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Thread ID: 105211 2009-11-23 08:09:00 Dell Win7 upgrade problem Tony (4941) Press F1
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832746 2009-11-23 08:09:00 I've been doing some more phone consulting for my Seniornet people.

This guy bought a Dell laptop with Vista on it with a Win7 upgrade promise. He has now attempted the upgrade, and says he followed all the instructions (but who knows...). According to him, what he has ended up with is Win7 installed in the recovery partition, and the PC set up to dual boot Vista and Win7. When he asked Dell about it the response was that it was a software problem and they couldn't help!!

I wasn't able to help him over the phone, but my advice was to go back to Dell and not take no for an answer until they had sorted him out. It all sounds very weird, but it seems to me that if Dell provided him with upgrade disks labelled "Dell Win 7 upgrade" then they can't duck out of any responsibility. BTW he sound like he at least has some idea what he is doing, i.e. he is not a complete novice.

Can anyone shed any light on this, or relate any similar problems with Dell Win7 upgrades?
Tony (4941)
832747 2009-11-23 08:33:00 I think you need more info.

Personally I would go and sight the disk(s) and paperwork involved.
Sweep (90)
832748 2009-11-23 10:36:00 I've been doing some more phone consulting for my Seniornet people.

This guy bought a Dell laptop with Vista on it with a Win7 upgrade promise. He has now attempted the upgrade, and says he followed all the instructions (but who knows...). According to him, what he has ended up with is Win7 installed in the recovery partition, and the PC set up to dual boot Vista and Win7. When he asked Dell about it the response was that it was a software problem and they couldn't help!!

I wasn't able to help him over the phone, but my advice was to go back to Dell and not take no for an answer until they had sorted him out. It all sounds very weird, but it seems to me that if Dell provided him with upgrade disks labelled "Dell Win 7 upgrade" then they can't duck out of any responsibility. BTW he sound like he at least has some idea what he is doing, i.e. he is not a complete novice.

Can anyone shed any light on this, or relate any similar problems with Dell Win7 upgrades?

From what you said above, it sounds like he did a fresh install of Windows 7rather than running Setup off the DVD while inside Vista.

He could potentially try that again, run the Windows 7 Upgrade disk while he is inside Vista not booting off it
nmercer (3899)
832749 2009-11-23 10:44:00 I've been doing some more phone consulting for my Seniornet people.

This guy bought a Dell laptop with Vista on it with a Win7 upgrade promise. He has now attempted the upgrade, and says he followed all the instructions (but who knows...). According to him, what he has ended up with is Win7 installed in the recovery partition, and the PC set up to dual boot Vista and Win7. When he asked Dell about it the response was that it was a software problem and they couldn't help!!

I wasn't able to help him over the phone, but my advice was to go back to Dell and not take no for an answer until they had sorted him out. It all sounds very weird, but it seems to me that if Dell provided him with upgrade disks labelled "Dell Win 7 upgrade" then they can't duck out of any responsibility. BTW he sound like he at least has some idea what he is doing, i.e. he is not a complete novice.

Can anyone shed any light on this, or relate any similar problems with Dell Win7 upgrades?

Dell do have to provide software support, as they are an OEM provider of windows. If you don't get anywhere, you could contact Microsoft direct and tell them that Dell aren't providing support.
robbyp (2751)
832750 2009-11-23 19:08:00 I think you need more info.Certainly do, but I'm not planning to get that involved. I'm happy to help these people over the phone, and provide a fix if it it is straightforward, but If I'm not careful I could end up providing support 24/7 for no reward apart from a warm glow for helping my fellow club memnbers.


From what you said above, it sounds like he did a fresh install of Windows 7rather than running Setup off the DVD while inside Vista.That sounds entirely possible - although he did say he followed the instructions.


Dell do have to provide software support, as they are an OEM provider of windows.Dead right - I couldn't believe it when he said Dell didn't want to know.
Tony (4941)
832751 2009-11-23 19:32:00 Sounds to me like he chose the wrong partition to install to.

Ringing MS to complain about Dell would be even less effective than ringing Dell itself.
pctek (84)
832752 2009-11-24 00:51:00 Sounds to me like he chose the wrong partition to install to.

Ringing MS to complain about Dell would be even less effective than ringing Dell itself.I specifically asked him if he made any choices during the install, and he said he couldn't remember - which doesn't help. It certainly sounds plausible.

I agree with you about phoning MS - they always say that support for OEM installations is the responsibility of the supplier.
Tony (4941)
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