My brother's 6 month old Compaq laptop is having problems and he needs to get
it fixed ASAP because he needs it for work (he is an independant contractor
working at home and needs his computer to work or he doesn't get paid).
Unfortunately he is as computer-unsavvy as they come and hasn't been able to
work through the confusing error messages the computer is giving him. I've
tried to help him over the phone (I'm in Seattle) but it's pretty much
impossible to diagnose problems like that over the phone.
Compaq claims that his problems are all software related and won't fix it
without a charge. Best as I can tell the HD and/or windows is corrupted and
there may or may not be a related hardware problem. Unfortunately with laptops
you don't get a real Windows disk so his only option is to re-image his HD and
loose all his critical work files. What he needs is for someone to run Norton
Utilities (which he doesn't have) on the HD to make sure it is ok and then
probably re-install XP home from a valid XP disk.
Does anyone know someone who could help him out? He doesn't have a lot of money
to spend right now so he can't pay $85/hour to have it diagnosed and repaired,
he's more looking for someone who could fix it in exchange for a six-pack of
beer and a large pepperoni pizza.
Please reply to me and I'll pass the info on to him.
Thank you very much,
- Alan Dahl
P.S. Alternately if anyone has a pentium 500 or greater PC they want to let go
for cheap then that might work too.
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