Thank you, thank you, thank you. Raven and Owbist, I am so grateful to you. It seems I am safe using the screws for the hard drive bay that I already used. Raven - they are the ones in the first link. Owbist - I pilfered the only screw from my old Dell desktop that looked like the right kind. I only found one screw that seemed to match - I'm not certain what it was holding in - perhaps the power source or fan. At any rate, I think I best replace that before I might ever try to start that old computer up. I don't believe it had a floppy drive - or I'd be happy to remove it (it had just a cd drive). The case is fairly secure for now - but I'd feel better securing it completely - if the cleaning woman bumps the vacuum against it - or my daughter roots around there for a lost ball or toy, it might accidentally open. There's no urgency there, but I'd rather get it taken care of. I suppose I could open the tower again - and take out one of the screws - and match it at a store that builds computer parts. But if I don't have to, I'd rather not power everything down and unhook it. If the hard drive seems securing screwed in (and no part of the screw is protuding), can I safely assume it's fine - and just worry about replacing the case screws. that would be easier. I wish I'd come here first - and saved myself some aggravation. not a single person at Dell was able to give me this information - even though they had all the information you guys did. I truly don't want to have to buy from them again. They were similarly inept when I wanted to add a firewire port last summer. They have a front slot for it - but nobody had the right part numbers. Luckily the Dell forum was filled with trials and tribulations of others who'd attempted this - with no consistent accurate answers from Dell. At least someone there provided the necessary parts - in fact, when I ordered what Dell insisted was all I needed, it was only 1/2 of what I needed. Soon my daughter will be ready for a new desktop. Is there a company to buy them from with good reliability and quality and good technical/customer support? Should I just have one built from a computer place that builds computers? that purchase is likely to be in 2010. Thank you again. Lynn.

Dell has become more competitively priced, and I purchased a desktop for my wife for Christmas 2006, so we have just over a year on it. It is not used for business, but it does get use, I'd estimate 2 hours per day, mostly on the web and email. It has worked without any problems. As said, given it is competitive price-wise, I think Dell is an easy choice based on its long history as market leader in PCs/Notebooks. As for stores, that's relatively new, I see Dell at Walmart but have not given a close inspection. Except for Walmart that usually cuts a tough deal with suppliers, I'd expect you can save money buying over the web directly from Dell, don't forget to add in the shipping before comparing price. Web orders too, allow selection of component investment on all/most models.

you said you got a virus and know that is the problem, well that is not up to Dell support to fix, under any circumstance. Their support is for their product (they do provide online guides and manuals for each pc have you looked for yours), they are not there for assistance in removing infection. If you had a part that failed on the computer then they should help with that but something that is being caused by a virus that you got by doing something is not Dell's fault. Now I am NOT a Dell fan, I personally would not buy one. But any PC manufacturer certainly has the right to say no to that type of situation. If they have helped before they went way beyond the scope of their support requirements. I do own ACER and HP and would not consider calling either of them for help if I had an infection. This is why you should go to the free forum I listed and ask for help to clean your machine. Run a malwarebytes free scan How to download and install Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware application for Windows computers which may fix this problem. Go to an online AV and do a free scan there also ESET Online Scanner What antivirus is on your pc? is it fully updated and does it run weekly scans? what other antimalware scans do you run? Have you run the secunia tool to make sure everything is fully updated on the pc to help prevent any infections through out dated programs like adobe, java and flash? Secunia Online Software Inspector (OSI) Let us know what you need assistance with and we can try to help you get it done.

personally if I had a pc that was only so many months old had alread had 3 hard drives replaced and has been badly functioning all this time I would DEMAND a refund or a replacement. There is a warranty and some are just plain lemons. Start calling every day and demand to speak to a supervisor and tell them you want to speak to someone in the USA they have to honor your requests. If you sit by quietly till it is too late you are stuck, if you start screaming in their ear every day they will do something. That right there is why I never recommend Dell anymore I hear it over and over, did not used to be that way, it used to be a very good pc company.