MS Tech Support [RANT]

CJones

CJones

Final Approach
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uHaveNoIdea
I got my hands on a freebie Compaq laptop for my wife. A few weeks after we had it, the HDD took a dive. No problem. After posting here, I went and got another HDD, popped it in and away we go. Since it was a freebie laptop to begin with, of course we didn't have the original "System Restore" or OS Install CD, so I just used the Win XP install CD that came with my desktop and I figured I would just put in the Prod ID number stamped on the back of the laptop to 'activate' the OS.

Installed, ok. D/L some extra drivers that weren't on the desktop's install CD specific for the laptop and got things working decently. Now to activate the OS. Hmmm.. Doesn't like the laptop's PID. Try the desktop's PID. Still nothing. Oh well, I guess I'll have to call MS and explain the situation and get a compatible PID. Call the '888' number provided on the Activation Screen - go through the steps of giving them 10,000 digits of info. They say the 'installation id' is basically an OEM number and I should contact the manufacturer. In the end, the computer voice tells me, and I QUOTE - "Please call back when you have this straightened out." GRRRR... Look up another "866" number on MS's website. Go through 1,000 menus to be told once again "We're sorry. This is a [OEM] number. Please contact the manufacturer. <click>" BUT YOU S.O.B.'s ARE the manufacturers of the operating system!!!!!! Look around on the MS Support site more and find out "We can help you for the low low price of $59 per incident."

*sigh* Go to Compaq website. Try the "Live Support Chat" b/c I know I don't want to deal with Amala Abdula Ashmala Kumala on the phone right now. Tell them what's going on with another set of 10,000 ID codes. They say "We're sorry, your device is out of warranty. We can still help you for $25 per incident." I say "No thanks!".

So I call dad up (where I got the computer from to begin with). Tell him to go back and talk to the lady he got the computer from (I used to work with her when I did my internship there) that is in charge of setting up new machines, etc. Tell him to ask her for a System Restore CD for this laptop.

What a joke. It's no wonder that people consider MS the bad boy on the block. Sure, their stuff is powerful and easy to use, but good grief, if it ever breaks it takes an act of congress (or an anti-trust lawsuit) to get anything done with them!!!

/rant
 
HP (Compaq) has been great at replacement CDs. I've had to obtain replacement copies of restore CDs from them twice before. In one case, the computer was still within the year warranty so the disk was free. In the other case, it cost me ten bucks for the two disks.

Another time, I needed only one of a four-disk set for a Gateway. That one disk (drivers) cost $35. I liked the computer even less when its intermittently-working power supply turned out to be proprietary. When I do start it up, it just sits in the corner and gives me an animated radar image.
 
mikea said:
Burn a CD of Ubuntu. Boot with the CD in the drive, let it repartition to make space for itself. Reboot. You won't need Windows, although it'll be there.

http://www.ubuntu.com/products/GetUbuntu/download#currentrelease
Click to expand...

I'll second that. This PC I'm on right now is running on Ubuntu's distro of Linux. Works great. And it's all free.

Like someone else mentioned .. you can get recovery CD's for the laptop. I
just had to order some for an HP laptop that the hard drive died. I think they
were around 25 bucks if I remember right.

RT
 
I LOVE Ubuntu for the Linux world.

However the last time I looked the software that interfaces my Calendar and Contacts from Office into my Razor only works in Windows.

So does 99% of the games I play, the flight planning software, etc.

So, if ALL you are going to do is light computer use and surf the Internet, get Ubuntu. However to tell someone that they will not need Windows is shortsighted, it will ALL depend on what they want to do with the laptop.
 
CJones said:
Installed, ok. D/L some extra drivers that weren't on the desktop's install CD specific for the laptop and got things working decently. Now to activate the OS. Hmmm.. Doesn't like the laptop's PID. Try the desktop's PID. Still nothing. Oh well, I guess I'll have to call MS and explain the situation and get a compatible PID. Call the '888' number provided on the Activation Screen - go through the steps of giving them 10,000 digits of info. They say the 'installation id' is basically an OEM number and I should contact the manufacturer. In the end, the computer voice tells me, and I QUOTE - "Please call back when you have this straightened out." GRRRR... Look up another "866" number on MS's website. Go through 1,000 menus to be told once again "We're sorry. This is a [OEM] number. Please contact the manufacturer. <click>" BUT YOU S.O.B.'s ARE the manufacturers of the operating system!!!!!! Look around on the MS Support site more and find out "We can help you for the low low price of $59 per incident."
Click to expand...

Weird. I've called that activation number probably at least one hundred times and have never had them not provide me with a code to activate. Was the CD you used from your desktop a standard windows installation cd that required that you type in your product key at some phase? Or was it more of just an image of your desktop? I've *never* had problems if you use an actual Windows XP OEM CD followed by typing the product key for the machine in. The system should have a sticker on it with the product key. Sometimes I have to do the telephone activation and I've never had a problem.
 
Last edited:
I, also, have used a "generic" XP install disk, and used the product key from the sticker on the computer (it was licensed for XP, but the original distro disks were lost), with no difficulty of any kind.
 
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