THE WELCH COMPANY
440 Davis Court #1602
San Francisco, CA 94111-2496
415 781 5700


S U M M A R Y


DIARY: May 24, 1999 05:02 PM Monday; Rod Welch

Received call from Kathleen that her upgraded computer has failed.

1...Summary/Objective
2...Upgraded Computer Has been Crashing
3...Upgrade Hard Drive to 8 GB; Insist Vendor Support Warranted Work
4...Kath has some medical expenses she needs to budget.


..............
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CONTACTS 

SUBJECTS
Software Installation
Apr 29, 1999
586 Upgrade, 990429
Kathleen, Rita, Jennifer Dietzen
Hard Drive upgrade, 8 GB
W98 Crashing when Downloading from Internet

1008 -    ..
1009 - Summary/Objective
1010 -
101001 - Follow up ref SDS 15 0000, ref SDS 13 0000.
101002 -
101003 - Kathleen's new computer upgrade has crashed a few times.  Sounds like
101004 - the problem is inadequate disk space, which can impact the swap file.
101005 - Talked to Jim Brendle who quoted a price to upgrade the hard drive
101006 - and install w98 clean to avoid any corrupted files in the existing
101007 - w95 code.
101008 -
101009 - Sent ref DIT 1 with link to this record.
101010 -
101011 -    [On 990525 Kath could not read the letter because their computer is
101012 -    completely down. ref SDS 18 0001]
101013 -
101014 -    [On 990807 IP Micro did not install w98 clean. ref SDS 20 2668]
101015 -
101016 -
101017 -
1011 -
1012 -
1013 - Progress
1014 -
101401 -  ..
101402 - Upgraded Computer Has been Crashing
101403 -
101404 - Follow up ref SDS 15 7524.
101405 -
101406 - She is having problems with her upgraded computer.  She downloaded a
101407 - large file the other day to play audio, and her computer crashed.
101408 -
101409 - Seemed like she said the CD ROM drive flew open at one point.
101410 -
101411 - Kath got some speakers for the computer, and enjoys listening to
101412 - music.
101413 -
101414 - She took it to Jim Brendle, a few weeks ago because it crashed, now
101415 - it has occurred again.
101416 -
101417 - I explained it may be inadequate disk space, cited in the record on
101418 - 990429. ref SDS 15 4623  When a disk is nearly full, the inner
101419 - cylinders are used, and these can be less stable, at least on older
101420 - drives, which is in her computer. So she may lost some data and this
101421 - is causing a problem.
101422 -
101423 - Kathleen said the system was upgraded on 990422, so it is still under
101424 - warranty.  The vendor has to make it work.
101425 -
101426 - I offered to call Jim Brendle who configured the upgrade to discuss
101427 - his ideas.
101428 -
101429 -
101430 -
101431 -  ..
101432 - Upgrade Hard Drive to 8 GB; Insist Vendor Support Warranted Work
101433 -
101434 -
1015 -
1016 -
1017 - 1727 called Jim Brendle        916 635 0126
1018 -
101801 - Jim said Kath brought the computer in a few weeks ago with a complaint
101802 - that it was not functioning properly.  At that time, Jim was unable to
101803 - replicate the problem she was having, so nothing was done.
101804 -
101805 - He said there is a 1 year warranty on the work he did on 990422.
101806 -
101807 - Jim seemed to feel that increasing the hard drive could solve the
101808 - problem.
101809 -
101810 - He also suggested that installing the operating system fresh may help
101811 - as well.  He said some dll files could be bad that were left over from
101812 - w95.
101813 -
101814 -     [On 990807 Jim did not install W98 clean; it was installed over
101815 -     w95, and may have contributed to problems. ref SDS 20 2668]
101816 - ..
101817 - Jim quoted $165 for an 8 GB hard drive, plus $40 for
101818 - installation.
101819 -
101820 - He can replicate the data on Kath's computer and then restore it
101821 - exactly as is.
101822 -
101823 - Told Jim I will suggest to Kathleen that she and Bob have Jim fix her
101824 - computer under the warranty, and that they consider upgrading the hard
101825 - drive.
101826 -
101827 -      [On 990602 Jim indicated he will have difficulty using the
101828 -      replication procedure because Kathleen's computer has completely
101829 -      crashed. ref SDS 19 3648]
101830 -
101831 -
101832 -  ..
1019 -
1020 -
1021 - 1855 called Kathleen back
1022 -
102201 - Advised that Jim quoted a total of about $220 with tax to furnish and
102202 - install an 8 GB hard drive.
102203 -
102204 - I think this is a good price.
102205 -
102206 - Kathleen said there is another vendor near where they live which she
102207 - can check prices.
102208 -
102209 - There is a strong advantage of staying with a single vendor, in this
102210 - case Jim, even if there is a concern that he might be quite as
102211 - knowledgeable as another source.
102212 -
102213 - Kathleen has a 1 year warranty.  Jim and his firm should be held to
102214 - configure her system so it works correctly.  Introducing another
102215 - vendor to save $10 - $30 at most is not worth the difficulties
102216 - presented by divided warranty, where each vendor can claim the others
102217 - work is defective.
102218 -
102219 - If more expertise is needed to diagnose and configure Kathleen's
102220 - computer, Jim's firms is obligated to take care of it under the terms
102221 - of the warranty.
102222 - ..
102223 - Kathleen expressed a concern that customers are at the mercy of
102224 - experts for computers, as with cars.
102225 -
102226 - I mentioned our recent experience at S&C Ford on 990507. ref SDS 17
102227 - ..
102228 - She said Bob recently had to replace a brake caliper, which was
102229 - part of the work on our car. ref SDS 17 3483  Bob was quoted $220.
102230 - That is about what we were charged, so this seems to indicate S&C's
102231 - price was competitive.
102232 -
102233 - Bob was able to save the cost of installation, over $100, by doing the
102234 - work himself.
102235 -
102236 - ..
102237 - Kath has some medical expenses she needs to budget.
102238 - 
102239 - She needs surgery on her teeth to repair a "pockets" problem.
102240 -
102241 - Her dentist has reported readings of 9, and this informs him that
102242 - Kathleen needs surgery.
102243 -
102244 - I mentioned having similar "pocket" problems in 1987.  "Deep cleaning"
102245 - over a 12 month period was successful in avoiding surgery, as reported
102246 - on 880419. ref SDS 1 0001.  With continued good personal care, the
102247 - pockets are down to a maximum of 3 and 4.  Those readings seem to be
102248 - not very exact.
102249 -
102250 - Kath might inquire about deep cleaning as an option.  You probably
102251 - need a second opinion, because the first dentist, like the mechanic
102252 - that looks at your car, has an interest in "being right" about his
102253 - opinion.
102254 -
102255 -      [On 995025 Kathleen advised she has has the deep cleaning
102256 -      procedure; it did not help enough to avoid surgery. ref SDS 18
102257 -      3344]
102258 -
102259 - She will discuss with Bob the viability of getting the computer hard
102260 - drive upgraded.
102261 -
102262 -
102263 -
102264 -
1023 -