So 2 weeks ago the monitor on my compaq laptop went out... and it isn't even 5 months old... anyway... I had been having problems with my CD Drive too, so I took it to Best Buy (where I bought it) so I could get it fixed...

They shipped it off to HP/Compaq.

I got it back today.

The monitor works fine, and the CD Drive was replaced.... but they also decided to format my hard drive and reinstall windows using their restore disks, so I've got all of their stupid software and such on it again.

I lost GIGS of songs I took off my CDs, and files, and programs... so much work I've got to go back and do... especially disabling the Windows Services, as many as possible, without losing the main functions I need... but I can't remember exactly what was and wasn't started...

Anyway, that's my rant...

So post your tech/service/computer problems.

That sucks. You should call and ***** at them.

Yeah, I know how you feel. I bought my Compaq laptop back in September. There's now a wierd spot on the screen, the DVD drive doesn't close right, and just tonight the hard disk crapped out. I'm going back to Bureau en Gros this weekend, and I'm *****ing. This has me ****ing pissed off.

Thats odd. Replacing the monitor/and/or/cdrom should not require wiping the hard disk.

i have a feeling the thrashed yours and sent you a new one

I dislike compaq because of something that happened many a year ago.

I had a compaq computer (parents bought it for an Xmas gift, our first family computer) and the computer was online during a thunderstorm, afterwards the modem crapped out... was fried by lighting i guess... turned out we needed a special modem sent to us by compaq because no other modem would fit in... there was also no expansion slots, so no upgrading that computer with a new video card or network card... we went from our crappy 56k to a crappier 28.8k external modem until I boguht my computer many years later and we got DSL...

i dislike them.

I know that didn't happen... my computer had a slight 'gash' in the touch pad, and a bunch of dirty spots on under the keyboard where the AMD and Windows stickers used to be (I took them all off), and they're all still there.

I cannot for the life of me figure out why they would do it.

From what I've seen the prices of Compaq's laptops are grossly high for the quality. I'd go with Dell in the future, though they stick you with tons of their useless software.

SOP. Its cheaper to simply wipe all incoming systems than take the time to identify any possible software issues.



Im quite proud of the fact that, to this day, Ive always been able to salvage my client's data. As long as the problem isnt a physically dead hard drive, I always return the client's data intact. Sometimes it takes quite a bit of time and effort, but its worth it.

I can understand that... however in this situation I can't say that makes a great deal of sense.

The monitor went out, didn't work whether it was in windows, or just booting.

The CD Drive would click, as if the laser was trying to move further than it could.

Both problems, easily, were physical... there was no way either could be a software issue.

Before you hand your computer to someone else, use Knoppix (or something) to make an image of the hard disk. Then when you get it back, restore the image, and voila.

I feel that compaq is s***.

My computer when it was new would reboot randomly. i checked for msblast, but it came up clean. I wiped the HD and loaded XP Pro corporate. The problem went away, and the computer is rock solid now. I think that a lot of compaq's problems lie with the proprietary s*** they put on and in your computer.

Inside my comp, there was a green plastic thing covering the screws on the hd bays, and it had a special screw instead of the standard phillips. I got a sharp kbnife and cut it out piece by piece so i could install a HD. My guess is they put that s*** in there to keep you from working on your machine. A**holes.


go to compaqsucks.com for some more compaq hate-stories. The page is out of date, but its still relevant. (probably even more relevant today, since compaq has only gotten worse)

For all your windows services needs:

[url]www.blackviper.com[/url]

Windows 2000 Services on the left.

I had a warranty at CompUSA, for a year they would replace parts etc. for free. My CDRW drive wouldn't burn at speeds above 4x, even though it should have been. I took it in to get it replaced and they said they'd order it from the factory.

This is the second time I'd taken it in. They call me up and tell me that the password for the admin account wasn't working and asked if I had changed it. They kept... my password... on file. I told them to leave it alone and I'd be in to get it in a couple hours.

Thanks, I used that site originally for setting up my services, but I decided to go well beyond his settings and disable almost every single service there is... by the time I'm done there's less than 10 services still marked as automatic, and less than 5 in manual, the rest are completely disabled...

The problem is I can't remember exactly which ones were manual, which ones were disabled, and which ones were automatic... I think once I get in and look I'll be able to remember, but I haven
t really had a chance to look too much yet.

Kinda hard when the monitor doesn't work. He'd have to take out the hard drive and put it in another system, but there's no telling if Compaq could tell if it had been taken out, and if they could, then they might not service is Laptop.

I've always had good luck with the brands many seem to hate. My first Windows PC was a Packard Bell. I think I purchased it in '95. Still works. My second is a three or four year old Compaq. No significant problems. I didn't ensure it came with an AGP slot so I'm stuck with PCI video cards and for some reason it would only recognize 255 MB RAM when I tried to expand to 512. But overall it's been reliable and is still very well suited for routine tasks. Of course I'm not trying to run Doom 3 or anything like that on it.

Now when it comes to the service issue brought up, I have to admit that Compaq (now HP) is cerainly lacking. I guess that somewhere in you system documentation it is stated that you should backup your data before having it serviced. Companies learn to cover their asses from complaints on all the ways that they piss their customers off.