I bought my new computer in Aug 2010. I had it for 6 months and it went BSOD. (Blue screen) Took it to the Geeks and they "fixed it". Cost $300. A month later it happened again. Took it back. 2 weeks later it was back in the shop for the same thing. For a third time I had to take it back for the same thing. They kept saying it was my fault. They reformatted it on the third try. Had to re-install all the software from scratch. Well I have had it back for FIVE days now and it is still happening. THIS WILL BE THE FOURTH TIME I WILL BE TAKING IT IN FOR THE SAME THING!!!! Has anything like this happened to you or do you have any SUGGESTIONS? Anything will be appreciated.

Do you have a warranty on it? Is there a "lemon law" for computers? My husband's is starting to act pretty cranky, but his is getting pretty old. They may be saying it's your fault so they won't have to replace it.

my daughter had the same thing had to trade it in no body could fix it i think it was an hp it never worked right

YES!!!!!! Its Madding!!!! We had it happen 4-6 times too!! Luckly we had PC geek friends! We still have a problem if we don't don't shut down. If we 'Restart' we get a Blue skreen every time!!

That is one reason I buy cheap computers and not name brands. The last few computers that we bought are eMachines. I'm sure some computer people out there are puking. The eMachines have lasted four or five years. After that, it's time to get a new one. No big lost.
A jillion years ago, I bought an IBM Aptiva for $3600.00. I felt like I had to kept that one forever. When I had to start paying for repairing it, I got my first eMachine. Haven't been disappointed.

Yes it actually has happened to me; but in a different perspective.

I got my PC from Altex Electronics in 2007; the salesman "tried" to sell other frivolous options (webcam, game controllers, game units, Microsoft Word, ...{which I already have}.... etc..) for it and I denied the extras. I paid over $900.00 cash for the whole package; keyboard, tower, screen, mouse, & speakers.
Anyway, after (3) months with it, one morning I noticed a very thin line running up and down vertically on my screen; first thing I did was call the service tech at Altex.
He said bring it in; your pixels have been ruptured or it's your mother board that's faulty.

To make a long story short, it was taken in, swapped out for another screen, mother board was fine, and PC ran slowwwwwwwwwww for many months; it was very frustrating & many virus attacks to endure.

I buckled down, bought some more memory RAM and a better virus protection program, and now it runs and surfs the way I expect it to.

Good luck, I don't think it's a "lemon", but have the service man check it to see if it needs more memory; or a compatible virus program.
There are dozens and dozens more Virus Protection programs out there, so go what's best for you and your PC.

If they keep saying it's something you're doing.. ask them waht that is so you can not do it again.. and if they say we don't know, than it's the computer not you. Just a thought.

Fire the geeks. Hire some teenagers.

Unfortunately users are often unknowingly the cause of their own problems, but yours sounds hardware based. You can simply google the errors you are getting to narrow down what's really going on.

Could be something as simple as over heating. You have to be pro-active with computer problems.

My thoughts exactly. If they claim it's your fault they MUST have a reason that it's your falut!

Are you taking it back to the same place you had purchased it for repair work?

Look up lemon laws in your state, see if they apply to computers, and even if they don't you can still make a stink about to the retailer that sold it to you.

You got a lemon. I have used and abused my laptop and even at work, when it goes to blue screen it has never been my fault. (The IT guy would definitely let me know if it was)

Enough already. demand a new one

It was probally manufactured on a friday afternoon. Some things are just lemons, get rid of it. It sounds like a problem on the motherrboard, bad solder joint or such.

anytime that you have to repair something more than twice, get rid of it. You could have bought a new one for what you will end up paying for repairs.

Lanny

A good friend of my husband works for the geek squad. He is actually very knowledgeable, but a lot of them just run a diagnostic program, and if they don't find anything they say it's "fixed" or replace a random piece of hardware. Sounds like they don't know what they're doing so they are calling it user error. If you just want to do basic functions (aka none of the big PC games), you can get a good laptop for around or a little more than $300. Good luck!

Not sure what type of computer software that you have but, if you have windows xp I can give you some suggestions about how to restart it from scratch so it may save you some money..You probably already tried this though :) ...Shut the computer off..and BEFORE you reboot it..hold down the f10 button..DO NOT take finger off until after the computer is rebooted ..It should take you to a screen that will ask you if you want to return to factory condition..hit yes..It will take awhile but usually that fixes alot of problems..If all else fails, it maybe cheaper to just buy a new computer than keep paying those huge amounts to fix it..I think you can get a brand new one for right around 400.00 ..(some cheaper, some more expensive)...I love mine but there are times I just want to chunk it out the window..

There are very few things I will buy extended warrenties on, but with computers and my daughter's very expensive camera's I do. Can't tell you how much money I've saved by doing this.

Having said that, I'm so sorry you're having so much trouble with your computer. I just found out that when you use certain credit cards, they offer an extra year on warrenties on certain items at no extra charge. It's just a plus they offer. It might be worth looking into it with your credit card company, assuming you paid by cc. Good luck!

I believe after the third time if it is for the same problem, you should get a new one. I had a horrible time with them also over my computer. I luckily was covered with the warranty but they had it for over 6 weeks! I lost everything on it and they had the nerve to try to sell me all the info on my hard drive but couldn't really guarantee it would be recovered(169$) Very, very unhappy with them and have done a lot of business with them....they don't care. Good luck!

try Staples or somewhere else. Geeks are not always right!!

No, and don't let them keep blaming you. That is not a normal thing to keep having happen.

I have a hp I got in 07 and this it the third one before I got one that would work I did not pay for repairs nor new ones they finak gave me a larger capacity one, quite an upgrade, the first two I couldn't get my printer on line. I wuite talking to the help line when the person kept saying one-ly when I was supose to be looking for only on screen

Let me get this straight...they charged you $300.00 to repair a computer that you bought 8 mths ago?? It should still be under warranty.
Did they charge you the same amount the other times you took it in??? I would demand a new computer,or show me exactly what I did to cause the problem.

Ps....we love our Dells.

300$ to reformat a new computer!!!!!!!!What!!!!!! I would have taken that sucker back where I bought it on the first time it went out and if they wouldnt help Id write to the manufacturer and be on the phone to Clark Howard on CNN. And, Id never ever buy another computer by that manufacturer again -
not helpful now but it sounds like you just need a new one. sharet

QUIT taking it to the Geeks....find a different repairman. My best friend was doing like you -- taking one back to the same place over and over and over again. ALWAYS was her fault. I convinced her to go to a different place. The computer got fixed and no more problems.

In answer to your question --- NO, that's never happened to me. If you have a good virus/spamware program and you're not in deleting program stuff, you shouldn't have these problems. Obviously the place you're taking it to isn't fixing it --- but they're getting money out of you.

and BTW -- you can reformat your computer FOR FREE! The installation disks you get with the computer will do that....research on the internet and learn how to do it!!!!

Thank you for the suggestion. Will holding the F10 fix work for Vista as well. I have a laptop that just croaked. Was my BIL who is dead and can't bypass the Administrator password to change it.

Thanks to all of you for all of the sympathy, help and suggestions. I looked up the lemon laws for CA. They tried to get me to take it home saying that BSOD happens often. If I had taken it home then they could have gotten out of the warranty. I took it in today and was finally able to talk to the Manager of Best Buy. He said that they will do a hardware check on it this time and see if that is causing the problem. I am NOT going to give up! SOMEONE is going to do something to fix the thing or give me a new one. I am going to write to Dell and let them know what problems I am having. I have no other software or peripherals - just the tower, monitor, mouse, and keyboard. I found that the Federal gov't has lemon laws for things like computers. As I understand it, the product has to have a history of failure and attempted repairs and the cut off seems to be 4 times. Well this is my fourth time. I will get all my paperwork together and documentation together so I can make a detailed complaint.

Glad your computer was fixed. I had lots of RAM - it is barely used. Don't download much and don't add lots of other programs/software. Didn't need any of the extras as I am the only one who uses it and am an "old lady". :D :D :D I am also using a good virus program as I wanted to put it on my laptop as well and perhaps my old computer. It was less expensive that way.

:lol: :lol: :lol: Can you come and take it back for me? Sounds like you get results while I am not.

Buy a MAC.

my daughters computer did this it was posted back to the maker 4 times then for the fifth time it was out of warranty so it is now sitting in the cupboard unusable I think some are faulty and should be replaced not fixed if the same thing happens more than once

Take that lemon thing back and get you a good one.I sure would and ask to speak to the manager in charge and tell that person what is going on.

Something similar happened to me--when I took it someplace else, the first thing the man did was tell me that I had a pc that had been recalled and the company would replace it free--only problem was the offer had ended a couple of weeks before I got to him. I had been in and out of Staples with it and no one ever mentioned that. Might be worth doing your own search on the model number of your pc.

I'd send it back to the company asap. Most good name brands will replace it as being defective. I wouldn't mess with local repair guys.

If you have a product that is having problems, call the manufacturer! If you don't get the answer you want, keep calling and asking for their custome care or customer service department. Keep going up the ladder at the company...they WILL help you! They want their customers to be happy and they want to sell good products- thats why they are in business. The store where you bought it really doesn't matter.

I bought a new HP laptop last year and had a problem a few months later. Sent it back to HP, they fixed the problem, did some checking and found other issues that I wasn't even aware of..fixed them all at no charge to me. They did a great job of Customer care.

Good luck!

what kind is it?

darlene

BSOD often goes away if you hold down the power button for over 10 seconds (it will turn off) then when you re-start it, it reboots itself. Every time this has happened to me (on three or four different computers), this simple solution has fixed it.

Sounds like it would be cheaper in the long run to just buy a new one.

I would say "have them check the mother board". I would say you should ask for a new computer! There's no way you should have to put up with that.

You might want to do a little research on Dell. I believe they recently paid a hefty fine for knowingly selling computers they knew were defective. They felt it would be cheaper to fix them as they went down rather than do a recall. For my part, I started with Macs in 1985 and have rarely had problems. I had one Mac that went 9600 hours without a service call before I traded up. I now have a 3-year-old laptop (never required service) and a 3-year-old Mac mini (only service for special installations) on an 8-yr-old Apple monitor (never required service). Yes, you pay more for a Mac but it comes with much more software on it, is very reliable and Apple's service help is rated the best by outside rating companies.

It is a DEAD Dell.

And---

Try the manufactor -make copies of all repairs and the cost with reciept of purchase they are more apt to help than the store of purchase