Vista problems please help

[Guest]

Hello

It is my first post so please bear with me. I bought a new laptop 2 weeks
ago with Vista preinstalled, I work on a wireless BT home network and I am
having serious problems with any forum I go on (inlcuding Microsofts own - it
has taken 27 minutes to get this window open so I can post this). My problems
are:

1. The internet disconnects every hour or so, then reconnects a few seconds
later.
2. Right in the middle of typing the computer suddenly closes down, losing
my work.
3. All forums I go on come up with the error message "stack overflow at line
0" and when I press any link inside a forum I hear rapid clicking noises
before I get the stack overflow message.

I have had my broadband tested and my network but no problem there. I still
have my old Windows XP machine, on the same network, and have no problems
with forums on that or connection or sudden shut down, so can only assume
Vista has a few glitches. Can anyone help? I need the blonde version as I
don't speak computer.

Also can anyone tell me why Microsoft says 90 days free support and yet
having never contacted them before they are demanding £40 plus vat for me to
ask what the problem is? Is there anyway for me to contact Microsoft about
this problem without having to pay a large sum of money for the privilage of
being told how to fix a glitch in their software?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

 

[Tim]

You seem to emphasize having problems when accessing forums. My guess is
that you have the same problem regardless what site you go to but you have
been frequenting forums in order to get help. To me, the most telling
portion of your post is the "rapid clicking noises". That *could* indicate a
hard drive about to go bad. I would return the laptop to the store you
purchased it from for a warranty replacement.

To answer your last question...Microsoft expects you to contact the laptop
manufacturer for support. Whether you realized it or not, you paid less for
the Vista license (referred to as an OEM license) than if you had purchased
a retail license...and the trade-off is having to get support from the
laptop manufacturer. If you purchase a retail Vista license, you would then
get the 90 days of free support from Microsoft.

Tim

 

[Guest]

Thank you for your reply Tim.

I spend about 30% of my internet time on forums, the rest is perfoming
searches and navigating sites and I have no problem with those.

Am even more worried now. The rapid clicking noise is only when I try to
post on a forum, it is the same click that you get when you open a link, as
though it is trying to connect many times. Does this still sound like a hard
drive error?

I forgot to mention that I also get thrown out of forums regularly and
receive a database error message, yet my XP machine goes in and stays in no
problem, so not a fault with the sites I would think.

Thanks I shall contact Acer and see if they know anything about Vista
problems. Although it does seem a little cheeky on Microsoft's part to
'encourage' computer manufacturers to preinstall Microsoft software and not
provide support for it and it is disheartening to hear that by virtue of
buying a new computer I naturally become the poor relation.

 

[Larry Maturo]

The OEM version of Vista costs you less money, or at
least your computer manufacturer. In exchange, they
are respnsible for supporting it. If you get a retail
copy of Vista then you get 90 days free support from
MS. Whether the problem is hardware or software,
Vista, or dirvers, your hardware manufacturer, Acer,
is responsible for helping you with it.

-- Larry Maturo

 

[Tim]

Hmmm...if the clicking *really* happens only when accessing forums, I doubt
it would be a bad drive...more likely the drive is just doing a lot of
seeking right before it dumps. It's odd that it happens just with forums...I
don't think I've ever heard of that. Do you use a speparate news reader to
access forums (like Thunderbird or Windows Mail versus IE). If so, that
could explain why it dumps only in forums. But I still think, given the rest
of your problem description, that you need to contact Acer. Maybe it will be
as simple as re-loading Windows.

I wouldn't fault MS for the support arrangement. It's not uncommon. When you
purchase a car, you talk to the dealer to get service and not directly to GM
or Ford. Besides, you paid less for your OEM Windows license than if you
purchased a retail version...that's the trade-off. In theory, the
manufacturer has direct access to Microsoft support when they need it (much
like the car dealer).

Good luck with Acer.

Tim

 

[mikeyhsd]

2 weeks old. take it back and request it be fixed or replaced.



(e-mail address removed)



Hello

It is my first post so please bear with me. I bought a new laptop 2 weeks
ago with Vista preinstalled, I work on a wireless BT home network and I am
having serious problems with any forum I go on (inlcuding Microsofts own - it
has taken 27 minutes to get this window open so I can post this). My problems
are:

1. The internet disconnects every hour or so, then reconnects a few seconds
later.
2. Right in the middle of typing the computer suddenly closes down, losing
my work.
3. All forums I go on come up with the error message "stack overflow at line
0" and when I press any link inside a forum I hear rapid clicking noises
before I get the stack overflow message.

I have had my broadband tested and my network but no problem there. I still
have my old Windows XP machine, on the same network, and have no problems
with forums on that or connection or sudden shut down, so can only assume
Vista has a few glitches. Can anyone help? I need the blonde version as I
don't speak computer.

Also can anyone tell me why Microsoft says 90 days free support and yet
having never contacted them before they are demanding £40 plus vat for me to
ask what the problem is? Is there anyway for me to contact Microsoft about
this problem without having to pay a large sum of money for the privilage of
being told how to fix a glitch in their software?

Thanks for any help you can offer.