Hi Mike - thanks for the reply. I agree that using GoBack and Bootlock on OEM software would make perfect sense - it would also prevent customers from destoying their Windows setups. With that thought, I called Dell as soon as I found those files. The reply I got from the tech I spoke to was, "No. Dell would never get away with that." But it's interesting that despite all my fdisking, debugging and formatting, the Dell logo still pulls up on start-up... I'm a home user with no other computers in the house, and live alone. Besides a Dell tech comng in back in September to install a new motherboard and hard drive, no one but me has touched my computer. Thanks for the links to YEO. While it does sound like YEO might have been used, the postings seem to say that an fdisk & format would wipe it out. However, one posting mentions Ontrack Disk Manager creating a HDD overlay. That had occurred to me too, so I ran a debug I found at the Microsoft site, which was specifically for destoying HDD overlays (which they said OEM manufacturers often used). But that didn't get rid of it either. When I first ran Norton Utilities, besides drive A: being corrupt, it had also told me my drive C: boot record was corrupt. I did an Fdisk /MBR and this corrected it. However, since doing that, when I do an Fdisk /status, this is what I get (please note that this is WITH win98 installed on drive C:): Disk Drive Mbytes Free Usage ______________________________________________ 1 19069 100% C: 19069 Prior to the MBR being fdisked, it always read 1 Disk / Drive C:, and would give me the amount of free and used space left. Weird. With the 2 separate lines and the sizes being identical, it almost looks as though I have a 40 Gb HD (not a 20Gb) and my 20 Gb HD C: has been mirrored. Anyway, I think maybe my best bet would be to just buy/install a new HD. They're fairly cheap and either that will solve the problem or if it doesn't, then I'll KNOW this drive A: isn't on my HD. Do you know if a hard drive overlay is actually ON the hard drive itself? Or is it stored somewhere else? Thanks, Ellen Williamson --- Mike Whalen <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Hello Ellen, > > I'm sorry; I didn't mean to imply that. I meant that > restoring a > system from the Dell-provided CDs will bring back a > system with OEM > software installed and all. So, if GoBack was part > of the original > installation, it will come back when you use the > system restore disk. > > It wouldn't surprise me that GoBack would be part of > an OEM's original > system configuration. It is a nice feature if > there's a problem and > you need to get back to a previous OS state. > > > I'm not suggesting a conspiracy. > > Question for you: What is your PCs environment? Are > you a home user > with no other PCs or users physically near? Are you > in an office? > > Not necessarily. This is the point I'm trying to > make: If you use the > System Restore discs, and these applications were > part of the original > installation, they will return to the hard disk. > > For what it's worth, these applications you mention > aren't necessarily > problems. GoBack you know about. Bootlk is a file > from Norton's For > Your Eyes only package which, yes, will survive a > fdisk unless you > specifically destroy the MBR. > > Here's some more info: > http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&threadm=6hi92r%24d3h%40service.symantec.com&rnum=4&prev=/groups%3Fq%3DBootlock%26hl%3Den > > > But if this is an install of Norton's Your Eyes > Only, then this "A:" > is likely created by YEO. It's hard to say since YEO > has been > discontinued for awhile. > > But anyway, I suspect the reason it might survive is > you still have an > old MBR on your hard drive. If you were to re-try > fdisk, execute fdisk > /mbr to re-write the Master Boot Record. > > But all this is likely irrelvent. > > What is the current state of the system? > > Cheers, > > Mike... __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send your FREE holiday greetings online! http://greetings.yahoo.com The NOSPIN Group provides a monthly newsletter with great tips, information and ideas: NOSPIN-L, The NOSPIN Magazine Visit our web site to signup: http://freepctech.com