Returning to HP for repairs?

When you have had to return your laptop for a repair, do you take out the hard drive? Remove your data?

I'm really annoyed that I have to do this on my dv5t after only 3 months, but this screen flickering/going black has got to stop. But, I don't like having to send the laptop somewhere with my data on it.

For those of you who have returned your dv5t with this issue, did they say what was causing it? How long before you got it back?

Thanks.

 

First check its not your drivers. Also try using an external monitor to see if it does the same thing.

You will need to call up HP first and get persmission to remove the HD. They can be a pain at this. Tell them you have very sensitive information in the hard drive.

 

I chatted with HP yesterday and installed new drivers, but it didn't work. I'll plug it into an old monitor and see what happens.

 

You should use external monitor to check if the display happens to both displays, an indication of the problem from the GPU. And you don't need to send your hard drive with the laptop. Incompetent technicians tend to reimage your hard drive as they're lazy or don't know how to troubleshoot software problems.

 

Well, I finally had a chance to connect the external monitor and use the pc for a while. The screen on the monitor is not affected while the laptop screen fizzles into black, or white, or flickers. I will contact HP after the holiday to see about returning it for repair. Thanks for your suggestions.

 

I received the box to send my dv5t back for repair. They told me I had to leave my hard drive in the machine when sending it back. So, I moved everything I could think of to my external hard drive.

I basically moved my entire user folder (documents/downloads/pictures/music). I also backed up and removed my Outlook data file. I removed the password on the pc. Is there anything else I'm forgetting to move ... both from a data security standpoint and also to allow them to work on it?

The strange thing is, while I was moving my data over the course of a few days, the screen went blank several times, and I relied on the external monitor to continue working. Now that my data has been moved, the screen isn't flickering anymore. (which is completely illogical to me)

 

I had this same issue (flickering). I sent my DV5T in twice because although they resolved the issue the first time, they physically damaged my laptop. It's good that you're backing up your hard drive because the second time I sent it in they cleaned my hard drive, which I was pissed about. It did not seem logical to me to reimage a hard drive for a hardware problem (cable connection problem). Take pictures of your laptop before sending it in. Good luck.

 

I did, thanks to your post in another thread. ;-)

 

Yup, you'll probably have to re-send your laptop back to HP to get the damages fixed! I hate HP because of their service repair centers. Products are great, but repair centers seem incompetent and/or careless.