Dell has changed it policy on OS disk

FYI

Just received a Dell 600m and did not get a Windows XP disk. Sooooooooo
I called support and was told this is Dells new policy, the operating system
is
on a hidden partition on the hard drive. Well after a smooth discussion with
the rep he agreed to send me one. I explained what happens if my Hard drive
crashes
after my warranty has expired. He said, I would have to purchase a new hard
drive from
Dell and it would come with XP on the hidden partition. Yea I could see me
making that
argument 3 years down the road, well you rep told me...........sorry sir he
was wrong and you must
purchase not only a new drive but another copy of XP. Well just call me
paranoid but it all ended well as I will get my disk. It only took 30
minutes to resolve the issue. BTW it could also
have been me saying that it was unacceptable and I will send this machine
back tomorrow.
The moral to this story is, if you don't ask they don't offer.

I hope this may help someone in the future.

 

This is forcing you to buy a replacement hard drive from them that will have
the OS. Isn't this sort of bundling illegal?

Hard drives are dropping like flies these days. Not having an OS disk at
the ready is pretty stupid IMO! Your ability to recover fairly quickly is
gone.

When you buy a system you're supposed to be buying the rights to use the OS
as well on that system. Not having the ability to recover from a hard
drive crash without being forced to buy from them or pay for another copy of
the OS is a BIG reason to not buy from Dell. Are they giving you a complete
system restore disk instead?

 

Perhaps there's some way to burn a recovery disk from the HDD (I know
that's the case with new IBM Thinkpad's). If so, then I'd say the
policy is relatively fair. From what's been posted prior, it seems to
bve restrictions set by Microsoft which has caused this situtation. To
be fair, I understand why MS would rather OEM's ship a "restore disc"
rather than a full XP copy.

 

Just out of curiosity, what division did you purchase from?

Notan

 

At a minimum, I would hope so. But I can tell you that most new buyers
aren't going to do this because they won't understand why they should. Yes,
yes, I know. Then they are too stupid to own a computer. So is Dell making
it easy to create a bootable CD to restore the hard drive to original
condition?

But then you won't be able to scratch the drive and reload just the OS and
the stuff you want without all the crap they throw on the drive.

And sorry, I don't buy the BS line about blaming it on Microsoft. This
smells like another penny saving cost cutting move.

So are we headed to a point where MS burns a single copy of an OS and we're
all supposed to make copies of it?

 

Yet another reason not to buy a Dell Computer.

It appears that Dell is, as with the Overseas Tech Support, going to keeping
"pushing" until it costs them customers(Corporate Customers, that is).

 

Irene, HP has been doing that for about 2 years now. That is how my
niece got her HP Computer.

 

I always considered it to be a support issue that lead to having a restore
partition vs. shipping all the CD's. Let's be honest, folks..... How many
people faced with a corrupted ("You have to do a clean install") OS are in
any position to re-build their computer if you hand them the OS, drivers and
application CD's??? In my experience, very, very, very few.... The vast
majority are up the creek and need to hire someone, convince a support tech
to walk them through it for hours or convince a friend to do it for them....

From a tech support point of view, it makes recovery a snap if there is a
recovery partition. Many people can actually RTFM and do it themselves. The
rest need a five minute support call. I believe that this has to save Dell
a ton on support costs....

I've always felt that IBM had the edge in this for a long time. The folks
who get the short stick are the tiny minority (myself included) who want to
either build a "clean" install without all the bloat/trialware that the OEM
builds install or have multiple partitions installed...

 

And most vendors are doing this, have been doing this, and will be doing
this, but I've not seen one that doesn't also include instructions
(somewhere) on how to backup the partition so that you can recover your
system. Even the HP units, on page 8X of the manual, state, before using
the computer please run our program to backup your system disks to CDR.

 

I agree. As I've posted before, Sony does this as well. It cost roughly
$20 U.S. (plus shipping) for the restore DVDs for a Vaio I worked on some
months ago.

But - it is one more option taken away, and I don't care for it. The last
Dim8400 I had here 3 weeks ago still had the WinXP Home disc with it. It
also had the restore partition as well as an option at start/programs/dell
accessories to 'create a recovery CD'. Gone was the Resource CD, and only
the MS Office and modem driver discs were included with the operating system
disc.

I suspect this is going to generate a lot of phone calls for them for a
myriad of different reasons, and some of those will be long-time Dell buyers
who will be considering just sending the thing back. Or
corruption/destruction of the hard disk image, or of the newbie who's blown
away all partitions on the drive before inspecting their available discs,
OR......etc etc etc.

I want my OS disc and the option to reinstall w/o the bloat.


Stew

 

The Small Business division offers the OS with or without the media. Yet
another reason to pay the tax and buy from the small business division.

 

I guess the home division, not the business.

 

Well I also purchased a Dell 1100 from the home division just 15 months ago
and I received all the disks including the OS. BTW I do not think you can
burn a cd from the hidden partition it is strictly for resorting the main
partition to it's original form. If the drive goes belly up, you will need
an OS and Hard drive, if it is out of warranty. In warranty you will get the
drive with
the OS installed on the hidden partition. I believe this is a bad business
move on the part of Dell.
As I said before, I am satisfied as Dell is sending me a disk with the OS on
it, but remember I had to call an ask for it. If you are ignorant of the
fact about the OS disk you could be out of luck down the road. So tell
anyone you know who is going to purchase a new Dell.

 

While the Small Business Division (and higher) has had the
option of better Support (e.g., Gold Tech Support), I wonder
if they're also being given similar options as far as supplied
media goes.

Notan

 

If lack of an OS restore CD with driver CD(!) is reason not to buy a Dell, then
it is good reason also to not buy HP, eMachines, Gateway, and on and on. Over
the last couple years, this has been the trend to save a few pennies and cut
costs to compete. They're all doing it. The only recourse is to ring them up
and ask for the media... Ben Myers

 

OK, then what would you suggest? Our old Compaq had the same thing,
more or less; we didnt get a Windoze disc, we got Factory Restore
discs.

We are looking for a new computer.... just tired to get a custom made
one locally and they fuct it all up and it was a disaster, so now we
are looking at big company stuff.

We looked at sony Vaio.... maybe... what would you suggest?

 

Sony? Look elsewhere.

While they're very cool looking, their after-the-sale support
is reported to be some of the worst support available.

In addition, if any of their proprietary parts need replacing,
they'll cost you a small fortune.

Notan

 

My R505 Vaio wouldn't boot from a 'normal' CD-Rom, only those supplied
by Sony, so though you get recovery disks, they install all the Sony
junk again.

I'd go with a Dell business system and specifically select the CD.

 

OK, noted, and, others have said the same thing.

then what would you suggest, if not Dell or Sony?

 

The only way to get exactly what you want in a computer is to have one built
to your exact specifications or build it yourself. Otherwise, be prepared to
make the same trade-offs in a computer that you make when choosing a
television or a car or a refrigerator or...

Ted Zieglar