Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[WNH]

Would it be possible? I was not given any disc however I do have a recovery drive. If so possible though, how would I go about doing this? There's something that is making my computer run 1/5th of what it's capable of. Laptop is only 5 months old and I do have a warranty, however I'd like to see if I can solve it myself before I send it in. I use this laptop to play online games such as world of warcraft. Went from being able to run it on ultra, to now being forced to run it on low, anything higher lags the laptop entirely.

[deusexmachina Valued Contributor]

The chances of it being a hardware problem are equal to it being a software problem from the description... You could have a failing hard drive, viruses, driver issues, failing GPU, etc.
If you bring your computer to Best Buy, they can run a diagnostic on your computer. If the issue is covered by the MFG (hardware issues) you will not have to pay for the diagnostic or repairs. If the issue is software related, you will have to pay the $69.99 diagnostic fee + additional repair costs if you want them. Some stores charge the diagnostic fee up front and refund it if the issue is HW related.

[CrystalWoW Community Veteran]

Also try running a non internet based game as well to see if your internet connection is interfering at all.

[WNH]

Ran the game on a different laptop with lower specs and it did MUCH better. so it's definitely the laptop that's the issue. Just not sure what. Like i said I'd really like to reformat and give that a try before I send it in.

[WNH]

One more thing I should add is that I got the standard warranty.

[deusexmachina Valued Contributor]

If you have Best Buy's warranty, the diagnostic will not cost you anything regardless of the issue. I'd recommend having them run the diagnostic before you reformat your computer. The diagnostic is done in store and takes a few days. If the repairs cannot be done in store, your computer will then get sent out. If the issue is software related and you're comfortable doing the restore on your own, you can just pick up your computer and restore it knowing that the hardware is alright.

[WNH]

I've reformatted a computer before, but I had all the disc. I'd hate to go to reformat this laptop, and realize that I need the disc. Could you by chance list the steps for me to run a diagnostic, then reformat if neccessary? ((Without the disc as i wasn't given any.))  

Also, is it possible that something INSIDE the laptop got damaged? Laptop was always lifted properly, always on table, but I would run 3x games at once on very high graphics back then, just to see what the laptop was capable and it seems after that the performance just got totaled. Ty.

[deusexmachina Valued Contributor]

I'm not going to list the steps for a diagnostic as it's not easy nor quick... just take your computer in to BB and have them do it for you... if the unit is under warranty, it won't cost you anything. The computer probably has a recovery partition, but if your hard drive is bad, you'll need to order the recovery discs from the MFG anyways.

[Mbrguy Emerging Expert]

You can learn to reformat a hard drive from this link.

[hydrogenwv]

If you want to reformat it yourself, there should be a button you can press at bootup to bring you into a recovery mode of some sort. I think that's how recovery partitions generally work.  Google is your friend, but I'm not responsible if you mess up your machine.