Gateway to Hell (Part 5)

Well, I finally figured out why my e-mail wasn't working. I needed to install updates to my basic software. I forgot how long it takes to get a computer actually operational.

I was paying a bill online and trying to look at a statement, but there was no software on the computer for viewing pdf files. Not to mention having to set up all the website favorites for the websites I want and need to access.

What I have not done yet is try to figure out how to recover my music files from my iPod. I have gone so far as to look a bit at what my options are for doing that. Unfortunately, I don't know what software package to buy for this little deed. So, if you stumble on this blog and have ever had to recover music from your iPod due to a hard drive crash, I'd appreciate any advice, suggestions or warning you may have about the process and what software to use (or avoid).

Gateway to Hell (Part 4)

Surprise, surprise, there was something wrong with the hard drive on my computer. They replaced the hard drive and now called me Sunday that it was ready. So I went to pick it up today.

Of course, that experience could not be without a glitch. The system disk I took in with the computer, which the computer folks directed me to leave with the computer, was no where to be found when I picked up the laptop. So, they'll either have to mail it to me or I'll have to go back and pick it up.

So, I've been futzing around with the computer for hours, trying to get it back in operation. I don't know when, or if, I'll ever get it back to anything close to where it was. And I don't think I'll trust it enough to try, at least not for a while.

But for now, I have my laptop back, and it only has taken about a month since I first took it in. It seems to be working. And it is certainly faster than my old desktop.

But for some reason, I can't get my e-mail to work right. I'm too tired to mess with it any more today.

Gateway to hell (part 3)

There's no such thing as a short stay in hell.

When I arrived home from work there was a message waiting on voicemail. The before-mentioned beleaguered laptop was back from Gateway and ready to be picked up at my local service center.

So, I trotted off to pick it up and returned home to attempt to at least reformat the drive and get the machine operational again. After all, before shipping the machine off to get it checked for the hinge problem, the service technicians had told me there was nothing wrong with the hard drive, other than it needed a complete reformatting. How that happens when there is nothing wrong with it and more virus protection on the thing than would fill a cyberpharmacy, I have no clue. But I figured, what the hell, I wasn't going to pay service technicians to reformat the drive and reinstall the system software.

But the kicker is, the drive wouldn't reformat. I tried it three or four times.

So, it looks like I will be making another trip back to the service technicians where they can check the thing over again. We'll see if being 19 and having zits makes them any more adept at software installation, not that I'm going to pay for it.

Have I mentioned the fact that I will never buy another Gateway laptop again?

So the saga continues.

Gateway to hell (part 2)

So I was checking my blog visitor report today, which doesn't take long when only a handful of people show up each day. And in the report I noticed that someone had come here by searching for "Gateway laptop broken hinge," which got me to thinking.

Hmmm, maybe my problem with my laptop is not unique. Maybe it wasn't a fluke, freak thing that the hinge on my laptop broke.

So, I got to doing some research. And I found several user forums and review sites that feature complaints or questions about what people have had to do to deal with broken hinges on laptops by Gateway and a company called eMachines, which Gateway bought out.

Moreover, there are posts on these forums reporting hinge problems, cracking and breaking, dating back to at least 2004. Like this one, and this one, and this one, and this one that doesn't talk about the hinges, but does talk about hard drive problems, and this one about all sorts of problems.

Now, on my computer problems, I went through the people who sold me my computer, not the manufacture up to this point. But I think I need to change that and give Gateway a call directing and find out just what the hell is going on and why they have been selling laptops that they know are susceptible to breakage, and then when they do break they don't fix them. I find that very curious. Curious indeed.

Now, I'm really irritated.

I'm not sure where all this is going to lead or what is going to happen, but this is not over. Not by a long shot. I am not happy with Gateway, but I'm getting a little worked up about the folks at the store I bought the machine from either, if their purchasing folk knew they these types of machines had defects. I think I need to ask their service folks point blank when I pick up my machine if the problems I experienced are common with these machines. I will be curious to here what they they say and just how they go about saying it. We'll leave the name of the store out of it... for now.