Sounds like there's not a problem with the computer; just an incomplete use of a recovery CD and a the result of unclueful support meeting admittedly anticlueful owner.

I went over there looking for a horror story in which the computer was physically bad and not being replaced, but I see a pretty ordinary scenario in which the driver knowing about things like oil changes and tire air pressure would help prevent disappointment with the mechanic.

That said, if I were her I would be chasing Dell for one thing: Office. If they put some kind of a trial version on there and it's not on the recovery or other CD, and that was not clear, they should send her a copy on the double. And a clear-speaking tech in the US should help her get the drivers reinstalled so stuff like her sound works.

Also, I saw no indication of what the original problem was for which she was talking to Dell support, except that it involved checking to see whether her CD drive would read a CD, in which she learned about "autorun." Obviously whether that is solved would have some bearing on her concerns, but it sounds like she's mainly mad about the collateral damage.

There's more to it than that, but the story takes too damn long to tell.