Help with tech terms and dead PC

macman

OP, look at the emailed or hard copy invoice you were sent when you ordered, that will detail every single component you were supplied with by Dell.
You must have ordered Office-it doesn't come as standard on a PC, unless it's the Office 2010 trial edition?
Surely Dell have to reinstall both the OS and any pre-installed software for you?
You are aware that any data on your hard drive will be lost unless you had a back up? Replacing the hard drive will not put your data back.

Figment

Johnmcl7 wrote: »

The drivers disc shouldn't be an issue as you can go onto the Dell site, then into their support and downloads section then enter your service tag and download all the drivers. Once done you can either burn them to a CD or put them on a memory stick, this in some ways is better than the driver disc because it means if there's any updates to the drivers you'll have the latest version.

I agree with the comment above though as I can't see an engineer hanging around doing a Windows build either, I've not been through the process myself with Dell as any time a hard drive has failed I've just had the replacement hard drive sent and built the machine myself.

John

May be a problem for the OP

Cooper18 wrote:

It's not even connected to the Internet

Johnmcl7

Figment wrote: »

May be a problem for the OP

I'm assuming the OP has access to a computer they're posting from, if they're not I wouldn't think it difficult to be able to use a friend's computer or similar to download the drivers.

John

Cooper18

Thanks all. :beer:

There's nowt on the hard drive so there's nothing to lose. Everything i want is backed up on to separate portable drives.

If my PC will work enough in its current state I can connect it to the Internet and download the drivers. The PC sitting on the desk beside it is connected though, so I can use that, right? And transfer on a memory stick?

The only reason I didn't connect my new one was that the old one got so full of crap it's slower than a snail. I wanted my new one just for photo processing, so I wanted it fast and problem free. Currently it's a very large paperweight.:(

I'm also going to be in work when the Dell guy arrives so my poor parents will be drafted in for the day to oversee the whole surgical repair. And they know even less about computers than me!! :rotfl:

Johnmcl7

Cooper18 wrote: »

Thanks all. :beer:

There's nowt on the hard drive so there's nothing to lose. Everything i want is backed up on to separate portable drives.

If my PC will work enough in its current state I can connect it to the Internet and download the drivers. The PC sitting on the desk beside it is connected though, so I can use that, right? And transfer on a memory stick?

Yep, no problem at all - you just browse to the Dell site and choose the downloads, there's no authentication or verification needed to get them. The only reason you can use your service tag is to make it easier to find the downloads, you can just select your machine manually and get to the downloads that way.

As someone has pointed out, it's worth checking your original invoice to check which parts your machine has fitted although I think you can get the same list by checking you warranty status on the Dell site as it will show the machine's original configuration. There may be some download items where there are multiple options but if you're unsure and can't match them up on the invoice then just download each of them.

Also when downloading the default name will be something like D83273.exe so I'd rename them when downloading to something obvious such as 'Graphics.exe', 'chipset.exe' etc.

John

harleq1962

tom15387202 wrote: »

Most drivers support more than one model of hardware so carrying all the drivers shouldn't be an issue. DELL hardware is more or less the same throughout.

Whether the engineer will sit through the restore - you'll have to ask him.

i had the onboard webcam go on my laptop, Dell sent someone out who was quite local to my area, he didnt work exclusively for Dell but did get a lot of work off them replacing hardware, he just turned up in his own car, not sure he would have carried all the drivers for all computers,