fault with a new Dell PC and they are refusing to fix it - help

davids355

Hi guys,
I am new to this forum. I came across it whilst trying to find some advise on a consumer rights issue with a product purchased from Dell; I would just like some advice or opinion on how to proceed.

Just to give some details I purchased a computer from Dell recently - purchased around 2 months ago but have only just got it out of the box and set it up.

When I set it up and turned it on it done the pre-installation steps etc and when it booted to the desktop the Internet did not work.
I won't go into too many details but it seems to be a firewall or proxy issue of some description and whilst a ping command to a remote computer works, none of the browsers work (IE,Chrome, Firefox etc). Incidentally the computer can also be connected to remotely via teamviewer so the connectivity is definitely there but some part of the software side of the Internet is broken.

I spoke to dell about this and they talked me through performing a factory reset using their built in system image. After the reset the exact same issue is still there - Internet is technically connected but none of the Internet browsers work.

Dell have basically said that there is only a 14 day period where software issues are covered under warranty and after that, the only option for software issues is paid support.

They have confirmed that there is no hardware fault and thus will not help unless I pay for support.

I can understand that with computers there is a very fine line because of viruses and other issues that can be caused by the end user and therefor none of these types of issues can be covered via warranty, however in this case it is clear that the issue relates to the dell system itself and came about through no fault of my own. This seems obvious to me especially considering that even after a factory image restoration the same issue is still present - I believe that the factory image is in a hidden partition on the hard drive and it would be impossible for me to tamper with this accidentally or on purpose.

I can also appreciate that you could argue other factors are involved - ie it could be some other piece of my equipment that is causing the Internet issues, but I believe this is not the case either - I have my old PC here and when I plug that in with the exact same connections (monitor,keyboard, mouse and Internet cable) it connects to the Internet and works without issue. In addition I have confirmed for sure that the Internet connectivity is there because I can ping a remote address and I can also log in via team viewer remotely. I have also confirmed that it is not just Internet explorer but every browser that I have tried (chrome,firefox).

At the moment I have spoke to 5-6 different technical departments as well as the management in those departments and they are all saying the same thing.
I have now arranged a call back from customer services which will be within the next 24 hours but I fear they will say the same thing.

Just wonder what you guys make of this and would appreciate any advice.

daytona0

I won't go into too many details but it seems to be a firewall or proxy issue of some description and whilst a ping command to a remote computer works, none of the browsers work (IE,Chrome, Firefox etc)

You probably do need to go into detail there!!

Just seems a bit weird, you left the item in the box for 2 months without checking that it was functioning correctly? Seems a bit strange...

Also, what's the deal with the firewall/proxy? Did this come pre-installed with the unit, or did you download/install it yourself? Have you contacted the manufacturer or checked the settings? Can you disable it?

What sort of modifications did you make to the unit when you took it out?

Have the browsers worked at ANY point in the past?

You see, you also have quite a bit of computer knowledge (ping commands to a remote computer (as one example)? That's beyond quite a few people!). One needs to wonder whether you've messed around with the unit to cause this damage, as you seem quite adept in testing things out and talking the talk.

Admittedly, though, a system restore should realistically have fixed this issue if it was a software problem. If this is the case then you'll need to see whether software is covered under the likes of SOGA, and if so whether you'd need to claim against the retailer or manufacturer here. If you aren't covered under SOGA for software then you might need to pay up.

davids355

Hi,
thanks so much for the quick reply!

OK, there is one part that I had left out of the story because I didnt want to complicate it too much - the computer actually belongs to my brother in law. I am a computer engineer and I assisted him with the purchase with a view of setting it up for him remotely (in terms of data transfer from old to new PC and so on).

He runs his own business and quite busy and coupled with the fact that he isn't that computer literate put off the setup for quite a while, hence the two month gap from delivery to setup.

When we eventually got around to setting it up I was on the phone talking him through from getting it out of the box, plugging it in to running the initial setup (As Dell PCs come part installed).

So I know 100% that it was not tampered with up until that point.

I talked him through the setup which consists of entering a PC name, connecting to a wireless network (which we skipped) and picking desktop color scheme, username etc.

At that stage we get to the desktop, the internet is plugged in via ethernet cable - the same cable that was taken from the old PC and that works (still) with the old PC when its plugged back in.

The internet does not work, so I just assume he hasnt plugged it in right, but after getting him to ping google.co.uk via command prompt (cmd) I find it is connected, DNS resolution works and so on.

So I spend ages trying to get this working and I cant understand why its not. Eventually I get him to plug the old computer back in, I download teamviewer and put it on a USB stick, get the new comptuer plugged back in, put the USB stick in, get him to isntall teamviewer and bingo - I can connect in to the computer remotely via teamviewer.

This confirms to me that the connection is there and its stable, but still internet explorer will not work.

I try the following things:

isntall and test chrome - doesnt work either
install and test firefox - doesnt work either
uninstall mcfee trial (I have seen that and other AV cause the same issue before) - that doesnt work.

Then I call dell, get them to talk my brother in law through a factory reset then I try all of the above all over again and still it does the exact same thing.

When I said firewall/proxy I didnt mean that either of those are installed I just mean that it appears to be some sort of issue where by something is blocking particular programs from accessing the Internet whilst letting other programs access it without any issue - the only thing I can attribute this to is some sort of software firewall (ie I have mcfee in my mind as being a possible culprit).

I wouldn't object to paying one little bit if it was something I had done or even if it turns out to be something I have done without realising it, but I am pretty confident that its not the case - especially because a facotry restore doesnt resolve the issue.

Hope thats enough additional info.

Any advice appreciated.

baza52

have you checked the security settings on the router?

unholyangel

Have you also checked whether it happens on both wireless and wired networks? Have you checked for any registry errors (sounds silly but yes, this can prevent browsers from loading pages - as can not clearing your temp files/not doing a defrag for long enough but I wouldnt expect those to be an issue with a unused computer).

Have you checked the firewall settings to ensure they're not overly strict?

is there perhaps settings from his ISP also?

If you go into network & sharing centre, then adapter settings and then right click onto properties....is both IPv6 and IPv4 checked? Have you tried unchecking the IPv6 (this helped solve this issue on earlier versions of windows but I'm not sure if it will help here - might be worth a try).

unholyangel

From googling the problem, it seems this solution works.

2) If the problem still exists then click on Start --> In search box, type cmd --> Then "CMD" will be displayed in the search --> Now right-click on "CMD" ---> Select "Run as administrator".
Now enter this command
netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt
Press "Enter".
Reboot your computer"

davids355

Hi guys,
thanks for the replies.
I have tried most of those things, including this one:
netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt

Actually I spent 2-3 hours goggling this and trying various solutions with no luck (Just to mention I am a network engineer and have been so for the past 10 years).

However, I don't think I should really have to be doing this with a brand new computer!

Luckily I got an apologetic call from Dell customer services just now and they advised me that I won't have to pay for this after all and that rather than having the PC returned they are going to send an engineer out to site to resolve the issue.

The woman I spoke to suggested that it could possibly be a hardware fault (network card or similar) but most likely they will need to reload the operating system on site.

Thanks for your help guys and I will post back here again when its resolved.

davids355

PS love this forum - its got to be the most user friendly forum interface I have seen!

neilmcl

What OS?

Have you tried switching everything on the local network off, rebooting the router, and restarting the PC?

daytona0

davids355 wrote: »

PS love this forum - its got to be the most user friendly forum interface I have seen!

Hope you get it resolved!

pendragon_arther

You've gone through the Networking and Sharing Centre troubleshooting route presumably. I had a problem once with my Vista lappy which wouldn't connect to the net after closing the lid, it automatically went to power saving mode for connecting to the router and it took a while to sort it out.

Have a nice day, yahear.