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Do you really want to buy a Compaq computer? |
Recently, a customer brought in a nicely made Compaq laptop, about 4 years old. The hard drive was dead and needed to be replaced. Complicating that was the fact the customer no longer had the Restore CD. This in-and-of-itself was not surprising. A remarkably large percentage of people no longer have the Restore CD, either because they lost them over time, or they bought the computer used and the Restore CD did not come with it.
Normally, this is not a major problem. For usually less than $25.00, we can get the Restore CDs directly from Compaq (or Dell, HP, Gateway, or whatever the manufacturer). It usually takes about 5 to 7 days, we get the CD in the mail and then restore the hard drive to its original load. The customer gets to keep his fresh new Restore CD and is usually very happy.
Now, this is a very important step, and here is why. You might recall I mentioned the word "proprietary" at the beginning of this paper. You see, the proprietary nature of the brand name computers really rears its ugly head in a laptop. Virtually everything is proprietary- sound, video, motherboard, modem, ethernet, USB, etc. The *ONLY* place to get the drivers for all these proprietary devices is on the restore CD supplied by the manufacturer (in this case, Compaq). While the video chip may be from nVidia, or ATI or someting, the driver will be a special driver not available for download from that chip maker. They are generally not available for download- especially when dealing with Compaq. The only drivers you can download from Compaq are updates to the drivers you should already have.
Ahh, and here is the rub. As of 31 July 2002, with *NO* notice to the general public (or to the techs), Compaq stopped supporting any machines that came bundled with Windows95 as the original load. If you no longer have in your possession the original CDs, you are out of luck! If you ever need to reload your hard drive, either from a devasting virus, a crashed hard drive, or some other reason, you might as well buy another computer. The Restore CD is NO LONGER AVAILABLE- PERIOD! I just spent several hours over two days discussing, pleading, fighting, and circular arguing with customer service personnel and supervisors at Compaq. They will no longer sell, distribute, or in any other way allow you or me to get any kind of a Restore CD for anything with an original load of Windows95. That means anything shipped prior to 1998!
Why? Well, they claim that some sort of licensing agreement with Microsoft is preventing them from distributing the Restore CD since Microsoft will no longer support Windows95, and the Restore CD has Windows95 on it. This makes no sense to me, but then I am not a Microsoft lawyer. However, according to several supervisors, they have no plans to place the drivers (minus the operating system) on the web for download, and they have no plans to create a new driver CD for all the millions of computers out there shipped prior to 1998. If this is true, presumably it means the same problem exists with all major manufacturers and their Restore CDs. If this continues to hold true, what happens when Microsoft decides to discontinue support for Windows98? WindowsME?
What does this mean to you? Well, if you have an older proprietary computer, and no longer have the Restore CD, and have to reload you computer, forget it! You now have a very expensive coffee table conversation piece, because it will likely never be fully functional again!
It also means, as far as Compaq is concerned, millions of you are not worth the time it takes to post those proprietary drivers to the web. As far as they are concerned, you should be forced to part with a perfectly functional computer, and forced to part with more of your hard earned cash and buy a new computer- just to appease the Compaq marketing Gods.
So, are you really sure you want to buy that proprietary computer- especially a Compaq?
Yours for Service,
A+ Computer Service, Inc