intel%2520Pro%2520Wireless%25202200BG/Apps/iProInst.ini+WlsSafe&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1&client=opera
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
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