Complaint Review: Hewlett Packard Microsoft Circuit City - Palo Alto California

Wow. I really have no clue where to start on this one. But let's try. The recovery partition was full or close to it. Alright, looking past the fact that it's sized to create an OEM-state image and nothing more, why not resize the partition or buy an external hard drive? Your hard disk space IS in fact finite. HP makes no attempt to hide it's disk capacities from you or any consumer. Read and understand the computer's specifications before buying. Moving on to the office software. You assumed that when you bought the computer that it came with a $400 suite of Microsoft Office software for free? That'd be quite the deal, I must say. You can still have Office installed. When you tried to return the desktop, how long exactly was "X" amount of days? Was it longer than their posted refund policy allowed? I'll take a wild stab in the dark and say yes. Again, read the refund or return policy of a retailer before purchasing. Very few vendors guaranteed their software would run on Vista at the time of the brand spanking new "Vista Capable" machines, anyway. Again, this would come back to you needing to research what you're purchasing before running into the store, card in hand. If you need specific tools to run on your computer, you should check with those specific software vendors BEFORE purchasing. I can completely understand where you're coming from as being frustrated that you're not getting as much out of your machine as you'd imagined you would. I cannot emphasize enough that you need to READ and UNDERSTAND the terms of your purchase and what exactly you're purchasing before handing over your hard-earned cash. You need to ask questions and appreciate that if you make an insufficient purchase and aren't happy with it, it's neither the fault of the outlet of purchase nor the OEM. That being said, HP offers numerous ways to contact pre-sales for everything for sale on it's site and you can call and ask as many questions as you want.

Do some research on reformatting and loading the operating system from the backup drive D onto the C drive. This will clear out all the old operating system and put a new one on it provided you tell it to delete the partition for the C drive. If you don't want to run into anymore compatibility issues go buy a copy of xp. Vista is crap. If the above doesn't work more then likely you've got a bad hard drive from it being jostled around while shipping. You can easily buy a new hard drive and take out the old one for right around 40 bucks for a 80G sata drive. That would be more then enough for what it sounds like you're using it for. Finally, as far as you having to buy the software ...three words...read about torrents. For compatibility problems with Vista if you have the exe installer and it doesn't seem to want to install right click on it and go to properties , click the compatibility tab and change it to Windows XP/SP2. If it does install without having to do this go to C:/program files/folder of software you just installed and find the exe in there and do the same thing for it. This will also work just by right clicking on the shortcut on your desktop as there is a compatibility tab on there too.

Blaming HP for Vista incompatibilities is frankly just being uneducated. Even blaming Microsoft is flat out incorrect. The companies who develop the software you use are who you should be waving this stick at. Most will simply tell you to purchase the latest versions which will most likely be Vista friendly. (Which you had to do, join the crowd.) If not then they may have a patch to resolve any issues. The simplest research prior to purchasing your computer would have told you this. Blaming HP again for hardware incompatibilities between your peripherals (printer) and your operating system is in the exact same boat. Talk to your printer manufacturer about driver updates for their product, not HP. Also the sheer fact that you expected Word, Excel and Power Point to be included in your operating system spells out the truth that you are not as savvy as you would like to believe. Windows has never come with Microsoft Office components. It has always been this way. If you did not purchase this software with your computer, then it will not be on your computer. Your complaints about your "D drive" backup are also blaring your below than novice expertise. HP always includes a restore partition. This is not a backup drive to backup your entire system to. This is a separated partition so if your operating system gets corrupted or otherwise goes hairy, you can run system restore and all your pre-installed operating system and software will be re installed like the day you purchased. It is obvious this partition will be full, especially if you indicate it to be your backup location. Running a Ebay business does not make you computer savvy. A little bit of research, patience and understanding can help you do that. I apologize for sounding a bit rude. I am just tired of folks blaming decent enough companies and their tech support for issues and problems that are not their doing or responsibility.

Well J, Duane is absolutely right. The problem is not the HP computer, it's the Vista operating system and incompatibilities with it. A lot of older software will not work with Vista. Microsoft is known for creating buggy operating systems that have compatability issues. Re-read your post; all your compliants are about software not working with Vista. Do you think buying a Dell, Acer, Gateway, or generic computer with Vista would have solved the software incompatiblities? No. Because you are complaing about the software not working with the operating system. You would have these problems with Vista on any computer. This is how Microsoft operates, every new OS (and sometimes service packs) create application problems. You basically have to buy new software when Microsoft changes the OS. You would be better off complaining to Microsoft about this, but they are monoply, so they wouldn't listen anyway. Since you bought Vista, you should have downgrade rights to XP. Contact Microsoft to see if they will honor this (not likely). Even then, your software may not work on XP.

That was very helpful to my current situation. Very brilliant!

You obviously did not research your purchases before buying. You bought this computer without knowing what would run on the operating system; you did not know what software would be included. You obviously did not read the material enclosed with your computer. Had you done so, you would know that HP has their harddrives partioned, with a recovery system on drive D: - the message you were getting from Windows about the harddrive being full is a normal message warning you that the harddrive is full or near full. This message can be disabled. Knowing that you had Windows Vista, why did you not look at the information as to compatibility with the printer before you purchased it? There is a lot of software and hardware that does not work with Windows Vista. You cannot blame Microsoft because a software you want to use does not work on Vista. It has been years since any computer has included a full version of any Microsoft Office pruduct. Usually there is a trial version available which will give you use of the software for a specific number of days. You should have done your research before you purchased.

You obviously did not research your purchases before buying. You bought this computer without knowing what would run on the operating system; you did not know what software would be included. You obviously did not read the material enclosed with your computer. Had you done so, you would know that HP has their harddrives partioned, with a recovery system on drive D: - the message you were getting from Windows about the harddrive being full is a normal message warning you that the harddrive is full or near full. This message can be disabled. Knowing that you had Windows Vista, why did you not look at the information as to compatibility with the printer before you purchased it? There is a lot of software and hardware that does not work with Windows Vista. You cannot blame Microsoft because a software you want to use does not work on Vista. It has been years since any computer has included a full version of any Microsoft Office pruduct. Usually there is a trial version available which will give you use of the software for a specific number of days. You should have done your research before you purchased.

You obviously did not research your purchases before buying. You bought this computer without knowing what would run on the operating system; you did not know what software would be included. You obviously did not read the material enclosed with your computer. Had you done so, you would know that HP has their harddrives partioned, with a recovery system on drive D: - the message you were getting from Windows about the harddrive being full is a normal message warning you that the harddrive is full or near full. This message can be disabled. Knowing that you had Windows Vista, why did you not look at the information as to compatibility with the printer before you purchased it? There is a lot of software and hardware that does not work with Windows Vista. You cannot blame Microsoft because a software you want to use does not work on Vista. It has been years since any computer has included a full version of any Microsoft Office pruduct. Usually there is a trial version available which will give you use of the software for a specific number of days. You should have done your research before you purchased.

I am also a former employee at Circuit City. I got let go with the recent layoffs. Although I do agree that a lot of the problems you are having with your computer are more likely than software problems relating to the new Windows Vista Operating systems, but you should have researched the product more. This has been a common problem with a lot of people using the new software and is very common with Microsoft applications. As far as the office problem you are having, I would recommend purchasing the Home and Student Edition of Office which will get you Word, Excel, and Powerpoint for $150 and is usable on up to three computers. Also, your Hp computer should have came with a 60 day trial of Office Standard edition that you could have used in the mean time. Also, Circuit City through their Firedog Tech Support offers free hardware diagnostics on all Hp and Compaq Computers that are within the 1 year manufacturer's warranty. They are supposed to test all of your hardware for you and they will also typically do a system restore depending on the Manager or Technician at the store. If there is a problem the store will send out for the parts and fix the problem for you. More likely than not if you are having a problem it sounds like a defective hard drive. That is just my guess from the problem you are describing. Hope this helps Victor

I am also a former employee at Circuit City. I got let go with the recent layoffs. Although I do agree that a lot of the problems you are having with your computer are more likely than software problems relating to the new Windows Vista Operating systems, but you should have researched the product more. This has been a common problem with a lot of people using the new software and is very common with Microsoft applications. As far as the office problem you are having, I would recommend purchasing the Home and Student Edition of Office which will get you Word, Excel, and Powerpoint for $150 and is usable on up to three computers. Also, your Hp computer should have came with a 60 day trial of Office Standard edition that you could have used in the mean time. Also, Circuit City through their Firedog Tech Support offers free hardware diagnostics on all Hp and Compaq Computers that are within the 1 year manufacturer's warranty. They are supposed to test all of your hardware for you and they will also typically do a system restore depending on the Manager or Technician at the store. If there is a problem the store will send out for the parts and fix the problem for you. More likely than not if you are having a problem it sounds like a defective hard drive. That is just my guess from the problem you are describing. Hope this helps Victor

I am also a former employee at Circuit City. I got let go with the recent layoffs. Although I do agree that a lot of the problems you are having with your computer are more likely than software problems relating to the new Windows Vista Operating systems, but you should have researched the product more. This has been a common problem with a lot of people using the new software and is very common with Microsoft applications. As far as the office problem you are having, I would recommend purchasing the Home and Student Edition of Office which will get you Word, Excel, and Powerpoint for $150 and is usable on up to three computers. Also, your Hp computer should have came with a 60 day trial of Office Standard edition that you could have used in the mean time. Also, Circuit City through their Firedog Tech Support offers free hardware diagnostics on all Hp and Compaq Computers that are within the 1 year manufacturer's warranty. They are supposed to test all of your hardware for you and they will also typically do a system restore depending on the Manager or Technician at the store. If there is a problem the store will send out for the parts and fix the problem for you. More likely than not if you are having a problem it sounds like a defective hard drive. That is just my guess from the problem you are describing. Hope this helps Victor

Where is the old computer that you never had problems with? Go back to it ASAP! Almost everything you mentioned is a Windows Vista issue. Find a local computer shop to load XP on the new PC ASAP. VISTA SUCKS! I am not sure why CC would suggest a warranty, since warranties almost NEVER cover software issues like you are having.

Where is the old computer that you never had problems with? Go back to it ASAP! Almost everything you mentioned is a Windows Vista issue. Find a local computer shop to load XP on the new PC ASAP. VISTA SUCKS! I am not sure why CC would suggest a warranty, since warranties almost NEVER cover software issues like you are having.

Where is the old computer that you never had problems with? Go back to it ASAP! Almost everything you mentioned is a Windows Vista issue. Find a local computer shop to load XP on the new PC ASAP. VISTA SUCKS! I am not sure why CC would suggest a warranty, since warranties almost NEVER cover software issues like you are having.

I am an ex-employee of Circuit City. I left the company shortly after they decided to lay people off. I will start off by saying that I have absolutely nothing but negative feelings for the company. However, I do believe that alot of compatibility issues that you are facing has nothing to do with Circuit City. Circuit City did not build this product. They simply sold it to you, and you somehow feel that it is their problem that you waited until the return policy was up before you decided to return to the store. If you would have returned within the return policy window you would have gotten a new computer. Secondly, it was your responsiblity to do your homework before your purchased. You should have made sure that your printer was Vista compatible, as well as the rest of your software that you wanted to use on the new machine. And you claim to have more knowledge of computers than the average person, so you definately should have known better. However, after reading about your constant errors and backup problems, I do believe that your computer may be a lemon. You are still under warranty with HP and you should call them everyday until they have you mail your computer in for service. I have dealt with HP on many occasions and I can tell you that they will try everything not to honor their warranty. You just have to be persistant. Thats my two cents.

I received a call today from Oscar Martinez. I returned his call immediately. After being on hold for 20 minutes Julie Moneiel answered my call to tell me Oscar was not available. I asked her if she read the attached letter and she said that she did. Her advise to me was "wait until Vista works out their compatibility issues". This tells me she did NOT read the letter because my numerous issues include but are not limited to Vista compatibility problems. This computer crashes frequently. Internet Explorer 'Experiences Problems and Needs to Close" with this operating system. I can't download any necessary software because of Error 2738 and such. Can someone please relate to me on a human level? Would YOU WANT THIS COMPUTER? How am I supposed to do my job while I "wait". How can I do my job when I'm on hold with HP for hours at a time? How can I make any sales when it is now my full time job to deal with this computer problem. Honestly, put yourself in my shoes. What would you do? How would you feel? So far your customer service is seriously lacking. I am not an uneducated, easy to put off individual. I will not get so frustrated that I will give up. You will hear from me EVERY DAY until I am offered a reasonable solution to this problem. Since I cannot effectively do my job with this computer because it doesn't function properly, it is now my full time job to persue this issue.