thesidekickcat Posted October 30, 2004 Report Share Posted October 30, 2004 You broke it, you fix itWhat do you all think of this? As a real klutz at anything mechanical I don't particularly want to fix things. My hubby is the mechanical one of the family, though I use the computer 95% of the time. I think they would have to make things alot easier to get to, and have the parts be easier to remove and replace, and to see how to fit them in place, for me to feel confident that I could do it. But then I bet most of the geeks on the boards feel it is a piece of cake. God bless everyone. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shadow_Thomas Posted October 30, 2004 Report Share Posted October 30, 2004 You know thesidekickcat before the end of September of this year I was affraid to touch my comp after 3 years. It's a long story and I won't bore anyone with the details. But no more. I am no longer affraid to fix my computer. I always took my comp to a computer repair shop for just about everything. The tech did me one of the biggest favors by not showing up on time. My Compaq was more or less rendered useless, so I figured I can't make anything worse. Man was I right. Not only that but I saved myself $500.00 doing it myself.It's easier then you think to put in new hardware, reinstall windows. I don't think of myself as a tech person. But I can hold my own for the most part. Plus we have this wonderful message board to come for help, and trust me I am still a noob and learning everyday. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
robroy Posted October 30, 2004 Report Share Posted October 30, 2004 Nice Built my own comp so have to fix it myself anywayJD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thesidekickcat Posted October 30, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2004 You know thesidekickcat before the end of September of this year I was affraid to touch my comp after 3 years. It's a long story and I won't bore anyone with the details. But no more. I am no longer affraid to fix my computer. I always took my comp to a computer repair shop for just about everything. The tech did me one of the biggest favors by not showing up on time. My Compaq was more or less rendered useless, so I figured I can't make anything worse. Man was I right. Not only that but I saved myself $500.00 doing it myself.It's easier then you think to put in new hardware, reinstall windows. I don't think of myself as a tech person. But I can hold my own for the most part. Plus we have this wonderful message board to come for help, and trust me I am still a noob and learning everyday. We have had our computer nearly 3 years too. Intel gave all their employees computers, and even though I had never wanted one before, I figured the Lord gave us one so I might as well learn it. Was scared to even turn it on at first. Had to relearn how to type after not doing it for over 35 years. (Typing programs on the computer are alot easier than the standup easel thing I used to teach myself the first time around.) So I have come along way from where I was, but still along ways to go, and with my usual kicking and screaming "no I don't want to do that" every step of the way with this thing. I think I wouldn't be so nervous about everything if I had a second computer as backup. Then if something happened I would still be able to get online to get help from the great people on the boards. I really panic when I can't make something work and I am not able to get online to look for info and help. A backup would solve that for sure. Unless they both give trouble at the same time. Maybe I ought to start in looking for a good inexpensive computer on one of the sales this coming Christmas season. But then I would have to figure out where in this crowded room to put another setup. Ugggh. (Maybe I should just find a new house with more room for all my stuff first.) The other thing is not wanting to spend money if we don't have to because of the job insecurity in this day and age.By the way I should have mentioned that I saw this topic and the link on the Leoville boards tonight. I forgot to give the proper credit for it.God bless everyone. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tenmm Posted October 30, 2004 Report Share Posted October 30, 2004 If I may add my small change to this.thesidekickcatDo you have a local PC repair shop near you??If you do talk to the owner and see if he/she/they have a older ATX system,working or not.As long as it has all the parts power supply,motherboard with a CPU,heatsink/fan.You know the parts,anyway buy it if you can,take it home,study it,take a part out and then put it back.Next time take out two parts,them put them back then three,get the feel of the parts and what they look like when in right and wrong.you should get to the motherboard soon.(BTW when seating a CPU heatsink/fan combo is best to do it out of the case.)Hands on is the best teacher you will ever touch. I hope you get my drifting ramble Quote Link to post Share on other sites
martymas Posted October 30, 2004 Report Share Posted October 30, 2004 you are not alone.being afraid of compts when i get my first one.i was dead scared of it a friend talked me into accepting it as i got it free.used to do volinteer work for a charitable org called the city mission .and that was my reward for my help.then i became involved with techtv.and i used to communicate with one of the presenters.and she talked me into keeping the compt and learn how to maintainit my self .so once i found the c.f.h. board there was no stopping me.and that is where i met all you good people.who im forever in debt for what ive learned.to a compt user the biggest loss was the defunct of techtv to some of us.and so boards like besttechie.g4.worldsatrt.ext became essential so we could sustain our comt so again i say you are not alone.even now after 4 years.i still get a bit apprehensive.but to maintain the balance i come here ar g4.and see there are people.not as user friendly as me and that brings me down to earth.so you [.a quote from winstone churchil ]keep on keeping on good luck marty Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JSKY Posted October 30, 2004 Report Share Posted October 30, 2004 I'm another home built user, after years of working on my old Compaq. I never had a choice. If you wanted to get it fixed, you had to send it back to Compaq. There wasn't a repair shop within 200 miles of where I live,(of course now there are a couple close by. Thats how I got into building my own). But I believe you'll be surprised just how easy it really is to do the work yourself. The only thing is, reformatting and reinstalling is a long, time consuming job. Not that it's hard, just takes time to do it. On an average of 3 to 4 hrs just to reformat, reinstall, and upgrade. And another hour or two to add all the goodies to get it back to the way one likes Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thesidekickcat Posted October 31, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2004 Wow!!! Thanks for all the great encouragement. You all are wonderful!!!tenmm, that is a good idea for me to learn by doing stuff on an older machine. Though I don't know what an ATX system is? I have been thinking of picking up a second hand computer at Goodwill or some other place to try this but sort of wondered if it was a dumb idea until now. Hadn't thought of a computer store for one. Would I need to have the original Windows disks to go with whatever I get? We have done a clean install, unexpectedly had to early on with this computer, as we tried to set up a user account then the administrator password locked us out of administrator for some reason. Anyhow the HP tech support talked us through clean install. I am reluctant to do another one though as it seemed so long and drawn out, strange and hard. Unfamiliarity etc makes it all seem more daunting. I know practice, practice. practice!!! That is why I would like to get a working second computer, preferably with the same Windows 2000 that we have now. And we have fought and won uninstalling and new installing newer versions of Norton antivirus and firewall, which is definitely not for the faint at heart! The Norton thing alone should bring up my qualifications a teensy bit! Ha!Seriously I do need to get off my scaridycat routine and start learning how to do more as our warranty will be up in Feb, and then whatever goes wrong is all up to us to solve.I am so thankful for all the teaching from the message board people and for Call For Help originally teaching me too. I would be lost without the boards to come to for information and just plain friendship. God bless you all.Now back to the link I gave in the first post.What do you think of this new way of marketing computers? Do you think that will work for the general nontech computer user? I wonder if it is just another way for manufacturers to get out of doing warranty service in the long run. And that may backfire on the companies. IF they do it as an either way plan then I think it would be good for everyone. But what if you get the new part and put it in and it doesn't work? Would they still honor the warranty or say you did it wrong so it is your problem? Also alot of product warranties are based on the customer not modifying or fixing or even opening something to look at it, so would they change their warranty language? I think these are all up for discussion as it seems from the link that both Apple and HP are going to be heading this fix it yourself direction. So others will follow I am sure. What do you all think? Thanks again everyone for your wonderful encouragement. I will let you know when I get brave and start praciticing with another computer. I had better get new glasses first, so I can see what I am doing with it though. God bless everyone. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tenmm Posted October 31, 2004 Report Share Posted October 31, 2004 thesidekickcatIf you wish to pickup a working system that would be fine.I would say one with ether 98se or ME(ya,ya hear me out first )the reason is because both of those os's are not hardware change fussy like XP is.And you can reinstall as much as you want/need(do that with XP )If you buy it non working afer you get good withe the hardware remove/install part if your up to it see if you can get it to work.(right now I am finishing up with a old 266 with a p2 and win95) Generally speaking a ATX style case will have the smaller Ps2 (1/4inch)connectors for the mouse and keyboard.AT will have a larger round port(1/2inch)for the keyboard and a serial port for the mouse(looks like a game controler port).tenmm Quote Link to post Share on other sites
robroy Posted November 1, 2004 Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 got to agree with tenmm about the os. definitely easier with 98. Never got ME to run so can't say about itWe are all here to help if you need itJD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mikex Posted November 1, 2004 Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 thesidekickcatA few pointers:Turn machine off.Make notes and or diagrams to what goes where.Use masking tape to labels for things your not certian of.Don't work on carpet.Maintain as much contact with metal of case as possible.Remember to have patience. It is also good to have a working machine with internet to return here for help.M Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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