My new PC has a fault - what happens to installed and registered software ?

alun4

My 2 month old PC has an on/off switch that falls out when it is pressed. This means taking the side off and pushing it back into place.

It's an Aldi (Medion) and I have had good experience in the past if I have had a problem with scanner etc from Aldi.

I bought Microsoft Word 2010 pro and Windows 7 pro from software for students and used the licence on 3 machines/ 1 machine as allowed. If the PC is exchanged, what would I do to get the software registered on a replacement?

prowla

alun4 wrote: »

My 2 month old PC has an on/off switch that falls out when it is pressed. This means taking the side off and pushing it back into place.

It's an Aldi (Medion) and I have had good experience in the past if I have had a problem with scanner etc from Aldi.

I bought Microsoft Word 2010 pro and Windows 7 pro from software for students and used the licence on 3 machines/ 1 machine as allowed. If the PC is exchanged, what would I do to get the software registered on a replacement?

I think you can phone Micro$oft and say it's moved.

aerostar

If you want to be fireproof, get yourself a USB hard drive, and backup the partitions on your PC, that will save everything.

If they change the computer you just restore the partitions and you are back to normal.

You will need a proper backup program, there are plenty available, but you must backup all partitions, I use Acronis, Easeus is another, they have a free version, but have never used it.

Alternatively, if you have a hot melt glue gun, you could carefully (!!) glue the button back. This problem usually occurs because people push TOO HARD on the button breaking the retaining plastic.

alun4

aerostar wrote: »

Alternatively, if you have a hot melt glue gun, you could carefully (!!) glue the button back. This problem usually occurs because people push TOO HARD on the button breaking the retaining plastic.

This is probably the cause ...... children in the house! However, the button housing does not appear to be missing any "bits" and I have looked. With care it can be switched on but "slightly heavy handed" pushes the unit through - and that always seems to be when we are in a hurry!

Hammyman

Next time you start it up press DEL, F10 or whatever to go into the BIOS and somewhere in there should be the option to wake on keyboard or wake on keypress (with several options of key presses). That way when its enabled you just have to press the appropriate key on the keyboard to turn the computer on instead.

casseus

you opened it and broke the warrenty seal so you wont get anywhere now!!

deanos

casseus wrote: »

you opened it and broke the warrenty seal so you wont get anywhere now!!

Twaddle.

Give Medion a call they may be able to send you a new front part out , i assume it just clips on the front ?

alun4

casseus wrote: »

you opened it and broke the warrenty seal so you wont get anywhere now!!

I'm not aware of any seal broken. Installing (say) a USB 3 card in the tower is not likely to be an issue with this manufacturer ..... from experience they are very fair. If the particular switch had a faulty housing then I am sure they will do their best to help. I will telephone when I'm back in the country and let you know the result!

alun4

deanos wrote: »

Give Medion a call they may be able to send you a new front part out , i assume it just clips on the front ?

Thanks, this is the best way to go.

MTChandler

casseus wrote: »

you opened it and broke the warrenty seal so you wont get anywhere now!!

Rubbish !!!!

MTChandler

alun4 wrote: »

My 2 month old PC has an on/off switch that falls out when it is pressed. This means taking the side off and pushing it back into place.

It's an Aldi (Medion) and I have had good experience in the past if I have had a problem with scanner etc from Aldi.

I bought Microsoft Word 2010 pro and Windows 7 pro from software for students and used the licence on 3 machines/ 1 machine as allowed. If the PC is exchanged, what would I do to get the software registered on a replacement?

If the machine is replaced then you can simply reinstall the programs onto it.

If, as is the case with the vast majority Microsoft products, you need to activate/register the software after it has been installed you have a choice on how you can do this. With Microsoft products, you can try the option to activate/register online or telephone them. Typically, when you attempt to activate Microsoft products this way the system generates a alphanumeric key. You can try to do the online activation first. If you are told that the product is already activated then you will need to telephone the software publisher. In the case of Microsoft products it is a toll-free number. When you call, ignore all of the "press button 1, press button 2 ............" requests and just hang onto the phone until a real person answers the phone. You will be asked which product you need activating and you may be asked why. Just tell them that you computer crashed and you have had to reinstall everything. You will then be asked to supply the alphanumeric key and they will in turn give you an activation key. Just follow the prompts from the person on the other end of the phone and you will be fine.

Installing and activating other products may be a little more problematic, particularly if it is software that you have downloaded. But, as long as you have the email confirming the purchase and the product licence key this can be done. For example, most companies offer a trial version of their software for download. So, one of the options open to you is to download the trial version of software that you need to reinstall and - usually in the "Help" dropdown menu - activate/register it as full version by typing in your licence key

But, before you hand over your computer, make sure that you make a backup of all your data. Simply doing a copy and paste to an external drive or thumbdrive is fine or burning your files to a cd/dvd disk.

Finally, if you have iTunes on your computer, then reinstall it on the new computer first and complete the whole of the installation procedure to the point that iTunes opens for the first time. Close down iTunes and then copy the iTunes folder from your backup drive to the same location on the new machine. When you reopen iTunes all of your music will be there