Why does dell say they wont support 64 bit os since mine came with 32 but its listed

Hello,

So i went onto the chat to request myself a copy of the 64 bit edition of windows vista home premium since i just want to have it in my collection. I upgraded to vista ultimate 64 bit but having home prem wouldnt be bad.

Anyway. the dell person told me this:

Now according to this thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=304637

The option for 64 bit is on the website. So if my system originally came with 32 bit and they now have 64 bit listed, wouldn't i be eligible for support on the 64 bit version of home premium?
I mean if they are offering it, then whats the difference if it came first installed or not?

Can someone enlighten me on this.

 

Dell has an official policy that you can ask for 64bit. PM Chris_M at Dell's Community Support Forums.

 

Did that a few minutes ago before making the post, but if i do go ahead and install that, i wont be supported?

Thats the way i understand it

 

I believe the main reason Dell hasn't started 'officially' supporting 64 bit Vista on the 1530 is the fingerprint scanner. I am running 64 bit Vista, and it works great - but, I did have to *buy* the s/w for the fingerprint reader. It was only like $12, so no big deal... but Dell can hardly require you to purchase add'l s/w if you want 64 bit. I wouldn't make sense.

As far as losing your s/w support from Dell... I guess you need to weigh how important that is to you. For me, I could care less. I only need Dell T/S to handle my hardware issues... I'm not all that impressed with their support anyway. If I would have to call in for a h/w support issue, I would just tell them the 32 bit version of the s/w is installed, so I wouldn't have to listen to them whine.

-Jim

 

Most companies will not support any kind of operating systems support if you change the OS from that which was original shipped with the system. Otherwise they would have to help everyone who tried to change from vista to xp to find drivers that they may not support. So I guess instead of just making choices they set it up for anyone who changes there operating system wether it be xp or vista. If you do change and you call in and tell them you have 32 bit then you are going to run into problems when they try to help you based on that instead of the fact that you are running 64 bit. Of course in most cases where you have OS problems they will most likely want you to reinstall the OS that came original with the system to rule out OS issues.

 

If the problem you are having is H/W, this really would not apply. I am speaking from first hand experience. If you have a known H/W problem (ie. your display panel is dark), and you call in to start a ticket. One of the first questions is usually what O/S are you running. Once you sidetrack the support technician because you are running a "non-supported" O/S you are done. He will no longet be able to help you get your case started to have your display fixed. He will be so stuck on the fact that you seem to be running "un-supported" software, that he will cease to be of use to you. The solution is - DON'T TELL HIM/HER. There is NO POINT.

If you are having trouble with windows itself, then it's probably a mistake to call them anyway. Like you said in your post - the place you usually end up is "re-install O/S" anyway - so why bother.

 

Well you can test some of the hardware outside of the Windows OS so you could tell the that you ran X test and the results. One example would be the HD test from the BIOS. In any case being dishonest is dishonest whether it be paying for ADP or CC when you pc has already been damaged then calling in later to get it fixed, or saying you are running X os when you are running Y os.

 

well, technically they're selling 64bit dell xps(es) in Best Buy..
so its not impossbile to support

my guess is that they have most of their staff trained in 32bit...

if u buy from best buy, u'll get support from best buy in 64 bit (/scarcasm)

 

What they are talking about is if you change your OS from what original came on the pc. If you bought it with 64bit they will support that if you bought it with 32 bit they will support that. If you change from vista32 to 64 or Vista to Xp etc. they will not support software issue or basically anything that requires you to boot into the system and test.

 

Like jwkramer61 best thing to do is lie if you have 64 bit installed instead of 32bit and you know for a fact that its a hardware issue, like your screen being faulty or something. If you do need to send in the entire computer for whatever reason, you can always reinstall windows