My Computer Issues

It was almost two weeks ago on a Monday night that we shut down the computer like usual, all was as it had been and should be.  Tuesday after work when we started it again all was definitely not well.  It took forever to start and then it moved slower than molasses, each keystroke would take minutes to register.  There was no getting online, no nothing you could do at that speed.  I spent that night and the next trying everything I could to fix it.  Nothing I tried worked, but I did manage to get the few recent files off that I didn't have backed up.  I even called StepDan for some advice, but even he couldn't think of anything I had not already tried.

So Thursday after work I went out and picked up a new one.  Wow.  First off, Windows 8.1 is waaaay different than 7.  And I noticed it seemed geared toward the all-in-ones with a touchscreen.  This would take some time to learn and get used to it. 

Setup went okay and I was learning to navigate somewhat, and I was able to connect to the internet, but then it would be gone, and then it would be back.  I was able to get a stable, yet slower, connection via wifi, but the Ethernet connection was on/off/on/off literally every few to 20 or so seconds.  It was maddening. We made do with the wifi connection for a while as I sought a solution.  I tried a different Ethernet cable, reset my router/modem and spent a good half hour on the phone with my ISP, but it was not their issue and they could not help.

There was no phone number in the materials that came with the computer but I found a number for the manufacturer easily online.  I called and a guy named Natesh walked me through a number of different things.  I remember him saying at one point that he thinks there may be a glitch - meaning a hardware problem.  Finally he had me do a factory restore.  On a brand new computer.  If I didn't know before, I surely knew then I was returning the computer.  This took quite some time so he scheduled a call back later that evening.  The callback was late and it was probably his supervisor, Natesh got stuck on another call, so by then I had the computer boxed up and ready to return.  When the factory restore failed there was a blue screen and a code and the message that the computer needed repair.  I had a lemon, all right.

But, I must say, they provided very good customer service.  They even called me back the next evening to make sure I was able to return it and get my money back before shutting the case.  That impressed me and I filled out their short email survey favorably a few days later.

So, I'm sitting with a busted computer again and I decided to drop the big one.  Restore to factory settings the computer we had.  Nothing else helped and I had most everything backed up, anyway.  And it worked!  It was acting normal after a successful restore.  The only thing is it was like a brand new computer that had sat around for about 5 years.  A lot has changed and updated in that time.

When this computer was brand new it looked totally different than the computer we were used to using.  Over the last several days it is slowly becoming the computer we had before the crash, but it has taken many hundreds of updates, downloads and service packs to get back up to speed.  I'm thankful because now I have what I had, what I like, and what I'm used to.  But even if we get it back to perfect for us, who's to say it won't crash again?

And that's where it stands.  I have no idea what the odds are or how likely another crash may be.  We may take a look at other computers as a backup plan, but for now I think we're just going to let it ride and see what happens - or hopefully what doesn't happen.