anybody ever phone Dell??

Reefscape said:
Since it is a Western digital, you may have to do a low level format on the disk.
Click to expand...

You should never need to low-level a current harddisk, this i done at the factory and cannot be done by the consumer. There was a time when you could low level a drive, but those days are gone, drive controllers are now programmed to ignore LLF commands. Most programs that say they low-level a disk simply zero-fill it, not do a true low-level format.
 
Last edited:
Very true Elmo,

It was easier to say low level format than to go into an explanation but yes, it writes zeros to the drive. I had to do this to my WD drives for them to work in my system that I put together just a couple of months ago. Most drives are not like that but WD seems to want you to do this. The notation on the file download states that you must do this when placing a WD drive into a mchine with no OS.

And DELL, I would never own one personally. You spend to much for customer service that you dont get.
 
bayoupr said:
Instead of being called Dell, they should rename and call themselves New Deli. Know what I mean. Cuz that's all you get.
Click to expand...
True. Their customer service must be based in India.

We had one hard drive fail on a Dell desktop, but was soon replaced.
I'm happy with Dell, at least so far.

What a nightmare Gateway was!! :mad2
 
ok, thanks for all your input guys.... let me give you a run down of what I did last night. I went back to the nightmare *ahem* PC and tried things all over to no avail. I thought maybe I should try another CD to see if maybe there was a problem and took a look at the OS disk. There is a scratch on it, not a big one but a questionable one. Weird thing is I used this CD a month or so ago to format a HD into the other PC with no problems. I took the OS CD out and put the driver CD in, restarted and the new HD seemed to read it. Ok, problem solved..... I need a new Windows CD.... was I completely sure? nah, that's why I put the old HD in to try to reformat and sure enough, as it was going through, it would get hung up and restart..... did that about a hundred times. I went to the other PC, found a new package on ebay and ordered it..... so another couple of days won't kill me, right? So, should I go ahead and make the DOS diskette in the interim? I know from researching yesterday that there's some kind of DataLifeguard on the HD that should help out.......

and for the record, I would always come here before ever calling Dell again.... the language barrier is horrendous.
 
I've got three WD1200JB hard drives and haven't had any trouble with them at all. Western Digital makes pretty good hard drives these days.

We use Gateways here at work. We went to Dell for a very short period but went right back to Gateway because of the support. Dell just tended to give us more of a hassle when trying to get parts replaced and that sort of thing. They probably have different people handling their corporate support and everyone else though, so it may have no bearing on the typical user.

EDIT: Oh, there's a second page! I hate it when I do that >.<
 
Last edited:
Oh I've been working, doing school work (nearing the end of my last quarter :D ), playing World of Warcraft (MMOs are entirely too addictive), and other odds and ends. I helped a friend move Saturday and could barely get out of bed Sunday. The bruises are finally starting to fade. I'm really looking forward to getting a couple days off for Thanksgiving then getting off from noon 12/23 to 1/3 for Christmas/New Years. Have I been missing much around here?
 
ugh, if I never have to move again, it'll be too soon! glad you're feeling better though.
heeeeey, I get that same break for the holidays! :D

missed anything? hmmm...... with this bunch, ya never know ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom