Off we go again!

[Kouen Hasuki]

Off to fix a computer today, knowing this guy it will be a case of taking 5 mins or 2 hours, all I know is its an asus netbook and it made a funny noise showed an error message and now wont turn on

not much to go on but its cash in the pocket for me at the end of the day.

Do things like this bug other people that you get the bare minimum info and expected to know what to bring and fix it in seconds

 

[raulpica]

Don't even tell me, I did that for 3 years Now I'm working in a shop. It feels nice not having to go around people's houses trying to fix improbable problems with no anamnesis at all

 

[Kouen Hasuki]

Don't even tell me, I did that for 3 years Now I'm working in a shop. It feels nice not having to go around people's houses trying to fix improbable problems with no anamnesis at all

Irony is this guy in question I swear im at his place at least once a month, my fav of all time was this one

"My internet doesn't work!" So I made the 30 min trek over there, made the normal small talk then got to work....

Turned off router, waited 2 mins, turned on router, powered up his laptop. Boom done xD got paid $35 / 25€ and he gave me a iPhone 4 for that small bit of work lol

I never ask for payment but he always pays me about the amount of cash above so I dont mind

 

[raulpica]

I never ask for payment but he always pays me about the amount of cash above so I dont mind

I loved that kind of customers too, haha

Well, good luck with your repair!

 

[Kouen Hasuki]

I loved that kind of customers too, haha

Well, good luck with your repair!

lol someone jinxed me he had to cancel and will be out have to wait till Monday now, ah well it happens now my "Nintendo thumb" has recovered I can play some SP/Micro instead since im still waiting for my DX package from intmail lol

 

[Sop]

I've been thinking about doing this for a while, but not sure if I know enough stuffs to do it.

Can you interview me?

 

[raulpica]

I've been thinking about doing this for a while, but not sure if I know enough stuffs to do it.

Can you interview me?

You go at a guy's house - Windows starts booting, then freezes after a while. You reboot the computer, and a BIOS screen tells you that no bootable device can be found. The HD is shown to be working in another computer.

What do you infer, from there?

 

[Devin]

You go at a guy's house - Windows starts booting, then freezes after a while. You reboot the computer, and a BIOS screen tells you that no bootable device can be found. The HD is shown to be working in another computer.

What do you infer, from there?

Spoiler

REINSTALL WINDOWS

Check to see if the sata/ide cable/port is functioning properly.

 

[raulpica]

Spoiler

REINSTALL WINDOWS

Check to see if the sata/ide cable/port is functioning properly.

Reinstalling Windows just makes the problem happen again after a while. The cable is fine, and even when changing port, it still happens.

The time is variable, sometimes it freezes immediately, other times after a while.

 

[spinal_cord]

Check that the primary partion is bootable... do drives still use a MBR?

... dig out those old msdos install floppy's and spend the next 10 minutes changing disks...

 

[raulpica]

Check that the primary partion is bootable... do drives still use a MBR?

... dig out those old msdos install floppy's and spend the next 10 minutes changing disks...

It works perfectly on another computer, so the HD, partition and EVEN file system integrity (well, in practice this would not happen, but we'll make that for sake of simplicity) are a-ok. So, nope, it's not the HD Nor the OS.

EDIT: More hints, it's a 2 years old computer, so it isn't brand new, but not even old.

 

[Gahars]

All the time, except it's with my mom. All. The. Time.

Needless to say, she's not good with computers.

 

[Yepi69]

I got 20€ just to install Windows XP on my friend's pc, noob people are so great.

 

[LockeCole_101629]

that's probably the usual problem with PSU
if something happens, like random freeze, restart randomly, after you check HDD/Mem both is fine, my last suspect usually is PSU, it also could be bad motherboard (but it's quite rare since the symptoms happens because lack of power, and it goes normally when PSU is replaced)

now you mention about timeline
I remember I've been doing this shit since high school.
the only thing I hate about it is... people think I can fix anything, specially my parents, and even more, I hate when people only text/call me when they have problems.

 

[spinal_cord]

that's probably the usual problem with PSU

That would have been my second guess. I had a similar issue a loooonnnggggggg time ago, 2 hdd's 2 dvd's 2 floppy's and some nice lights were too much for the poor thing.

 

[Its_just_Lou]

My lack of tech know-how = Large reason for Kouen swimming in PSPs, among other cool stuffs.

I believe in compensation for services rendered, its just good karma.

 

[Jamstruth]

It works perfectly on another computer, so the HD, partition and EVEN file system integrity (well, in practice this would not happen, but we'll make that for sake of simplicity) are a-ok. So, nope, it's not the HD Nor the OS.

EDIT: More hints, it's a 2 years old computer, so it isn't brand new, but not even old.

Well then it's obviously some hardware failure elsewhere. Could be the motherboard or PSU.
Remove PSU and try with a temp replacement.

Then, no matter which piece is at fault, listen to the customer complain that the system is only 2 years old! This shit shouldn't happen! Yadayada

 

[Devin]

Reinstalling Windows just makes the problem happen again after a while. The cable is fine, and even when changing port, it still happens.

The time is variable, sometimes it freezes immediately, other times after a while.

Get a new computer.

 

[Kouen Hasuki]

Get a new computer.

There goes a hero.

He came
He blew our minds
He left

Sir we salute you

 

[Devin]

I got 20€ just to install Windows XP on my friend's pc, noob people are so great.

Shoot man. Not trying to one up you but someone paid me $40 to do a install of Windows 7. I didn't feel like tinkering with the computer since it had this virus that claimed child pornography was viewed on it, and in order to resume function of the computer you must pay $300 USD in form of a Moneypack card.

Got $40.
Went to CVS got a pack of blank discs.
Burned Windows onto disc.
Installed Windows.

The people around here aren't exactly the best when it comes to computers. I'm no expert, but I know how to reinstall Windows.