Man sues Microsoft for $600M after a forced Windows upgrade destroyed his PC
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}File photo: A sign marks the Microsoft office in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. January 25, 2017. (REUTERS/Brian Snyder)
A lawsuit against Microsoft may seem outlandish, but it expresses a not-uncommon user complaint.
Filed this month by a “Frank K. Dickman Jr.” of Albuquerque, N.M., the lawsuit seeks damages of $600 million from Microsoft and its CEO Satya Nadella.
The plaintiff’s PC, an Asus laptop, came loaded with Windows 7, but then became “non-functional immediately” when the upgrade to Windows 10 failed, according to the complaint filed in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado earlier this month.
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The upgrade “deleted the cached, or backup, version of Windows 7,” the complaint states.
“The only sensible remedy is for Microsoft to supply the OEM version of its operating system by download from its website and confirmed by the key code which came with the computer,” the filing notes.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The owner is demanding that Microsoft supply the Windows 7 operating system because “the only way I can be certain of a quality Windows 7 Operating System is to obtain it from the original vendor – Microsoft Corporation.”
Multiple attempts to reach Dickman by Fox News went unreturned.
This is not the first lawsuit Dickman appears to have filed recently. According to a search of the Colorado court database, Dickman has filed several different lawsuits on a variety of matters.
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This isn't the first time
Outlandish monetary restitution demands aside, this is by no means the first time a Windows user has complained publicly about an upgrade not going as expected.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“While Dickman's ambitious litigation may not go very far in a district court, his sentiments are no doubt shared by a number of PC users around the globe,” wrote the Register.
“It has been something of a common theme since Microsoft launched Windows 10 back in 2015, with several people suing the company after its aggressive upgrade push,” the Windows-centric site Neowin wrote.
Neowin also cited a case where a woman won a $10,000 judgment against Microsoft for a botched Windows 10 upgrade.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Register also referenced a Microsoft support page that provides answers for users looking to reinstall Window 7.
To make matters worse, the easiest fix for the problem is no longer available, according to a Microsoft page that explains other more-complicated options.
Microsoft has yet to respond to a request for comment.