One good tip to come out of this... folks reading this, if you buy a used laptop, get a signed, dated, legible receipt for your money with the verifiable name and address of the seller and the seriual number off the label on the laptop (which should be present). If they are not the original purchaser, a receipt that they got from him or her. Better, any warranty and original purchase documents. The more the better. A paper trail that leads from you to the dealer who first sold the laptop. If these are not forthcoming, then consider very carefully whether you want something that could become a brick. Or get you in trouble.