New laptop keeps crashing

[Alison556]

We got my niece a Compaq laptop for her Christmas running the dreaded Vista.

Problem is, it keeps crashing. You can be sitting doing something then all of a sudden the screen goes black and you can't do anything. You can't log off, switch off, restart or use Task Manager to shut it down. The only solution is to physically switch it off then when it restarts, it's saying that Windows needs to run emergency recovery (I think), then it starts up again.

Took it to PC World (where we got it from and I'm paying a bloomin support contract for it) and the best advice I got was that it was a software problem and to run the recovery disc. This is a pain in the backside since I'd have to reset up everything on it and it seems a bit off that a computer that isn't even two months old has a software problem.

Anybody have any ideas or have similar problems with Vista?

 

[Igorian]

Have you looked in the event viewer for clues?

 

[Alison556]

No, didn't know it existed!!! Thanks, I will look at that later.

 

[cjard]

Heh, I can't believe that you were told that you'd have to fix it; that's what the support contract is for?!

 

[Igorian]

Heh, I can't believe that you were told that you'd have to fix it; that's what the support contract is for?!

Not necessarily. Especially if they suspect a software fault which can be rectified by the end user.

You have to play hard with these places until you get what you want.

 

[Trazor]

You have a support contract and at least 1 years gaurantee, take it back and demand they either replace or fix it.

 

[Alison556]

Well I looked at the Event Viewer - and that's about all I did cos I didn't have a clue what I was looking for!!!!

According to PC World, they don't actually fix them in store. I have to phone an 0870 number for support - yeah, right, fine. Won't be doing that.

In amongst the crashing problem, I asked them what codecs she would need on it for Media Player to play DVDs cos there was sound and no picture. Go on the internet and look for them. What the hell am I paying support for, I asks. Certainly not codecs he replies!

Despite when I bought the support being told that if I needed any help with setting it up, bring it into the store and they'd help me!!!!

I can feel a trip to back coming on and an argument brewing!

Am I unreasonable in thinking that I shouldn't have to be reinstalling the operating system on a less than two month old computer?

 

[tim west]

Sounds like the support contract is not doing the job you intended it to when purchasing it, can you get a refund for it under the consumer act?

 

[chainsaw_masochist]

You may find this useful, Alison.

 

[Alison556]

Tim, I reckon I can cancel the contract no problem - it's paid on a monthly basis and the guy says that I could cancel it at any time. One saving grace is that it was paid for from my credit card.

CM - that makes for interesting reading! Thanks.

 

[cjard]

Am I unreasonable in thinking that I shouldn't have to be reinstalling the operating system on a less than two month old computer?

That would rather depend on what you'd done to it.. I can think of plenty of things a computer can have done to it within hours of opening the box that would render a reinstall necessary. Check the terms of the support contract

 

[cjard]

In amongst the crashing problem, I asked them what codecs she would need on it for Media Player to play DVDs cos there was sound and no picture

Bit more of a tricky one because, to my knowledge, there isnt a preinstalled codec that plays DVDs; you have some licensed software like WinDVD or Cyberlink PowerDVD (or the wmp plugin version of those apps) installed and WMP uses that to play. If you havent got a licensed MPEG2 decoder installed, WMP won't play the DVD. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/plugins.aspx Allows you to buy a WMP compatible decoder.

Alternately, VLC is a free media player that plays DVD content, available from www.videolan.org

 

[Igorian]

Well I looked at the Event Viewer - and that's about all I did cos I didn't have a clue what I was looking for!!!!

You are looking for errors and warnings, mainly in the application and system logs. If you post details of them here, we might be able to help.

Reloading the system mightbe the quickest solution. Perhaps invest in a copy of Ghost and make an image when yiu have a good basic setup the way you want it. I suppose you could use system restore if you have to.

IMHO, PC World and their derivatives suck and I wouldn't recommend buying from them. They are good for looking for ideas perhaps and the odd demo.