<<As an ex-tech support guy, I can tell you Richard's really going to appreciate that everyone's now asking for him while his colleagues twiddle their thumbs.

If you think he did good, drop some positive feedback to the company.>>

I did think about putting the phone number there, but it's not exactly a secret - it's the standard HP phone number published.  It's not like a home phone number or something.   With the queue, which wasn't all that short, I don't think anyone's sitting around twiddling their thumbs and if somebody is popular because of good reputation, that's good for them.   They can only handle one call at a time.  And people are at work to work.   I'm sure HP has managers.   Pretty good ones judging by his ability to handle my problem, his access to information about my computer and the rest. 
   
If HP sees it, they can know who is doing a good job for them.   Fear of publicity is absurdly rife these days with people hiding behind avatars, first [fake] names, pseudonyms and the like.  I think people should use their first and last names and not be hiding from their responsibilities.   It's not as though the world is full of crazy people wanting to find somebody to attack.   [Computer viruses notwithstanding and the occasional nastiness]

I get the impression that Geekzone is sensitive to even slightly
off-topic commentary like this so I had better stop now that the
technical problem is resolved.   I'm sure Vista salespeople are happier
to see a customer back on track, problem resolved, than trying to
return the computer and operating system.   Credit where it's due.   

Mqurice