# My laptop crapped out



## Marie5656 (Oct 4, 2021)

*Got the dreaded blue screen of death on my laptop. Called my niece who is pretty good with them. After over an hour, we could not figure things out. So she suggested I bring it to a local repair shop.  Thought about it for about 5 minutes..and decided to go to Walmart to get a new one.  So..that is that*


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## SeaBreeze (Oct 4, 2021)

Mine didn't crap out, but the fan was giving me an error and I took it to the shop on Friday.  They said they had to get a new fan from HP to replace it, and I'd have it back in around a week.  They just texted me that it's ready, don't know why it got fixed so fast, will pick it up tomorrow.  It's less than two years old, or I would have just let it die and replaced it like you Marie, but it was too new and had no other issues.  Mine is a 17 inche and cost around $529 at the time, but there are some much more reasonably priced laptops out there.  Good luck Marie, hope you like your new one and it's great you have your niece to help you out.


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## Marie5656 (Oct 4, 2021)

I paid about $500 for this, with the tax and all.  I have not made a big purchase in a long time, so I was comfortable with the expense.  I will probably bring the old one in, and if not too expensive, may repair it too. As a back up.
If I can fix it great..as I print most of my grocery coupons online. So could get more


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## senior chef (Oct 4, 2021)

My laptop is still working BUT it is on its last legs due to all of the endless Microsoft updates. Microsoft is constantly trying to get me to free up space. They hound and hound and hound me. 99% of the space on my laptop is filled with Microsoft updates. 
They seem to think that THEY own my laptop and can do anything they please.


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## boliverchadsworth (Oct 31, 2021)

Marie5656 said:


> *Got the dreaded blue screen of death on my laptop. Called my niece who is pretty good with them. After over an hour, we could not figure things out. So she suggested I bring it to a local repair shop.  Thought about it for about 5 minutes..and decided to go to Walmart to get a new one.  So..that is that*


meantime unplug it wait a while and plug it back in.


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## palides2021 (Oct 31, 2021)

We used to have Norton for our antivirus software and were constantly buying new computers every few years because the computers would tank. Since then, a computer guru told us about AVG which is free to download, and I have had no problems since then (knock on wood). Also, one time, it was the battery on the laptop that had to be replaced. Good luck!


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## Marie5656 (Oct 31, 2021)

*I got the old computer back. The computer fixit guy said the Hard Drive was OK,  but he had to reinstall Win 10.  Cost me $95. So, now I have two laptops. I put the new one away. I figure when this old one dies again, I will just let it go and switch to the new one.*


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## Ruth n Jersey (Oct 31, 2021)

@Marie5656 that's great! Nice to have a back up. I have a laptop and a Kindle. The Kindle kicked the bucket and I was surprised that a new one was quite inexpensive. At least the price of something went down although it probably won't last the 6 years that the last one did. .


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## Sunny (Nov 11, 2021)

Any Apple people here?  My PC is on its last legs, and I'm thinking of switching to an imac, more expensive but many people seem to like them. There are lots of "Black Friday" sales advertised online; you can buy the computers online or at the store, and the sales are going on all through November.
But I'm still not sure I want to get an Apple. Any ideas?

(Best Buy is only about 15 minutes away, so I'd probably just go there to get it, and have them move my data over from the old one.)


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## hollydolly (Nov 11, 2021)

I can't advise you, except to say I would never have a PC ever again now that I've had an Apple Mac for the last few years...and previous to that always had a PC..

I would always buy a Mac desktop there's no peripheral  tower as there is with a PC.. there's less updates than with Microsoft..and someone who is far more techi than me can tell you more..


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## Purwell (Nov 11, 2021)

A blue screen is never a hardware problem and is rarely too difficult to solve.


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## palides2021 (Nov 11, 2021)

Sunny said:


> Any Apple people here?  My PC is on its last legs, and I'm thinking of switching to an imac, more expensive but many people seem to like them. There are lots of "Black Friday" sales advertised online; you can buy the computers online or at the store, and the sales are going on all through November.
> But I'm still not sure I want to get an Apple. Any ideas?
> 
> (Best Buy is only about 15 minutes away, so I'd probably just go there to get it, and have them move my data over from the old one.)


Buying a Mac is an investment. 

Ever since I switched to Mac four years ago, like hollydolly, I've been very happy with it. It is a laptop, and is solid. So far, knock on wood, no problems. It runs like a horse (4 years old now). Has good battery storage. The only thing I didn't like about it is that it runs out of space quickly so they try and sell you a "cloud" to store your files on. I did that for a while then decided against it. Bought an external hard drive (2TB)and now save my files on there. If you're heavy on pictures and movies, they will eat up your Mac storage quickly. So be aware of that and think about getting an external drive (not expensive at all) if that's the case. Also, with the Mac, I use Safari for my Internet browser and AVG for my antivirus program. Hope this helped!


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## Irwin (Nov 11, 2021)

I was getting the "blue screen of death" a couple of times a day, but Win10 was able to recover each time. Then one BSOD (blue screen of death), it couldn't recover and it had to reinstall itself, but in the process, it deleted all my applications. F*ckers. After that, I still occasionally get a BSOD but it hasn't had to reinstall Win10. Yet.

Most of the time, I just do stuff on the web, so it doesn't matter much. If I was using it for work, I wouldn't use Windows.


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## dobielvr (Nov 11, 2021)

Marie5656 said:


> *Got the dreaded blue screen of death on my laptop. Called my niece who is pretty good with them. After over an hour, we could not figure things out. So she suggested I bring it to a local repair shop.  Thought about it for about 5 minutes..and decided to go to Walmart to get a new one.  So..that is that*


Well, that was easy!


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## hollydolly (Nov 11, 2021)

You never get the Blue screen of Death with a MAC


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## Irwin (Nov 12, 2021)

I got the dreaded blue screen of death a little while ago. I restarted the computer and it seems to be working okay. Every time that happens, I think, am I going to have to re-install the OS again? I wish when it tells you that it's gathering data that it would tell you what caused the crash, but noooooo. That would be to much to ask.


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## Chris P Bacon (Nov 12, 2021)




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## oldpop (Nov 12, 2021)

I am just about over Windows. I dropped Windows Office about five years ago. I use use LibreOffice instead.  Right now I am researching Linux Mint and will probably down load it sometime today. So if I am not around for a while that may be why.


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## Ronni (Nov 12, 2021)

Sunny said:


> Any Apple people here?  My PC is on its last legs, and I'm thinking of switching to an imac, more expensive but many people seem to like them. There are lots of "Black Friday" sales advertised online; you can buy the computers online or at the store, and the sales are going on all through November.
> But I'm still not sure I want to get an Apple. Any ideas?
> 
> (Best Buy is only about 15 minutes away, so I'd probably just go there to get it, and have them move my data over from the old one.)


All my devices are Apple…computer, tablet, phone, watch. The price point is higher for an Apple computer, but whether you buy an iMac (desktop model) or a MacBook (laptop) you will definitely get your money’s worth.

The price point for MacBooks goes up depending on model (MacBook Air or MacBook Pro) and also storage. You don’t need external storage if you choose a model with enough onboard storage, and there are plenty of choices.

Someone mentioned ant viral software for a Mac…I’ve never installed any (most Mac users dont) and I’ve never had a virus. I’ve been using Mac products for over 20 years. 

Apple products are one for one more user friendly and intuitive than their counterparts. As one part of my service to clients I provide tech support and have introduced older clients to the world of technology and have gotten them up and running on smart phones and computers. In every case where a client tried and ultimately failed to use a pc or android phone, they have each ultimately become proficient on Apple products. “So much easier to learn” is the typical comment.


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## boliverchadsworth (Nov 14, 2021)

Sunny said:


> Any Apple people here?  My PC is on its last legs, and I'm thinking of switching to an imac, more expensive but many people seem to like them. There are lots of "Black Friday" sales advertised online; you can buy the computers online or at the store, and the sales are going on all through November.
> But I'm still not sure I want to get an Apple. Any ideas?
> 
> (Best Buy is only about 15 minutes away, so I'd probably just go there to get it, and have them move my data over from the old one.)


apple guy here iphone 6s+ mbp 2012 I justr rebuilt with new battery sata cable and ssd hd......IMac 2013 that I will soon put an ssd drive in--

this requires a ton ....a TON of research --mac rumors -...macmost- tech talk america- david a cox- lots of youtube videos and apple.com/support/community for q an a 

problems withe apple-- changes from day to day and 36 ways to do the same thing. usually--
--so complicated.....the complicated insure hacker proof and security ....trade off.....worth it for you banking etc. take your time.....maybe borrow one or bus a used one ...there is a learing curve- in my case a survival curve. hhahha


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## oldnewb (Nov 14, 2021)

oldpop said:


> I am just about over Windows. I dropped Windows Office about five years ago. I use use LibreOffice instead.  Right now I am researching Linux Mint and will probably down load it sometime today. So if I am not around for a while that may be why.


Installing Linux Mint

This may be helpful to you. If you scroll down to the bottom of this thread I have a sequence of screen shots detailing the installation process.

MAKE SHORE YOU SAVE ALL YOUR PERSONAL FILES ON USB sticks FIRST BEFORE YOU ATTEMPT ANY OS CHANGE !

I have been using Mint for years now.
All your personal files will load in to Linux Mint just as easy as they did in Windows.
Cheers.


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## oldpop (Nov 14, 2021)

oldnewb said:


> Installing Linux Mint
> 
> This may be helpful to you. If you scroll down to the bottom of this thread I have a sequence of screen shots detailing the installation process.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the info. I want to load it onto a bootable flash drive to start. I am having a few issues loading the Mint file onto the flash drive. A friend is sending me a bootable flash drive he created for Linux Mint. I will use it as a last resort. I want to figure things out for myself first. I hate to give up on anything..... Thanks again.


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## oldnewb (Nov 15, 2021)

There is a free program you can use to make a bootable  flash drive with any operating system on it.
It is called Etcher from here.
It is very easy to use, just download the OS first then start Etcher select the OS image file then the USB then click on Flash to start the 
process. 

When you want to use the USB with the OS on it you will have to change the boot order for when you start the computer.
This is very easy to do, just hold the escape key or press the delete key during the start up sequence before the operating system starts.

Linux Mint will run as what is called a LIVE system ; meaning it will run entirely from the USB.

I usually don't download the latest version of mint because there are still bugs to iron out.
I always choose the previous version then do an update once it is installed.  

I hope this helps.


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## BaseballGal (Nov 19, 2021)

Sunny said:


> Any Apple people here?  My PC is on its last legs, and I'm thinking of switching to an imac, more expensive but many people seem to like them. There are lots of "Black Friday" sales advertised online; you can buy the computers online or at the store, and the sales are going on all through November.
> But I'm still not sure I want to get an Apple. Any ideas?
> 
> (Best Buy is only about 15 minutes away, so I'd probably just go there to get it, and have them move my data over from the old one.)


I agree with all the positive things people say about Apple products, but it really depends on what you want to do with a device. I gave up computers years ago when the iPad became a mini computer. I now can do everything I need, including web development projects, writing projects, hobbies, gaming, etc, on an iPad. There are some Apple professionals who have completely switched over to iPads, so you might want to think about getting an iPad instead of a computer unless you really need a much larger screen and much more powerful device. One of the advantages for me with the iPad was the much lower cost for software and the huge availability of free apps. My iPads are old now (over 5 years old) but still can run the latest version of the software, so Apple’s support for iPads is good. And with the much lower cost of the iPad and the software, it’s a much more affordable option than a Mac.


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## Nathan (Nov 19, 2021)

Purwell said:


> A blue screen is never a hardware problem and is rarely too difficult to solve.


Yes, a blue screen is a Micro$oft Windows problem, doesn't happen if you're using Linux or an Apple machine.


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## Nathan (Nov 19, 2021)

oldnewb said:


> Linux Mint will run as what is called a LIVE system ; meaning it will run entirely from the USB.


I have an older desktop computer that I run Linux live on from a USB stick, the machine has a storage hard drive with a copy of most of my files, which can be accessed while in the _live_ session.  Boot up time to live session is quicker than Windows, by a mile.
I fell back in 'love' with my computers  in the early 2000s after I started using Linux.


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## ManjaroKDE (Nov 19, 2021)

Deletei


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## Packerjohn (Nov 19, 2021)

Marie5656 said:


> *Got the dreaded blue screen of death on my laptop. Called my niece who is pretty good with them. After over an hour, we could not figure things out. So she suggested I bring it to a local repair shop.  Thought about it for about 5 minutes..and decided to go to Walmart to get a new one.  So..that is that*


You probably did the right thing.  I once had a computer repaired and the darn thing cost me almost as much as buying a new one.   Sure, the shop fixed it but in the end I still went home with an old computer.  I should have bought a new one and got myself a warranty.  Wouldn't make that mistake again!


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## fmdog44 (Nov 22, 2021)

Never had a blue screen in the many years I have had laptops. I had two others and they both were junk. My Dell keeps chugging long despite all the Windows upgrades.


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