Comments for My computers keep dying. Is it me?

Comment from Peter Smith on 2008-04-01

2008-04-01T21:20:33Z

I have had the problems listed above since i was a child, i would go as far to say 80% of electrical items i purchase fail, whether the are purchased new or second hand, in the last 2 months alone i have had a pc that had to go back 3 times for exchange, a dvr that failed and also has to be returned, a broken iphone, and only tonight a brand new projector that was working fine, turned it off, went back an hour later to turn it back on and now it wont turn on, it has happened to tv's video's dvd's anything electrical really, also cannot be due to some of the above explenations as it has happened in many different homes i have lived in since a child, all my family and wife are aware of my bad luck around these items?

I can tell you it drives me absolutely mad.

Regards

Peter

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Comment from Maureen Teachman on 2007-09-19

2007-09-19T17:23:04Z

I had a similar problem with my business computers. I thought I was the 'kiss of death' to electronic equipment. However, we were to learn that because the buildings in which we worked were close to roads which had intermittent but frequent very heavy trucks passing by, the building often had some vibration. The vibration was subtle to us and we had gotten used to it. But apparently our computers did not. The vibration had caused hard drive skips as well as electrical connections in the building to become loose which made the electricity inconsistent. Both caused electronic component damages. That was prior to my using UPS. We also moved the location of the electronics that seemed to be having premature failure to a different part of the office/room.

Despite finally figuring out that the vibration had caused some of the damage, I also learned that another reason for the premature and always inconvenient death of other computer parts, can be inherent in the device.

If you do a search for complaints or reviews for the particular item that has failed, such as a specific hard drive or other device, you may find that the particular device or part has a history of similar reported premature failures. Then I have gone back to the company that made or sold the item and asked for a replacement part. If they refuse to replace the part, you have some choices. The first is to post the specific item and its known failures and the company's unwillingness to replace it or you can report it to a consumer protection government agency. Another option is to contact a newspaper or TV station that has a consumer help section. The power of the press can be very helpful.

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Comment from Beth on 2006-10-13

2006-10-13T21:21:01Z

My thanks to Leo and everyone who posted a comment in reference to my computers crashing dilema. I am getting a UPS for all of my computers ASAP!

On a final note, after writing to Leo, one of my computer monitors just stopped displaying! It is new, and the higher end video/graphics card I installed is approx. 6 months new! Hopefully the UPS will prevent further issues...unless I throw the computers out the window first. :) Thanks again Leo, I appreciate the advice very much.

Beth

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A comment on: My computers keep dying. Is it me?

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Comment from tripmix on 2006-10-12

2006-10-12T10:54:40Z

I would have blamed microsoft for everything, cursed bill gates to hell and installed a nix. But thats just me :)

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Comment from Leo Notenboom on 2006-10-09

2006-10-09T20:35:38Z

That's all good advice. What *is* (sort of) rocket science is making sure your power is "clean" (right voltage, steady, etc.) - and what to do if the box you just connected the green wire to is, itself, not grounded.

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Comment from Michael Everett on 2006-10-09

2006-10-09T19:32:17Z

I'd hate to see anyone spend money on an electrician just to check their power when you can do it yourself.

Go to the hardware store and buy one of those little yellow plug devices with three lights on the end. Plug it into any outlet and it will show you if the outlet is properly grounded and properly wired.

If you have the old ungrounded two-hole outlets, get some "ground-lifters" -- those little grey plugs that adapt a two-pronged outlet so a three-pronged plug can connect to it. Then take the little wire attached to the ground-lifter, back off one of the receptacle's screws and attach the wire so it makes a good connection with the screw. The screw attaches directly to the metal casing of the receptacle, which in turn is grounded to your electrical system. Finally, test your power coming out of the ground-lifter with your yellow plug-tester and make sure you have a good ground.

It's not rocket science.

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A comment on: My computers keep dying. Is it me?

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Comment from Simon on 2006-10-09

2006-10-09T15:44:25Z

>Are you wearing any jewlery as it could be magnetic?

Extremely unlikely to be the problem. Magnetism falls off with the inverse cube of distance; a small piece of magnetic jewelery isn't going to do anything unless you take apart the hard drive and rub it all over the platters.

Think about it: the degauss coil in a CRT monitor is way more powerful than any magnetic jewelery (mostly cos it's alternating rather than static), and it doesn't have any significant effect on a computer either. (Although it could cause problems with floppy disks left on top of it; floppies have a much lower coercivity than hard discs).

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Comment from Zac on 2006-10-08

2006-10-08T09:17:34Z

I once had a friend who had similar problems, with tv's however. She ended up buying 4 or 5 tv's just because some days she couldnt turn them on, when her daughter tried they worked fine. kind of makes you think, eh?

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Comment from Chris Buechler on 2006-10-07

2006-10-07T20:10:45Z

UPS's aren't really that pricey anymore. A decent one sufficient to protect a typical desktop PC (sans monitor, especially if it's a CRT) run under $100 USD.

No matter how reliable or unreliable your power is, it just doesn't make sense to not use a UPS on all your computer equipment.

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A comment on: My computers keep dying. Is it me?

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Comment from cloudchaser on 2006-10-07

2006-10-07T10:03:59Z

Try an experiment - buy a cheap copper bracelet, wear it when you use the laptop on battery only, make sure you leave mains lead to laptop unplugged. If after six months you have no repetition of failures, switch to leaving it off. If copper bracelet makes no difference, my bet would be on environment as per Leo. If it does make a difference AND the problems recur when you stop using the bracelet, decide whether it is cheaper to keep wearing it or pay out for more investigations. But you will have something to talk about either way!
Good luck

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A comment on: My computers keep dying. Is it me?

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Comment from Luigi on 2006-10-07

2006-10-07T09:26:53Z

Hello,

I have the same problem...well, my girlfriend does
everytime she is on my computer the machine keeps crashing sometimes even refuse to switch on on a cold start, then if i'm sitting at it, the machine reacts normally.
My pc is working with me very well, is a dual core machine with all the update but with my girfriend is acting strange....

Ciao.

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A comment on: My computers keep dying. Is it me?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
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Comment from Andrew on 2006-10-07

2006-10-07T07:30:54Z

Are you wearing any jewlery as it could be magnetic?

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A comment on: My computers keep dying. Is it me?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
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