Ok so she lives in Denmark and I live in the UK. I know it is a bit odd but for now it works. Anyways she needed a new computer. The old one was developing a fault which appeared to me to be the hard-drive. Right, even though I live many miles away I could still give some good advice (so I thought) and get her sorted with a relatively inexpensive yet high performance computer. I started scouring the net looking for a reputable company. I eventually came across Primetech. Website looks great with all the latest products at reasonable prices. I quickly put together a great selection of kit that totals just under £800. Ok - great so far. Website says 2-3 working days and the computer is with you. Right - fair enough we order it.
Week passes and nothing happening? Another day or so and she receives a phonecall - would you be prepared to spend a little more on the motherboard otherwise there will be a further delay - an extra £20 - I get aggravated straight away as the mb I picked wasn't far off as good as it gets. Ok she agrees to pay the extra. She gets more agitated as the delay is causing her to suffer rising panic as a computer is needed badly. Another few days and the computer does finally arrive.
Eh - I get a phone call from my rather distressed girlie complaining that the computer is sounding like a jet engine and there is nothing but a black screen?
Ok at first I thought that the silent psu unit I picked was making the processor cooler sound noisier than it would otherwise. But I had picked a low noise cooler too? Odd. She shoves the phone by the case. Hell there is something wrong there for sure. I ask her whether the case is sealed but on 2nd thought to delve into the innards of a new computer isn't really on. Ok she starts asking me how does she get the computer to boot up? Eh? They haven't installed the operating system? I ask whether she choose to do a manual install or something? Nope she says there wasn't that option. Now this is becoming decidedly strange. I begin to suspect something is wrong for sure. She puts in the XP CD and reboots the computer. Won't boot up off the cd. Great. I instruct her on how to get into the bios. Right she manages that whilst getting even more agitated. I ask her to check on the boot sequence. Something is definitely wrong as the options are not as they should be. I tell her to load the default values which she does. She reboots the comp and it starts to load windows. I am already thinking that the hard drive isn't connected or the master/slave settings are wrong on the dvd and hard drive. Windows gets as far as installing the files but reports there isn't any hard drive installed. Back to the bios and we do a scan for ide drives. It reports that the DVD is the master and there isn't any hard drive installed. Had enough by now and tell her to wrap the bloody thing back up and take it back to the shop.
Next day.
Gets the computer back with a report saying the hard drive cable had worked loose in transit and was being hit by the cooler fan? Now how many of you have put a computer together? How hard is it to get a hard drive cable to come loose? Hell most of the time it is touch and go whether you can get it loose without damaging something. Put together by a bloody kid on work experience I expect!
Ok it is silent now and everthing is working. I take the computer over using msn remote control and eh? - everything is in bloody danish? Eh we specifically asked for and paid for an english version of XP. Can you believe it? You ever tried to work your way through danish settings? Well I tell you now it is a bit beyond me.
Moral of this story?
Buggered if I know. At least I made sure the shop was where she commuted everyday to work otherwise I would hate to think what would have happened. Seems computer companies all over the world are as slap happpy as hell.
Week passes and nothing happening? Another day or so and she receives a phonecall - would you be prepared to spend a little more on the motherboard otherwise there will be a further delay - an extra £20 - I get aggravated straight away as the mb I picked wasn't far off as good as it gets. Ok she agrees to pay the extra. She gets more agitated as the delay is causing her to suffer rising panic as a computer is needed badly. Another few days and the computer does finally arrive.
Eh - I get a phone call from my rather distressed girlie complaining that the computer is sounding like a jet engine and there is nothing but a black screen?
Ok at first I thought that the silent psu unit I picked was making the processor cooler sound noisier than it would otherwise. But I had picked a low noise cooler too? Odd. She shoves the phone by the case. Hell there is something wrong there for sure. I ask her whether the case is sealed but on 2nd thought to delve into the innards of a new computer isn't really on. Ok she starts asking me how does she get the computer to boot up? Eh? They haven't installed the operating system? I ask whether she choose to do a manual install or something? Nope she says there wasn't that option. Now this is becoming decidedly strange. I begin to suspect something is wrong for sure. She puts in the XP CD and reboots the computer. Won't boot up off the cd. Great. I instruct her on how to get into the bios. Right she manages that whilst getting even more agitated. I ask her to check on the boot sequence. Something is definitely wrong as the options are not as they should be. I tell her to load the default values which she does. She reboots the comp and it starts to load windows. I am already thinking that the hard drive isn't connected or the master/slave settings are wrong on the dvd and hard drive. Windows gets as far as installing the files but reports there isn't any hard drive installed. Back to the bios and we do a scan for ide drives. It reports that the DVD is the master and there isn't any hard drive installed. Had enough by now and tell her to wrap the bloody thing back up and take it back to the shop.
Next day.
Gets the computer back with a report saying the hard drive cable had worked loose in transit and was being hit by the cooler fan? Now how many of you have put a computer together? How hard is it to get a hard drive cable to come loose? Hell most of the time it is touch and go whether you can get it loose without damaging something. Put together by a bloody kid on work experience I expect!
Ok it is silent now and everthing is working. I take the computer over using msn remote control and eh? - everything is in bloody danish? Eh we specifically asked for and paid for an english version of XP. Can you believe it? You ever tried to work your way through danish settings? Well I tell you now it is a bit beyond me.
Moral of this story?
Buggered if I know. At least I made sure the shop was where she commuted everyday to work otherwise I would hate to think what would have happened. Seems computer companies all over the world are as slap happpy as hell.