Worst PC Build Screw Ups - Page 17

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The scariest thing i've ever done with a comp was the second computer i ever built from new parts. (Athlon 800 tbird, 512 pc 133, etc) I had assembled the computer, set it up, tweaked it, and generally had it running fine. The only thing was it seemed to be running hot. I looked through some forums and figured that maybe i had too much thermal paste on it. without thinking, I took the heatsink off while the computer was still running. In about 3 seconds the onboard speaker started screaming at me and i realized the computer was still running. It probably ran for about 10 seconds without a heatsink before i could get the thing unplugged. I am still amazed that the system worked with no problems after I remounted the HSF.

I did fry my Radeon 8500LE when I was mounting a large aluminum cpu heatsink onto it. I was figuring out how it would fit best, when i accidentally scraped the pcb with the corner of the heatsink. That was the end of that card. I ran an old TNT Vanta LT for several months before i could afford another card.

I also fried a complete system (not my own ) via static electricity (everything was fried, cpu, vidcard, etc) when i was assembling the comp on carpet. That was within a 2 weeks of when i almost fried the Athlon 800 above.

I've also seen smoke come out of several cheap power supplies.

Today's meditation is now in session. Your mantra is "ESD is bad."

Kinda done something stupid yesterday...Honest didn't mean to and was an accident. Was looking at a projector (a very heavy, expensive projector) and for some reason it had a metal connector attached to the mainboard (it went - screw thing, connector then screw) unfortunately I kinda put the metal connector on the mainboard...Oops! One very large bang and fire later and I kinda thought I broke it...And I did. Need to order new mainboard

Don't really know, it's not working at the minute, once a new board is installed, then I can find out...Don;t have another projector to test on, so can't say...Have had a look and it seems ok-ish...But don't know, never looked at a projector before and was in a rush to go home, so messed up...Manager was not happy!

Nope, work for the government in UK, so they just say they never recieved it and then fill out a new form...You'll be surprised how dodgy the gov are in Uk...I work for the ed for schools, colleges and uni's, repair, build and maintain network and hardware for them...You'll be surprised what comes throught our doors.

He did say a few words which our network won't allow me to submit this post...Needless to say they ryhmes with you ducking piece of slit, you aren't fit to wipe the drap off of my shoe you waste of ducking time...duck off you planker...I did have to laugh...We then had a shouting match, end of story.

My sentiments also.

It be a Toshiba TDP-ET20U...Nice looking bit of kit...Lots of bits...Sorry about the lack of intelligence on the last post, lets me begin again. He managed to electrify himself when he touched the mobo (not the CPU) on a college PC while it was still on, he's managed to destroy the mobo, RAM and CPU...Nearly all of it, he's a bit shaken by it...My god was it funny! So ordered new bits!

Yeah, generally I don't usually make mistakes like that, but I've never look at a projector before...Common sense would indicate that metal on metal in sometimes a bad idea, so won't repeat the same mistake again...Ordered a new board...All quiet on the open front.

Seriously. You get some people who should not be allowed within the same room as a computer. I work (at the moment) in a PC shop so have the misfortune of meeting more than my fair share of these idiots.

That doesn't belong here. Leave that kind of stuff for the other. You know the rules.

I wouldn't come up with that anywhere near certain denizens of the Other. The resulting contest might make the forumz implode...

these arnt my personal blunders but oh well
a couple of years back i used to work in a computer shop...right outside an estate

iv had lots of stupid people who have done incredibly stupid things but i think these are the best

so i was working at the shop one day when a very middle-class man (you all know the type ) walks in. he says his computer is rebooting everytime he boots into windows
so i pluged it in and i noticed his computer was very quiet
it didnt work just as he said
so i went into the bias and had a quick look at the hardware monitor...the bias reported a temp of 180c rising quick 8O

so i very quicky unplugged it and had a look inside i was quite shocked to see a heatsink with no fan on it or in fact any fans, not even in the psu

i found out afterwards what had actually happed and it turns out that he had a friend build him a high end overclocked gaming rig
and he said that it was too too noisy so he removed all the fans and that he couldnt see why he needed the fans anyway

luckily (for him, not me ) no componants were damaged


another day i had a womon walk in saying her computer couldnt read cds nor could it send checks
i was a bit confused aas to what she meant by this but i soon found out that she had tried to jam a check into the cd rom drive when bying something off the internet !!!

An acquaintance of mine once reported OCing a tualatin and then pulling off the heatsink as a stress-test thing. Apparently it ran stable at about 150~190 degrees C for over a week without dying, if my memory isn't off. I haven't seen this one for myself though...

Could've done worse man.

This one has to be an urban legend, or at least a rural myth.

A client calls with 'My coffee tray is broken.'
After about 10 minutes of back-and-forth across the phone, the client brings the PC into the shop. Take a whild guess what the 'coffee tray' was...

CD-ROM...

I once had my sister set the mouse click speed so fast that you couldn't click it fast enough to launch a program, fortunately I still know how to navigate with the keyboard.

O.o

This is all government stuff you say?

I have visions of the UK power grid going down because of you. That would be a screw up to end all screw ups though.

Forum title maybe?

All you need to do to bring down the UK power grid for a day or so, followed by erratic service for a few months, is to get them to contract Eskom (the south african electrical provider) to do some 'routine maintenance'.

Said 'routine maintenance' has caused millions' worth of losses and damages all over SA, is still causing kak, started in feb/march and, apparently, is still going on.

Just find a substation and toss a grenade over the fence.

Once a bought a Quad-FX - worst fucking mistake I ever made.
Sorry that was someone else.
- I'd like to thank Electronic Arts, for promoting a a game engine so bad people think they need Quad-FX to run games.

It needed so much power just to boot over:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/05112006/ [...] lgium.html

Seriously that wasn't far enough, that was just everyday thoughts I think about, the really good stuff I can't post anywhere....Ever.

HHHMMM...Would be good to skin someone alive...Possibly who has pyhsical issues...And they work in a substation...Or maybe a power station!

If you were gonna do that then I'd just straight out torture to near death...Typically you have to have thumb screws, you just have to. Maybe a hammer and ice pick, with some more toys to play with...Or plain old mental t*rture...Or get the prisoners to k!ll each other and then make them eat the v*ctims...That have been laced with lead.

It would be quite qeird to watch a man ra*iing a mand that's getting ra*ed himself...Woul be really funny and quite twisted!