Re: Dell's "Open" Software

["Jack Coats-4" <user=26@nabble.blu.org>]

 Go look up Mondo, install it on your Ubuntu system, make your own   
restore CD/DVD. 

Commercially, not supporting a full hard-drive restore to original   
condition from the factory seems odd.  IMHO, Dell seems to want to use   
the M$ support model in addition to some OpenSource model.  But their   
consistency in approach seems to be lacking (when observed from the   
outside). 

Mondo configured properly can fully restore a drive, partitions and   
all.  but the word 'properly' is the operative one here. 

If you want to test it, buy another drive to go inside your machine,   
similar or larger than your current drive.  Make the backup.  Swap the   
drives.  Restore to the 'test drive'.  Then you still have your old   
drive as a backup in case it does not work. 

Also, get an external enclosure, and put the 'test drive' in it once   
you are done.  External hard drives are great for 'archival' data and   
getting out of your normal 'work space'. 

... Jack 

Quoting Richard Royston <[hidden email]>: 

> I just bought a Dell Inspiron 530 with Ubuntu already loaded on it. In the 
> couse of exploring various (perfectly reasonable) problems, with good 
> technical support from Dell, I learnt that the hard drive restore CD that 
> Dell supplies only restores some of the partitions on the hard drive. There 
> are two partitions, (sda1 and sda2 I believe) that contain diagnostic 
> software, and sda3, which conains the boot directory, that are not restored, 
> so if you destroy them by reformating the drive and loading another 
> operating system you cannot restore them, and Dell, as a matter of company 
> policy, will not support their restoration. They also will not support the 
> restoration of the boot sector. 
> 
> The boot configuring system they use is grub, and the technical support 
> person said that it is possible for an experienced user to restore the boot 
> sector himself, but they will not support him. 
> 
> As a practical matter the diagnostic software is also available on the 
> restore CD, but they do not support its reinstallation on the hard drive. 
> 
> For obvious practical reasons I have not verified this for myself, so some 
> of the details may not be correct, but I believe the essentials are correct. 
> 
> This seems to be an even harsher attitude towards users than Microsoft's! 
> 
> Doesa nyone have anything useful or constructive to add? 
> 
> 
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