OS support: Does Dell support pre-loaded Vista or not?

Hi all. I have a new Vostro 1400 that's barely out of the packing box. It has a T7500, 1gb of RAM (for now, have 3gb waiting to be installed), nVidia 8400m, Vista Home Basic, Intel 3945ABG w/ Bluetooth & a 3-year extended warranty.

In general I like the machine, but I have a critical problem with Windows Update. It won't run, and gives me this error: 8024D00E. I searched on MS' support website but they have no reference of this error. I then did a Google search and found multiple references of a few people having the same problem. After trying out their fix suggestions, however, I am still unable to run Windows Update.

Stupidly, I initiated a Dell chat to ask why my pre-loaded OS doesn't work. However, I hadn't read the fine print on the chat dialogue, and found out from Jorge that they don't support software problems. I then asked what is the correct way to get OS support from Dell, and he said I needed to contact Dell On Call and pay for their phone support.

I could re-install the OS myself, but A) it might not fix the problem, and B) I have better things to do with my time than redo an OS that's less than a week old. Before I call Dell and get angry, or take advantage of my no-questions return period, what recourse do I have for OS support? Microsoft won't support it because Vista came pre-loaded. Will Dell actually help me fix the problem? If the only support option from Dell is to pay for phone assistance, I'll send the machine back and re-order without Vista. Or more likely I'll ditch Vostro/Dell altogether get a Lenovo T61.

Thanks in advance for any help, I am not too familiar with the in's and out's of Dell support and would appreciate an expert opinion.

Regards,
TOM

 

its a total no brainer in my book

just reinstall the windows mate, or just repair even !!

will take an hour or so, its stupid to pay for phone support, or to go through the hasstle of that just because of that !

 

^^^^ what he said! ^^^^

 

If you ordered 1GB of memory with the notebook you will get 2x512MB modules. If you would like to upgrade to 4GB of memory, you would need to replace your existing 2x512MB modules with 2x2GB modules.

 

Hi, thanks for your input. I know I can repair/reinstall Vista, and I'll likely jump through that hoop soon because I don't want to fall behind in the update curve. But reinstalling Vista is not the point. Dell send me a notebook with a non-functional OS. Brand new, out of the box, malfunctioning. And if their CSR is correct, they won't offer assistance to fix it without me paying extra. What happens the next time there's an OS-related problem?

Certainly Vista is not the paragon of stability. I wanted XP but also wanted the 14" screen, and was willing to live with the new OS. Now that I see Dell offering this machine with XP, that might be my next move, make the 'downgrade.'

Also, the note about the RAM. Just to clarify, I have 2gb and 1gb DIMMs waiting to go in, and I'll keep my two 512mb DIMMS for a rainy day. Since Vista (and XP if I downgrade) are both only 32-bit, I didn't want to pay for RAM I wouldn't be using.

In the end, I still don't know if there's another Dell support avenue where I can get OS assistance. I could call and ask, but thought I'd get better insight here.

Thanks,
TOM

 

Um... does this help?... I just pasted that error code into Google and this page came up:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070907132550AARstSg

Anyway, my understanding is that Dell is supposed to support the preinstalled Windows... so if that link doesn't help, you might just try calling again and talk to a different support rep. They're probably mostly going to be clueless though... lol.

 

Make sure you time is update to date correct
that will cause all kind issue on updates

it happen at lot new system cause bios time wrong or set for other place diffent time zones

 

http://support.microsoft.com/search...32&query=windows+update&adv=&mode=r&cat=False

 

Hi, the suggestion in the Yahoo! forum was one of the things I checked. However, my date, time & timezone are all correct. I could also check the BIOS clock but assume it syncs with the OS (or vice versa.)

Andy, in your second post you link to MS' support site, was there a specific article you were targeting or just general listing of 'windows update' KB's? When I searched for 8024D00E, MS suggested a different error, 8024D00C. But when I searched for that code, their search engine still came up empty. LOL, why suggest an error code that still isn't in the database??

I'm going to do a repair/reinstall and see what happens. If still no success I call and harass Dell a little.

Thanks for the suggestions,
TOM

 

Just do a clean install of Windows. It's simple, really. Vista even goes through the trouble of finding most if not all of the drivers needed.

 

So the 'Upgrade' installation of Vista went pretty well. It took about 90 minutes but didn't change too many of my settings. Fortunately this fixed the Windows Update problem. It took another 90 minutes and multiple re-boots to get all the necessary updates installed.

I'm still leery of Dell support. I have to believe there is a way to get free OS support through them. The complimentary Vista support offered by MS was worthless... I submitted an error report and got a reply from a rep who had suggestions for me. But when I tried to send him a response, I got a failed delivery message. I tried to re-send it five times but with no success.

Anyway, thanks.
TOM

 

the bottom line is that Dell has no responsibility to support the OS because it's not their OS. they have never done so unless you pay extra. Nobody (dell, ibm, hp/compaq, et al) supports the OS.

if you have a hardware problem, you're good to go. if you have a Vista problem, dell (or anybody else) won't help you unless you pay for it (or paid for it up front).

 

No dude that is not how it works with OEM OSs... Only for retail MS will provide support and for OEMs the manufacturer from whom you get Vista or any other OS installed should provide the support.... So DELL has to provide support in one way or another and that too free of cost....

But if you ask me instead of trying to go to DELL each time with your OS problems you can search for them on the net and fix them yourself and as a last choice do a fresh OS install too like you have done atlast.... And that Windows Update thing right now doesnt make a big difference.... Vista SP1 is almsot on the verge of being release and you can wait for that and then install all the critical updates and hotfixes in one go