Where did everyone go?

"John Hale" wrote in message
...
That IS sad, because this newsgroup helped me greatly through the years
with an ole' P5-120, and more recently with an eMachine that shipped with
a defective CD-ROM/DVD. If everyone has to go to the lengths I had to
before they would ship me a replacement drive (3 different sessions,
including one where I had to totally reimage my hard drive), I can
understand why no one is buying Gateway anymore and thus there's no one
left to participate in this newsgroup. It's good Ed Neth and Ben Myers
keep hanging in there to help. If is there a Dell usenet group, it would
be interesting to compare its activity to this one.

alt.sys.pc-clone.dell

Joan F (MI) wrote:
Which is very sad, most of what I know about computers I learned on
Usenet.

In ,
ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers) ben_myers_spam_me_not @
charter.net (Ben Myers) stated
| A lot of newbies have no idea what usenet is, let alone how to use
| it... Ben Myers
|

Best thing to do is to refuse to re-image the hard drive. Tech support at lots
of companies tell you to reload Windows and start all over again, a knee-jerk
reaction. I would want some positive indication myself that Windows is all
hosed up, before I would reload the OS. There's a lot of work involved,
especially the almost endless cycle of reinstalling all the fixes and patches to
make the lame-o Windows more secure... Ben Myers

On Sun, 04 Sep 2005 23:51:15 GMT, John Hale
wrote:

That IS sad, because this newsgroup helped me greatly through the years
with an ole' P5-120, and more recently with an eMachine that shipped
with a defective CD-ROM/DVD. If everyone has to go to the lengths I had
to before they would ship me a replacement drive (3 different sessions,
including one where I had to totally reimage my hard drive), I can
understand why no one is buying Gateway anymore and thus there's no one
left to participate in this newsgroup. It's good Ed Neth and Ben Myers
keep hanging in there to help. If is there a Dell usenet group, it would
be interesting to compare its activity to this one.

Joan F (MI) wrote:
Which is very sad, most of what I know about computers I learned on Usenet.

In ,
ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers) ben_myers_spam_me_not @
charter.net (Ben Myers) stated
| A lot of newbies have no idea what usenet is, let alone how to use
| it... Ben Myers
|

Ben Myers wrote:
Best thing to do is to refuse to re-image the hard drive. Tech support at lots
of companies tell you to reload Windows and start all over again, a knee-jerk
reaction. I would want some positive indication myself that Windows is all
hosed up, before I would reload the OS. There's a lot of work involved,
especially the almost endless cycle of reinstalling all the fixes and patches to
make the lame-o Windows more secure... Ben Myers


Yeah, the thing that gets me is that they recommend a
re-installation/re-image without ever determining the root cause of the
initial problem.

-Mort

Thanks, that's definitely what I'll do next time if I have any other
problems, which fortunately hasn't happened so far. I bought the $400
eMachine as an inexpensive "tide-me-over" until I get my 2 boys out of
college this coming year, so for the price I can't gripe too much. Yet
I also went eMachines in part because of the good reviews they got
around a year ago about their improved quality. Now I get the latest
issue of _PC Magazine_, and of course the ratings for Gateway and
eMachines are both down, with _PC Magazine_ stating, "On both the
desktop and notebook portions of our survey, Gateway's overall score is
significantly worse than average, and after last year's improvement,
eMachines actually moves backwards, receiving a similarly low score for
desktops."

Ben Myers wrote:
Best thing to do is to refuse to re-image the hard drive. Tech support at lots
of companies tell you to reload Windows and start all over again, a knee-jerk
reaction. I would want some positive indication myself that Windows is all
hosed up, before I would reload the OS. There's a lot of work involved,
especially the almost endless cycle of reinstalling all the fixes and patches to
make the lame-o Windows more secure... Ben Myers

Thanks. A check shows almost 4000 postings since July 2005.

PWY wrote:

"John Hale" wrote in message
...

If is there a
Dell usenet group, it would be interesting to compare its activity to
this one.


alt.sys.pc-clone.dell


Joan F (MI) wrote:

Which is very sad, most of what I know about computers I learned on
Usenet.

In ,
ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers) ben_myers_spam_me_not @
charter.net (Ben Myers) stated
| A lot of newbies have no idea what usenet is, let alone how to use
| it... Ben Myers
|

On Mon, 05 Sep 2005 11:51:15 GMT, John Hale
wrote:

and after last year's improvement,
eMachines actually moves backwards, receiving a similarly low score for
desktops."

Which is not too long after they were absorbed by the Marketing and
Sales firm known as Gateway so a decline in that specific Taiwanese
product is understandable.

Regards,
Ed

John Hale wrote:

That IS sad, because this newsgroup helped me greatly through the years
with an ole' P5-120, and more recently with an eMachine that shipped
with a defective CD-ROM/DVD. If everyone has to go to the lengths I had
to before they would ship me a replacement drive (3 different sessions,
including one where I had to totally reimage my hard drive), I can
understand why no one is buying Gateway anymore and thus there's no one
left to participate in this newsgroup. It's good Ed Neth and Ben Myers
keep hanging in there to help. If is there a Dell usenet group, it would
be interesting to compare its activity to this one.

Joan F (MI) wrote:
Which is very sad, most of what I know about computers I learned on Usenet.

In ,
ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers) ben_myers_spam_me_not @
charter.net (Ben Myers) stated
| A lot of newbies have no idea what usenet is, let alone how to use
| it... Ben Myers
|



John,

Hey, I've got a P5-90 (purchased 1994)! It's our first computer, and I still
use it in my home-based business. I upgraded it to Win95a and Pentium Overdrive
200MHz chip, and it still hums along smoothly. So, how is your P5-120 running
these days?

Scott

Ben Myers wrote:

Best thing to do is to refuse to re-image the hard drive. Tech support at lots
of companies tell you to reload Windows and start all over again, a knee-jerk
reaction. I would want some positive indication myself that Windows is all
hosed up, before I would reload the OS. There's a lot of work involved,
especially the almost endless cycle of reinstalling all the fixes and patches to
make the lame-o Windows more secure... Ben Myers

On Sun, 04 Sep 2005 23:51:15 GMT, John Hale
wrote:

That IS sad, because this newsgroup helped me greatly through the years
with an ole' P5-120, and more recently with an eMachine that shipped
with a defective CD-ROM/DVD. If everyone has to go to the lengths I had
to before they would ship me a replacement drive (3 different sessions,
including one where I had to totally reimage my hard drive), I can
understand why no one is buying Gateway anymore and thus there's no one
left to participate in this newsgroup. It's good Ed Neth and Ben Myers
keep hanging in there to help. If is there a Dell usenet group, it would
be interesting to compare its activity to this one.

Joan F (MI) wrote:
Which is very sad, most of what I know about computers I learned on Usenet.

In ,
ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers) ben_myers_spam_me_not @
charter.net (Ben Myers) stated
| A lot of newbies have no idea what usenet is, let alone how to use
| it... Ben Myers
|




Ben,

That reminds me of several years ago when my Win95a P5-90 started conflicting
with the STB video card. A very knowledgeable Gateway tech support person spent
2 hours on the phone with me to help me reinstall Win95 over the existing
installation. It worked...and all my data and programs were preserved, saving me
from a reformat. He even shipped me an updated video card (at no charge) so the
problem wouldn't recur. Ahh, weren't those the "good old days" when tech support
actually solved problems?

Scott

On Wed, 07 Sep 2005 21:52:26 -0500, Scott wrote:

Ahh, weren't those the "good old days" when tech support
actually solved problems?

Along with some other ignorant corporate tricks, it is the loss of
that simple thing that is costing these conglomerates customers if not
their future existence Scott.

I also remember back in the 80's to mid 90's when Gateway delivered
what it promised and instead of lying through its teeth at every turn
like it does now.

I also remember when Gateway made computers, knew what a computer was
much less what one looks like and hired 1000's of intelligent
Americans to build them and service them.

Now, they are just a marketing/sales firm that sells Taiwanese ****
with their name painted on the box and supported by non-English
speaking Indians who's lifestyle doubled when they got a 50 cent/hr
job posing as a call tech for the marketing/sales firm that sells
Taiwanese **** with the name Gateway painted on the box.

Now their days are numbered and the brain dead college boys running
this marketing/sales firm that sells Taiwanese **** with the name
Gateway painted on the box don't have a clue as to why... This isn't
covered in any of their college books and they don't have any common
sense to figure it out.

I mean.... DUH!

Regards,
Ed

Are you insulting the Taiwanese? Are Gateway boxes really assembled in Taiwan?
Or China? Or S. Korea? Maybe Thailand or Singapore?

Just about EVERY name brand computer these days is assembled somewhere in the
Far East. Just about every board, drive, stick of memory, computer case is
manufactured somewhere in the Far East. Just about every name brand company
(software included, e.g. Micro$oft) has its tech support in a one-time third
world country where ill-trained tech support people work for tiny wages and
follow scripts to respond to callers. It's not just Gateway. It won't get any
better if you change name brands.

The alternative? 1. Build it yourself out of parts which you have selected. 2.
Have a local computer assembler build you a white box computer. The alternative
is more expensive, but customer satisfaction is much higher, too... Ben Myers

On Thu, 08 Sep 2005 01:17:54 -0400, Ed wrote:

On Wed, 07 Sep 2005 21:52:26 -0500, Scott wrote:

Ahh, weren't those the "good old days" when tech support
actually solved problems?

Along with some other ignorant corporate tricks, it is the loss of
that simple thing that is costing these conglomerates customers if not
their future existence Scott.

I also remember back in the 80's to mid 90's when Gateway delivered
what it promised and instead of lying through its teeth at every turn
like it does now.

I also remember when Gateway made computers, knew what a computer was
much less what one looks like and hired 1000's of intelligent
Americans to build them and service them.

Now, they are just a marketing/sales firm that sells Taiwanese ****
with their name painted on the box and supported by non-English
speaking Indians who's lifestyle doubled when they got a 50 cent/hr
job posing as a call tech for the marketing/sales firm that sells
Taiwanese **** with the name Gateway painted on the box.

Now their days are numbered and the brain dead college boys running
this marketing/sales firm that sells Taiwanese **** with the name
Gateway painted on the box don't have a clue as to why... This isn't
covered in any of their college books and they don't have any common
sense to figure it out.

I mean.... DUH!

Regards,
Ed