Computer TroubleZ

About two years ago I did buy a new Dell desktop. Not really that fond of Dell, but price was definitely right and and it had all that I required. On top of that, it has never been a bad deal to get a three year full service warranty. Had after all used it to replace some hardware on wife's Dell PC.

This time a few ports started disappearing. Since I had some 200+ days left on warranty, and fearing hardware failure, I decdide to actually tackle Dell's (infamous) support. Called the number and got connected to "James" in Bombay (not Mumbay). We went through some basic trouble shooting and nothing helped. Agreed to a partial "roll" and we booted from original DVD (before ServicePack 2). As I feared, this did not go that smooth since files needed (included in SP2) were nowhere to be found on a pre-SP 2 disk. "James" promised to send me a new set of disks. This was a few days before Memorial Day so it was unlikely anything would arrive before the holiday. Nevertheless, I asked James to tag the package for "Saturday delivery".

The following day "James" called back to check on the status. It was sort of funny since he very well knew that we could do nothing before I had new disks in my hand. I still did not have a tracking number, but that really did not matter since it was a long weekend anyway (little did I know how effective Dell's process was, the package already waiting i Bellevue for me, about 24 hours after first call).

Since I've done a fair share of Windows installs over the years, I sort of decided to "screw" Dell and fix this myself, at least so I had some functionality until the disks would arrive. Managed to get everything up and running (except IE 7 but that was no major loss at this time) and had at least a machine that I could access the web with, and that would allow wife to reach the printer.

Weekend passes and Tuesday morning the disks arrive. 30 minutes later, "James" calls. Good timing! We continue with the re-roll process. All seem to be fine, and after about 30 minutes, I decided to let him go. Only to have Windows install "hang" at the same time as before.

The next day I talk to "Ashish". He's good, maybe even better than James. At least just as polite, but he might actually know this PC better. Or, at least it appears like that. Since I had the PC running over the weekend, I've taken all needed backups and is now almost eager for a complete re-install. Just to sort of start out fresh again (Windows accumulate a lot of "crud" over time and eventually it has an impact on performance).

So, we start from fresh. Same procedure. Install Windows and all seem to be fine. But when done this time, my SATA disks are only running in ATA mode, not SATA AHCI mode, which is preferred for better performance - AND the way they've been running from day one. When trying to boot in AHCI mode, the infamous MSFT "BSoD" (Blue Screen of Death) appears and booting stops.

I spend a few hours on-line reading about similar horror stories with Dell and AHCI, but no real (or simple) solutions. Just a lot of complaints, seem to be linked to problems with an Intel driver (iastore.sys).

Call back to Ashish again. After some research he claims that "this Dell does not support AHCI after a re-install, only from factory". Tell him politely that that is a bunch of crap. Ask him to look into this and come back with better info tomorrow. There are NO reasons why we - with good/correct SW driver - should not be able to get my machine in working order again.

Next day, same answer. And for the 101st time he thanks me the for my patience and just claims it is "ATA" mode I have to settle with, but will do some further checking for tomorrow. Since we're not up and running "as it should be", I decide to experiment a bit and low and behold, late in the evening manages to get the PC running. I"m happy, but will be even happier when I can tell Asish this tomorrow - especially since he claimed it was not feasable!

After the call to Dell support, just to tell them that "all is good" and "we've got AHCI", I proceed with updating the PC as per "all rules in the book". I start by creating a log where every action is logged, since I am eager to load achieve a Windows load that is as slim as possible. I have over the year been able to "trim down" Windows by shutting down not needed services, and preventing unneeded applications from loading. It has just never been done in a consistant, documented, manner so it has always been very hard to replicate. This time will be different!

After going trough Windows Update and loaidng some 90+ patches, actually very smoothly, PC is ready for loading applications and "tweaking". Before and after every install, I check both the startup applications via "msconfig.exe" and "Services" via the services console. Anything that looks suspicious is disabled, can always enble it later if needed.

Earlier I was running a bunch of "crap" after booting, but I am now down to only 4 applications in "startup" and not that many more services. Seems like every application is eager to load something that will make it work a little bit smoother, but at the price of overall performance. Among the applications that bring along a lot of "freeloaders" is Apple's iTunes/QuickTime with a bunch of extra small "helpers", really not needed unless you plan on synching with an iPod.

But maybe worst of them all is McAfee's Security Suite. A total of 15 "processes" is running in the background just for this. It is pretty excessive (although not as bad as Norton), but will stay with this for a while since the package is free from our ISP. ZoneAlarm or AVG are otherwise good alternatives since they run much "slimmer".

All in all, the PC is up and running, but it likely took about 10 hours on the phone with Dell - and at the end their help was more or less useless anyway. To give them credit, it could have been done faster, but I would then have ended up with a different (slower) machine than I bought from them, a route I was not willing to take, and they are getting a negative mark for trying to "force" that solution on me.

But one cannot stop wondering over Dell support. Horror stories abound, this time they spent a lot of time on my calls, sometimes having a 2nd call on the other line in parallel. Can it really be finacially wise (for Dell), considering that a three year support contract for a home PC does not cost more than a bit north of $100 (or about the same amount a corporate contract cost per month...)? Bottom line is probably though that many are willing to accept a Dell just because of their service. It is not always that good, but it is there and it is willing. And for the samll added cost, it is a piece of mind many see as priceless. My guess is that 90% of Dell's buyers have no idea of how to dig deeper into their machines. For them, Dell is a good choice.
At least as long as you can take "James", "Rob", "Adam", and "Steven" with a good sense of humor!