Well, to make a long story short, we got a virus from the DSL and I was unable to remove it or them. I now have a firewall and up-to-date antivirus software, installed by the techie that removed the viruses. He reinstalled Windows, and everything seemed fine, but I found myself unable to play NWN. I checked, and all that I had for a video card was the crap default thing that H-P includes. I called the guy to ask why my Nvidia GeForce4 wans't working, and he said that he had removed it, because there was no driver included in the stuff we gave him along with the tower. I went by the shop, and he gave me the card, which is awaiting Piestrider to come and instll it. Do you think this was deliberate? I am still upset about it.

It could have been, he should have given you the card seperately after he'd gotten the comp up to date. check your hardware and make sure everything else that should be there is. Or it could be a simple case that he just forgot (although even without the drivers your display should have at least worked in 16bit mode...

I would be suspicious, and check out the local BBB if he runs a business if he's had complaints similar to yours then be glad you got your stuff back...

Definantly, it takes a couple of minutes to get Nvidia's official Geforce drivers (forceware) from the net, he had absolutly no reason to take tht card.
I dont believe that this is a normal thing to do, that was stealing and he probably thought he could get away with it....

What kind of a techie is that?

Like Hive said, it takes ten minutes to get the drivers for the card and so what if he didn't have the drivers... what business had he taking the card out?!

I would definetly report him to some sort of authority...

Sounds like a scam to me.

<font color=plum>I agree, <font color=orange>Attalus</font>, this guy was trying to rip you off and probably thought you didn't know enough about your computer to notice.

As everyone here knows, I've had TONS of trouble with my main PC since last summer and I've sent it to two seperate PC shops several times to be fixed. There is NO REASON TO REMOVE A HARDWARE COMPONENT just to get rid of a virus. I've learned the simplest fix is to tell the tech's to just wipe your PC clean and re-install the OS. You can also ask them to save and re-load any specific files you don't want to lose (like My Documents).

One store DID keep telling me my video card was crap and tried to SELL me a new one, but I declined each time. It was one of the few components I didn't replace on this PC - and I've never had any problem with.

Not having the drivers is ridiculous excuse, since most drivers ARE available from the internet.

This guy was trying to scam you.</font>

Why do you pay someone to format your computer?

Because the vast majority of computer users aren't either confident enough to do it or aware of how to do it?

Isn't that's what everybody is doing? [img]graemlins/confused2.gif[/img]

Isn't that's what everybody is doing? [img]graemlins/confused2.gif[/img] </font>[/QUOTE]I do it myself... [img]tongue.gif[/img]

I think it's more a case of people wanting all their vital data backed up by a pro so they don't have to skip a beat.

I do it myself... [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Not everyone has the gear to make backup's at home.

I've got 200 GB of data on my computer, I've got alternate storage for about 20 GB..

I'd be mighty upset, Attalus. From what you've said, he stole from you and gave it back because he got caught. Let's face it... what computer tech worth his salt doesn't know how to go to a web site to download the latest drivers? Lame excuse. If it's true, he ought to be fired. And fired upon.

What else did he remove because he didn't think you'd need it? Did he downgrade your processor for you? Put in a cheap cooling fan and keep your nice one? Replace your name-brand memory with generic stuff built from play-dough and sand? Do you even still have the same amount of memory?

Do you even know if it was your own card, or some other one? "Oh, bummer. That virus must have knocked out your video card. Want to buy another one? I've got a used one that just came in... I'll let you have it for fifty bucks."

If you're a pack rat like me, you may still have the original packaging, which would have the serial number on it. I'd go looking...

Was this done by the tech (hired gun), the manager of the shop, the owner, or someone else? Depending on where the decision to lift your card came from, that would tell me a lot about the place I just did business with... probably for the last time.

I'd check your paperwork to make sure there weren't any notes scrawled on it about taking the video card out, but I'd be talking to the BBB and/or the police. If he didn't tell you about taking the card out, it was theft... and you just caught him at it.

Wonder how many other folks he's done this to?

Am I cranky? Perhaps. But I don't cotton to thieves well... unless I'm playing one :D

There was no excuse for him to take it out. he could ahve just disabled the card if it was getting in the way. Was this done at your house or at the shop ?

If it was done in your house then there is no excuse for him to take the card from your premises.

Oh, if you've got the details of your rig firmly in your mind here's a few things the check..

Hard drive, make sure it's the same one and size you used to have.

CPU, make sure it's the same one and right clock speed..

Ram, make sure it's all there and it's the right speed, this can be the tricky one..

Just keep going like this till you've confirmed that you've got all your bits, if any other parts are missing.. Well he wasn't planning on telling you was he.. So that's theift, if he's taking a component out and replaced it with a lesser one he's trying to cover his tracks, which is a sepperate offense..

If he say's he was planning to put it back, well dunno US law in too much detail but it's either thieft or takeing without owners consent..


Drag his name through the mud.

Not a scam - just pure attempted theft. In my book, at least.

You should report him to the police. Who knows, maybe he's done this to others before.

i agree with everyone else above.. he was trying to get your cool video card and replace it with a cheap one.

Depending on how he formatted the drive this may not be immediately visible, I tend to leave about 2-3GB unalocated in case of catastrophic system failure, so I can reinstall on the unpartitioned space, and back up any info before I do a clean wipe, right click my computer and select manage, open the storage folder, and click on disk management, that will show any HD's attached as well as the total space on them (divided by physical HD's, and split into columns by partitions)

Like I said before, call the BBB and see if there are any other complaints, and also verify any other hardware is still there, and the same you had. ie NIC cards, modems, sound cards, SATA cards, etc.

I agree with everyone else, dig out your sales receipt for the system and make sure that nothing has been changed. The guy was trying to rip you off... I'd at least report him to the BBB and I might mention it to the local authorities. The only way he didn't know EXACTLY what he was doing would be if he was totally incompetent, in which case he should be working on other peoples computers anyway.

You were being robbed. Simple as. Report him. If not to the police but at least his company.

Well, as predicted, I got it back and Piestrider just blew into town and installed it, with a downloaded driver, so NWN is playable again. Yay, Piestrider! [img]graemlins/thewave.gif[/img] You kept me from having to post a thread on "What is the best video card for Neverwinter Nights?"

[ 03-12-2005, 05:50 PM: Message edited by: Attalus ]

Good to see you are up and running again Attalus, Now do not be shy of asking how to do certain stuff, It looked like all he did to remove the virus was to wipe and reformat. You have more than enough friends out in forum land who have the time and inclination to show you step by step how to do such a thing, should you need to again, without going to some A-hole like that.

Please report him too, though you may find it to trivial to chase up, if he has been the subject of other police complaints or with a criminal record they will chase it up for sure.

Hi Attalus

I'm a techie and I've previously worked in a small high street shop and now work for a larger company giving tech support over the phone.
I can tell you that this guy is either utterly incompetent and you should ask for your money back, or he's just a scheming thief. The most he should have had to do (given that he couldn;t get rid of the virus) was to reformat and reinstall windows and then your drivers. Nvidia drivers can be downloaded from www.nvidia.com and a search of the net from almost any search engine will reveal this.

This sort of thing makes my blood boil as it gives people in my profession a bad name. Definately go to the police.