The End

Y’all, this laptop was beating up on my last nerve, and that nerve snapped today. I was getting multiple crashes every damned day, generating different error messages. I mean, I’m a tech myself, for goodness sake. I’m usually the one fixing stuff, not the other way around. I was ready to throw in the towel and buy a new computer, regardless of how painful it would be to take on another bill right now. This one is gone too far – and to be fair, Dell has really bent over backward trying to make it work.

I ran every test under the sun and everything came back “this is good, this is fine”, which makes it triply frustrating. Dell techs have been to our house three times now, and I lost count of how many people I’ve talked to online. I am so ridiculously over this thing.


But…


G talked me into reaching out to Dell tech support one last time. As he rightly pointed out, I paid a whole lot of money for their premium warranty service. Even if it’s a ghost issue, even if it’s an older computer, it’s on them to figure out how to fix it. The warranty isn’t up until February.

Given the hoops I’ve already jumped through, and having dealt with tech support myself, I knew it was a hopeless cause. When nothing comes up on any tests, techs can’t fix “nothing”. The crashes are random, so it’s not like I can create them on demand. I’ve had crashes to a blue screen while it’s in the process of being shut down. The only warning is everything freezes and you can’t do jack shit with it until it grinds back to live.

Reluctantly, with gnashed teeth, I picked up my cell at lunch time and called, apologizing up front for my umpteenth call for a computer I already knew was a lost cause.

The tech I talked to was amazingly patient. He went over everything on my file. He logged into my computer and pulled up the latest crash reports. We went through the additional hardware tests I’ve done in the last 24 hours, that we’ve reinstalled Windows umpteen times (here and at their shop), that I’ve updated the shit out of EVERYTHING, the whole nine yards.


— AND —

Downloaded on September 26th, 2022 | S: Trumpet2.wav by Harbour11 | License: Attribution 4.0


Tech Guy agreed with me: we’re beating a dead horse. He said anything they did from here would just be rehashing the same issues.

Then he did something I didn’t expect.

He said there’s more than justification to request a replacement machine. It’ll be a refurbished one, the same model or possibly a newer one with the same specs, since this one is four years old. He said it’ll probably take three weeks or so to get it sent out – but y’all, I should be getting another computer and it won’t cost me anything. Is it ideal? Maybe not, but at least there’s a shot I’ll get a functional computer out of it. If I can do that without shelling out a couple of thousand bucks right now, I’m all for it.


Everything’s gone silent these days. Not sure if I bored my readers to death, it’s just been one of those weeks for everyone, or all the above. Not only online, either; we got snubbed by a family friend when we offered to do him a huge favor. I mean, nobody’s feelings would’ve been hurt if he’d just said it wasn’t workable – but it wasn’t cool to ignore us for the better part of a month. We don’t know if we should make plans for next week or hold off because this will get dropped into our laps at the last minute.

I’m outta here for the night. Here’s hoping for a better week overall. Just knowing there’s a light at the end of the computer tunnel helps.

8 thoughts on “The End”

  1. Glad dell is replacing your laptop, funky ‘puters are a huge pest.
    The multi retrograde planet thing has everything in review mode. Maybe your friend is stuck in that loop?

    Have a better week!!

    Reply
    • There’s definitely SOMETHING in the air now.

      Getting the ‘puter issues sorted out will reduce one layer of stress for me. Kind of a big one, too, tbh. I use this for personal stuff and for work stuff, and frankly haven’t been able to do much by way of work for a while because it’s given me so much grief.

      Reply
  2. Whoops! Have I been negligent in commenting? Oh well, you’re not the first babe I’ve loved and dumped. Anyway, sorry, been dealing with fires on the homefront myself. Glad the end of your laptop travails may be in sight! Sucks you had to go through all this wailing and gnashing of teeth first, but kudos to Dell for stepping up with a new unit. I wonder if they’d do the same for my 10 year old PC? I suspect not…..

    🙂

    Reply
    • Yeah I figured people have been dealing with crapola. It’s been one of those months, that’s for sure. Here’s hoping you get the fires put out on your end, too.

      Reply
  3. Ahhh…well…that retrograde crap aint helping!! Heh. End of camp, kids moving further into adulthood, grands are 6, 5, and 4, which, while easier, require more brain when around. Planning for a less hectic end-of-year has me a bit off-kilter.

    YAY for different beast! All digits juxtaposed!

    Reply
    • No doubt to both the retrograde planets and to the beast-swap. I’m ready for it!

      This time of year always seems wonky. I don’t know if it’s back to school or what. Businesses report September is consistently their slowest month, except back-to-school supplies.

      Reply
  4. Good news that Dell will be sending you a refurbished computer. I hope it works for you very well.
    I haven’t had a lot going on in my life but I’ve kept busy…just went to a cousins’ reunion yesterday in another state. I hadn'[t seen most of them for over 40 years. May be the last time we see each other too. It was a nice visit.

    Reply
    • I honestly think it’s the time of year. Temperatures are declining so people can go outside without baking to a crisp; kids are back in school; it’s just BUSY.

      I’m happy Dell’s sending me a refurb. Here’s hoping it’s one that works well, lol.

      Reply

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