Buying Computers – A Time-Saver or Not So Much?
My computer has been very sick for a couple of weeks and I am sad about it. I was working on the design and programming of a new site as well as a huge writing project when it crashed and burned. I had a bunch of people I was about to return messages to, people who are not in my address book, and then I lost access to Outlook.
The problem is obscure and if I weren't the kind of girl to tinker with the innards on her system, I'd just say, "It did bad things and now it won't turn on." But actually, there appears to be a power problem, causing the motherboard LED and an LED on a USB device to pulse slowly in time. Very curious. Because I can't turn the system on, I can't back it up, and my last good backup was, of course, several weeks ago. Someone like me writes and develops an awful lot in a few weeks.
Last week I contacted tech support about the problem. They agreed to send me a replacement power supply once I made it clear that I knew how to install such things. I had my doubts that this would solve the problem, but it would be a good first step.
Only, they forgot to send it. I called this Monday, wondering when it was going to be sent and they realized they had mistakenly thought I hadn't filled out the RMA form from TUESDAY. So, it arrived at 5 pm on Thursday of this week (a week and a half later).
This morning I opened the case and prepared to install the power supply. Nowadays, power supplies seem to have about nine different connector types and I didn't need them all. I spent some time determining which ones I needed and where I had to plug in the connectors, then wrangled everything in (tight fit!). This took about 45-60 minutes. And as you can probably guess, it didn't fix the problem.
Tech support asked me to try a number of other things. I reseated all the cards and cables. I took the RAM out and put it back in. I unplugged all peripheral devices and the monitor. I reset CMOS with jumpers (you're definitely a geek if you know what that means!). I dragged the computer into another room and plugged it in there. Nothing worked.
I am sure that the problem is the motherboard, but they won't send me that. They say I have to ship the computer back to them. I don't mind telling you, that strikes fear into my heart. Not only does that put my data at risk, but also it means it will be WEEKS until I get my computer back and operational! It also means I'm going to have to spend a chunk of change getting it professional packaged, insured, and shipped. Thank goodness my warranty means they'll ship it back for free.
All this means that my weekend project is to find a way to backup my system drive (I'll need a SATA drive enclosure for that) so that I don't lose data if they wipe that out during repair. I will also remove my three data drives before shipping, because those are more precious than anything. Then, on Monday, I guess I'll take it to FedEx or UPS and see what they can do. Like I wasn't already on edge enough for other reasons!
I tell you, I'm starting to think there is no difference between building a computer myself and having someone else build it for me - I still spend the same amount of downtime and fiddle time when it fails. All I want is my computer back so I can get on with things, but at this point it looks like it will be quite a while. Thank goodness for the laptop or I'd go crazy.
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