Annoyed In Hampshire

[ubuysa]

Again I'd like to make something clear. I had absolutely no issue with doing a fresh install of Windows. It was my choice to buy a system without an authenticated version of Windows installed. I own a retail copy of home. So there was absolutely no need for me to buy what amounts to an OEM license from PCS.

And that's very wise, we advise potential buyers who are scrapping a PC with a Windows license, to transfer it to a digital license and buy with no-OS, saving the cost of another copy of Windows..

My annoyance was always about the bad information I was given directly from a member of PCS staff. Information from a second member of staff who admitted that a mistake had been made in the setting up of my machine. Then the promise of a phone call from a member of staff that hasn't happened yet.

It does seem that you were given bad information, possibly the representative you spoke to didn't appreciate that you'd bought without an OS, though I agree they should have known and advised you accordingly.

Despite all that I do think you're creating a storm in a teacup here. You bought a system without an OS. That means the very first thing you should have done is install your own copy. The fact that there was a Windows system on there should have been irrelevant because you didn't buy one. That it was Windows 10 Pro is also irrelevant because you didn't buy an OS with it.

I'm afraid you made the mistake of assuming that you could use whatever operating system happened to be on the drives when you got it, despite having bought with no OS. Everything that followed is down to that mistake.

 

[royalmark]

Either you are choosing to misunderstand me or you choosing to ignore everything I have been saying. I have stated several times.

The representative I spoke to was informed I'd bought a system without an OS. I asked specifically if the system could arrive clean. I asked specifically what would be on the system when it arrived. I was TOLD there would be no need to do a fresh install.

If you know anything about mass produced systems. You would know you don't have a person sat Infront of each system twiddling his thumbs while windows does its thing. They use Microsoft exchange install servers. Irrespective of what the individual system is. As this gives the cleanest install and allows whatever bloatware individual companies want to use.

You say it's my mistake because I assumed I could use whatever I found on my system when it arrived, despite me stating several times I asked specifically what was on there. Me stating categorically the only reason I used what was on there. Was because PCS told me too. Now before you ask me, if they told me too, would I stick my head in an oven. No I wouldn't. But if they told me software is safe to use I think it's fair to say I'd take them at their word.

I think you are making far more assumptions then I ever did.

 

[Deleted member 17413]

So when you told them you had a Win 10 Home licence but its turned up with Win 10 Pro, they told you it was on there by mistake but it was fine, you can use it and activate with your key?

 

[ubuysa]

Either you are choosing to misunderstand me or you choosing to ignore everything I have been saying. I have stated several times.

The representative I spoke to was informed I'd bought a system without an OS. I asked specifically if the system could arrive clean. I asked specifically what would be on the system when it arrived. I was TOLD there would be no need to do a fresh install.

If you know anything about mass produced systems. You would know you don't have a person sat Infront of each system twiddling his thumbs while windows does its thing. They use Microsoft exchange install servers. Irrespective of what the individual system is. As this gives the cleanest install and allows whatever bloatware individual companies want to use.

You say it's my mistake because I assumed I could use whatever I found on my system when it arrived, despite me stating several times I asked specifically what was on there. Me stating categorically the only reason I used what was on there. Was because PCS told me too. Now before you ask me, if they told me too, would I stick my head in an oven. No I wouldn't. But if they told me software is safe to use I think it's fair to say I'd take them at their word.

I think you are making far more assumptions then I ever did.

To be honest I don't know what you want of us on here. You bought a system with no OS and that was your entire contract with PCS. It seems you then asked PCS whether the OS they used for testing could be activated. That's asking for a favour, because an OS was not part of your contract. Sadly the advice you were given as a favour turned out to be wrong. PCS delivered to you exactly what you ordered and paid for, a system with no usable OS. What do you want us on here to do about that?

 

[SpyderTracks]

To be honest I don't know what you want of us on here. You bought a system with no OS and that was your entire contract with PCS. It seems you then asked PCS whether the OS they used for testing could be activated. That's asking for a favour, because an OS was not part of your contract. Sadly the advice you were given as a favour turned out to be wrong. PCS delivered to you exactly what you ordered and paid for, a system with no usable OS. What do you want us on here to do about that?

I do get where the OP is coming from though, I think the issue stems from PCS incorrectly advising that it would be ok to activate the test windows, I don't think anything else is being suggested here, and that's definitely been a failing on PCS behalf recently with poor communication.

 

[ubuysa]

I do get where the OP is coming from though, I think the issue stems from PCS incorrectly advising that it would be ok to activate the test windows, I don't think anything else is being suggested here, and that's definitely been a failing on PCS behalf recently with poor communication.

You're right of course that all information from PCS should be accurate and that in this case it wasn't. I really do understand the OP's disappointment that what he was told turned out to be wrong, and that because of that misinformation he's had a heap of trouble.

PCS don't offer an 'Activate the PCS testing system with my own product key' option in the configurator and the issue of not activating the test system is an old one that we've revisited time and time again on this forum. My understanding from the PCS Customer Care Manager is that PCS are reviewing what they say to customers who buy with no OS in the future, so the OP's frustrations have not been entirely in vain.

 

[PainterUK]

I think this is the biggest problem:

" I was also told that i wouldn't need to do a fresh install as the OS on my system would work with any genuine Windows 10 Key. Maybe this where i was naive but i took them at their word. This was before the pc had even arrived. One of the first things i did when they system arrived was check what was installed, what version of OS it was, what drivers had been installed and where they up to date. Everything looked good !! Confident in the information i had been given by PCS it didn't appear necessary to do what seemed a pointless and time wasting fresh install. "

The OP should not have been told that...they should have been told that it was a test version and would need a fresh install (maybe the CS person isn't aware of the test version limitations?)

This isn't the first time there's been issues as people order without Windows then find Windows on their system on arrival and assume that they can simply activate it. Not sure if PCS let people know that it is only a test version (either through a message in the account etc) but it might be something to look into when things settle down

i was told the same just this week, that I would only need to activate it with my key when the pc arrives.

 

[ubuysa]

i was told the same just this week, that I would only need to activate it with my key when the pc arrives.

I've lost count of the number of posts from peoe who have activated the test system and had issues. Always install your own copy if you buy with no OS, it's the only way to be certain you have a stable system.

 

[PainterUK]

I've lost count of the number of posts from peoe who have activated the test system and had issues. Always install your own copy if you buy with no OS, it's the only way to be certain you have a stable system.

And that’s what I was expecting to do. My question to them was if it was easy to install the drivers for all the components after I install my copy of Windows and they said I wouldn’t have to do that, only insert my windows key.

 

[ubuysa]

And that’s what I was expecting to do. My question to them was if it was easy to install the drivers for all the components after I install my copy of Windows and they said I wouldn’t have to do that, only insert my windows key.

I understand that. Thanks for letting us know.

 

[Tony1044]

This is just my opinion. and i'm pretty sure i'm going to get a hard time for saying this. You shouldn't have to do a fresh install. You buy a pc from a reputable company so that everything is done for you. You pay your money, wait for it to arrive and all you should have to do is connect it up and Bob's your Mothers brother as they say. That's why YOU pay THEM to build it and set it up.

However as in my case sometimes things do go wrong. and doing a fresh install as soon as it arrives means the PC is setup how you want it. Any bloatware is deleted and you can check all your drivers are up to date. Some Posters here assume that everyone buying a pc has years of experience building and taking care of Hardware, and the disaster that can be Microsoft Windows, and that's just not the case for many people. The pc they have ordered from PCS is often their first pc. For people new to the environment having to do a fresh install can be quit intimidating. Getting it wrong means they end up with a brick they can't fix themselves. Although the modern install process is actually quite straight forward.

To Be clear. on the forums it does seem that most people think it's good practice to do a fresh install once your pc arrives. However if you buy your system with a copy of Windows you really shouldn't need too. After checking the PCS site i can't find anywhere where they, as a company say its required or even good practice.

Good luck with your new system.

Apples and oranges - if you buy a new PC from PCS with Windows then it comes pre-installed and configured with the correct drivers. You plug it in, turn it on, type in a few details into the the Out of Box Experience (OOBE) and you're away. PCS don't install any real bloatware.

However, if you buy one without Windows then PCS will install a generic version so that they can burn-in test the hardware. This is in no way optimised for the system bought and will have a ton of ghost hardware (drivers for hardware not present), not be a recent version (so expect a large amount of updates to be needed) and may even be missing drivers that are specific to the machine. Just activating it and using it will almost inevitably lead to it being unstable.

If you look through the advice across many posts on here, you will see that the advice to do a fresh install usually only happens in one of three instances: 1 - the above described, no Windows license bought; 2 - When MS release a new version (1909 to 2004 for example) as they (MS) have a bit of a history of not doing in-place upgrades cleanly every time (although if you're not confident with a fresh install, it does tend to be more reliable than ever, but can still flake); 3 - when there is an issue that could be hardware or software or a user has done something to prompt it.

No one here has ever recommended reinstalling on the day they receive their machine if it was bought with Windows.

The two mistakes here, that I see PCS made were in advising that Professional can be downgraded in-place with a key to Home (never has been the case) and that it would be ok to just use a key to activate it with the former being the worst of the two, in my opinion.

 

[Tony1044]

Either you are choosing to misunderstand me or you choosing to ignore everything I have been saying. I have stated several times.

The representative I spoke to was informed I'd bought a system without an OS. I asked specifically if the system could arrive clean. I asked specifically what would be on the system when it arrived. I was TOLD there would be no need to do a fresh install.

If you know anything about mass produced systems. You would know you don't have a person sat Infront of each system twiddling his thumbs while windows does its thing. They use Microsoft exchange install servers. Irrespective of what the individual system is. As this gives the cleanest install and allows whatever bloatware individual companies want to use.

You say it's my mistake because I assumed I could use whatever I found on my system when it arrived, despite me stating several times I asked specifically what was on there. Me stating categorically the only reason I used what was on there. Was because PCS told me too. Now before you ask me, if they told me too, would I stick my head in an oven. No I wouldn't. But if they told me software is safe to use I think it's fair to say I'd take them at their word.

I think you are making far more assumptions then I ever did.

Microsoft Exchange - great for email, not so good for imaging/managing systems.

Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (MECM) or System Center Config Manager (SCCM) as it was called until recently is the tool.

As I just said - I do agree that you shouldn't have been told those two things and that you would expect to trust the advice given by the company that you bought the machine from. I know it's too late and probably, given where the advice came from, not something anyone would think to check, but if you'd asked here we would've emphatically told you otherwise and I'm sorry you were told it to begin with.

Hopefully it's all sorted to your satisfaction though now, and the machine is otherwise living up to hopes and expectations.