View Full Version : Electrical Fire & Ducky's Computer
Ducky
05-13-2009, 10:11 PM
After I had finished work today, I flicked on the puter and waited til it booted up.
The damn thing was turning itself on and off at will many times :shock: I noticed that it was doing the same thing last night, and didn't think too much of it, until it went REALLY buzzlistic today.
Welllllllllll...when it finally turned itself off, I could hear something inside the harddive 'revving up'. (Jesus I thought it was off already?)
3 seconds later, I smelled 'burnt wires' or something and noticed smoke slowly piling around me that emenated from the back of the hardrive.
My heart started racing, and the first thing I thought was to shut down the power, so I immediately turned off the power/surge bar and carefully pulled all the wires out of everything. In the meantime, I was keeping an eye out on the harddrive and had every fan, window and door going to ventilate the room.
I noticed all wires came out of the ports easily, except for the Ethernet cord. It had fused with the back of the puter. Didn't want to come out.
5-10 mins later, I was calmed down, and trying to think of what the hell started the whole mess. I hadn't done anything out of the ordinary, at any time, and thought that perhaps this was an instance whereby it was a 'faulty ethernet cable' from my internet/cable provider.
I got on the horn and stated what had happened, yet they couldn't figure it out either. They leaned more towards the idea that it was an 'internal' hardware problem, and nothing to do with the ethernet wire. I wasn't a happy camper.
I drove around the city trying to figure out what the hell to do; all the while the putrid stink of that electrical fire shitbox was reeking in the car.
So I said...fuck it fuck fuck it!!!!!!
There goes my Windows XP.
Is there a happy note to my story?
Yep...I think?
I broke down and purchased a brand new harddive.
Now I'm on Vista.
guinnessford
05-13-2009, 10:13 PM
As long as you are happy with Vista, cool.
Shame you had to put out cash when you werent really meaning too, though.
And a very cool thing you didnt burn up too, Duck.
Now I'm on Vista.
My condolences.
But if your are happy...
Lexion
05-13-2009, 10:17 PM
Ducks...
Do not use the Hitachi on the
same power strip as other
appliances.
It draws a lot of amps.
Regards,
Lex
pack3tg0st
05-13-2009, 10:19 PM
Microsoft does that sometimes :P
anyways, any final diagnosis on what went wrong? Sounds like you shorted/grounded out something inside your puter accidently :P
pack3tg0st
05-13-2009, 10:22 PM
Time for another update I think :P
Ducky
05-13-2009, 10:23 PM
In my neck of the woods, the tech stores are calling it quits on the XP's, and really pushing sales with the Vistas. I got some techno-gibberish on how 'they' aren't making them anymore. (Who the fuck is 'they'?)
It's not as though I live out in the boonies, but every phone call to tons of stores came up nil.
pack3tg0st
05-13-2009, 10:25 PM
Its ok ducks... the first Release candidate of WinDOH's 7 just came out... and the retail version is expected to be released by the end of 2009.. (which in microsoft terms means 2011 :P)
Screw it ducks... if you don't game or anything, go straight up Linux
Linux chicks are sexy
ask anyone.
Ducky
05-13-2009, 10:26 PM
Ducks...
Do not use the Hitachi on the
same power strip as other
appliances.
It draws a lot of amps.
Regards,
Lex
Oh jeese :P
Somehow I knew that was coming. Wasn't sure from who, but you were high up on the list. lolololol
Bummer Ducky . . . That would of given you a small heart attack . . . the fire, glad all under control and sorted :)
Ducky
05-13-2009, 10:36 PM
Bummer Ducky . . . That would of given you a small heart attack . . . the fire, glad all under control and sorted :)
lolol thanks Lala!
I gave the old puter the heave-ho and a decent burrial :mrgreen:
Heike
05-13-2009, 10:48 PM
Go Mac. OS X is stable as hell and the newer Macs with the Intel chips will run Windows or Linux or anything you want. I've been Mac since '89 even though I've had to use a Windows PC at work since about '99. It used to be a pretty funny joke that Windows ran faster and was more stable with Virtual PC on our OS 9 Macs than it was on most "real" PCs. You can get a decent (used or rebuilt) G5 iMac for about $400 and the only thing it won't do is high-end graphic intensive games. Plus Macs are much less susceptible to viruses, worms, spyware, and malware if you don't run Internet Exploder. Safari and Firefox are both faster and better anyway.
pack3tg0st
05-13-2009, 10:57 PM
Let me know if you ever need a comp built Ducks...
I'm a microsoft certified OEM partner...
I'll build for amkonites at cost + shipping... way cheaper than buying a pre-built alot of times...
Bitchkoma
05-13-2009, 11:37 PM
But you can never be cheaper than China.
Lexion
05-13-2009, 11:41 PM
How much RAM can a Mac
handle ?
I'm currently using 16 gig.
Just wondering.
Regards,
Lex
Foxtrot Oscar
05-13-2009, 11:48 PM
True the Ram isn't as high...
But, get my macbook back in a few days, really miss that baby...
Glad you didn't get all crispy peking duck on us Ducks... Although, I bet you taste great with some Hoi Sin sauce...
Will go Doh's 7 on ma PEECEE when it hits the shops. Vista is a PITA.
Fox
Ducky's posts are so hot they lit up her system.
pack3tg0st
05-14-2009, 01:23 PM
Vista is a PITA.
User account controls is so fuckin' annoying lol
They should have designed it more like /root in Linux...
apeci
05-14-2009, 01:26 PM
The UAC can be turned off but they sure don't help you do it. I put Vista on my HTPC for the MCE and I'm fuckin goin back to XP MCE 2005. I had actually considered paying for Vista, too. But it's total shit.
vista is ok ducky i havent had any issues with it that i didn't cause myself. ;)
pack3tg0st
05-14-2009, 01:31 PM
Vista is a big pain get exactly the way you want it... but once its there its ok...
I turned off my UAC... I couldn't take it anymore... but honestly, user habits are goign to be better protection than an annoying little thing that ya start ignoring after the 10,000 time its popped up...
Since I turned it off... vista warns me constantly that its off lol
Good thing I only use Windows for gaming...
Linux rox
GeneralStriker
05-14-2009, 01:58 PM
Pack- how hard is it to install linux? will everything still work?
pack3tg0st
05-14-2009, 02:02 PM
Linux is cake to install... just download a distro version and off ya go! You can even dual boot with most linux versions...
Everything hardware wise should still work... the only instance I found where something didn't was with a Winfax modem several years ago...
I recommend Ubuntu for a new user... its pretty easy to use...
Before you make the leap and install though, you should try and run Linux off a live CD... Linux can run completely off a CD rom and it will give you an idea of what you are going to be in for before you go and install it on your system.
Here's a site for you to check out designed specifically for 1st time users: http://www.linuxvirgins.com/
GeneralStriker
05-14-2009, 02:16 PM
wow. looks good. i think i'll follow the guy's advice and buy the program. i'm looking forward to my escape from the Gatesean Borg. thanks!
pack3tg0st
05-14-2009, 02:20 PM
No prob GS...
Just make sure you research which distro version you want before you buy it...
I've got Linspire in a box on the shelf... its aweful.... I wouldn't use that one... I'm currently running open SuSE 10 though...
Once you get your footing, might want to check Distrowatch.com to see what people are saying about different versions...
Good luck man! let me know if you need help.
GeneralStriker
05-14-2009, 02:26 PM
the guy you pointed me to has some recommendations. i'll take his advice.