Hewlett Packard Computers

• My computer was a stock Pavilion 6357, without any hardware upgrades. Until 3/19/2000, it had worked fine being in use daily.
• On 3/30/2000, I downloaded the BIOS update for my HP Pavilion 6357 from the HP Website, and installed it from a floppy disk as instructed. Everything worked fine.
• On the following reboot, I ran a program (the windows 2000 check compatibility program), and the computer froze in the middle. I rebooted, and the computer stopped in the middle of the log-on screen. So, I thought the windows checking program screwed up my computer system.
• I then tried to rebuild Windows-98 from the HP recovery CD without reformatting. Still, random crashes, sometimes blue screen, sometimes just repetitive music during startup. I then formatted the disk and reinstalled from the recovery CD.
• The computer continues to crash at random times. So, I thought perhaps the BIOS was flashed incorrectly. I reflashed the BIOS again. Still, random crashes.
• So, I thought I must have a wrong BIOS. Let's call HP and ask for an older version. Well, the manual says to look up the HP telephone support number on a file on disk. Obviously, this is impossible for me to do.
• I had to go to a friend's house to get access to a computer. Eventually, on the HP Web site, I found the telephone number. (Incidentally, some of the HP Web site's email and selection support has Java errors [string quoting related] to make the Internet explorer crash, so this took a few attempts.) So, at 10pm, I called the HP support Web site, and spoke to "Kristin." After explaining the above, she told me that my computer was out of hardware and software support, and that I had to pay $25. Having already spent 4 hours on the computer and having another 8 hours ahead reinstalling old programs, I was less than pleased. After all, what else other than the BIOS could it be at this point? After the HP recovery format, the error was below the windows software layer, and it is highly unlikely that I would have experienced coincidental hardware failure simultaneous with the flash BIOS installation.
• She then told me the BIOS update was not at fault, and I would have to pay $25: "If the BIOS had been at fault, the computer would not have even booted." I have 15 years of computer experience, and this is obviously just a false statement. I have dealt with faulty BIOS programs before, and they can cause all sorts of problems.
• Naturally, I could also see her recommendation coming: replace this computer with another one---if it is not the base software, it had to be the hardware, and being out of warranty means paying (and probably more than the computer is worth).
• The most important item: I could not get the old BIOS back.
• I asked to speak to her supervisor. She told me she was the supervisor. I then asked who I could complain to. She said she could give me the U.S. postal address. I asked her to talk to her supervisor (of a supervisor), and she told me that there was only the same U.S. postal address to talk to. I asked her what the email address was, and she told me that there was no email address for this complaint department. LET ME REPEAT: HP's complaint department does not work with Internet-connected computers! Huh?
• So, here I am---having wasted 6 hours on a computer due to what is with 99% probability a faulty BIOS, and wasting another hour writing and mailing this letter. Even at a modest hourly rate, I wish I had just thrown out this machine at the first sight of trouble---which is what I will do next. My time is more valuable than dealing with HP and I can only recommend noone ever consider purchasing an HP computer, no matter what the price is.

Resolution

I threw away my HP computer, and bought an alternative.