Ubuntu install voids Dell warantee

[LancerNZ]

When I took my Dell 620 laptop in to get serviced a while back, I thought the computer store owner was being a bit paranoid when he suggested that I should allow him to install Windows before the Dell representative showed up. Originally he'd given me the computer as a special deal, as it had been abandoned by another customer and if I paid for the replacement motherboard, it was all mine, and it was at that time I gave him my Ubuntu disk, so he knew I had Linux and was quite happy with it... actually, I let him install Ubuntu for me while I was driving around and he was amazed at how smoothly it went! Long story short, he temporarily installed Windows on a spare harddrive prior to my computer being serviced, which was due to a hardware fault.

Anyway, today I have another problem; one of the so-called strong steel screen hinges has broken. I called Dell about warantee issues and they said as it was physical damage, my warantee would not cover the damage. Fair enough. So I used the time to asked them whether my warantee would be void if I happened to install Linux on the machine. To my surprise the operator replied "Yes. Installing Linux on your laptop voids the warantee."

Googling confirms a load of conspiracy of Dell warantees versus Linux installs.

What gives? I thought Linux was beyond the dark ages? Pity because the Dell D620 generally runs Linux very well.

[ugm6hr]

Commmon practice by most OEMs. They only support the pre-installed OS; presumably even upgrading to a new MS OS may cause issues.

You will find that if an OEM does not void your warranty, they will often still wipe your HD with a fresh OS image to ensure the problem does not relate to software.

Simple solution: unless the problem relates to the HD, just remove it before sending it to the OEM, citing data privacy concerns.

[mikewhatever]

Commmon practice by most OEMs. They only support the pre-installed OS; presumably even upgrading to a new MS OS may cause issues.

You will find that if an OEM does not void your warranty, they will often still wipe your HD with a fresh OS image to ensure the problem does not relate to software.

Simple solution: unless the problem relates to the HD, just remove it before sending it to the OEM, citing data privacy concerns.

Easier said then done. Some notebooks provide no simple access to the hard drive, Dell mini 10 being one such example.

I've recently seen a similar report on a local newspaper site. Apparently, Dell refused to service a notebook under warranty, with XP and Linux, because it didn't have Vista installed.

It seem that suing the company is the only solution in such a case.

[doas777]

that sucks. I had a mobo blow out on me, in my HP laptop (was a refurb, so bought extended plan from microcenter) and they shipped it to HP last time. came back with my OS exactly how I left it. no complaints, but it wouldn't post before they did the work, so that may have been part of the reason.

[Soley]

My wife & I were just discussing this issue the other day. She was having an issue with Vista blue screening at boot every single time. I threw her my live disc & told her to use that & I would look at Vista later.

Long story short, she wanted to install Ubuntu but I could tell she was hesitant. I told her we'd just do a wipe & restore of Vista to see if that worked. (It didn't) I also told her about Dell being weird if the original OS isn't on there.


If anyone cares how I fixed it, I took out a gig of ram, powered it up. Worked fine. Put the ram back in, worked fine. Hasn't had a hiccup since. I still don't understand how that was a fix.

[MartynT]

If anyone cares how I fixed it, I took out a gig of ram, powered it up. Worked fine. Put the ram back in, worked fine. Hasn't had a hiccup since. I still don't understand how that was a fix.

Re-seating hardware can often fix hardware problems. This is true for all hardware, cards, chips, cables, etc. If your memory stick has an internal intermittent fault then the problem may come back. Ubuntu live CDs have a MemCheck utility. Run that and it will put your memory through its paces. If there are any problems with your memory stick(s) Memcheck will find them.