Great thread, and I have a good one to contribute..
(about 3 years ago now) I had just bought all the parts for this kick ass system (800mhz) and I got it all together and it ran superb.
:Start
I left the room and when I came back I found that it had JUST rebooted (as in I could see the bios check). I thought it was weird, I wondered if it was overheating or something. So I let it boot, then I sat there and threw every benchmark I could at it and I could never get it to overheat or reboot or anything, it just ran perfect. So I decided it must have been a fluke. I left the room and watch some tv and about an hour later I came back into my room to find that it was rebooting again!!! At this point I was pissed off and I turned it off for the night.
Day two: Goto Start. (did everything again, with the EXACT same results)
Day 3 - Day 6: Goto Start (did everything agian, with the EXACT same results)
At this point I had put a week in this, and could not get anywhere. I decided to claim defeat and asked about it here on AT forums. I got about 30 responses, check this, check that, which I did and everything seemed fine.. Then the most important post I think I have ever read showed up.. "Is the socket that it is plugged in to wired to the light switch?" MOTHERF(*&$WE*&%)#($*%&(*$&@!!!!!! Yes, yes it was. Everytime I left the room I turned the light off (and the computer) and when I came back in I switched it back on.
LOL.
That one is hilarious!!! That is so something I would do.
Once, when I worked at a computer store, I had some enthusiast kid come in asking what he should order to 'overclock'. He told me he heard about the Celeron 366 running at 550mhz. So, I agreed to oversee him building the computer and overclocking it to make sure he didn't screw anything up. I recommended an Abit BE6-II and he ordered it as well as the celeron. Well, he built the thing in front of me (while I troubleshooted other computers) and I saw that he didn't mess anything up.
Well, it didn't boot. So he and I spent an hour or two trying to figure out what was wrong. The computer would turn on, but the video would not show up. I opened up a video card we had on the shelf to try it and it didn't work either. I tried new ram, a new hard drive, new everything... I tried everything I could think of. So, I decided to RMA it. The kid, obviously excited about finally having a new 'gaming' computer, was almost heartbroken that we had to RMA the board. I told him that's just how it happens - every once in a while a new board is bad.
Well, a week later, he got the new board and brought it into the store. I proceeded to supervise him installing everything. He did it perfectly (though this was the first computer he built). It didn't boot. He looked at me and looked like he was about to cry. I felt for him.
So, I told him I would troubleshoot it myself while he watched. I tried a few things for about 15 minutes.. Then, I switched the power supply from 220 to 115 volts.. When it booted, he and I both looked at each other like 'omfg.. we're idiots!'
He became a regular customer, though.
Facebook
Twitter