Okay, I have to vent. My Compaq notebook developed a power problem, battery wouldn't hold a charge & the internal connection was bad, so I couldn't get power that way. Now, since it was under warranty, I sent it back to HP/Compaq with a note in BIG LETTERS stating that I had uninstalled Vista the minute I got the laptop home & that theys SHOULD NOT under any circumstances re-install (I was running XP). Needless to say, they ignored me & wiped out all my files, software, etc.

Did I mention there was nothing wrong with the software, just a power problem? What's up with that?

To make matters worse, the problem started in mid-Jan & they only fixed the connector at first & when I asked for a replacement battery, I had to send the laptop back to them again (wouldn't it make more sense to just mail me the battery?) Well, the kept my laptop from 2/15 until 3/3. Of course, it was useless until just now when I've finally reinstalled XP (as dual boot this time) & gotten all the XP drivers reloaded.

God! I hate computer companies!

Thanks. I feel much better now.

I am A computer Geek, And to Be honest, It's just procedure, when it turned 08 Windows No longer Supports Xp and under No Circumstance will suport it, Will They Sell it YES, Will they work on it No, i know stupid huh

I feel bad for your experience, but that sounds about right for HP/Compaq customer service. One of the many reasons I would never own one of their builds.

However, the obvious lesson here is to never trust them with your data/configuration. If at all possible do a complete system backup to a DVD/external HDD using whatever backup or imaging software you feel comfortable with (there are plenty on the market) and at least you know it's safe.

Again, my condolences, but they just follow policy no matter how silly.

Sounds like the laptop battery has gone kaput... probably one of the lithium cells inside it either went out or burst. That's the problem with lithium-ion cells- if they go bad, they'll go REALLY bad.

Also- don't EVER get a lithium battery in contact with water, as the results can be rather explosive. Lithium can go high order, much like the way magnesium does, which is not a good thing.

Dunno what to tell you about the bad connector, though- you'd figure laptop manufacturers would make a more robust design for that stuff.

they do not have the right to reformat

i would be calling the attorney general

it was not a software issue

I understand that it's procedure if you have a software problem, but this was purely hardware & didn't require them to touch my software. It's just DUMB! but, I'll get over it.

depends on the EULA/warranty information associated with the laptop, it could very well be procedure on RMA's to restore the system (or they could have just screwed up royally)

funny how people complain about hp, i've had numerous hp products and have yet to have a problem with any of them outside of the normal things that wear out. same with windows, i had xp when everybody complained about how bad it was, now i have vista and everybody complains yet xp is now great. still never had a problem with either of them. sent several things in for warranty work and never had them do anything they weren't suppossed to do.


it seems it's only the negative things you hear about and everybody bases their opinions off what they hear.

and oh yeah to the op, count your blessings they still fixed it. alot of the warranty stuff says altering the os or uninstalling the os voids your warranty, so your lucky they fixed it without saying anything.

lol at compaq

Indeed i agree, reformating personall files is a big no-no especially with a written note, i would talk to someone about such an issue

to be honest,i'm surprised they even repaired it after they knew you wiped out the original OS that was installed.they usually consider that tampering with it and most companies will end the warranty due to that.

it was not a software issue

that could be a legitimate defense if it was software issue

changing o s does not effect power feed or the battery

i would imagine they di not want to lose a law suit

and if it was mine they may still be worried about it

I've had great service from hp online chat & I'm not complaining about their product....just the stupidity if messing with software when the problem is hardware. Vista may be fine if you don't use it for business, but I'm a hospital consultant & need to be able to connect to my clients' systems & they can't support Vista....hence it's totally useless to me.