I'm back.

[J. A. Michaels]

Hey everyone,

Hope your month has been better then mine. The new computer we just bought in October crashed. Because we bought the Dell from best Buy, Dell is not obligated to do any repairs. You hve to go thru Best Buy and use there geek squad.

That itself is a joke. When I dropped off the computer I asked them if in the effort to save a trip if they wanted the recovery cd's. They said no we know what to re install. It took them 10 days to diagnose the problem. Then they asked me to bring in the recovery cd's. Nice people. The kicker to me is all that they did was wipe clean everything and reinstall on network 2. The computer is still not running right. But constant talking to Best Buy and trying to get a hold of some one at Dell is getting us nothing but a headache.

So for now we are back up and running. For how long? Who knows.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: I'm back.

Was wondering what happened to you? Good to see you back you've always been a real asset to this forum.

Sorry to hear of your computer problems, our family has probably 5 or so Dell computers, mostly laptops and one Desktop system and we've had mostly good luck with them but a few problems and Dell Customer Care can try your patience trying to work with them to solve problems but with a little tenacity we've had everything taken care of so far.

Makes you appreciate good quality customer care support...

[asim_296]

Re: I'm back.

Welcome back!

Sorry to hear what happened to your PC. What was the problem?

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: I'm back.

They claim it was a software conflict. It caused the Desktop to go blank. All you had was the icon you chose for the mouse. Like I said earlier, I still do not believe it was fixed satisfactorily. I have hardly any space left on the hard drive, or in memory. But everything was wiped clean and we are starting fresh. Yeah, right. Oh well, we will keep after them and try to get a satisfactory resolution.

Thanks.

[Nappers]

Re: I'm back.

Good to see you back too!

I find that the local friendly computer joints offer good prices and quick turn around.

Good luck and hope you stay on the grid!

[Carfire]

Re: I'm back.

Welcome Back!!

[Megafast13]

Re: I'm back.

Welcome Back, I am very knowledgeable about computers, more so than detailing. PM me in the future I could some help

[drculinarian]

Re: I'm back.

I was a little concerned when I didn't see you on the forum, you usually are always there. Glad your back your opinions are always appreciated.

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: I'm back.

Thanks for all the kind words.

Megafast, If I have any more issues in the future I will take you up on your offer. Thanks it is really appreciated.

[roushstage2]

Re: I'm back.

Hey everyone,

Hope your month has been better then mine. The new computer we just bought in October crashed. Because we bought the Dell from best Buy, Dell is not obligated to do any repairs. You hve to go thru Best Buy and use there geek squad.

That itself is a joke. When I dropped off the computer I asked them if in the effort to save a trip if they wanted the recovery cd's. They said no we know what to re install. It took them 10 days to diagnose the problem. Then they asked me to bring in the recovery cd's. Nice people. The kicker to me is all that they did was wipe clean everything and reinstall on network 2. The computer is still not running right. But constant talking to Best Buy and trying to get a hold of some one at Dell is getting us nothing but a headache.

So for now we are back up and running. For how long? Who knows.

Ah yes. Best Buy's Geek Squad. Though in their credit, hey are not so much the issue as the shops that they contract to actually fix the machines. The Geek Squad simply does software installation and basic diagnosing. Anything beyond that, the computer gets sent out.

The last time I took my laptop in (last July right before the warranty expired), I did not have my laptop back for 2.5 months. I took it in because the power port was not working right and the speakers cut out if they even worked (motherboard was replaced about a month after I had gotten it as none of the side ports were working and this problem started after it). Picked it up the first time and they said there were corrupt system files, just reformat the HD. They said they tested it for two hours on another account and it worked fine; which is odd because it is still the same system files? OK. Take it home, reformat, still does it. Make the 1.5 one way drive again to take it back. OK. They replaced the speakers and tested it for two hours again and it worked perfectly. Took it home and it worked for about 3 minutes before it did it again. Back to BB. This time they replaced the motherboard. Brought my power adapter so I could check it in the store. Sound works fine, but they didn't put the pins back in the monitor hinges so I had them send it right back out again! Got it back and most everything worked. Throughout this problem, I had been in contact with Best Buy's Consumer Relations and got it sent out on expidited status and got a giftcard for my troubles of driving so far so many times.

Few little problems I didn't care to make an issue out of. I took it back last week (remember, my warranty expired in July of 2008). Been having issues lately with major features not working and after using HP online support time and time again with no luck fixing anything, I boot into BIOS as I am curious. Turns out the shop installed a motherboard from a lower model laptop in which all of the features of mine are optional on it. That is why certain things did not work and why none of my system disks were not working. Being taking care of free of charge as we speak (helps knowing what you are talking about, especially moreso than the people helping you). The manager I was talking first commented on how many times it had been sent out for issues and then wondered why they just never gave me a new laptop!!!

They claim it was a software conflict. It caused the Desktop to go blank. All you had was the icon you chose for the mouse. Like I said earlier, I still do not believe it was fixed satisfactorily. I have hardly any space left on the hard drive, or in memory. But everything was wiped clean and we are starting fresh. Yeah, right. Oh well, we will keep after them and try to get a satisfactory resolution.

Thanks.

I never have liked Dell's, personal thing for me. Everyone I know has them and I have fixed them all at least twice. Have to go fix three more on of these times. I know you may not want to hear it, but I would do a fresh restore yourself just so you know what is being done to the computer. (I reformatted and repartitioned the HD in my laptop about 8 times in 2 days thinking I'd somehow get it fixed). Software conflict though!? I have a system software conflict because of what the shop did. I'd be curious to hear what is and is not working correctly to try and help you fix it or to get someone on the other end moving for you, and if they told you, what software was "conflicting" so much that is caused the computer to crash.

Sorry for the long rant, basically, I know where you are coming from and am currently probably more frustrated than you right now with the whole deal. I've had my homemade desktop for 6 years now and never once had a problem with it. Glad to see you are back, I did notice you were not around and was wondering if I had missed something. Please, feel free to contact me either right here in this thread or PM or e-mail, whatever, if you want some help/advice on how to get things going. I'm pretty well experienced now in how to get BB to further get on the actual repair shop's behind to get it fixed correctly and quickly.

[Megafast13]

Re: I'm back.

I can also build custom Desktop PC's that are blazing fast and much lower price than BB. You wouldn't have any problems with it either.

I suggest going with APPLE. They are the highest quality, no issues. You can get windows on them as well.

[Tuck91]

Re: I'm back.

i was wondering where you were at as well, good to see you back, hopefully the computer trouble wont last very long

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: I'm back.

Tyler,

thanks for the ideas. What the Geek squad said was it was probably a bad Windows update, or a program that I installed. Very definitive, huh. If you want you can pm me with some ideas on what we should do next. It was surprising that not all of your features worked when you got your laptop back. Wer are noticing the same thing here. I am probably not as tech savvy as most. But I am willing to learn. Any thoughts and ideas will be most appreciated. Thanks again.

John

[roushstage2]

Re: I'm back.

Ugh, I clicked on the wrong button and my whole message got deleted. I will type it up again when I get home tonight. Have to get ready to leave for school.

[roushstage2]

Re: I'm back.

Tyler,

thanks for the ideas. What the Geek squad said was it was probably a bad Windows update, or a program that I installed. Very definitive, huh. If you want you can pm me with some ideas on what we should do next. It was surprising that not all of your features worked when you got your laptop back. Wer are noticing the same thing here. I am probably not as tech savvy as most. But I am willing to learn. Any thoughts and ideas will be most appreciated. Thanks again.

John

I am curious what their thoughts would be if you asked them if there would be a problem updating it again...

Before I get too far with what you should do, how was the computer working, say, a week before you had the problem? What happened right before the computer went blank---was anything (hardware or software) installed or anything updated? What isn't working now that they restored it? Did they replace anything that you know of?

You can call Dell Customer Service and explain what is going on with the computer (don't mention Best Buy as they don't seem to like it) and what their thoughts are. If they say something different than what you were told at the store, call Best Buy Consumer Relations and tell them what happened at the store and then what the manufacturer of the computer told you. Basically, you just want them to start to get involved because they will push the store later. Just let them know you wanted to make a report of this just in case you run into more problems later.

Let me know about the above questions and then I can help you hopefully more from there.