y***r
发帖数: 16594 | 1 TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
On Saturday February 2nd I placed an order for a dell XPS 8500 computer
through amazon.com. After spending
some time reading reviews on various web sites I was confident that this was
a good choice for a desktop computer.
When the computer arrived on Tuesday February the 5th I was excited as I was
between jobs and had time to set
up my new system. Equipped with two brand new monitors from Costco, one a 32
inch TV and one a 24 inch
monitor I had the makings of the ideal computer system. When I started the
new windows 8 system up I found it to
be quite different from my current windows xp system on my lap top and my
previous windows xp desktop system
which has been limping along for some time. After some time I started to
think that there were some real deficits
with this new system. Since some of my most valued programs are open source
I began to search for them on the
internet. I soon realized that the three programs which I rely on most are
not compatible with windows 8. One
of the programs which I used had a new and improved version which though it
is not open source it is extremely
useful to me so I purchased and downloaded this new program. This new
program (PDF Xchange viewer) was a
necessary program for me to highlight and edit PDF documents. The other
programs which I used and needed very
much were VLC, latex and lyx combination, and Jdownloader. Another piece of
software I needed to edit PDF’s
was pdfill PDF writer which I see is now available along with VLC media
player. As I used this computer with
my new 32 monitor inch monitor I realized that not only did the media player
provided with the new computer
crash and freeze the computer but it could only handle a very limited number
of file types. I definitely needed VLC
which at that time according to the website was in development for windows 8
. The latex lyx combination which I
couldn’t do without were definitely not available for windows 8, nor was
jdownloader.
I had a serious problem that called for a solution; I had setup a dual boot
many years back with windows 98 and
windows 2000 which worked well for me. Now after considering the problem I
considered two possible solutions,
the first for simplicity sake was to roll this computer back to windows 7.
When I purchased my desktop which I am
now replacing with this computer I found that windows vista was not going to
work and rolled it back to windows
xp. After inquiring with dell I was told that the way this windows 8
computer was configured that it was impossible
to roll it back to windows 7. The only other choice was to dual boot this
windows 8 computer with Linux. After
reading on the internet and watching youtube videos on dual booting I
decided I wouldn’t install Linux on the
hard drive provided with this computer. I decided to install Linux on a
separate 1.5 TB hard drive which I had
from my other computer. Mean while I was installing programs on this windows
8 system and finding that even
legitimate programs were downloading crapware on the computer, some of which
was difficult to remove. I installed
spybot to help me remove the spyware from the computer and found that it was
already loaded with spyware. On
1
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN 2
my windows 8 system I rarely have much difficulty with this. Now the new
situation on this computer was that
it started crashing repeatedly. When I contacted dell about this situation a
number of different times they sent
me two windows recovery discs. After I received those discs I called dell
and they walked me through the recovery
process. Now I knew that this windows 8 system had become unstable and dell
offered me no explanation as to why
this was occurring, so I carefully documented the recovery process as the
dell tech had shown me and verified that
it worked. After calling dell to ask some more questions about the recovery
process and trying it out, I now had
the whole process documented and tested out and knew that I could perform
this process when ever I needed to.
When I asked some other questions I found that the techs either couldn’t
answer or wouldn’t answer my questions,
like why during the recovery process was it necessary to delete the
partition with all files on it thus destroying all
my saved files on that hard drive. The reason for having two partitions was
to protect my files in case windows had
to be reinstalled; now the dell tech didn’t offer a solution for me to save
my files and couldn’t answer the question
as to why I would have to delete all my files along with the partition to
restore windows 8. He only said that with
the new system this was the only way to restore windows. I discovered on my
own that if I made a bootable USB
flash drive with Linux mint that I could recover those files to a USB hard
drive which was time consuming and
definatly a step backward for Microsoft and Dell.
When I installed Norton antivirus on this windows 8 system it froze firefox
and some other programs and windows
8 itself was not functional. I tried to uninstall firefox so that I could
reinstall it to restore its functionality. When
I attempted to uninstall it in the remove programs feature in the control
panel it was frozen. So I followed the
recovery process to restore windows 8. This new operating system simply
crashes repeatedly and the dell techs can’t
offer a solution to the problem other than performing the recovery process
over and over again. On 2/16/13 just
after midnight I couldn’t sleep and starting thinking about why windows 8
continually crashed and when I installed
Linux mint on a separate hard drive the screen on the computer would
continually go black and reboot having
dropped all the programs that were running. When I would shut down Linux
mint a log would show indicating
that every time the screen went black Linux was registering that occurrence
as a failed boot attempt. I decided to
research the Linux systems on the internet to determine if there were any
serious problems coming up with Linux
mint or opensuse since I had created boot discs from both of those Linux
systems. What I found surprised me; I
found that these new distributions of Linux were very stable. This article
named Linux mint as being the top and
most stable distribution available, the very same distribution that was
having multiple failed boots on my computer.
Now I came to realize that my computer couldn’t be having a software issue
at least where Linux was involved
so I set up an experiment to prove my suspicion. I had previously made both
a boot drive from a USB flash
drive and a DVD disc. First I booted my new desktop computer up to the
separate hard drive with Linux mint
installed on it. Now it is important to realize that I have made the
decision to install Linux mint on a separate hard
drive so that I can run only hard drive at a time thereby ruling out any
possibility of the two operating systems
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN 3
interfering with each other. So when I booted Linux mint to its hard drive
it had many failed boot attempts as I
had experienced before. Next I booted Linux mint from the DVD-ROM disc and
again experienced the repeated
failed boot attempts; next I booted the same Linux mint from a USB flash
drive and experienced the same repeated
failed boot attempts. Next I devised a simple test to determine if this
problem was a software issue or a hardware
issue since when I boot from a DVD the files are loaded into the ram and run
from the DVD drive instead of the
hard drive if this is a software issue it should act the same if I boot this
Linux DVD from my laptop, and even
though xp is installed on my laptop and windows 8 is installed on the other
the windows 8 drive was disconnected.
The main point of the experiment is that by booting from the DVD any files
on the computer hard drive are not
being accessed, and the operating system is running from the DVD and the ram
. What I found was that Linux
mint ran flawlessly when booted with the DVD drive on my laptop. There were
no failed boot attempts at all; next
I performed one more test. There was a small possibility that the 32 inch TV
screen was creating an impedance
issue. This was very unlikely as both the 32 inch TV and the 24 inch monitor
were brand new. When I switched
back and forth between the two the failed boot attempts continued regardless
of which monitor was connected.
Armed with this new information I called dell back again and explained to
them why I now was certain that this
was a hardware problem rather than a software problem. The dell tech ignored
me and ran a recovery program on
the computer and pronounced that the problem was solved. I asked him if he
could offer an explanation why the
computer went through repeated boot attempts with Linux while the screen
continually blacked out. I made clear
that I knew for a fact that this was a hardware issue and why I new it was.
Next he performed many diagnostic
procedures on the computer which took a considerable amount of time and then
pronounced that the computer
had no hardware problems. My next response was to laugh and tell him that I
have rebuilt engines and worked on
cars for years and remember watching a mechanic using an Oscilloscope to
diagnose a mechanical issue on a car.
I said that we both knew that these tests were only preliminary at best and
could not explain why the repeated
failed boot attempts were occurring. Next he said that he would talk to his
supervisor, after some time he returned
and said that his supervisor had informed him that it would be impossible
fore me to boot this computer into
any other operating system as Microsoft had locked out the possibility from
running any other operating system
including windows 7 on this windows 8 system. Next he said that dell had a
21 day return policy and if I would call
a number which he provided that I would get a full refund. Next his
supervisor wanted to talk to me; he repeated
that I would get a full refund since I had had the computer less than 21
days. He also explained how Microsoft
had designed this secure boot system to exclude any other operating system
from operating on this computer. On
Monday I called the number provided to me and was told that they would send
out some tags for me to send the
computer back and get a full refund. I responded with anger and said that
they were just stalling to push me past
the 21 days, after I said that his response was that a ups truck would come
out before noon the next day (Tuesday
2/19/13) and pick up the computer.
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN 4
Now on Tuesday morning I am thinking that I will finally have this headache
resolved and be able to pick up
the pieces and start over with my computer solutions. When I get on the
laptop and with a little searching I find a
site with all kinds of horror stories from dell customers, then I notice
that it is past noon already. When I call dell
they tell me that I am already past the 21 days and that they never said
that they would refund my money or pick
up the computer. When I called the person from dell on Monday (2/18/13) and
arranged for them to pickup the
computer I told the person that I was hung up on repeatedly by the dell
people and no longer trusted them. I said
that as soon as I got off the phone with him I was going to call the credit
card company and put this in dispute
(clame the fair credit act), I said that after that I would notify amazon.
com.When I called Amazon I said that I
shouldn’t have too involve them since dell was going to pick up the
computer the next day.
Now I am writing this letter with the purpose of informing my Credit Card
Company and Amazon and Dell of
my intentions and my situation. At the present time I have a $1000.00 dollar
computer sitting on the floor in my
living room all boxed up and waiting for Dell to come pick it up as they
said they would. The next day after the
Dell tech worked for a long time restoring the operating and testing the
system for electro-mechanical issues, when
I attempted to start the computer it went into recovery mode again and I
couldn’t run windows. This supervisor
who tipped me of about the situation with Microsoft locking me out of my
computer failed to mention that Dell
also has a hand in this situation. “Windows President Steven Sinofsky got a
little closer to directly addressing
the issue, noting "How secure boot works with any other operating systems is
obviously a question for those OS
products. In the September 22, Microsoft officials noted that:
• UEFI allows firmware to implement a security policy
• Secure boot is a UEFI protocol not a Windows 8 feature
• UEFI secure boot is part of Windows 8 secured boot architecture
• Windows 8 utilizes secure boot to ensure that the pre-OS environment
is secure
• Secure boot doesn’t “lock out” operating system loaders, but is
is a policy that allows firmware to validate
authenticity of components
• OEMs have the ability to customize their firmware to meet the needs
of their customers by customizing the
level of certificate and policy management on their platform
• Microsoft does not mandate or control the settings on PC firmware
that control or enable secured boot from
any operating system other than Windows
"Microsoft supports OEMs having the flexibility to decide who manages
security certificates and how to allow
customers to import and manage those certificates, and manage secure boot.
We believe it is important to support
this flexibility to the OEMs and to allow our customers to decide how they
want to manage their systems," according
to the post. In other words, with Windows 8 certified systems secure boot
support has to be there, but OEMs can
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN 5
decide whether or not they want to allow customers to be able to turn it off
and how they handle the signature
process for supported operating system versions. Check this out at”
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/microsoft-dont-blame-us-if-
boot/10781
"Microsoft’s rebuttal is entirely factually accurate. But it’s also
misleading. The truth is that Microsoft’s move
removes control from the end user and places it in the hands of Microsoft
and the hardware vendors. The truth
is that it makes it more difficult to run anything other than Windows. The
truth is that UEFI secure boot is a
valuable and worthwhile feature that Microsoft are misusing to gain tighter
control over the market. And the truth
is that Microsoft haven’t even attempted to argue otherwise."
So that someone doesn’t think that this situation is somehow inaccurate I
can provide other quotes. At this
address we see that the Linux found has prepared a document stating how this
secure boot system can be used in
a way that will be fair to all parties. It appears that they are setting the
stage for a potential law suit. See this url
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/linux-foundation-proposes
Next at http://www.zdnet.com/linux-users-threaten-microsoft-with-accc-1339323063/ we read plans to enable
a secure boot on Windows 8 machines have drawn the ire of Linux Australia’s
membership, and have the Linux
Australia Council itself considering a campaign against Microsoft. “
Microsoft revealed plans recently that would require
all alternative operating systems to carry Microsoft security keys to be
compatible with the Unified Extensible
Firmware Interface (UEFI) and its secure-booting procedures”.
Next at http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/will-windows-8-block-users-from-dual-booting-linux-microsoft-wontsay/
10772
We reed “Will windows 8 block users from dual-booting Linux? Microsoft won
’t say" “Microsoft requires that
machines conforming to the Windows 8 logo program and running a client
version of Windows 8 ship with secure
boot enabled. The two alternatives here are for Windows to be signed with a
Microsoft key and for the public part
of that key to be included with all systems, or alternatively for each OEM
to include their own key and sign the
pre-installed versions of Windows. The second approach would make it
impossible to run boxed copies of Windows
on Windows logo hardware, and also impossible to install new versions of
Windows unless your OEM provided a
new signed copy. The former seems more likely”. "A system that ships with
only OEM and Microsoft keys will not
boot a generic copy of Linux."
These are a few examples of the articles I found on the internet other links
include.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARM_architecture http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/free-software-foundationurges-
oems-to-say-no-to-mandatory-windows-8-uefi-cage/9770
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/linus-torvalds-on-windows
http://www.softwarefreedom.org/blog/2012/jan/12/microsoft-confi
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN 6
http://hothardware.com/News/Microsoft-Locks-Out-Linux-On-ARM-Sy
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/microsoft-to-lock-out-oth
devices/10132 http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/microsoft-tries-to-block-linux-off-windows-8-pcs/9572
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2011/09/22/protecting-the-pr
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/why-is-microsoft-locking-out
17736
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/will-windows-8-block-users-
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/yes-uefi-secure-boot-could-l
There is one thing I know for sure and that is that on my living room floor
there sits a box with a thousand
dollar computer that will not function properly and at this point in time no
one is taking any responsibility in the
mater. If I had purchased this computer from Costco the computer would have
been returned and the problem
solved.
Just the other day I went to fry’s electronics and purchased all the parts
to build a new computer which will be
way superior to this Dell computer. What I found was that I was able to
purchase all the parts for equal prices
to amazon.com. The situation has been reversed I do my shopping on Amazon
read the reviews and then make
the purchase at a brick and mortar store for equal price (no shipping) I
support my state (California) and I get a
computer superior to anything Dell would provide. Also the technicians at
frys are more competent that those at
Dell.
With my new found experience of how Dell treats their customers, I was hung
up on constantly. Many times they
were less than truthful with me “that is an understatement”. One
supervisor attempted some degree of honesty
with me. Now after spending much time doing research on how to resolve I was
informed by two techs one from a
company in Washington state that builds custom computers and one from frys
that the only way to solve the issue
with this computer is to through the motherboard in the trash buy a new one
and install an operating system other
than windows 8. I guess that Dell can legally record my phone conversations
with them but I can’t record those
same conversations. I am quite confident that it is not Illegal for me to
post this letter on the internet for others
to read and that is what I intend on doing. |
p******1
发帖数: 1956 | |
z**********3
发帖数: 11979 | |
m*r
发帖数: 37612 | 4 this is who's doctoral thesis?
was
was
32
【在 y***r 的大作中提到】
: TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
: On Saturday February 2nd I placed an order for a dell XPS 8500 computer
: through amazon.com. After spending
: some time reading reviews on various web sites I was confident that this was
: a good choice for a desktop computer.
: When the computer arrived on Tuesday February the 5th I was excited as I was
: between jobs and had time to set
: up my new system. Equipped with two brand new monitors from Costco, one a 32
: inch TV and one a 24 inch
: monitor I had the makings of the ideal computer system. When I started the
|
c****1
发帖数: 534 | 5 hahaha!
was
was
32
【在 y***r 的大作中提到】
: TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
: On Saturday February 2nd I placed an order for a dell XPS 8500 computer
: through amazon.com. After spending
: some time reading reviews on various web sites I was confident that this was
: a good choice for a desktop computer.
: When the computer arrived on Tuesday February the 5th I was excited as I was
: between jobs and had time to set
: up my new system. Equipped with two brand new monitors from Costco, one a 32
: inch TV and one a 24 inch
: monitor I had the makings of the ideal computer system. When I started the
|
g********d
发帖数: 19244 | 6 谁翻译一下
was
was
32
【在 y***r 的大作中提到】
: TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
: On Saturday February 2nd I placed an order for a dell XPS 8500 computer
: through amazon.com. After spending
: some time reading reviews on various web sites I was confident that this was
: a good choice for a desktop computer.
: When the computer arrived on Tuesday February the 5th I was excited as I was
: between jobs and had time to set
: up my new system. Equipped with two brand new monitors from Costco, one a 32
: inch TV and one a 24 inch
: monitor I had the makings of the ideal computer system. When I started the
|
HQ
发帖数: 19201 | 7 看了不到一半看不下去了
太能写了
其实他写的确实是很多人可能有的经历
这个windows从XP开始到vista还凑合，到7已经有很严重的兼容问题了
我觉得微软是故意的
was
was
32
【在 y***r 的大作中提到】
: TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
: On Saturday February 2nd I placed an order for a dell XPS 8500 computer
: through amazon.com. After spending
: some time reading reviews on various web sites I was confident that this was
: a good choice for a desktop computer.
: When the computer arrived on Tuesday February the 5th I was excited as I was
: between jobs and had time to set
: up my new system. Equipped with two brand new monitors from Costco, one a 32
: inch TV and one a 24 inch
: monitor I had the makings of the ideal computer system. When I started the
|
a9
发帖数: 21638 | 8 windows 7还是不错的。
a
the
【在 HQ 的大作中提到】
: 看了不到一半看不下去了
: 太能写了
: 其实他写的确实是很多人可能有的经历
: 这个windows从XP开始到vista还凑合，到7已经有很严重的兼容问题了
: 我觉得微软是故意的
:
: was
: was
: 32
|
s*****h
发帖数: 6852 | |
M*********8
发帖数: 15312 | 10 LOL
耐心读到他装好电脑，发现才读了5%。。。
was
was
32
【在 y***r 的大作中提到】
: TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
: On Saturday February 2nd I placed an order for a dell XPS 8500 computer
: through amazon.com. After spending
: some time reading reviews on various web sites I was confident that this was
: a good choice for a desktop computer.
: When the computer arrived on Tuesday February the 5th I was excited as I was
: between jobs and had time to set
: up my new system. Equipped with two brand new monitors from Costco, one a 32
: inch TV and one a 24 inch
: monitor I had the makings of the ideal computer system. When I started the
|
|
|
u***n
发帖数: 21026 | 11
【在 z**********3 的大作中提到】
: 三藏,你又顽皮了
|
d*********r
发帖数: 11979 | 12 good, copy down. next time fraud CD, i will use this as a reason for return. |
y***r
发帖数: 16594 | 13 我的感觉就是，好好一个电脑，被他东搞西搞，最后搞的乱七八糟。现在找DELL，DELL
都不一定给修了。妈的。 |
G*D
发帖数: 2887 | 14 一切照规矩来，新品开包了就是收，没有例外，这Windows8又不是我做的，怪我何用？
有问题自己去骂MS。 |
y********9
发帖数: 1417 | |
i*****8
发帖数: 3942 | |
r*****g
发帖数: 7139 | 17 建议病人再买你一台运行win7的desktop,这样通吃。第二胎可以给予1%的discount.
was
was
32
【在 y***r 的大作中提到】
: TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
: On Saturday February 2nd I placed an order for a dell XPS 8500 computer
: through amazon.com. After spending
: some time reading reviews on various web sites I was confident that this was
: a good choice for a desktop computer.
: When the computer arrived on Tuesday February the 5th I was excited as I was
: between jobs and had time to set
: up my new system. Equipped with two brand new monitors from Costco, one a 32
: inch TV and one a 24 inch
: monitor I had the makings of the ideal computer system. When I started the
|
r*c
发帖数: 254 | |
G*D
发帖数: 2887 | |
a***y
发帖数: 400 | 20 I really want to see this guy's Resume for his BSO of his problem solving
skills. This case here showed why Indian and Chinese IT professionals are
still highly in demand in the U.S. market. |
|
|
a*********0
发帖数: 4998 | 21 lol
well said
i like you
【在 a***y 的大作中提到】
: I really want to see this guy's Resume for his BSO of his problem solving
: skills. This case here showed why Indian and Chinese IT professionals are
: still highly in demand in the U.S. market.
|
S****i
发帖数: 1785 | |
r********i
发帖数: 5358 | 23 擦，看了两行，然后花了10秒 scroll down，直接跪了！ |
