K
Kevin
Just a quick post about a hilarious experience I recently had with Compaq.
My office bought me a new desktop a couple of weeks before Christmas.
That's the good news. The bad news is that it is a Compaq. A Presario 6000
series, to be precise. It had Windows XP Home Edition SP2 installed and the
usual overload of crap that companies like Compaq and Gateway seem to
delight in offering the public.
The unit arrived, I hooked it up, turned on the power and it sat there.
Disk spinning, fans blowing and absolutely nothing happening. I called tech
support at Compaq. I actually got through in about two or three minutes. I
was now speaking with a tech in Bangalore, India. I could hear what seemed
to be people cooking dinner in the background. I read off the serial number
and was informed that my system would be out of warranty in two days! Yes,
two days. Out of a one year warranty my "brand new" system had two days
left. This thing had been sitting on a shelf somewhere for over a year
since it had been built.
This could only get better, so I pointed out that we had purchased the unit
within the last two weeks. Yes, I was told, my warranty was definitely
going to expire in two days. If I would only fax Compaq the receipt for the
unit, my warranty problems would be solved. Now onto the matter at hand. I
could barely contain myself during a fit of the giggles over the phone.
I explained that the machine was getting power but nothing was happening.
Yes, the monitor was plugged into the back of the computer. Yes, the
monitor was working. Yes, the little lights were on. No, nothing was
happening. No video, no keyboard or mouse response. Yes, the keyboard and
mouse were plugged into the computer. Would I mind opening the unit up and
looking inside? Sure, I can do that.
The technician had me twist, grab, wiggle, move, remove and reinsert
everything not nailed down to the motherboard inside the guts of that PC.
When I removed and reseated the RAM sticks, magic happened! Video and a
mouse response. Loose RAM, the tech observed. Problem fixed, thank you for
calling Compaq.
The next day, I got into the office and started the machine up. Nothing. I
hit the reset button and it booted up to the desktop and froze instantly.
No mouse or keyboard response and Ctrl-Alt-Del did nothing. On the fourth
or fifth reboot, it came up and stayed up the rest of the day. For a week
it would freeze on initial boot up, freeze at some point during the boot
process, freeze at shutdown, freeze at random and just plain freeze. I
called Compaq technical support again.
Hey, what do you know, I got Bangalore, again! Oh Boy! After confirming
that my warranty was now a full year I was ready to get my problem taken
care of. I explained about the previous call, the tech had no information,
other than the fact that my warranty was a full year. I ran him through the
first call, hitting only the high spots, and he said he knew what was wrong.
I would need to format the hard drive and reinstall Windows. Which I can do
by using the set of CD's I burned of the operating system image as Compaq
does not include a Windows disk. The hidden partition contains all that
information and in conjunction with the disks I had burned, I could now fix
my computer. Was I ready to proceed?
Hell no! I stopped the guy right there and we went over the essentials of
my problem. During this, the computer froze. When I reminded him of the
fact that it had arrived with an obvious hardware problem he said that I
would have to send it in to get it fixed as the Presario 6000 model we had
purchased did not have the option of having a local technician come to my
office to fix it. He arranged to send me a pre-paid shipping box and I sent
the PC in for service. Ten days later, I got it back.
I plugged everything in, turned it on and was greeted by the Windows Welcome
Screen and logon. I never set up my systems to use this and I didn't set
this one up to use it. Surprise! I can't logon because I don't have proper
"privileges"! On a reboot, I was able to catch the window that showed the
ASP.NET Administrator user had denied me the use of my computer. I had not
installed the .NET updates prior to shipping the machine off for service.
The techs that replaced the RAM sticks (bad RAM) had installed every update
known to man on the computer. For some reason, Windows decided that I no
longer had the right to use my own machine, so denied me a logon.
I called Compaq technical support. By golly, I got Bangalore! My lucky
day! This time, I got a technician that had evidently just mastered
English. But his name was . . . wait for it . . . Hadji. Yes, Hadji. As
in Jonny Quest! He was very nearly impossible to understand. I read off my
case number and he had no information other than the fact that my warranty
was one year. I carefully explained the problem with the logon and what I
had found as the cause. He knew exactly what my problem was from my
description and was I ready to format the hard drive and reinstall the
operating system and applications? This was the only way to fix my
predicament. Again, hell no!
I reminded him of the fact that I knew that those .NET Framework updates had
screwed up my system and I wanted it fixed and I knew it could be done
without formatting the hard drive. He said the updates were a Windows issue
and I would have to contact them for support of their operating system. I
explained to him that Microsoft will not support OEM installations of their
operating system. He asked me if I was sure my computer had an OEM version
of Windows on it. I couldn't believe it! I asked him if he knew that when
a company like Compaq installs their version of the Windows operating system
that Microsoft will not support it. He didn't know that. He would have to
ask someone, could I hold? Sure, why not, I'm talking to some guy halfway
around the world who doesn't know that he has the same name as a 1960's
cartoon icon and also doesn't know his company must provide the support for
the operating systems on their computers. Why wouldn't I hold?
Hadji comes back and by gosh, he can fix my logon problem without a format.
Two words. System Restore. Of course, I will have to pick a restore point
before the idiots that serviced my computer got their hands on it. That
means downloading and reinstalling about twenty critical updates, with the
exception of anything to do with .NET or .ASP or .NET Framework.
Of course, it works and I can use my computer now. Since my workplace is on
a dialup connection I spend a full day downloading and installing the
updates.
Whatever you buy, for your personal computing needs, do not purchase a
Compaq product!
My office bought me a new desktop a couple of weeks before Christmas.
That's the good news. The bad news is that it is a Compaq. A Presario 6000
series, to be precise. It had Windows XP Home Edition SP2 installed and the
usual overload of crap that companies like Compaq and Gateway seem to
delight in offering the public.
The unit arrived, I hooked it up, turned on the power and it sat there.
Disk spinning, fans blowing and absolutely nothing happening. I called tech
support at Compaq. I actually got through in about two or three minutes. I
was now speaking with a tech in Bangalore, India. I could hear what seemed
to be people cooking dinner in the background. I read off the serial number
and was informed that my system would be out of warranty in two days! Yes,
two days. Out of a one year warranty my "brand new" system had two days
left. This thing had been sitting on a shelf somewhere for over a year
since it had been built.
This could only get better, so I pointed out that we had purchased the unit
within the last two weeks. Yes, I was told, my warranty was definitely
going to expire in two days. If I would only fax Compaq the receipt for the
unit, my warranty problems would be solved. Now onto the matter at hand. I
could barely contain myself during a fit of the giggles over the phone.
I explained that the machine was getting power but nothing was happening.
Yes, the monitor was plugged into the back of the computer. Yes, the
monitor was working. Yes, the little lights were on. No, nothing was
happening. No video, no keyboard or mouse response. Yes, the keyboard and
mouse were plugged into the computer. Would I mind opening the unit up and
looking inside? Sure, I can do that.
The technician had me twist, grab, wiggle, move, remove and reinsert
everything not nailed down to the motherboard inside the guts of that PC.
When I removed and reseated the RAM sticks, magic happened! Video and a
mouse response. Loose RAM, the tech observed. Problem fixed, thank you for
calling Compaq.
The next day, I got into the office and started the machine up. Nothing. I
hit the reset button and it booted up to the desktop and froze instantly.
No mouse or keyboard response and Ctrl-Alt-Del did nothing. On the fourth
or fifth reboot, it came up and stayed up the rest of the day. For a week
it would freeze on initial boot up, freeze at some point during the boot
process, freeze at shutdown, freeze at random and just plain freeze. I
called Compaq technical support again.
Hey, what do you know, I got Bangalore, again! Oh Boy! After confirming
that my warranty was now a full year I was ready to get my problem taken
care of. I explained about the previous call, the tech had no information,
other than the fact that my warranty was a full year. I ran him through the
first call, hitting only the high spots, and he said he knew what was wrong.
I would need to format the hard drive and reinstall Windows. Which I can do
by using the set of CD's I burned of the operating system image as Compaq
does not include a Windows disk. The hidden partition contains all that
information and in conjunction with the disks I had burned, I could now fix
my computer. Was I ready to proceed?
Hell no! I stopped the guy right there and we went over the essentials of
my problem. During this, the computer froze. When I reminded him of the
fact that it had arrived with an obvious hardware problem he said that I
would have to send it in to get it fixed as the Presario 6000 model we had
purchased did not have the option of having a local technician come to my
office to fix it. He arranged to send me a pre-paid shipping box and I sent
the PC in for service. Ten days later, I got it back.
I plugged everything in, turned it on and was greeted by the Windows Welcome
Screen and logon. I never set up my systems to use this and I didn't set
this one up to use it. Surprise! I can't logon because I don't have proper
"privileges"! On a reboot, I was able to catch the window that showed the
ASP.NET Administrator user had denied me the use of my computer. I had not
installed the .NET updates prior to shipping the machine off for service.
The techs that replaced the RAM sticks (bad RAM) had installed every update
known to man on the computer. For some reason, Windows decided that I no
longer had the right to use my own machine, so denied me a logon.
I called Compaq technical support. By golly, I got Bangalore! My lucky
day! This time, I got a technician that had evidently just mastered
English. But his name was . . . wait for it . . . Hadji. Yes, Hadji. As
in Jonny Quest! He was very nearly impossible to understand. I read off my
case number and he had no information other than the fact that my warranty
was one year. I carefully explained the problem with the logon and what I
had found as the cause. He knew exactly what my problem was from my
description and was I ready to format the hard drive and reinstall the
operating system and applications? This was the only way to fix my
predicament. Again, hell no!
I reminded him of the fact that I knew that those .NET Framework updates had
screwed up my system and I wanted it fixed and I knew it could be done
without formatting the hard drive. He said the updates were a Windows issue
and I would have to contact them for support of their operating system. I
explained to him that Microsoft will not support OEM installations of their
operating system. He asked me if I was sure my computer had an OEM version
of Windows on it. I couldn't believe it! I asked him if he knew that when
a company like Compaq installs their version of the Windows operating system
that Microsoft will not support it. He didn't know that. He would have to
ask someone, could I hold? Sure, why not, I'm talking to some guy halfway
around the world who doesn't know that he has the same name as a 1960's
cartoon icon and also doesn't know his company must provide the support for
the operating systems on their computers. Why wouldn't I hold?
Hadji comes back and by gosh, he can fix my logon problem without a format.
Two words. System Restore. Of course, I will have to pick a restore point
before the idiots that serviced my computer got their hands on it. That
means downloading and reinstalling about twenty critical updates, with the
exception of anything to do with .NET or .ASP or .NET Framework.
Of course, it works and I can use my computer now. Since my workplace is on
a dialup connection I spend a full day downloading and installing the
updates.
Whatever you buy, for your personal computing needs, do not purchase a
Compaq product!