When you get this all sorted out, can you please update NaughtyRobynlikesAirmenSemen.com? There has been nothing new there for over a month!
As someone who does tech support for a living, you sure sound like you’re defending the tech. The tech was a fucking moron and if he accidentally let anything install, he’s completely incompetent. You don’t install extraneous software. And for a hardware issue he shouldn’t be making any software changes whatsoever.
You’re giving him possible excuses that are, to someone who works in the field, absolute bullshit.
I don’t see that. **THespos **said that the technician was incompetent, just as you are.
Hey, maybe zweisamkeit isn’t incompetent, he’s just busy.
(You set 'em up, I knock 'em down.)
Doors, did you go into the add-on control panel, (tools, add-ons), disable it, then restart the browser?
I have just re-read my post. I can see that the way I phrased it could be misconstrued. :o
Just to set the record straight, that should have read:
…just as you are saying.
Well, this turned out to be remarkably prescient. The plot thickens…
So I get all the crap off the computer and decide to do all the updates I have overlooked (it’s kinda hard to update in the desert on slower-than-dialup connections), and I download Service Pack 2, thinking hey, that’s what I am supposed to do.
Yeah.
So the computer goes through the shutdown and the first two stages of installation, then it freezes with an error code that indicates something that nobody should ever have to see on a computer: Catastrophic Failure. Thanks, Microsoft. You know a program is good when you follow all of the directions and the program fails to function as advertised. What else is new, right?
So I checked the stuff that HP packaged with the computer, and lo and behold, there were no recovery disks. The computer is supposed to have the ability to recover on its own, be it with System Restore or System Recovery. System Restore didn’t work, so I backed up my entire computer overnight onto an external hard drive I got just for the occasion. The computer said it worked and I haven’t checked on our other laptop yet, so I assume it worked. Then I activated System Recovery, which is supposed to restore factory presets, and it reset automatically.
Didn’t work.
Now the only thing I get is “BOOTMGR is missing”. My computer has ceased to be. It is now a paperweight. But hey, I can order recovery disks from HP, right? Sure can, only I pay the shipping on them. For something that they should have included to begin with. They very magnanimously informed me that I am getting the software for free, though, so that’s something.
You watch. The recovery disks won’t work. The way things are going I can all but guarantee it. We’ll find out tomorrow (allegedly). Stay tuned for more of the soap opera that my computer has become.
I do note that none of the above has anything to do with what the tech did (I presume), but since I just started this thread I figured I’d drop this in here rather than start a new one. Besides, this may go to 15 pages just on the strength of my posts the way things are going.
I’m not a computer person but. . how do you know that? I mean, if it happened immediately after you had to waste your time going through and deleting all the bullshit they loaded on your system, then it sounds to me like it’s logical to assume they are responsible.
Or your computer is just a piece of crap that breaks a lot.
Unfortunately, that’s been my experience with HP laptops.
Are you kidding? Who do you think pressured (paid) the repairperson and/or repair company to install the HP crapware to begin with?
That’s been my experience with laptops in general. Occasionally you’ll find one that’s built like a tank and takes everything you ever dish at it, and still performs well(usually older IBM thinkpads) but most laptops are shit.
Enjoy,
Steven
It shouldn’t be forgotten that nearly all laptops are basically the same. They all have components and software made by reputable manufacturers: Intel, AMD, Seagate, nVidia, Microsoft for example. (I am aware that the door is wide open for snide comments, particularly in the last example, but I hope you know what I mean.) The laptop manufacturer can affect the reliability of its product in a few ways; for example, how it controls air flow to minimize heating problems, but, generally, the ingredients don’t vary much between manufacturers.
To take the ‘built like a tank’ comment: yes, some manufacturers use stronger casing materials, and yes, there can be variations between how carefully (in terms of tolerances) they are screwed/moulded together, but that is more likely to affect the longevity of the product rather than its reliability.
I think it’s largely luck - and crucially, what is done with the laptop after purchase - both to the software and physically - that affects the performance, and the likelihood of problems occurring.
I said upstream that I have worked in businesses that repaired computers, and sometimes when laptops were opened up, the crud and detritus that was found there was extraordinary. More mundanely, it is certainly not unusual for the air vents to be blocked by dust, thereby causing overheating.
I’m not suggesting that the OPs’ problems have anything to do with the above BTW.