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"My customers receive free lifetime support"
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Watch-Out
Incompetent Computer Technicians are Everywhere!
I'm not even going to try to put this politely: The vast majority of computer technicians are either incompetent or crooked!
It outrages me, and is an embarrassment to my industry, that something over 75% of all computer repair shops and technicians are worse than useless, and make the sleazy auto repair shops look like the pinnacle of virtue and competence.
The following is typical of many emails I receive each week:
Dear Sir,
I was on your website and I do believe you can help me with my problem. I am from South America and owning a Computer is like owning a house and land in our country.
My computer was working very good up to monday. On tuesday morning when I swiched it on, it won't come up. I tried it for the whole day but nothing. The next day, I carried it to a computer technican and the same thing happened and he advised me to put in a new mother board in the computer.
Okay, he installed the new mother board and it did not work, so again , he advised me to change the sound card and it worked. Now the problem is, after using the computer about one and a half hours or two, the arrow freezes. I would then shut it off and start it up again but the same problem comes back again even less than 1 and a half hour.
What I would like to know is how could the computer, working good all the time without showing any freezing or problems, just won't work the next day. Does a mother board just blow out like that or could it have been another problem and I didn't need to put in a new board or sound card? I used a windows 95 first and the technican put in windows 98 with the new board - any difference with these to the problem? Please help, and if there is more information you would like, let me know. I do computer crafts eg brochures, letter heads, cards with your photo ,etc, and now this problem is putting me out of business and to buy a new one is very expensive. The technican says he cannot fix the fault and I would have to buy a new one. Please if this is so, let me know. I would be very thankful for your help. I once repaired my TV through the help of the internet and if there is anything you can advise me to do, I can do it. By the way, I am trying to write this very quickly before the computer freezes.
My response to this poor soul follows:
Sorry to hear about your difficulties. Of course, not having the computer in front of me makes it difficult to know for sure what your problems were/are, but I'll give it my best guess.
I am doubly sorry that it appears you are dealing with either an incompetent or crook. Many self acclaimed computer technicians have no, or little, training or experience, and sadly a few are just outright criminals. Of course I could be wrong about your computer tech, but...
It's very likely that the first problem was caused by a dirty connection inside the computer's box. As time goes on airborne household dust, dirt, cooking oils, etc can slowly migrate into the many connections and cause the original problem you described.
The proper way to diagnose a problem, such as yours, would have been to clean all internal connections (This can be done by just removing and reinserting all cables, cards, memory and so forth in their sockets. (See: http://www.jrwhipple.com/sup_underhood.html ) This scrubs the connections clean). If that doesn't fix the problem, or change the symptoms, then all cards, except the video card, are temporally removed. If the computer starts running, each card is put back in, (one at a time), if there is a bad card, (such as a bad sound card), when that card is reinstalled the computer won't boot, so you now know what particular card is bad. If the computer won't run with all except the video card removed, then even the video card is removed. With all cards removed the computer is started; the internal speaker should beep, to inform you that there is no video card. If this happens, you can bet the main board (mother board) is OK and you might have a bad video card,
It sounds like your technician didn't diagnose your problem, he just guessed, and guessed wrong, until he either stumbled across the bad sound card, or more likely he inadvertently scrubbed a dirty connection clean by his floundering around inside your computer. Or, as he installed the new main board, he put a cable back on WRONG then discovered his error as he changed the sound card, but to save face, he put the blame on the sound card. It's so sad, and embarrassing to my industry, that somewhere over 75% of all computer technicians are incompetent, and about 10 to 20 percent are just plain crooked. See: Repairs (part way down the page).
What version of Windows 98 did the technician install? The first version of 98 had some serious bugs which can cause the hanging problem you are now experiencing. The latest version, Windows 98SE, (Second Edition) solved most of the problems. You can check your version number by right clicking on the “My Computer” icon, then click on “Properties”. If your computer doesn't display “Second Edition” you have the first version, and I would highly recommend having a competent technician completely reformat and install 98SE. (Don't just upgrade to it, but completely clean the hard drive and do a fresh install.)
Hanging can also be caused be an improper CPU heat sink installation.
See: http://www.jrwhipple.com/sup_buildcomp.html (the lower left-hand sidebar.) Hanging can also be caused be improper or down level drivers. If the technician did not completely reformat and reload your hard drive, he may have left some older drivers on the hard drive, causing your current problem.
See: (http://www.jrwhipple.com/sup_startover.html )
I hope this helps a little. I truly wish you the best.
You may be able to save yourself from the misfortunes of the above poor soul, (and many like him, I hear from each month).
Before you let a possibly incompetent or crooked technician touch your computer,
Contact Me, and I'll try to help you. Please include as much about your computer, OS, software, hardware and problem(s) as you can. The more I know, the better I can help you.
-J.R. Whipple
Don't Look To The
Government For Help!
The government's about as ineffectual in this area as they are in all things they portend to control.
I, like all computer repair shops in California, (as well as many other states), am required by law to have a state issued license to service computers. One of the little ironies in this is; I am also a computer manufacture, and as such, I need no license to build computers, but If I repair one of my-own computers, I need a state license. Go figure!
The state charges me several hundred dollars, each year, for my license. They require absolutely no tests, or any other display of competence, just my money. Your grandmother could get a computer repair license from the state of California, and probably most other states.
Don't expect any government agency to protect you from anything in life. It just doesn't work that way.
This little rant is intended to help you understand, a license on the wall of a computer repair shop means nothing, not to tweak the noses of any small-minded bureaucrat who may actually think he's doing something useful. But I suppose, if any of those white-collared welfare recipients see this, I'll be in big trouble.
What I won't risk to help my fellow man! {big-grin}
Unintended Consequences
It seems to be human nature that when confronted by wrong doers we cry out; "There ought to be a law!" And equally often when the cry goes up, elected officials are more than happy to oblige by creating some agency or another that has the power to fine but not the will to test.
It would make a much better world if our laws were constructed in such a manner as to try and insure quality through testing for competence, as apposed to fining after failure.
The unintended consequences of passing the kind of simple-minded laws our leaders are prone to do, only legitimizes crooked behavior, and does little, if anything, to promote success. The consequences usually are the reverse of the needs of the people. A Government agency's license, hanging on the wall, lulls the average consumer into believing there is some legitimacy to a given business. This surly is not the case!
When small men cast long shadows the sun is about to set.
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No mass-produced computers. I hand- craft each of my computer systems.
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