I guess this is just the time of year for computer problems. First, my Mom's computer has been acting kinda weird---it won't power up. When I worked on it at her place a couple weekends ago, I opened it up, did a thorough cleaning and checked all the power connections and card seatings. Then, I powered it up and it POST'd just fine. (For the non-geek readers, that's Power On Self-Test and causes the first little beep most computers make. It's a good beep.) Okay then. The next day, when we tried to put it back together (monitor, keyboard, et cetera), it wouldn't POST. Moved it to another outlet, no POST. At one point we thought it was her UPS (Universal Power Supply) and we purchased a new one. Nope, not the UPS. We're guessing (!) it's the PSU (Power Supply Unit)---the second one this computer has had. I've ordered number three.

In the meantime, she continued to try powering it up and a few days ago I heard it was working again. Go figure. I'll probably still replace the PSU.

Tuesday afternoon, there was a brief power blip at our house. I only noticed 'cause I had the tv on at the time and it went down. I've got my Linux computer on a UPS, so it never lost power. My Windows computer did power down but I wasn't using it at the time, so I didn't notice until later. I didn't think anything of the power blip until Randy got home that night. His UPS died a while back, so he's been running on surge protectors only. He tried to boot his Linux computer....nothing.

After several tries, I had the guys disconnect all the cables and bring it to my ottoman-turned-workstation. I cleaned it out---holy cow, this thing could have rivaled some of the Angora bunnies I've seen online recently! I pulled the front faceplate off and the front fan intakes were covered in a matt of dust and dirt (and probably pet hair!). After the fans were cleaned (a combination of my Dyson and an air can), I went down into the case further to the board. Once the dust and dirt was blown and vacuumed off, it looked okay. I re-seated the power connections, pulled the video card cooler and cleaned it, pulled the video card and cleaned it. I really don't like to pull memory---and hate to pull the CPU, if I don't have to, so I didn't this time.

Sealed it up and handed it back to Randy. No POST. Crap. I decided I need to try the two things I hate. I checked the memory---looks good. I released the CPU heat sink clamps and pulled. Nothing. Pulled a little harder....and out came the heat sink with the CPU stuck to it!

Not good.

At this point, where the failure is, is anyone's guess and lots of shipping of parts to figure out. I immediately went to NewEgg and started looking for the "sweet spot"---that point in technology where the price is lowest for the most tech. Sometimes, you can go a little lower, but the difference from one to the next is worth going up a little for. Now, $300 later, Randy has a new MOBO (motherboard), CPU, RAM (2 GB!!!), PSU, and video card coming to him. And I get to put it all together! *grin*

In the middle of all of this, Nick (whom I've been trying to teach the art of building computers to) decides that he's positive his CPU is the same socket type as the one Randy had. I was reasonably sure he was wrong, but I need to do things in a logical order or I get confused---and having Nick's computer parts and Randy's computer parts mingling was definitely a recipe for confusion. So, anyway, Nick gets into his computer and pulls his CPU. Now, keep in mind I've been stressing verbally how much I dislike unseating and reseating a CPU. Also, Randy, who leaves the hardware maintenance to me, has been emphatically agreeing with this dislike---it's hard on the CPU, it's potentially disastrous (as we've just learned) and it's the last place to look for a problem!

So, out comes his heat sink....with the CPU stuck to it. *sigh* I'm so not paying for that!

Anyways, Wednesday was all about cleaning out the other computers and making sure they weren't as clogged up as Randy's Linux box. I didn't clean either of our Windows boxes, but I did get one of our servers cleaned out. I'm not looking forward to doing the other server which probably hasn't been cleaned since Arizona and likely has a dead scorpion or two in it. Gives a new meaning to computer bugs. Oh, and yuck!

Once we'd powered down all the computers (6 under two desks!), we moved them all out and cleaned up all the junk the ferrets had drug back there, plus all the ferret toys hidden back there. A really good vaccuuming later, we were ready to start putting computers back under the desks. I arranged the first three (2 servers and Randy's Windows box) under his desk, with the Summera computer holder from IKEA next in line (to hold his Linux computer).

Now today, I need to clean up the rest of the living room, put away my yarn buckets *sob* and see if I can make this room habitable again!

What've you been up to? Wanna buy some of my stuff?