jbxcpa,

Thank you for using the Dell Community Forum.

The windows CD still ship with Dell systems. There is no plan at this time to charge for the CD if you do not get it.

Thanks Les.

Sorry to contradict you, Les, but no it doesn't.

At least not with the new Dell laptop I bought last week. I queried this with Dell customer support via email, and was told that Dell no longer provides the OS on CD, although they hide an image of your initial setup on your hard disk. Which is no help if your hard disk fails.

And I'm not too impressed with this new development - next time I'll buy from another supplier.

cmhwebster,

Thank you for using the Dell Community Forum.

If the system that you received is the Inspiron 1000 then you are correct that system temporarily shipped without the CD as a test of new process. If you want the CD at this time you can contact tech support to have the CD sent to you immediately. The current policy is that all systems currently shipping are shipped with the Operating System CD.

Thank you for correcting the oversite in not mentioning that the Inspiron 1000 did ship without the Operating System CD for a short time.

Hi Les,

Thanks for the response.  Sorry to contradict you once again, but Dell customer support (surely ironically named?) insists that I will not be given a Windows XP Professional CD to go with my new Inspiron 9100 system.  Here is what their representative "Jayamohan" tells me about Dell's policy, in the course of refusing point-blank to send me the CD with the operating system I have already paid for:

Mr Webster, since Aug 30th 2004 Dell Inspiron Systems are not be shipped with the Windows XP reinstallation and the Dell Resource CD.  

Based on the feedback from customers, Dell has decided to reduce the media shipped with PCs.
In place of the Windows XP reinstallation CD, Dell has incorporated, the PC Restore Utility, which is the Image of the Hard Drive as it left the factory.

I don't know what this "feedback" from customers was - certainly nobody asked any of the customers on this thread - but it looks to me like Dell needs to get its right hand to tell its left hand what it's doing.

As for me, this is the last Dell PC I will be buying.

Hope the rest of you have more luck!

Regards,

Chris

 

This is considered missing wrong or damaged item and can be replaced by tech support.

Hello Les,

Case Number 507210750

I'm really interested in this as I've had my Inspiron 510m for a couple of weeks now, and all
I've done so far is to set it up to go on-line! Normally, by now, I would have partitioned it,
re-installed the system, and added my programs and data. But I'm at a stand-still because I
DON'T want my data on the same drive as the O/S. In its wisdom, Dell has decided that I can't
do this because of that hidden partition containing the default factory setup. 40g on one
drive, and the option of wiping it ALL out if I have to use PCRestore - hardly ideal! And
when buying the laptop, there's not the slightest hint that Dell has stopped providing the O/S
and Utilities cds, and that you can't set things up to your own liking.

I queried this a couple weeks ago and got the standard "Dell no more supplies CD's"
response. In light of your posting I forwarded my query to the specified "Resolution Expert",
and got more-or-less the same reply. I really don't feel "valued as a Dell customer" when
my comments seem to have been disregarded. It didn't help, and certainly ruined my day!

I would appreciate your assistance and comments on the following correspondence.

Many thanks,

Peter
~~~~~~~~

********************************

-----Original Message-----

Sent: Monday, January 17, 2005 1:51 PM

Hello Sanjeev,

Case Number 507210750

As you'll see from my previous email I'm delighted with my Inspiron 510m, but with one great
reservation.

This is my third Dell laptop, following on from a Latitude and an Inspiron 2500. By now I
have very definite ideas about how I like my system set up, and I'm sure that the same applies
to you. I have, of course, acquired a number of programs that suit my purposes, so the system
as provided is full of "trial" programs, ISP and security softwares that I just do NOT want.
It will take time to remove these, and there'll doubtless be traces left behind.

One reason for buying a Dell was the fact that you provided the o/s and drivers on separate
cds, making it easier to reinstall and set up my machine the way that I like it. Had I known
that you now provide these only as "pre-installed", I might well have gone elsewhere. There
was no indication of this when I ordered the laptop, and had there been a checkbox and price
for "o/s and utilities on cds" (as there should be!)", I would have ticked it.


In light of this, and as Dell were providing these up to a few months ago, would it be possible
to provide the cds?

Regards,

Peter

********************************

-----Reply-----

Date: 17 January 2005 15:04

Dear Mr. Mansfield,

Thank you for contacting Dell Online Customer Care.

Please let me take this opportunity on Behalf of Dell Computers to
apologize for the any inconvenience that may have been caused to you.
Dell no more supplies CD's for the back of software's for all the
Inspiron Systems as per the instructions from our manufacturing unit,
however the backup is available on the hard drive in Image Restore
Utility which can be retrieved any time. For further information on how
to retrieve the back up from the hard drive, you can contact Dell
Technical support at
http://support.euro.dell.com/uk/en/ecare/Form/Home.asp or please call
our technical department on 0870 908 0800 to be guided on how to
retrieve it.

Should you have any further queries please reply back to this email or
contact me on the phone number mentioned below.

I am glad to have helped.

Have a great day and thank you for choosing Dell !

With Regards,

Sanjeev

Just in case it helps you in your own crusade against Dell:

I finally got a "system" CD off Dell, but only after sending a strongly-worded complaint to the UK head office. I'm not sure what's on the CD as I have been too busy to check it out e.g. I don't know if it simply allows you to (re-)install Windows or whether it is another Dell-specific box of tricks that messes about with hidden partitions and so on.

I agree with you 100% : Dell should not be playing these games with CDs and hidden partitions on our hard-drives. When I buy a PC with an 80GB hard disk and a given OS, I expect to receive a CD for the OS and to have access to the full disk. Which is why this is my last Dell PC unless this policy changes.

And the "customer service" provided by Dell's people in India is entirely useless, as nobody there seems to want to do anything to resolve the problem.

So keep pestering Dell - and good luck!

regards,
Chris

petomane,

I am not in the UK so I can vouch for the validity of the information, but with luck the information here will allow you to resolve the problem.