So I bought a new Dell computer...

[Sheepathon]

Originally posted by: ActuaryTm

Originally posted by: RossMAN
Sadly only a handful of AT'ers understand the correlation of Staples + CostCo Pizza + special European cheese.

We few. We happy few. We bandwith of brothers.

And one Canadian.

Who doth not understand.

~ Tim Shakespeare, Henry HjoIII

You know, it's posts like this that make sifting through the thousand other inane ones worth it.

 

[ActuaryTm]

Originally posted by: z0mb13
Please do explain

that was definitely a WTF moment for me lol

So much explanation would be necessary. As such, the only qualified individual for this task would be Staples himself.

Are you a genius by chance, z0mb13?

 

[ActuaryTm]

Originally posted by: Sheepathon
You know, it's posts like this that make sifting through the thousand other inane ones worth it.

The inanity of posts like mine above is so extreme along the negative spectrum of rational thought that thought-time is actually folded, and the inane become profound.

The above forms the basis of the Blake-Pinsky conjecture.

 

[ForumMaster]

dell doesn't usually give you an XP cd. what they give you, is a recovery cd that will restore you computer to factory settings. but you need to ask them, and they will give it to you. afterall, you did pay for windows xp. if they refuse, SUE! or make a copy from a friend, and use a serial key retreiver to retrieve you cd key. that isn't illegal as far as i know cause you pay for the cd key.

 

[randomlinh]

damn you ross... i always miss these things.. ha. mostly because my money goes elsewhere though...

 

[z0mb13]

Originally posted by: Sluggo
Feel free to try this system for getting Dell to send you one.

Dude I just tried this and a CSR replied back to me within a day and I am getting the CDs free of charge!! wohooo!! u rock!

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: z0mb13

Originally posted by: Sluggo
Feel free to try this system for getting Dell to send you one.

Dude I just tried this and a CSR replied back to me within a day and I am getting the CDs free of charge!! wohooo!! u rock!

Damn I need to try that.

Which shipping method? Express? Ground? FedEx? UPS?

 

[z0mb13]

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: z0mb13

Originally posted by: Sluggo
Feel free to try this system for getting Dell to send you one.

Dude I just tried this and a CSR replied back to me within a day and I am getting the CDs free of charge!! wohooo!! u rock!

Damn I need to try that.

Which shipping method? Express? Ground? FedEx? UPS?

I dont know yet.. the CSR just requested the cds to be sent to me.. I guess I will get a tracking number later?

 

[Anonemous]

Originally posted by: z0mb13

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: z0mb13

Originally posted by: Sluggo
Feel free to try this system for getting Dell to send you one.

Dude I just tried this and a CSR replied back to me within a day and I am getting the CDs free of charge!! wohooo!! u rock!

Damn I need to try that.

Which shipping method? Express? Ground? FedEx? UPS?

I dont know yet.. the CSR just requested the cds to be sent to me.. I guess I will get a tracking number later?

hehe, I just called and the CSR told me it was complimentary. Didn't see that post before... it took about 1 hour but I got the media kit (Drivers+OS) free. Guess I have to call again for the other cds (power dvd/apps)...

 

[Sluggo]

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: z0mb13

Originally posted by: Sluggo
Feel free to try this system for getting Dell to send you one.

Dude I just tried this and a CSR replied back to me within a day and I am getting the CDs free of charge!! wohooo!! u rock!

Damn I need to try that.

Which shipping method? Express? Ground? FedEx? UPS?

I had the exact same experience. When I posted this it reminded me to e-mail to try and get mine. E-mailed the night I posted this, got them Airborne Express today

I only live about 400 miles from Austin, so it got here quick.

 

[Anonemous]

nevermind, the DELL reps are not the brightest in the bunch...

they just sent me this email

Thank you for contacting Dell's Consumer Hardware Warranty Support. It
was a pleasure working with you to resolve the issue you had with your
system.

Case # xxxxx
Dispatch # xxxxxx

In order to perform the necessary repairs to your system, we have made
arrangements to have your system returned to the repair depot for
service. Our repair depot will diagnose, repair, and return your system to
the address on record with Dell. This typically takes 5-8 business days,
excluding any parts backlog or repairs not covered by your warranty.

Per our conversation, Dell will be shipping a box to send the system to
the repair depot. There will be an instruction sheet for packaging the
system and an air bill inside the box. Please follow the instructions
carefully.

Once you have the system packaged for shipping, please call the number
listed on the instruction sheet to arrange for pickup by DHL. Be sure
to keep a copy of the airbill number for tracking purposes.

 

[RelaxTheMind]

Most systems after July 17, 2004 do not ship with XP cd standard its an option as they now come with Image restore/PC restore which is a hidden ghost image of fresh from factory goodness.

There is no PC restore CDs. I believe that is HP or Compaq.

There was only a three month window where the option to make an XP cd from an image on the computer. IIRC dec 2004-feb 2005

$10.95 to get shipped to you or free if deemed necessary to fix a software problem on your computer. Or if they replaced your hard drive.

XP CDs are usually shipped DHL which normally takes 2-3 business days or so... but like most places it will say 5-8 business days.

If you opted for DATASAFE which is a fake RAID-1 that keeps an incremental ghost image on a second hard drive you also wont get an XP disk.

To quickly get a cd dispatched call the Customer Care @ 1-800-624-9897

My suggestion... call them in the afternoon tues-thurs because they are the slowest hours.

 

[RossMAN]

I wish I had paid for the CD's upfront, argh.

 

[HN]

i did the email dance last month with no problem. here's the gist(sp?):

First email: hi, ordered dell system, did not have discs (OS, software, drivers, apps.,); tried recovery method from restore partion and creating my own discs using dell utility; didn't work, could you please have the discs sent.

1st email reply from dell: something about environment friendly, cutting down on waste; please try using the recovery method.

Second email: hi, as mentioned, i already tried creating my method with the dell utility and it did not work. as for the restore partition, if the hdd goes completely dead, i would not be able to access the restore partition and would have no computer. could you please have the discs (OS, software, drivers, apps., etc.) sent.

2nd email reply from dell: hi, i'm [another rep] and i'm fully caught up on your situation. i will have the discs sent.

3rd email from me: thank you.

The discs arrived the very next day.

 

[Anonemous]

then now it gets more interesting...

from my Order screen
Order Group Quantity Item Description
1 1 5X153 SVC,KIT,RTD,SOLECTRON

I hope that's the media kit the CSR was talking about...

 

[Raduque]

I opted for my XP MCE CDs up front. I also dug into my restore partition, yanked out the 3.5gb image, and put it on a DVD with an auto-booting Ghost exe. All I have to do is put the DVD in the drive, boot to it, and chose the restore image. Gave me an extra 6gb on my 55gb HD. :thumbsup:

 

[Anonemous]

Originally posted by: Anonemous
then now it gets more interesting...

from my Order screen
Order Group Quantity Item Description
1 1 5X153 SVC,KIT,RTD,SOLECTRON

I hope that's the media kit the CSR was talking about...

Never mind.... :| they sent me a box to ship back the laptop that I received... just for requesting the media CDs...

 

[MisterJackson]

Originally posted by: ForumMaster
dell doesn't usually give you an XP cd. what they give you, is a recovery cd that will restore you computer to factory settings. but you need to ask them, and they will give it to you. afterall, you did pay for windows xp. if they refuse, SUE! or make a copy from a friend, and use a serial key retreiver to retrieve you cd key. that isn't illegal as far as i know cause you pay for the cd key.

The CD they used to give is an XP cd, just configured to only work in Dell's. It requires no key code (if you're using the actual Dell version) and won't ask for activation after install.

Aside from that his key code should be on a sticker on the outside of the PC itself, this is standard for most brands nowadays. You can use that code and a regular oem xp cd to do a reinstall also. I usually do it that way for all of my customers who have Dell to keep just an OS and the applications they need on the PC and not install any extra unnecessary crap.

 

[vizkiz]

Originally posted by: z0mb13
what the hell? Arent I supposed to get an installation disk? I want to clean the crap they put in there!

Nope. The disc, if you buy it, is an image of XP with the same crap they install from the factory. If you want a clean install, you have to get a retail disc for XP.


I wonder if your OEM version serial number will work with a copy of a retail disc. That way you can have a legally registered (at least according to M$ ) version of XP with none of the extra crap in it.