Ike
Screenwriter
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2000
- Messages
- 1,672
Okay, this could be kind of long and detailed, but I'll try to make the situation as clear as possible.
I posted here not too long ago with problems I was having. My computer was incorrectly showing my processor speed as 700 when it was actually 1400. The hard drives were seemingly unistalling themselves, and were having to be auto-detected, which only worked some of the time. When they did load, the computer was unusually sluggish, and there would occasionally be an odd sound coming from the PC I'd never heard before; sort of a loud clicking.
So, the computer seemed to get to where it would only occasionally crash, and I seemed to be able to live-for now-with it running at half speed. It began to get worse, until it finally just stopped recognizing the hard drives (I have two, a C: for everything, and a D: which is solely for home videos I've edited). I was recommended a guy (who I'll call Danny) by a friend who said he was a good guy.
When he came, I was not there, so a relative dealt with him. All I know, is that Danny took the computer back to his "shop" (He works on PC's on the side).
He brings it back, seemingly good as new. The "clicking" sound I heard was my video card's (a Leadtek 64 meg Geforce 2 GTS Pro) fan going out. He pulled out the card, and the fan was rather tight. He replaced it with another Geforce 2 64 megs (a different brand, but I'm not that picky) All systems were seemingly go. He let the computer degrag my D:, and left, charging $160.
During the defrag, the computer locked up again, displaying the usual symptoms-the hard drive light came on, and stayed on, and it sounded like it was reading, then it locked up-came back up. On reboot, I noticed my processor was still incorrectly reading, but this time as 1050.
I met Danny for the first time when I gave the system back to him. He said he'd get it working for no charge on labor, just on parts. He said my computer was nice, except for the hard drives were kind of cheap.
That was on a Thursday, and I didn't hear from him until the next Monday. He said he'd let someone else look at it, and that he was now sure it was the Hardrive selector, or something like that. He said he let "too many experts" look at it for that to be wrong. He said he didn't know if it could be fixed without replacing the motherboard. He said he'd give me a call the next day.
The next day, I called his house, and was told he was working late. I said that was okay, I stayed up late, just to give me a call when he got in. He didn't call me.
I get hold of him the following day (Wednesday) and he says it's the motherboard. I assumed this meant that the hard drive selectors were separate from the motherboard. I didn't even really think to ask why the new diagnosis. Either way, he says I need a new motherboard. Everything else is nice, he says, except the motherboard is kind of cheap. I guess a guy's allowed a contradiction. Problem is, I bought the motherboard, and I remember it not being that cheap. I don't remember the brand, but it certainly wasn't a cheapie.
He says I got two options. The cheap route-$100 motherboard-or what he'd do, which is to put in a new ASUS-$155. I tell him to put in the ASUS.
A few days later, I get another call. At this point, I'm getting a little frustrated, not to mention a little ancy letting this guy fool around with my computer. He tells me that it's been struck by lightning, and that it should be claimed on Home Owner's Insurance. He says he has a friend that looked at it that works at a computer place, and would sign an affidavit. I should claim the computer, take the money, and let him build me a new computer.
At this point, I'm not sure. I'm really not. He's trying to get me to upgrade, which I'm all for, but I'm on a budget, and I don't know what's really the matter with my old one. He wants to go to a hardware store with him and pick out some of the components. I need what's on my D:, since it can't be replaced and it's not backed up, but he's using terms that scare me; "I just pray that I hook it up and it just comes up and I can transfer everything."
He says that he couldn't pry my processor off my motherboard because it had melted to it. You couldn't read the AMD tag on it because it was melted, he says.
Is it really possible that he could have been this wrong this many times? How would he have not noticed the processor being melted? If the computer was struck by lightning, would it come up and run for hours (Danny says he was able to get it up for 4 hours running)? Should I let him use the insurance money to build me a new one? I know someone who got their computer built by him, and they enjoy it.
I'm really between a rock and a hard place here, and I hope someone can look at this objectively and advise me. I'm sure I painted this guy negatively, but I hope you can look through it and tell me what's really going on.
I posted here not too long ago with problems I was having. My computer was incorrectly showing my processor speed as 700 when it was actually 1400. The hard drives were seemingly unistalling themselves, and were having to be auto-detected, which only worked some of the time. When they did load, the computer was unusually sluggish, and there would occasionally be an odd sound coming from the PC I'd never heard before; sort of a loud clicking.
So, the computer seemed to get to where it would only occasionally crash, and I seemed to be able to live-for now-with it running at half speed. It began to get worse, until it finally just stopped recognizing the hard drives (I have two, a C: for everything, and a D: which is solely for home videos I've edited). I was recommended a guy (who I'll call Danny) by a friend who said he was a good guy.
When he came, I was not there, so a relative dealt with him. All I know, is that Danny took the computer back to his "shop" (He works on PC's on the side).
He brings it back, seemingly good as new. The "clicking" sound I heard was my video card's (a Leadtek 64 meg Geforce 2 GTS Pro) fan going out. He pulled out the card, and the fan was rather tight. He replaced it with another Geforce 2 64 megs (a different brand, but I'm not that picky) All systems were seemingly go. He let the computer degrag my D:, and left, charging $160.
During the defrag, the computer locked up again, displaying the usual symptoms-the hard drive light came on, and stayed on, and it sounded like it was reading, then it locked up-came back up. On reboot, I noticed my processor was still incorrectly reading, but this time as 1050.
I met Danny for the first time when I gave the system back to him. He said he'd get it working for no charge on labor, just on parts. He said my computer was nice, except for the hard drives were kind of cheap.
That was on a Thursday, and I didn't hear from him until the next Monday. He said he'd let someone else look at it, and that he was now sure it was the Hardrive selector, or something like that. He said he let "too many experts" look at it for that to be wrong. He said he didn't know if it could be fixed without replacing the motherboard. He said he'd give me a call the next day.
The next day, I called his house, and was told he was working late. I said that was okay, I stayed up late, just to give me a call when he got in. He didn't call me.
I get hold of him the following day (Wednesday) and he says it's the motherboard. I assumed this meant that the hard drive selectors were separate from the motherboard. I didn't even really think to ask why the new diagnosis. Either way, he says I need a new motherboard. Everything else is nice, he says, except the motherboard is kind of cheap. I guess a guy's allowed a contradiction. Problem is, I bought the motherboard, and I remember it not being that cheap. I don't remember the brand, but it certainly wasn't a cheapie.
He says I got two options. The cheap route-$100 motherboard-or what he'd do, which is to put in a new ASUS-$155. I tell him to put in the ASUS.
A few days later, I get another call. At this point, I'm getting a little frustrated, not to mention a little ancy letting this guy fool around with my computer. He tells me that it's been struck by lightning, and that it should be claimed on Home Owner's Insurance. He says he has a friend that looked at it that works at a computer place, and would sign an affidavit. I should claim the computer, take the money, and let him build me a new computer.
At this point, I'm not sure. I'm really not. He's trying to get me to upgrade, which I'm all for, but I'm on a budget, and I don't know what's really the matter with my old one. He wants to go to a hardware store with him and pick out some of the components. I need what's on my D:, since it can't be replaced and it's not backed up, but he's using terms that scare me; "I just pray that I hook it up and it just comes up and I can transfer everything."
He says that he couldn't pry my processor off my motherboard because it had melted to it. You couldn't read the AMD tag on it because it was melted, he says.
Is it really possible that he could have been this wrong this many times? How would he have not noticed the processor being melted? If the computer was struck by lightning, would it come up and run for hours (Danny says he was able to get it up for 4 hours running)? Should I let him use the insurance money to build me a new one? I know someone who got their computer built by him, and they enjoy it.
I'm really between a rock and a hard place here, and I hope someone can look at this objectively and advise me. I'm sure I painted this guy negatively, but I hope you can look through it and tell me what's really going on.
