Getting out of XP

[Petrie.]

Upon some good news, I've been gifted a new Dell laptop, even though I didn't ask for it.     Looks like it'll be pretty nice...my last Dell was refurbished and has served me well over five years with no problems.




Item Description:
 
-- XPS L701X Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
    Unit Price: $1,169.00
    Quantity: 1
-- XPS L701X
 
-- Label
 
-- 9 Cell Primary Battery
 
-- Certified Refurbished
 
-- Silver Anodized Aluminium
 
-- Processor Label
 
-- Service Software
 
-- 17.3 inch HD+ (900p) WLED Display
 
-- NVIDIA GeForce GT 445M 3GB graphics
 
-- Processor: Intel Core i7-740QM Processor (6M cache, 1.73 GHz)
 
-- Operating System DVD
 
-- Operating System DVD
 
-- Shipping Material
 
-- 8X DVD +/- RW Drive
 
-- Software
 
-- Dell Support 2.0 Software
 
-- 64BIT Operating System
 
-- AC Adapter
 
-- Intel Centrino WiMAX 6250 Advanced-N + Wiresless Network Card
 
-- Software
 
-- No Media Selected
 
-- 500 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
 
-- 125V Power Cord
 
-- No Wireless Option
 
-- Internal Backlit Keyboard - English
 
-- Documentation
 
-- Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
 
-- 500 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM) 2nd Drive
 
-- Label
 
-- 8 GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)
 
-- Software
 
-- Dell WebCam Central
 
-- Dell WebCam Central
 
-- Dell Bluetooth 3.0
 
-- Software WhitePages.Com  WebSlice
 
-- Roxio Easy 10.3
 
-- Image Restore Software
 
-- Resource DVD
 
-- Dell Support Center 64 Bit 2.0
 
-- Bracket



Whatever you do, don't whine I should've got this or that...it was a gift.  

[Kor]

Hope it works well for you for many years to come.  It looks like a good computer, though I"m no expert.  The key is if it does what you want and need.

[landbeforetimelover]

Pop the HD cover off the back.  If it's a Western Digital (which I'm sure it is), replace it IMMEDIATELY.  I've had more Dell laptops come into my shop for dead WD hard drives this past year than you could even imagine.  They honestly make up close to 20% of my business.

[Petrie.]

I've yet to peek.   I thought I read somewhere they put Seagate drives in these machines.  I'll have to see what's in here, though I probably won't do anything about it.  I've already transferred all 275gb of my stuff onto it.

[landbeforetimelover]

Well if it is a WD and you don't have your data backed up elsewhere, the typical time it takes for them to fail is 4-8 months.  They don't even last a year anymore.  Doing something simple like removing the HDD doesn't void your warranty or anything.  I just lost around 500gb of precious data thanks to a shitty WD drive.  It was in an HP external hard drive and I didn't know it.  If I had known about it beforehand, I would have just thrown it in the garbage rather than use it for the 18 months it lasted (all technology - even really crappy quality technology - lasts a lot longer in my care for some reason).  I urge you to check.  I've even had a client come in with a week old Dell laptop made in 2010 actually and the WD HDD had already gone.  If it's a WD then your data is in jeopardy right this very moment.  If you care at all about what's on there, PLEASE make sure you don't have a ticking time bomb just waiting to blow up in your face.  There's not much you can do to recover the data after the mechanics of the drive have failed.

[Petrie.]

^ The data is at least on two other external harddrives.  They're essentially clones of each other.