Question:
Please those members who have got a Dell computer, what softwares come loaded on it? I was talking to someobdy and she said her lap top did come with any back up CD like it used. Thanks
Answers:
If you harass Dell they will send you the CDs
Otherwise it comes with Windows on it, plus some other stuff which I promptly removed so can't tell you much about.
There is a Windows restore facility built in which returns the hard drive to factory settings.
Answers:
I bought a Dell Inspirion 1300 for my niece for christmas. She let somebody onto it and they removed AntiVir and Zonealarm. God knows why, allegedly because this person told my niece that Zonealarm was preventing her from accessing AOL.
Anyway, I tried to do a Windows system restore, thinking it would reload the above. It didn't, and after I did the Windows restore it would not load Windows and therefore was useless. It kept shutting down during the boot process and it displayed a blue screen with text saying it had shut windows down to protect the pc.
So, I went to the Dell support site and I found the information detailed below. I followed these instructions and the laptop was restored to the condition it was in when I received it. Apparently, the orginal configuration is stored on the hard drive somewhere and it can be restored from this area.All is now ok, thankfully.
I will take gizmoleeds advice and contact Dell and see if I can get disks from them.
Here is the detail:
Dell PC Restore by Symantec.
NOTE: Dell PC Restore by Symantec is available on Dimension and Inspiron systems that shipped on or after 7/16/2004 in the Americas and 8/30/2004 in Europe.
Power the computer on.
When the Dell screen appears press and hold the <Ctrl> key on the keyboard, press the <F11> key, then release them both at the same time.
The Dell PC Restore by Symantec window appears.
NOTE: Press the keys one time only. If you press them more than once, a keyboard error occurs and the process has to be initiated again.
Click the Restore button or press the <Tab> key to highlight Restore and press the <Enter> key.
A caution message appears advising that all data will be lost.
Click the Confirm button or press the <Tab> key to highlight Confirm and press the <Enter> key.
The Progress window appears. Once the process is begun, Dell PC Restore usually takes only 8 to 10 minutes to complete.
When the restore is complete, the message The system recovery process was successful appears.
Click the Finish button or press the <Tab> key to highlight Finish and press the <Enter> key.
The computer will restart.
Your software is now as it was when you first received your computer.
Answers:
I've bought two Dells in the last year.
They are excellent value if you wait for a special offer for the type of PC you want.
No actual CD's are supplied but there is a full restore facility as described in the post above.
Additionally there is an option to create a full Dell Restore CD using a blank CD and your CD writer. You can only burn out this CD once so look after it !
The facility is under Dell Accessories.
Other software is pretty limited and tends to be limited to trial software:
1. WIndows XP Home or (or Windows Media on some newer models). This includes your own unique Windows XP Serial No. which is becoming important to access MS updates & Antispyware etc.)
2. Antivirus / Firewall (used to be Norton Internet Security for 3 months only but may now be Mcafee for 15 months)
3. Jasc Photo Album (limited trial)
4. DVD Playing / CD Burning software
5. Dell Accesories and Picture Studio and Support
If you are after a good software bundle you will not be that impressed with the Dell package to be honest.
Answers:
I've bought two Dells in the last year.
They are excellent value if you wait for a special offer for the type of PC you want.
No actual CD's are supplied but there is a full restore facility as described in the post above.
Additionally there is an option to create a full Dell Restore CD using a blank CD and your CD writer. You can only burn out this CD once so look after it !
The facility is under Dell Accessories.
Other software is pretty limited and tends to be limited to trial software:
1. WIndows XP Home or (or Windows Media on some newer models). This includes your own unique Windows XP Serial No. which is becoming important to access MS updates & Antispyware etc.)
2. Antivirus / Firewall (used to be Norton Internet Security for 3 months only but may now be Mcafee for 15 months)
3. Jasc Photo Album (limited trial)
4. DVD Playing / CD Burning software
5. Dell Accesories and Picture Studio and Support
If you are after a good software bundle you will not be that impressed with the Dell package to be honest.
Can you post a link to:
Additionally there is an option to create a full Dell Restore CD using a blank CD and your CD writer. You can only burn out this CD once so look after it !
The facility is under Dell Accessories.
Thanks
Answers:
As someone has already said you can only create a restore CD once - however you can copy the restore cd and keep a copy somewhere else incase you have a problem with the original one you created
Answers:
Thanks for your help. I know this is silly, if the computer comes with a 16DVDRW-+ optical drive, will the software be included as well or will I have to buy the nero software separately. Also does any of you think, the 3 yr basic warranty worthy? Sorry if I have asked this question before, does not seem to be able to make up my mind whether to go for it for an extra £99+. I am really after the 3100/5150, but not many good deals at present. I am also looking at Evesham, are they any good?
Answers:
Go to Start>All Programs>Dell Accessories>Dell OS Recovery CD
Answers:
Evesham are very good as far as I know.
The 3 year extended warranty is not worth it.
And there will be software included for the DVD burner.
Answers:
Agree with Gizmo, Evesham are good and the £140 for the Dell warranty is not worth it.
MESH Computers are also very good with better motherboards than DELL (IMHO)
A good current MESH offer is here :-
The following Dell 5150 offer is very good value for £470 (inc. VAT & delivery) but only lasts another few days (see top of page) :-
Neither will include fantastic software bundles though !
Answers:
Agree with Gizmo, Evesham are good and the £140 for the Dell warranty is not worth it.
MESH Computers are also very good with better motherboards than DELL (IMHO)
A good current MESH offer is here :-
The following Dell 5150 offer is very good value for £470 (inc. VAT & delivery) but only lasts another few days (see top of page) :-
Neither will include fantastic software bundles though !
Thanks for the info...Can you advise on the AMD athlon as most people I talk to recommend Pentium 4?
Paul
Answers:
I've got an AMD Athlon 64 and also a Pentium, and to be honest they are both fine for everyday general PC use.
I understand that Dell are soon to sell AMD Athlons as well as Pentiums, so it will be interesting to see how they compare pricewise and sales wise.
AMD are becoming more and more to the forefront now, they were the first to offer 64-bit, and the first to offer dual processors.
Unless you use your PC for a specific task (which may be quicker with a Pentium e.g. converting mp3 to wav or similar) I certainly would'nt dismiss an Athlon. In fact for general MS Office work I think the Athlon may be better (but don't quote me on that!), I'll let you do your own research
Answers:
Thanks for the info...Can you advise on the AMD athlon as most people I talk to recommend Pentium 4?
Paul
Athlons tend to be better for gaming and general use but pentiums are better when real number crunching comes into play (ie databases, networking etc) as they cany make better use of their higher cycle rate.