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Support and Windows 7 issue
I have got the increasing impression that if you ring up Dell support you are steered into a 'solution' that costs you more money. Last year I was told that upgrading to Windows 7 would be part of the solution to issues I had then. But it was the replacement of one of my Nvidia cards and the maintenance of a fan which solved the problem. I paid for W7 as part of a technical solution, not needing it at all.
But I had been thinking of upgrading to W7 so I was not unduly put out by this, it just shows the marketing practices Dell support have fallen into.
W7 worked fine for two months, now I cannot launch properly. I get to the Windows logo, after which the screen goes black and it freezes. I can get into Windows using safe mode, but that's all. There is a problem with the display drivers, which the system tries to recover and then fails. I have reinstalled my Nvdia drivers and done a restore to a previous day but that has not helped.
I have been told by support this is now a software issue and I will be charged for a solution, even though I bought the software from Dell. Not only this but I cannot contact Microsoft for support as the serial code on the W7 disk that Dell sent me is not recognised.
Most grateful for any ideas you may have to help reslove this.
fireberd
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March 23rd, 2011 05:00
As we are users helping users we can't do anything about your dealings with Dell. Charging for software support is standard after the first 30 days - an extended equipment warranty only covers hardware. You have an OEM version of Windows 7 so Microsoft will not provide free support.
If you will provide us with your PC model number, and what video card you have, maybe we can help you. As this section is for hardware, if it is a software problem, as Dell suspects ther is a separate section for software problems.
muto
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March 23rd, 2011 08:00
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osprey4
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March 23rd, 2011 13:00
Hi H2O-block,
If you previously performed an "upgrade installation", chances are performing a clean installation of Windows 7 would solve the problem. If you want to go that route, let me know and I can provide a link to the Dell instructions.
H2O-Block
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March 23rd, 2011 14:00
As you say it does depend who you speak to. Currently they are going to replace one of the Nvidia 8800 GTX cards, but if that’s not it they think the Operating system is going to need reinstalling. So they are not certain it is a hardware or software issue.
I have a XPS 720, W7 was installed a couple of months ago now, it is a OEM version. Some error codes I have got:
Stop: 0x000000116 nvlddmkm.sys
And this one: 0x0000003B
Disabling one of the cards in device manager allows what looks like a normal windows bootup it does not freeze or crash, but it the system will not play games or use features which require a high end video card.
The clean installation maybe what I end up having to do, thanks for the link there.
osprey4
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34.2K Posts
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March 23rd, 2011 17:00
Windows 7 manual installation
Good luck!
rdunnill
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March 23rd, 2011 22:00
Sounds like a nVidia driver issue. Or maybe a BIOS issue. I had the latter problem with the 5770 in my quad-core, to the point of getting BSODs. Just when I was thinking a power supply upgrade might be in order, a BIOS upgrade corrected the issue.