I brought a Compaq CQ 42 115TU on 12th July 2010.

Price - 32,500/-

My usage - Minimum 5 hours daily, Maximum 10 hours.

Software used - Word-processor, Winamp, VLC, Firefox and Call Of Duty 1.

OS - Win 7 Basic Bundled

Date of crash - 27th August 2010

Problem - HDD failure. Memory test successful, HDD test failure. Error Code - (3F0)

I was watching a video on VLC when the laptop froze. After 5 mins of waiting the BSOD came up. Memory was dumped but the restart showed that the MBR was lost. I've had this problem before with my assembled PC but I solved it using Mandrake Linux distros. I would simply format the partition using Linux and then install Windows in it. Now Linux doesn't even detect the HDD.

Earlier I had repartitioned the HDD using Partition Magic but I did not touch the C and D drives as it might have caused problems with the Recovery Process. I thought creating Logical Drives would not cause any conflict with the Recovery Process as only the C & D drives were used by the process.

Attempted Recovery - Not possible as HDD was not found. Recovery CDs not meant to repair HDD problems.

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I have seen a lot of complaints about HP service on the net, now I will try to verify it myself. I will post every communication I have with HP and its outcome in this forum.

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Day 1 - 28th August 2010

I looked for HP support phone numbers and came across the laptop dept numbers - 1800112267 (BSNL/MTNL lines within India), 30306363, 011 26388000 but these numbers are answered only from Monday to Friday (9:00am to 6:00pm Only), which means I will have to wait till Monday to just talk to a technician. Very poor service in this regard, given that most call centers are operational 24x7. eg Airtel call centers.

Then I found that HP may send the faulty part by courier if the technician can agree with me that the HDD has indeed crashed and that it should be replaced. I can replace the HDD myself and I presumed that instead of waiting long periods to get my Laptop back from the service center I should try this method. So I called this number - 0124 234 6992 - meant for service to only HP desktops just to ask if the above mentioned service is available in India.

I was replied by Manish. He told me my query can only be answered by the laptop dept which is closed today. Good news is that according to Manish this service is available for desktops.
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Statistics -

Days since purchase (DSP) - 48 days

Crashed after 46 days of purchase !!

Days into crash (DIC) - 1 day

Hours since crash (HSC) - 17 hours
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