# Bad Computer Experiences



## Silver R. Wolfe (Jul 26, 2006)

Just what the topic describes...  Post about your bad computer experiences, either hardware, software, or tech support related.

[size=small]{Made because Zippo doesn't want us to bitch in his thread. }[/size]


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## Damaratus (Jul 26, 2006)

Guess I have two for this thing.  First being my HD that died.  The first one I had, some crappy 20.5GB Hitachi HD.  It just kind of up and died, no warning, just everything I was doing froze, and when I tried to reboot I found that I couldn't even get to the OS startup.  It was dead in the water, and when I did finally get some of the data off, I found most of the stuff had become horribly corrupted. 

Second one is my computer now, good machine and all, needs a new video card (I still have my old Geforce3), but for some reason there are driver conflicts that happen.  Not all the time either, just every once in a while, at boot up there's a conflict, a BSOD that flashes for about 2 seconds, and then my computer resets itself, and will keep doing it until I open it up in safe mode and start it back up from an earlier point.  I mostly blame my web camera, I swear that's the main culprit in this case.


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## robomilk (Jul 26, 2006)

I won't go into detail, mainly because I can't be bothered. But I've had numerous. The first, after serving just under a year, decided to short circuit it's motherboard. This was then followed by another which did the same on the very day I got it. A month later I got another computer. This managed to run for a week before crapping out.

That was months ago.


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## blackdragoon (Jul 26, 2006)

well i don't know about actual problems aside from it having only 10.8 gigs of memory left on th hd. [out of 19] it is seven years out of date. the only good thing is that it runs at 868mhz. but i don't have a graphics card or a sound card. [motherboard basic system sound and graphics controller + video codecs] outdated and it crashes alot cuz of it. my bills keep stopping me from replacing it. so i'm stuck with it for now. *cry* i can't even run my fav. games on it like second life. i got the necessary card for it but it was too big to fit. so yah this thing has problems alright. *crys himself to sleep at night*


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## xsv (Jul 26, 2006)

Just another "dead HD" reply, but a slightly higher yield one.

I was working for a small company which used some severely outdated hardware, (HVD SCSI Array) and the client forgot to terminate the drives after I finished putting the array back together.

The drives were all ruined, and I got blamed. :/


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## Silver R. Wolfe (Jul 26, 2006)

I've had one HDD problem, but that in itself.  It's Seagate's ridiculously meticulate return policy.

Does anyone know if it matters that I send the drive in 2" foam or not?  Will they really throw a huge fit if it's in bubble wrap?


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## VictusDraconis (Jul 26, 2006)

once on an old comp i had, the fan went out, and no one noticed... yeah... smoke alarm went off ^^


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## Damaratus (Jul 26, 2006)

silverwolfe said:
			
		

> I've had one HDD problem, but that in itself.  It's Seagate's ridiculously meticulate return policy.
> 
> Does anyone know if it matters that I send the drive in 2" foam or not?  Will they really throw a huge fit if it's in bubble wrap?



That's why I really try and buy from companies that I know have really good return policies.  For instance, my RAM is from Mushkin, and they have one of the best return policies ever.  You need to exchange or return something to them they'll send you all the packaging stuff as well as someone who comes to your door to pick up the old RAM and give you the new one.


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## Emerson (Jul 26, 2006)

The worst experience for me was when I bought my last laptop. I'd had a Compaq Presario for years and it was great, but after about four years the hinge cracked. I actually kept it superglued together for several months before it finally snapped all the way and the screen fell off.

So, off to Best Buy to get a new machine.

I have to admit that I was a little strapped for cash, so when the sales dude pushed an eMachine laptop that was slightly cheaper than the Compaq I wanted (and was out of stock), I listened. Stupid me, I bought it.

It ran fine and actually was pretty sharp looking, but after a month I found a hairline fracture on the right hinge. I was pretty annoyed, considering that a hinge break was what started this whole mess. I brought it back to Best Buy and they swaped it for a new one (same exact machine).

One month later...the hinge on the new machine cracks in the same exact spot as the last one.

So I brought it back, and that time the sales person told me, kind of under his breath, that they'd had enough of the eMachine being returned for that very reason that they'd dropped the product line at that store. So he swapped it out for a Compaq Presario that was actually a little bit better.

I've had that machine for two years now and I've had no problems.


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## xsv (Jul 26, 2006)

Emerson said:
			
		

> The worst experience for me was when I bought my last laptop. I'd had a Compaq Presario for years and it was great, but after about four years the hinge cracked. I actually kept it superglued together for several months before it finally snapped all the way and the screen fell off.
> 
> So, off to Best Buy to get a new machine.
> 
> ...



How do the newer Compaq laptops preform? I haven't owned a compaq laptop since the 120Mhz LTE series


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## Silver R. Wolfe (Jul 26, 2006)

Damaratus said:
			
		

> silverwolfe said:
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Seagate has a long ass warranty, but the instructions they give you are insane.

I will send it in though!  I needs it!


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## Emerson (Jul 26, 2006)

*RE:   Bad Computer Experiences*



			
				xsv said:
			
		

> How do the newer Compaq laptops preform? I haven't owned a compaq laptop since the 120Mhz LTE series



I think they're good for an off-the-shelf machine. I mean, I'm not a computer geek so I'm not going to sit there building a supercomputer and upgrading it, so as long as it runs smooth I'm happy.

Both Compaqs have, so far, run everything I ask them to with little-to-no crashes.


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## RTDragon (Jul 26, 2006)

Bad Experiemce for me  2 years ago. my hardrive crashed and it was a E-machines PC. took several days to get a new hardrive. 2 weeks later computer crashed again this time something malfuctioned and the computer was no good.

Now i got a 2006 E-machines PC so far no problems but a few weeks later my CD Drive starts actiong up and today bood can no longer read CD's unless i click on my computer and click the CD drive.


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## TORA (Jul 26, 2006)

Screwed up my work computer badly! I downloaded a suspicious file (won't name it here, as it involves some codes), scanned it, said it was okay, but then lots of EXEs started popping up on the C: root file. Not good. Techinician told me I had like 17 viruses on it. They formatted the drive clean and reinstalled everything. Ouch. Makes me want to use a Mac (albeit a freezing one)...


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## whitedingo (Jul 26, 2006)

Not so much a bad experience I have just lately gotten a new comp I tricked it out with 2 gigs mem ,new graphics card and other stuff a few days ago I come in for lunch to see smoke comming from it I switch the power off and take it apart to find a dirty big roach being cooked in the power source,lucky no damage done


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## Jenico_Kenesai (Jul 26, 2006)

My other mother board fried to a crisp after a power outage. D: it had some real nice specs and such, well... alot better than the one I have now. XD


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## mercury-chan (Jul 27, 2006)

One time I blanked out my ENTIRE hardrive...I was trying to clean up, and I deleted some nessacery system files...lost EVERYTHING. v_V So now, in contsant fear that it will happen again (Im paranoid about that) I save everything I create (art, word documents, ect) to an online storage place (Photobucket, XDrive, ect ect) And I save everything constantly. When Im in GIMP, every few brush strokes I save xD Its like...that disorder where you HAVE TO do somthing or you just can't make it through the day...>_>;;;; Anyways, thats my sad story. In the end, my mom had to call the manfacturer and get them to walk her through restoring it...T_T


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## RailRide (Jul 27, 2006)

*RE:  Bad Computer Experiences*



			
				Jenico_Kenesai said:
			
		

> My other mother board fried to a crisp after a power outage. D: it had some real nice specs and such, well... alot better than the one I have now. XD



Had that happen to me too after the big Northeast blackout. What I knew at the time is that after such a large scale outage, full power cannot be restored all at once--the voltage first comes on at an artificially low level, (it's a limitation in the power grid) then is ramped up from there. When we first got power back, you could see light bulbs and digital clocks burning dimly for a few hours (or a couple of days--I forget which), and the air conditioner would sputter and make odd noises)

What _didn't_ know was that during such brownouts, a computer power supply can go overboard on its amperage draw in an effort to make up for the voltage loss, and cook itself and the motherboard. So now I have standing orders--in the event of another power outage, the surge supressors serving any computer are turned off, and not turned back on till full voltage is restored. 

You can find other computing stories on my website, linked to from the VCL gallery in the WWW button below.

---PCJ


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## Emerson (Jul 27, 2006)

*RE:   Bad Computer Experiences*



			
				RailRide said:
			
		

> So now I have standing orders--in the event of another power outage, the surge supressors serving any computer are turned off, and not turned back on till full voltage is restored. ---PCJ



Another option is to invest in a backup power supply. Aside from providing surge protection it'll keep your computer juiced long enough for you to save anything you're doing and shut down.


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## xsv (Jul 27, 2006)

Emerson said:
			
		

> RailRide said:
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Or you could do what I did, steal a 3500 watt UPS, and wire it to a bay of 8 truck batteries.

Keeps 3 PCs, 3 LCDs, Speakers, Laptop, router, switch, and modem all up for 28~ hours at medium load.


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## Emerson (Jul 28, 2006)

Yeah, I generally don't advocate theft.


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## Sprocket (Jul 29, 2006)

My computer once tried to kill me. Does that count?


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## Emerson (Jul 31, 2006)

*RE:  Bad Computer Experiences*



			
				Sprocket said:
			
		

> My computer once tried to kill me. Does that count?



I don't think so, 'cause all computers try to do that at one point or another.


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## spree (Jul 31, 2006)

I've had to reload my OS about 8 times. Physically destroyed a hard-drive. Blown up a video card, blew out a power supply. Got a new case/tower the old one didn't fit properly anymore.. although this new one already SUCKs because one of the fan's already went! POS! POS! I recommend no cases with stupid doors in the front. Mine already broke. Well it didn't break but it doesn't clamp shut anymore >_< 

Another thing that sucks is how expensive memory is. My computer is "LEGEND" yes from 2002-2003 area or so. It's only 1ghz fast and I use PC133 memory. Yet why is it so expensive to buy it! It is actually cheaper to buy a barebones kit then it is to buy 2 PC133 512 chips. I may even go for a refurbished computer because.. I see why not to upgrade my computer and.. for once able to use DirectX 9!!

Thats another thing.. DX8 only video cards with DX9 - bad idea. If it doesn't say it can't hand DX9 don't use it. My computer would randomly restart all because of this dumb thing. That's what caused maybe 2 of the 8 OS reloads.. THIS IS WHY IM MOVING TO LINUX


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## Sprocket (Aug 1, 2006)

That's quite impressive. Seriously, it needs no small amount of skill to get that unlucky.


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## Silver R. Wolfe (Aug 1, 2006)

spree said:
			
		

> I've had to reload my OS about 8 times. Physically destroyed a hard-drive. Blown up a video card, blew out a power supply. Got a new case/tower the old one didn't fit properly anymore.. although this new one already SUCKs because one of the fan's already went! POS! POS! I recommend no cases with stupid doors in the front. Mine already broke. Well it didn't break but it doesn't clamp shut anymore >_<
> 
> Another thing that sucks is how expensive memory is. My computer is "LEGEND" yes from 2002-2003 area or so. It's only 1ghz fast and I use PC133 memory. Yet why is it so expensive to buy it! It is actually cheaper to buy a barebones kit then it is to buy 2 PC133 512 chips. I may even go for a refurbished computer because.. I see why not to upgrade my computer and.. for once able to use DirectX 9!!
> 
> Thats another thing.. DX8 only video cards with DX9 - bad idea. If it doesn't say it can't hand DX9 don't use it. My computer would randomly restart all because of this dumb thing. That's what caused maybe 2 of the 8 OS reloads.. THIS IS WHY IM MOVING TO LINUX



Older ram is always more expensive.  The bastards. >.>

When that speed of ram goes out of date, then the DIMM is no longer mass-produced meaning a huge up in price.  The ram for my Powerbook 1400cs is about $40 for just 48mb.


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## spree (Aug 2, 2006)

I can add even ANOTHER experience.. right now. The game I want to play, Maplestory. After an issue with a memory dump ( all the memory got used up when I was playing the game and the blue screen of death showed up ) it seems when I even TRY to open the game it crashes-restarts the computer.. funky. What the hell.. I'm sick of the computer and its problems.. I'm really furious just to rip this thing apart clean off the Hard drives and get a whole new computer because this SH*T is really starting to get to me. 

Can you say .. HELLO Linux??!!! I got SuSe and I like it alot.. but it won't see my freaking Network card.. I need to get something more generic and then'll be on the ball and be a full time linux user boo-yah!


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## Aikon (Aug 2, 2006)

The first time I ever built a computer... wasn't a bad experience, but emberassing, and quite possibly the stupidest thing I've ever done (and if you believe that...)

I had everything installed, but strangely the computer wouldn't boot.  I had an Abit KD-7 Mobo that would power on but the computer wouldn't boot.  I would flip the switch to the PSU, and nothing...  did this for like 2 or 3 hours.  So finally, posted my problem to a newsgroup (on my Dell) and waited for a reply.  While I waited, I quit messin around with it, fearing I could make it worse.  

So someone got back to me, a day later, and suggested a few things like somehow defaulting the power to manually kick it on (I honestly don't remember).  Frustrated, I tried it all again.  Flipped the switch to the PSU... nothing.  The LED lit up on the mobo, but... ?

Thought I'd be mailing back a defective mobo... when something caught my eye.  On the front of the tower was a button.  I poked around a bit... this button had a name.  The manufacturer  called it a "power button".

Wouldn't you believe it?  The son of a gun worked.


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## spree (Aug 2, 2006)

that expierence reminds me of another thing I did.. I put my motherboard on the new case I got.. and I forgot to put the grounding brass placement screws.. So when I turned it on the FRIED the brandy-new DVD drive I got.. it was funny. I returned the DVD and got a new one.. american justice!


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## Silverdragon00 (Aug 2, 2006)

ive had 4 computers go out on me for stupid reasons when all of them were faily new. on my first one, the modem got fried during a thunderstorm, put a new one in it, and the internet still would not work and then later the whole computer quit. 

the next one quit all of a sudden and after sending it two two shops, no one could find anything wrong with it! 

the next one (wich happened about 5 years ago) I turned on the computer and the screen settings had changed so not all of the screen was visible and I could not get it to change despite calling tech support and having several people come to try to fix it. i

 cant remember what happened to the fourth computer now.


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## RTDragon (Aug 4, 2006)

I have a now similiar probelm since i got my comp back for being fixed. those geek squads at best buy. really screwed up my settings i could'nt even get my tablet to work. so i had to reformat everything to get it to work.

and now i still have this probelm with my CD door when i put a CD in it ejects by itself. despite nothing wrong with it but i keep hearing some strange noises comming from. it. but oh well there's a warrenty on it so it's going to crash reall sooner or later.

(takes me 3 times to keep it close even worse 8 times yesterday on a blank CD) and 5 times when there is no CD.


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## spree (Aug 4, 2006)

ejects it by itself? sounds like a trojan. Geek squad *shudders* You have virus software?

CD players can only read max at 32X therefore anything over that is rediculous. Heck I like getting 16X, because anything over that sounds like its gonna shred the CD to pieces when it revs up lol. Probabally the CD rom. The anything over 32X generally wares itself to death.. happened with my 56X. It killed itself.


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## RTDragon (Aug 4, 2006)

Nope not a trojan cause  i just reformated the comp a few days ago and i have the CD on 32x before but actually at first it was on 48X.

So i guess it's the CDrom cause i have Norton 2006 and scan this even on safe mode when it was acting up.

And damn geek squad did'nt find anything wrong with it despite that it ejected there by itself at bestbuy. they saw it as well as my parents.


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## Torin_Darkflight (Aug 4, 2006)

Here's my stories.

Bad Computer Experience #1: Back when we had our first real computer (A 486), I was still learning the basics behind using it (Before then, the only computer I'd ever used was an Apple II). I opened the C: drive only to find a jumble of various files with different extensions. You know, like .TXT, .DOC, .COM, .BAT, .SYS, you get the idea. Anyway, I thought it was a mess, so I figured I'd try to make the computer run better by sorting and moving the respective files into various folders, like "TXT Files", "DOC Files", "SYS Files", and so on. Needless to say, the computer failed to boot the next time it was turned on.

Bad Computer Experience #2: A couple years ago, I got myself an external USB hub because the computer I had then didn't have front USB ports. It was one of those cheapy USB hubs that had the ability to be powered externally, but the AC adapter wasn't included. Unfortunately, this meant my digital camera wouldn't work with the hub, because it required more power than the hub could provide in it's bus-powered state. Anyway, I found stashed in one of my boxes a cable left over from an old external harddrive enclosure I used to have, intended to provide power to the drive. On one end was a DC plug that I discovered fit the connector on the hub perfectly. On the other end was a PS/2 connector. Oh, I could have sworn I mentioned that the drive enclosure was powered from the mouse port. Anyway, I put two and two together, plugged it into my hub, then plugged it into the back of my computer. It froze...then I smelled something burning. Yep, I fried the motherboard. Stupidity is a computer's worst enemy.

Bad Computer Experiences #3-#7,218,964: I used to have a Compaq. 'Nuff said.


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## Kasarn (Aug 6, 2006)

A few days ago I was dusting my computer. When I went to put it back together, the clips which hold the heatsink in were being obtuse and when I thought I had finally got the thing on, it turns out that the heatsink was sitting at an angle.

Handily, the CPU just throttled itself so there was no damage (at least, not that I've seen); the computer just didn't work until I pulled the heatsink out and wrangled those stupid clips.


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## Silver R. Wolfe (Aug 6, 2006)

RTDragon said:
			
		

> Nope not a trojan cause  i just reformated the comp a few days ago and i have the CD on 32x before but actually at first it was on 48X.
> 
> So i guess it's the CDrom cause i have Norton 2006 and scan this even on safe mode when it was acting up.
> 
> And damn geek squad did'nt find anything wrong with it despite that it ejected there by itself at bestbuy. they saw it as well as my parents.



Just replace the drive, it's cheap enough.  You can get a DVD Burner for like $30 on newegg.


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## Zippo (Aug 7, 2006)

silverwolfe said:
			
		

> Just what the topic describes...  Post about your bad computer experiences, either hardware, software, or tech support related.
> 
> [size=small]{Made because Zippo doesn't want us to bitch in his thread. }[/size]



Well it was for machine specs, not bitching as you put it, but your the mod so whatever you say, and naming names specifically myself is really bad form, thanks for that...

As for bad experiences, software issues can always be resolved by a good old fashioned partition wipe and reinstall of it, the format and all the software, its mainly the hardware issues that sometimes do not tell you if they are not compatible or acting like they should/defective what have you. Most of the time what I get is from customer's neglect or abuse, as ive seen evidence of a good case kicking due to anger at the machine even when denied or massive dust buildup from being out here in the desert and heat, then the hardware has reached its operating limits, fails, and they certainly don’t like hearing the bad news. Half of the times the machine is so dated that the newer software/OS cannot keep up and becomes bogged and slow that a total system replacement is needed but the cash doesn’t want to be spent. Geek squad is useless, a good percentage of clients that have been tossed or disgruntled from their overpriced services have called me to clean up their mess.

Pains in the ass: cheap memory, fried ps/2 ports from plug swapping, failed hard drive motors, cd-rom ejection tray gear stripping, psu capacitor pop (nuff said), corrupt bios/virii damage, dead CMOS battery, children that think its a toy, and many other things I cant all list, but mainly mixing pc100, 133, and also different and sometimes the same ddr types/speeds, ya never know until ya stick them in there, is why I keep plenty in stock. :3

-Z


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