Computer woes

[Betty J.]

Ann, it must be contageous.

My old computer finally decided it was about to go--my sons managed to get it back up and running just long enough for me to take care of taking things off of it and put them on my independent hard drive that I had not backed up lately. Then they helped me find the right CPU (it's a desktop, so I only replaced the cpu). But I have been spending all week getting the software right.

Unfortunately, my old Bernina Design software 4.0 does not work...I got it up briefly for a bit and then it crashed the system. It wasn't the computer, I think, but probably the dongle (the USB key) that seems to have failed. Anyway, that's one pricey piece of software to replace, so I'm going to try to get a new dongle instead.

I haven't found my EQ6 disc. Sigh. No matter how careful I am with stuff, I still seem to misplace a thing or two--found the box, but not the disc. I did find EQ5.

But gee this new computer is a lot faster, has a great deal more memory and a whole lot more storage, so once I get all the software issues resolved, I think I'm going to love it.

Cheers, Betty Jo

[Anne B.]

Ann and Nancy, have you been happy with HP's service during your computer troubles?

I once had a PC that was haunted. It kept forgetting that it had a CD drive! HP made TWELVE house calls trying to fix that thing, all at no cost to me, and then finally decided to give me a new computer. I was sure happy with that level of customer service!

I've been buying HP computers ever since.

Anne in Vancouver, Canada

[Anne B.]

Ann and Nancy, have you been happy with HP's service during your computer troubles?

I once had a PC that was haunted. It kept forgetting that it had a CD drive! HP made TWELVE house calls trying to fix that thing, all at no cost to me, and then finally decided to give me a new computer. I was sure happy with that level of customer service!

I've been buying HP computers ever since.

Anne in Vancouver, Canada

Anne,

I'm happy now that everything is fixed. However, I was quoted several different costs and warranties each time I spoke to a different HP customer service rep. Since their prices for repair services are not published anywhere, I have no idea if I was billed a fair standard price. Also, I had to call AT&T Yahoo Service to get a phone number for HP repair, because HP's phone numbers are also not published in the telephone directory. My greatest concern is regarding identity theft. When I shipped it in for repair, I had to give HP my password to get into the PC. My husband and I had a lot of personal data files on our hard drive. In today's financial climate, I am not very trusting that my data would be secure in the hands of an HP employee. Sometimes we just have to walk in faith.

[Anne B.]

Just FYI - I spoke too soon. After spending a week restoring data and software on my recently repaired PC, it died again. Since my initial reair included a 3-month warranty, HP is sending an in-home repair technician (possibly from the "Geek Squad") to my home on Thursday. In the meantime, I'm using a borrowed PC. My fingers are crossed in hopes that this next repair will do the trick.

[Margo C.]

Isn't it awful how lost we feel without our computers??? Mine really needs a trip to my local geek, but I just hate the thought of having to do without it for a few days!!! :?

[Margo C.]

I'm so lucky-My geeks are "in-house"! :wink:

[Margo C.]

My in-house geek keeps laughing at my questions. :? I've told him it could be worse, I could NOT ask the questions. :lol:

Jean in Windsor, ON where it might be spring

[Annette R.]

My computer is now home and it apparently had some kind of factory defect which caused the mother board to crash. It was sent back to HP for the defective part and is now home and settling in just fine. No pictures or data were lost and and all of my programs still work. (I was hoping to have an excuse to buy a new cardmaking program and picture program because I am not satisfied with what I have but now don't have a ready excuse so I guess I will have to wait. But it sure is nice to have ready access to my computer and my pictures.

Hope everyone else has gotten their computers fixed too.

Hugs, Ann

[Pam D.]

Ann

It's good to hear that you have your computer back and working. We have missed you! Hugs Pam

[Pam D.]

I'm mentioning this because it just might help someone out there. After my last post to this topic, the technician installed another new motherboard--that didn't fix the problem. Then he installed another new video card--nope, that didn't fix it either. So, I had to ship my PC back to Dallas for a second time within a few weeks. It was returned with a third new video card and, sadly, another new hard drive. Again, all of my software was restored back to "factory settings" as when it was new in 2006--at least that's what I was told. Additionally, all of my data files erased.

I have an HP Pavillion Media Center that allows me to watch TV on my PC monitor in one window, while running TQS in another window, Word in another, Outlook Express in another, etc. Unbeknown to me, at first, the new video card was not the same as the original PC equipment. I suppose that HP no longer had any more 2006 video cards. So with the new video card, new NVIDIA video display software was installed onto my repaired PC. It's new and improved for digital video, so that's good. The bad news is that the TV did not work correctly--the TV controls would disappear anytime I would maximize or restore the size of the TV window.

I spent most of the day yesterday on the phone and in online chats with HP Support to get my problem resolved to no avail. First, they suggested that I send my PC back to Dallas for a third time within a month--NO WAY!!! Then, HP strongly suggested that I do yet another system recovery--again, No Way! I thought the system recoveries caused the TV problem since it wasn't an issue before my original repair.

I called my son in frustration and within an hour, he helped me resolve the problem. When HP installed the new video card and new NVIDIA software, it was installed with an incompatible older NVIDIA driver. My son directed me to the authorized website to download the updated driver. Problem fixed. I think HP should pay my son for his technical support and apologize to me for my time wasted.

If you are still reading this, I appreciate your allowing me to vent.

[Pam D.]

Hugs to your son. Sounds like we need his phone number for further problems on our puters. LOL Hope this fixes all your issues and no more problems. Sandi in FL

[Pam D.]

Nancy, isn't it great tol have a son who "knows" things?

Ann, its great to have you back!

[Lynn K.]

Whew! You guys must be so frustrated! Well so was I last year when I downloaded the update for my PC as instructed by Microsoft and immediately ceased to have Outlook or any files associated with it. After about an hour on the phone with a Geek and discovering that this happened to many folks, and sometimes MS could fix and sometimes not - - - - - - - - - - - -

I BOUGHT AN APPLE!

Best decision I ever made. Yes, a little costly, but now when I have a problem I have that old fashioned thing called SERVICE!!!!

Lynn

[Beth A.]

Our PC died a couple of months ago and we bought a new Mac. I love it, but am frustrated that some of my old software doesn't work. I MISS MY WORDPERFECT!!! We got the Fusion software to run PC programs on the Mac, but I haven't figured out yet how to really use WordPerfect with a Mac keyboard.

But I love the big, beautiful graphics on my screen, I love watching TQS shows and seeing all the detail, and most of all, I LOVE HAVING A COMPUTER THAT DOESN'T CRASH EVERY OTHER DAY!!!!

BethMI