Getting my computer checked out/fixed



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wheezy
The Reel RS Krew
Lord Handsome

The next time you wanna call a coon a nigger, call that spearchucker a jungle bunny instead. I know, I know... nigger rolls off the tongue so easy, but there is a world of rarely used racial slurs that we need to start utilizing. White power!

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My computer doesn't turn on anymore. The little power light flashes orange and nothing really happens when I try to turn it on. I plugged in a really old power source into my computer and that turns on and then the power light is a solid orange. So I'm guessing my power supply is the problem.

My question is, how should I go about getting this checked out and then fixed? I was thinking probably best buy. It might be a bit expensive, but hopefully they'll do a good job. What is the procedure for this? Do I need to call it in and set up an appointment, or do I just walk into the store with my computer and tell them about it? If anyone could fill me in, that'd be great. Doesn't someone who posts here actually work for GeekSquad? Thanks

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Shadowe

I kinda want to see that up someone's ass

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You'll be paying the geek squad buckets of money to do the same thing any local computer nerd would do for 60 or so dollars flat.

If it's the power supply, open the case and smell for smoke. When those things die it's usually fairly spectacular so there should be scorch marks somewhere. I'd check the 4-pin connector that plugs in near your CPU, that's how mine died.

Otherwise you're likely looking at a HDD problem. Either way they are easy to check for.

If there's something wrong, those who have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action.

etymxris
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JUST AS PLANNED

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If the power supply is the problem, then you just can just buy a new one. Depending on the area, best buy may sell them. But I would just buy one online at newegg. This is a desktop and not a laptop, right?

Science Brad
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This happened to me twice, and in each case it had two different problems. The first time I guess I messed up some BIOS settings and had to reflash it. The second time the motherboard itself was broken and had to replace it. It really is hard to say what the deal is from what you have described.

So I have some questions:

1)When you hit the power button on does anything else turn on such as case fans or the fan over your processor?

2)Does it make any beeps?

I guess that is all the questions.

"We've arranged a civilization in which most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and technology. We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces." -Carl Sagan

Shadowe

I kinda want to see that up someone's ass

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Right, duh, how stupid of me to forget that. Brad's right on the money. If there is something wrong with your computer that isn't purely physical (psu busted) chances are you'll get a series of beeps or tones as an error code. Your motherboard might even have a little row of lights or something on it to give a visual code too.

If there's something wrong, those who have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action.

mmac
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They'll charge you $59 for diagnostics, and $39 for the install, and probably $60 for the part.

Call and ask if they'll test your PSU for you then bring that part in only. It's an easy install which shouldn't be too difficult for you to do yourself.

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Bartender: What's wrong?
Atom: I've just lost an electron.
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Atom: Yeah, I'm positive.

Nemesis
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They're ALL scientologists damn you! IT'S A CONSPIRACY!

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If you're getting an orange light it's most likely not the power supply. Start looking for a new computer since I'm 90% sure you've got a Dell and that shit's proprietary and you'd end up spending a pretty penny for a new board/psu/ram/etc to fit in the shitty Dell case.

wheezy
The Reel RS Krew
Lord Handsome

Ok, I was on vacation but now I'm back so hoorah for that.

Little more background info, and some answers to questions.

It is indeed a Dell desktop, and it's one of the compact towers, so it's very small. I bought a new video card about a year and a half ago, and it was bigger than my original one. Since I have the small case, the tower no longer closes all the way. Since the tower doesn't close, the fan doesn't go on. So I had some problems with it overheating, but that was rectified with me putting a small regular fan behind the tower, and leaving it open a bit. It worked fine with no problems for over a year.

I had to bring my computer back and forth from college a few times with the tower being partly open, so I wouldn't be surprised if something got messed up en route once or twice.

Quote:
If it's the power supply, open the case and smell for smoke. When those things die it's usually fairly spectacular so there should be scorch marks somewhere. I'd check the 4-pin connector that plugs in near your CPU, that's how mine died.

I didn't see any scorch marks, and certainly don't smell smoke anymore. It's possible I smelled something a little bit when this first was shitty, but that might be my memory(in my head, not RAM) playing games with me.

Quote:
1)When you hit the power button on does anything else turn on such as case fans or the fan over your processor?

Nothing at all really turns on. No fan or anything, but then again, my fan didn't turn on even when my computer did after I installed the video card.

Quote:
2)Does it make any beeps?

Not a peep, and I don't think there are lines of lights on my motherboard. Usually just a solid orange, I believe.

So what should my course of action be? Should I bring it into best buy or some other shop and just say "This doesn't work, please find out what's wrong"? I'm not entirely adverse to getting a new computer, but if I could fix this one relatively cheaply, I'd prefer that. I would certainly like to keep a lot of shit I have stored on it.

By the way, thanks everyone for the response so far.

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Shadowe

I kinda want to see that up someone's ass

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Dell's use nonstandard hardware that they make themselves, except for stuff like processors, ram, or peripherals there's really nothing you can do with it yourself.

At this point you'd probably be better off just taking everything you can out of it and building a cheap C2D machine.

If there's something wrong, those who have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action.

etymxris
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If you're willing to put together a new computer yourself, then just buy a new power supply. If it fixes your computer, you're good. If it doesn't, then you can use it for the new computer you put together.

Even though Dell uses non-standard hardware, I don't see why you can't just get a new motherboard compatible with all your components. You may have to get a new case too though. And if you put in a new motherboard, Windows will usually freak out, requiring a re-install.

mmac
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Dell doesn't use as much non standard on its more recent PCs, because they have had a huge negative outlash over it before.

The Ultra Compact PCs are still fairly propreitetary however, and I don't think that will change. Check the prices of guaranteed parts on ebay.

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Atom: I've just lost an electron.
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Nemesis
Zuri's Cat
They're ALL scientologists damn you! IT'S A CONSPIRACY!

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If it's giving you an orange light that means the PSU is good but the motherboard is hosed up all kinds of fun. The new Dells, by the way Mmac, are worse than the old ones. People will ask if we have ram for them and state that they have "PC3200" so we give them a stick of DDR400 PC3200. They come back an hour later and state that this ram does not fit inside their computer and produce the stick that they pulled out which is in fact DDR2 PC3200. Dell and occasionally HP are the only manufacturers that do this. The new XPS cases with the speed hole is even more proprietary than the old ones, the PSU is non standard, ATX motherboards generally have a different screw set, and Dell still charges far more than they should for replacement.

wheezy
The Reel RS Krew
Lord Handsome

Well I took it into Geek Squad and the guy said it was either the motherboard or the CPU that was fucked up. His advice was to try and order one from Dell or something, but I think I'm pretty fed up with Dell.

So basically I'm going to have to get a new computer. I want the data that's currently on my computer, but it costs either 99 or 159 to get it off, depending on how much I want. Does anyone know of a cheaper way to get the shit off?

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Nemesis
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They're ALL scientologists damn you! IT'S A CONSPIRACY!

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Step one: Buy a new computer, http://www.cheapguys.comyou can get a quad core machine for a grand.

Step two: Set your hard drive to be a slave.

Step three: access your data from your old drive.

Step four: Profit, because Geek Squad is a fucking ripoff.

Additionally, if you have any further questions, hit me up on AIM, Icantskat3

mmac
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It's only really a rip off if you don't have any other options. I have ceased feeling guilty for customers that pay us to do their services.

If they can't put a CD in the drive on their PC, and click [install] it's not my fault.

An atom walks into a bar looking very depressed.
Bartender: What's wrong?
Atom: I've just lost an electron.
Bartender: Are you sure?
Atom: Yeah, I'm positive.

Nemesis
Zuri's Cat
They're ALL scientologists damn you! IT'S A CONSPIRACY!

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Oh trust me, I know. I charge people 50 dollars for forgetting their password. Once someone learns that they can slave a hard drive though, there's no reason to pay best buy 130 bucks for it. Help a Wheezy out here, nigga.

pl0x

now you're redundant if you say anything

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take it away from geek squad, now. my boss where i work is a former employee of geek squad, and if you give them stuff to work on (software/virus issues), and don't buy a 'backup all data', more often then not they'll fix whatever it is by just reformatting, because it's easier. Then they just rub it in your face saying how you should have backed everything up.
They may not be as mean there, but i wouldn't rule it out. No matter what the motive behind it being (carelessness, goofying off, malice) it could still happen. If you want your stuff back, listen to Nemesis on the slave thing. You can easily ghost all your old stuff to a new hard drive.

as far as good, quality computers go. Averatec rules. My laptop is a year and a half old, and i'm a download whore. It still runs as fast as the day i got it.

sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good ;D

mmac
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No, that's a violation of SOP. Before reformatting any PC in store we must have permission. However when it goes out to service it is often necessary to reformat. When PCs get sent to the manufacturers for repair they're formatted 90% of the time.

An atom walks into a bar looking very depressed.
Bartender: What's wrong?
Atom: I've just lost an electron.
Bartender: Are you sure?
Atom: Yeah, I'm positive.

pl0x

now you're redundant if you say anything

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i didn't say that it was legal, or allowed. Just that it CAN happen, and it has before.

sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good ;D

wheezy
The Reel RS Krew
Lord Handsome

My one friend told me about something that you plug your hard-drive into, and it basically works as an external HD. An HD enclosure or something. I forget exactly what it's called. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

Also, there's an add for a Dell (grumble grumble, I know) computer, Intel Dual Core, 250 gig HD, vista (which I'm not thrilled about either), 2GB memory and a 20" flatscreen for like 700.

One thing they don't mention is the video card. This kinda sounds like a pretty decent deal. Thoughts? I'm not looking for a super uber-fast ultra machine, but something that's good and won't be horrendous in a few years.

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Nemesis
Zuri's Cat
They're ALL scientologists damn you! IT'S A CONSPIRACY!

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Add me on AIM, I work in a computer store. I garauntee I can beat Dell on any deal they have. Additionally, haven't you learned your lesson about Dells and proprietary yet?

Shadowe

I kinda want to see that up someone's ass

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That external hard drive case you're thinking of is called an "external hard drive case". If your hard drive has a very wide rectangular plug with a ribbon of cable going into it you need one for something called IDE, if you have a small red cord plugging into it you have a SATA hard drive and need to pay a little more.

Other than that just build a new computer. If you aren't going to be playing Crysis anytime soon you can make a quad core 2gb DDR2-800 machine for about 700 or less.

If there's something wrong, those who have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action.

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