Rejecting MS O.S. License agreement

Mountjoy Mugger

Right.

I've finally decided to but a new machine to replace my PII 400, and decided to get a new P4 2.4 Ghz machine from Dell.

It's going to include a copy of Win XP Home - which I don't need as I already have legal copies of Win 2000 and Win XP Pro.

I'd imagine it will be like most OEM installs and will prompt me to accept the license on the first boot up.

The thing is, I don't want it. Can I decline it and ask Dell for my money back for the unused OS?

Cheers

oneweb

I think (and AFAIR), you can still get Windows 2000 preinstalled from Dell, instead of XP. I don't think it's publicly an option but if you explicitly ask for win2k, they may be able to supply it to you.

However Dell may choose not to support your system if is non-standard in this way.

HTH

PS, as regards a refund, it's not likely

Mountjoy Mugger

Originally posted by oneweb
t if you explicitly ask for win2k, they may be able to supply it to you.
However Dell may choose not to support your system if is non-standard in this way.
PS, as regards a refund, it's not likely

I think you may have misunderstood. I don't want a copy of Win 2k, I have it already.

Dell will only support the machine for hardware failure, I'd imagine. Whatever O.S. I use shouldn't effect that.

Dawg

I dont fancy your chances at getting the cost of the OS reimbursed from Dell, but there's no harm in trying.

Alternatively, you could always get a custom machine built to your own specs less the OS, and just install the one you have. If your feeling really adventurous you could order the parts and put it together yourself. There's plenty of guides around and it really isn't that difficult. Probably get a better machine at lower cost...

dahamsta

I'm sorry that I can't post a link, but I do know that this has been tried before, without much success. That said, I think it was in the US or the UK, which means it might be worth a try here. If nothing else, you should try it just to see what happens. Be firm with them, and be sure to let us know how you got on.

adam

SouperComputer

well they wont give you a refund, thats for sure. They pay very little for OS anyway. around 30e apparently

Also, if you install 2k, your warranty is gone, unless you put it back to its original image and partiton config

From that point of view, it may be advantagous to get them to install 2k if they will cover it under warranty

Pimp Ninja

Its very important that you remember, whatever OS you buy from a manufacturer, when you get your PC, is the only os that they will support.

If you want to use XP Pro or 2000, then ask for it with the machine you are buying.

Otherwise the techies on the support line (if you ever have to talk to them) will not offer you any support, until the machine is returned to the state in which it was supplied.

And trust me they'll find out. Once they suspect it they'll start checking. My trick was to ask people who were supposed to have win95 to run msconfig (not supplied in 95). If it came up successfully, youd tell them that it was 98 and that you were not going to support it, however you could help them to reinstall 95 so the machine was as-supplied. Alternately youd direct them to the website that 'may' help, but since their hardware config wasnt tested with that OS, then the information may not be relevant.

There are a number of reasons for this. Based on your OS selection at sale time, they may give you different driver releases for each OS. And in some cases, you may get different hardware revisions, that have been proven to work better/worse with different releases. Also, if its relatively new technology going into the machine it may not have been tested with win2k, thus may have unknown issues for the manufacturer. Manufacturers always install an OS before shipping a PC, to test that it works the way it should, and if it works leaving their factory, the instant question, is what has been done since it left?

Tom Dunne

Originally posted by dahamsta
I'm sorry that I can't post a link, but I do know that this has been tried before, without much success. That said, I think it was in the US or the UK, which means it might be worth a try here.

It was a Toshiba laptop in Australia. Details here

Occidental

Dell won't give you a refund as you have purchased the machine with XP Home and that's what they have supplied.

The easiest way to move to XP Pro is to accept the licence terms for XP Home and then run XP Pro to upgrade, which will at least keep all the Dell bits and pieces. BTW I've never had a problem getting Dell to support a machine that's gone from XP Home to Pro.

quaalude

There's a branch on Google's Directory about just this topic -

http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Software/Licensing/Microsoft/WinRefunds/

Yeah, Dell will support the machine, regardless of you changing the OS.

If you go to http://support.dell.com, and bang in the service tag or pick the machine from the drop-down, it'll tell you all about the configuration, and whether you can put a different OS on (i.e. whether there will be any hardware/driver probs).