OMG! I knew DELL customer service was bad, but damn.... You're doing the right thing, send that turkey back! I have many DELL horror stories. The machines are designed to break right after the warranty ends. I've seen this over and over again. cringes at the memories If you are switching to MAC, you can partition your drive, no problem. Last time I looked, Dec 2005, Consumer Reports gave Apple "Best Customer Service." DELL was "Worst Customer Service." bB