I just recently purchased a new computer, after 9 years of service from my HP with Windows 98. I know, time to join the 21st century, right? My question revolves around a continuing problem I seem to have inherited. I had the Geek Squad open it up before I took it home, to check if it was a dud plus other security issues. Maybe this is a Windows Vista problem, I don’t really have much experience with computer problems. Over the past 5 days of light use, my new computer has, on many occasions, suddenly gone blue without warning, and the message says that “due to a wait operation, attach process, or yield attempted from a DPC routine”, that the program is shutting down. It also mentions “dumping physical memory to disk”, which sounds ominous to my pee-sized computer illiterate brain.
This NEVER happened on the old HP, in fact in 9 years of usage I can count on one hand the number of times I had a problem, blue screen, or freeze up.
Should I take the tower back to the store for a check up, or is there anyone out there who can make sense of why this continues to happen? And if someone would be so kind as to advise me how to trouble shoot it myself, I would be very happy.
Many thanks in advance, and please don’t just say “Vista sucks” because I’ve already heard it a million times.
Sounds like you have a big problem with something installed on the machine. A bad driver or program could cause a crash. Make sure you’ve run Windows Update and have all the latest drivers for your computer.
Personally, I’d simply format the computer and start from scratch installing what I need. Most new computers come with so much crap and bloatware, it’s crippled out of the box.
So true. My advice is to always insist, when buying a computer, that they provide one totally free of any trialware or other garbage, and especially AOL! And never with any antivirus or antispyware programs. The latter you can buy yourself, or get very good free ones that are easy to install and run.
You should absolutely take it back to the shop and say “fix it”, and they should do it absolutely free of charge or give you another one. You wouldn’t put up with that from any other appliance, like a car.
Were it mine I would buy a copy of XP with SP2 pre-applied, and wipe the machine and do a new install on it. But that’s an extra cost you don’t have to bear, and you don’t seem to confident with doing your own PC work.
Actually you could mix the two approaches, and when you take it back say “BTW while you work on it can you re-format and install XP with SP2 please?”.
Return it, immediately, and get a different one, of a different brand if possible. This is absolutely something you should not put up with in a new computer. Ask for the manager, and be an utter pain in the ass until they make this happen.
ETA: by “pain in the ass”, I mean “polite but firm” – the product you bought doesn’t work right, and this is not acceptable. Escalate slowly but inexorably. Don’t deal with underlings, ask for their supervisor. Do not leave until you have a new system.
You bought it at Best Buy? :smack:
Heed squeegee’s advice. Now. Accept nothing less than your complete satisfaction. Better still, return it for a refund. Then head over to the Consumerist web site and search their Best Buy / Geek Squad horror stories.
And if they try to tell you you have to buy a new copy of windows you can downgrade to XP pro for free on Vista Business or ultimate. If you have basic or home premium no such luck.
I thought I heard you could downgrade from Home premium to XP home but I cant find a cite.
Can you elaborate on “security issues”? Vista is an unassailable fortress compared to XP and is far more virus/spyware resistant running naked out of the box than XP boxes of a few years ago running decent basic security software.
Before I started building my own, whenever I bought a new computer I would immediately format the hard drive and reinstall a clean version of the OS.
While Vista does suck like the Devil’s Hoover, opps, sorry - I doubt this is a specifically Vista issue - it really shouldn’t be blue-screening on a lightly used new box.
Take it back!
Get your money back or get a replacement. It may be a pain if they insist on seeing it fall over in the shop, but stand firm
Don’t try to change to XP or whatever before getting a stable Vista machine running, the problem might be hardware related (loose/duff memory, overheating etc) - if the shop muppets see you’ve changed the OS they’re likely to deflect the blame onto your install