The Three Don'ts
Apr 18 '01
The Bottom Line If you are having someone else build your computer, make sure that they know what they are doing.
I'm serious. I know that you are probably laughing at me right now, wondering why on earth I'm choosing to put this here. Well, that's easy. I want to share my story on my home built computer. Three people- all of whom think that they have some sort of expertise in computer hardware- worked on my computer since Christmas of 1999. It is just now complete, with no bugs... yet.
My husband and I were married in November of 1999. For Christmas that year, my husband's uncle built us a computer. Which is fine, except that he has no idea what he's doing. After all, he'd only owned his first computer for less than a year! I guess that would be Don't number one. Don't let someone with less than one year computer experience, much less installing hardware, build your computer.
The computer worked right for about two weeks. Then it began locking up, losing files, all that fun stuff. I thought that we had a virus. But no matter how many time we ran a virus check program, and no matter how many times we updated that program for new viruses, the computer came up clean. But it was still locking up. After reformatting the hard drive, and reinstalling everything, the computer worked slightly better for another month or so.
Then it started acting up again, with the same problems as before. Freezing, losing files, error messages galore. We tried the whole reformating thing, only to find that now the computer had a mind of it's own, and would shut down whenever it felt like it. This is where my father comes into the picture. And now for Don't number two. Don't let a programmer who thinks he knows computers try to repair your tempermental home built computers.*
So we try a new cd rom drive- same thing. We try a new modem- same thing. Finally, my father and my husband decide to try a new motherboard. By now, it's Christmas time a year later, and this time we get a new motherboard from this uncle of my husband's. Because my father's and my husband's roles are so deeply intertwined in this saga, I'm going to explain Don't number three at the same time as number two. Don't let a computer idiot try to install hardware on his own. This one is very very important!
The motherboard was the problem, but in the process of getting that taken care of, the problems continued, only getting steadily worse. Now, when the computer shut down on it's own, it would not start up again. You could push that little button until the cows came home, and the computer would just sit there, looking pretty. My husband had installed the new motherboard, thinking that all he had to do was make sure that it was in securely. Wrong.
After months of wondering what's going on with the computer, my father and my husband sit down and decide to call someone they know for help. This guy builds computers for a living. He explained the in's and out's of installing motherboards and the importance of making sure that the power supply wasn't too small for the motherboard. BINGO! The only part of the computer that they did now think about was the problem. The power supply was too small, and short circuiting the motherboard.
Why did this happen? I just recently found out that the parts that were used originally were all second hand and used. I believe that things would have turned out differently, if newer hardware was used. I also believe that none of this would have happened if these three had followed my plan- go to Wal-mart, spend $800, and get a cheap, small computer. The quality would have been the same, and it would have been much, much cheaper on everyone involved.
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fallyn96
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Member: Tracey
Location: Illinois
Reviews written: 263
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About Me:
Insanity is hereditary. You get it from your kids.
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