PC Ballistics
My folks called me up the other day and asked me to fix their computer.
It's an old machine, but they only use it for email and web browsing and Excel. Still it's been five years, so I wasn't surprised there was trouble with it.
First thing I noticed was that the power button was broken. I pulled apart the casing and found that the assembly inside the case was actually broken. Once I removed the actual switch from the broken assembly and pressed it the machine powered up, but there was no attempt to boot, boot up--no signal to the screen, let alone the startup BIOS display.
I was concerned that it something had melted inside the box--it's been really hot here lately--but I couldn't see anything, so I took it in to a shop to have them look at it: it's an old machine, but it still does everything my folks need. Why replace it if it can be fixed?
2 days later the tech rings me up. Turns out that when the assembly for the power button broken, the spring shot off and lodged itself on the motherboard. This caused a short and now the main board is fried.
I found it a lot funnier than the tech did.
-- JF
It's an old machine, but they only use it for email and web browsing and Excel. Still it's been five years, so I wasn't surprised there was trouble with it.
First thing I noticed was that the power button was broken. I pulled apart the casing and found that the assembly inside the case was actually broken. Once I removed the actual switch from the broken assembly and pressed it the machine powered up, but there was no attempt to boot, boot up--no signal to the screen, let alone the startup BIOS display.
I was concerned that it something had melted inside the box--it's been really hot here lately--but I couldn't see anything, so I took it in to a shop to have them look at it: it's an old machine, but it still does everything my folks need. Why replace it if it can be fixed?
2 days later the tech rings me up. Turns out that when the assembly for the power button broken, the spring shot off and lodged itself on the motherboard. This caused a short and now the main board is fried.
I found it a lot funnier than the tech did.
-- JF