My dad can make ANY computer crash (1 Viewer)

[NickSo]

Heh, anybody know anybody like this?

So I gave my computer to use as a public family computer... I reformatted, installed WinXP, had everything set up running VERY smoothly. The drive was defragmented, there weren't a lot of files, it was clean as a whistle, and running like a ferarri.

Let me just say, that my computer had not been reformatted for about two years prior to this, and ALMOST NEVER would it have a major crash or freeze TOTALLY.

SO tonight, my dad was using the brand new install, perfectly-running computer, he gets off, i decide to surf the HTF. All i see on the screen is the wallpaper, no taskbar, no nothin.
I press Caps Lock and NumLock to see if the lights light up (i found that if it does respond, the computers just busy, rather than frozen), NOTHING.
I give the three finger salute, the magical CTRL+ALT+DEL, NOTHIN!
I had to do a hard restart...

Its amazing, I've handed down various computer components (that are PERFECTLY WORKING with my use) to my dad or my bro quite a few times, and each time they manage to make it NOT WORK for some reason within a month of me giving it to them. Fortunately, usually its nothin major.

Aaanyways, just found it odd is all

 

[Jason_Els]

Yup. Friend of mine has this happen to him constantly. Now on his second computer and the same things happen. He's replaced hardware, power supplies, video cards, memory, even built a new machine. He goes near computers and they break in the most unusual ways.

 

[Patrick Sun]

We have a guy at work who tests new laptop loads for us (usually as a beta tester of sorts) because he likes to open up a zillion apps when he's working, and if something will go wrong, he'll find it.

 

[Eric_L]

Count yourself lucky. I recently had to explain to my dad why when he takes his CD pprogram from his old W95 computer to his new XP computer, all his saved files don't transfer with it.

30 minutes later...

Pop - "So I have to input all of these files again?"

Me - "Or you could save them to USB memory.."

Pop - "Why can't I just store them on the CD?"


Me - "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIHHHHHH!"

 

[StephenA]

Kinda sounds like me with life in general. If there's something to screw up or someone to get upset or mad, you can bet I've done it, especially without trying. I'm a human tornado. A little lady at Barnes and Noble is afraid of me now because I didn't see her once and almost ran her over, and now when she sees me she runs. I feel bad, but it's kind of funny.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

My brother is cursed. Whatever he touches, it starts to mess up. I kid you not, I watched my brother use the computer. He didn't do anything wrong, and the hard drive crashes. He goes out with his buddies and his tires blew out...for the third time. When he drove down here three weeks ago, the gears in the transmission (I think it's the transmission) got stripped.

 

[CapnSharpe]

This is nothing compared to one of my co-workers.

Computer #1: A few years ago his notebook computer was on the passenger seat but not in it's carrying case. He was driving on Houston's beltway 8 when he realized that the truck in front of him was slowing. He rear-ended the truck throwing the notebook into the dashboard. He was okay, but the notebook looked like a boomerang. Although the notebook still worked the boss replaced it - it's hard to type on a boomerang.

Computer #2: Same co-worker was busy getting his daughter in her carseat to drop off at daycare. He put his carrying case containing the new notebook computer down on the ground. As he was backing out of the driveway he hit something with the car. :b The notebook's lcd was cracked but otherwise still worked. The boss let him have another notebook but with a stern warning...

Computer #3: Same co-worker bought a high end pocket pc for personal use. Being a geek he keeps it in his shirt pocket. One Saturday morning he's getting the toddler in her carseat but doesn't want the ppc to drop out of his shirt, so he puts it on the car roof. On Monday morning he spots the ppc in the scoop by the wagon's hatch. Naturally it rained that weekend. :b

I don't let him anywhere near my equipment.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

..cough cough cough *buy an Apple* cough cough cough...

 

[Jim_F]

Sounds like it crashed while you were using it. Nice try, blaming it on your Dad. (j/k)

Myself, that's how I've always learned about computers. Mess with 'em until they break, them teach myself how to fix 'em.

My coworkers seem to gang up on our community workstations. They're always choked with adware and spyware and Spybot won't work without administrator privelidges. So my default search engine specializes in porn and gambling sites, not to mention some embarassing popups out of nowhere.

 

[NickSo]

Ha, nope, i didn't touch the mouse or keyboard when i saw the wallpaper :p)

 

[Max Leung]

My roommate is the same way...

"I never install stuff!" he says. Yet, there are 3 trojan viruses, 20 spyware programs, hardcore porno ads that popup with 5 minutes of booting, and gambling ads all over.

Now he says that Windows Media Player is broke...gee I wonder what he installed THIS time? (and I disabled administrator privs on the computer too...)

I love it when people say "But I never install anything! honest!" - it makes me feel smug when I tell them otherwise.

Myself, I never had popups or spyware on my computer for nearly 10 years...until a few months ago when my roommate used my computer for a few minutes...bastard. My computer is off limits...that's why he has the shitbox!

 

[NickSo]

Hey, those popups on those porno sites seem legit sometimes! Give him a break

 

[Graham Perks]

Like another poster said, check out a Mac as a viable alternative...

More stable, no worries about viruses.

 

[Scott McGillivray]

No worries about viruses? What the heck are you talking about? Like there has NEVER been a Mac virus? Geeze...

They are good machines but lets not polish their apple too hard here!

 

[D. Scott MacDonald]

People write viruses to attack the largest area. Hence, most viruses target Windows. If the Mac became more popular, people would eventually post that you can elimate viruses by using Windows. They will always plague the most popular systems.

 

[NickSo]

Its not a huge problem bugs, just found it funny that this happened again...

The thing thats most important for my dad is ease of use... i dont think he'll wanna be transferring EVERYTHING over to mac anytime soon :p)

 

[Phil Kim]

Mac OS X launched over 3 years ago. There are no known virus for Mac OS X. Not even one. Zero.

That is not to say it's 100% trouble free. While it is extremely stable and secure, it can crash (extremely rare though). And it requires fairly powerful computer (any Macs over 3-4 years old would have trouble running Mac OS X smoothly).

Classic Mac OS, on the other hand, had a number of viruses, although none really as epidemic as Windows (aside from college dorm/lab settings).

 

[Andrew Grall]

Ummm..... No.

I actually have had more talent making Macs crash much more frequently than PCs. I know, I know, you'll say, "OS X is different." I don't know... anything with that damned fruit on it seems to freeze up or crash anytime I try to do anything useful...

 

[NickSo]

Okay okay, this was supposda be a light-hearted thread, lets not get into an Mac Vs PC debate

 

[Charles J P]

Thats actually a good idea. Since there is no software for it, when your friend says "I didnt install anything" you can be sure they're telling the truth. Where would they have gotten anything to install?