Borrowings (Details 2) (USD $)	12 Months Ended							12 Months Ended												12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended								12 Months Ended									12 Months Ended							12 Months Ended
	Oct. 31, 2011	Oct. 31, 2010	Oct. 31, 2009	Oct. 31, 2011 U.S. Dollar Global Notes	Oct. 31, 2010 U.S. Dollar Global Notes	Oct. 31, 2011 2002 Shelf Registration Statement-$500 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.505% in June 2002 at 6.5%, due July 2012	Oct. 31, 2010 2002 Shelf Registration Statement-$500 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.505% in June 2002 at 6.5%, due July 2012	Oct. 31, 2011	Oct. 31, 2010	Oct. 31, 2011 2006 Shelf Registration Statement-$900 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.938% in February 2007 at 5.25%, due March 2012	Oct. 31, 2010 2006 Shelf Registration Statement-$900 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.938% in February 2007 at 5.25%, due March 2012	Oct. 31, 2011 2006 Shelf Registration Statement-$500 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.694% in February 2007 at 5.4%, due March 2017	Oct. 31, 2010 2006 Shelf Registration Statement-$500 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.694% in February 2007 at 5.4%, due March 2017	Oct. 31, 2011 2006 Shelf Registration Statement-$1,500 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.921% in March 2008 at 4.5%, due March 2013	Oct. 31, 2010 2006 Shelf Registration Statement-$1,500 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.921% in March 2008 at 4.5%, due March 2013	Oct. 31, 2011 2006 Shelf Registration Statement-$750 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.932% in March 2008 at 5.5%, due March 2018	Oct. 31, 2010 2006 Shelf Registration Statement-$750 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.932% in March 2008 at 5.5%, due March 2018	Oct. 31, 2011 2006 Shelf Registration Statement-$2,000 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.561% in December 2008 at 6.125%, due March 2014	Oct. 31, 2010 2006 Shelf Registration Statement-$2,000 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.561% in December 2008 at 6.125%, due March 2014	Oct. 31, 2010	Oct. 31, 2011 2006 Shelf Registration Statement-$1,000 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.956% in February 2009 at 4.25%, due February 2012	Oct. 31, 2010 2006 Shelf Registration Statement-$1,000 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.956% in February 2009 at 4.25%, due February 2012	Oct. 31, 2011 2006 Shelf Registration Statement-$1,500 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.993% in February 2009 at 4.75%, due June 2014	Oct. 31, 2010 2006 Shelf Registration Statement-$1,500 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.993% in February 2009 at 4.75%, due June 2014	Oct. 31, 2010	Oct. 31, 2010 2009 Shelf Registration Statement-$1,000 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.967% in May 2009 at 2.25%, paid May 2011	Oct. 31, 2011 2009 Shelf Registration Statement-$250 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.984% in May 2009 at 2.95%, due August 2012	Oct. 31, 2010 2009 Shelf Registration Statement-$250 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.984% in May 2009 at 2.95%, due August 2012	Oct. 31, 2011	Oct. 31, 2010	Oct. 31, 2011 2009 Shelf Registration Statement-$1,100 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.921% in September 2010 at 1.25% due September 2013	Oct. 31, 2010 2009 Shelf Registration Statement-$1,100 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.921% in September 2010 at 1.25% due September 2013	Oct. 31, 2011 2009 Shelf Registration Statement-$1,100 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.887% in September 2010 at 2.125% due September 2015	Oct. 31, 2010 2009 Shelf Registration Statement-$1,100 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.887% in September 2010 at 2.125% due September 2015	Oct. 31, 2011 2009 Shelf Registration Statement-$650 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.911% in December 2010 at 2.2% due December 2015	Oct. 31, 2011 2009 Shelf Registration Statement-$1,350 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.827% in December 2010 at 3.75% due December 2020	Oct. 31, 2011	Oct. 31, 2011	Oct. 31, 2011 2009 Shelf Registration Statement-$500 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.971% in May 2011 at 1.55%, due May 2014	Oct. 31, 2011 2009 Shelf Registration Statement-$1,000 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.958% in May 2011 at 2.65%, due June 2016	Oct. 31, 2011 2009 Shelf Registration Statement-$1,250 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.799% in May 2011 at 4.3%, due June 2021	Oct. 31, 2011 2009 Shelf Registration Statement-$750 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.977% in September 2011 at 2.35%, due March 2015	Oct. 31, 2011 2009 Shelf Registration Statement-$1,300 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.784% in September 2011 at 3.0%, due September 2016	Oct. 31, 2011 2009 Shelf Registration Statement-$1,000 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.816% in September 2011 at 4.375%, due September 2021	Oct. 31, 2011 2009 Shelf Registration Statement-$1,200 issued at discount to par at a price of 99.863% in September 2011 at 6.0% due September 2041	Oct. 31, 2011	Oct. 31, 2011 EDS Senior Notes	Oct. 31, 2010 EDS Senior Notes	Oct. 31, 2011 EDS Senior Notes-$1,100 issued June 2003 at 6.0%, due August 2013	Oct. 31, 2010 EDS Senior Notes-$1,100 issued June 2003 at 6.0%, due August 2013	Oct. 31, 2011 EDS Senior Notes-$300 issued October 1999 at 7.45%, due October 2029	Oct. 31, 2010 EDS Senior Notes-$300 issued October 1999 at 7.45%, due October 2029	Oct. 31, 2011 Other, including capital lease obligations, at 0.60%-8.63%, due in calendar years 2012-2024	Oct. 31, 2010 Other, including capital lease obligations, at 0.60%-8.63%, due in calendar years 2012-2024	Oct. 31, 2011 2009 Shelf Registration Statement-Issued December 2011 Issuance of debt Year	Dec. 09, 2011 2009 Shelf Registration Statement-Issued December 2011 Issuance of debt
Long-term debt
Balance outstanding				$ 24,082,000,000	$ 14,515,000,000	$ 500,000,000	$ 500,000,000	$ 600,000,000	$ 600,000,000	$ 900,000,000	$ 900,000,000	$ 499,000,000	$ 499,000,000	$ 1,500,000,000	$ 1,499,000,000	$ 750,000,000	$ 750,000,000	$ 1,996,000,000	$ 1,994,000,000	$ 275,000,000	$ 1,000,000,000	$ 1,000,000,000	$ 1,500,000,000	$ 1,500,000,000	$ 750,000,000	$ 1,000,000,000	$ 250,000,000	$ 250,000,000	$ 800,000,000	$ 800,000,000	$ 1,099,000,000	$ 1,099,000,000	$ 1,099,000,000	$ 1,099,000,000	$ 650,000,000	$ 1,348,000,000	$ 1,750,000,000	$ 500,000,000	$ 500,000,000	$ 1,000,000,000	$ 1,248,000,000	$ 750,000,000	$ 1,297,000,000	$ 998,000,000	$ 1,198,000,000	$ 350,000,000	$ 1,435,000,000	$ 1,445,000,000	$ 1,120,000,000	$ 1,130,000,000	$ 315,000,000	$ 315,000,000
Other, including capital lease obligations																																																					836,000,000	845,000,000
Fair value adjustment related to hedged debt	543,000,000	669,000,000
Less: current portion	(4,345,000,000)	(2,216,000,000)
Total long-term debt	22,551,000,000	15,258,000,000
Discount to par (as a percent)						99.505%	99.505%			99.938%	99.938%	99.694%	99.694%	99.921%	99.921%	99.932%	99.932%	99.561%	99.561%		99.956%	99.956%	99.993%	99.993%		99.967%	99.984%	99.984%			99.921%	99.921%	99.887%	99.887%	99.911%	99.827%			99.971%	99.958%	99.799%	99.977%	99.784%	99.816%	99.863%
Interest rate (as a percent)						6.50%	6.50%			5.25%	5.25%	5.40%	5.40%	4.50%	4.50%	5.50%	5.50%	6.125%	6.125%		4.25%	4.25%	4.75%	4.75%		2.25%	2.95%	2.95%			1.25%	1.25%	2.125%	2.125%	2.20%	3.75%			1.55%	2.65%	4.30%	2.35%	3.00%	4.375%	6.00%	1.55%			6.00%	6.00%	7.45%	7.45%
Face amount of debt instrument						500,000,000	500,000,000	600,000,000	600,000,000	900,000,000	900,000,000	500,000,000	500,000,000	1,500,000,000	1,500,000,000	750,000,000	750,000,000	2,000,000,000	2,000,000,000	275,000,000	1,000,000,000	1,000,000,000	1,500,000,000	1,500,000,000	750,000,000	1,000,000,000	250,000,000	250,000,000	800,000,000	800,000,000	1,100,000,000	1,100,000,000	1,100,000,000	1,100,000,000	650,000,000	1,350,000,000	1,750,000,000	500,000,000	500,000,000	1,000,000,000	1,250,000,000	750,000,000	1,300,000,000	1,000,000,000	1,200,000,000	350,000,000			1,100,000,000	1,100,000,000	300,000,000	300,000,000
Reference interest rate								three-month USD LIBOR	three-month USD LIBOR											three-month USD LIBOR					three-month USD LIBOR				three-month USD LIBOR	three-month USD LIBOR							three-month USD LIBOR	three-month USD LIBOR								three-month USD LIBOR
Spread on reference interest rate (as a percent)								0.11%	0.11%											1.75%					1.05%				0.125%	0.125%							0.28%	0.40%
Minimum interest rate (as a percent)																																																					0.60%	0.60%
Maximum interest rate (as a percent)																																																					8.63%	8.63%
Borrowings collateralized by certain financing receivable assets																																																					247,000,000
Premium on debt issuance	35,000,000
Discount on debt issuance	21,000,000
Aggregate future maturities of debt outstanding including capital lease obligations:
2012	4,312,000,000
2013	5,685,000,000
2014	5,067,000,000
2015	1,858,000,000
2016	2,955,000,000
Thereafter	6,462,000,000
Total	26,339,000,000
Interest expense on borrowings	551,000,000	417,000,000	597,000,000
Amount of debt issued, after balance sheet date																																																								$ 3,000,000,000
Maturity of debt from date of issuance, earliest date (in years)																																																							3Y
Second maturity period (in years)																																																							5
Final maturity period (in years)																																																							10