24 replies to this topic

[xBR4DLEY]

I take my laptop to get repaired approx. 2 weeks ago as faulty sectors in the hard drive where stopping it from progressing and wouldnt work in safe mode etc
They fixed this by putting a new HDD but this time 250GB and re-installed Windows Vista Home Premium for me and now it wont let me sign in and I can only go on the internet because its trying to make me buy a new serial key for £71-ish
I also went onto setup and now I only have 1024MB and not the 2048MB i had before I took it in
Does it seem like they are taking the *yellow human water*? Im thinking of taking it to them and making them fix it without paying as it is their fault
Any problems with this
Callum

[E.L.M.O]

Where did you take it

[xBR4DLEY]

Place local to me in Luton , dont want to name and shame yet until we see what they will do about it :/

[yorkshirechris]

Try the reasonable approach first, explain to them why you aren't happy and what you want them to do to resolve it. If they're reasonable people then they'll accept what you're saying. Don't go in all guns blazing yet, because they'll just have more of a reason to tell you where to go.

I wouldnt be too happy if I took my computer in for repair and they stole memory from it though!

[xBR4DLEY]

Try the reasonable approach first, explain to them why you aren't happy and what you want them to do to resolve it. If they're reasonable people then they'll accept what you're saying. Don't go in all guns blazing yet, because they'll just have more of a reason to tell you where to go.

I wouldnt be too happy if I took my computer in for repair and they stole memory from it though!

Yeah but I wont be happy if they try to make me pay , because I wont pay for something which is their problem
I think its because the other 1024MB is meant to be on the hard drive and when they changed it it didnt transfer over , or they didnt know about it
I will take it to them sometime this week to see what they will do about it

[flyer]

if you had Windows Vista Home Premium install on you computer before it went in for repair you should be able to enter your cd key for Windows Vista Home Premium to make it genuie.or if you have the disc why not do a fresh install from you disc

[xBR4DLEY]

if you had Windows Vista Home Premium install on you computer before it went in for repair you should be able to enter your cd key for Windows Vista Home Premium to make it genuie.or if you have the disc why not do a fresh install from you disc

I cant put the code from the sticker on the bottom of my laptop , because the heat has made some of the letters unreadable
When I get home I will look for it in all the documents I had when I bought it or worst case ring Toshiba but its an 0844 number

[Trail of Dead]

I always tell MY customers to put a piece of clear packing tape over the Vista COA before the key wears off. As for the RAM.....people seem to confuse RAM (Random Access Memory) with physical storage space on the hard drive. I guess it has something to with the idea that hard drives "remember" your data? So they think "Memory" has something to do with hard drive space. NOPE! Entirely wrong. I repair PCs/Laptops for a living.

Anyhow, the lack of RAM you are seeing can be due to a few things.

1) They stole it
2) The Laptop may have developed a faulty DIMM slot (it happens....maybe somehow it got ESD?)
3) The other RAM stick itself could have become faulty (this also happens)
4)They stole it

Have you opened it up to see if it physically has two sticks (or one 2GB stick)? Do it! If you see them (or it) in there then try removing them and re-seating them.

Wait a minute....you went onto setup? You said the PC wouldn't let you sign in. Did you put the Vista disc in it and get into setup that way? Is that what you are talking about? Please let me know in detail what you did and how you saw that the laptop told you it had 2GB of RAM. I'm curious.

Also.....does this laptop have a dedicated GPU or does it share RAM for the on-board GPU?

Edited by Trail of Dead, 06 June 2010 - 05:22 PM.

[xBR4DLEY]

Before it logged on I pressed F12 to go into setup manager
Before it said 2048MB and now it is only 1024MB
Yeah I know they difference between RAM and Hard drive memory , they changed it from a 160GB HDD and replaced it with a 250GB one, just wondering why the RAM has gone down , I think the other 1024 should have been somewhere and was deleted when they changed the hard drive

[Trail of Dead]

Before it logged on I pressed F12 to go into setup manager
Before it said 2048MB and now it is only 1024MB
Yeah I know they difference between RAM and Hard drive memory , they changed it from a 160GB HDD and replaced it with a 250GB one, just wondering why the RAM has gone down , I think the other 1024 should have been somewhere and was deleted when they changed the hard drive

You can't delete physical RAM. Check to see how much physical RAM is actually in the laptop. Then compare that to what the specs of the laptop are (via the manufacturer).

If we aren't talking about a missing stick of 1024MB RAM then you may mean they deleted a 1GB partition? Maybe the old 160GB HDD had a 1GB partition on it?

Edited by Trail of Dead, 06 June 2010 - 05:29 PM.

[yorkshirechris]

You can't delete physical RAM

That's what I thought, but being that I haven't worked on a computer or been "into" stuff like that for a while now I didn't want to jump in

[xBR4DLEY]

Before it logged on I pressed F12 to go into setup manager
Before it said 2048MB and now it is only 1024MB
Yeah I know they difference between RAM and Hard drive memory , they changed it from a 160GB HDD and replaced it with a 250GB one, just wondering why the RAM has gone down , I think the other 1024 should have been somewhere and was deleted when they changed the hard drive

You can't delete physical RAM. Check to see how much physical RAM is actually in the laptop. Then compare that to what the specs of the laptop are (via the manufacturer).

If we aren't talking about a missing stick of 1024MB RAM then you may mean they deleted a 1GB partition? Maybe the old 160GB HDD had a 1GB partition on it?

Yes I think it did , I'm pretty sure I mentioned that

[davidv]

I have also followed your Thread.If your own microsoft serial number does not do updates.On Pc side and Cert.They have used another program to get you on.They must fix for free.You have paid for a real operating system repair.Good luck.

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

It would have been easier to undo the flap and just replace HDD yourself? you really need no experience with computers to do that

[Trail of Dead]

You knew the Laptop had bad sectors (in other words a faulty HDD) so you took it to a repair shop to replace the HDD right? They went ahead and installed a new (and in this case bigger) HDD for you and then reinstalled Windows. I'm not sticking up for them when I say this....but I fail to see how it would be considered "their" fault that your laptop isn't activated via Windows Genuine Advantage. It is the end user that is responsible for the computer. Did you buy it new? If so did you notice that the Windows COA (on the bottom) wasn't laminated like the older COA's (Like '98, ME, 2000, XP)? Like I said, I tell EVERYONE that tells me they went out and bought a new laptop/PC to make sure the key on the bottom is safe! Write it down and if the sticker isn't a laminated one then place some clear packing tape on to protect the key from rubbing off during use over an extended period of time.

I'm simply saying you kinda screwed yourself on the activation thing. It wasn't the repair shops fault. Technically the manufacturers SHOULD have taken steps to make sure these keys wouldn't rub off.....I have seen HUNDREDS of computers and alot of the Vista keys on the bottom of laptops were worn off. Worthless IMO. What you CAN do is (if they gave you your old HDD back) try and put that old HDD in an external case and search for free software (and this would be legit by the way) that can "find" the old product key from your previous installation. Read more about it here.

I'm with Craig on this one......it would have been uber easy to replace the HDD yourself and save some cashflow! It really takes no expertise at all. Just unscrew it and pull it out. I don't think they would have to fix anything for free in this case. You have to understand...if the 1GB you say you're missing was a partition on the old hard drive, then once that old hard drive is removed that partition can't be replaced onto the new hard drive. A partition isn't a physical thing....it isn't matter (you know, matter like we learned about in science class). A partition is simply made up of virtual 1's & 0's....."bits". They aren't real. So, upon replacing the old hard drive everything that was on it is still on it....not the new one.

You can always re-install Vista yourself, then partition the drive during installation however you want it to be partitioned. I always do them 40/60 and use the second "drive" for storage.....this is regardless if I am running multiple drives or not. Then once Windows is back on it you should have 30 days to activate the copy and get one of those Indian Microsoft reps on the horn and have them activate it for you....it shouldn't cost anything. What kind of laptop is it? I know all my Dell's never ask for the COA key if I use the disc that came with them. Do you have a re-installation disc?

Edited by Trail of Dead, 06 June 2010 - 09:10 PM.