# 1. Bought a 2nd hand Dell Vostro 1700 with recovery disk (pre-loaded Vista). Currently the machine has Win 7 on it, so I can't use key finder to get the product key to take it back to Vista. Key finder only reveals the Win 7 key and the Product key sticker is worn off on the bottom of the laptop. Thought the service tag or express tag could be used to find the original product key by talking to Dell but the person on chat said you will need to pay for tech support. What why?

I'll bet the information is there at Dell but they want to charge you to get it. Why?, is it locked up in a vault someplace, do they have to climb a mountain or is it just a few keystrokes away on their computer?  They claim customer service is one of their main things but giving stored information must cross that line.

Problem # 2 ~ since getting the machine the HDD stops working but then recovers. This usually happens after it has been in use for an hour or more. If I am in the middle of burning a CD or other... the disruption is on the final copy. I've read on the internet that this problem with these machines happens especially when they have been upgraded to another OS than the one loaded on them. I do not know what the truth is on this. Others claim it has to deal with cooling but how to prevent is a mystery.

Any advice or comments are welcome. Is paying more the real solution? Where is the warranty on that? Thanks for your time.