Elite e9150t Feezes/Locks up

[XStan]

Thanks for the quick responses. I just wanted to post what I was told by someone who claimed that she was at the top of customer complaints, sdo that if she had any credibility, you coulde act on it. I tend to agree with you that the problem is probably with the motherboard, and I will call and try to get a replacement ASAP.

Just to let you know, I am a retired engineering manager. For a while I was responsible for software quality on the Trident Submarine and for the Canadian Patrol Frigate, and I heard every kind of excuse from every level of worker and management that a problem I was trying to solve is caused by someone else's hardware or software. Michelle's patter and tone of voice sounded exactly like they did.

I know that Office 2007 is Vista 64 bit certified, and I know that software can occasionally cause problems. But the problems we are having are so varied and happen so often, to so many people, that I'm sure that it's a hardware issue. I think Outlook would have a hard time causing my USB problems, as well as hangs and crashes even when it's not running.

I just did not want to demand a new PC until I covered every base.

p.s. Although I told Michelle that Outlook ran without any trouble on my 32 bit Vista Gateway machine, she was "surprised" that it did. That was the best she coulde do when I countered her claim that Outlook wasn't designed for Vista and was the casue of the problems.

When I told her about your postings she did not believe that what you said about getting new machines could be true. So...I did not even bother to ask her why, after tfour different MSRs gave me completely non-helpful replies for problems with  two different HP pcs that use the same motherboard, that she was the only lone who knew that the correct solution to the problem is that Outlook is no good. I wonder when the MSRs will start spouting that as the correct answer to all HP problems?

This is an example of a support person who believes her job is to prevent computer returns at any cost. When I told her that my only option might be to bring the PC back to Costco, she didn't care. So I guess someone in her elevated position doesn't care about losing customers who are still willing to buy higher-end machines.

I'm glad that some of you have had good experiences with your HP contacts, becuse my engineering days go back over 50 years and I remember HP as a very good company.

[eots]

Warranty service in the US must be faster than Canada.  I was told it's going to take 3-4 weeks before I get my system back!  It's an absolute outrage and HP should simply provide each customer with one of the lemons a brand new system with the 1.04 motherboard!  I will never buy an HP again.

[skinny_sc]

Same here, never used outlook on the other machine. Didn't have any office product installed, had nothing but the factory image and it froze within 20 minutes of starting it.

My tech asked what all I had plugged in during the reset I ran (I actually forgot this story, but the premise is pretty funny so I'll share), so I told him nothing but the monitor, keyboard and mouse. Then he asked if I had my internet connection plugged in (I honestly thought he was going to ask if I could check something or download an update)...I said that I didn't have it when I ran the factory reset, but after it was started I plugged it in when it asked during registration. Right at that moment he told me it was the internet that was causing the bluescreen, I kid you not. He told me I needed to do the factory reset, without EVER plugging in my internet connection. That was the turning point in our conversation that made me really irritated and demanded talking to someone about a refund/replacement. The guy seriously expected me to run the machine without an internet connection. Why even have a computer at home at that point? Thank you, tech support guy :-p

New machine works great. After having used Windows 7 on my yr 2001 machine for a week between sending the crappy initial HP one back and getting this one, I must say that Windows 7 is EXTREMELY much faster than Vista. On a 1.47 GHz w/ 1GB RAM machine, 7 booted about 10 seconds slower to the desktop, but was ready immediately. Vista on this HP machine hits the desktop sooner, but is basically unuseable because it is still loading background programs for about 30 seconds or more extra time. I'm also a fan of the sidebar in vista, but they revamped it in 7 and made it much better IMO. Just thought I'd share my thoughts on 7...can't wait to get the free upgrade!

[XStan]

Here's my latest experience: I called tech support and asked to speak to someone about a refund or replacement. The phone call took about 1/2 hour with the HP person taking down information, trying to give me things to try (complete restore, etc.) and going to speak to a manager twice about my insistance that I need to speak to someone about a replacement or refund. So.. tomorrow a case manager will call me. If anyone at HP said that the problem is probably cured by a newer motherboard, and you can identify him, it would probably help me when the case manager calls.

Meanwhile, just before calling HP I turned on my computer, and as it was booting up, I got a message that one of my disks needs to be checked for consistency. I l left the machine and went downstairs to call HP. When I got back the computer was on. The desktop was showing , and it was frozen. The clock on the desktop showed that the comuter stopped at 1:53 pm and it was not 2:24 pm. So the computer hung without my runing any program or moving a mouse or touching the keyboard, and it stayed that way for 31 minutes unitl I shut it down.

I told them I want a replacement only if someone at HP will tell me that they believe they problem is solved, otherwise it goes back to Costco, who will return my money and I'll buy from another manufacturer. Or, if you all have no more probklems with the new motherboard, maybe I'll reorder the compupter.

[skinny_sc]

In my personal opinion, if you can return the computer to Costco with no penalty, do it. I wouldn't have even spent half the amount of time it sounds like you have spent going through the pains to make it work. It may be that they are not as readily offering the refund/replacement since you bought it at a retailer as opposed to what I think many of us did which was buy it from HP direct either over the phone or through the website. Personally, I got mine through the website.

Return it to Costco then either find a different system or else order it straight from HP.com.

Oh, and the exact problem you described happened to me once. Ran the checkdisk like it asked, then I came back to it frozen on the desktop about 20 mins.

And just another update, new 1.04 versioned motherboard machine is running like it should; a fast, smooth champ.

[HP-Let-Me-Down]

I'm really happy you initiated this post Cee-Cee, If you are ever lost in the state of Ohio, drop by for free any beaverage of your choice.

Grab a chair for a little reading, I am a technical support guy for 6 years now, which means, i'm the guy people come to when they need upgrade recomendations. I am a die hard HP fan and was milking my A730N Hp system until i decided to buy the new system, It's a great spec and saved me parts and build time; but, crashing the same day i bought the system was sad. At first i didn't care, i said to myself "I have the technology, i can rebuild this puppy" Lets say a week later and the system is still freezing even when no programs are running. I called HP and spoke to 4 different people in the same day withing a 1.5hr time frame and they said that the problem must be corrupt system files and not hardware which is freaking weird and i started freaking out(not over the phone). They went ahead and hung up telling me that i will receive the recovery CD's in the mail.

Back to the drawing board, Vista is always been a problem child since i deployed it to about 1000 systems and i get calls about it up till date. I decided to downgrade mine to XP, luckily after 5 days i was able to find all the xp drivers (which are no longer supported) including the ATHEROS wireless and the bluetooth it came with. i also desable the raid 0 it came with to make sure its not hard drive related. It ran magnificiently, i also like the fact that i can play all my 32bit games which were not supported under vista. 2 days later, i heard the vista error sound and my thumb drive flashing and then it froze, really ticked now, i went for a walk, which turned into a drive and was gone for 3hrs, when i got back the thing was still hungup or frozen. Usually i would play with the BIOS but this one is a disgrace, there's barely any features out of the norm. I researched online and they suggested disabling lagacy usb, and wouldn't you know it, the feature isn't in my BIOS, Oh, did i forget to mention that my BIOS american megatrends motherboard is actually v1.02 everybody here seems to have the 1.3. Never the less, i decided to clean install windows 7RC, which is a wonderfull OS by the way. That never solved the problem, still froze, still hangs up and still smiles at me.

So today, i finally get a txt that fedex has droped off the cd, i just googled for E9150T and your input showed up, i dont know why google has not been able to show it in the past but i think it should be moved to priority one for any more victims. Anyway, after reading all your post, i am not backing up and spending extra hours chasing a goose named HP CUSTOMER SUPPORT, once i get out of here, i am calling HP, and referencing this page and ask why they like to play dumb, and i would hope they dont delete this post, if they do i will dedicate a website, a myspace, a twitter accout and any possible social networking site to the e9150t until they do a total recall.

Thank you for initiating this post once again, HP-REALLY-LET-ME-DOWN on this one.

That last part is not a threat for any HP affiliates reading if any, i never make threats, it just means i've spent one month i'll never get back again fixing a 30mins motherboard replacement issue and "i demand satisfaction" Thank you.

Message Edited by HP-Let-Me-Down on 08-05-2009 12:14 PM

[eots]

It's not only the e9150t that should be recalled, it's also the e9180f and m9650f, they all have the same motherboard!  I was told 3 days ago that a case manager would call me in 48 hours, I never received a call!!! 

[Cee-Cee]

eots, call them again and tell them they should have called you by yesterday.

[Cee-Cee]

HP-let-me-down:  I am glad that you appreciate my starting this board on the Freeze/Lock-up problem (even though I spelled "freeze" like Elmer Fudd would have pronounced it.  I also appreciate the contributions made by so many known victims of the HP motherboard hush-hush fiasco.  Let us continue to keep each other informed given that HP has given us no other option to learn the truth that we deserve as their customers.

I will give credit to HP with the speed by which the processed my return and replacement.  It did have a few bumps with some in sales not knowing how to handle the transaction, but other than that it was handled well.  If they only would tell their customers the truth.  As they say, "The truth will set you free" (given that their ordering of those crappy motherboards was a big mistake).

[PCdumb]

Hello again, I received my replacement e9150t on the 4th yesterday. So far so good. The first thing I did was open it up. All I could see with my bad eyesight is Pegatron in big white letters. I then went into HP doctor and want to thank Cee Cee for the directions. It says I have the Truckee 1.04

I too like the fact that HP was fast getting us our replacements. It was one week for me. I'm still having issues with Windows media center, still can't get it to acknowledge any signal. At least it's not freezing up and going blue screen on me anymore.