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14 Posts
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21412
Dell 8300 Windows XP recovery disk - can I get a replacement (UK)
Hi,
Newbie here!
I have an ageing (5 year old!) Dell 8300 desktop, and the hard disk is dying.
I want to reinstall XP onto a new hard disk, but I have lost the 'restore disk' that came with the machine. I have the XP product license key stuck to the side of the computer.
So I just had a quick live chat with tech support, and the cheapest they'd ship a replacement disk was £19! I don't mind paying fair P&P, but that's excessive!
Have tech support given me correct information?
I am in the UK so I guess things here may be different to the USA
Thanks for your time, I did search before posting but didn't find a recent enough answer to know if it was still valid.
Batch_2001
14 Posts
1
April 10th, 2009 02:00
Quick update. I emailed support to query the price and they have very kindly provided me with a disk free of charge. The computer is back up and running and I am very happy.
Thanks Dell!
TheRealFireblad
4.6K Posts
0
April 4th, 2009 02:00
I suspect the cost, is simply due to the age of your system?
And in fairness to them... £19 is a lot cheaper than buying a brand new OEM XP disc elsewhere... given that they now cost more than buying a Vista OEM disc :emotion-55:
Buying an OEM XP Home disc would cost you in the order of £65 - £70, and an OEM XP Pro disc would typically set you back £110 - from the majority of the popular online stores (Aria, Micro Direct, Scan, CCL etc etc)!
So all things considered... £19 is actually a bargain :emotion-5:
Batch_2001
14 Posts
0
April 4th, 2009 04:00
We'll have to disagree on that. If I needed a new XP license then £70 is fair enough. £19 would be insanely cheap.
But I already have the XP license. It came with the the computer. I simply need to re-install XP with that license. You can't need to spend £70 every time windows needs reinstalling :)
Providing this backup disk should cost no more that £5. £19 is OTT.
Anyway, I have found the Dell XP disk now that came with my laptop.
Mark7777G
2 Posts
0
May 4th, 2009 17:00
Might I inquire the address you emailed for suport that enabled you to get your replacement Disk for free. I have the same situation and would like to get one as well. Thank you!
:emotion-11:
Batch_2001
14 Posts
0
May 6th, 2009 15:00
I just used the "contact" link on the main UK Dell page. The problem is I can't remember whether I emailed customer service or technical support.
The reply came from UKI_TS_Dimension_Support@dell.com , but I have no idea if you can use this email address directly - I asume you are in the UK, if not then this will not be the correct email address.
Sorry to not be of more help.
Mark7777G
2 Posts
0
May 6th, 2009 19:00
On the contrary you were very helpful. I chatted online with a support person and was told that Dell no longer sends replacement Disks and that if I wanted I could order a set. I copied and pasted your thread and they still said that they no longer do that. I pointed out that your post was only a week ago, then they said that your situation is different because you are in the UK. Getting nowhere I decided to try calling Techsupport instead. I got a tech support person that was willing to help me troubleshoot and confirmed after working with me that I had in fact completed all the neccessary troubleshooting and I would need to re-install windows as I had expected. However, he did say that if my product was still under warranty he would have replaced my Disks free of charge, but my product is quite old and I had to purchase the set for $20 which is actually only the windows disk because the drivers are nolonger distributed on disk and I will have to download them from their web download area. Anyways just wanted to let you know your information was helpfull even though I didn't get the results you got.
Thanks again
--Mark