Re: Worst thing you've done to a computer
 

Did you use Windows ME in proximity to working on the pc, it is known to have such mental effects.

Re: Worst thing you've done to a computer
 

Look really close :bsmack:

We first had a Win95 machine and I dunno what happend to it... Ya couldnt do anything! (Clicking a link on desktop wouldnt go anywhere) -- I dunno if I me$$ed it up by mistake or what........
(.lnk was not assigned anymore for some reason..... Nothing was!!!)

I didnt know much about computers then... I didnt know how to fix it.... Then we got a 98se computer and had a problem so we brought that in for repair and they SAID there was a fire in the power supply..... I dunno if it was a lie or not just to keep our GOOD computer,I dunno.... They gave us another 98se they had there and this poor thing had been majorly abused!!

It was set for 2 monitors so when I put it on 1,it caused problems... I finally got it set to 1 monitor (It kept going back to 2)

It also had alot of memory issues and this thing kept freezing and I didnt know why..... I looked at the BATCH file and it had this insane line: "IF ERROR THEN PAUSE" so whenever something happend it would just STOP.... Totally stupid!!

The IE setting was set to 2 (Max connections) I changed it to 48 in 2004 when I saw a thread on another site I was on where someone said they changed thier Firefox setting to 48 and it made a big difference..... I tried the same on IE6 and its incredible!!! (Why was it set so low??)

I have brought this poor computer along way since I got it......... She still has memory issues but not like she did when I got it in my room.. (It was in my parents room for awhile when we first got it)

Re: Worst thing you've done to a computer
 

I thought you were just gonna say bump 15.5 year old threads for the crack hehehe

Oh no buddy.... When I reply I have a reason :)


I look for an existing thread and if there is one,I reply as it looks silly having multiple threads of the same topic all over the site.. (Especially on the same base)

Re: Worst thing you've done to a computer
 

I think that way too because all the information is kept together for anyone interested in the subject matter. However, many forums don't like this though and prefer a new thread to be created. I'm told that this is because the presence of old threads on the front page makes it look like the forum is quiet and little used.

Re: Worst thing you've done to a computer
 

A lot happens in 15 years!

Re: Worst thing you've done to a computer
 

True, the information may be out of date (depending what it's about).

Re: Worst thing you've done to a computer
 

Well I once got so angry, that I smashed my fist onto the keyboard, only to see most of the keys leave (I should say this was a newish IBM AT system, with a massive 30MB HDD).


Well it was the keyboard or a work college wo had peed me of big time

Re: Worst thing you've done to a computer
 

Silly things:
Many many years ago on a now defunct forum, one of the members fitted a new sound card to his PC. When he fired it up his external speakers didn't work.

Being a PC savvy kind of chap, he spent hours re-seating the sound card, configuring drivers, checking for conflicts etc.

He eventually reported success . . . when he remembered that he had forgotten to push the 'on' switch to power the external speakers. :D

Took him a while to live that down

Re: Worst thing you've done to a computer
 

In the mid-80s, working on a client site, installing a new programme which had been developed back at the office (IBM S/36 programmed in RPG).

It was after 5pm on a Friday, so no one was on the system (in those days, in small companies, the clients didn’t have development environments on site). I put a comma in the wrong place on the Delete command, so instead of deleting the old programme, I deleted the entire programme library of compiled programmes - oopsy!

Found out the customer hadn’t backed up the source programme library in over six months (many changes had been made in that time), so I dashed back to our office (after ringing my Development Manager to let him know what had happened), took our copy of the library back to the customers, and I and two colleagues spent the weekend re-compiling and testing the programmes before the client arrived back on site Monday morning.

We had also let the customer know about the problem, as we had a very good relationship with them, and they brought staff in to help with the testing.

Everything worked fine after that, but was a brown trousers/career-limiting moment for a couple of hours whilst we put a recovery plan in place.

(A learning point from that was that we ensured all of our clients had current programme library back-ups in place from then on, both on and off site, as well as us having a copy).

Other worst thing I’ve done on a computer was implement SAP.

Re: Worst thing you've done to a computer
 

Some CF Legacy names in this thread.... :erm:

As well as installing AOL on a computer once (see my post from page 1) I also installed Bonzi Buddy once back in my days of high ignorance.....

Re: Worst thing you've done to a computer
 

AOL was awesome, got me so many one night stands and allowed me to travel the country on bonking expeditions. Loved it

I once years ago installed something that supposedly made your pages load faster when all it was doing really was collecting data!! (I got rid of it within months)

Yes its sad,we should try to invite them back :)

Re: Worst thing you've done to a computer
 

Not "totally stupid" in a batch file, have done the same many times myself.

If the batch file is run from a shortcut in Windows then the command window will just close so no chance to see the error.

Or if there are more commands after the error it could have scrolled off the top of the screen, again never to be seen!

I also like "the BATCH file" like there is only ever one!!

---------- Post added at 15:58 ---------- Previous post was at 15:41 ----------

We had Atari STs when I was doing my A-Level Computer Science course at college, would put an existing project disk into the A: drive to speed up booting, then promptly format it whilst still holding the new floppy in my hand!

As a developer, many many things, but all the usual like:
Deleting records from the live database instead of the test.
Running a SQL table update and forgetting the WHERE clause so every record updated.
Powering off a test server one day in the server room as it was just normal desktop PC sat on a desk, this was the day when a power switch was a proper hardware switch and I stood there holing the button in as I realised what I had done, but had to let go eventually!

While working on the helpdesk one day had a call from the Chief Exec, some error with a file (can't remember exact problem) so a ran a check disk and it ended up pretty much wiping everything