Why I Won't Buy Another HP Computer
First of all, I have to point out that I have a few friends that work for Hewlett-Packard, so I have to apologize up front for what I'm about to write in this blog. But I just had such a horrible customer support experience with HP that I won't buy from them again.
Why I Bought an HP Computer
I have nothing against HP computers; for several years I used two beefy dual-CPU HP/Compaq ProLiant servers for my web hosting machines. (I loved those computers, and I only replaced those when Windows Server 2008 was released and I thought that it was time to upgrade my servers.)
Recently I decided to replace my aging Dell desktop computer with a newer model. I'm quite partial to Dell computers, because I've always had great experiences with their computers and their company. I had a chance to buy a refurbished HP P6510F computer for a great price, so I decided to take a chance with HP since that particular computer model had a lot of great reviews.
When the computer arrived I did what I always do - I reformatted the hard drive and I installed a brand new copy of Windows from scratch. (I have to do this because all computer companies - HP, Dell, Gateway, etc. - install a bunch of useless garbage software whenever you buy one of their new computers.) The computer ran fine for several weeks, but I'm a person that likes to keep their computer up-to-date, so this past weekend I browsed to HP's website to see if there were any updates.
Upgrading the BIOS
As it turns out, there was a new version of their BIOS that was supposed to resolve issues when waking the computer from sleep mode if you have more than 4GB of memory. I only had 4GB of RAM in the computer, but I was already shopping for another 4GB, so it seemed prudent to install the BIOS update. I downloaded the update and ran their installer. After a couple of minutes a dialog box popped up saying that the update had applied successfully and I needed to reboot my computer, which I did.
That's when everything started to go wrong.
All Heck Breaks Loose
When my computer restarted it immediately hit the infamous Blue Screen of Death (BSOD); something very much like the following illustration:
A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to
prevent damage to your computer.
If this is the first time you've seen this Stop error screen,
restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow
these steps:
Check for viruses on your computer. Remove any newly installed
hard drives or hard drive controllers. Check your hard drive
to make sure it is properly configured and terminated.
Run CHKDSK /F to check for hard drive corruption, and then
restart your computer.
Technical information:
*** STOP: 0x0000007B (0xFFFFF880009A9928,0xFFFFFFFFC0000034,
0x0000000000000000,0x0000000000000000)
|
It didn't matter how many times I tried to reboot, I still got the BSOD. I knew that BIOS updates changed some of the settings, so my natural suspicion was to assume that something in the new BIOS settings was causing the problem. I tweaked a few settings like disabling hardware virtualization and such - but there was still no joy in Mudville. After this I started to assume that perhaps the BIOS updated hadn't actually applied successfully, so I started trying to see if I could get my computer to boot from one of my several WinPE-based utility CD-ROMs and reapply the patch, but all of those also fell victim to the vicious BSOD.
I'll spare you the details of everything else that I tried - both hardware and software - but I finally gave up and decided to call HP's 24x7 technical support number.
The Technical Support Nightmare Begins
For geeks like me, having to call technical support is humiliating enough, but it's made so much worse by having to deal with front-line technical support people. Having spent 10 years in technical support myself, I have a great deal of patience with technical support engineers, but it can still be an aggravating experience. I spent the next half-hour answering mundane questions and following every instruction from HP's Tier 1 technical support script - all of which I had tried before. (At least the parts that actually applied to my situation.) I'm sure that the engineer with whom I was working meant well, but it was clear that she was floundering.
After a while she began to tell me that I didn't need the BIOS patch and that this was all my fault, to which I replied that she was correct - I didn't actually need the BIOS patch right now, but I would need it in the future, but that didn't really matter - the BIOS patch should not cause the BSOD. Besides - I always updated the BIOS in my Dell computers with no problems. (There's a good jab at HP to try yourself sometime.) Then she started to tell me that since I had a different version of Windows than HP had installed on my computer, the BIOS patch was not compatible. I asked her incredulously, "Do you mean to tell me that HP expects their customers to never install a new version of Windows?" She hesitated before replying "No," and then I reiterated my earlier assertion that no matter what, the BIOS patch should not cause the BSOD.
Then she began to tell me that I needed to purchase a system restore DVD from HP to rebuild my system. I was quick to point out that doing so would reformat my hard drive - thereby erasing all of my files - and that I was willing to bet that the problem wouldn't go away since the system restore DVD was probably not going to reset the BIOS back to an earlier version. So in my estimation I would be wasting my money and my time on a suggestion that would ultimately achieve nothing. This is where I lost her - she had no idea what I meant; so after more than an hour of basic troubleshooting with Tier 1 support and lots of time spent on hold, my patience was finally gone, and I asked to speak with someone in HP's Tier 2 support.
The Technical Support Nightmare Continues
I was transferred to a guy in Tier 2 support who discussed my predicament with me, and he seemed to have a much better handle on things. One of the first things that he did was verify that there was no reason that the BIOS update shouldn't work with my version of Windows, to which I replied that I had been trying to tell the earlier engineer the same thing. We looked at several settings, but the problem persisted, and then he suggested that I needed to purchase a system restore DVD from HP to rebuild my system. I restated my earlier claim that I would be wasting my money and my time since I was 99.9% sure that the system restore DVD would not roll back the BIOS version, so he put me on hold while he checked on that.
When he came back he informed me that the system restore DVD would not roll back the BIOS version, so I needed to return the computer to HP in order for them to reset the computer's BIOS to the original factory version. He pointed out that this would be free since the computer was under warranty, and he took my address so HP could send me a box in order to send the computer back to HP for repairs. Once all that was taken care of, we hung up.
My total time on the phone was about two hours. Ugh.
Problem Resolved
The next day I went out to lunch with my good friend, Wade Hilmo, and I related my experience to him. Once I described the symptoms he said, "I'll bet the BIOS update changed the mode for your SATA controller. Switch it from IDE to AHCI or vice-versa and the problem should go away."
Darn. I should have thought of that. ;-]
Sure enough, when I got home that night and I pulled up my BIOS settings, the SATA mode was set to RAID; I switched it to IDE and the BSOD went away. Once I knew what the problem was I found the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article that allowed me to enable AHCI:
Error message when you start a Windows 7 or Windows Vista-based computer after you change the SATA mode of the boot drive: "STOP 0x0000007B INACCESSABLE_BOOT_DEVICE"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976
My thanks to Wade for pointing that out, but Wade's follow-up comment was apropos, "I'm still a bit surprised that neither of the HP folks suggested it." So I decided that I should call HP and let them know what it took to fix the problem.
Back to Technical Support
The next day I called HP Customer Care to have them cancel my open work ticket, which was the polite thing to do since the problem was resolved. Having taken care of that, I thought that I'd give their technical support people the details of what caused the issue and how to fix it. Having worked in technical support, I always liked to know what it took to resolve an issue.
This seemed like such a good idea at the time, but it didn't turn out that way. When I called HP's Customer Care folks transferred the call to their technical support people, one of their idiots support engineers put me on hold for 20-30 minutes while he read the case notes.
Are you kidding me? It doesn't take 20-30 minutes to read the case notes, even if you're in your first year of Hooked on Phonics.
Once he took me off hold, I was pleading with him to listen to my explanation that the problem was already resolved and it was not caused by whatever stupid idea kept popping out of his wild imagination - I just wanted to share the details of how to resolve the issue if another customer calls in with the same problem, which is undoubtedly going to happen. I pointed out that I was trying to help HIM, for Pete's sake, and he just wouldn't listen. (I started hoping that HP was recording the call.)
After all that, I made it abundantly pretty clear that what he did was very unprofessional, and I asked to speak to a manager. He informed me that he'd see if a manager was available - then he put me back on hold. Fortunately I was calling from work where I have a headset for my telephone, this way I could keep working while I was on hold. (Otherwise this would have really aggravated me.)
After another 20-30 minutes I realized that this idiot engineer was not going to find a manager, he was waiting for me to hang up and go away. So I decided to put that call on hold and try to call back into technical support, but my @#$% LG-Nortel phone won't let me call a phone number if I already have that number on hold. Argh. While I was browsing HP's website to see if I could locate a different phone number for technical support I accidently hung up the original call.
Crap, crap, crap.
So I called HP again and I got another engineer - and I asked to speak to a manager right off the bat. I profusely apologized to the new engineer, and I stated emphatically that it was nothing that he did. He asked for my name and such, but I told him that I had a support ticket number and I gave him that instead. Then I started to explain what happened with the other idiot and how I resolved the issue, but this new engineer attempted to defend the earlier idiot engineer and started to change the subject. I politely cut him off and simply pointed out that the first guy took 30 minutes to read the case notes, whereas he took less than 30 seconds - even this guy had to admit that the first guy's behavior was uncalled for.
Cutting the rest of the story short, I did finally tell the new engineer what it took to fix the problem, which was simply resetting the SATA configuration back to the pre-update BIOS value. I also gave him the information about how to enable AHCI using Microsoft's KB 922976. He thanked me for the information, and after he tried unsuccessfully to upsell me on a new warranty for my computer we ended the call.
Closing Remarks
So there you have it - a thoroughly bad HP customer support experience. If either Hewlett or Packard somehow manage to read this blog, they should be ashamed on behalf of their employees. I'd give you the names of those employees, but no one that I talked to had a name that I could pronounce.
Of course, I never did get to speak to a manager at HP.
Batch File: Delete Duplicate Files
Using this Batch File
Some time ago a friend of mine gave me a bunch of JPG files, but for some reason she had two copies of every image in the collection. The names of the images had all been randomized, and since there were hundreds of files in the collection it would have taken hours to find and delete the duplicates. With that in mind, I wrote the following batch file that loops through the collection of files and does a binary comparison to find and delete duplicate files.
To use the example code, copy the batch file code from below into Notepad and save it as "_del_dupes.cmd" in the folder where you have duplicate files
Note: As with many utilities that I write - this is a destructive operation, meaning that it will delete files without prompting, so you should always make a backup just in case something goes terribly wrong... ;-]
Batch File Example Code
@echo off
dir *.jpg /b > _del_dupes.1.txt
for /f "delims=|" %%a in (_del_dupes.1.txt) do (
if exist "%%a" (
dir *.jpg /b > _del_dupes.2.txt
for /f "delims=|" %%b in (_del_dupes.2.txt) do (
if not "%%a"=="%%b" (
echo Comparing "%%a" to "%%b"...
fc /b "%%a" "%%b">NUL
if errorlevel 1 (
echo DIFFERENT
) else (
echo SAME
del "%%b"
)
)
)
)
)
del _del_dupes.?.txt
How to Record Logon Activity in W3C Extended Log File Format using WSH
Many years ago I put together a bunch of information about logging system activity in W3C format by using Group Policy Objects and Windows Script Host. All of that information was supposed to become Microsoft KB article 324414, but I changed teams and I eventually lost track of its status. Recently I had a need for the information in that KB article and discovered that it was never published, so I had to look for my notes to reconstruct what was supposed to be in the KB article, and I thought that all that effort would make a good blog post.
(Note: This blog post has been updated a few times since it was first posted in order to keep it up-to-date.)
IN THIS POST
APPLIES TO
- Windows Server 2008 R2
- Windows 7
- Windows Server 2008
- Windows Vista
- Windows Server 2003 R2
- Windows Server 2003
- Windows XP
- Windows Server 2000
The steps in this blog post will show you how to configure your network for additional logon/logoff information for all domain clients by using a sample Windows Script Host (WSH) script to create log files that conform to the W3C Extended Log File (ExLF) Format.
The W3C Extended Log File Format is currently used on Windows servers by the various web services that install with Internet Information Services. These log files are kept in your %SystemRoot%\System32\LogFiles or %SystemRoot%\Inetsrv\Logs\LogFiles folder. By configuring this sample logging script through a domain-level Group Policy, a new folder named Activity will be created under the %SystemRoot%\System32\LogFiles folder containing log entries formatted like the following example:
#Description: Log file for all LOGON/LOGOFF activity
#Date: 2002-01-01 21:28:50
#Fields: date time s-computername cs-username cs-method
2002-01-01 21:28:50 MYCOMPUTER LOCALHOST\SYSTEM STARTUP
2002-01-01 21:32:55 MYCOMPUTER MYDOMAIN\userone LOGON
2002-01-01 21:45:58 MYCOMPUTER MYDOMAIN\userone LOGOFF
2002-01-01 21:47:00 MYCOMPUTER MYDOMAIN\usertwo LOGON
2002-01-01 21:52:02 MYCOMPUTER MYDOMAIN\usertwo LOGOFF
2002-01-01 21:53:09 MYCOMPUTER LOCALHOST\SYSTEM SHUTDOWN
Since there are a wide variety of applications that can process log files in the W3C Extended Log File Format, recording logs in this format allows domain administrators to use tools they are already familiar with when analyzing network logon/logoff information.
NOTE: The W3C Extended Log File Format requires that all times must be kept in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). As such, all logon/logoff activity recorded by the script in this article will be listed in GMT. This allows a uniform standard for large-scale networks that traverse multiple time zones.
- Log on to your Windows Domain Controller as a Domain Administrator.
- Open Windows Notepad by clicking Start, then All Programs, then Accessories, and then Notepad.
- Type or paste the following WSH code into notepad:
Option Explicit
On Error Resume Next
' declare all variables
Dim objFSO,objFile
Dim objNet,objShell
Dim objProcess,objArgs
Dim strFolder,strFile
Dim blnFileExists
Dim objDateTime,lngTimeZoneOffset
Dim strYear,strMonth,strDay
Dim strLongDate,strShortDate
Dim strShortTime,strMethod
Dim strComputerName,strUserDomain,strUserName
' create all objects
Set objNet = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Network")
Set objFSO = WScript.CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set objShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set objProcess = objShell.Environment("PROCESS")
Set objArgs = WScript.Arguments
' process arguments
If objArgs.Count <> 1 Then WScript.Quit
strMethod = UCase(objArgs(0))
' perform date operations
lngTimeZoneOffset = GetTimeZoneOffset()
objDateTime = Now() - lngTimeZoneOffset
strYear = CStr(Year(objDateTime))
strMonth = Right("00" & CStr(Month(objDateTime)),2)
strDay = Right("00" & CStr(Day(objDateTime)),2)
strLongDate = strYear & "-" & strMonth & "-" & strDay
strShortDate = Right(strYear,2) & strMonth & strDay
strShortTime = FormatDateTime(objDateTime,4) & ":" & Right("00" & CStr(Second(objDateTime)),2)
' get network information
strComputerName = objNet.ComputerName
If Len(strComputerName) = 0 Then strComputerName = "LOCALHOST"
strUserDomain = objNet.UserDomain
If Len(strUserDomain) = 0 Then strUserDomain = "LOCALHOST"
strUserName = objNet.UserName
If Len(strUserName) = 0 Then strUserName = "()"
' get windows directory name
strFolder = objProcess("WINDIR")
' check for and create "System32" folder
strFolder = strFolder & "\System32"
If objFSO.FolderExists(strFolder) = False Then
objFSO.CreateFolder(strFolder)
End If
' check for and create "LogFiles" folder
strFolder = strFolder & "\LogFiles"
If objFSO.FolderExists(strFolder) = False Then
objFSO.CreateFolder(strFolder)
End If
' check for and create "ACTIVITY" folder
strFolder = strFolder & "\ACTIVITY"
If objFSO.FolderExists(strFolder) = False Then
objFSO.CreateFolder(strFolder)
End If
' set up log file name
strFile = "ex" & strShortDate & ".log"
' check if log file exists
blnFileExists = objFSO.FileExists(strFolder & "\" & strFile)
' open or create the log file
Set objFile = objFSO.OpenTextFile(strFolder & "\" & strFile,8,True)
' write headers if new file
If blnFileExists = False Then
objFile.WriteLine "#Description: Log file for all LOGON/LOGOFF activity"
objFile.WriteLine "#Date: " & strLongDate & " " & strShortTime
objFile.WriteLine "#Fields: date time s-computername cs-username cs-method"
End If
' write the log data
objFile.WriteLine strYear & "-" & strMonth & "-" & strDay & " " & _
strShortTime & " " & _
strComputerName & " " & _
strUserDomain & "\" & _
strUserName & " " & _
strMethod
' close the log file
objFile.Close
Function GetTimeZoneOffset()
On Error Resume Next
Dim tmpShell,tmpOffset
Set tmpShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
tmpOffset = objShell.RegRead("HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation\ActiveTimeBias")
If Len(tmpOffset) = 0 Then
tmpOffset = objShell.RegRead("HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation\Bias")
End If
' set a default offset if none can be determined
If Len(tmpOffset) = 0 Then tmpOffset = "0"
' calculate offset in hours
tmpOffset = (CLng(tmpOffset) * -1) / 60
' calculate offset in 1/24 of a day
tmpOffset = tmpOffset / 24
GetTimeZoneOffset = tmpOffset
End Function
- Save the file:
- Click the File menu, and then Save.
- When the Save As dialog appears, choose your desktop as the destination.
- Enter activity.vbs for the File name.
- Click the Save button.
- Click the File menu, and then Exit to close Notepad.
To use the sample script with the Default Domain Policy Group Policy Object (GPO), you first need to determine the Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) for the GPO. To do so, use the following steps:
- Start the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in in the Microsoft Management Console (MMC). To do so, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Users and Computers.
- Right-click your domain, and then click Properties.
- Click the Group Policy tab.
- Highlight the Default Domain Policy, and then click the Properties button:
- The GUID for the GPO will be listed as the Unique name property in the Summary section of the properties dialog.
- The Default Domain Policy GUID will always be {31B2F340-016D-11D2-945F-00C04FB984F9}, if you choose enable logging in a different policy this will be a different GUID.
- Click the Cancel button to close the GPO properties dialog.
- Click the Cancel button to close the domain properties dialog.
To use the sample script with the GPO, you will need to copy the activity.vbs script on your desktop to each of the following paths:
%SystemRoot%\SYSVOL\sysvol\<DOMAIN>\Policies\<GUID>\USER\Scripts\Logon
%SystemRoot%\SYSVOL\sysvol\<DOMAIN>\Policies\<GUID>\USER\Scripts\Logoff
%SystemRoot%\SYSVOL\sysvol\<DOMAIN>\Policies\<GUID>\MACHINE\Scripts\Startup
%SystemRoot%\SYSVOL\sysvol\<DOMAIN>\Policies\<GUID>\MACHINE\Scripts\Shutdown
Where <DOMAIN> is the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) of your domain, (e.g. mydomain.local ), and <GUID> is the Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) for the Default Domain Policy GPO.
- Start the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in in the Microsoft Management Console (MMC). To do this, click Start , point to Programs , point to Administrative Tools , and then click Active Directory Users and Computers .
- Right-click your domain, then click Properties .
- Click the Group Policy tab.
- Highlight the Default Domain Policy , then click the Edit button.
- In the console tree, click the plus sign (+) next to the Windows Settings under User Configuration , then highlight Scripts (Logon/Logoff) .
- Add the Logon script:
- In the right pane, double-click the Logon item.
- Click the Add button.
- Click the Browse button.
- Highlight activity.vbs , then click the Open button.
- Type LOGON in the Script Parameters box.
- Click OK to add the script.
- Click OK to close the Logon scripts dialog.
- Add the Logoff script:
- In the right pane, double-click the Logoff item.
- Click the Add button.
- Click the Browse button.
- Highlight activity.vbs , then click the Open button.
- Type LOGOFF in the Script Parameters box.
- Click OK to add the script.
- Click OK to close the Logoff scripts dialog.
- Close the Group Policy Editor.
- Click OK to close the domain properties dialog.
- Start the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in in the Microsoft Management Console (MMC). To do this, click Start , point to Programs , point to Administrative Tools , and then click Active Directory Users and Computers .
- Right-click your domain, then click Properties .
- Click the Group Policy tab.
- Highlight the Default Domain Policy , then click the Edit button.
- In the console tree, click the plus sign (+) next to the Windows Settings under Computer Configuration , then highlight Scripts (Startup/Shutdown) .
- Add the Startup script:
- In the right pane, double-click the Startup item.
- Click the Add button.
- Click the Browse button.
- Highlight activity.vbs , then click the Open button.
- Type STARTUP in the Script Parameters box.
- Click OK to add the script.
- Click OK to close the Startup scripts dialog.
- Add the Shutdown script:
- In the right pane, double-click the Shutdown item.
- Click the Add button.
- Click the Browse button.
- Highlight activity.vbs , then click the Open button.
- Type SHUTDOWN in the Script Parameters box.
- Click OK to add the script.
- Click OK to close the Shutdown scripts dialog.
- Close the Group Policy Editor.
- Click OK to close the domain properties dialog.
If the Logon Script does not run, you may need to check your network connection speed as the script may not run when you first log on to the network. For additional information on this issue, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
302104 The Logon Script Does Not Run During the Initial Logon Process
For more information on the extended log file format, see the specification in the W3C Working Draft at the following URL:
http://www.w3.org/TR/WD-logfile
For additional information on assigning Logon/Logoff Scripts, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
322241 HOW TO: Assign Scripts in Windows 2000
For additional information on the Extended Log File Format, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
194699 Extended Log File Format Always in GMT
271196 IIS Log File Entries Have the Incorrect Date and Time Stamp
242898 IIS Log File Naming Syntax