The NEXT contest...

[crenn]

I can't enter this, since it was my mother who repaired the problem, but this should give someone a smile.

I was 11 or 12 (I can't remember the exact age) at the time of the incident. At that present stage I thought I knew EVERYTHING about computers (Pfft) and I had my own computer (although I hadn't built it) running for a long time with no problem. Then one day I had a problem with my monitor, it wasn't turning on. So me beginning the 'computer know-it-all', I decided to fix it without anyone's help. I did my usual thing of checking the monitor cables for power etc, that didn't help. I tried the usual thing of whacking the monitor (yes, I used to think that would help with fixing a computer). And then after about 10 minutes of checking things and whacking my computer and monitor, I noticed a little red switch at the back of my computer saying 230v. I thought I haven't tried that so I flicked it so it now said 120v. I think you can imagine the blue light that came out of the back of the computer... and now the computer wouldn't turn on as well, plus there was a smokey smell coming from the back. After a couple of hours... I finally told my father who got very angry to say the least. After my mother investigated the powerboard from the powersupply, she saw the fuse had blown and said she could fix it. 3 months later (to teach me a lesson I suspect), she solders in a quick fuse changer and puts in a new fuse, and also finds out that the problem with the monitor was the cable was fault... and also the VGA cable. We replaced the entire monitor only a month later when the VGA cable broke apart.

Moral of the story, the switch on the PSU can make a computer go BOOM!

[TheGreatSatan]

Moral of the story. Don't let your kid fix their PC.

[Airbozo]

??? I think i missed something.

-Dave

It was in response the the "obscure" reference to 42...

[xRyokenx]

Moral of the story. Don't let your kid fix their PC.

I learned that the hard way... luckily, it was something simple and retarded, as usual, and my dad fixed it quite easily, and I learned something from the experience, unlike a lot of people I know.

[DaveW]

It was in response the the "obscure" reference to 42...

Man, this is too obscure for me. Ok, this is a Hitchhikers Guide thing, right?

SEP, Sombody Else's Problem? I'm totally lost now.

-Dave

[xmastree]

SEP, Sombody Else's Problem? I'm totally lost now.

Haven't you read the books? There's a thing called an SEP field, which makes things invisible. Things like a flying bistro.

And, it is somebody else's problem, that's why you can't see it.

[TheGreatSatan]

******************2 Days left********************

[nil8]

I've been repairing computers for years and have a few interesting stories, but none are restoring or fixing pcs. Almost all of the PC work I've done is boring. Bad mobo batch, users getting mad and kicking computers, replacing fans, replacing hard drives, etc.

The only neat stories I have deal with things outside the box, like monitors or faxes or printers.

[Zephik]

When I was 14 or 15 years old, I had this old CRT monitor that my dad didn't want anymore, so he gave it to me for my *first* computer. For some reason, it didn't work, so one day I got bored and took it apart. As I was taking it apart, something snapped on the inside and I thought I heard gas leaking. My first thought was, OMGOSH! POISON GAS! Then I thought, oh... my... god... the furnace is on. I ran out of my house screaming at my younger brother to get out too because the house might catch on fire and/or blow up.

What? I wasn't the brightest kid when I was younger. ...actually, I'm still not. lol

*hehe, thanks Minty for booting up that "old" memory! :p

[TheGreatSatan]

It's the last day!