After the first 30 days, the hard drive is replaced without software. Only
the hardware is warranted. The software is the responsibility of the
customer. That has been the policy as long as I can remember.

"Marcio Watanabe" wrote in message
...
I'm an IT consultant, and one of my clients just had a problem with a
hard drive. Since the Optiplex was still under warranty, Dell was
called to replace the drive. Someone came and replaced the drive, but
the computer was left only with a DOS prompt--no software installed.
Is this standard operating procedure for warranty services? Shouldn't
they at least leave a working computer (with Windows XP and Office XP)
as it came from Dell?

--
Marcio Watanabe