UNSOLVED
H
HowardHammerman
1 Message
0
2495
November 19th, 2001 23:00
Dell Horror Story
After 16 months of reliable operation my Dell Dimension began to behave badly. It would 'hang' from time to time and even spontaneously re-boot. After a while it could only reboot into safe mode.
I called Dell, waited on hold for a long time and finally got a friendly tech to decided that the only hope was to completely re-format my hard drive. We did that (dbug, fdisk, format) and tried to re-load the operating system. The product code on the computer was not acceptable to the dell recovery disk. The tech provided me with one. We installed the operating system.
No help. The same problems re-occured.
I called dell and another tech took me through exactly the same steps.
No help. The same problems re-occured.
So I took the computer to my local computer store. They re-formatted and installed a fresh copy of Windows 98 (2nd ed).
I took it home and got the same registry errors.
Programs and printers would disappear after loading.
I called dell, got a tech who had me install chipset and other drivers.
No help. I still got registry errors.
I called dell and yet another tech had me limit the amount of memory. That seemed to fix it and he decided to send me a new 128 mb simm.
Meanwhile the same promblen is occurering. I am waiting for my chip.
I am out abou $225 for the work the computer store did and about 6 hours of holding the phone.
I sent a letter via email to Dell but got no response.
Luckily I had a backup of my important files.
Anyone else have this kind of problem?
I called Dell, waited on hold for a long time and finally got a friendly tech to decided that the only hope was to completely re-format my hard drive. We did that (dbug, fdisk, format) and tried to re-load the operating system. The product code on the computer was not acceptable to the dell recovery disk. The tech provided me with one. We installed the operating system.
No help. The same problems re-occured.
I called dell and another tech took me through exactly the same steps.
No help. The same problems re-occured.
So I took the computer to my local computer store. They re-formatted and installed a fresh copy of Windows 98 (2nd ed).
I took it home and got the same registry errors.
Programs and printers would disappear after loading.
I called dell, got a tech who had me install chipset and other drivers.
No help. I still got registry errors.
I called dell and yet another tech had me limit the amount of memory. That seemed to fix it and he decided to send me a new 128 mb simm.
Meanwhile the same promblen is occurering. I am waiting for my chip.
I am out abou $225 for the work the computer store did and about 6 hours of holding the phone.
I sent a letter via email to Dell but got no response.
Luckily I had a backup of my important files.
Anyone else have this kind of problem?
PLANET4100
9 Posts
582
0
Posted November 20th, 2001 00:00
My Problem was before Windows Me would load, it would hang up with a black screen, white letters, at the bottom a message "Press Delete to Resume", I would press delete and Windows Me would then load.
It began back in September. I have contacted Dell several times. 2th Oct-John promised to send BIOS by E-Mail and a follow up phone call. It never happened. 3rd Oct-Edward said he didn't know John: Edward suggested closing each program, one at a time, restart each time & see if I could find the faulty program. I did. NO FIX ! Also, back on 30 Sept. I restored system to a good known problem free date, NO FIX !9th Oct-Dell said to restore setup defaults, I did. NO FIX ! 10th Oct-Dell said to restore system again to a good problem free date. I did. NO FIX. 13th Oct- Dell said to restore setup defaults. I did. NO FIX ! 20th Oct - Dell said to clear NVRAM in Maintenance Mode.I did. NO FIX ! 5th Nov- Dell said Dump everything and reload. I said I would need to make back up of somethings first.He promised to call me the following day at 4PM. It never happened, Nor did I dump the system. 18th Nov- I upgraded the BIOS to B4100_A10. No change in the "Press Delete to Resume".
Windows Me seems to work fine after it is loaded.
Just thought I would share my tale of Woes................
sweetrose3
1 Rookie
•
98 Posts
582
0
Posted November 20th, 2001 01:00
To the last post, If Explorer was freezing up, it does'nt sound like a problem with DELL Or there systems. Just defending them, I've had My DELL for bout a year now, ANd NO problems, i love my computer and i think Dell is a hell of a company, I guess it all depends on the user!
Funky_Chicken
174 Posts
582
0
Posted November 20th, 2001 01:00
Have you run the Dell Diagnostics? If you don't have a copy, they can be downloaded from Dells download center.
bturpin111
52 Posts
582
0
Posted November 20th, 2001 10:00
Go to WIN-XP Seems to be an Excellent user friendly and TRUE Plug and play system for sure. If there is a problem just delete it and immediately Win PX reinstalls to correct driver. Example. If you delete a modem usually you would shut down the system and reboot then plug and play would take over at starup but with all other win systems you need to have the correct driver on hand. Where as with XP remove the Modem and immeidatel with out shutting down it locates the modem you removed and places it back on your system with the correct drivers.
I have had nothing but excellent results from the use of XP especially when it involved hardware issues.
Win XP will RULE!!!!!!!!
BTurpin111@aol.com
Dimension 4300
P4 1.6
512MB- I feel your pain.
My Dimension 8100 started having problems right away. It would lock-up several times a day, and occasionally would suddenly reboot on its own. I called tech support within the first thirty days and agreed to try several of their suggestions (including the complete diagnostic check). After a few weeks and several hours on hold, I asked that my money be returned or the computer replaced. They said that even though I called before the thirty day money back warranty was up, I had not demanded a refund during this period, and the would not help me. The would not even let me return it so they could troubleshoot it.
It is now 10 months later. I have added memory and made several more calls, but the computer is still having problems almost daily.
Another deficiency I found was that the integrated network connection will not work with my (and several other) DSL modem. Their tech people said to keep checking for driver updates, but I had to install a different network card (which dell would not furnish) before I could use the DSL.
I have ordered Win XP, and hope it will solve some of the problems.
I purchased a dell computer because their support was highly rated. I do not know if is because of their financial problems or what, but it is very disappointing that they now do not stand behind their product.
- I don't think it is the Dell computer as much as the junky, buggy Windows operating system and applications conflicting with each other. My Norton updates arrive quietly and with no problem. When I try to do a manual Windows update it goes to the website, but won't download. Just gives me error messages I don't understand. The saga continues.....
bturpin111
52 Posts
582
0
Posted November 20th, 2001 16:00
Opinion, Do a fresh reinstall to a clean drive should end all your problems from the grt go. But better yet if you ordered the XP I personally feel your problems will go away. MS did a great job On XP and mad it extrreamly user friendly. For that matter it solves enough problems it should be a technicians enemy as for there are a lot of hardware and software auto fixes and repairs within XP that are automatic with out any input from the computer user/operator.
Hope it helps.
BTurpin111@aol.com
Dimension 4300
P4 1.6
512MB- I have had the same problem with rebooting....I have to use delete to get it to finish rebooting. I called Dell Tecs and they had me do a million different things....finally it was half way fixed but I could not move my mouse after that... I finally told the man to just forget it and I took my pc to a repair person and he got everything to working. I have had my Dell 4100 for almost 8 months and really do like the computer , and some of the Techs that I have talked to have been good, but some ha ve really been bad. I am thinking of going from Windows Me to Windows xp . I have really appricated learning more about things through this Dell Talk.
nyguy wrote:
- im not a fan of computers at all. they will age you
- years and take your money. why everyone likes them
- is beyond me.
-
- i just had my dell for a little and had to reformat
- everything cause explorer would freeze up all the
- time. 8 hours of work
-
- anyway im sorry i got a pc. if you just want a
- computer for the internet and nothing else get
- webtv. im lucky i kept mine. no virus's to worry
- about no software not working to worry about and no
- registry. they are gonna outsell computers soon
- enough i read it awile ago.
-
- if i have to reload my pc again im selling it. its
- not worth all the problems. unless your a tech
- person its not for the average joe
-
-
nyguy
295 Posts
582
0
Posted November 19th, 2001 23:00
i just had my dell for a little and had to reformat everything cause explorer would freeze up all the time. 8 hours of work
anyway im sorry i got a pc. if you just want a computer for the internet and nothing else get webtv. im lucky i kept mine. no virus's to worry about no software not working to worry about and no registry. they are gonna outsell computers soon enough i read it awile ago.
if i have to reload my pc again im selling it. its not worth all the problems. unless your a tech person its not for the average joe