I had to replace a disk drive in a Dell Dimension 4700 PC. Perhaps not coincidentally, the disk drive in another Dell Dimension 4700 PC also purchased in December 2004 died the same week. The drives were 80 GB Maxtor drives with model number 6Y080M0. It seemed odd that both systems, which though purchased from Dell at the same time were at separate locations, should suffer a drive failure in less than six months of use.
Dell shipped a replacement drive that arrived the next day. I told the Dell support person I spoke to that I only needed the drive, not someone to install it.
I was able to recover the users' files in her "My Documents" folder, but there was no backup for the system, so I had to reinstall the operating system and applications. Unfortunately, Dell apparently did not provide all of the drivers needed for the system on a CD with the system. So, though the user had a CD for Windows XP Pro, Microsoft Office 2003, Sonic RecordNow, and CyberLink DVD, there was no CD with the needed Network and Video adapter drivers nor was there one for the modem driver, which would make it difficult to obtain the needed drivers if no other PC was available to use to download the drivers.
I was able to download the needed drivers with a laptop, however, and transfer them by USB key to the 4700.
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