Thursday, May 08, 2008

Computer Trouble

...And so it begins. The new desktop computer I bought last June is broke already! Well, it doesn't appear to be anything major, but I cannot get on the internet for the life of me. And not being on the internet is pure torture for me now! You know those two lights (the green and orange ones) that are supposed to light up when you have your ethernet cord connected to the CPU? They are not lighting up at all. So I got to believe something is wrong with the ethernet card. Thank goodness I still have my trusty laptop that is about six years old and it still allows me to get on-line (although the start-up is extremely slow). Otherwise I'd be going through serious withdrawls. So that's the story there - for some reason, the computer is not recognizing the internet connection. It can't be my service provider because it's working on the laptop. So I'm not sure what I've got to do next. Probably consult with Hewlett-Packard, the manufacturer of the computer, to see if I can get the problem solved. The good thing is that the computer is still under warranty (for a little over a month) so if the ethernet card is indeed bad, I can get it fixed without charge (hopefully there isn't some loophole, though). It's going to be tough being without the computer for a short while, if I have to have sent in to be repaired. We'll see what happens, I guess. I'll keep you updated!

UPDATE (5/12/08): Alright, so having to work two 12-hour shifts over the weekend and another eight hours on Monday; I didn't really get much of a chance to deal with this computer problem. But after work Monday, I got around to making a phone call to HP to see if they can figure anything out. I already tried several different troubleshooting methods, to no avail. I already had my mind set that the ethernet card is bad. I dealt with a technician for over 30 minutes, trying one of the troubleshooting methods I had already went through. No luck accessing the internet that time. Then he wanted to see if the computer even recognized the network adapter. Nope, the computer wasn't even recognizing it. Then the technician wanted me to do a complete system recovery which would end up deleting every single file I had saved on it. Well, this would be no problem because I didn't have a ton of stuff saved on it. So he called back in 20 minutes after I had everything saved and began the system recovery process. Once that was over with, we dealt with the same results. The computer still was not recognizing the network adapter. That is when it was determined that my computer needs to be sent into HP to have it repaired. So here we are onto today!

Seeing that my service warranty with HP was set to expire on June 6th (a bit sooner than I earlier realized), I decided to extend the warranty for another year (tacking on another $159.99 to my credit card). But hey, if something like this happens again, I can get it repaired at no cost! I guess this little experience has taught me to expect the unexpected. New computers these days are made with cheap parts (or so I've heard) and they are more susceptible to malfunctions. So in another three months, the motherboard could fail. At least in that case, I am completely covered and can get it replaced at no charge. Fed Ex is supposed to drop a box off at my apartment where I'll then pack up the tower within it. I will then call Fed Ex to have the computer picked up where it will be shipped to an HP service center where it will be repaired. I have been told that the repair will take four to seven days and then be shipped back to my apartment. When it is returned, it will be good as new!

This whole ordeal has been a pretty interesting process, I must say. I can't say I know a lot about the HP company, and I am assuming their headquarters are based in the United States. But they have service centers all across the world. The technical staff I talked with on the phone was based out of India. So needless to say, I had some trouble understanding these individuals at times. But I've had Indian priests at my church in the past, so I am somewhat used to their accents. They were very knowledgable, patient, and knew what they were doing. Even though the process can be rather tedious and a person tends to get impatient after being on hold for awhile, it ends up being all worth it in the end. Because at least in my case, my computer is going to be repaired at no charge thanks to the warranty I still had after buying this computer 11 months ago. It will be tough being without the computer for four to seven days (and it will probably be longer than that if you include the shipping days), but like I said earlier, at least I have my laptop. If I didn't have that, I'd really be lost!

I will continue to keep everyone updated on the repair progress of my computer. I am just awaiting the box from Fed Ex so I can get it shipped off to be repaired. After that, it's all a waiting game.

UPDATE (5/16/08) - Fex Ex dropped off the box to put the computer in yesterday and they picked it up today around 2:30 this afternoon. So it is on it's way to Irving, Texas to be repaired as we speak. I wonder how long it'll take before I get it back? Any predictions?

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