2/6/08

Personal IT - Part 2

Let's just start off with a good ole Foamy Tech Support Rant (this is a different one).....



Sooooooo, I get a phone call from my daughter.

Child: Ma! Should I buy a new laptop?
Me: Why would you do that. What's wrong with the one you got?
Child: Well, it won't boot to Windows. It gets stuck during the boot process. I can't do anything.
Me: Uh Huh. What do you want me to do?
Child: What computer should I buy?....or Ahhh, can you look at my laptop for me?

Kill me now.

So, she brings it over. After getting the computer to run a diagnostic and my mother and I looking up the error codes that we got, we figured out that either the hard drive has failed or the operating system is corrupted. Another 30 min online at online support, I can't find anything on how to fix the problem myself. We have to call tech support and guess what?....the computer is out of warrenty. We get "Varnum" on the phone and Erin agrees to the $39.00 support fee. We are off. After I convinced him that I have done the 1st 5 things he suggested, he decides to finally look up the 3 error codes that I had already collected.

Guess what? It is not the hard drive. It's the operating system and we only have to reinstall (which means Erin will lose everything on her computer). Erin balks (ARE YOU STOOOPIT). She wants to know how much for them to see if they can recover the PICTURES on her computer. Let's see...$159 just for the tech to look at the computer and then it starts at $100 and up for the recover/backup fee...plus you will be without a computer for 10+days. OR we can reinstall the operating system in 10 minutes and you can download you pictures back off of Sli.de and Fac.e.book....for $39... She saw the light.

It actually took 30 minutes to reinstall, adjust settings, and reconfigure stuff, but she saved about $800 dollars. Didn't offer Mom a dime. Just poured me a glass of wine. Hmmmm.

Saving the world, one laptop at a time.

2 comments:

  1. LMAO @ saving the world one laptop at a time! I feel the child's pain. I received my bright, shiny new laptop yesterday and I'm a happy girl!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes but can you fix the mechanical stuff?????Hmmmmm?????I need a new laptop MUCH worse then Erin does!

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