That was one thing I heard from a Dell owner with one of the newer models out apparently. It saves Dell the cost of providing disks along with the machines they sell. When I see the owner again I can ask on that.
I'm supposed to look over his son's pc since the side cover was off when the kids were throwing clay putty balls and the power went out after one hit the hard drive? I think something shorted if it hit leads inside. That plus restoring another old Dell with a new drive are scheduled. Busy weekend!