Matt Serrano
E.M.I.
What's the biggest scare you've had working with computers, and screwing something up?
Computer scares?
- Thread starter Matt Serrano
- Start date
Matt Serrano
E.M.I.
That's it.
madmat
Soup Nazi
Made a 12V-0V-7V switch for my fans that would kill the PC if I tried to go from 0V on a fan to 7V with the fan stopped. It wasn't the switch's fault, it was the short circuit protection for the PSU. Other PSU's it worked fine with. If you started the fan going with 12V then switched to 7V it had no problems and never skipped a beat.
I also got some AS5 on my i875P chipset on my Chaintech and the mobo would not post. Cleaned it up and it was fine.
I also got some AS5 on my i875P chipset on my Chaintech and the mobo would not post. Cleaned it up and it was fine.
Hmm, I don't think I've had many scares. Usually when I thought something went wrong, it did.
madstork91
The One, The Only...
The time I spoarked an old tv interface computer scares teh #$%& outta me. (i had it opening and was plaing wit things. I was ~11
The first time I heard this old graphics card's fan start whinning really bad, that was scarry. I remember thinking "omg the first graphics card I ever put in and I did it wrong. Now the warranty is void and im S.O. fooking. L." it was like 3 years old though.
When ever im working on something for someone and something supperficial snaps off... ex. A usb cover that is poorly designed and is barely on anyhow and all of a sudden my hand brushes by it and knocks the crap out of it.
Printers scare me to death.
Lastly... when i built my first rig from the ground up, the fact that my power supply had the 8 pin plug that could split into 4 but I didnt know wtf i was doing... Yeah I thought I really screwed up there. Scared me half to death. "I just spent all of this money on parts from new egg and now thanks to my own ignorance Im going to have to ship something back... Dammit."
That about covers it.
The first time I heard this old graphics card's fan start whinning really bad, that was scarry. I remember thinking "omg the first graphics card I ever put in and I did it wrong. Now the warranty is void and im S.O. fooking. L." it was like 3 years old though.
When ever im working on something for someone and something supperficial snaps off... ex. A usb cover that is poorly designed and is barely on anyhow and all of a sudden my hand brushes by it and knocks the crap out of it.
Printers scare me to death.
Lastly... when i built my first rig from the ground up, the fact that my power supply had the 8 pin plug that could split into 4 but I didnt know wtf i was doing... Yeah I thought I really screwed up there. Scared me half to death. "I just spent all of this money on parts from new egg and now thanks to my own ignorance Im going to have to ship something back... Dammit."
That about covers it.
leecho7
Partition Master
My first time fooling around with a DFI board. It was scary and overwhelming at first, but I eventually figured it out with help.
It was my first, and probably my last DFI board for a while. Why? Because shortly after, power surge wiped out my system and I'm too poor to buy myself a new one.
It was my first, and probably my last DFI board for a while. Why? Because shortly after, power surge wiped out my system and I'm too poor to buy myself a new one.
Get a UPS, Leecho. A power surge, spike, sag or dirty power is 15 times more likely to cause your PC to fail than a virus (assuming you have virus protection).
Let me think... Scary moments... hmm... IAh, yes. I recently altered a routing configuration at work and killed access to an entire subnet. That was scary. Had to leave my console and go to the server room to fix it.
Let me think... Scary moments... hmm... IAh, yes. I recently altered a routing configuration at work and killed access to an entire subnet. That was scary. Had to leave my console and go to the server room to fix it.
Enigmachine
Obliviot
I have my HTPC, home theater system and TV all plugged into the same UPS. Now whenever I turn the home theater system on, the UPS beeps, complaining about a power slump or something! So... I'm thinking the power spikes probably would have killed the HTPC by now if not for the UPS.
UPSes are your friends. Surge protectors are better than nothing... but not much.
UPSes are your friends. Surge protectors are better than nothing... but not much.
moon111
Coastermaker
After allot of saving, I had just bought a new SLI Asus P5ND2 motherboard, P4, new memory, etc. I was writing reviews at the time and recieved a really nice looking PSU. Black chrome finish, modular cables, etc. The first worry was when taking it out of the box, a screw fell out. I checked where it came from and it didn't look like it shouldn't affect anything. Then I hooked it up... and WHAM. Major system crash during BIOS load. Thankfully moving a jumper over got things right. Although the unit didn't come through normal channels, I wasn't impressed. They were kind enough to send another unit which to this day is working flawlessly. 14cm fan on it.
I also was lucky enough to get a prototype socket LGA775 heatsink, and it literately warped my MB about 3/8th of an inch. And of course there's the over-overclock that crashed the system a few times. One thing I must say, that ASUS motherboard has handled some pretty rough abuse.
I also was lucky enough to get a prototype socket LGA775 heatsink, and it literately warped my MB about 3/8th of an inch. And of course there's the over-overclock that crashed the system a few times. One thing I must say, that ASUS motherboard has handled some pretty rough abuse.
Surge protectors are crap. They don't condition the power. All high end equipment (which in my house is the TV, the surround sound, the TiVo, my computers, everything except my blender) should have a UPS. The batteries ensure that your PC won't lose power in an outage (or you'll have enough time to shut down, at least) and the unit will provide power that looks less like the wave form of Linkin Park and more like a normal sine wave. Power conditioning is extremely important.
I had another scare the other day...I found a bad hard drive in a raid0+1 unit a couple weeks ago so I replaced it. Now, I had the other drive go bad. Problem: The drive never finished rebuilding.
Yeah, that was a fresh install of the OS.
he drive never finished rebuilding.
Ouch, that sucks. It's kind of the reason I don't want to screw with a RAID setup. I've screwed up a drive before.. I know I'll do it again.
Tech-Daddy
Tech Monkey
I blindly reached into a PC that I was trying to repair "within a desk" (owners did not want to pay for my time removing it from within the desk, so they demanded that I try to fix it there,
I had the top off, power off, and unplugged, but (and this is my guess) the powered speakers were backfeeding power to the sound card... becauser I brushed against something... and my hand erupted!
I exploded out from under that desk, knocked a desk drawer out about 4 feet from the desk... cussed a bit....
damn that hurt!
Machine was undamaged and I was able to release it and have it completely repaird... but that scared the crap outta me!
-=TD
I had the top off, power off, and unplugged, but (and this is my guess) the powered speakers were backfeeding power to the sound card... becauser I brushed against something... and my hand erupted!
I exploded out from under that desk, knocked a desk drawer out about 4 feet from the desk... cussed a bit....
damn that hurt!
Machine was undamaged and I was able to release it and have it completely repaird... but that scared the crap outta me!
-=TD
moon111
Coastermaker
Before I even go into a system, I unplug the power and then hold in the power button in for 20-30 seconds. Unplugged, the fans will sometimes start spinning. I'm not an electronic expert, but there's capacitors? that hold a charge. I have one unit from Evercool that keeps my fans spinning for awhile after the computer is shut-down. I'm sure it's the same principle.
I also believe the 3.3 volt going to the MB provides constant power?
I've talked to people over the phone who've tried multiple restarts without success, and this has solved the problem. This has also fixed my satelite dish when it goes out occasional. When I called it's tech-support, they made me do it again.
I also do these steps before I go inside a case... to avoid getting zapped.
I also believe the 3.3 volt going to the MB provides constant power?
I've talked to people over the phone who've tried multiple restarts without success, and this has solved the problem. This has also fixed my satelite dish when it goes out occasional. When I called it's tech-support, they made me do it again.
I also do these steps before I go inside a case... to avoid getting zapped.
Tech-Daddy
Tech Monkey
Oh... I know that.... NOW!!!
Hehehehe... but I learned it very "quick like" ... back then...
1st and last time I ever worked for those people.
Hehehehe... but I learned it very "quick like" ... back then...
1st and last time I ever worked for those people.
JacKz5o
Obliviot
The capacitors on my motherboard holds enough charge to keep an LED lit on the motherboard for over a 45 seconds after I disconnect the power and turn off the switch on the PSU lol.