More Fun with Dell Tech Support

Published on May 11, 2013

It’s been a while since I’ve posted about Dell Tech Support, mostly because I’ve been DOSD certified for the past 2 years (i.e. I can order parts without talking to a breathing human being).  You can read my last article about Dell Tech Support here.   This chat log was sent to me by another technician and was just too “good” not to post.  Names of the parties have been changed to protect the guilty.

This is an automated email sent from Dell Chat. The following information is a log of your session. Please save the log for your records.
Your session ID for this incident is XXXXXXX.
Time Details
04/10/2013 10:06:44AM Session Started with Agent (DellRep)
04/10/2013 10:06:44AM Us: “Computer will not boot. Plug in power and the light on the power button turns on and goes to blue. Fans are running also but nothing is displayed on the monitor.”
04/10/2013 10:06:52AM Agent (DellRep): “Thank you for contacting Dell Basic Hardware Warranty Chat for Optiplex and Latitude Systems under the Corporate and Business Group. My name is DellRep. I’ll be happy to assist you with your concern today.”
04/10/2013 10:06:55AM Agent (DellRep): “Incase we get disconnected do you have another phone number aside from the one you provided in the chat session?”
04/10/2013 10:07:27AM Us: “xxx-xxx-xxxx xxxx”
04/10/2013 10:08:17AM Agent (DellRep): “By the way, Is this for the OPTIPLEX 390 system with service tag XXXXXXX?”
04/10/2013 10:08:32AM Us: “Yes it is”
04/10/2013 10:09:42AM Agent (DellRep): “May I ask what are the troubleshooting steps done to isolate the issue for us to properly document the case?”
04/10/2013 10:10:51AM Us: “Changed power supply and plugged it into different equipment at another physical location. It doesn’t display anything so I cannot run the dell diagnostic”
04/10/2013 10:11:14AM Us: “Also tried a PCI-X video card and it did not work either”
04/10/2013 10:11:36AM Agent (DellRep): “Have you tried a known good hard drive?”
04/10/2013 10:12:18AM Us: “it won’t even post so hard drive is irrelevant”
04/10/2013 10:13:28AM Us: “but yes we swapped the unit for the customer so currently it has a different harddrive for a known working installation of Windows on it”
04/10/2013 10:14:43AM Agent (DellRep): “At what part of the start up will the blue screen appear? Can you still see the Dell splash scree?”
04/10/2013 10:15:10AM Us: “It does not boot at all, I never said it was experiencing a blue screen of death”
04/10/2013 10:15:33AM Us: “The powerlight turns on and turns blue the minute you plug in the power cord”
04/10/2013 10:17:30AM Us: “The computer appears to be in a on state, you can hear fans running and the power button light is on. Nothing displays on the monitor. It does not go through Post at all. There are no beep codes.”
04/10/2013 10:17:31AM Agent (DellRep): “Have you added an external video card?”
04/10/2013 10:17:43AM Us: “Yes I stated that earlier in this conversation”
04/10/2013 10:19:34AM Agent (DellRep): “Can you run the system without the videocard and use the onboard instead?”
04/10/2013 10:19:57AM Us: “That is what we normally do”
04/10/2013 10:20:10AM Us: “this thing does not have an external video card installed”
04/10/2013 10:20:17AM Us: “we tried that for troubleshooting”
04/10/2013 10:20:28AM Us: “The motherboard is bad”
04/10/2013 10:20:34AM Us: “I have had this issue in the past”
04/10/2013 10:21:49AM Agent (DellRep): “I am creating a new case for you, and I will personally be your Point of Contact on this case until your issue is resolved.”
04/10/2013 10:21:57AM Agent (DellRep): “Just to make sure that we get to send the necessary emails to the correct email address, can you please verify if xxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx is a good one?”

04/10/2013 10:22:13AM Us: “that is correct”
04/10/2013 10:22:17AM Agent (DellRep): “I am creating a new case for you, and I will personally be your Point of Contact on this case until your issue is resolved.”
04/10/2013 10:22:21AM Agent (DellRep): “I’ll just ask for the address where the service will take place?”
04/10/2013 10:22:38AM Us: “<company address>”
04/10/2013 10:23:33AM Agent (DellRep): “Thanks, I”ll be needing few minutes to process the dispatch, Can you hold on for 3-5 Minutes while I process this?”
04/10/2013 10:23:47AM Us: “Yes”
04/10/2013 10:24:15AM Us: “It is not necessary to dispatch a technician I will replace the board myself”
04/10/2013 10:24:48AM Agent (DellRep): “Just wanted to let you know that the part(s) needed to be replaced is what we consider as a “Field-Replaceable Unit” which in most cases would only be installed by authorized Dell Technicians. Since you opted to just receive the part (which is what we cal”
l as a “Part/s-Only-Service”), please be advised that Dell will not be held liable for any damages incurred while installing the replacement part(s).
04/10/2013 10:25:21AM Us: “Yes I am aware as I am an authorized Dell Technician”
04/10/2013 10:29:19AM Agent (DellRep): “Thanks, I”ll be needing few minutes to process the dispatch, Can you hold on for 3-5 Minutes while I process this?”
04/10/2013 10:29:36AM Us: “Yup”
04/10/2013 10:33:55AM Agent (DellRep): “Thanks for waiting.”
04/10/2013 10:33:59AM Agent (DellRep): “Your Dispatch number is XXXXXXXXX .”
04/10/2013 10:34:01AM Agent (DellRep): “I’ve set up this Parts and Onsite Service dispatch for you, and I’m sending you a summary email with all of your dispatch information. Depending on parts availability, you should be contacted before noon tomorrow (excluding holidays and weekends) where yo”
u’ll be provided with an estimate for the time of day that the onsite technician will arrive for service.
04/10/2013 10:34:06AM Us: “Thank you”
04/10/2013 10:34:08AM Agent (DellRep): “I am booking an Onsite repair for this issue to replace the said part. If however the Dell Onsite Engineer identifies damage to the system which is not covered by your limited warranty there may be a cost incurred by you.”
04/10/2013 10:34:14AM Agent (DellRep): “I’ve set up this Parts and Onsite Service dispatch for you, and I’m sending you a summary email with all of your dispatch information. Depending on parts availability, you should be contacted before noon tomorrow (excluding holidays and weekends) where yo”
u’ll be provided with an estimate for the time of day that the onsite technician will arrive for service.
04/10/2013 10:34:15AM Agent (DellRep): “You can also check the status of the dispatch using this link. http://www.dell.com/support/incidents/us/en/XXXX?c=us&l=en&s=&cs=XXXX”

04/10/2013 10:34:16AM Agent (DellRep): “I’ve set up this dispatch for you, and I will personally be following up with you in a couple days to make sure that your issue is resolved. Please look for my email/ wait for my phone call so that I know your issue is resolved.”
04/10/2013 10:34:17AM Agent (DellRep): “I’m sending you a summary email after out chat session. If you have any problems, please just respond using the instructions in that email to reach me, and I will be able to help you.”
04/10/2013 10:34:19AM Agent (DellRep): “You will be receiving 2 or 3 emails from us. One is a copy of our chat session and the other is a summary email. You may keep these for your records. If you require further assistance, please reply to my email and I’ll be glad to call you back and re-open”
this case anytime. You can also visit us online at www.dell.com/chat or call 1-800-822-8965
04/10/2013 10:34:20AM Agent (DellRep): “Is there anything else I can assist you with?”
04/10/2013 10:34:27AM Us: “I told you I don’t want an onsite technician”
04/10/2013 10:34:41AM Us: “it is unnecessary as I am a dell certified technician for my company”
04/10/2013 10:35:19AM Agent (DellRep): “I’ll just reprocess it.”
04/10/2013 10:35:26AM Agent (DellRep): “Sorry for that XXXXX”
04/10/2013 10:36:32AM Us: “Thank you”
04/10/2013 10:36:45AM Agent (DellRep): “Is there anything else I can assist you with?”
04/10/2013 10:36:51AM Us: “that will be it”
04/10/2013 10:37:01AM Agent (DellRep): “Few quick questions,
Are you satistfied with the service I provided you today?
And, Is your issue today resolved to your satisfaction?”
04/10/2013 10:37:11AM Us: “yup issue is resolved”
04/10/2013 10:37:25AM Agent (DellRep): “We appreciate your time for contacting us and its been a pleasure working with you.”
04/10/2013 10:37:26AM Agent (DellRep): “Thank you for your Time and Thanks again for contacting Dell Technical Support Chat. You may now disconnect from the session. Have a nice day!”
If you require further assistance, please visit us at support.dell.com

-Soli Deo Gloria

Filed in Joke,Misc | No replies

Run a Certain Command Line Based on x86 or x64 Architecture

Published on April 27, 2013

I’ve published about running certain files based on the operating system type (see this posting about such VBScript code on my blog), but what if you want to run something based on processor type, i.e. x86 or x64?  The “problem” with VBScript is that it can be hell on earth dealing with command lines that involve quotes and switches.  How about a simple batch file instead?

@echo off

Set RegQry=HKLM\Hardware\Description\System\CentralProcessor\0

REG.exe Query %RegQry% > checkOS.txt

Find /i "x86" < CheckOS.txt > StringCheck.txt

If %ERRORLEVEL% == 0 (
Echo "This is 32 Bit Operating system"
) ELSE (
Echo "This is 64 Bit Operating System"
)

Stolen from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/556009.  It’s beautiful, simple and gets the job done. You can just stick your command lines as they are between the ( )’s.  Here’s a sample of something I did for the push out of Creo Parametric 2.0:

@echo off

Set RegQry=HKLM\Hardware\Description\System\CentralProcessor\0

REG.exe Query %RegQry% > checkOS.txt

Find /i "x86" < CheckOS.txt > StringCheck.txt

If %ERRORLEVEL% == 0 (
"C:\creo 2.0\Common Files\M040\install\addon\creoagent_32.msi" /passive
) ELSE (
"C:\creo 2.0\Common Files\M040\install\addon\creoagent_32_64.msi" /passive
)

Of course, it would be much simpler to dump Windows XP and every 32-bit operating system known to man.  If you have multiple lines, you will probably want to use something like start /w to wait for each line to finish, otherwise it will run every line all in one go.

- Soli Deo Gloria

Filed in Operating System,Tech Tips | No replies

Windows Blue Might Restore Start Menu

Published on April 19, 2013

Did Microsoft finally wake up?  Let’s hope so.  This change would restore some of my faith back in Microsoft.

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/04/windows-blue-could-restore-the-start-button-boot-straight-to-the-desktop/

To quote Winbeta.org:

For those upgrading to Windows Blue, you might now have the option to remove the Start Screen. According to the report, after examining the code in twinui.dll, there is a line that is “responsible for disabling the Start Screen” and after disabling or modifying the code it makes the system “go to the desktop automatically.” Those using Windows 8 or the leaked Windows 8.1 build, you will obviously know by now that this option isn’t yet available.

From http://www.winbeta.org/news/microsoft-possibly-working-letting-user-disable-start-screen

- Soli Deo Gloria

Filed in Operating System | No replies

Windows Blue Is Now Called Windows 8.1

Published on April 3, 2013

Windows Blue is now known as Windows 8.1 and is scheduled for release sometime in August 2013: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/04/02/windows_blue_version_8_1/

-Soli Deo Gloria

Filed in Misc | No replies

When VMs Won’t Cut It

Published on April 1, 2013

I was recently working with Creo Parametric (3d modeling software).  Unfortunately, my VMs are not powerful enough to run this software.  Solution?  Steader State.  Basically, this software let’s you do a P2V conversion and then by using the VHD boot feature of Windows 7 Ultimate/Enterprise, it will create a difference VHD to your base VHD.   Upon booting Windows 7, you get two options: Rollback Windows and Windows 7.   Pick roll back Windows 7 and bingo: you’re back to a clean state!  This does require wiping out the contents of your C: drive however, so you will want to do this on a second box.

- Soli Deo Gloria

Filed in Operating System,Tech Tips | No replies

Help Desk Ticket Nonsense

Published on March 13, 2013

I got a chuckle out of this:

http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/Im-Sensing-Some-Tension.aspx

- Soli Deo Gloria

Filed in Joke | No replies

Copying Large Files Between Sites

Published on March 1, 2013

I got a call recently from a tech at a remote site that said that our Windows 7 x64 image was bombing out at 16%.  We did the usual “image another PC” and “bounce the server”, but the results were the same.  I compared the file sizes and they were the same and the WIM file opened just fine with 7Zip.  However, when I ran Hasher against my WIM file at corporate and the other sites, each one had a different SHA-1/CRC/MD5 value.  Oops!  I re-copied the file overnight and then verified with Hasher again and we had a match.   I did some research on how I can verify and repair large files.  I found Multipar.  Parity files have long be used on USENET for repairing large files transferred over the Internet.  I just picked 1% for data redundancy and created the PAR file.  For an 8GB image, that works out to be about an 80MB file.  Using this 80MB file, I was able to verify and repair the 8GB file at the remote site.

I went through the rest of the images and some of them matched up and some of them didn’t! Using the parity files created for each image, I was able to repair them all over remote desktop at the remote sites.  I’ve been doing this overnight copy for years and it was never a problem.  Of course, my images use to be < 2GB and now they are about 8GB each!

- Soli Deo Gloria

Filed in Tech Tips | No replies

Bringing Back Safe Mode in Windows 8

Published on February 1, 2013

I was reading a few questions on Experts-Exchange.com today and someone posted that the F8 key no longer gets you into Safe Mode on Windows 8.  Sure enough, I tried it and it doesn’t work anymore!  There are tricks to restart the system in safe mode if you started in normal mode, but that will be pretty useless if the system doesn’t boot.  However, if you run the following command from an elevated prompt, it will put back the legacy Windows 7 boot loader which will allow you to boot into Safe mode:

bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy legacy

Of course, if you discover this fact too late, you might be out of luck!  Of course you can boot from a Windows 8 DVD and use the Recovery option, but taking away the F8 key to get into safe mode is just plain stupid.

So to recap, when you move from Windows 7 to Windows 8, you lose:

DVD Playback

Windows Media Center

Safe Mode

Windows XP Mode

Start Menu

This was supposed to be an upgrade, right?  Hmm.

- Soli Deo Gloria

Filed in Operating System,Tech Tips | No replies

XYplorer 11.9 for Free (Today Only)

Published on January 15, 2013

For the next 18 hours, XYplorer 11.9 is available for free from here.  This is a very sweet file manager that normally costs $30, but you can get it for free today.  The last version offered was 10.8 last year at the same web site.

- Soli Deo Gloria

Filed in Tech Tips | No replies

Adobe CS2 for Free?

Published on January 13, 2013

Reported by http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/get-adobe-cs2-suite-free-not-officially.htm, it appears you can get Adobe CS2 for free.

- Soli Deo Gloria

Filed in Misc | No replies