Posted: 9/6/2007 8:04:45 PM EDT
Fuck them. Fuck them and the goats they rode in on. Fucking mother fucking fuckers.  I've been having problems with my work laptop, a Latitude D610. Over the past three or four days, it's started bogging down badly. It takes a lot longer to start up, a lot longer to shut down, and runs like shit if there's more than one program running at a time (which I do often; I'll have diagnostic software going with the online service manual pulled up in Internet Explorer - in it's current shape, that just won't work at all). It's especially noticeable if I have music running at the same time, my sound gets real choppy and cuts out. It started doing this about three or four days ago. Thinking it may have been me, I run AVG to scan for viruses, I have a ZoneAlarm firewall installed and the PC sits behind a router. I run SpyBot to search for any malware, none found, clean as a whistle (I do all my pron surfing at home on a different computer, thank you very much  ). Delete all my cookies and temp files, run defrag and check disc, I even rode out to Circuit City and bought another 512MB worth of RAM, figuring it couldn't hurt. No dice.My Google-fu tells me that other Latitude owners have had hard drives replaced before for similar concerns, but I digress. Okay, off to Dell.com - they've got this online assistance thing, they call DellConnect, where one of their tech guys can remotely connect to the computer and surf around, adjusting and fixing things on the fly. Sounds easy enough, and I don't have to deal with the Samirs on the telephone. The first guy, Agent Wilfried, hooks up and cruises around, adjusting some memory settings and deleting more files, seems to have his shit together, gets done and remotely restarts my computer. It fires back up, starts up like gangbusters, runs pretty good, I thank him and go about my business. It works for about 15 minutes and slams into the fucking ground like Jake Brown did on the Megaramp at the X-Games. Close everything down, go back to the online assistance thing and I get Agent Sushil (oh shit, here we go...) He goes into the msconfig file and starts clicking on things at random, I mean, Wilfried seemed to have a sense of direction, this dude is just opening things and clicking stuff to see what it'll do. He disables a bunch of shit in msconfig, I forget what exactly, sorry I'm not a computer guy (obviously), and remotely restarts the PC. Well, it seems he disabled my network card so I couldn't reconnect to the net to continue his experimentation session. Not knowing WTF to do, I did a system restore to get back online. Tonight, I figure third time's a charm, so I tried the online help thing again. Got Agent Harpreet (fuck...) this time, and his supervisor, Supervisor Surojit (fuck...can't I get like an Agent Jones, or Johnson, or Williams, or Smith?) Harpreet doesn't even try the remote connection thing, he automatically believes something's fucked up in Windoze and instructs me to back up all my important info. He says he'll call me back at 10:30, remote connect to my computer and wipe it clean and set it back up. Okay, no problem, this is at around 9PM BTW. Supervisor Surojit meanwhile is apologizing profusely at the clusterfucking Agent Sushil gave my machine on the second go around. I back my info up and wait. And wait. I got a phone call at about 11:15PM (better late than never, I guess, what is it, like 0600 over in India now?) from Agent...I dunno what the fuck his name is, he spoke broken English with a heavy foreign accent, I could only make out every other word. He tells me to shut my PC down, and when it restarts to hold down Cntl and hit F11. That's supposed to bring up some menu where I can do a PC restore or something I tried that three different times, no go. So he offers to send me some Windoze installation discs so I can reinstall the OS. Now, maybe it's just me, but I see something fundamentally flawed with that. This fucking computer is under warranty. Until September 1, 2009. Why the fuck am I having to fix it?! That'd be like me telling a customer that owns a new F150 with a blown up engine, "Don't bother bringing your truck in, just keep it at your house and I'll drop ship a replacement engine to you." I mean, damn, if I fucked it up, fine, let me know and I'll pay to fix it, but otherwise why the fuck am I having to fix my computer that's under warranty?! Anyways, Agent...whatever says he has to put a request in for the replacement discs (which I already have...I told him this two or three times, but he didnt wanna listen...) and that he'll call me back once he gets the okay. I hang up and he calls back ten minutes later or so, saying the discs are on the way. Again, I say, "But I have discs labeled 'Windows XP installation,' they came with the computer..." He tells me the discs will be here by Monday or Tuesday. Fuck it, I don't give a shit, I'm tired and frustrated, whatever you turban wearing motherfucker, I'll call you back when I get those discs, okay? Mother fuckers. All of 'em. Is there actually any PC company that has tech support in the good ol' USA? "Award Winning Tech Support" my ass. |
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Your computer is working just fine, it is Windows that is messed up. I guess you bought some kind of warrantee which helps you with your software. (Sucker born every minute) Dell fixes problems with the hardware, the software (Windows) in not made by them. When the screen fails it is Dells problem, when Windows fails it is your problem. Dude just buy a pen and some paper and you will be fine, Computers are not intended for all people. |
If I could do my job with just a pen and some paper, I'd be thrilled. I'm 25 years old and I don't especially care for computers anymore, but it's not like I have a choice in my field. I'm more upset at the lousy, outsourced customer service than anything else. |
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i hate to be blunt. but 90% of the time if the hardware diagnostics pass your hardware it is a software problem. occasionally it can be a harddrive or stick of memory but its rare  SOFTWARE is not covered under warranty. if you get a virus they are not responsible to fix it. im not sticking up for dell, this is just the way it is. I have been fixing computers for the last 8 years. i know how you feel, i talk with dell more than ANY end user on this website i guarantee it. after you installed the memory did you run the hardware diags again? to make sure the memory is passing? good luck  |
I don't know what all hardware diagnostics there are to do. I ran Defrag and Chkdsk before and after adding the memory, and neither found anything out of the ordinary. One of those tech guys, I forgot which, was gonna give me some instructions to run a hard drive diagnostic (whatever that is, if it's beyond chkdsk or defrag), but he never got back to me. ETA - And blunt? Hell, that's what Arfcom is...I'm waiting for the guys to come along saying I'm a whiny little bitch.
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Running on the assumption that you can afford to loose all the data on the laptop, (as I have yet to hear you say you restored the SW from backup  ) Get a large magnet and sit it on the keyboard. Contact Dell. Tell them the computer reports" boot disk failure". Send in the laptop for repair. |
One of the tech guys on the phone wanted me to hold down the Control key and hit F11 while the computer was starting up, but nothing ever happened. I tried it three or four times. What was that supposed to do? |
got a phone number for this? i've always had to talkt to a foreigner to order parts ? |
I got three CDs that came with the computer when I got it. Two are blue, one says "For Reinstalling Cyberlink PowerDVD Software" and the other says "For Reinstalling Sonic RecordNow 7.3 Deluxe Software." The third one is green and says "Reinstallation CD Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2." I take it the green one is the only one I'll need, right? |
you need to keep them all. but the green one is to reinstall the operating system yes |
Thanks! I'm in Dell Server Support. We rock. I would HATE to deal with client products again (portables and desktops). When I worked in portables support years ago, I was of the opinion that EVERY company out there handed out portables to EVERY schmuck that came through the door. Most users don't know their ass from a command prompt, so they usually exacerbate their own problems. Not bashin on you Quintin, but a little knowledge would help you greatly. A lot of stuff on computers is NOT rocket science or brain surgery. I'd suggest this: When the computer bogs down, hit CTRL+ALT+DELETE then click on the Processes tab. Find which process is hogging up the CPU usage. If you don't know what the process name in the left column refers to, google it, you'll find out what it is. If it's a program, and you need to use it, I'd recommend uninstalling it, then reinstall it. If it's a system process, there might be problems that require a reinstall. Have your IT guys do it. And remember, virus scans, chkdsk and defrag are PREVENTATIVE tools, not repair tools. You need to do them before you have problems, like changing your oil before your engine seizes. Running a computer smartly isn't rocket science, like I've mentioned. It's relatively easy to figure out most problems. |
Dell parts replacement website for corporate clients. Works like this: A) Buy a million dollars worth of their stuff B) Pay them a grand for "processing fees." C) Take their easy ass online exams D) You get a login and they pay you a fixed rate for every part you have to replace. |
Warranty Parts Direct. If you frequently have to replace parts, it's worth it. Keeps you off my phone, too! |
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Interesting to see someone from Dell Server Support on this site. They (Dell) are improving their customer support more and more every day. Our account representative said that their number one complaint with support was not being able to understand the technicians. They have already put excellent English speakers for most of the business tech support, and their next step is the 'home user' side of tech support. Oh and for the OP; backup, format, and reinstall. |
I can pretty much deal with any issue my servers have. However if there is a flakey raid controller or something mother board releated that I can't pin point the few times I have had to call server support have been very good. I was impressed with the expertise. Matt is there any reason why it appears all the desktop/laptop support is handled by Indians and the server support seems to be handled by english speaking Americans? |
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I know one thing, I am never buying a Dell again. I paid $1500 for the one I have now. The do not ship restore disks (at least not with mine), as they have a ghost partition on the drive. I called and asked what key combination to press during startup to access the restore menu. They said "That is software, you will have to pay us $99 if you want us to tell you." I said "WTF? I am not asking you to troubleshoot aftermarket or even pre-installed software! I am simply asking what proprietary key combination you shipped my $1500 laptop with! I don't even want you to walk me through it, I am just asking what keys you programmed it to respond to!" They said, "Well, it's still going to be $99.00" I said, "Ok, I spend 4-5 figures a year on technology, and I sure won't be with Dell anymore. Have a nice day." |
I'm gonna guess because people with big money will tell them to shove their servers where the sun don't shine if they can't pay someone to pick up the phone in Engrish. |
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Aint the hard drive, and I'll bet a box of the common military caliber of your choice on that. Time for a wipe and a reinstall. When you read those Dell user forums, be aware that very few posters there could compute their way out of a small wet rice paper bag with a hole in it already. It's the computer equivalent of you wandering on here wondering why your rifle is shooting two inches left at 100yd, and some yahoos howling about how it's a result of Colt's newest anodizing interfering with the recoil buffer and how they all think Colt should give them new M-16's (with M203 of course) because of it. |
That is what I heard also when I worked Dell Server Support a few years ago; too much money involved to take a chance on loosing it with "support" from a 3rd world country. With portables and desktops they decided they would be ahead moving it off shore. I remember getting a few calls from customers with desktops that begged me for help since they had already tried the normal channels. I fixed them up on the sly even though we were told not to do it. It seems India hands out degrees in computer technology for the asking. Most sure aren't up to our standards even if they are able to speak intelligible English which most often is not the case. |
I occasionally have to call in to Dell for parts, we get guys in Canada. I've had uniformly excellent service from them, but the extent of the conversation is usually, "Open me up a ticket and send me a new ___ please!" They're all desktops in K-12 .edu though, so maybe it's yet another division. |
The hardware probably is fine. It's your OS that is shit. Windows (when properly patched, updated and secured) can be a fine OS. The problem is that most people don't know how to do shit on their computers besides surfing the internet - it's like owning a car and not knowing how to change your own oil IMHO.  That is why people go for Macs. You guys bitch about them - but the fact is that they run on a UNIX-ish operating system (OS X). They don't really get fucked up like a Windows computer can. Same thing with a PC running a Linux distro/UNIX/etc. - the OS is inherently more secure - so (in theory) it 'just works' (except driver incompatibility issues...and the fact that most Linux Distros still aren't that intuitive/GUI-ish - which makes Mac more appealing)ETA: the fact that you mentioned "I pulled up the manual in Internet Explorer" just drives home my point. The first step towards protecting your computer is using a browser that doesn't allow ActiveX to run - in other words, download Firefox
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There's a shitload of imaging software out there. Norton GHOST is what I use both at work and for my home computers. Very user friendly. Linkage
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