Broken pc
My pc is broken.

Seeing as, for the past eight years, broken pcs were always fixed by the soon-to-be-ex-wife, who now no longer fancies several hours trying to work out what's wrong with the thing, I need to get it fixed some other way.

It's a Dell pc, just over a year old. I've done the standard stuff like removing recently installed software, and rolling it back, but what started out as simply crashing when viewing a video has now turned into not booting in anything other than safe mode.

Should I call Dell and see if they can fix it? Or take it to PC World in the hope that their monkeys can fix it without trying to tell me the motherboard is busted and trying to charge me lots of pennies. Or should I beg my ex to try and fix it?

Any advice is welcome :)
( SeasonTicketless is too often the statue, and rarely the pigeon., Wed 27 Aug 2008, 9:53, 9 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

Ooo
I'm in IT and I can safely say that it's bejiggered.

That's a technical term by the way.

If it's a Dell PC, have you got the original Operating System and restore disks - if so, I'd reinstall the OS and reapply the restore disks. I think a call to Dell would help you in this - but it'd be expensive.

You did, of course, back up your personal data, didn't you?
(james_tiger_woods is going to start his killing spree on the, Wed 27 Aug 2008, 9:59, Reply)

Ask your friends
If they know anyone who's computer literate and fancies earning themselves a few quid. PC World et al will fleece you and it sounds like it needs a bit of TLC.
( Noeli overtheshoulderboulderholderthingstraplatchboobs, Wed 27 Aug 2008, 10:02, Reply)

Sounds like a dodgy connection on
the graphics card or similar unseated thingy (also technical term).

You could try updating/reinstalling your graphics drivers, as it could be software based. Find them on the dell site, or gaz me with the details and I'll take a look.

As its under warranty (most Dell kit is 3 years) I'd give them a call.

*DO NOT* go to PC world, as from previous experience, when asking for a PS/2 mouse I was taken to the PlayStation aisle, then got a confused look when I said it was the connection prior to USB for PCs, not for a gaming console, I tend not to trust their technical "ability".
(Ethelred is watching cheese grow, Wed 27 Aug 2008, 10:16, Reply)

TLC
TLC would work - surely you know someone else who know something about computers?
(james_tiger_woods is going to start his killing spree on the, Wed 27 Aug 2008, 10:17, Reply)

tlc?
I'll try tlc, but since Left Eye died, they've never been the same hehe (see what I did there?!)

All important stuff has been saved following the great data loss suffered in the house a few years back, and I even cleared off quite a bit of dodgy stuff through safe mode.

I'll try opening it up and re-installing the graphics card tonight to see if that does anything.

The os is on the hard drive, and I don't have the disks to re-install which is a pain.

I'll try calling Dell too. Thanks guys :)
( SeasonTicketless is too often the statue, and rarely the pigeon., Wed 27 Aug 2008, 10:30, Reply)

Bah!
My warranty ran out last Friday. Can you believe it?
( SeasonTicketless is too often the statue, and rarely the pigeon., Wed 27 Aug 2008, 11:34, Reply)

Funny you mention that
I have a Dell PC next to me in work at the moment. It will only boot in safe mode when trying to boot it up normally it brings up a STOP error.
I have narrowed it down to a busted motherboard, it's cheaper to buy a new motherboard and processor. Ebuyer is a good site.
DONT GO TO PC WORLD!!
(quagarr, Wed 27 Aug 2008, 13:46, Reply)

Linux live CD. Back up documents onto a USB device.
Reinstall Windows from the CD provided with the computer.

Try this before replacing the motherboard. You'll need to do it (again) if you do replace the motherboard with a different one. And make sure that the new board fits in your case.
( idonthaveafunnynickname Drink-Aware? Sure. I'm aware I want another drink., Wed 27 Aug 2008, 23:55, Reply)

back everything up
to a USB key or drive, then install a decent operating system that will actually tell you what's wrong rather than just stopping working.
(dchurch bah, Thu 28 Aug 2008, 16:05, Reply)