The NEXT contest...

[TheGreatSatan]

Good stories guys. I am loving the length you guys are putting in to these. Already I can see a hard decision on who's the winner.

[gobygoby]

so here it goes...


So I was building a computer for my father for Christmas. I was already in the computer buildign spirit because I was currently in the middle of building a new rig for myself. So my office was already in disaster mode.....wires and tools everywhere, UPS man dropping by my door every day for weeks. and my testing station taking up the entire office desk...and everytime my wife walks in the room I get the evil stare of death. Ya you know what I am talking about, the one where she is thinking " Why did I marry this computer geek, with obsesive compulsive disorder, who broke the bank all for a new computer and totally trashed the office....I would have been happy with an eMachine."..........ya that look.

So anyway, I was hapilly modding along for a week when I was about finished. I had hid all the wires, did a few mods and made a really nice rig. The last component to install was the video card.

So I install the card, tie up any loose ends and power this baby up! Whoo-hoo. I finish installing windows and begin configuring everything. I get everything all setup and the files from the old computer transfered to the new one....

.....oh ya. might I mention this is all happening on Dec 24th and he is getting the comp. on Christmas day...in less then 24 hours...and its like 5pm.

so just as I was installing some stuff on the comp. the screen flashes yellow for a second. I was like what the helk? maybe my eyes were playing tricks....so I continued.

abotu five minutes later it flickers yellow a few times in a row. Now I am starting to get mad. glaring at the darn XFX video card. after a few seconds the screen goes back to normal....so again, WTF?

and then, the screen just gets a yellow hue all over everything! and doenst go away. I am about to drive over to XFX and put the video card where the sun dont shine.

So I go through all the troubleshooting steps....re-install the drivers, re-install the card, un plug wires...plug them back in. Nothing! still yellow! and I am really mad thinking I have to drive 45 minutes to Frys, to get another video card. but before I leave, I get on newegg and RMA it.

So I get my coat on and grab my keys...and by now its like 7pm, and I still have to get ready to drive 4 hours the next day to meet my family for Christmas!!!

anyway, about ready to walk out the door, when I had another thought.....just for ****s and giggles, I think what if the monitor is bad? The monitor I had been using was Sony 17" CRT that was my everyday monitor for 6 years. Surely it wasnt the problem. So I go into the basement and grab another monitor.

so back up in the office. I decided to hook up the sony to my new rig....and low and behold, the screen is yellow as well....and I'll be damned if my ATI x1900 AIW is bad.

So at this point I know its the monitor. I hook up the new moniter and everything is fine. I cancelled the RMA, and thanked god for not having to waste another 2 hours on Christmas eve.

in conclusion, my father was so excited to get the new computer. His old computer was a Dell 733 mhz. tan box POS! He thought the new rig , which was a Pent. D in an Armor Jr. was so cool with the blue Leds and stuff. He said he had never gotten any thing like that was was really excited!

Happy ending!

[Luke122]

so just as I was installing some stuff on the comp. the screen flashes yellow for a second. I was like what the helk? maybe my eyes were playing tricks....so I continued.

abotu five minutes later it flickers yellow a few times in a row. Now I am starting to get mad. glaring at the darn XFX video card. after a few seconds the screen goes back to normal....so again, WTF?

so back up in the office. I decided to hook up the sony to my new rig....and low and behold, the screen is yellow as well....and I'll be damned if my ATI x1900 AIW is bad.

I have a 19" Dell LCD that's about a year old, and it does the same thing... totally random, just flickers yellow for a second, then it's fine.

Solution? Hit it. I have to hit this monitor a couple times a day.. and it's very satisfying.

[TheGreatSatan]

Great wiring job. That is really clean

[tybrenis]

I have a 19" Dell LCD that's about a year old, and it does the same thing... totally random, just flickers yellow for a second, then it's fine.

Solution? Hit it. I have to hit this monitor a couple times a day.. and it's very satisfying.

I used to have a monitor that did the same thing, an old Dell CRT. But it wasn't always just yellow... it varied on a day to day basis :p .

[TheGreatSatan]

That's 3 stories so far from:

gobygoby
dgrmkrp
Lukifer122

[Ironcat]

I'm relatively new to the site so I don't know what all has and hasn't been done... forgive me if I rehash...

OBVIOUSLY this is your contest since you're giving stuff away...
and OBVIOUSLY since it is your contest, you can run it however you want...
and OBVIOUSLY this is a modding forum and therefore for comp people...
and OBVIOUSLY I would never tell you what to do...

but...

Some people (there's gotta be someone) are on their first computer so they have never HAD a computer problem.
Some people haven't the first foggiest idea about how to fix computers so they have never had a PC from hell story.
Some people are only 15 or 16 or 18 and aren't going to have had the life experiences yet to win a best thing ever or worst thing ever contest.
Some people can't sculpt or afford to kit bash so they can't build a DOOM 3.

Is there any way to have a contest where EVERYONE on the site has the same chance of winning?

Submit your favorite recipe for peanut butter pancakes.
Write a story about what you'd do to mod a PC if money were no object.
Write about how you'd mod it if money WAS an object and you only had 10 bucks and a roll of duct tape.
How many jellybeans are in the jar?

[TheGreatSatan]

I've done other contests here and on other sites and have given away the following:

2 Server towers (for 2 contests)
A mini ITX mobo
A projector
A few books on PC repair
A heatsink
and just recently I gave away a brand new case here on TBCS

I've given these prizes away to all types of members, not just the experienced. I make sure to include everyone. Someday you may even win one of my contests. It could be by telling a story, drawing a concept PC, or building an unusual mod. I am a community PC person and enjoy the opportunity to give back to a community that constantly gives me things. I am proud to be amongst such fine people!

There will be more contests as long as I live....

[moon111]

Reading the last comment about how this isn't fair to new computer users etc... I'll tell a story about my first computer.

This goes back to the days before Windows. I was a starving student, yet had just purchased an awesome system. 120mb harddrive!!! Anyways, I loaded up 'Wing Commander' and was calibrating my joystick when a static shock jumped from my hand to the monitor. I was left with a messed up image on the monitor, no sweat - reboot. No reboot. Same image. Get sick feeling in stomach. Fear. Panic. Get friend who's taking computer programming to look at it. He says it's fried. More Fear. More Panic. Get cousin who's completing an electrical engineering course to look too. He sticks his amp meter in there. He states it's fried too. Depression. Calculate that if I eat nothing but Macaronni and Cheese for a month, I can afford to bring it into a shop. Pay shop to tell me it's fried, but they can replace motherboard, CPU, and memory. Can't afford. More Depression.

Spring Break.

Looking at the computer sitting there, I get thinking about taking it apart. What can go wrong? It's useless junk now. Lets see what's inside. I open it apart and break it down piece by piece. I see an electronic 'millipede' with the word BIOS on it. I pry on it, it finally comes out, but I bend some legs and break one leg off it. The next day I decide to put it back together. I had labeled the power connectors so I knew which one went to the harddrive and which one went to the CD-rom drive. Not knowing what to do about the 'millipede', I use a staple and jam it in the motherboard so there should be an electrical connection back to the BIOS millipede thing. I fire it up.

Beer for 'expert' friends - $20. Shop labour -$45. Fixing your computer yourself - Priceless.

[tybrenis]

Reading the last comment about how this isn't fair to new computer users etc... I'll tell a story about my first computer.

This goes back to the days before Windows. I was a starving student, yet had just purchased an awesome system. 120mb harddrive!!! Anyways, I loaded up 'Wing Commander' and was calibrating my joystick when a static shock jumped from my hand to the monitor. I was left with a messed up image on the monitor, no sweat - reboot. No reboot. Same image. Get sick feeling in stomach. Fear. Panic. Get friend who's taking computer programming to look at it. He says it's fried. More Fear. More Panic. Get cousin who's completing an electrical engineering course to look too. He sticks his amp meter in there. He states it's fried too. Depression. Calculate that if I eat nothing but Macaronni and Cheese for a month, I can afford to bring it into a shop. Pay shop to tell me it's fried, but they can replace motherboard, CPU, and memory. Can't afford. More Depression.

Spring Break.

Looking at the computer sitting there, I get thinking about taking it apart. What can go wrong? It's useless junk now. Lets see what's inside. I open it apart and break it down piece by piece. I see an electronic 'millipede' with the word BIOS on it. I pry on it, it finally comes out, but I bend some legs and break one leg off it. The next day I decide to put it back together. I had labeled the power connectors so I knew which one went to the harddrive and which one went to the CD-rom drive. Not knowing what to do about the 'millipede', I use a staple and jam it in the motherboard so there should be an electrical connection back to the BIOS millipede thing. I fire it up.

Beer for 'expert' friends - $20. Shop labour -$45. Fixing your computer yourself - Priceless.

You just made my day. That is one of the best feelings in the world... when your at your wit's end, your angry, your frustrated, and confused, and suddenly, something just clicks and it works. +rep for a great story.