By The Way...

Thursday, February 22, 2007
5:21:00 PM EST
Hearing Code Monkey -- Jonathan Coulton


So, if being gut-heaving sick today wasn't bad enough (Day 3 of Stomach Flu '07: the Hurlination), my PC decides to have driver issues today, which meant I spent a lot of my afternoon dealing that and not doing too much of anything else. As annoying as that was, however, it's not the worst computer implosion I've ever had -- by far. Which brings us this week's Weekend Assignment:

Weekend Assignment #153: Share a story of true computer horror. Your computer blow up just before a big presentation? You forget to take down a compromising picture before the in-laws come over? Ever thought you were IMing with one person but in fact were IMing someone else? Share! You'll feel better. Really.

Extra Credit: So, ever actually hit your computer in frustration?

My biggest computer blowups tend to happen right after I've installed some new piece of hardware, and the biggest of these occurred back in 2002, when I foolishly tried to put a new video card into my then-computer. The video card, it should be noted, was perfectly fine, but the computer's motherboard (i.e., the piece of the computer that has the computer's brain on it) was apparently offended that I had not consulted it about the change and promptly shorted itself out. Zap, the computer died.

Problem: I had a client project on my computer that was due the next day and no way to get to it. Another problem: Huge snowstorm. Yet another problem: where I live is pretty much the middle of nowhere, so there was no place nearby that I could buy a decent computer. Solution: driving an hour in the blinding snow to a Best Buy on the other side of Dayton from me to buy a new computer, driving an hour back, taking my hard drive from my old computer, attaching it to the new computer, and praying to God that the hard drive had not been wiped out like the motherboard had been. It hadn't been; I was lucky. Oh so very lucky.

This is why, by the way, I have multiple computers now and have a "shared files" folder across my home network, into which I put all my current work -- so if something happens to one computer, I can just switch to another. It's possible that all my computers might go out at the same time, I suppose. But if that happens, I suspect I'll have more to worry about than just the computers going down.

Did I hit the computer when it died? Are you kidding? As it happened, I had a hammer on my desk for another purpose entirely; I put a dent in the top of the computer's case. I don't recommend this, incidentally.

You're up: Share a story of computer craziness. Write in up in your blog or journal, and then come back here and leave a link! That is, if your computer will let you.


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This entry has 21 comments: (Add your own)

• #21 Comment from nemokat05 
  1/27/08 3:08 PM | Permalink

  I used to live in Dayton, Ohio then I moved to Orlando, Florida on 9-9-07... I didn't like Ohio and wanted to see what the world had for me but then Ohio....
• #20 Comment from hewasolddog299 
  2/26/07 8:01 AM | Permalink

  How do I hate thee, computer? Let's see...
  
  http://dailysnooze.blogspot.com/2007/02/john-m_26.html
  
  wil
  
• #19 Comment from chasferris 
  2/25/07 2:41 PM | Permalink

  I didn't hit it...I outsmarted it.
  http://journals.aol.com/chasferris/DribblebyChuckFerris/entries/2007/02/25/wekend-assignment-153---computer-bugs/1732
• #18 Comment from tinmnhrt 
  2/24/07 10:46 PM | Permalink

  Michahurb...
    Saw your post, had a similar problem recently...probably not the power supply per se, try simply opening the tower and blowing all the dust out. I might be just over-heating from clogs.
  
• #17 Comment from michahurlb 
  2/24/07 10:37 PM | Permalink

  my comp randomly shuts off at diff times 2 min or 8 hr after i put it on
  it messed with my programs too i think its eather the power supply or the mother bord

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