Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Geek Squad" (Best Buy)?

About every month to six weeks we can't log in to Windows 10 for up to half a day. According to Dell it's not the hardware. This has been occurring since the first of the year. Someone suggested I take the computer in to Best Buy and have the Geek Squad check for a corrupted system.

Called Best Buy and got an appointment for next week. Best Buy said they couldn't give me a price or tell me how long they'd have the computer till the "Geek Squad" ran the check. Anyone here dealt with these people and what was your experience? Seems like I might be giving them a blank check with my computer as hostage.

Good luck with that arrangement, I wouldn't use them myself. I would spend the time researching the issue as it could be caused by one of MS piss poor updates. MS can invent the OS but damn sure can't keep it running properly.

I don't have advice on Geek Squad

but the first thing I would do is make sure my windows is up to date by running windows update

if it continues after that, I would consider reading up on system restore and see if you can trace back when it started, and if you have options to "reset" your computer to a date before the problem began.

I've used 'em a few times over the years and my experience has always been positive. They seem to know what they're doing (certainly more than me, given that I know virtually nothing about computers/technology) and I've always been satisfied with the results and the price. I've even recommended the Best Buy Geeks to others. Admittedly, my experience is limited to a single Best Buy location; one's experience at a different store may be different.

I think Best Buy usually typically charges a flat "diagnostic fee" to figure out what's wrong with stuff.

Elaborate on how you "can't log into Windows 10". Describe what happens.

I'm not tech savvy so this ought to be good. As best I recall there's a blue screen and a message saying there's difficulty logging on to Windows 10. I get that whether I've left the computer on all night or starting it up in the morning. Then there's a message from Dell saying they are checking to determine if this is a hardware problem. This process takes two minutes and I'm advised there's no problem with the hardware, why don't I try running windows update. I run it and that doesn't don't work either. I finally give up on it and 2 to 6 hours later Windows 10 comes up and it's good for a month or so.

When I contacted The Geek Squad by phone I was advised this happens sometimes with Windows 10. Make an appt. and they'll run a systems check.

Just got through to Geek Squad, diagnostic flat fee's $100 and they'll most likely keep it overnight. The kid couldn't say what the fix would cost which is understandable as they don't know what's wrong with it. I'm considering saying to hell with it and putting up with it for a few hours once a month.

Hold on to your wallet when dealing with the Geek Squad!!

43Shooter, Don't deal with Geek Squad. That's an assault on your peace of mind and pride.

While I'm pretty tech savvy, there are times I just don't want to bother with the pc stuff. My business and personal friends and i keep a couple tech guys who are private small business owners in our contacts list. Right now, I have 2 that are very decent guys and don't charge a lot. They can dial into my system remotely and fix most problems without me being without a computer for a number of days and costing more $$'s, like with Geek Squad.

I would suggest you look into going this route. The cost is minimal and you're supporting small business.

This. Find a good independent in your area.

Paul

hell, find a teenager, they'll fix it for you for $20

Power the computer down
Unplug everything
Take the side off, should only be two screws
Blow it out with compressed air. Hit the processor fan and ram very well. Also blow out the power supply.
Put side back on and plug back in.

It sounds like your computer is overheating. Dust build up is likely the issue. That would be the first thing I would look at. You can use a fine vacuum attachment first if there's a bunch but I would definitely use compressed air.

Almost every small town has a computer repair shop. Our town of about 25,000 has two or more. Ask around at the local restaurant, your banker, or others for a recommendation.

As was said above, you are supporting a local and small business.

I enjoy running scans and then ending up doing a system restore after a MS forced update that screws everything up.
Take a couple hrs, drink beer while waiting.
Make it worth your while.
Damn things are time wasters when running good and extra time wasters when trying to get em running. I sure did like XP.
Everything made sense and could be found back then.
My hate started w 7.

Do not take your PC problems to BB/Geek Squad. Find an independent local guy. Even a random draw from local independent PC guys will be a better bet than Geek Squad. Especially a white guy who turned his hobby into a small business.

Geek Squad works on the "Managed for Incompetence" model. Newbie support guy hired on for $cheap. Learns his trade, gets less $cheap. When he knows his stuff and exceeds what management wants to pay, he is fired and replaced with a $cheap newbie and the process repeats itself.

Thanks to all for the info. Looks like most are against using Geek Squad, I'll try an independent service..

Can't speak to Geek Squad but I've always been leery of Best Buy in general because so many their supposedly customer reviews on products they sell seem to get 4 and 5 stars but customer reviews on many of the exact same products at other retailers aren't nearly as positive.

When the A-holes at Microsoft crammed Windows 10 up my butt sideways, despite my best efforts to avoid it, my computer crashed. I went to "The Geeks" at a local store in TX and they were able to fix it promptly for a decent price and things went well until Microsoft did a major update that crashed my computer again. I took it back, with all the repair paperwork, to a Best Buy in Robinson, PA, and they fixed it again at no charge, though it did take several extra days. Whether or not you would have as good an experience, is really not predictable since we don't know your Geek Squad. Good Luck where ever you wind up.

Easiest and cheapest way to fix Windows 10 is to install Ubuntu.

Worst Buy ruined a computer that had no problem other than a failed power supply. My mistake was telling them to do a memory upgrade while they had the computer. It came back with several programs erased ("Just reinstall them") and hundreds of pictures my wife had taken of her late parents missing, along with all the photos she took on her one and only vacation to Europe. When I complained, they got snotty and threatened to have me arrested for "trespassing"!
Jerry

Someone mentioned heat. It isn't heat related or it wouldn't happen on a cold boot up. It also wouldn't just work fine for a month because it would get worse the longer it was running.

Most Dells have a boot up hardware diagnostic that you can run. It probably isn't hardware related based on your description but you can run it anyway to rule it out. Turn off the computer and then unplug it from power for 30 seconds to allow the motherboard to completely discharge. Plug it back in and turn it on. As soon as you see your keyboard has power (basic keyboards will have lights), start tapping the F12 key until a boot time text menu comes up. There is usually a hardware diagnostic option in that menu. Getting that menu to come up is a timing thing so you may have to try starting and tapping the F12 key a couple times to catch it.

The diagnostic test looks at memory, video, processors etc and may take a while. Chances are it will find nothing based on your symptoms. But if the test does find a problem it usually gives an error code that will tell you what's wrong. Or at least you can Google the error code and maybe get some more info.

I would start there and rule that out before you get knee deep into checking Windows.