Faulty PC

t2ange

Hello all

I am new to this so please excuse any forum 'blunders'. My son bought a high spec gaming PC from PC World last Sunday (30th June) for over £800. He phoned last night to say that it keeps crashing and then rebooting itself. He has spoken to PC World who say that it sounds as if it is the memory stick, take it in and they will repair it.

My feeling is that once you have a PC that starts playing up it will continue doing it forever. I told him to ask for a new replacement one - get them to give it to him before he hands over the old one - but he is worried that they will tell him some rubbish about his rights.

Could anyone please advise me to his consumer rights and can he stand his ground and ask for a new replacement not just have this one repaired? Would it be worth taking something printed off to give him a bit of back-up and confidence?

Thank you very much.

Zandoni

Depends when it crashes and reboots, is he playing a game that is not compatible with the new machines operating system. If so I'd suggest he visits the game makers web site in case there is a patch.

There are a number of hardware faults that will cause these problems but i would consider software first

Freddie_Snowbits

Also try the techie bored

solodanceparty

Your feeling is wrong. If it's the memory playing up, all they have to do is replace it and the machine will be fine. You can't have a replacement because you don't know what you're talking about. Let them repair is and move on with your life.

t2ange

That is why I was asking for advice Solodanceparty - I didn't know what I was talking about.

It crashes when he is on the internet but I will check if he was playing a game at the same time - thank you for that. Trouble is, our PC World is many miles away - not just down the road - so having to keep going back to solve the problem is not an easy option for us and he doesn't own a car so relies on friends.

Zandoni

solodanceparty wrote: »

Your feeling is wrong. If it's the memory playing up, all they have to do is replace it and the machine will be fine. You can't have a replacement because you don't know what you're talking about. Let them repair is and move on with your life.

If it's a hardware fault it could be the memory or an underated power supply.

You can test the memory with this

http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

Also bear in mind you do not have to accept a repair so soon after purchase, you can reject the goods and have a refund.

foxwales

If its crashing when he is on the internet, then it is likely to be one of the following:

An internet application such as Flash, Java etc thats trying to execute but is causing an operating conflict, which results in the machine rebooting itself to protect system integrity.

Or an issue with the Network card which maybe conflicting with another device installed on the computer.

Your son should make sure his operating system is up-to-date with the latest Microsoft Patches, if it's a windows based operating system, these can be obtained from Microsoft Windows Update.

Also he should ensure that his Network card has the latest device drivers to ensure any possible conflicts with other devices are corrected.

If the crashes are still existing after these steps, then he should update his sound card drivers and video card drivers.

DCodd

while I know you are asking about your son's rights with regard to the purchase, I would post a similar thread on the techie board (as previously suggested) with the Make, Model, Processor type and Operating system (windows vistapremium or Windows 7 etc) and ask for techie advice. I know of a couple of Windows Vista updates from Microsoft that can have this effect and there is a patch to correct it.

t2ange

Thank you all so much for your help. I will pass your suggestions on next time I talk to him and get the spec of his system and post it on the techie board.

Esqui

t2ange wrote: »

My son bought a high spec gaming PC from PC World last Sunday (30th June) for over £800.

It's a time machine too?

There is a 28-day guaranteed replacement/refund policy for faulty goods, which he can use. Probably easier just to let them replace the faulty memory - it would be a waste of good parts to return the whole computer.

t2ange

Hi Esqui

Mmmm ...... it's a Dell .......

He took it back and after checking it they said that the problem could involve anything but would take a lot to put right (probably didn't know what it was). They gave him another machine so he was quite happy with that so problem solved.

Thank you for your advice anyway.