It's ok to say bullshit when you really mean it, and I would definately call this bullshit.

I've heard that Dell discriminates against gun owners and donates to anti-gun groups, too.

Of course changing your O/S should have nothing to do with whether the video card conks out. Logic has nothing to do with it, they are just looking for an excuse.

I buy from them because it's familiar and they usually have the right combination of cards to go with the pc, but they've jerked me around alot as well...

Summer of 1999, we bought 25 new Dell's.  Three didn't work out of the box.  It took us almost 18 months before we finally got the last one replaced.  They wouldn't give us an RMA #.  Dell required that we take the machine to their local service center.  It was literally someone's garage.  After trying for weeks to find this guy at home, we finally got him to fill-out a request so that Dell would send us three new motherboards.  Swapping parts around the three, I figured-out that we had two bad processors and a bad motherboard.  After more months of hassle, I got them to replace the two bad processors.  Well, the motherboard ruined both of them.  Apparently, that's what killed the first two.  Finally, we got Dell to trade those two for new units.  We thought they were new units.  They later admitted they were lease turn-ins.  There was no software on them, because the previous owner wiped them out.  So, another couple months begging for the OS media since none of our 25 even came with a Windows CD.  I'm glad we bought the extended warranty, because otherwise they would have delayed us until the normal one would have run out.

Of course, after all of this hassle, my boss is considering buying from them again.  It's been three years, so he's itching to upgrade.  Last week, he got a quote from them.  He only remembers the price.  He doesn't remember the hassle.z

What card do you have? Your system is old and may need an update of both the motherboard and video card bios to be XP compatable.

Did you also wipe the hard drive clean and do a fresh install? Upgrading over an older OS usually causes all kinds of hardware glitches.

I also would check your power supply and wiring.  Get a better one, 300 watt, they are not that expensive. The cheapest solution is to try some wire looms and wire ties to keep the wires from interfering with or touching each other.

First:
  [b]Dude! Don't get a Dell![/b]
Now that we have that part settled...

On most retail computers, you'll find a sticker that will break when you open the case of the comp, on which it says "Warranty Void If Broken", so yes, adding RAM, or add-on cards, or whatever, yourself will help them trying to weasel out of the warranty.

This would even apply, in their opinion, if you'd wipe out their pre-configured version of the OS and install a clean, real one, of a bought Windows CD, to get rid of their pre-installed, selfstarting piece of shit software, like Dell Service Connection, Dell ISP, Realplayer, Easy Access Button and such crap. In short: wipe out everything they had installed, and install a clean copy with only the stuff you want, and your warranty will be void, too.
[tier 1 tech support drone]
"please insert the Dell Recovery CD and re-install everything. Yes, that will bring the computer back to the configuration it had, when it was new. All documents and settings and e-mails will be lost."
[/tier 1 tech support drone]
I don't think so.

Anyway, what's the problem your computer has? If it is in fact video related, you might just buy a equal or better, but compatible, videocard at the local computer store and install that one. Some will install it for free; if you think you can't do that, lure the local geek into your house, by laying a trace of m&ms and diet coke. Or, if it's just a software problem, figure out the model and brand of your existing videocard, and get the newest drivers from the actual manufacturer's website. If it's a major brand, they might have an updated driver on the Microsoft Windows update website. (Internet Explorer, Tools, Winupdate)

Ask here again, if anything seems to be a problem.

I have experianced this first hand with Dell corporate support some years ago.  Dell makes a good computer for the money but support is difficult at best.  No major manufactor is good at this right now.  They don't make money from computer sales because of the competition.  They make money from repairs and additions.  PERIOD.

You want support? Give it up.  The best you can do is learn yourself.  Buy a generic computer and learn to troubleshoot yourself.  Impossible?  No. There is lots of information on the internet to help.  Try it before you call your support line.  

I'm not suggesting Gateway is any better, but I have had better luck with thier support.  I get parts faster since I know what needs to be done when I call.

[b]"Dude, my sister just got a Dell"[/b], last week.  It better not crap out or you'll see my rant thread as well.  

I've got a dell notebook. I had to send it in for repair 2 years after I got it. I called at noon on a thursday, and at 7 pm that same night an airborne express dude was at my door with packaging. he boxed it up for me and off it went. It came back on saturday. I was impressed.
Even more, I had installed win2000 on the machine, (it came with 98) and the tech I talked to on the phone said that they won't give software support on anything but the original configuration, but the hardware warranty was still valid. Maybe they've changed this? I was able to convince him that the dvd was busted because I couldn't boot off of the system disc to reinstall win98.

At least your computer works a little bit! You could have a Fudge-Packard!

What model notebook was it?

Thats why I went with a Gateway That is my sons computer. Works great fast P8.1 with 556 megs  s-dram. 80gig HD, DVD and a CD/CDR/Adrive/400amp/4 usb connectors/LAN CARD ITERGRATED 17' LCD sound blacter live and turtle beach speakers. It seems to work no problem/.Only thing that pisses me off the RIoxico CD software is not the full version. That sucks and I am not going to pay for the extra program.  I told them Take the AOL and shove it up your ass.

I am building a Dual Pentium Server and then will be off into super sibrononics. Dual Northwood chips and all the goodies to make it run. I wil be the Heretooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooomorrow

Any one interested I am looking for positive support in the area of Telecommunication

ROTFLMAO

That's why I built my machine myself...no crappy prepackaged software bundles that I never use, pay about 1/3 less than the cost of having one pre-built, don't have to buy THEIR parts if you want to replace something.  If you have the knowledge, or know someone who does (like in my case), this is what I recommend. My dad bought a Gateway, and he's had to send it back 3 times now to get hard drives replaced.  Gateway prides themselves on excellent customer service.  Personally, my opinion os that if Gateway used decent hardware, they wouldn't NEED to have such great customer service. [/rant]

I'm not one of those Dell dudes.  I would only suggest to download a clean driver and see if this cures the problem.  I only suggest this because of issues I've heard about with XP and drivers.  For me, I'm still running Windoze 98.

[url]http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?PAGE=drivers[/url]

Jim

Since Dell is offering WinXP upgrades to all recent customers who bought their systems just before XP was released (additional $20.00), will they continue to honor the warranty for those customers after XP is installed?

inspiron 7500, with the 15.4 inch screen. boy was that a mistake, this thing only leaves the desk when I'm gone for more than a couple days or when I move. the thing weighs like 11 pounds. I was pretty stupid and should have got a crappy notebook and used the excess to build a desktop. oh well, live and learn.

wasn't there a guy from dell posting here? search for the thread on the dell anti-gun thing and send the dude an email. maybe ar-15.com can help you get an "in" and get your machine fixed.

Just found this!!!

So, all you poor bastards that bought a Dell. I guess you are SOL!

{edit for url code}

A neighbor at work had her computer replaced with a new Dell.  

After she quit, there was talk that one of the rest of us would get her computer because the person taking her place already had a laptop and needed a docking station, keyboard, & monitor.

However, I noticed the other day that someone had turned it on, and there was an error message  on the screen about some video error.

I don't recall the specifics, but it seems the message was displayed in a two-colored box, and it was not a windows message, but something like what you'd expect if there was a bios boot problem.

I know this isn't going to help anyone much, but this experience, plus this thread, plus the other one about their canceling of the guy's order because of the name of his company, not to mention their high prices, made up my mind.  

I'm sticking with my old Pentium and got a memory upgrade to 150 megs.  No Dells for me.