Uir pc begain havin’ problems puckle months ago. It looks as if some processur intensife tasks waur quickly hoggin’ th’ cpu which woods quickly overheat. Raither than try an’ fix thes, given th’ age ay th’ system, it seemed a guid time tae rebuild th’ entire beest.

I first tried tae rebuild th’ PC aroond mah existin’ AGP8x card (an ATI Radeon 9700 pro, which still hud some life left in it), nae a simple feat considerin’ ‘at AGP is quickly bein’ replaced by PCI express (16). Th’ ASUS MB Ah wanted tae use can nae longer be foond fur loove ur bunsens, sae Ah tried a PC Chips P23G (big mistake). Th’ first problem Ah noted was ‘at efter loadin’ aw th’ XP pro setup files frae CD tae HD, th’ system woods nae recognize th’ HD oan rebit. Thaur waur reports ‘at a bios fix woods solve thes, but sadly, Ah was unable tae update th’ bios (thaur waur also reports ay thes as well). Buck! Sae, Ah send back th’ MB an’ CPU, hopin’ a replacement woods wark. Naturally, by thes time, th’ P23G was nae longer in stock - in fact, aw MBs supportin’ AGP ur quickly dwindlin’.

So, time tae bite th’ bullit. Ah foond a brain new Asus M2N MB, AMB dual cair processor, 2 GB corsair memory an’ an ATI PCI Express x16 Video Card. Naturally, wi’ th’ mair powerful MB, Ah needed a mair powerful PSU - Thermaltake seemed loch a braw solution as I’ve used their PSUs an’ cases (the noo discontinued Xaser III) afair.

Sadly, mah luck wisnae in th’ wey o change fur th’ better.

This time Ah maunt tae instaa XP pro sucessfully, followed by aw updates an’ service packs. Office went in wi’ nae difficulty. Ah hae a subscription tae Norton Anti Virus, which installed jist braw. But, durin’ installation ay NAV updates, th’ entire system powered doon raither abrubtly. Thes wisnae a crash, it was jist as if someain pulled th’ plug. Subsequent attempts tae bit th’ system resulted in loss ay power within seconds. Sae, efter lettin’ th’ system sit fur puckle minutes Ah tried again. Things seemed awe rite. The followin’ morn Ah maunt tae configure th’ network printer an’ puckle other minur tidbits. Next mistake: Ah become overconfident.

That nicht Ah tried tae power th’ system an’ naethin’ happened. Weel, nae exactly naethin’. Ah got an instant ay power, then naethin’. Pressin’ th’ power button efter thes hud nae effect, an’ only by flippin’ th’ main shuttoff oan th’ back ay th’ PSU coods Ah gie onie reaction frae th’ system, but only an instant ay power.

What tae dae?

When in trooble, when in doobt, rin in circles, scream an’ shit.

…quickly followed by a sit ay phain calls tae some former co-wokers (IT). Aam canty tae say ‘at aw waur helpful, but Carl provided some ay th’ best input (seein’ ‘at he has encoontered similar problems). Sae, back th’ psu goes tae NewEgg (with th’ understandin’ ‘at if th’ replacement, tae be shipped as suin as UPS recei’es th’ faulty unit, fails, ‘en all th’ hardwaur will be returned.

So whit hae we learned haur the-day?

1) Reid th’ reviews. Seems ‘at a number ay fowk hae seen aw (if nae more) ay th’ problems oan aw th’ hardwaur I’ve jist discussed. If ye hae a problem - likely someain else has seen it tay, sae yoo’re nae a bampot.
2) Swatch at th’ overaa ratin’. If it’s tay law, fin’ anither make and/ur model.
3) Dornt panic (ain aye hae a towel).
4) Dornt be overconfident ‘at th’ problems others hae seen willnae happen tae ye - min’, a body day, yer number will come up. an’ in mah case, mair than ance in a raw.

I ken whit puckle ay ye hae bin thinking: “why th’ heel ur ye still usin’ a PC? …with Windows?” weel, th’ answer’s simple. Ah develop in c++/c#/com/vbt fur systems runnin’ Windows, an’ ance in a while Ah loch tae wark frae haem. Noo, aam nae haur tae flin’ Apple under th’ bus. In fact, Ah fin’ Ah hae mair an’ mair respect fur Apple systems. but, th’ warld still runs largely oan Microsoft, an’ that’s nae gonnae change. Truth is, aam a product ay mah environment an’ Bill Gates is dictatin’ mah environment at th’ moment.