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Tom M King
05-22-2016, 2:21 PM
I've built our computers from parts since the 90s. This past time, commercial ones had gotten so cheap that I bought a Dell. What a mistake. I can't do much with it without their fingers in it. Twice I've had to get the OS re-installed, which required me to reload all our personal stuff. Not only that, but I have to schedule a time that I can work with them to do anything, and that just doesn't work out for me.

It's down again, for the third time in a year, and they want me to schedule an appointment. I'm not interested in paying them some monthly fee for an "upgraded" service. I just want to be done with them.

Here's the question: Can I buy my own OS disk, and take over control of the computer, or will I also need to replace the Mother Board? Is the CPU something normal that I can use in another Mother Board?

Thanks to those that understand what I'm asking.

Gerry Grzadzinski
05-22-2016, 3:19 PM
I can't do much with it without their fingers in it.

Not sure what you mean here, but generally, it should be no different than a PC you build yourself. Especially if you remove all of the Dell software in the background.
Yes, you should certainly be able to install a non-Dell branded OS, but you may need to get some of the drivers from Dell.

While I do build my own high performance PC's, I've had good luck with Dell's over the years. My wife's on her 3rd one, we use 5 of them at work, and I just got picked up a refurbished i7 laptop for a great price, and added more memory and an SSD to it. Never really had any problems with any of them.

Tom M King
05-22-2016, 3:57 PM
They have so much stuff running in Task Manager that I can't get uninstalled. For instance, all the MacAfee stuff is impossible to delete, or even turn off. It also won't allow me to update the OS. It's running plain 8, and when it looked like I was able to do the update to 10, by the time the install was over, there is no sign of anything but 8 on there anywhere. For what should be an easy fix in the OS, they always want to wipe the whole hard drive, and do a fresh install. This is the third time in a year for that. I can't do much of anything with it without going through them.

Chuck Wintle
05-22-2016, 4:23 PM
They have so much stuff running in Task Manager that I can't get uninstalled. For instance, all the MacAfee stuff is impossible to delete, or even turn off. It also won't allow me to update the OS. It's running plain 8, and when it looked like I was able to do the update to 10, by the time the install was over, there is no sign of anything but 8 on there anywhere. For what should be an easy fix in the OS, they always want to wipe the whole hard drive, and do a fresh install. This is the third time in a year for that. I can't do much of anything with it without going through them.
My suggestion is to wipe the entire drive and install linux of some version that you like. There should be no reason to have to mess with windows so much

Lee Schierer
05-22-2016, 4:30 PM
I have owned 3 Dells to date and have not had problems with any of them. However, I hate MacAfee as it is really intrusive. Fortunately it didn't come on any of my computers. It does try to install from some third party software such as Java and Quicken. Our church computer inadvertantly got MacAfee installed and it caused a lot of grief. Once we had it uninstalled, we did some google searches on how to clear out the remaining bits and got rid of it.

Gerry Grzadzinski
05-22-2016, 4:55 PM
A lot of anti virus programs need special programs to remove them.
Try this:
https://service.mcafee.com/webcenter/portal/cp/home/articleview;jsessionid=wBPaP5uPxpWn2E8_JPCbhg9zGD4 v9f4qrDY_BmKmqlOBXJJ9JTSY!-1723545773!-455340870?articleId=TS101331&_afrLoop=1973822166921031#!%40%40%3F_afrLoop%3D197 3822166921031%26articleId%3DTS101331%26centerWidth %3D100%2525%26leftWidth%3D0%2525%26rightWidth%3D0% 2525%26showFooter%3Dfalse%26showHeader%3Dfalse%26_ adf.ctrl-state%3D15gjk6cnhx_4

Art Mann
05-22-2016, 5:26 PM
I think you are making some assumptions about the source of your problems that aren't necessarily true.

Mike Henderson
05-22-2016, 5:30 PM
They have so much stuff running in Task Manager that I can't get uninstalled. For instance, all the MacAfee stuff is impossible to delete, or even turn off. It also won't allow me to update the OS. It's running plain 8, and when it looked like I was able to do the update to 10, by the time the install was over, there is no sign of anything but 8 on there anywhere. For what should be an easy fix in the OS, they always want to wipe the whole hard drive, and do a fresh install. This is the third time in a year for that. I can't do much of anything with it without going through them.
I haven't used tech support for a computer in a long while but back when I tried, that was the answer the tech people always gave you - reinstall from scratch. The reason is that they don't know much and the "recipes" they follow to "help" you always starts from a clean install.

If the computer is worth it to you, buy a copy of the OS and install that your self as a clean install - that is, format the disk first. That will get rid of all their stuff.

That still has you re-installing all your software but hopefully, it will be the last time.

Mike

Tom M King
05-22-2016, 6:30 PM
Thanks. That's kind of what I was asking. I don't have an OS on a disk to use with this computer. It gets to the point that it runs so slow that I can't get anything done. They always do a clean install after wiping the hard drive remotely. This is after the third time in a year, and it already needs to be done again before I can get our personal stuff back on it. Their version of OS does not allow any upgrades, as far as I can tell.

I was asking if this Mother board and CPU is worth taking over myself, or do I need to replace it. That's the question I would like to be answered.

The rest of the hardware is decent stuff. I don't want something that requires I go through them, or to operate efficiently that I need to buy some monthly service from them. All I have been able to find online is problems with the BIOS for upgrades.

This is the first commercial computer with a name on it that I've bought since an Osborne in the early mid '80s.

George Bokros
05-22-2016, 6:44 PM
first I have had many Dell computers and never had any issues with them. As has been said, buy a copy of Windows, format the hard drive and install Windows yourself and Dell will be out of the loop. Problem solved. The mother board should be generic enough to run Windows native.

Tom M King
05-22-2016, 6:49 PM
Thanks. I'll hold off on replacing the Mother board unless it won't work with 10. The possible problem with that is that a Windows 10 disk only allows install on one Mother board, from what I've read, which is not much yet. I think I'll contact Microsoft and ask some questions. I'd hate to drop the cost of the OS into a one time use that won't last. long.

Tom M King
05-22-2016, 6:55 PM
I have always partitioned hard drives, and kept the OS in a separate partition. That greatly simplifies re-installing an OS without touching anything else. This one is 2TB, so there should be plenty of room. I'm just tired of messing with it through another party. I've wasted more time with this than any computer I've ever owned.

Gerry Grzadzinski
05-22-2016, 7:00 PM
I was asking if this Mother board and CPU is worth taking over myself, or do I need to replace it. That's the question I would like to be answered.


What processor does it have, and how much memory?


It gets to the point that it runs so slow that I can't get anything done.

Dell uses notoriously slow hard drives. Before you install a new OS, spend $100 on an SSD and use that as your boot drive, and use the 2TB drive for storage.
It will literally seem 20x faster, and it'll stay that way.

Tom M King
05-22-2016, 7:09 PM
SSD sounds like the ticket as the boot drive. It hasn't always run slowly, but has booted slowly. It was actually pretty decent for a while. The hard drive looks like a WD Black, so it should be okay. It didn't take me long to find out online that the BIOS is not upgradable, so I think I'll just replace the Motherboard. It came with 8 pre-installed, and I'm afraid it's stuck there. CPU looks like a decent I5 (I don't do any gaming), so I'll try that first.

Jim Becker
05-22-2016, 8:38 PM
Yes, you can buy your own copy/license for an OS. You can also make changes to things like your drives. As to replacing the motherboard, you may or may not be able to do that easily in a "name brand" computer; some use custom formats for their main boards. Some use standard configurations.

Curt Harms
05-23-2016, 9:46 AM
The only reason your machine wouldn't run Windows 10 is if there's something 'odd' about the BIOS or some off-the-wall hardware component for which there is not yet a Win10 driver. Here's one article on how to check compatibility:

http://www.groovypost.com/howto/check-computer-runs-windows-10/

You're wise to have separate partitions for O.S./apps and data. You can also download a Windows 10 DVD and install from scratch if you want. If you have the 25 digit Windows 8 key - and you can retrieve it if you don't - that should activate a clean install of Windows 10. You do need to do this by the end of July. Once a Windows 10 install is activated, Microsoft's activation servers remember the 'digital signature' of your machine. If you have to re-install Windows 10 it should automatically activate.

David T gray
05-23-2016, 10:25 AM
just use this to uninstall every thing http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html

Brian Henderson
05-23-2016, 11:09 AM
I used to build all of my own computers, but years ago, I went Dell and have never had a problem. I have never had to deal with Dell again. I know they offer these services for customers who have no clue what they're doing but it certainly isn't required. And if anything goes wrong, Dell will fix it fast. My wife got a monitor that went bad after a couple of months, Dell over-nighted a new one free. I haven't had to replace motherboards but I certainly have replaced and added drives, video cards, etc. and had no problem at all.

Larry Browning
05-23-2016, 11:12 AM
Tom,
Instead of doing the Windows 10 upgrade from the little icon on the taskbar, I followed this procedure to do a clean install of Windows 10 on all my computers. This will allow you to preserve all the data on your computer while removing all the programs, leaving you with a fresh system. You can then re-install only the programs you want. You can also do a complete refresh, wiping out all the data as well if you want.

http://www.groovypost.com/howto/windows-10-iso-download/