Dell complaints

[ChevelleNY]

Yesterday I booted up my computer and got the following message:

C0000218, Can not load the hive
system root/system32/config/software.

So I called Dell...and the technician made me do a bunch of things that didn't work...in fact, I think he made it worse when he told me to delete a file because then, in addition to the above error message i was getting "windows cannot, start because the following file is missing: windows\system32\config\system" when i tried to boot into windows.

When I told him that I was now getting this error message, he then told me that it didn't matter because my hard drive was broken. He said he knew this because when he had me run a windows diagnostic test, it failed during a memory test and said "error 00142" and the computer kept beeping loudly. He had me run the test again and I instead got "error 00146" and loud beeping.

He then told me I had to get the new hard drive dispatched immediately because I had 3 days left on my warranty to get a new, formatted hard drive (even though I paid for a warranty until 2009...)...and if I waited I would only get an unformatted drive. That is not such a big deal to me, but since I believed my hard drive was actually broken, I just asked him to send me the new one. I was also incredibly upset when he told me this, as I thought I was losing everything on my computer and was not totally sure that I had backed up everything.

My boyfriend then completely fixed my computer by repairing the registry through the recovery console, booting up into start mode and replacing some files, and restoring the system to a past date. The computer now appears to be working normally.

So, I am going to get this new hard drive in the mail and as of right now it seems like I don't need it. I would just send it back, but I want to know if an error code like the one I got during the diagnostic test actually means my hard drive is breaking? Should I replace the hard drive or just call Dell and tell them they are idiots?

I really liked this computer and I use it for school everyday (and I take all exams on the computer) and now I just feel like it's unreliable and I'm not sure what to do. I also feel it was a waste of money to pay for an extended warranty.

Like I said, it seems to be working now, but loud beeping during a diagnostic test doesn't exactly sound too great.

[diashto]

It's entirely possible that your drive is damaged. I'd suggest backing up your data as best you can now that you have it working, and replacing the drive.


Oh, and your warrantee would have sent you out a drive, regardless, until 2009 - you only get so long for them to send you out a pre-imaged or pre-loaded drive. That's probably what the tech was referring to. Reasoning behind this is they have a product turnover rate of about every 5-6 months coming out with something new, and they can only feasibly keep the individual software loads for so long.

[Camarorock]

To tell you the truth, In my expirience, it is not the hard drive. Did you load any new hardware before this error?? Anyway, now that you have it up in running, do a hard drive diagnostic. Unless you have re-imaged it it is available.

Please check out this Microsoft link:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822705?sd=dell

Good luck with this, and please post if you have any more questions.

[ChevelleNY]

The only thing I did before the error was that I installed Picasa from Google to upload pictures...no new hardware or anything like that.

The computer is still working, but I will probably run a hard drive diagnostic...but I made sure I backed everything up on my computer...so I am just happy that I was able to get to that point.

[FallenAngel]

The registry tweak that your boyfriend used is enough (sometimes) to get the system back up and bootable. However, when your system beeps at you, this is never a software issue. Software doesn't beep.

Having failed the memory test, of which there is physical RAM and non-physical Virtual Memory, it's likely the fail happened in VM. This indicates that the HDD is likely on its last legs. Best to backup and replace the drive with the one that is on the way, just to be safe.

Mark my words, if you send the drive back unused and unaccepted, it'll just be a matter of time before your drive fails again. Not saying that your new drive will be any better or will never fail, but just saying that it's clear the one you have currently is ailing and needs to be replaced.

If it was the RAM that generated the failure and beep codes, then that's a whole different story.