Ngreth Thergn
12-15-2002, 07:14 PM
This was not me. I got it from the tech tales website...
<hr>
Frankencompaq
So the next box in line to go on the bench is a Compaq whose ticket claims it just needs a new modem. Okay, easy enough. Right?
Right?
Uh, no.
First thing I notice when I get it on the bench: the power supply that's in there obviously does not belong there. Half the fan is obscured by the case, and an AT power switch is poking through a jury-rigged hole on the back. Unshielded, I might add. I know for a fact that this particular model takes an ATX power supply.
Something told me that before I so much as plugged this thing in, I needed to look inside.
OH DEAR GOD.
As soon as I get the case off, the other tech falls off his chair laughing. After I put the outer case down and look for myself, I see why.
No, that's definitely not the right power supply. Or the right motherboard--/that/ appears to be held in place by a piece of cardboard wedged between it and the chassis. And then, /then,/ I see exactly what had the other tech laughing so hard.
*****! ***** ON THE MOUNTAIN WEARING A CRASH HELMET!
The hard drive is dangling from a random support in the chassis, held by electrical tape.
I laughed. I laughed until tears squirted freely from my eyes. I had to laugh, or I would have screamed.
Other tech and I root around for the webcam we have stashed somewhere, so we can get pictures of this.
Boss #1 comes out of his meeting. I wave him over. He makes a face that utterly defies description and runs to get me his digital camera so we can get /better/ pictures of this. I express my reservations about so much as plugging the thing in, let alone trying to fix it. He agrees and suggests I write up a release for the customer to sign if she decides she still wants me to work on it.
I attempt to call customer. Line is busy.
Customer finally returns call. I tell her in no uncertain terms that there is no way in Hell I am working on this computer unless she signs the release, and then proceed to tell her exactly /why./
"Oh my God," she says when I am done. Apparently, she's never looked in it.
She comes to collect it rather than have us attempt surgery on it. She looks in it and is as horrified as I was.
I finally demand to know who worked on it before us, so that I may go and poke his eyes out with a spork. She says her sister bought it from a flea market.
Moral: Do not buy computers from flea markets without looking inside the case first.
<hr>
Frankencompaq
So the next box in line to go on the bench is a Compaq whose ticket claims it just needs a new modem. Okay, easy enough. Right?
Right?
Uh, no.
First thing I notice when I get it on the bench: the power supply that's in there obviously does not belong there. Half the fan is obscured by the case, and an AT power switch is poking through a jury-rigged hole on the back. Unshielded, I might add. I know for a fact that this particular model takes an ATX power supply.
Something told me that before I so much as plugged this thing in, I needed to look inside.
OH DEAR GOD.
As soon as I get the case off, the other tech falls off his chair laughing. After I put the outer case down and look for myself, I see why.
No, that's definitely not the right power supply. Or the right motherboard--/that/ appears to be held in place by a piece of cardboard wedged between it and the chassis. And then, /then,/ I see exactly what had the other tech laughing so hard.
*****! ***** ON THE MOUNTAIN WEARING A CRASH HELMET!
The hard drive is dangling from a random support in the chassis, held by electrical tape.
I laughed. I laughed until tears squirted freely from my eyes. I had to laugh, or I would have screamed.
Other tech and I root around for the webcam we have stashed somewhere, so we can get pictures of this.
Boss #1 comes out of his meeting. I wave him over. He makes a face that utterly defies description and runs to get me his digital camera so we can get /better/ pictures of this. I express my reservations about so much as plugging the thing in, let alone trying to fix it. He agrees and suggests I write up a release for the customer to sign if she decides she still wants me to work on it.
I attempt to call customer. Line is busy.
Customer finally returns call. I tell her in no uncertain terms that there is no way in Hell I am working on this computer unless she signs the release, and then proceed to tell her exactly /why./
"Oh my God," she says when I am done. Apparently, she's never looked in it.
She comes to collect it rather than have us attempt surgery on it. She looks in it and is as horrified as I was.
I finally demand to know who worked on it before us, so that I may go and poke his eyes out with a spork. She says her sister bought it from a flea market.
Moral: Do not buy computers from flea markets without looking inside the case first.