When will Dell start shipping Windows 7 upgrade discs?

I would be interested to find out what the root issue of the problem here was.  You often see situations where companies go with low-bidder subcontractors that are not up to the job.  I wonder if that was the case here.

That's a good point actually. I heard late last night that nearly all the main OEM's (Inc Dell, Acer and Sony) went for a company named 'Media something' (I forgot the last bit of the name)....and that no doubt many are now regretting it. They're a company that are in the business of fulfilling large orders like this. I hear Microsoft lived up to their part of the bargain and got all the required stuff out early on, but that this company was the sticking point.

Edit:

'Mentor Media' the company was called....but now I just read of someone disputing if Dell used them. Acer and eMachines definately did, along with various other OEM's...but that Dell and Sony are handling their own, according to a chap on another forum. Obviously there's lots of dubious info about.....so we'll never know.

Oh, just one handy tip I wanted to mention off another thread. Apparently lots of people are under the impression that the COA sticker that arrives with your upgrade has been stuck to the paper of one of the paper disc sleeves, and is therefore useless for sticking to your PC case/Laptop. Well, yes, it has been stuck to the paper sleeve...but it is a double sided sticker. Carefully peel away just the top part. The corner is fiddly and hard to spot where it comes away, so try bending it at the corner first - but the sticker definitely contains several layers - the bit you want is just the very fine upper foil like part of the COA sticker. What you're left with stuck to the disc sleeve should be a blue grease proof backing....just like you get on many sticker backings. I've seen the pictures of it demonstrated twice now, it's definitely a double sided sticker.....so don't give up trying. Having your COA and number stuck to your machine is much better than stashing away the paper sleeve for future reference. Plus, if it ever goes in for repair, they can see straight away it is now a Win7 machine...so hopefully it won't come back to you set back to Vista (which is a whole new thread in itself....how does this upgrade effect your warranty, and will Dell recognise yours is now a Windows 7 machine...not a Vista or XP)

My upgrade disk came in several days back, about the 3rd of November I think.  Updating was no fun I assure you, as I had to put the computer back to original condition when it arrived, software wise that is, due to blues screening during upgrade,  (a real pain it was).  Even though it tells you it can upgrade with all your other software in place, things you put in yourself that did not come with the computer, that is not entirely true I fear.  The upgrade is kind of fussy and it takes forever, you wait and wait and wait some more for the computer to do something while it upgrades.

Be very sure to follow all instructions and if you do not understand what it is talking about, either do not try to upgrade or get help from someone who knows about it.  I have done allot of reading on this upgrade, it is large and it takes time, lots of time, so be sure before you start, you can stay with your computer, it warns you of that.  It can take from 2 to 8 hours to upgrade, mine took about 4, others maybe more, some not as long, depends on computer I guess.  Then replace all your software after the upgrade and installing the new drivers from Dell take a bit of time.  Datasafe did not install correctly for me after two tries, so I removed it entirely, did not work anyway, that is Dell junk, get a good backup software. 

So they are shipping upgrades, as I have upgraded and that part is done, I hope I do not have to ever do it again, it is time consuming and very tedious and a fussy witch to do it.

"Then replace all your software after the upgrade and installing the new drivers from Dell take a bit of time."

Surely if you're going to bother re-installing all your own software *after* the upgrade, then wouldn't you have been better off choosing the custom/clean install rather than a drawn out in-place upgrade? As long as you have a legit Vista or XP  installation, you can use the upgrade media to perform a clean install - just back up all your stuff first, let it partition/format and make a fresh Win7 installation....then re-install your Dell drivers and other software. I've heard the process is much quicker, cleaner and better for your system.

I wanted the same, but after numerous attempts to get an answer I am just going to return the system. I order before the 22nd of Oct and they PROMISED it would ship with the os already installed.  When it got here guess what system was installed.  Hell, I can go down to the local best buy and get almost the same system with os 7 already installed.  I am leaving the country on the 23rd and thats the estimated ship date for me now.  I guess Dell is just not what it used to be!

George

They should have just contracted out to Digitial River or some other company to allow for a DOWNLOAD of an iso of Win7 and burn your own disc. This is what Microsoft did. It probably would have saved Dell and us a lot of headaches.

They should have just contracted out to Digitial River or some other company to allow for a DOWNLOAD of an iso of Win7 and burn your own disc. This is what Microsoft did. It probably would have saved Dell and us a lot of headaches.

I agree that an ISO download for the free upgrades would've been perfect.  Can't believe that didn't come up in the discussion somewhere - would've saved a lot of money and heartache.

However, Microsoft's deal with Digital River was for all of their retail sales of Windows 7.  The free upgrades from the OEMs (at Microsoft's behest, I believe) are using Mentor Media Group to reproduce, package, and ship the upgrade media.  And since I am concurrently waiting on a free upgrade from Dell and two from Lenovo, and have received neither, I am going to blame Mentor Media (and Microsoft, for choosing them) for the fiasco.

Shameful on the part of Dell!

I'd like to join the band of disgruntled Dell customers. I've been checking my account regularly and the date keeps changing, giving a date the week later. Today the estimated ship date's just disappeared altogether! Yes, they may as well just have said 'some point in the future'.

And what's more we pay £15 for this 'service'- a charge which was never made clear when buying the systems, however close to the 22nd October date we bought them. I bought mine a couple weeks before thinking that Dell in good faith would provide the upgrade for free and within a reasonable time.

Dell, this is a disgrace and you have lost the trust of your customers.

Shameful on the part of Dell!

Apparently, most of the big OEM's...Dell included...employed the services of a company named Mentor Media to run their respective Windows 7 upgrade programs. Now, when several large OEM's all choose the same outfit to carry out a particular job, you can be as sure as eggs is eggs that they were the lowest bidder. So even *IF* it isn't Dell's employees messing up here, it *IS* Dell's fault for going with an obviously over-stretched, lowest bidding company. I bet Dell are regretting it now...as all this stick is aimed at Dell, and hardly anyone is mentioning Mentor Media.

Apparently the forte of this Mentor Media outfit is fulfilling large orders on behalf of the companies who hire them. Obviously they have bitten off FAR more than they can chew. It's been a poor show all round. And you can tell from the illogical replies that Dell have been emailing people when they complain, that the Dell employees have been told not to deviate from the official line. I emailed asking why when I checked my order status it was blank, they replied with instructions on how to check my order status. Yeah, Dell, I knew that already. When I replied with a tirade about not insulting my intelligence, they replied back with a link to the FAQ I have read umpteen times already. This has been the same right across the board. Obviously they've been fobbing people off in the hope they'll go away and shut up. Sorry Dell, we don't do capitulation.

I'm also very interested in following up on the people who have claimed to have brought in the fair trading folks over the £15 charge. The fair trading people were apparently intrigued about Dell naming "tax" as part of the fee - when tax is only generated on the sale of something. Dell gets the upgrades off Microsoft for free - where is this tax from? Is it tax on the shipping fee? Also, it has been suggested that to ship a parcel of this weight from the USA to the UK, it is closer to £4. So what is the rest for? The driver CD? Yeah...right. Don't go holding your breath, but I wouldn't be surprised if they got took to task over this charge and had to pay us all back. I'm personally not too bothered about the £15 itself....but in principle I am.

And it gets even less hopeful- my status now just says 'On Hold'. Dell, when are you actually going to DO something about this. Or are you planning to just let all your customers fade into distant memory?

I'm actually quite flabbergasted that there are still people waiting to get their upgrade discs.....something must be very, very wrong here. When did you buy the computer, and when did you apply for and pay for the Windows 7 upgrade?

Also, have you emailed or phoned them over this? I'm sure something must be wrong here....I haven't had an email notification from this thread for ages, so I'm pretty amazed you're still waiting. I sincerely hope you get some closure on the matter soon. Best of luck!

alduncan,

I sent you a private message with some information.

[quote user="slitheen"] I'm actually quite flabbergasted that there are still people waiting to get their upgrade discs.....something must be very, very wrong here. When did you buy the computer, and when did you apply for and pay for the Windows 7 upgrade? Also, have you emailed or phoned them over this? I'm sure something must be wrong here....I haven't had an email notification from this thread for ages, so I'm pretty amazed you're still waiting. I sincerely hope you get some closure on the matter soon. Best of luck!

I bought the computer a couple of weeks before Windows 7 was released,  and applied for the upgrade as soon as I was able to- 26th October. Over the last couple of months I've sent at least six emails to customer services, each time getting a reply just saying that there was a delay with UPS. Finally, things seem to be happening as they've now reordered it for me, and I got the message from Jesse above giving a contact address. Apparently 'There were some orders that were stuck in production due to tool entry issues.' (whatever that means). My shipping date is now 27th Jan.

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Shipment confirmation today... woohoo!

I did receive the disk soon after.