PSP Plan - Best Buy !

SkinsChic · Post by **SkinsChic** » Sun Aug 06, 2006 5:59 pm

Anyone ever have to use the PSP protection plan they bought as an option from Best Buy???

We bought our computer at Best Buy, Annapolis in September, 2003. We have a 3 year IN HOME warranty purchased at the time of the sale.

In March, 2006 we began having a problem with ithe computer just rebooting for no particular reason.

So....I dig out the warranty and they have me call the GEEK SQUAD who in turn keeps me on the phone for hours trying different things they think may solve the problem. First of all this ticks me off because I have an IN HOME warranty and I'm doing all the work with the Geeks on the phone for hours and hours.

They finally had me do something that makes it better for about a month. Then....the same problem starts again. Sooooooooo back on the phone with the GEEKS. They again - keep me busy for hours and this time nothing works so they decide I need a new MOTHERBOARD which takes about a week to get in and then the technician calls to set up an appointment to come out and install it.

They come out and install it and it helps for about another few weeks. By this time I'm totally ticked off and I don't have time to sit on the phone with these people but that's what we do again !

Same thing, hours on the phone trying different things....end result..."Oh, you must need a new HARD DRIVE". Another week, to get the part and more time to get someone out to install it.

They finally come out, install it and it won't even give a signal to the monitor so they can't even see if it will work. So....the guy makes a call and they decide this time they will order ANOTHER MOTHERBOARD AND A PROCESSOR. Again....another week, to get the part. The guy gets the part on the 2nd but hasn't called about an appt. yet...so I call Friday (8/4) and explain that I am on vacation and will be home all day but not on Saturday. The technician's supervisor calls and says the guy will be out today but to call him and see what time. So...I call him twice and leave a message each time. He finally calls me back and says he doesn't know why the supervisor told me he would be out because his car was in the shop. I explain the urgency of getting the parts installed that night and he decides he will come down but it will be late. He shows up at 8 p.m. and leaves at 9:30 and I "think" the computer is working. So I stay up all night and install the printer, scanner, etc. etc.

By now - I'm really ticked off so I call Best Buy and I talk to some technician in Ft. Lauderdale, FL and I ask him at what point do they just give me a new computer (lemon law / policy). He says if the new motherboard and processor work then the very next problem call would be the 4th and they would submit it to home office for a new computer claim.

So...Saturday we are not on it all day because we are at the scrimmage and when we get home the darn thing starts the same thing. Too tired to call last night - I wait till today which all day it did the same things over and over.

I finally call them when I have time to sit on the phone for a while and the lady tells me she's going to order a new POWER SUPPLY !! I told her absolutely NOT that is NOT ACCEPTABLE - we should not have to wait another week for that to come in and a few more days for the technician to find time to get out there. I explained that the technician in Florida told me about the Lemon Policy and they should submit a claim for a new computer. She said she couldn't do that and he was WRONG in telling me that.

At this point - I blow up !! Demanded to talk to a supervisor...of course she puts me on hold for about 10 minutes comes back and says that the super is on another line but they will put in a claim and it will take 3 - 7 business days for someone from CORPORATE to call me back about the claim. So I had her also order the POWER SUPPLY and we'll see which one happens first. I'm sure they are just guessing at the power supply thing because my warranty is up in September and they are trying to hold it over till then.

I cannot believe that right now this thing has let me stay on long enough to vent...but I'm appreciative of that.

Thanks for listening - and if anyone has any suggestions as to what else I can do - please let me know.

Thanks

ANT7088 · Post by **ANT7088** » Sun Aug 06, 2006 8:43 pm

Wow, you're getting the "run around" big time. My first tip don't buy a Computer from Best Buy ever again.

When you say a "Rebooting Problem" do you mean it just won't turn on at all or it turns on but Window don't start or something else???

If your Power Supply is bad the Comp. won't even turn on, no lights, no nothing. As far as I know! So if it's turning on & your using it, tell them they're full of crap!

If the lights go on, but the screen stays black and nothing really happens it could be just a bad piece of hardware

I would open it up & pull the wires out of everything that you don't have to have, CD-Rom, DVD-Rom also take out the Phone Modem, Sound Card, etc.

In other words just leave your hard drive, Video Card & whatever has to be their to make the Comp. work. Then turn on the Comp. and see if it still happens.

If you've already done this or they have, tell me & I'll try to think of something else.

Also I don't know how "handy" you are, you may not be able to do all this, but I'll talk you through it the best I can. Don't forget what you pull from where, the wires just kinda wiggle out & the same with the sound card, phone modem, etc.

Good luck!

Deadskins · Post by **Deadskins** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 1:57 am

ANT7088 wrote:Wow, you're getting the "run around" big time. My first tip don't buy a Computer from Best Buy ever again.

When you say a "Rebooting Problem" do you mean it just won't turn on at all or it turns on but Window don't start or something else???

If your Power Supply is bad the Comp. won't even turn on, no lights, no nothing. As far as I know! So if it's turning on & your using it, tell them they're full of crap!

If the lights go on, but the screen stays black and nothing really happens it could be just a bad piece of hardware

I would open it up & pull the wires out of everything that you don't have to have, CD-Rom, DVD-Rom also take out the Phone Modem, Sound Card, etc.

In other words just leave your hard drive, Video Card & whatever has to be their to make the Comp. work. Then turn on the Comp. and see if it still happens.

If you've already done this or they have, tell me & I'll try to think of something else.

Also I don't know how "handy" you are, you may not be able to do all this, but I'll talk you through it the best I can. Don't forget what you pull from where, the wires just kinda wiggle out & the same with the sound card, phone modem, etc.

Good luck!

SkinsChic wrote:In March, 2006 we began having a problem with ithe computer just rebooting for no particular reason.

SkinsChic · Post by **SkinsChic** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 4:45 am

ANT7088 wrote:Wow, you're getting the "run around" big time. My first tip don't buy a Computer from Best Buy ever again.

When you say a "Rebooting Problem" do you mean it just won't turn on at all or it turns on but Window don't start or something else???

I would open it up & pull the wires out of everything that you don't have to have, CD-Rom, DVD-Rom also take out the Phone Modem, Sound Card, etc.

In other words just leave your hard drive, Video Card & whatever has to be their to make the Comp. work. Then turn on the Comp. and see if it still happens.

Also I don't know how "handy" you are, you may not be able to do all this, but I'll talk you through it the best I can. Don't forget what you pull from where, the wires just kinda wiggle out & the same with the sound card, phone modem, etc.

Good luck!

Thanks for the suggestions....but I don't think it's WISE for ME to go in and start pullng wires. LOL

"Sometimes" when it comes back on there is an error that says something about a Video Device Driver Error. I told them about that and they pretty much ignored me.

By rebooting I mean we can be online or just on the computer for a few minutes...and then all of a sudden it just reboots....and then when we log on and get to the desktop it reboots again...and will continue to do that until we shut it down completely and leave it off for a long period of time.

As for not buying from Best Buy...I should know better...I had a tantrum in the middle of Best Buy when I bought my first computer.

Thanks again for the help.

ANT7088 · Post by **ANT7088** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 7:36 am

OK, What kind of computer is it (name & model #)? If it's saying something about your Video Device Driver, that's your Video Card or if you don't know, where you plug your Monitor into. You can go to the computer web site & download them yourself or your Video Card is bad & just needs to be changed completely!

Just so you know this can absolutely be causing the problem you're having!

Chris Luva Luva · Post by **Chris Luva Luva** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 7:40 am

Id rebuild the computer from the ground up (windows, 3rd party apps) and see if that fixes it 1st, especially if the PC isn't being protected. If you're using the internet without a firewall and up to date spyware/anti-virus protection then you could have some sort of virus. I had a PC that did the same thing and it just needed to be rebuilt.

Geeksquad is a joke.

Cappster · Post by **Cappster** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:33 am

If it is giving a device driver error, try using the system restore feature to go back as far as you can to see if you can go back before the problem began. I don't know if you will be abl;e to because it only keeps about 3 or 4 months of restore points but it is worth looking at. got start>all programs>accessories>system tools>system restore. I am assuming you windows xp with sp 2.

If/when it throws up a device driver error, try getting the error number and google it. If it comes up with the blue screen of death you may have time to write it down. It should be something like 0x000000d45. If it gives the error report and gives you the option to send, do it because it may give you the error number there.

If your system just powers down for no reason, it could have been the power supply but if it is throwing up device driver errors, then I don't think that is your problem. One last thing you can do is go into device manager by= right clicking my computer>properties>hardware tab>click device manager. Look for any errors that may be on any of your devices. They will be noted by a little yellow exclamation point. Try updating the driver for a device if it has the little exclamation point. Also, try running your windows updates. I have had this solve problems of mine too.

One last thing, the geek squad is full of newbies. Just like any tech support that you get. Most of them are no good at trouble shooting a machine. To their credit, phone support is by far the hardest type of support a person can do but that is usually the first thing that a person does when they get into IT.

I hope I gave you some useful info and good luck.

Justice Hog · Post by **Justice Hog** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 11:57 am

Skinschic: I just wanted to take this moment to commend you for not starting this thread in the "smack" forum. I think I would have had a few choice words to post, if I were you.

This sounds very simplistic (and I am certainly no computer guru), but when was the last time you checked your PC for viruses or cleaned out all Spyware?

Chris Luva Luva · Post by **Chris Luva Luva** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 12:13 pm

Justice Hog wrote:Skinschic: I just wanted to take this moment to commend you for not starting this thread in the "smack" forum. I think I would have had a few choice words to post, if I were you.

This sounds very simplistic (and I am certainly no computer guru), but when was the last time you checked your PC for viruses or cleaned out all Spyware?

That would be my 1st stab but sometimes you have a hard time installing the software after the PC has already been infected. I make a point to install zonealarm ASAP after a fresh build.

Kentucky Fried Hog · Post by **Kentucky Fried Hog** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 1:42 pm

ANT7088 wrote:If your Power Supply is bad the Comp. won't even turn on, no lights, no nothing. As far as I know! So if it's turning on & your using it, tell them they're full of crap!

A computer can still power on, even with a "bad" power supply. If the PS is providing inconsistent power to the system components, the PC will power on but will experience problems, i.e. lockups, reboots, etc. I've seen it before. I'm not entirely sure that the PS is the problem here, but it's worth a shot.

ANT7088 · Post by **ANT7088** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 1:57 pm

Kentucky Fried Hog wrote:
ANT7088 wrote:If your Power Supply is bad the Comp. won't even turn on, no lights, no nothing. As far as I know! So if it's turning on & your using it, tell them they're full of crap!

A computer can still power on, even with a "bad" power supply. If the PS is providing inconsistent power to the system components, the PC will power on but will experience problems, i.e. lockups, reboots, etc. I've seen it before. I'm not entirely sure that the PS is the problem here, but it's worth a shot.

That's why I said "as far as I know", everytime I've seen a bad power supply absolutely nothing happened. I'm not saying I don't believe you though. I've seen this happen with bad Hardware often. She gets a Video Device message sometimes, so my 1st guess is a bad Video Card.

Chris Luva Luva · Post by **Chris Luva Luva** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 2:01 pm

Well, is the PC rebooting before Windows even gets started? If the PS was bad then it would reboot before Windows started sometimes. If it only reboots when windows is up then its definately a software issue imo.

SkinsChic · Post by **SkinsChic** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 2:07 pm

It reboots while we're using it...like being on line or using Word or anything like that - then it reboots after about 10 minutes of use. It comes up to the log in screen and we log onto windows and it gets to the desktop and reboots again. We end up just turning it off at that point and letting it sit a couple hours - then try our 10 minutes again.

Oh..it's an E Machine T2825.

When we get the error message about the video card (which is not every time) I try to go update the drivers and do what it suggests but then I get kicked off and it won't let me on again.

I've done the restore to a time when it actually worked - which was friday night but that is not helping either.

Thanks for all of your help. I appreciate the suggestions, etc.

SkinsChic · Post by **SkinsChic** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 2:10 pm

Chris Luva Luva wrote:
Justice Hog wrote:Skinschic: I just wanted to take this moment to commend you for not starting this thread in the "smack" forum. I think I would have had a few choice words to post, if I were you.

This sounds very simplistic (and I am certainly no computer guru), but when was the last time you checked your PC for viruses or cleaned out all Spyware?

That would be my 1st stab but sometimes you have a hard time installing the software after the PC has already been infected. I make a point to install zonealarm ASAP after a fresh build.

Oh...I thought about the Smack Forum but I already smacked them over the phone. LOL

Anyway...everytime they put a part in - they use my original disks to restore the whole computer....so I'm not sure they checked for virus's etc...but there's nothing there when we start over.

Countertrey · Post by **Countertrey** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 2:30 pm

SkinsChic:

You have gotten the run around enough. I'm sure that the Attorney General's office in your state has something resembling a "Consumer Fraud Division". It's time to call them, no matter what Best Buy does over the next few days. You want to do this as a minimum, just to get on record that your problem pre-dates the end of your warranty.

As a bonus, they may actually be able to help with your problem with Best Buy's unresponsiveness. I have been surprised in the past with how quickly a problem could get resolved once the state AG's office calls Corporate. Of course, it was all "just a misunderstanding"... uh huh.

And, the last thing you want to do is start pulling off covers and messing around inside... that would instantly void your warrantee if they find out.

Chris Luva Luva · Post by **Chris Luva Luva** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 2:35 pm

SkinsChic wrote:
Chris Luva Luva wrote:
Justice Hog wrote:Skinschic: I just wanted to take this moment to commend you for not starting this thread in the "smack" forum. I think I would have had a few choice words to post, if I were you.

This sounds very simplistic (and I am certainly no computer guru), but when was the last time you checked your PC for viruses or cleaned out all Spyware?

That would be my 1st stab but sometimes you have a hard time installing the software after the PC has already been infected. I make a point to install zonealarm ASAP after a fresh build.

Oh...I thought about the Smack Forum but I already smacked them over the phone. LOL

Anyway...everytime they put a part in - they use my original disks to restore the whole computer....so I'm not sure they checked for virus's etc...but there's nothing there when we start over.

So you do have a windows installation disk? Or is it a "recovery cd"? I haven't used a recovery CD that is specific to a manufactuer before. If you have windows install CD's then I'd install it myself.

1. Insert the windows cd, reformat the HDD.
2. Once windows is installed, install any drivers for components that dont have drivers already built into windows.
3. immediately install an antivirus program such as norton or zone alarm.
4. install the rest of your apps

SkinsChic · Post by **SkinsChic** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 4:22 pm

Thanks Countertrey - I will find a number and get in touch with them also.

Chris...all I have is the original restore / recover CD's that came with the computer (no windows xp cd). :-(

Cappster · Post by **Cappster** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 4:37 pm

SkinsChic wrote:Thanks Countertrey - I will find a number and get in touch with them also.

Chris...all I have is the original restore / recover CD's that came with the computer (no windows xp cd).

The restore cd probably has the operating system on it(windows). You can try to run a repair on windows using the cd that you have if you want to try. You just have to put the cd in and boot the computer from the cd. Each machine is different so you might have to hit f12 to choose where you want to boot from or go into the bios(usually by hitting f2 or del) and setting your computer to boot from cd rom first.

after doing one of those successfully at startup, it will ask you to hit any key to "boot from cd.....". The cd will start loading various drivers and such and after a few minutes it will come up to a screen that gives you the option of choosing to repair or install windows. Hit R and it will bring you to a dos screen and you will want to choose one(should be the only option). Now you are at the dos prompt and you will need to type in chkdsk /r (space between the k and /) It will run and repair any errors that it finds in windows.

If you are not the technically inclined to try, call best buy and demand that they give you a new machine.

ANT7088 · Post by **ANT7088** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 6:40 pm

According to the E Machines web site which doesn't have the driver....
http://emachines.com/support/product_su ... odel=T2825

This should be it....
http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_91.31.html

In the middle of page it says "downloads" then click the "Primary download site" see if it willl let you download it.

SkinsChic · Post by **SkinsChic** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 8:17 pm

Cappster wrote:
SkinsChic wrote:Thanks Countertrey - I will find a number and get in touch with them also.

Chris...all I have is the original restore / recover CD's that came with the computer (no windows xp cd).

The restore cd probably has the operating system on it(windows). You can try to run a repair on windows using the cd that you have if you want to try. You just have to put the cd in and boot the computer from the cd. Each machine is different so you might have to hit f12 to choose where you want to boot from or go into the bios(usually by hitting f2 or del) and setting your computer to boot from cd rom first.

after doing one of those successfully at startup, it will ask you to hit any key to "boot from cd.....". The cd will start loading various drivers and such and after a few minutes it will come up to a screen that gives you the option of choosing to repair or install windows. Hit R and it will bring you to a dos screen and you will want to choose one(should be the only option). Now you are at the dos prompt and you will need to type in chkdsk /r (space between the k and /) It will run and repair any errors that it finds in windows.

If you are not the technically inclined to try, call best buy and demand that they give you a new machine.

Thanks...we've done this already several times in our 2 hour phone calls. Didn't work :cry:

SkinsChic · Post by **SkinsChic** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 8:19 pm

ANT7088 wrote:According to the E Machines web site which doesn't have the driver....
http://emachines.com/support/product_su ... odel=T2825

This should be it....
http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_91.31.html

In the middle of page it says "downloads" then click the "Primary download site" see if it willl let you download it.

Thanks Ant - I unhooked that computer for now and we're using my daughter's which is very slow but at least it works. So...I will save those links and try it when we hook it back up.

I really do appreciate everyone's input on this problem. I'm hoping we get a new computer out of this but we'll see. The power supply will probably show up before the phone call from Corporate.

JansenFan · Post by **JansenFan** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 11:40 pm

I know a lot has been said here, but I'll add one simple suggestion to the carnage. For a few weeks, my new Gateway laptop running XP would pop the blue screen of death and reboot. I finally figured out that for some reason, my video card didn't always like the graphics hardware acceleration set to Full. I set it to None and the problem went away. This was at a time when I had a lot of abnormal programs in use for school (most notable, Adobe Illustrator free trial). Since then, I have moved it back to Full and had no problems.

If you want to try this, just go to your control panel. Double click 'Display' to open up the dialog box. Select the 'Settings' tab, and then click the 'Advanced' Button. A new dialog box will open. Select the 'Troubleshoot' tab and then move the slider to None. Then click OK and OK again. Reboot and give it a shot.

If it works, let me know. I'll send you an invoice and you can submit it to them and get some money for your trouble. :lol:

Deadskins · Post by **Deadskins** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 2:50 am

JansenFan wrote:Reboot and give it a shot.

Yeah, reboot yourself, before your machine beats you to it. :roll:

SkinsChic · Post by **SkinsChic** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 4:51 am

JansenFan wrote:I know a lot has been said here, but I'll add one simple suggestion to the carnage. For a few weeks, my new Gateway laptop running XP would pop the blue screen of death and reboot. I finally figured out that for some reason, my video card didn't always like the graphics hardware acceleration set to Full. I set it to None and the problem went away. This was at a time when I had a lot of abnormal programs in use for school (most notable, Adobe Illustrator free trial). Since then, I have moved it back to Full and had no problems.

If you want to try this, just go to your control panel. Double click 'Display' to open up the dialog box. Select the 'Settings' tab, and then click the 'Advanced' Button. A new dialog box will open. Select the 'Troubleshoot' tab and then move the slider to None. Then click OK and OK again. Reboot and give it a shot.

If it works, let me know. I'll send you an invoice and you can submit it to them and get some money for your trouble.

Those GEEKS already had me try that too.....Didn't work. As they had me working on the machine, I TRIED to write everything down they had me do as I was doing it (just in case).

Thanks though :cry:

SkinsChic · Post by **SkinsChic** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 1:22 pm

Wow....just got a call from a the company that sends the technicians out to the house. The Power Supply was actually delivered to the technician TODAY (3 days ahead of schedule - I'm guessing they HEARD me Sunday) and he will call today or tomorrow to schedule installation. Imagine that. They even gave me the technician's phone number - just in case he DOESN"T call.