**grumble**

[Erin]

Ok...my dad is a Nurse Anesthetist at a local hospital. One of the perks of his job is the education fund they give him. Every year he gets money that he's allowed to spend on something "educational"...be it a computer, a trip to a seminar for his job...or to take certain courses in town for his job.

This year, he used the fund for a new computer. He had about $3,000 to play with. The catch is that he has to buy it from a "hospital approved" company. Meaning whatever computer company the hospital has been able to make arrangements with for a computer.

They told my dad to go to the computer website (Lenovo) to pick out his computer. All he had to do was print off the info about the computer and it's specifications. He didnt have to order it thru the website. So, I helped my dad pick something out. I dont have the printout handy, but we had gotten him a 23 inch monitor, a desktop tower with a massive hard drive, and it was supposed to have WindowsXP Professional on it.

fast forward to today. The computer arrived at his work. They gave him the tower and the monitor. Dad brings it home and I help him get everything plugged in and set up.

We sit down and push the Power button on the tower.

A green light comes on...

the monitor comes up for a second...

...and then goes into Power Saving Mode for some inexplicable reason.

We look in the manual that tells you how to set stuff up (something we never do because we've had enough computers not to need it)

I'm not a computer expert, so I'm not quite sure about this, but I have a sinking suspicion that they gave us a computer with NO OPERATING SYSTEM!!! There are no disks in the box other than a disk for Sound Blaster...no speakers (which I ordered), and no wireless keyboard and mouse. (came with plain old wired mouse and keyboard)

So, either there is no operating system, or they opened up the tower and removed something important. We know the hospital computer techs opened the box up because they slapped "Property of "hospital" on both the tower and the monitor.

My dad is really really really disappointed. The last time he used the educational fund for a computer, they were using Gateways. I'd helped him pick out the computer then, and they screwed us on the hard drive for that (that was supposed to be a 160gb drive, they gave him an 80gb) Plus, they never installed any of the software that was supposed to go on THAT computer either. (Word, Physicians Desk Reference, bunch of other stuff) All that one had was an operating system.

I really do suspect that whoever does the ordering of the computers for the education funds is only ordering the most basic systems and then pocketing the difference from what $$ is left over. (the fund is a "use it, or lose it" fund. My dad had to use it by July or he'd lose it) Either that, or when the computers arrive at the hospital, someone is opening the boxes and helping themselves to some software.

Tomorrow, depending on what they say at the hospital, my dad and I are going to Best Buy and he's going to buy a new 'puter for him with money out of his own pocket. He's thinking of keeping the monitor from the dead Lenovo system (I know it works because I connected it to my old laptop and it worked great!)

[Ringman]

as far as the computer not having any system cd's its possiable that like many of todays new computers its on the harddrive on a seprate partiton. like mine it has the main drive (C) and the partition for the recovry drive (D)

[Der Cute]

NO NO NO NO NO.

I work at a hospital. In IT.


HAVE YOUR DAD CALL THE IT DEPARTMENT. ASAP.

After the computer arrived at the hospital, I'll bet it had to be "branded" with a property tag, and formatted with specific software from the IT department to be able to control viruses etc.

CALL THE IT DEPARTMENT!!!

Cute

[LostMyMind]

It's probably just don't have any OS installed or someone at the hospital swapped out his computer with their dead one. What you got is not what you ordered. Report it and return it. Make them fix it.

[One-Fang]

Somebody's budget somewhere went to the OS, speakers, wireless periphs. If his 'education budget' is down $3,000 then he wants a $3,000 system for it, not a $1,500 one.

I agree with Cutenoob - call the IT department and find out what actually arrived with them. Then find out who does the ordering and how "system X" became "system Y" on arrival.

[NightWolf]

I don't think it's an OS issue. You should get more than what you did if it was that. You should have at least recevied some sort of screen error and not a shut down. I'd have to lean more towards some sort of hardware issue. Maybe a BIOS setting.

[Erin]

My dad is going to call the IT dept during his lunch break today. He didnt take the computer to work with him because he wants to find out exactly where to take it first. (he's never been to the IT dept before) He's going to find out where to take it and then take it in on monday.

He's pretty ticked off about the whole thing. He's used the fund to get a computer several times. The first time, they told him the computer was his property. Then some doctor used his fund to get a computer, and as soon as the computer arrive, the doctor quit.

So they changed how they did things. They decided that the computers are the property of the hospital. I guess they didnt start to stick "property of 'hospital'" on the computers till this one tho.

Hopefully they'll fix it. I want to see if they actually gave him the hard drive that we asked for. I noticed that they gave us a 3.5 inch disk drive (who uses those anymore???) and we didnt ask for that. I really think they ignored what we wanted, and ordered what they wanted my dad to have, and then pocketed the difference that wasnt spent.

If it is just a bios setting..how do you fix that?

edited to add: I dont think the computer shut down when it wouldnt boot up. We could hear the hard drive making noises, and the fan on the computer was running. It just wouldnt boot at all.

[Der Cute]

Slow down Erin.

If the computer is going to be on the Hospital network, it has to have certain security settings. One of those is having a floppy, to boot with. Lots easier.

Another is having the OS installed w/ Anti virus and spyware catchers etc.

There are rules the hospital has to follow such as HIPPA and SARBOX which translate into more stricter rules for computers.

Your dad needs to take the specs he PAID FOR and the machine itself into the shop @ the hospital.
Have the techs there figure out what is inside the computer, and if it matches the specs on the paid sheet.

Then: Dad needs to ask: why is the OS not booting???

Did someone screw up imaging the pc? I'll bet you $$ that the OS from factory is not the one installed on the box!!!

Have the techs re-image/ reinstall the OS, put the needed REQUIRED secuirty programs on there, along w/ your dad's software.

HAVE DAD DOCUMENT EACH STEP HE TAKES W/ THE IT OFFICE. HAVE YOUR DAD TALK TO HIS SUPERVISOR TO CYA AND MAKE SURE EVERYONE DOES THEIR JOB CORRECTLY.

HTH.

Cute

[LostMyMind]

If you read the OP closely, you see the computer is for his personal use at home. Was taken to his home.

IT should have never touch that computer. I'm willing to bet that IT swap it out for stuff they wanted. This is outright either an incorrect order (which is unlikely because of the "stickers") or someone in the hospital help themselves to to Erin's dad's computer.

[Erin]

The computer isnt on the hospital network. It's actually a personal computer to be used at home...which is why he was allowed to choose the specifications on it. The computer will only be on our home network. It wont be connected to anything at the hospital at all.

My dad's job gives him money to use for educational purposes. It's my dad's money, it's just held by the hospital until he decides what "educational purpose" he wants to use it for.

He could have used it to go to a seminar on anesthesia, or several other things. It's money allotted to him. All the nurse anesthetists and anesthesiologists get a certain amount each year.

The computer really should not be considered hospital property, (I think the education fund is taxable income on my dad's income tax) but they'd had problems with people staying long enough to get the money, get their "educational use" out of it, and then they'd quit. So, I guess that's the reason they started stamping them "property of..."

[Tanasi]

The computer isnt on the hospital network. It's actually a personal computer to be used at home...which is why he was allowed to choose the specifications on it. The computer will only be on our home network. It wont be connected to anything at the hospital at all.

My dad's job gives him money to use for educational purposes. It's my dad's money, it's just held by the hospital until he decides what "educational purpose" he wants to use it for.

He could have used it to go to a seminar on anesthesia, or several other things. It's money allotted to him. All the nurse anesthetists and anesthesiologists get a certain amount each year.

The computer really should not be considered hospital property, (I think the education fund is taxable income on my dad's income tax) but they'd had problems with people staying long enough to get the money, get their "educational use" out of it, and then they'd quit. So, I guess that's the reason they started stamping them "property of..."

If it has a SATA drive make sure the blame thing in plugged in because it doesn't take much for one to become unplugged during shipping. BTW is sounds like a no-OS is on the HD.
BTW if this PC is being added to your Dad's W2 then it's his PC. If it's taxable income then the hospital can't claim it as their property. They can't have it both ways.

[LostMyMind]

If it has a SATA drive make sure the blame thing in plugged in because it doesn't take much for one to become unplugged during shipping.
If SATA drive was just unplugged, he would have gotten an *Insert a boot disk* message. Computer powering up, no beeping, and nothing showing up is usually a sign of a dead PC in need of serious care.

[Erin]

If SATA drive was just unplugged, he would have gotten an *Insert a boot disk* message. Computer powering up, no beeping, and nothing showing up is usually a sign of a dead PC in need of serious care.

That's what I thought, and I dont know that much about the inner workings of computers. Someone once told me that 10% of all computers arrive DOA. (I think it's more like they died at birth, rather than on arrival)

If that's true, we seem to get a lot of the dead ones. My dad has had two previous computers that were either dead right out of the box, or died about a month after it was bought.

[LostMyMind]

Really cheap ones do arrive DOA, not 3,000 dollar ones.

Now days, most computer shops will "test" the computers before shipping them out. They should at least boot up (might have other issues).

[Erin]

First Windows based computer my dad ever bought (a Gateway) cost him nearly $4,000 (of his own money)...probably sometime in the early to mid-90s...I think it was a Windows 3.0 computer... It arrives, we set it up following the handy little map they gave us. Turn it on...it booted up, but that was all it would do. It just sat there all locked up. We called Gateway, they sent someone out and it was a bad motherboard or something.

My dad bought a Sony Vaio laptop in 2000. Month after we got it, I was using it to do some college homework when it suddenly went Blue Screen of Death on me. No warnings. Took a month to get it back, and now it runs great, and until my dad's new computer gets fixed or replaced, it'll be my dad's only 'puter. That little Sony has outlived most of the computers in our house.

My dad just got home...said the little bean counter who's responsible for ordering the computers for the Anesthesia department looked amused that the computer didnt work. My dad is supposed to bring the computer in to this guy and he'll take it in to be fixed. I have a feeling once that happens we wont see the computer again for a looooong time.

Apparently the little bean counter thinks the anesthetists get paid way too much and I guess he's a bit jealous that they can get free computers. (he's actually told my dad the anesthetists get paid too much)

The anesthetists deserve the money they get! When you have surgery, it's the nurse anesthetists and anesthesiologists who are responsible for you being able to breathe and not feel pain during surgery. The doctor's are important too, but if it wasnt for the nurse anesthetists, the doctor wouldnt be able to do his job very well or painlessly.

[Broomjockey]

Without them, it'd be back to "bite on this leather strap and pray you pass out quickly". No thank you.

[One-Fang]

I'm willing to bet that IT swap it out for stuff they wanted.

As an IT staff member (and I know I'm not the only one here), I'm highly offended by your insinuation. This is as bad as saying all retail workers are uneducated, illiterate, useless morons.

Even if the PC is dad's to own, does the hospital IT department have to support it in any way if he has problems? If so, this may explain their labelling it. While they don't 'own' it, it has to be accounted for in the system.

And from what I know of anaesthesiology, it's still a very delicate science. You definitely want a well skilled person doing it!

[Erin]

The hospital bought service contracts for all the computers, so I guess the IT dept has to have the "property of..." stamp on it to work on it.

I'm more than willing to bet that the computer is one of the 10% DOA systems that make it past quality control than someone from the hospital's IT dept helping themselves to the innards of the computer.

[LostMyMind]

As an IT staff member (and I know I'm not the only one here), I'm highly offended by your insinuation. This is as bad as saying all retail workers are uneducated, illiterate, useless morons.
I apologize if you took offense, I didn't mean it like that. I've worked in IT and worked with IT staff (writing code for them). I'm also well aware of "swap" policies that some IT staff have.

I meant is; that is what probably happen in this case. Not that all IT staff will "grab" any available equipment that comes in. ;) (even through I've seen this first hand)

I'm more than willing to bet that the computer is one of the 10% DOA systems that make it past quality control
Still don't explain the wireless becoming wired and missing software. Unless the order was screwed up really bad.

[Erin]

Still don't explain the wireless becoming wired and missing software. Unless the order was screwed up really bad.

I think the little bean counter that's jealous of the anesthetists getting an education fund probably "tweaked" our order a little bit.

When my dad and I sat down to choose all the stuff he wanted in his new system, we managed to get fairly close to his $3000 limit.

I would not be surprised if the little bean counter changed some stuff so that there was some money left that he might have somehow pocketed for himself. Not exactly sure how he could have done that, but I am a little suspicous that he did.

[LostMyMind]

Well, I hope your dad still has his order sheet and raise hell man, raise hell. But in a non SC way of course ;)