I am a freshman at UMaine, and this summer I bought a new computer for school through the campus computer store. It is an IBM ThinkPad R52, the brand and model heavily promoted by the school.
Ever since I got it, it has run very slowly, especially when it first starts up after stitting a while. Since this is my first Windows machine (I am a dedicated Apple guy, but the engineering college strongly recommends Windows) I didn't initially realize how slow it was. And, since it worked, I didn't want to lose it while it was being fixed. A few weeks ago, I finally saved up enough to buy an Apple laptop and dropped the IBM off to be fixed at the IT, where they do warranty repair on these machines.
SO, (finally) here is my problem. Today, I heard back from them, and they say it is a problem with the Windows OS, and it needs to be reinstalled, which is not covered by warranty, but he can do for $45. The guy I talked to at the computer store said I should just reinstall Windows myself. After thinking about it though, I don't think I want to do that myself. I purchased a computer and it didn't work. Am I justified in demanding that someone, somewhere make it right for free? I am in a good bargaining position, since I have another computer and do not need the IBM back in a hurry.

 

I understand the "I paid for this to work without problem"
Re-installing the OS is no big deal if you do it over top.

Me, I would do it myself

 

Just do it yourself, it's not that hard.

And in 4 years you can pitch the thing in the garbage and buy a new PowerBook.

 

I'm with you on getting it reinstalled by someone else, since it is broke, HOWEVER...IT departments (help desks) on campuses are a huge joke. Find a buddy who knows how to reinstall windows, buy him a case of beer

 

I think that you are well within your right to demand the campus computer store fix the thing, Free of Charge!!! You only bought it in the summer!

 

You are right they should do it free of charge if it was corrupted from the beginning, but how do they know it was that way from the beginning? Files can be easily corrupted at any time, through op. error/virus ect., so unless they were told (documented) when the problem was first noticed, I don't see why they should be obligated to do it.

If you have your operating system disc, pop it in and follow the instructions. It should ask if you want to reinstall or re-format and reinstall. Unless you want to loose everything on it, choose to reinstall w/o formatting. It should be a fairly painless procedure.