Unable to determine computer hardware information with Dell Support Software

was your motherboard been replaced before? you can try to do this in checking system information of your computer:

click START > RUN

on the run window, type MSINFO32 and click ok. you should see the general system information of your computer.

No the only thing done to this system was to add a second hard drive. I am quite sure that I was at one time able to check system configuration correctly but perhaps some software I installed or some registry change is screwing up the Dell software retrieval of the system tag.

Look in your root directory (C:\) for a file called SystemInfo.ini
It has your service tag info and has format:

[ServiceTag]
SRVTAGVAL= (put service tag number here without () )

[Manufacturer]
MANUFVAL=Dell Inc.

If it's missing/damaged, recreate it in notepad, enter your service tag, and save as SystemInfo.ini in C:\

There should be second file in C:\windows\system32 called oeminfo.ini that is:

; Manufacturer and Model are displayed on System.General page
; Manufacturer is a required field
[general]
Manufacturer=Dell
Model=Dell DIMENSION (put your model # here without () )


[Support Information]
Line1=When contacting Dell for support, please have
Line2=the following information available.
Line3=
Line4= Asset Tag: (put service tag # here without () )
Line5= Express Service Code: (put express service code here without () )
Line7=For online support, please go to http://support.dell.com
LINE8=For 24-hour technical support, in the USA, call 1-800-BUY-DELL

This file also can be recreated in notepad with your system info and saved as oeminfo.ini in the correct folder.

See if that helps.
Ron

Doug,
Well if the online utility is looking for either of the .ini files mentioned in my previous post and they're missing/damaged, you'd get *exactly* the result you got. Why is there any reason to think the file is encrypted or hidden? Obviously, the online utility isn't looking in BIOS because the service tag number is there but not being seen.

If you run Belarc advisor or Lavalys Everest (both free), do they find the service tag number?

Ron

I really think there is some other problem. The Dell website has an online utility that retrieves the service tag by "searching" my computer. When I run this while on their website, their program does not find a service tag. I was wondering where their program was looking (i.e., is there some encrypted file on Dell machines that includes the service tag or is it searching the bios??). As I said, when turning on the machine and entering the Dell setup, the service tag shows up just fine.

Doug,
Don't know aide32. Lavalys Everest is at:
http://lavalys.com/products/download.php?pid=1〈=en&pageid=3

I changed the names of c:\systeminfo.ini and C:\windows\system32\oeminfo.ini, one at a time, and Belarc still reports the correct service tag. So it's finding the info elsewhere.

Don't know if the problem on you machine will be solved by checking those .ini files. I just know they're there for something. There's actually another copy of OEMINFO.INI in C:\I386 which is where XP stores backup copies of system files. So you might want to verify that one too.

Ron

Ron--I did not see your previous post regarding the ini files (I did not even know these existed). When I get home tonight (the computer in question is my home machine) I will investigate these and report back. Is lavalys the new incarnation of aide32?

Well there was no systeminfo.ini file in c:\ or anywhere else for that matter. I created one as you suggested and that did not help. I found a systeminfo.xml file in my c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Dell\Support directory and compared it with an older version I had on backup. The older version contained more stuff (including the Dell serial number) but that also did not help. Specifically, if I go to the Dell website and run their "Find My Service Tag" utility, the message I get is "The Dell System Profiler has found your service tag. Your service tag is No Service Tag Found."

Again I am wondering where the Profiler is looking? I realize that this is not the end of the world but it is just annoying.

Doug,

Did you find OEMINFO.INI in C:\windows\system32 ?

If OEMINFO.INI is there, and the utility can't find the service tag number, then I'm stumped too.

Maybe time to bug Dell to tell you where the utility is looking.

Ron

Ron--all the other files you referred to were okay. I discovered that the systeminfo.xml file is the file that is created using the offline Dell support program. If I remove this file, the system information portion of the Dell program starts searching my computer and then eventually crashes. A new systeminfo.xml file is created but of course this is incomplete. I did email Dell's tech support but have not heard back yet. I had also contacted them several months ago when I first noticed this problem but never came close to a resolution. Since their online system tag searcher fails to find a system tag, and since the offline program also crashes umpon not being able to find my system tag, I am now convinced that there is some location on my machine where the tag is supposed to be (a file?, the bios?) but for some reason the information is lost or corrupted. The answer lies in trying to figure out where the Dell programs are looking for this information.

As an aside, when I restored an old version of the systeminfo.xml file, the offline Dell system information program reads that file rather than try to create a new one. Of course that file does not represent the current configuration of the machine. If I delete that file, the system information program crashes while searching the machine.

Update--all email communications with Dell Support failed to resolve this. Finally talked with a so-called tech person on the phone who clearly was going by the "cookbook flowchart" in trying to resolve. Dell Support was working from the assumption that the Asset Tag/Service Tag was not present in the machine. I pointed out it properly shows up on Setup; also shows up from WinXP when right-clicking My Computer and selecting the General Tab; also shows up from WinXP when running the Express Service Code program in the Dell Accessories group.

The problem seems to be with the software (system profiler?) that the Dell Website uses to scan my machine and/or the Dell software on my hard drive that explores the machine (always comes up with No Service Tag Found). The Dell so-called support guy gave up after putting me on hold several times to ask other people there for guidance. So it looks like this will remain an unsolved mystery.

Doug,
Maybe xpressser.zip is what you need:

Dell Express Service Code program. This program will install the original Express Service Code program that came with your Dell computer. The installer for this program was created by Dell Community member Hydralisk00222.

http://www.bay-wolf.com/downloads.htm

Ron

I downloaded and ran the xpresser program. I'm not sure it really did anything as the service code/asset tag already shows up fine except when running any of the Dell system explore programs (either from their website or from my hard drive). I believe the actual Dell program that is unsuccessfully trying to explore my computer is the Dell System Profiler.