H
Homer Lone
Guest
First of all, sorry if this question is in the wrong place; I couldn't find what seemed like a suitable category, so please move it if necessary.
I purchased a 'scratch and dent' (i.e. refurbished) Windows 10 laptop (64-bit) from Dell UK last October. I had assumed, on the basis of the following page, that it would come with Office Starter (my Windows 7 laptop, purchased in 2014, again from Dell UK, was supplied with it):
Getting started with Office Starter
"Microsoft Office Starter 2010 is a simplified, ad-funded version of Microsoft Office 2010 that comes pre-loaded and ready to use on your computer."
I recently queried this with Dell (a bit late, I know), who denied that the laptop should have come with Office Starter. This was during a live chat with a Tech Support guy who had been remotely fixing issues on the laptop, so perhaps this was an area in which he was unfamiliar, although in that case he should have just admitted it and referred me to a department that could tell me. Instead he kept mentioning Office 365. I'm not sure I was successful in explaining the difference between Office Starter (reduced functionality Word & Excel only, ad-funded and free) and Office 365 (fully fledged Office suite, has to be paid for after initial 30-day trial) even though I sent him the above link. Eventually, he told me that Office Starter is being replaced with Office 365, a response I could not make sense of (for one thing, why is the Office Starter page still up, and with nothing about it being phased out?). I gave up at this point.
So, can someone tell me definitively whether or not my laptop should have Starter pre-installed, so I can (or cannot) contact Dell again to insist on them installing it? I submitted the question to Microsoft Support on Tuesday, but have not received a reply, just an acknowledgement of my query. (Maybe I am not allowing long enough for them to respond, especially in the current situation, but then again Microsoft can hardly be short of resources, and I'd imagine that they would still be dealing with consumer enquiries whether from an office or working from home.)
Going into my experiences of Dell customer 'support' would be somewhat off-topic, but I'll just say that I should have heard warning bells when I contacted them before purchasing the laptop to check that it would come pre-installed with Office Starter:
Agent: "I understand your requirement but our outlet laptops doesn't come with MS office, it comes with Windows 10"
[Me]: "I think you misunderstand - MS Office is a productivity suite, not an Operating System!"
I went ahead with the purchase anyway as I wrongly believed - after checking, but not checking properly - that I would be able to download Starter for free. However, I now know that only a version for 32-bit machines can be downloaded. Apparently it's possible to install updates to Starter for 64-bit machines, but not the main program itself. Is it possible to trick my laptop into thinking it's 32-bit for the purposes of downloading and using Starter (32-bit), but 'knowing' that it is 64-bit for everything else? There's a question that betrays my lack of technical know-how...
I realize that I may be on a hiding to nowhere since my laptop is a refurbished product, not new. Obviously Microsoft have no control over somebody removing Office Starter (as pre-installed when new) before re-selling the computer. But for all I know, maybe they impose a condition on businesses selling Windows computers that they ensure Starter is supplied with them, and Dell have ignored that condition on this occasion. I'd welcome some clarity on this.
Sorry for the long post, and thanks in advance for any help or advice. Keep well and stay safe.
Continue reading...
I purchased a 'scratch and dent' (i.e. refurbished) Windows 10 laptop (64-bit) from Dell UK last October. I had assumed, on the basis of the following page, that it would come with Office Starter (my Windows 7 laptop, purchased in 2014, again from Dell UK, was supplied with it):
Getting started with Office Starter
"Microsoft Office Starter 2010 is a simplified, ad-funded version of Microsoft Office 2010 that comes pre-loaded and ready to use on your computer."
I recently queried this with Dell (a bit late, I know), who denied that the laptop should have come with Office Starter. This was during a live chat with a Tech Support guy who had been remotely fixing issues on the laptop, so perhaps this was an area in which he was unfamiliar, although in that case he should have just admitted it and referred me to a department that could tell me. Instead he kept mentioning Office 365. I'm not sure I was successful in explaining the difference between Office Starter (reduced functionality Word & Excel only, ad-funded and free) and Office 365 (fully fledged Office suite, has to be paid for after initial 30-day trial) even though I sent him the above link. Eventually, he told me that Office Starter is being replaced with Office 365, a response I could not make sense of (for one thing, why is the Office Starter page still up, and with nothing about it being phased out?). I gave up at this point.
So, can someone tell me definitively whether or not my laptop should have Starter pre-installed, so I can (or cannot) contact Dell again to insist on them installing it? I submitted the question to Microsoft Support on Tuesday, but have not received a reply, just an acknowledgement of my query. (Maybe I am not allowing long enough for them to respond, especially in the current situation, but then again Microsoft can hardly be short of resources, and I'd imagine that they would still be dealing with consumer enquiries whether from an office or working from home.)
Going into my experiences of Dell customer 'support' would be somewhat off-topic, but I'll just say that I should have heard warning bells when I contacted them before purchasing the laptop to check that it would come pre-installed with Office Starter:
Agent: "I understand your requirement but our outlet laptops doesn't come with MS office, it comes with Windows 10"
[Me]: "I think you misunderstand - MS Office is a productivity suite, not an Operating System!"
I went ahead with the purchase anyway as I wrongly believed - after checking, but not checking properly - that I would be able to download Starter for free. However, I now know that only a version for 32-bit machines can be downloaded. Apparently it's possible to install updates to Starter for 64-bit machines, but not the main program itself. Is it possible to trick my laptop into thinking it's 32-bit for the purposes of downloading and using Starter (32-bit), but 'knowing' that it is 64-bit for everything else? There's a question that betrays my lack of technical know-how...
I realize that I may be on a hiding to nowhere since my laptop is a refurbished product, not new. Obviously Microsoft have no control over somebody removing Office Starter (as pre-installed when new) before re-selling the computer. But for all I know, maybe they impose a condition on businesses selling Windows computers that they ensure Starter is supplied with them, and Dell have ignored that condition on this occasion. I'd welcome some clarity on this.
Sorry for the long post, and thanks in advance for any help or advice. Keep well and stay safe.
Continue reading...