If you ever have a problem with your PC, I recommend not bringing it to the Geek Squad. As described in this article, we also had the same experience. After diagnosing an IBM ThinkPad, circa 1998, they concluded a bad hard drive and recommended an entire replacement ($250) along with a small fee ($200) for loading only OS software (additional software = more $).
My mother, who is one of the large part of our population who knows little about the technicalities of computers, brought this in to an actual geek and he found it was merely poor RAM: 256 MB (I know, I know — it’s barely worth salvaging).
In this day and age, it’s small miracle when finding do-gooders like this who enjoy diagnosing/repairing PCs. When having difficulties, it’s almost worth the trouble of finding an *actual* geek versus relying on *purported* geeks. (See Craig’s List)
