I realize after this happened to me, lots of people have been in a situation far worse than mine when their computer gives up and says, "I can't handle all this data" and without any consideration for the user, it dies! No warning sign saying I am having a bad day and can't take it anymore...no warning of danger like Will Robinson received...nothing! I know I should be more sympathetic toward technology, since I have three companies going simultaneously.. unfortunately, I am having a tough time finding that plug in anywhere in my brain. My patience got stretched to almost it's limit after spending four hours with HP gurus on the phone since I had the "smartfriend" extended warranty. The accents were so heavy, I spent more time trying to understand the person than actually being able to help solve my own issue. It wasn't their issue, it was mine. I bought a new hard drive from a company the HP recommended and when it arrived, it was clear that it wouldn't fit in the slot nor did it look anything like what I just took out of the computer. The hard drive was for a laptop, and since I gave them the number to my computer and mentioned it four times, it seemed logical that they would know that. Clearly, that was too much for their computer brains to process. On the phone again to the hard drive company and got that taken care of quickly. Another hard drive is on its way and the laptop hard drive was being returned, but of course, now we have the weekend and a government holiday to wait through. When the second one arrived, it was the correct size. Didn't seem to tough to put in...even for a scaredy cat like me. Installation complete then got on the phone to HP as the computer monitor was saying that it couldn't find the hard drive. What?! That can't be! That one was the correct size...too bad it was defective. Yep, another joy of technology companies...they don't always check product before they send it to a customer.
I had to take it to a local guru company and get it tested so back on the phone again to the hard drive company to let them know that this one was defective. Got a return authorization number and off that one went in the mail.
I finally got a good hard drive then was able to get to the point of being able to put in the recovery disks that were from another company HP recommended, because my computer was 5 years old and they don't have recovery disks for that "old" a computer. The disks are not free even if you bought the license from MicroSoft for the original software. So, got those started and the first disk went great...then the screen prompts me for the second disk but the CD tray won't open automatically. I have to put a pin in the tiny hole to open the tray, which starts the entire process all over again. Lovely! After two cycles of that, I felt like I nurtured this box as much as a human being should be allowed and it was time for a new computer. Today, I am a proud owner of another brand of computer.
Some things I had to retrain my brain to do:
Stop pounding on the keyboard when it auto corrects a word that was just fine that way I typed it.
No more slamming the keyboard tray into the desk like it weighed 80 pounds.
I can no longer kick the CPU unit when it is taking so long for something to download. I tricked my brain with this one as I bought a laptop, so I can throw the mother board, keyboard and all the guts together, when it is appropriate.
For now, technology and I are are back trying to communicate but, I'm afraid the relationship will never be the same.
P.S. Will be working diligently to get my money back from hard drive and disk companies that HP recommended.
