Continuing saga of the computer/s from hell
So hey, whoopee! New Alienware computer to replace Godzilla. Alienware PROMISED me that NO PART of the new one would have touched the old one. A complete rebuild, from scratch. Spiffy!
It arrived last week and is a bit more compact, has BLUE glowing eyes instead of green ones, only one hard-drive instead of 2, but more RAM. A newer video card. Other neat stuff. Still 67 pounds of computer, but easier to pick up since they redesigned the case. Cool!
We set it up. It whirred into action. WoW colors were intense - more brilliant than ever before. It was FASTER! Yay! Problem solved, finally, after two years!!
Until yesterday.
Yesterday, the machine froze up in the middle of a download of a patch for my HP printer. On starting it back up, it thought it had finished the download and attempted to install it. This caused multiple blue-screens-of-death (BSoD) and the machine proved its speed by blue-screening and shutting itself down too fast for me to even read the error messages. Over and over. This facilitated a new call to Alienware tech support (they panic when they hear my voice now) and a lot of attempts to solve the problem which finally led to them having us reformat the hard drive last night.
This reformat still wasn't done after three hours. When it finally finished it gave a BSoD along the lines of "your computer is completely screwed and is shutting down so it won't explode". At this point I gave up and went to bed. I'm at work today and Cheryl has picked up the torch. I have had this series of emails today from her:
I re-reformated the hd this morning then installed windowzzzzz and called alienware to get their help reinstalling drivers. After a LOT of fooling around later with network connections, my computer (to get the drivers since your machine magically suddenly doesn't keep connection for more than 5 minutes) our modem and the alienware web site it seems there is something wrong with your computer. Hmm surprise. Turns out the reformat shouldn't have taken 3 hours to complete either time. This minute I am waiting for another 5 or 10 minutes to pass before I call them to let the know the most recent thing they asked me to do is still running instead of being done in at most 20 minutes. He thinks it is your hard-drive... or the freaking phase of the moon.
That hard drive isn't the original one and we know that since it is a single drive and the last machine had two in it to get the same total space.
Okay, I'm going to send this then get on the phone again.
*********
Just got off the phone with Allen (must have been his turn in the barrel) and he is sending out a **drum roll** new hard drive! He said they'd expedite it. I asked him if he had ever seen this much trouble with one system and he said no. I asked him what he would do after 2 years and $7000 and he said, "I would try this, it shouldn't be complicated.". I laughed bitterly and told him that if this doesn't fix it after all that while when we have been told that we couldn't get a refund that we would be talking to our lawyer. I am sure he will be losing sleep now you bet cha.
will to live fading...
**goes outside to find a small living thing to mutilate**
**********
From:
> Who is going to install this new hard drive? Should we just eliminate
> problems and have them also send a new video card, new sound card, new
> power supply, new motherboard and then the next machine along with
> this one?
> Chenaya
Their tech (whose turn in the barrel will have come up, poor bastard) will know when the drive arrives and will crawl on his belly to our home naked with a ball gag clenched in his teeth.
Cheryl
(I do love my roommate. I can't say the same for Alienware. Can anyone tell me why I am cursed?)
It arrived last week and is a bit more compact, has BLUE glowing eyes instead of green ones, only one hard-drive instead of 2, but more RAM. A newer video card. Other neat stuff. Still 67 pounds of computer, but easier to pick up since they redesigned the case. Cool!
We set it up. It whirred into action. WoW colors were intense - more brilliant than ever before. It was FASTER! Yay! Problem solved, finally, after two years!!
Until yesterday.
Yesterday, the machine froze up in the middle of a download of a patch for my HP printer. On starting it back up, it thought it had finished the download and attempted to install it. This caused multiple blue-screens-of-death (BSoD) and the machine proved its speed by blue-screening and shutting itself down too fast for me to even read the error messages. Over and over. This facilitated a new call to Alienware tech support (they panic when they hear my voice now) and a lot of attempts to solve the problem which finally led to them having us reformat the hard drive last night.
This reformat still wasn't done after three hours. When it finally finished it gave a BSoD along the lines of "your computer is completely screwed and is shutting down so it won't explode". At this point I gave up and went to bed. I'm at work today and Cheryl has picked up the torch. I have had this series of emails today from her:
I re-reformated the hd this morning then installed windowzzzzz and called alienware to get their help reinstalling drivers. After a LOT of fooling around later with network connections, my computer (to get the drivers since your machine magically suddenly doesn't keep connection for more than 5 minutes) our modem and the alienware web site it seems there is something wrong with your computer. Hmm surprise. Turns out the reformat shouldn't have taken 3 hours to complete either time. This minute I am waiting for another 5 or 10 minutes to pass before I call them to let the know the most recent thing they asked me to do is still running instead of being done in at most 20 minutes. He thinks it is your hard-drive... or the freaking phase of the moon.
That hard drive isn't the original one and we know that since it is a single drive and the last machine had two in it to get the same total space.
Okay, I'm going to send this then get on the phone again.
*********
Just got off the phone with Allen (must have been his turn in the barrel) and he is sending out a **drum roll** new hard drive! He said they'd expedite it. I asked him if he had ever seen this much trouble with one system and he said no. I asked him what he would do after 2 years and $7000 and he said, "I would try this, it shouldn't be complicated.". I laughed bitterly and told him that if this doesn't fix it after all that while when we have been told that we couldn't get a refund that we would be talking to our lawyer. I am sure he will be losing sleep now you bet cha.
will to live fading...
**goes outside to find a small living thing to mutilate**
**********
From:
> Who is going to install this new hard drive? Should we just eliminate
> problems and have them also send a new video card, new sound card, new
> power supply, new motherboard and then the next machine along with
> this one?
> Chenaya
Their tech (whose turn in the barrel will have come up, poor bastard) will know when the drive arrives and will crawl on his belly to our home naked with a ball gag clenched in his teeth.
Cheryl
(I do love my roommate. I can't say the same for Alienware. Can anyone tell me why I am cursed?)