What if my new computer doesn't work?

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I just wanted to say that while Dell has good desktop computers, their laptops REALLY disappointed me. After only a few months of buying one for myself, the fan started turning on almost as soon as I turned it on. This was back a few years ago and I will never buy a Dell laptop again.

Same thing happend with my daughter's PC for college. It never completed a boot up. Only issue I have is the Dell reps would not respond to our requests to replace the box. So after four weeks we insisted on returning the whole package for credit (since she was leaving for college the next day). The Dell reps seemed to be working off a script, and that script seemed designed to keep us trying new things rather than just replacing the computer.

Tim Beckett
Fort Myers, FL

I have heard that if you go through the small business path on purchase, you'll get better technical support. I have not tested this since I always purchase as a small business.

I just bought a laptop for my freshman in college son. It's an inspiron 9300. In August we received it and it was defective,. After numerous call sto dell's tech support thry sent a replacement one. The day before my son left for college. The replacement has the same defect. My son is an engineering student with no computer. I have called dell repeatedtly for hours on wait time being switched around. They will not let me get a refund or send a replacement they want to have him from his dorm room try to talk to tech support to fix it. I know that won't fix the problem The only other solution is to send it back and pay the 20% restocking fee on a 2,000+ computer that has never worked. I don't know what to do? Any tips. Should I contact their headquarters. The tech support person actually fought with customer service to please refund my money so my son could get a computer that will work. What should I do????

Sir,
I just received a used computer from a friend of mine, VIA UPS. The computer worked when my friend sent it through the mail. I received it yesterday, hooked everything up correctly, but it does not show anything on the monitor. I took off one of the side covers, and discovered that a fan came off of its mount, and was sitting on one of the cards.
Could you tell me if this would cause the computer to not function correctly, or if it could be something else.
The computer does not even boot up.

Thanks for your assistance.

V/R,

Joe Kmetz

I could. Other components could also have shaken loose. I would unplug it, and then press all the expansion cards and socketted chips into place.

Well I have two problems,first is that when I start up my computer the Intel desktop board screen does not appear and instead the computer starts with a screen displaying a message
"CHECKSUM-Bad".I have to enter the bios and exit from there to boot my system normally.Secondly when the windows starts the time is incorrect every time I set it.Also there aren't any time zones being shown in the time zones section.Is there a solution to these problems?

It sounds like your CMOS battery has died. That's typically a small battery on the motherboard that keeps the CMOS from loosing its settings and keeps the clock running. I'd start by replacing that. Exactly how depends on the computer, so check with the manufacturer.

i bought a new laptop with AMD 64 Athlonm 3200+
few months ago. i hav downloaded Oracle 9i and VB software. it was working good before but now a days it seems so slow. even it shows connected to internet via wireless router but i don't get anything on my internet screen. i alway recieve a message with the Error report with 2 command buttons -> send report and don't send. could you help me out with this. thanx

Need a lot more information ... like the specific error messages you are seeing along the way. But to start with Please read this article: http://ask-leo.com/how_do_i_keep_my_computer_safe_on_the_internet.html and make sure you're following the recommendations there, and then also try running the system file checker: http://ask-leo.com/what_is_the_system_file_checker_and_how_do_i_run_it.html

After you done those things, report back with the full text of the error message(s) you're seeing, and perhaps I or someone else can help.

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