Secondhand laptop help pls

[Raptor Mike]

My Dad has bought a second hand laptop and has no end of problems with it but is now locked out. The person he bought it from said she reconditioned it and that it would be okay for games (yet it won't even run World of Tanks on lowest settings). He did some updates that a program asked to do and then shut it down. When he next opened it the old user is coming up on the user login and Dad's password wont work. It seems it's reverted it's self. Is there anyway to get his user profile back or is he locked out completely.

Also I wonder how he would stand if he demanded a refund.

Thanks

 

[Keith W]

What make of laptop is it? also what model/serial number?

If he has bought it second hand from someone he knows then it would be down to the goodwill of that person as to whether they give him a refund or not

 

[Raptor Mike]

What make of laptop is it? also what model/serial number?

If he has bought it second hand from someone he knows then it would be down to the goodwill of that person as to whether they give him a refund or not

Thanks Keith.
He's managed to revert it back to yesterdays setting (which I'm amazed he could do lol) and we are going to back it all up when he comes over tomorrow. He bought it from a woman who refurbs them but I wasn't sure if it was just a 'hobby', but I have found she's got a website so I'm unsure.

My Dad doesn't know a lot about computers and I think he's been mis-sold this one. I might have to have a word for he but wondered if he has a leg to stand on, even if its a 'proper' business. It's really slow yet it's a Acer Windows 7 machine. Sorry I dont have the model number to hand but a google when it was in front of me says it will be a maximum of 3 years old.

 

[Keith W]

What is the name of the woman/website?

If she runs it as a genuine business then you have the same rights as you would if buying new form the high street, however you need to be realistic about your expectations when buying second hand goods

 

[allanm]

If it has an old user profile in it, then I doubt it has been refurbished properly. It should just have a clean windows installation and start up asking for your Dads information to create a new user profile. Do you have an installation disc? If so, it may help to reinstall the os, or at the very least, take it back to the seller and ask them to do it.
Difficult to know if it should run your game without looking at the specs of the machine and game requirements, but Acer generally sell lower end machines, it might just not have the power to run the game properly, if it might just need graphic drivers updated.
Allan

 

[4wd]

It's funny my windows 8 laptop did that the other day - I knew the login but had it shut off - it's a setting in power management and it had reverted to default (password needed) for some reason after an update

 

[donetello]

Look in disk management and see if the hidden partition is there.If it is backup any files he has on it then restart and alt F10 should bring up the factory restore options.It should have already been wiped though,as previous owners personal information may still be on it.

 

[Raptor Mike]

Thanks folks. No there's no disc I'm afraid. I've looked into reinstalling W7 but even if week could find the number its above my head. Good idea about checking the back up partition though and thanks for letting me know about the reset.

As for Acer being lower end, I wouldn't say that about my Acer gaming tower when I bought it But to be fair Allan did say generally

Thanks again folks

 

[Alastair]

If it has an old user profile in it, then I doubt it has been refurbished properly. It should just have a clean windows installation and start up asking for your Dads information to create a new user profile.

^this

It would raise a query in my mind as to whether the copy of Windows is licensed or not. Given data protection issues, anything short of a hard drive replacement is a strictly amateur night refurbishment.