Do you know how to figure out how to fix your computer if it crashes?
By free_man
@free_man (7330)
United States
February 12, 2010 9:21am CST
My husbands computers hard drive died on him the other day. Well this is an easy fix. Shut down the power pull the cords out so it isn't hooked to electricity at all. Then take something and ground yourself to the computer, and replace the hard drive two wires is all it takes. Warning take caution when inside your computer! Everything in there is hooked up to the mother board and can be dangerous. If you are not comfortable doing it take it to a proffessional. But I learned to do this kinds of stuff from the internet. Thank God for friends. I have this one friend that gave me a new comptuer. It has vista on it I know nothing about vista. I am one of those people that hack the regstry all the time. So it must have been one of my regstry hacks that cause this one to keep shutting down. Oh well thanks to God first and to all of my lots associates and friends, that helped me remember what to do. And it is up and running fine this morning. Took me from 6am till 12 midnight to fix it. But I did it with Gods help and your help! So my question to you is: Do you take your computer to someone? Or do you fix it yourself? Do you know how to look on the net and figure things out?
10 responses
@phoenix8606 (4942)
•
12 Feb 10
hi, my free friend! WEll, it only depends on that what exactly has crashed, but in the most cases i can handle it out in many situations and I can figure it out very fast, because I have much experience in the hard/software and there is also internet, where nowadays we can find all the info we need to repair our computers!
1 person likes this
@free_man (7330)
• United States
12 Feb 10
Hi Phoenix. Oh yes thank God for the internet. I have been doing this since I got my first computer in 2thousand. I figured if I was going to have a computer to use I needed to learn how to fix them too. I just couldn't remember what to do I needed a nudge in the right direction. My computers on xp I have running real good and just wasn't used to this vista. I will learn it as well as I did the xp though.
1 person likes this
@free_man (7330)
• United States
13 Feb 10
Hi Janey. I love fixing my own computer. I am lucky I can usually figure it out. Until my memory fails me....LOL Which happens when I really need it. That is why I wrote a discussion on her to find out how to fix the problem. And I thank all of you that replied with helpful tips. I just needed a boost to remember those tips. What did the pro do to fix your computer Janey? Never have had that happen to me.
Hi poingly. Good point when you don't have two computers it would be harder. I am blessed by God I have two computers. And as soon as I can locate a hard drive I will have 3 computers. I can hardly wait. I want to get into fixing peoples computers. It is just something I have a real passion for.
@redshift07 (183)
• India
13 Feb 10
Well usually if its a small problem problem like my windows crashes or my pc does not boot i fix it myself. If i have a bigger problem i can always take help from the internet. And thank God it has been at least an year since my hardware has given any faults so i never actually had to take help from a professional service. In fact i do not trust them because when i used to get my computer fixed from them it used to give me problems every month or so but since i have started fixing it myself i am quite satisfied with it and it works just fine.
@free_man (7330)
• United States
13 Feb 10
Hi Redshift and welcome to my lot. I know I don't trust too many people to work on my computer. Seems like they don't know excatlly what I want done. And if I fix it then I feel good about what I did. Makes you feel good to be able to fix your own computer, don't it?
@redshift07 (183)
• India
13 Feb 10
Yup and you get the hang of it sooner or later. Thanks free_man for your comment.
@thebeave (31)
• United States
13 Feb 10
I have always had a fascination with computers though I did not grow up with them. When I was young the only time I got to play on one was at my grandparents house but I spent a lot of time messing around. I didn't do the normal things that an 8 or 9 year old would do. I would just look around the computer and see what it did. This is back in the days of Windows 3.1 and DOS. From then I fell in love with them and we finally got one at my house when I was in about 7th or 8th grade I think. It didn't stop there and when I graduated from high school I actually built the desktop that I still have today. Let me tell you this is one of the funnest things I have ever done and I learned so much. For this reason I started with Information Technology in college with my friend and I spent two and a half years on that path with a minor in Business Management. Well, I decided I liked business better so I switched and I guess you can say wasted those classes and money but I do know enough about computers to never have to take them in to someone to have them fixed thats for sure.
@MrKennedy (1978)
•
13 Feb 10
To be honest, I am not much of a computer whizz, and have no intentions of ever becoming one
When my computer crashes or malfunctions, I do the classic "switch it off, wait several seconds, then switch it back on again". If that fails, I use my PS3 (because my computer will refuse to work) to scour the internet and find a resolve to my computer problems
When my computer crashes or malfunctions, I do the classic "switch it off, wait several seconds, then switch it back on again". If that fails, I use my PS3 (because my computer will refuse to work) to scour the internet and find a resolve to my computer problems1 person likes this
@lipstick2009 (1236)
• Philippines
13 Feb 10
I used to be so dependent on the technician before.I would call him at the slightest problem i have with my computer.
And i would watch him fix my computer, not knowing that while doing this all the time, i was being exposed to the complication of the cpu, which in turn has given me insight of how simple it is really.
I met some technicians who were not selfish enough to share their knowledge when i would ask questions and they would just say something that will be useful for future usage.
And after a year or so,my calls for the technician diminished, and i started
fixing my computer by the knowledge i have learned from my technicians and from browsing the internet.
Im not a technician really, but when i have problems with my computer, i would set aside a certain amount for the technician but i try to explore the cpu first , if i get lucky to fix it, then i saved money.Now if the problem becomes bigger because i did something wrong, i have the set aside budget for the technician anyway.
Fortunately this system has made me saved lots of money,its only when i really cant fix it that i call the technician.
1 person likes this
@free_man (7330)
• United States
13 Feb 10
Hi Lipstick. If you have the OEM disk you can put it in when you can't figure out the problem. When you do this you shut the computer off with the disk in the cd player. And then turn it back on when the disk starts to play it should ask you what you want to do. Hit repair and it will repair the things you messed up. And before you know it it will your computer will be updated. But if you hit format the drive you had better have copies of what you really need.
@RobtheRock (2433)
• United States
12 Feb 10
Over the years I've fixed my friend's and my own computers. Besides looking online for pointers, I've had quite a few computer classes. I got this laptop as a present and it actually came from soneone else. So I've had trouble with it since I got it. I've put hard drives in it three times.
1 person likes this
@free_man (7330)
• United States
12 Feb 10
Hi RobtheRock. It sure is nice to be able to work on your own computer. Isn't it? I love learning new things. It has always been easy for me to learn things. Don't it make you feel good inside knowing if you have a problem you can fix it. I haven't had any computer classes. I am self taught. Other then the computer shows I didn't know much or ever cared much till the shows. It peaked my interest when I started watching those shows.
@Thoroughrob (11742)
• United States
12 Feb 10
I am glad you fixed yours. I unfortunately, take mine in to be fixed. I am not computer knowledgeable at all.
1 person likes this
@jaiho2009 (39142)
• Philippines
12 Feb 10
It depends on the situation.
If my computer shut off automatically,then,i will try to restart it,maybe there is just an update to it restarted by itself.
If,after restarting it won't work then,need to restart again at least 3 times.
If it still doesn't work...try checking the plugs...then,try opening the cpu...clean it..maybe dust make some connection grounded.
then,try restarting again.
If doesn't work still,try reboot...if still fail..then,call a technician
@free_man (7330)
• United States
12 Feb 10
Hi Jaiho. I always try the obivious first. Power cords and stuff like that but I can go into the bios and see when the hardware isn't working too. I knew that if I could get into safe mode then it was something I had done. And I know it was me but I always fix the things I mess up. I tried restarting it and also doing a system restore but vista only goes back 3 days. I will learn how to extend the system restor points on here. I don't give up too easy and I always learn from my mistakes. Just remembering how to fix it is my problem.
@megamatt (14292)
• United States
12 Feb 10
For the most part, it is normally an easy solution to fix. I can pretty much figure out what needs to be done if the computer crashes. Then there are many situations that are exceptions. An odd problem that I can not make heads or tails of. Then it just best to call in the expert. After all, I would not want to make the situation worse and mess up even more. Some things are best left to people who do this for a living. Computers can be odd at times, with strange problems that make little sense.
1 person likes this
@free_man (7330)
• United States
12 Feb 10
Hi Megamatt. Yes I agree with you some things are best left to those that do this for a living. But I am not scared to go into something I don't understand. I will at least try to fix the problem. I used to watch a computer teaching show it was called screen savers and call for help. I started watching these shows cause I wanted a computer. And when I get a tool I try my best to learn everything about that tool. And lets face it the internet is a vast amount of information. I have always like to learn new things and do better in my life. When I got my first computer I had already learned a lot about them, but I didn't even know how to turn the dang thing on......LOL So I had to call the company to learn how to turn it on. I can laugh about it now. I kept watching those tech shows and tried the things they said to try. And by Gods help I am not afraid to try working on anything. I have faith that some how God will show me what to do. That is how I got this one working again. I thought why not ask my lot and sure enough they triggered memories. Thank God I am back up and running.
