It never fails.
I've been building and fixing computers since I first started tinkering with the IBM PS/2 I bought when I quit my life sucking dead end corporate job. I had assembled and tested computer peripherals, modems and multiplexers for several years but never once knew a damn thing about them. It was time for me to get into the age of technology.
Slowly but surely, I gained enough knowledge to where I was helping friends and family with their computers. By 1997 PC troubleshooting, repair and everything that went with it became a full time career.
I soon found that each computer no matter the similarity of their parts had a distinct personality of it's own. At times, the problems that arose were confounding and made absolutely no sense. There was a technical term for this: "Flaky" Yep computers are Flaky, infuriating pieces of steaming dog crap. They are both bane and benefactor.
Nothing is ever easy when it comes to troubleshooting.
I once spent an hour trying to reinstall Windows on a computer when it would inexplicably lock up after 25 min into the installation. I was cursing Bill Gates and his minions to the deepest pits of hell when I finally realized there was a dog hair stuck to the install CD.
I can't tell you how many lucrative service calls were just people that thought their monitor was the PC and didn't know they had to push the power button on the box below. Unplugged speakers and keyboards were another easy service call. Tangled, confusing, rats nests of confusing wires kept bread on my table for a good long time.
When I finally hung up my tool bag for good and started my career as a full time Dad, I was like a retired gun fighter. People kept urging me to pick up my tools once again and tear into some rogue computer. Alas, I told them I was done fighting viruses, locked hard drives and dust clogged power supplies. I wanted to get out while I was still on top of my game.
Yesterday however, I purchased a couple memory sticks for my PC. I went into the bios setup to increase the memory speed to 400 MHz when the damn thing went haywire.
It was a nightmare. When I booted up there was a squealing noise and nothing but gibberish on the screen. When I tried to start windows it would do nothing or just sit at the startup screen with that infuriating little moving "status bar" that I found out years ago is actually fucking meaningless.
I tried everything. But either my computer would lock up, give an error message or do nothing. It had become flaky. In relative terms, if this happened to a horse you'd have to shoot it.
Just when I was about to chunk the thing out the window I tried resetting the BIOS to default one more time. For some odd reason it allowed me to save and continue. Then windows started normally. I'm pissed because that is 4 hours of my life I'm never getting back but I'm also relieved I'm not going to have to buy $600 worth of parts to rebuild the damn thing when I not even sure what was broken.
Well at least the experience inspired some funny new cuss words.
posted by Bill Rowland @ October 27, 2007
16 Comments
16 Comments:
Yup, my hubby has found that 99% of computer problems are caused by user error, or software conflicts. He LOVES the challenge of resolving software problems.(Yes, I'm aware that I live with a certifiably insane man!)
It's so comforting to know that this stuff happens even to experts, and that I'm not the only one who spends hours trying to figure out a problem only to find that the solution is something simple that I could have tried hours ago.
I'll have to watch out for those dog hairs! I try to remember to blow dust out of the tower every now and then, usually when my computer starts acting funny-it's amazing how much dust and crap there is in there.
I was having some serious problems a couple of weeks ago but a couple of people sent me advise on how to fix them..and it worked. Good think this piece of junk has a go back function...
You know back in the 1980s the letters IBM were commonly thought to denote "I Believe in Magic"...(!!)
The computer gods are a fickle bunch arent they? Cheers!!
Will u help me figure out my new iPod?
i hate when something goes wrong with mine...once i went out and bought a new laptop rather than deal with it....sick, huh?
Glad to hear that you worked your problem out.
Peace
I was happily laughing along until "...dust clogged power supplies...". The keyboard, yes, but the tower? It's been freezing lately and the answer I received was to purchase more memory, but I'll try a good vacuuming all over first.
Thanks, Hammer, for both sharing and informing!
So, what are the cuss words?
You MUST pat the top of the monitor and rub the screen and say "You are a Good, Good boy" to get the automagic to work. This is trick I learned way back before the turn of the millennium.
But hang in there, we are the generation that invented this stuff and so we can make up the ways to fix also.
Did you ever have a problem with chip creep? Back in the olden days (15 years ago) when hardware was much different, the heat stress of the motherboard warming and cooling from being turned off and on could sometimes make the chips start creeping out of their sockets and eventually the computer would go wonky. I fixed several computers just by pushing all the chips back in.
I've seen a fair amount of chip creep; same thing used to happen to sound and video cards. System locking up, shut down, re-seat card, boots up fine.
Sounds a bit like my trip down HTML lane. Building a website is frought with quirky disasters as well.
I've never tried my hand at building a computer, but it's one of my future plans. I'm sure that much cussing will be involved.
I spend a big part of my days troubleshooting and repairing custom circuit card assemblies. Most engineers hate this stuff, they like to move from one design to the next, but I perversely like fixing stuff like this.
Once past the obvious things that you mentioned, what I have run into most, is that when designing electronics to operate within a certain set of parameters, inevitably some items are going to operate at one end of the operating range or another. When connected to other pieces of electonics that are doing the same, you can easily end up with two circuit cards, that are operating withing "acceptable" limits, but that are to close to operating at the opposite "edge" with one another. You can test and test and see that each operates fine, but when connected, they eventually screw up. It's the hardest thing of all to find and realize what's wrong.
I call all the hours of my life lost at working on mine and other folk's computers, the "keyboard-time-vortex." It eats all comers alive. You come to your senses and wonder how you could have possibly spent six hours sitting in one spot and lost your day.
I have no techy expert skills at all so I can certainly relate to the '4 hours of my life.'
Glad you saved yourself a bundle.
cheers
I especially loved the bit aobut the dog hair on the install cd. That sounds like my life.
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