I bought a new Dell Dimension 8400 about 2 weeks ago with 1GB Ram and 3.4 Pentium. Almost immdediately I would get random shutdowns of Windows Explorer , while trying to load stuff on the new PC. The shutdowns were caused by Data Execution Prevention in SP2, which the PC came with already installed on the OS. After several shutdowns, I went into the DEP mnu and disabled it for Explorer. Next day, I re-enabled it, and for about 1 day everything was OK. Then the same thing started happening again. After more than a few calls to Dell Tech Support ( another story for another day), they agreed to install a new harddrive and reinstall a new OS and all my default programs. I then decided to run Registry mechanic, and it found a bunch of errors which it repaired , and no more shutdowns of Explorer. I figured that must have been the problem all along, so after a few days, I sent Dell Support and email and cancelled the harddrive install. Four more days went by, and the problem resurfaced (8##* it ). So now I email Dell and tell them that I will , in fact need the harddrive installed after all. I also noticed on the Dell Forum on SP2, that there are several complaints, by other Dimension owners, of DEP causing Windows Explorer to shut down. This morning , two things happened. One is , I noticed that when DEP is disabled for Explorer, that Explorer program works much faster. Now I read on a couple of Flight Sim forums, that people recommend shutting off DEP altogether anyway, because they say it slows your system down , especially for MSFS. This turning off of DEP apparently is done by editing the boot.ini, which is fairly easy. Of course at this point, my Norton Firewall and Norton virus Protect will be fully in charge if the security instead of the quirky DEP, which sounds like a good idea to me anyway. So my question is, does it sound reasonable to just shut off DEP and run the PC without it and keep my orginal Harddrive and OS, or should I let them swap it anyway, because of a possible corrupt file on the OS that is triggering these shutdowns, that might cause more problems later on.

Sorry to hear you are having problems with your Dell system. It sounds like a "no-brainer" to me to accept the new hard drive and reinstallation of OS and default programs. I bought the Dell Generation 3 System from Dell last July (lGB Ram and 3.6 processor) and have had absolutely no problems with DEP, Windows Explorer, or the OS shutting down. I don't have the Norton Firewall or virus Protection as you have -- just the XP firewall and DEP enabled. You may therefore be having a conflict between XP's firewall and Norton's. I would have one or the other firewall protection but not both running at the same time. If you haven't already, you might check with Norton to see if they have an update that fixes this potential conflict with XP SP2. Hope you can find a solution to your problem soon.Jim

Well have much time on the phone and Internet today as well as Chat with Dell support, here is what I found out. 1. Other people have the same problem with SP2, DEP, and Windows explorer and it's not only on Dell machines2. Microsoft has instructions on their web site on how to disable DEP, but they seem to imply that you shouldn't, and that the program that is shutting down is "faulty" and should be upgraded. I even have a screen shot someone took of DEP shutting "Windows" down 3. When asked flat out, Dell Tech support states that " SP2 is a Microsoft product , not a Dell product." implying that it is not their job to fix the problem. They then told me, " If the PC works well with DEP disabled, then disable it". Sounds as clear as mud doesn't it? I think I am just going to go with disabling DEP and leave it at that. I have a feeling that a new hard drive and OS will accomplish nothing, except days of work in switching everything to the new harddrive. The "bug" is apparently in SP2 and XP.

"The "bug" is apparently in SP2 and XP."I have to respectfully disagree with your assessment of SP2/XP since this "bug" is not plauging everyone with SP2 installed. That's why I'm saying you must be having a conflict between SP2 and Norton or some other software/hardware. Have you checked the Microsoft site for hardware/software compatibility issues with XP/SP2? I'll bet if you had a "clean" system with only XP installed, you wouldn't have a problem with DEP shutting down your system. Personally I would get rid of the Norton firewall and use the SP2 firewall instead. Respectfully,Jim

Jim,I don't think I will trade Norton protection, for SP2. In 15 years of playing with PC's I have never had a virus on my computer, The "bugs" that have come by way of Microsoft, on the other hand, are too many to list. I think I will stick with Norton and disable DEP. I discovered on some research on DEP today that the Russians have already informed Microsoft a couple of months ago that they have found a way to hack into DEP , anyway, so it pretty much is worthless as far as a firewall of any value. Norton, plus a good Browser and Email program that isn't written by MS, and security shouldn't be an issue. If you want to see for yourself what effect turning off DEP has on your system, go to My Computer/System Info/Advanced/starup and recovery/edit. where it says /noexecute=***** add alwaysoff in place of the ***Save it and DEP is off. You can always go back to whatever it was before :This is from MS web site on DEP: Configuration Description OptIn This setting is the default configuration. On systems with processors that can implement hardware-enforced DEP, DEP is enabled by default for limited system binaries and programs that "opt-in." With this option, only Windows system binaries are covered by DEP by default. OptOut DEP is enabled by default for all processes. You can manually create a list of specific programs that do not have DEP applied by using the System dialog box in Control Panel. Information technology (IT) professionals can use the Application Compatibility Toolkit to "opt-out" one or more programs from DEP protection. System compatibility fixes, or shims, for DEP do take effect. AlwaysOn This setting provides full DEP coverage for the whole system. All processes always run with DEP applied. The exceptions list to exempt specific programs from DEP protection is not available. System compatibility fixes for DEP do not take effect. Programs that have been opted-out by using the Application Compatibility Toolkit run with DEP applied. AlwaysOff This setting does not provide any DEP coverage for any part of the system, regardless of hardware DEP support. The processor does not run in PAE mode unless the /PAE option is present in the Boot.ini file.

No thanks. I'm leaving my system alone as it ain't broke yet. But thanks for the info. I have read a lot about DEP since you brought it up. It's unfortunate that people around the world try to hack Microsoft and cause all these extra security features and new code. By the way, here's the address to a site where you can test your system for any vulnerability: https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2. I use just XP/SP2 and no anti-virus program and have never been hacked or received a virus since I started computing in 1991. The site tried to break into my computer but couldn't and stated I have the ultimate protection. Thanks again for the info.Jim

>No thanks. I'm leaving my system alone as it ain't broke>yet. But thanks for the info. I have read a lot about DEP>since you brought it up. It's unfortunate that people around>the world try to hack Microsoft and cause all these extra>security features and new code. By the way, here's the address>to a site where you can test your system for any>vulnerability: https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2. I use>just XP/SP2 and no anti-virus program and have never been>hacked or received a virus since I started computing in 1991.>The site tried to break into my computer but couldn't and>stated I have the ultimate protection. Thanks again for the>info.>>JimCool site, thanks. I passed with flying colors!! :)