Computer disasters!!!!!

[Quark]

Hi All,
Computers, where would we be without them.
I don't get on very well with computers, tend to have a tempestuous relationship with them.

I have this strange and probably irrational expectation that computers should just......well, actually work and do what I expect them to do, you know, open a program and have it work.

The variety that are for public consumption surely must rate amongst the most unreliable pieces of technology ever to be let loose on the general public.

Now, I can already feel the ire of the techno savvy being raised due to the aforementioned statement, but I am guessing that there may be a lot of support from others, perhaps older and less with it people such as me.

I am starting this thread in the hope that others might also share disasters that have befallen them that related to computers.

Without doubt my most memorable computer disaster happened to me when I was doing my astro degree at Swinburne, I remember it well.

It was during the last weeks of the semester, my final semester and I was putting the finishing touches to the final assessable piece of work, my project writeup for my final unit at Swinburne. This piece of work was worth 30% of my mark for that unit. I had chosen a practical project on galaxy morphology, my writeup was an in depth analysis of images I had taken of various types of galaxy, comparing my images with professionally published ones of the same object.

I had finished my project writeup about a week earlier and was really just tinkering around the edges, making it a better document. I had just re read it for the umteenth time when I noticed smoke wafting out of my tower. Well, initially it was wafting but it rapidly got worse. In a state of total panic I was pulling every plug I could reach to kill the power, obviously it is not a good thing to let the smoke out of a computer.

I had not backed up my work and I could picture the reaction of my project supervisor when I told her that I had cooked my project writeup.
I rang my friendly computer technician and blurted out my woes. As I disconnected my tower to take it to the tech I had visions of having to enroll for another semester to complete my degree, after all it is a pretty feeble excuse to say, well I worked my but off on this project and it is a great writeup, but I can't submit it because my computer died.

Fortunately my computer tech, who I instantly elevated to legend status, replaced my power supply, which had cooked and I was back in business in under an hour. Talk about rocket service.

This taught me two things, always backup and never let the smoke out of your computer.

Regards
Trevor:whistle:

[toryglen-boy]

i quite often called called upon to do such things, given my profession of a computer engineer, i have several laptops and computers, and tend to give them a health check on a regular basis, i even changed the PSU in my HTPC not that long ago ...

Glad you got it sorted though

[leon]

Hi Trev, I just read the first line, being


Computers, where would we be without them. :whistle:

Much better off mate, ;) it is only that we have to keep up, or be lost.

Leon :thumbsup:

[toc]

I would rate whipper snippers and two stroke lawn mowers as the most unreliable...

My biggest stuff up occurred about 3 months into a new job - I was developing a new module for an existing web based application and was trying to impress, since I was on a probational period - I was about 1/2 way into it, when a bug in my new code managed to delete the entire project! (one to many wildcard operators) The project was backed up, but not this particular bit. Alas backups where not running on that particular server - but I should have made sure it was in the first place!

I lost about 6 weeks of work over that one. thankfully I was able to re-write it in about a week, and my boss was none the wiser at the time. :lol:

[Zuts]

The problem is that most people buy a computer then fill it up with all sorts of downloaded crap and never ever clean it up or tune it. If you treated a car like this it would be going very badly after a number of years.

Basically once a year you should probably reinstall the OS or at least go through the task list and make sure all the crap that has been picked up during the previous year has been removed. This goes double for anyone who lets their kids surf the internet on their pc.

Cheers
Paul

[leon]

Good Point Paul, my dear Alice, God love her, always says, why are all your images so organised, I reply, I sort and delete rubbish each day and then put them in folders with names so I know where they are,, Try it Alice, :whistle:darling. :)

Leon :thumbsup:

[DENMONKEY]

I'm certainly not a power user or professional when it comes to computers but am self taught and have managed to build a few pcs for myself, family and friends.
Unfortunately you only need to know a little more than those asking the questions to be called on ALL of the time to fix any issues they may be facing.

The amount of times I have pulled someone else's PC apart to see the thing in a terrible state with the CPU cooler, PSU and external fans literally caked in dust.
As Zuts said, a little due care and maintainence with both software and hardware components can go along way to keeping things as they should be.

It would also be nice to see these regular callers at least attempt to come up with a solution before making the call for help.

I don't mind been helpful but I don't like being used either.

[KenGee]

I work on mainframes and mid ranges system mainly. I some times slum it on PC's. Anyway my biggest was coming into work one day. The first thing I would do was check the system back up went okay. I opened the console screen and logged on. I run the backup report and got a mainframe version of the blue screen of death. Now bare in mind, this system did the over night processing for a number of very large customers and had not had an outage for 4 years. Lets just say the phone started ringing...

[Quark]

So true Leon,
Back when I was using my ToUcam the problems in trying to find a compatible capture program and drivers, when I upgraded to a better laptop that had Vista as its operating system, was a real pain.

Eventually sorted it out. Probably did me a favor really, initially when it looked like I was not going to find a solution I started researching the DMK CCD's, which I eventually went to and haven't looked back since with my planetary imaging.

Regards
Trevor

[Quark]

Hi All,

Thought a few computer disasters involving the space program, there have been many, might be of interest.

The 1998 Mars Surveyor program consisted of two spacecraft launched separately, Mars Climate Orbiter and Mars Polar Lander, Mars Climate orbiter was the first to be launched.

When Mars Climate Orbiter arrived at Mars, due to a programing error, whereby the programing that was done in imperial was interpreted in metric, disastrous consequences ensued. This resulted in a much more direct approach for orbital insertion with the space craft going into orbit at an altitude of only 57 km instead of the planned 150 km. The insertion velocity at such a low altitude would have torn the spacecraft apart.

Due to this unforeseen problem with Mars Climate Orbiter, Mars Polar Lander was reprogrammed enroute. All contact was lost with Mars Polar Lander during its decent through the Martian atmosphere. The following inquiry concluded that a spurious signal generated when the Lander legs were deployed (Mars Polar Lander was designed for a soft landing) was interpreted by the onboard computers as the spacecraft having actually landed. The computers then shut off the descent engines and the spacecraft free fell the final several km's to the surface.

Regards
Trevor