Last month, I started classes at ITT Tech. I'm not going to sit here and claim it's because they are the best school or because I like the way they do things or any of that nonsense. I did it because they offered me a scholarship and financial aid.
Upon signing up, we were each given a laptop. A Dell Inspiron 15, to be precise. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I despise Dell computers. They are difficult to fix, impossible to upgrade, and are usually more expensive for less computer. The one upside was that the box said "Windows 8" which, for reasons I will not list here, I love. Maybe I'll do a write-up on all the reasons I love Windows 8 later. Aside from Windows 8, the specs leave a lot to be desired. 1.4 GHz dual core Celeron processors, 4GB DDR2 RAM, and Intel Integrated graphics. But, hey, at least it's (technically) 64-bit! All for the low, low price of $500!
Suffice it to say that I was disappointed when I discovered that they had re-imaged all of the laptops they handed out with one of two images: one with a working Windows 7 Enterprise license and Office 2013, and one with a non-working Windows 7 Enterprise license with Office 2010. Notice, that is Windows 7, not Windows 8. Bear in mind, we have to pay for these computers out of our own pockets (or our financial aid, which we eventually have to pay for). So, we're getting a computer that is worth (at most) $350 when compared to laptops with similar specs. We're getting an older version of Windows. And many of us couldn't even use the computers in any meaningful way after the first 21 days, because our licenses are invalid.
Fortunately for me, and for any other student who knows how to install a new operating system on their computer, Microsoft gives away a lot of free software to students, and even more to students at specific schools. So, I was able to download Windows 8.1 from Dreamspark (if you are a student or teacher, Google "Dreamspark" and start downloading your free software) and pop it onto a USB drive to install alongside the Ubuntu partition I had.
Unfortunately for me, Windows 8 does not recognize the wireless networking card in this computer. So, I decided to try to find a driver from Dell. That didn't work. And, on top of that, Windows 8 nuked GRUB, so now I cannot access my Ubuntu partition to get at the files I backed up from the old Windows installation. I have lost roughly a month of schoolwork along with multiple files I was using in other projects. "Why didn't you back them up?" you ask. I did. Onto the Ubuntu partition. The one that Windows can't access and that I can't get to using the Windows boot selector (It's kind of like GRUB but only shows windows operating systems).
So seriously, screw you, Dell, for using shitty hardware and software that doesn't work, and screw you, ITT Tech, for deciding to use the same computer image on thousands of computers. As a result of mind-boggling incompetence, I have a $500 (plus $150 or whatever Windows 8 Professional costs normally if you want to include that) desktop computer with specs that are barely better than my Chromebook's, and I've lost a month of hard work.
I want a refund.
