Computer DIY people: hard-learned lessons?

[Benfea]

This seems like a fun an innocuous topic for the resident geeks of DU. I'm sure I'm not the only one here who builds his own computers just for the fun of it.

• Life's too short for cheap PSUs
  Cheap power supply units never seem to furnish as much power as they claim to, but the most important consideration is that this is the one part of your computer that can physically break other parts of your computer (particularly system RAM). The most maddening thing about bad PSUs is that the problems they produce usually look like other kinds of problems, so you can end up spending an awful lot of time chasing after misdiagnosed problems.
  
  
• Let RAM testing software run for a long time
  The cache can mask problems.

So what lessons have you learned the hard way?

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

1. Don't go cheap on the case.

Cheap case = overheating = replacing equipment way more often than you should.

[Benfea]

2. Huh. I haven't had a problem with that one.

Of course, modern cases have places for two to four case fans in addition to the PSU fan, so there's plenty of air movement to compensate for bad thermal design. My main beef with cheap cases is stuff bending to the point where drives or cards don't quite fit right, and poorly finished edges or thin pieces of metal slicing my fingers open (damn you, Apple!).

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

3. my experience with a cheap case...

is the fact that they make it with fans that A) don't work properly or die quickly and/or B) are "proprietary" and can't be replaced without severe jerry-rigging.

I had a case with 4 fans, and it still wound up overheating, because all 4 fans sucked.

[Benfea]

5. Truly cheap cases make you buy your own fans. :)

Which would explain why I haven't run into that particular problem. ;)

PS — I find 4 fans (not counting the PSU) to be excessive. Two seems to be good enough for me (believe me, my current case is really cheap) and anything above that is just wasted watts that would be better spent feeding a power-hungry video card or something.

[BlueJazz]

4. 1. If you build you own computers (or even add Ram) and you..

..get the "Blue screen of death" when installing XP, it will usually be the
Ram chip or the ATI vidio card.
XP is a lot more "Picky" about the quality of Ram than Windows 95/98/2000 and
XP doesn't "Like" certain ATI vidio cards.

ALSO...when installing XP, Install it Twice..first on the "C" partition and than,
on the "D" partition so you can Dual boot your machine.
Why?..because if you ever get one of those viruses or "Hijack files" that are a bitch to get out,
you can boot into the other XP and clean out the crap SO easy.
(When cleaning out some viruses you get that "Windows can not delete this file because it's in use"..Ect)
:)

[Benfea]

6. It's been a long, long time since I bothered partitioning a disk.

My current HD has more space than I'll ever use, but somewhere along the way I stopped partitioning disks out of pure laziness. ;)

[BlueJazz]

7. Yep..I know what you mean. You know...years ago, viruses were..

..fairly easy to get rid of as were the "Hijack Crap"
but lately, there have been some that are a real Pain in the ass to clean out.
The Dual booting makes it a snap...

[ET Awful]

9. If you use "Hijack This" and boot in safe mode, none of those things

will load and you can manually delete them without problems.

No need to waste all the space for an extra OS install.

[Benfea]

12. Eh. I do a full wipe and reinstall fairly regularly.

I haven't run into a virus problem as serious as you guys describe, but if I ever did, I would have no problem with just wiping the whole thing and reinstalling as I make reasonably regular data backups.

[ET Awful]

16. I never have virus problems on my PC, nor do I have spyware problems

I have encountered them on many other PC's though.

As to wiping and reinstalling, bah, I just have a Ghost image of my C: drive will all the basic configuration stuff. I recreate the image every few months, and should my drive croak, I can have it back up and running in under 1/2 an hour. I do need to burn all my photo files onto DVD's though . . . maybe I'll do that this weekend.

[BlueJazz]

20. What you say is true but some people who are my regular customers have...

..this "Thing" about constantly getting every known virus in the world and are
(also) constantly getting their IE or XP system files screwed up.
Also..What if you can't even boot the "C" drive? (as some of my "Expert Customers" (HA!) have done).
I'm not arguing with your post, just saying that sometimes you really need to get to the "C' drive when it's not on.. :)

Also..your customers probably have more sense than mine and the 3 gig partition (now-a days) is peanuts.
I often set the "Boot.ini" file for 3 seconds so it's not a temptation for them to mess with..

[Benfea]

25. Expert customers...

Arrrrrgh!

The most time-consuming of all users are the ones who know just enough to be dangerous. *shudder*

[BlueJazz]

31. I should clarify what I'm saying by "Customers"

Some of my customers are corporation users that don't have a regular IT person...
..Just some poor soul that is assigned to "Take care of the Computers"
They don't know shit but think they do because they once installed an update (Big Deal)
These folks have screwed up the "C" drive so badly that I don't want to format/save all their crap
and do a re-install..

[Benfea]

35. LOL, my dad got stuck with that...

…only he is well aware of his limitations, although I do wish he wouldn't call me every five minutes when a problem comes up ("Ohmygosh! A window thingy just popped up! Whaddadonow?"

[BlueJazz]

38. Boy..tell me about it. I've got some that call me every day with something

..like: "Real Player want's to update their realplayer...will this destroy my computer?"
I want to say: Of course..Realplayer makes tons of money from the
"Association of Teck Geeks" to destroy all your system files...Aggg!

[Benfea]

40. Actually, it's a GOOD thing to have users that paranoid.

I've always said "paranoia is the first rule of computer maintenance," and I have yet to come across anything that made me feel different.

[BlueJazz]

44. Well...the problem is they leave 25 messages on my answering machine..

..that I playback at night when I want to watch "American Idol"
instead of calling all of them back.

Hey!.. Priorities Man! :rofl:

[Benfea]

45. Consider the alternative.

;)

[sendero]

48. I hate to be disagreeable...

.... but no OS (XP. 98 whatever) is more or less tolerant of memory errors.

Memory (RAM) either works or it doesn't. Your CPU depends on it to reliably store whatever data is placed in it. It doesn't matter if you are running XP, 98 or Linux, the OS has no control over the timing of the bus signals that store and retrieve data from memory.

If your memory is flaky, your computer will be flaky - whether you are running DOS or Unix or Win 95 or XP.

[RoyGBiv]

49. Yup ...

I'm agreeable with your disagreeableness.

Motherboards sometimes have problems with cheaper memory modules because they're built to maximize performance, which is not usually possible with memory that's not high quality. Assuming the memory isn't just hosed, you can usually tweak the BIOS settings to make them work, but not optimally, pretty much destroying the purpose of using a high-end mobo.

[GirlinContempt]

8. Replacing the Motherboard is

worth the extra $ compared to adding a PCI USB expansion card. That was a fucking nightmare.

Oh, and, never listen to endusers. Always observe for yourself.

Interesting story:
I once had this job in a shop, doing warranty work for some bigger name computer companies, also upgrades, repairs etc. Sadly, they were understaffed, so sometimes they'd shove me out on the sales floor. One such time, I asked a gentleman if I could help him find something. He told me he was looking for a serial cable with two female ends. I showed him something like this:
http://cbit.ca/mb/pictureGetMedium.asp?ProdNo=SER-080-430

He said, "No, two FEMALE ends"
I: This cable does have two female ends.
He: No, it doesn't. Female ends have the pins.
I (trying not to giggle): I'm sorry, but male ends have the pins
He: You don't know what you're talking about. I work in IT and I KNOW that female have the pins.
I: Sir, do you have a hole or a pin?

So, he bought this: http://cbit.ca/mb/pictureGetLarge.asp?Cat=2&SubCat=39&ProdNo=SER%2D080%2D362

Apparently some guy came back in later that day to exchange a serial cable. :think:

[ET Awful]

10. Do you have a hole or a pin . . . . .

LMFAO :rofl: :spray:

[GirlinContempt]

13. It was one of the jewels in my retail crown

;)

[Benfea]

11. I hate that "I work in IT" line

The worst user I ever had to support had an associate's degree in computer science. >.<

[GirlinContempt]

14. People seem to think that if they

powercycle their modem at home they are a qualified IT pro.

[ET Awful]

15. Hell, I AM an IT Pro, and I never have to powercyle my modem

:P

[GirlinContempt]

17. You're lying

All IT qualifications are either:
a)Powercycling modems
b)Setting up routers that require NO setup (on cable, say, with a dlink that defaults to the correct settings, which it does most of the time)

[ET Awful]

18. You're right, you caught me,

I'm actually a greasepit cleaner for McDonalds.

:cry:

[GirlinContempt]

19. Unplug your modem

Wait a few seconds, plug it back in. Maybe restart your computer.
Trust me, you'll feel good.

[Benfea]

23. What kind of modem?

If you mean cable modem, then you should drive over to the cable company's offices and kiss each and every one of them on the lips if you've never had to power cycle your cable modem.

[GirlinContempt]

24. I had an old Terasomethingorother

and when I got a new modem, I checked how long it had been online for... well WELL over 150 days

[Benfea]

26. Is it a PPP modem or a cable modem? That's what I was asking.

[GirlinContempt]

27. that one was cable

I got DSL when I moved, just switched back to cable. Eff DSL.

[Benfea]

29. Kiss the people at your cable company then. :P -nt

[GirlinContempt]

32. The dude who stopped by to give me my modem

and open my lines WAS pretty freakin' cute :dilemma:

[Benfea]

21. Anyone who REALLY is an IT pro knows that....

…as a group we are the most likely to overlook the simple and stupid mistakes on our own computers. ;)

[GirlinContempt]

22. One time I was doing some work on a friends computer

old POS. I accidentally plugged the IDE cable back in upside down.
How long do you think it took me to 'get' that? :crazy:

[Benfea]

28. I've managed to avoid that one....

…but I have plugged in floppy drive cables upside down, and didn't notice my mistake until it came time to use them.

[GirlinContempt]

30. Well with newer stuff it's easier to avoid

Cause they have the extra peice so it can only go in one way, but the old ones didn't.

Though I'm sure I'll find a way to fuck it up

[Benfea]

33. We're both showing our age here. ;)

I don't remember if the unidirectional floppy cables started on Macs or PCs, but I do remember being extremely grateful for them.

[LSK]

39. on the flipside, I hate that because I work in IT, I must know everything

My friends assume Im an expert in every virus and piece of software ever written. They always ask me to support shit that I have never dealt with before. :grr:

[RoyGBiv]

50. I deal with that too...

It's quite annoying, especially when people get mad at me because I can't work miracles.

"No, I cannot tell you how to use Dreamweaver. I've never used it."

"But you built my computer! You're supposed to be able to make it work right!"

I usually end up telling them the problem is the PEBKAC virus, and there's no known cure.

[swag]

34. Discharge all personal static electricity, then ground your ass

before you reach into to the guts of a mission-critical server.

[Benfea]

36. Ouch!

[swag]

43. Yeah. No sleep in the server closet that night.

Fortunately that was 10 years ago, and I can chuckle at my own stupidity now.

[LSK]

37. jumpers SUCK!!!!

[Benfea]

41. Meh. Just get a pair of bent needlenose pliars and all is good. -nt

[billyskank]

42. Don't unplug the case connectors from the motherboard

without noting down which ones went where first.

I mean the power switch, reset switch, power & IDE lights, PC speaker, etc. x(

[Ladyhawk]

46. Never leave the computer plugged in if you just took the heat sink

and fan off the CPU.

:D

I think "WAKE ON MODEM" must have been enabled or something because the computer turned itself on and the CPU burned up. For awhile I thought about turning it into "my first heat-related computer fuck-up" keychain, but I think I finally tossed it.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

47. Three words.

1. Backup
2. BACKUP
3. BACKUP

My sister's laptop hard drive died suddenly and without warning, and the only backup I have to restore her files from is four and a half years old.

I do data recovery on a regular basis, so I know what I'm doing, but her drive is DEAD. I can't get ANYTHING off it.

One accidental bright spot: before her laptop was her desktop computer. When she got the laptop I set up her email account on it, instructing the mail server to keep a copy so she could download her mail to both machines. Well, she got rid of the desktop machine, but I forgot to disable the save to server, so now just when it's needed I was able to download all her old email-- all 10,500 messages. :evilgrin: So she has to go through a couple years worth of junk. At least she gets her important emails back!

[RoyGBiv]

51. I'll offer this ...

From the Computer Help and Support group, a story I posted the other day.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=242&topic_id=7099&mesg_id=7099

Other than that, I guess the hardest lesson I learned was not to skimp on parts. One certainly does not have to go high-end on everything, but one usually does not save in the long run by trying to pinch pennies. This ties in with your comments about the PSU, but it applies to other things as well. For example, you may not need a GeForce 7800 GT, and if not, don't get it. But you're probably going to end up frustrated with on-board video and shared memory.