new dell laptop with problems

11 April my hubby bought me new Dell laptop, Inspiron 15-3552 with Win10. It was fine for 2 days. 3rd. day, I could do almost nothing, a blue circle on top of cursor prevented any choices. Some websites affected but not all. After 2 long remote assistance calls, it was fixed for 2 days each time. Neither tech said it may be malware, but 3rd, tech said that after 30 day warranty was expired. They want $249 for 1 year software support, or $129 for 1 week software help. I can't afford it. But I can't download something I can't click on. I tried to boot to safe mode, apparently isn't there, but I didn't find it. Is there a chance I could download it to my desktop and copy to flash drive? Or any other suggestions. TIA

 

Is Dell telling you that or the company that it was purchased from? Call Dell Customer Service 1-800-624-9897

http://www.dell.com/support/content...stomer-Support/customer-support-phone-numbers

Yes you can download to a different system then transfer to a flash drive. Once you have the file on the flash drive copy it to the desktop of the laptop and run form there using then Run as Admin.

 

It was a Dell tech. I thought it was strange it wasn't mentioned in the first 2 calls with them. Just the last with exorbitant charges. I'll give the malware to desktop to flash a try. Thanks so much.

 

I was able to successfully download and transfer Malwarebytes to flash drive. Run on the laptop showed no infection.
I used McAfee as it was free for 30 days. Since it expired, I installed free version of Avira. I don't know what I could have done. I mostly use sites I've used before from my favorites list. Thanks for link for safe mode start, I was going to try downloading Malwarebytes from there.
While making some changes after reading post here, I got a message from machine that there was a driver error and instructed to restart. I did the restart. I was attempting to find my mac address on laptop after that. I shut down and went to bed. No circle on cursor. This morning it's back. Long load time to this site. I restarted twice.
I noticed when I opened this pc that there was another router and phone that we don't have. Could a neighbor have logged into our router and this is the problem?

 

Thanks for asking, Cindy. That's one of the weird problems. I know our phones are Paired with our router, they aren't listed. at one time, I saw a router, Belkins, listed, and ours isn't Belkins. An Asus phone shows, now it's an LG. Neither are our brand of phone. But, it seems like every time I open "this pc" I see something different. My hubby "installed" the router, 2 April. For some reason, I thought to ask if he made any changes to password or user name. He had no clue. So, I checked. He didn't follow directions to open browser and change those settings. So, I will do it when I move the router. I'm still trying to get his MAC address for his phone. I'm sorry, I don't know how to do a screen shot. I don't recall for sure if I uninstalled mcAfee before I installed Avira. I think I uninstalled it after, but it had expired. Should I uninstall and reinstall Avira?

 

Since these seems to sound like a compromised system (hacked/remotely accessed) and it's only a few months old......If this were mine....I'd do a factory reinstall and just start over....like new.

http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/SLN130027

 

On your keyboard look for a key called Print Screen or Prnt Scrn and press that button once you have the screen you want. Do not forget that we have a Test Post section that you can practice on.
Tests & Scribbles

Open Paint and right click on the white area and select paste

Save the file some place that you can remember where it is.

Then just upload it on a post.

Or you can use the Snipping Tool refer to this site for instruction
How To Take Screenshots With The Snipping Tool In Windows

 

You can also "paste" a screen shot from the clipboard directly into a post here.

 

I could not get to the McAfee removal tool with my laptop. I have copied that file on desktop, will try transfer to flash drive and install to laptop. I unplugged our router, next day, it did not show the two odd devices. They are back now, and again, laptop runs slow. I'm not able to change location of router without help. Will do that as soon as I can and change the password, user, security key and ssid. My hubby did not know these changes need to be made, he just plugged it in. Thanks for all your help and suggestions. Will work on these two next and keep you all posted. Thanks so much.

 

I can't change placement of router and cannot log into it. I still am unable to use the laptop. I can get online, not able to click on anything. My hubby does not believe that our router has been compromised by neighbor. It's been happening for some time now. Do I try for a reset of router using paperclip on back, while it is plugged into power and internet?

 

Make and model of router: Arris, SBG 6400. Hubby called them today. They told him the serial number does not match the model. In any case, the tech said if we wanted to log into router settings, we would have to reset it. Makes no sense to me. And tech also said we have only our devices attached to it. how does he know that?
This Tuesday, when I logged onto laptop, my favorites list is gone. Icon is there, star and open book icons are missing. I also have no email addresses. I must enter them manually. I can't for the life of me figure out what is going on. Then again, today, the dreaded blue circle has returned on cursor. The only page I can scroll on, online, is MSN news. Even this page.
I've been accused of doing "something" wrong and screwing up the laptop myself. For the life of me, I can't figure what it could be. I don't add programs, I can't play games, so don't add them. The laptop has already had one recovery. It might be more productive to tell me what it is I could be doing to screw things up. I mostly read 2 blogs that were on my favorites list, 2 different news pages, FB, a cooking site and all have been in my favorites list on desktop computer for several years.
I had WinXP for 13 years. I had a Vista laptop for 8. I've never seen such a screw up of a brand new computer. Have run Malwarebytes, install Avira. Is there a better one? Any ideas or questions that would help me figure out what is wrong with Dell laptop? I can check email, FB and read MSN news. That's all the functionality it seems to have as of today.

 

You can preform a factory reset through a browser to reset the router. Then reconfigure it to suit your need. Bet way to do this is wired directly to the router.

Once you do this you should change the name of the router to something that you have not used, same with the password and tell it not to broadcast the SSID. (Not necessary to do the SSID just hides the WiFi name so no one can see it).

Once done you will need to reconnect all the wireless devices again and reenter the new password.

He probably took a guess.

 

I was able to log in here and used the link above to remove McAfee. I sent a feedback to MS thru the mail app about my missing email addresses. I installed Chrome and have full use of the internet. The router seems to be working and accessible. thanks for all the tips and advise on above issues, it's helped a lot.

When I last tried to use Edge, it would not close pages online. I had to tap the red X several times. Once, I used Ctrl, Alt, Delete, and had to hold them for several seconds. There seems to be something running that shouldn't be. I can see task Manager on the screen, but don't know what to look for in those listings. Some of them appear to be listed more than once, which I thought odd. Any advice? Thanks all of you folks for your time and expertise, it helps so much.

 

call your service provider and explain to them that you feel that the router is been
Compromised and they will reset it for you and set another security key for you its the simplest way i guess