shady hardware swap


  1. Posts : 3
    10
       #1

    shady hardware swap


    I recently bought a Lenovo idea pad laptop. immediately after I lost the charging cord.
    I took laptop to a small tech shop to get a cord. the guy plugged in 3 or 4 cords announced that my chaging port was bad and tht he would change it no charge.30 minute later he was still inside my laptop which was mysteriously rest to factory when he gave it back. I believe he may have swapped some hardware rather than replce the charging port. anyone know how I can tell without serial numbers ? would windows event log record such activit7? or some other windows record of hardware change
      My Computer


  2. xTL
    Posts : 396
    Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit
       #2

    Hi @duped
    You should have both model number & serial number on the box the lenovo laptop came in.
    Also underneath the laptop you should have a number & serial number.
    if they do not match he swapped the laptop.
    Also go back and demain a explanation why your laptop was at factory settings when you got it back.
    The charge port swap does not cause a factory reset on windows.

    Please check your hardware specs on the current laptop.
    And please post what model of lenovo you bought.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 3
    10
    Thread Starter
       #3

    xTL said:
    Hi @duped
    You should have both model number & serial number on the box the lenovo laptop came in.
    Also underneath the laptop you should have a number & serial number.
    if they do not match he swapped the laptop.
    Also go back and demain a explanation why your laptop was at factory settings when you got it back.
    The charge port swap does not cause a factory reset on windows.

    Please check your hardware specs on the current laptop.
    And please post what model of lenovo you bought.
    its a Lenovo idea pad p400. I bought it from my mother who is completely computer illiterate lol
    the only time the laptop was even turned on was when I went by and turnd it on to show her my children on facebook. I took it in to buy a replacement charging cord. the man said my charging port was bad and he offered to replace it no charge as it was a "very simple and quick fix".
    that quick fix took quite a while . I thought nothing at the time but the first time I turned it on the laptop had been completely reset to "factory".
    questionable detais
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 3
    10
    Thread Starter
       #4

    hi xTL
    its a Lenovo ideapad p400
    myself and siblings bought it for my mother who refuses to acknowledge any technology past the 80s.it was only turned on when I stopped by and turned it on to try and force her to join fb.
    I recently bought it back from her as it was still literally brand new. I planned to use it for my recently launched web store.
    I left the charger at work a fw days later so I stopped on my way home at some tech shop to buy a replacement.
    the gentleman told me immediately upon touching it that my charging port was bad and offered to fix it at no cost as it was a "easy and quick fix" & "no problem"
    that quick fix took quite some time . we were talking about several thing soi thought nothing of it at the time.
    DETAILS I DIDNT THINK ANYTHING OF UNTIL LATER
    1. within 1 (literal) minute of me walking into his shop he had my laptop completely opened up
    2. I later remembered the odd way he was holding my laptop upright standing on its side with the bottom facing me the entire time he worked on it. this put and kept the charger port a few inches above his eye level the entire time
    3. when he was putting it back toether he actually said "where the hell did these extra screws come from?" before realizing that he forget to reinstall the cd rom. cd rom is actually on the opposite end of the laptop, putting it completely down....the laptop was sitting on the cd end of laptop the whole time he worked on it. cant imamgine removing the cd rom to replace the charger port on the opposite end.
    4. upon arrival home I plugged in and turned on the laptop only to find it recent to "factory"
    5. except that "factory" windows was 8......it now suddenly has "factory" windows 10.
    6. I hot spotted my phone to get online to live chat him and every single act I tried to perform seemed to take forever to perform with constant "system error" messages that alarmed even me, having little tech knowledge.
    they contained thins like "critical error" and "reinstall generic driver blah blah balh"
    these details made me suspiscious so I watched a tutorial on how to open my laptop nd made my 20 year old come over to help me.
    first thing that we noticed was a "Lenovo" (I'm assumimg) seal tat was punched through.
    second was that the cd rom he barely remembered to replace was very loosely attache with only one screw.
    third thing was that several items I honestl cannot name without a chart of my laptops stock contents.
    I have read enough to know that without a picture of the guts prior to handing it to the man,there is apparently no way to know for sure that he has changed out the best parts of my computer .
    I am furious becausei am a single mother working my rear end off and yet I paid a lot for the laptop because it was my mother and I wanted her to feel fairly compensated for the gift she absolutely had zero interest in lol
    and did so right after moving from fresno ca to PENNSYLVANIA which damn near broke me
    having just started a "who knows!!!!" internet store so I can stay home with my special needs son !!
    I also want to know enough that I sound like I know what I'm talking about when I accus him......
    anything you know and think would help would be wonderful
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 13,985
    Win10 Pro and Home, Win11 Pro and Home, Win7, Linux Mint
       #5

    second was that the cd rom he barely remembered to replace was very loosely attache with only one screw
    That 'screw part' actually may be normal as all the Notebooks I've worked with have only one screw holding them in the case. The 'looseness' part may not be normal although the tray itself has some wiggle to it.

    As to the power socket/port, my experience with several brands is that it takes more than 30 minutes to disassemble the case to get to the motherboard considering the removal of things like the back cover, palm rest, keyboard, drives and memory modules. The boards are assembled and parts soldered by robots and can be difficult to replace IF the part can be found which a search of the Internet will add quite a bit to the diagnose/repair time.
      My Computers


  6. Posts : 2,542
    Windows 10 Pro 64bit
       #6

    If you have high-end parts inside - the newer nVidia graphics card, I7 processor etc then whomever may have removed these & replaced them with older or inferior parts.
    Also check that Windows is genuine & not a volume license he may have stolen the key to the original Windows version.
      My Computer


  7. xTL
    Posts : 396
    Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit
       #7

    Hi @duped

    It does seem a bit wierd that the repair guy would almost immediately start to disassemble ur laptop because the charger he was selling did not work with the laptop you brought with you.
    That is not normal behavior of a technician.
    And no
    technician would do this for free. (Nor is it an " easy fix " as he put it.)

    Just so it's clear, This is the laptop right?
    https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-IdeaPa.../dp/B00EWSDC9W

    If you still have the box the laptop came in i want you to check and compair it with the sticker that is underneath your laptop.
    The sticker should be on one of the sides of the box, it should have a model & serial number of the laptop.
    Compair both and make sure that they match.

    After that i want you to check the hardware inside the laptop.
    You can easily do this just by starting windows, open up, this pc > rightclick a white field > select properties.
    Here you get an overview of what the amount of memory you have installed it should be 8GB.
    The OS should be in 64-Bit not 32-Bit.

    Next:
    Press, Device Manager > click the small arrow on disk drives so you can see your harddrive > rightclick the harddrive and select properties > new window appear, please tell me the name and spec of the harddrive.

    So when it comes to windows, the laptop comes with windows 8
    So unless you updated, windows 8 should still be installed.
    Tho depending on how much you used the laptop windows could have updated itself.
      My Computer


 

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