Have you ever messed up your computer so bad, it stopped working?

Yeah, and I lost count as well. It was about a year and a half ago. It usually is due to viruses/malwares on my computer. I do not trust most of the anti-virus software and I do manual removal of viruses. Some viruses try to copy legit Windows files so you won't easily see them. Unfortunately, I disables the legit one and left the virus. When I restarted my pc, to my surprise, it was stuck during the boot up. I had to back it all up and re-format my hard drive.

When my son was a young teen, he and I shared a computer and he used up so much memory that it quit one day. My local ISP and Gateway both told me that I had to wipe the hard drive and start over and that I could not retreive anything I'd saved. I didn't take their word for it. I could start the computer in safe mode, so I carefully copied everything I needed on to CDs and had my son do that with his stuff. Then I wiped the hard drive and started over. That computer - purchased in 1999 - still works but is so slow that I got a new(er) reconditioned one in March. Now...my mother was horrible with computers. Somehow - TWICE - she totally wiped the hard drive on my sister's computer without having a clue how she did that.

Nothing serious beauty and luckily my other half is very savvy when it comes to computers so he is able to keep them up and running for the most part! You should be able to get a new or used cd rom drive quite cheaply and they are quite easy to replace so that you can keep using your daughters computer! I do hope you manage to get it fixed as I know how frustrating a broken computer can be! My old laptop keyboard fell apart on me and was very expensive to replace so I bought a cheap usb keyboard and plugged it in - my kids still use it this way! xxx

just a few days ago i had my hard drive almost crashed for installing some sample tutorial programs i downloaded. it suddenly hang up in the mid of copying and there started the problems. it took me 3 days to fix it whew! fortunately i was able to save the hard drive but not the files huhu

Well I have and I haven't, what I did was I installed loads of programmes on the computer that I thought I needed. But then the computer started going slow and freezing up on me, and then the other day it just would not load up at all. I had to switch it all off and restart it and then uninstall all the programmes that were slowing it down, luckily this did the trick and it was then back to its normal self.

I tried to print out some online coupons and wasn't thinking when the avast warning popped up and I told it to allow the program to install anyways. Yeah that was the last thing my computer did for a long time. I had to have a professional fix it. Thank God I'm friends with one and he didn't charge me the $45 an hour those dudes make.

Oh I messed up our PC big time last year. I thought I knew what I was doing but it turns out I crippled our pc. The problem was our pc has a very old cd-rom that it got insane and keeps opening and close whenever the pc was open so I decided to disconnect the hardware but of course before that you have to remove the software. What happens wasd I remoed the software wrong and I thought that nothings wrong but then when I decided to restart the pc .. I got the very long and cursing blue screen message that I have to reformat the cpu!.. So yeah I learned not to touch anything unless someone supervised me.

No, I havent. I am very careful in using my computer. I see to it that I open and close it the right way. You can just change the CD Rom by a new one. But maybe to change the whole unit is more possible. Take in your use of computer.

Oh yes. I start in small ways. Break a USB port or, like you jam the CD drive, and then move up to software conflicts. Since I bought an Apple computer though I have been problem free. It's just so darn good looking that it make you want to handle it carefully all the time. I think that I'm in love.

Oh yes I have done this... first off avoid pressing your start button too hard as you may wind up not being able to start your computer. I did this and then I took the computer to a place which I should not have taken it... the paradise of computer repairs after the Fall... The person there managed to fix the on off button but ended up, due to the fact that he forgot my password, wiping my hard drive clean without my permission and installing a router. He then referred me to his friend who put software on it that was pirated copy... This was totally unacceptable and as it was Windows M.E. it was totally unreliable too. I wound up having to take it to a person who called himself the computer doctor and that knight of a man was kind enough to get this 98 Gateway computer in working order again. A good anti virus software, a good firewall, etc. are all essentials to have to avoid having a computer that does not run... I am glad tat your computer is working properly and that you learned from your mistakes... Some people do not.

Yes I have messed my computer so bad I could not use it. Lucky My son works as a computer tech and I can call him anytime. He replaced mine the last time (The whole computer) so nice of him

First let me tell you I am computer geek and mess up with my PC all the time. But in my biggest mess was that when I blow up my graphics card. Well it doesn't stopped my PC but I lost my expensive graphic card that was out of warranty.

No i don't think i have ever done anything like that and if i have i've been able to figure out how to fix it. There was this one time though i kinda did it to my parents computer. I updated their video card driver and for some reason after the reboot the thing would not connect to the internet. I have no idea what happened but nothing i did got the internet back and i had to reformat the thing unfortunately.

In the means of the system software i dont think i have done much harm. And no matter how much we damage the software that wont screw up a PC. it can always be repaired. But when i was about 10 years old, thats when i didnt know much about voltage and stuff, i saw a small option behind the CPU sayin 230Volts and a 115V. It was set to 230V. So i thought if i switched it to 115, it will spend less electrical power. But when i put it to 115..KABOOOM. the whole thing went flat. Was never repared and later had to buy a new power supply.

I don't think I've ever really had the issue of ruining my computer so bad that it doesn't work...BUT I use my laptop every day to do my daily online stuff (Mylot, MySpace, Games, etc) and let me tell you how surprised I am it still works. :D When I was in the Army I bought this laptop and slept with it on my bed at night so I could listen to music while I slept...I dropped it twice from my bed!!! That is at least 2 feet off the ground and onto a tile floor and all that was under the tile was cement!!! Then when I got home from the Army I let my daughters play on it and they broke off my 'A' key. So now...I am missing one of the pads of the feet of my laptop, the 'A' key is now just a little rubber button, and parts on the bottom are stuck out and there's no way to get them back in....... But it still works and for that I am grateful :D I hope that it never crashes on me for fear that I would go insane because I couldn't get "out of the house" every day like I do online :D Thanks for the post :D

Last September, my computer came to an abrupt halt, and I never did find out why. I had purchased an expansion for Sims2, had just finished downloading it and was trying to install it. The computer crashed, and while I was originally able to boot it into safe mode, somewhere along the line, it prompted me to run either scan disk or something along those lines, and I did. Now when I turn it on, it automatically just runs that and stops. I kept meaning to get it fixed, but hated the thought of paying someone just to look at it. I used it as an excuse to buy a laptop (the computer was about 6 years old, but I still have a lot of stuff on that computer that I would like to be able to get back!

I think the conditions you met are always problems of new users of computer. The keyboard of my laptop doesn't work very well coz my little sister sprinkled her Coca Cola to the keyboard when she was wacthing cartoon on my laptop on the third day I bought the laptpo.That's even worse than sprinkling water coz water can become dry and nothing left,but for this there is sugar left and several keys alwasy stick to the board below.When I press them,they make noises and doesn't function sensitively.

Yes I once broke a computer and it was my friend's. What I did was, I tried to open the CPU and try to dismantle all the hardwares and put it back again. Do you know what happened? I broke the processor. I didn't put it correctly so the pins were damaged.hehe. Anyway, I learned and found it very beneficial today. As for now, I know now how to assemble and fix the computer. Thanks for my friend's computer.hehe