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From: Boris on 1 Sep 2009 11:53
My 85 year old father has an E520, running XPHome. It's fully updated,
and runs the paid for version of Avast. He uses his machine for email
and browsing.(I happen to have the same machine at my house, running
VistaHP.) It's about 2 years old. He lives 2 hours away, is entirely
technology illiterate, and over the past 10 years we've usually work
problems out via Remote Desktop, or over the phone.

A few days ago, his machine began blue screening. He wrote down part of
the blue screen message:

"It is corrupt, absent, or not writable.
Beginning dump of physical memory.
Physical memory dump completed.
Contact system administrator or technical support for further
assistance."

He didn't write down any thing else, like memory locations.

Not wanting to call me, he took it into Best Buy Thursday afternoon.
They are going to charge him $259 for diagnostic and repair! They also
told him Avast was no good, and said they'd install their own Webroot?
antimalware program, free for the first so many days.

I was going to visit him on Sunday anyway, so I stopped by and we both
went to Best Buy. I talked with the service counter person (he admitted
that he was not a technician, but proudly announced that he had this and
that certification from Microsoft) and found that they had already run
some of their own diagnostic disks, and told me that the machine
couldn't find the hard drive. I asked if they checked the BIOS to see
if the hard drive was "turned on". Not that I knew how it could have
gotten turned off without human intervention, because my dad would never
know how to even enter the BIOS, but he has pulled the power cord when
Comcast goes down, trying to get back on line. The counter person said
that no one has gone into the BIOS, because they always want to run
their two diagnostics first. He said checking the BIOS settings was the
last thing they would do, because that's "so manual". I say if you
suspect that the machine can't find the hard drive, check the BIOS. I
also asked if they's opened it up to check that the SATA cable was
securely connected, and if the memory was secure. Nope, that's too
'manual'

I'm far from a hardware technician, but I've always been able to
diagnose and fix my own problems, with the help of google, the manuals,
forums, and especially this group. I also know my limitations, and
don't mind admitting them.

I asked the Best Buy guy to turn on the machine, and I entered the BIOS.
He didn't like that I had touched the keyboard. I entered the disc
setup page, and it appeared that the harddrive was turned off, but I
couldn't tell for sure, because I didn't have enough time to look at
what was highlighted, and the Best Buy guy was getting edgy, and told me
not to change anything because he'd get into trouble. Also, my dad
doesn't like confrontation, and I didn't want to cause him any anxiety.
If it was me, I would have cancelled the repair, and taken the machine
back to my house, diagnosed it, and returned it back to my dad.

The service guy then told me that he thought the motherboard went out,
because he'd never not been able to mount a harddrive. Huh?

My dad wanted so bad to get back online while he waited for his desktop,
that he bought a Dell Studio T6500 laptop then and there, for $679. He
knows nothing about pcs, but just told me to get him something in that
price range. I told my dad that I had to get going back home because I
had other unbreakable commitments, and that I could come back later, or
take the laptop with me and setup at my house, and he could drive down
the next day to pick up. But, he wanted it done now (he's addicted to
his email), so he let Best Buy set it up for $40. I told my dad that he
still wouldn't be able to do email because Windows Mail would have to be
configured. Best Buy said they'd do that for another $30. I told Best
Buy to be sure to 'leave mail on server' so Dad could later retrieve his
mail on his desktop, after retrieving it on his new laptop.

We also bought a Logitech Nano mouse, and my dad asked me how would he
use it when he did pick up his laptop. He doesn't know what a USB port
is. I said just take it to Best Buy when you get the laptop, and
they'll plug it in for you.

I called last night to see how it was going. Dad picked up the laptop
yesterday, and when he took his Nano mouse in, still in the package and
asked them to plug it in the correct port, they did begrudgingly, but
told him that they should be charging him to open the package and plug
it in. They are such a warm bunch there, especially with 85 year olds.

He's had trouble turning it on, and then all downhill from there. (This
was predictable.) I also found that they had not 'left mail on server',
so we fixed that over the phone.

I told my dad that if he wanted to do so, yank the machine from Best
Buy, bring it down, and let me look at it. I have no idea what he will
do with Best Buy, because he's not the pushy type, they will talk
technological circles around him, and he gets embarrassed that he is pc
illiterate.

I guess every once in a while we use this ng for venting. This was my
turn. If you've read this far, thanks.
From: William R. Walsh on 1 Sep 2009 12:04
Hi!

> "It is corrupt, absent, or not writable.
> Beginning dump of physical memory.
> Physical memory dump completed.
> Contact system administrator or technical support for further
> assistance."

Corrupt, absent or not writable?

My money's on a dead or dying hard drive.

> Not wanting to call me, he took it into Best Buy Thursday afternoon.  
> They are going to charge him $259 for diagnostic and repair!  They
> also told him Avast was no good, and said they'd install their own
> Webroot? antimalware program, free for the first so many days.

Uh, huh huh huh.

Don't let them touch it. Get it back from them, work on it yourself.
Qualified help is here at this group, and the price is much better.

If the hard disk is turned OFF in the BIOS, you've got a machine that
won't even try to boot--since it has been dropping into a STOP error,
you're getting further than that. And Windows takes over from the BIOS
for startup disk related tasks very shortly after startup anyway.

> I was going to visit him on Sunday anyway, so I stopped by and we
> both went to Best Buy.  I talked with the service counter person (he
> admitted that he was not a technician, but proudly announced that
> he had this and that certification from Microsoft)

That is your first warning to run, not walk away with the computer in
hand.

> He didn't like that I had touched the keyboard.

It's not *their* system to start with, if you want to touch it you are
well within your rights to do so!

You have the right idea. Get that computer out of Best Buy immediately
(or as soon as you can) and work on it yourself. Even if your dad has
a new computer now, the old one is still worth something and he might
like to have it as a spare.

William
From: Boris on 1 Sep 2009 12:10
Boris <nospam(a)nospam.invalid> wrote in
news:h7jg2a$r51$1(a)news.eternal-september.org:

> My 85 year old father has an E520, running XPHome. It's fully updated,
> and runs the paid for version of Avast. He uses his machine for email
> and browsing.(I happen to have the same machine at my house, running
> VistaHP.) It's about 2 years old. He lives 2 hours away, is entirely
> technology illiterate, and over the past 10 years we've usually work
> problems out via Remote Desktop, or over the phone.
>
> A few days ago, his machine began blue screening. He wrote down part
> of the blue screen message:
>
> "It is corrupt, absent, or not writable.
> Beginning dump of physical memory.
> Physical memory dump completed.
> Contact system administrator or technical support for further
> assistance."
>
> He didn't write down any thing else, like memory locations.
>
> Not wanting to call me, he took it into Best Buy Thursday afternoon.
> They are going to charge him $259 for diagnostic and repair! They
> also told him Avast was no good, and said they'd install their own
> Webroot? antimalware program, free for the first so many days.
>
> I was going to visit him on Sunday anyway, so I stopped by and we both
> went to Best Buy. I talked with the service counter person (he
> admitted that he was not a technician, but proudly announced that he
> had this and that certification from Microsoft) and found that they
> had already run some of their own diagnostic disks, and told me that
> the machine couldn't find the hard drive. I asked if they checked the
> BIOS to see if the hard drive was "turned on". Not that I knew how it
> could have gotten turned off without human intervention, because my
> dad would never know how to even enter the BIOS, but he has pulled the
> power cord when Comcast goes down, trying to get back on line. The
> counter person said that no one has gone into the BIOS, because they
> always want to run their two diagnostics first. He said checking the
> BIOS settings was the last thing they would do, because that's "so
> manual". I say if you suspect that the machine can't find the hard
> drive, check the BIOS. I also asked if they's opened it up to check
> that the SATA cable was securely connected, and if the memory was
> secure. Nope, that's too 'manual'
>
> I'm far from a hardware technician, but I've always been able to
> diagnose and fix my own problems, with the help of google, the
> manuals, forums, and especially this group. I also know my
> limitations, and don't mind admitting them.
>
> I asked the Best Buy guy to turn on the machine, and I entered the
> BIOS. He didn't like that I had touched the keyboard. I entered the
> disc setup page, and it appeared that the harddrive was turned off,
> but I couldn't tell for sure, because I didn't have enough time to
> look at what was highlighted, and the Best Buy guy was getting edgy,
> and told me not to change anything because he'd get into trouble.
> Also, my dad doesn't like confrontation, and I didn't want to cause
> him any anxiety. If it was me, I would have cancelled the repair, and
> taken the machine back to my house, diagnosed it, and returned it back
> to my dad.
>
> The service guy then told me that he thought the motherboard went out,
> because he'd never not been able to mount a harddrive. Huh?
>
> My dad wanted so bad to get back online while he waited for his
> desktop, that he bought a Dell Studio T6500 laptop then and there, for
> $679. He knows nothing about pcs, but just told me to get him
> something in that price range. I told my dad that I had to get going
> back home because I had other unbreakable commitments, and that I
> could come back later, or take the laptop with me and setup at my
> house, and he could drive down the next day to pick up. But, he
> wanted it done now (he's addicted to his email), so he let Best Buy
> set it up for $40. I told my dad that he still wouldn't be able to do
> email because Windows Mail would have to be configured. Best Buy said
> they'd do that for another $30. I told Best Buy to be sure to 'leave
> mail on server' so Dad could later retrieve his mail on his desktop,
> after retrieving it on his new laptop.
>
> We also bought a Logitech Nano mouse, and my dad asked me how would he
> use it when he did pick up his laptop. He doesn't know what a USB
> port is. I said just take it to Best Buy when you get the laptop, and
> they'll plug it in for you.
>
> I called last night to see how it was going. Dad picked up the laptop
> yesterday, and when he took his Nano mouse in, still in the package
> and asked them to plug it in the correct port, they did begrudgingly,
> but told him that they should be charging him to open the package and
> plug it in. They are such a warm bunch there, especially with 85 year
> olds.
>
> He's had trouble turning it on, and then all downhill from there.
> (This was predictable.) I also found that they had not 'left mail on
> server', so we fixed that over the phone.
>
> I told my dad that if he wanted to do so, yank the machine from Best
> Buy, bring it down, and let me look at it. I have no idea what he
> will do with Best Buy, because he's not the pushy type, they will talk
> technological circles around him, and he gets embarrassed that he is
> pc illiterate.
>
> I guess every once in a while we use this ng for venting. This was my
> turn. If you've read this far, thanks.
>

I also suspect a corrupt registry. I don't know if this means that
restore points are now unreachable, and if they are reachable, if they
can be accessed in Safe Mode. If not, I'd just do a factory reinstall.
From: Christopher Muto on 1 Sep 2009 12:18
first, i wonder if this system happens to still be under warranty with dell
and if so why not call dell first.
secondly, this model hard diagnostic lights that help to quickly identify
most hardware issues.
thirdly, assuming his data is backed up, the simplest thing to try is the
dell system restore to restore the system to the original software
configuration as the system was originally shipped.
not to defend bestbuy who can certainly defend themselves, it is a pretty
common problem of communication when you have two less than knowledgeable
people trying to discusses a technical issue. the customer should not have
to know anything when bringing equipment to a repair shop but if they don't
they will likely be taken advantage of deliberately or not. with
diagnostics costing about $69 and repairs costing probably $200 it is
apparent that purchasing a new machine is typically a more economical thing
to do.

"Boris" <nospam(a)nospam.invalid> wrote in message
news:h7jg2a$r51$1(a)news.eternal-september.org...
> My 85 year old father has an E520, running XPHome. It's fully updated,
> and runs the paid for version of Avast. He uses his machine for email
> and browsing.(I happen to have the same machine at my house, running
> VistaHP.) It's about 2 years old. He lives 2 hours away, is entirely
> technology illiterate, and over the past 10 years we've usually work
> problems out via Remote Desktop, or over the phone.
>
> A few days ago, his machine began blue screening. He wrote down part of
> the blue screen message:
>
> "It is corrupt, absent, or not writable.
> Beginning dump of physical memory.
> Physical memory dump completed.
> Contact system administrator or technical support for further
> assistance."
>
> He didn't write down any thing else, like memory locations.
>
> Not wanting to call me, he took it into Best Buy Thursday afternoon.
> They are going to charge him $259 for diagnostic and repair! They also
> told him Avast was no good, and said they'd install their own Webroot?
> antimalware program, free for the first so many days.
>
> I was going to visit him on Sunday anyway, so I stopped by and we both
> went to Best Buy. I talked with the service counter person (he admitted
> that he was not a technician, but proudly announced that he had this and
> that certification from Microsoft) and found that they had already run
> some of their own diagnostic disks, and told me that the machine
> couldn't find the hard drive. I asked if they checked the BIOS to see
> if the hard drive was "turned on". Not that I knew how it could have
> gotten turned off without human intervention, because my dad would never
> know how to even enter the BIOS, but he has pulled the power cord when
> Comcast goes down, trying to get back on line. The counter person said
> that no one has gone into the BIOS, because they always want to run
> their two diagnostics first. He said checking the BIOS settings was the
> last thing they would do, because that's "so manual". I say if you
> suspect that the machine can't find the hard drive, check the BIOS. I
> also asked if they's opened it up to check that the SATA cable was
> securely connected, and if the memory was secure. Nope, that's too
> 'manual'
>
> I'm far from a hardware technician, but I've always been able to
> diagnose and fix my own problems, with the help of google, the manuals,
> forums, and especially this group. I also know my limitations, and
> don't mind admitting them.
>
> I asked the Best Buy guy to turn on the machine, and I entered the BIOS.
> He didn't like that I had touched the keyboard. I entered the disc
> setup page, and it appeared that the harddrive was turned off, but I
> couldn't tell for sure, because I didn't have enough time to look at
> what was highlighted, and the Best Buy guy was getting edgy, and told me
> not to change anything because he'd get into trouble. Also, my dad
> doesn't like confrontation, and I didn't want to cause him any anxiety.
> If it was me, I would have cancelled the repair, and taken the machine
> back to my house, diagnosed it, and returned it back to my dad.
>
> The service guy then told me that he thought the motherboard went out,
> because he'd never not been able to mount a harddrive. Huh?
>
> My dad wanted so bad to get back online while he waited for his desktop,
> that he bought a Dell Studio T6500 laptop then and there, for $679. He
> knows nothing about pcs, but just told me to get him something in that
> price range. I told my dad that I had to get going back home because I
> had other unbreakable commitments, and that I could come back later, or
> take the laptop with me and setup at my house, and he could drive down
> the next day to pick up. But, he wanted it done now (he's addicted to
> his email), so he let Best Buy set it up for $40. I told my dad that he
> still wouldn't be able to do email because Windows Mail would have to be
> configured. Best Buy said they'd do that for another $30. I told Best
> Buy to be sure to 'leave mail on server' so Dad could later retrieve his
> mail on his desktop, after retrieving it on his new laptop.
>
> We also bought a Logitech Nano mouse, and my dad asked me how would he
> use it when he did pick up his laptop. He doesn't know what a USB port
> is. I said just take it to Best Buy when you get the laptop, and
> they'll plug it in for you.
>
> I called last night to see how it was going. Dad picked up the laptop
> yesterday, and when he took his Nano mouse in, still in the package and
> asked them to plug it in the correct port, they did begrudgingly, but
> told him that they should be charging him to open the package and plug
> it in. They are such a warm bunch there, especially with 85 year olds.
>
> He's had trouble turning it on, and then all downhill from there. (This
> was predictable.) I also found that they had not 'left mail on server',
> so we fixed that over the phone.
>
> I told my dad that if he wanted to do so, yank the machine from Best
> Buy, bring it down, and let me look at it. I have no idea what he will
> do with Best Buy, because he's not the pushy type, they will talk
> technological circles around him, and he gets embarrassed that he is pc
> illiterate.
>
> I guess every once in a while we use this ng for venting. This was my
> turn. If you've read this far, thanks.


From: Boris on 1 Sep 2009 12:52
Nope, out of warranty.

Thanks for reminder about diagnostic lights. I used those on my (E510)
to diagnose a memory stick that had come lose after I installed another
drive.

"Christopher Muto" <muto(a)worldnet.att.net> wrote in
news:v6GdnZUDauT91ADXnZ2dnUVZ_tidnZ2d(a)speakeasy.net:

> first, i wonder if this system happens to still be under warranty with
> dell and if so why not call dell first.
> secondly, this model hard diagnostic lights that help to quickly
> identify most hardware issues.
> thirdly, assuming his data is backed up, the simplest thing to try is
> the dell system restore to restore the system to the original software
> configuration as the system was originally shipped.
> not to defend bestbuy who can certainly defend themselves, it is a
> pretty common problem of communication when you have two less than
> knowledgeable people trying to discusses a technical issue. the
> customer should not have to know anything when bringing equipment to a
> repair shop but if they don't they will likely be taken advantage of
> deliberately or not. with diagnostics costing about $69 and repairs
> costing probably $200 it is apparent that purchasing a new machine is
> typically a more economical thing to do.
>
> "Boris" <nospam(a)nospam.invalid> wrote in message
> news:h7jg2a$r51$1(a)news.eternal-september.org...
>> My 85 year old father has an E520, running XPHome. It's fully
>> updated, and runs the paid for version of Avast. He uses his machine
>> for email and browsing.(I happen to have the same machine at my
>> house, running VistaHP.) It's about 2 years old. He lives 2 hours
>> away, is entirely technology illiterate, and over the past 10 years
>> we've usually work problems out via Remote Desktop, or over the
>> phone.
>>
>> A few days ago, his machine began blue screening. He wrote down part
>> of the blue screen message:
>>
>> "It is corrupt, absent, or not writable.
>> Beginning dump of physical memory.
>> Physical memory dump completed.
>> Contact system administrator or technical support for further
>> assistance."
>>
>> He didn't write down any thing else, like memory locations.
>>
>> Not wanting to call me, he took it into Best Buy Thursday afternoon.
>> They are going to charge him $259 for diagnostic and repair! They
>> also told him Avast was no good, and said they'd install their own
>> Webroot? antimalware program, free for the first so many days.
>>
>> I was going to visit him on Sunday anyway, so I stopped by and we
>> both went to Best Buy. I talked with the service counter person (he
>> admitted that he was not a technician, but proudly announced that he
>> had this and that certification from Microsoft) and found that they
>> had already run some of their own diagnostic disks, and told me that
>> the machine couldn't find the hard drive. I asked if they checked
>> the BIOS to see if the hard drive was "turned on". Not that I knew
>> how it could have gotten turned off without human intervention,
>> because my dad would never know how to even enter the BIOS, but he
>> has pulled the power cord when Comcast goes down, trying to get back
>> on line. The counter person said that no one has gone into the BIOS,
>> because they always want to run their two diagnostics first. He said
>> checking the BIOS settings was the last thing they would do, because
>> that's "so manual". I say if you suspect that the machine can't find
>> the hard drive, check the BIOS. I also asked if they's opened it up
>> to check that the SATA cable was securely connected, and if the
>> memory was secure. Nope, that's too 'manual'
>>
>> I'm far from a hardware technician, but I've always been able to
>> diagnose and fix my own problems, with the help of google, the
>> manuals, forums, and especially this group. I also know my
>> limitations, and don't mind admitting them.
>>
>> I asked the Best Buy guy to turn on the machine, and I entered the
>> BIOS. He didn't like that I had touched the keyboard. I entered the
>> disc setup page, and it appeared that the harddrive was turned off,
>> but I couldn't tell for sure, because I didn't have enough time to
>> look at what was highlighted, and the Best Buy guy was getting edgy,
>> and told me not to change anything because he'd get into trouble.
>> Also, my dad doesn't like confrontation, and I didn't want to cause
>> him any anxiety. If it was me, I would have cancelled the repair, and
>> taken the machine back to my house, diagnosed it, and returned it
>> back to my dad.
>>
>> The service guy then told me that he thought the motherboard went
>> out, because he'd never not been able to mount a harddrive. Huh?
>>
>> My dad wanted so bad to get back online while he waited for his
>> desktop, that he bought a Dell Studio T6500 laptop then and there,
>> for $679. He knows nothing about pcs, but just told me to get him
>> something in that price range. I told my dad that I had to get going
>> back home because I had other unbreakable commitments, and that I
>> could come back later, or take the laptop with me and setup at my
>> house, and he could drive down the next day to pick up. But, he
>> wanted it done now (he's addicted to his email), so he let Best Buy
>> set it up for $40. I told my dad that he still wouldn't be able to
>> do email because Windows Mail would have to be configured. Best Buy
>> said they'd do that for another $30. I told Best Buy to be sure to
>> 'leave mail on server' so Dad could later retrieve his mail on his
>> desktop, after retrieving it on his new laptop.
>>
>> We also bought a Logitech Nano mouse, and my dad asked me how would
>> he use it when he did pick up his laptop. He doesn't know what a USB
>> port is. I said just take it to Best Buy when you get the laptop,
>> and they'll plug it in for you.
>>
>> I called last night to see how it was going. Dad picked up the
>> laptop yesterday, and when he took his Nano mouse in, still in the
>> package and asked them to plug it in the correct port, they did
>> begrudgingly, but told him that they should be charging him to open
>> the package and plug it in. They are such a warm bunch there,
>> especially with 85 year olds.
>>
>> He's had trouble turning it on, and then all downhill from there.
>> (This was predictable.) I also found that they had not 'left mail on
>> server', so we fixed that over the phone.
>>
>> I told my dad that if he wanted to do so, yank the machine from Best
>> Buy, bring it down, and let me look at it. I have no idea what he
>> will do with Best Buy, because he's not the pushy type, they will
>> talk technological circles around him, and he gets embarrassed that
>> he is pc illiterate.
>>
>> I guess every once in a while we use this ng for venting. This was
>> my turn. If you've read this far, thanks.
>
>

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