What's the most stupid tech-related mistake you have ever seen or made?

Adrian Wong · 27th Nov 2008, 03:41 PM

Hah! I'll bet we all have stories of just how stupid we were and continue to be. Hehe.. So, share your stories of the mistakes you have made with computers or anything tech-related!

Let me start with a story of how stupid I once was...

I once dropped a screw into my computer case and installed a motherboard over it. Because the screw shorted the motherboard, it naturally refused to boot up.

I spent hours trying to figure out what was wrong. After pulling everything out, the PC still won't even give me a beep. Finally, I got frustrated enough to pull the motherboard out to try it "in the nude".

And that's when I SAW the freaking screw lying underneath the motherboard! OMG, I never felt like a bigger fool before.

mikegas · 27th Nov 2008, 03:59 PM

You just have to start this thread .. porta from the other thread

upgrade modem firmware via wireless from router... then got dc in the middle .. modem become a brick, then read instruction "MAKE SURE YOU HAVE DIRECT CONNECTION TO MODEM" PRICK!! ..

g0tanks · 27th Nov 2008, 04:05 PM

When I was a little (around 7/8 years old or so) I copied a shortcut of the C:\ drive to a floppy disk and then thought my whole C:\ drive was on that floppy.

Adrian Wong · 27th Nov 2008, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikegas

You just have to start this thread .. porta from the other thread

upgrade modem firmware via wireless from router... then got dc in the middle .. modem become a brick, then read instruction "MAKE SURE YOU HAVE DIRECT CONNECTION TO MODEM" PRICK!! ..

Hehe.. That's a good lesson for those who believe that WiFi is as "steady" as LAN.

LAN FTW!!

The_YongGrand · 27th Nov 2008, 04:10 PM

Me ? One biggest mistake was the BIOS hotflashing. I told ya before, and this is the silliest one among all.

Back in 2005, I did tried to mod the BIOS's startup logo (Energy Star) to something very different, and even managed to did that on other older motherboards. However, it isn't for the old Asus VX-97.

So, I put the binary file for the modified logo and flashed into the chip. Alas, it only booted but half-way through. All gibberish and I killed the bootloader thingy inside. The result? It doesn't know how to boot into any drives.

Ok, I did a hot flash, took out another board (another Socket 7) and ripped out the chip when it's running, and popped the frizzled one into the empty socket.

The big mistake is this : I looked at the chip socket's notch. I should be LOOKING at the notch printed on the board, below the socket. And, I put it upside down. So much for my complacence.

Then... ok, I press some AWFLASH and the thing hanged... until I hear a loud sharp POP!! with smell of that cooking chip. Later I found out that the chip's sticker is blown and it is useless now.

Thankfully, a few years later, I took out another broken board's BIOS chip ( TX-97 ), flashed it backed to VX-97 and got it working once more.

Lesson learned: Look at the board, not the socket!

belikethat · 27th Nov 2008, 10:46 PM

OK i tried to backup and clean my 'my documents' by select all, cut paste the content to another directory, ok next

i SHIFT + DELETE my existing 'my documents' with full condifent

next minute i just realise that i actualy shift delete the original 'my document' which i just cut paste
(kinda forget how it happen, i think because the the my document is just a redirection to a folder ). So there goes my files including assignment, reports,pic and etc. had to recover usinng program but not all files survived.

Zenphic · 28th Nov 2008, 07:46 AM

The dumbest mistake I ever made was trying to overclock my integrated video card. It was a ATI Xpress 200, and almost all the software I tried explicitly said that they did not support IGPs. I ignored and tried. Bluescreen then my Windows OS wouldn't boot anymore

PsYkHoTiK · 28th Nov 2008, 09:07 AM

It would have to be when I was diagnosing why my brother's PC had no output to the PC Speakers. I checked mute (ah ha! Bet you thought that would have been the reason right?) and no dice. Since it was an 'old' 2.1 set, I was just like yeah its probably busted. So ordered a new one online and when it arrived, as I was putting the new set in, I noticed the green plug was laying on the desk and not hooked up to the sound output...

Though the funniest I ever heard was at Fry's. A customer was asking about an 9800 GTX and what did it mean that it had Physx. The initially 'pro' smug look on the sales rep suddenly turned into stupor as he didn't know what it meant and he said that this was a graphics card not a Physx card. All the while I was standing right beside with a grin...

(it is a long running joke that MOST people at Fry's don't really know shit).

Also just look at ANY newegg user review. Also a good source of humor.

Falcone · 28th Nov 2008, 09:27 AM

The dumbest I did was this. I was trying to pull a hardisk master/slave jumper using a testpen, the thing is I forgot I left the power on at the computer, then there was a sparks coming out when I short circuit the pins, the screen went blank...

Strangest thing is the hardisk survive the ordeal but I fried the board.

Adrian Wong · 28th Nov 2008, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Falcone

The dumbest I did was this. I was trying to pull a hardisk master/slave jumper using a testpen, the thing is I forgot I left the power on at the computer, then there was a sparks coming out when I short circuit the pins, the screen went blank...

Strangest thing is the hardisk survive the ordeal but I fried the board.

Wow.. You fried the board just like that but your HDD survived??

27th Nov 2008, 03:41 PM	#1 (permalink)
Adrian Wong Da Boss Join Date: 10 Oct 2002 Location: In front of my ASUS F8V notebook! Posts: 30,419 Reputation: 3147 Rep Power: 68	What's the most stupid tech-related mistake you have ever seen or made? Hah! I'll bet we all have stories of just how stupid we were and continue to be. Hehe.. So, share your stories of the mistakes you have made with computers or anything tech-related! Let me start with a story of how stupid I once was... I once dropped a screw into my computer case and installed a motherboard over it. Because the screw shorted the motherboard, it naturally refused to boot up. I spent hours trying to figure out what was wrong. After pulling everything out, the PC still won't even give me a beep. Finally, I got frustrated enough to pull the motherboard out to try it "in the nude". And that's when I SAW the freaking screw lying underneath the motherboard! OMG, I never felt like a bigger fool before. __________________ Dr. Adrian Wong Tech ARP \| Blog @ Tech ARP \| The Free Trade Zone DYKT : The only offshore account I have is at the sand bank? We need PROGRAMMERS and TECHNICAL WRITERS! Contact us if you are a hot shot programmer or technical writer! My items for sale : 50x SD Card \| Memory Stick PRO \| Cyclone Energy Saver \| Seiko SS watch \| Tiger/Carlsberg beer jugs \| Travel Speakers \| Motorola V600 \| Nokia N90 SOLD! \| New Lowepro Mini Trekker AW Other items for sale @ the FTZ : Zalman CNPS9500 LED @ $20 \| Zalman CNPS7700 Cu @ $20 \| Zalman CNPS7000 Cu @ $20 \| Swarovski bracelet watches \| Dell 17" LCD \| Hi-Fi speakers \| English DIVX movies \| HP LaserJet toners! \| Office chairs

27th Nov 2008, 04:05 PM	#3 (permalink)
g0tanks Active Join Date: 6 May 2008 Posts: 580 Reputation: 175 Rep Power: 2	When I was a little (around 7/8 years old or so) I copied a shortcut of the C:\ drive to a floppy disk and then thought my whole C:\ drive was on that floppy. __________________

27th Nov 2008, 04:10 PM	#5 (permalink)
The_YongGrand Super Active Join Date: 12 Feb 2005 Location: Somewhere in 甲洞... Posts: 2,374 Reputation: 852 Rep Power: 14	Me ? One biggest mistake was the BIOS hotflashing. I told ya before, and this is the silliest one among all. Back in 2005, I did tried to mod the BIOS's startup logo (Energy Star) to something very different, and even managed to did that on other older motherboards. However, it isn't for the old Asus VX-97. So, I put the binary file for the modified logo and flashed into the chip. Alas, it only booted but half-way through. All gibberish and I killed the bootloader thingy inside. The result? It doesn't know how to boot into any drives. Ok, I did a hot flash, took out another board (another Socket 7) and ripped out the chip when it's running, and popped the frizzled one into the empty socket. The big mistake is this : I looked at the chip socket's notch. I should be LOOKING at the notch printed on the board, below the socket. And, I put it upside down. So much for my complacence. Then... ok, I press some AWFLASH and the thing hanged... until I hear a loud sharp POP!! with smell of that cooking chip. Later I found out that the chip's sticker is blown and it is useless now. Thankfully, a few years later, I took out another broken board's BIOS chip ( TX-97 ), flashed it backed to VX-97 and got it working once more. Lesson learned: Look at the board, not the socket! __________________ Intel Core 2 Duo E7200, 2GB DDR2-667 RAM, Gigabyte 945GCMX-S2, Sapphire ATi Radeon HD4850 512MB DDR3 Intel Pentium Dual Core E2140, 2GB DDR2-667 RAM, Asus P5B-E Plus, Galaxy Geforce 7300GT DDR3 Wolfdale baby!

27th Nov 2008, 10:46 PM	#6 (permalink)
belikethat Active Join Date: 25 Apr 2006 Posts: 516 Reputation: 58 Rep Power: 3	OK i tried to backup and clean my 'my documents' by select all, cut paste the content to another directory, ok next i SHIFT + DELETE my existing 'my documents' with full condifent next minute i just realise that i actualy shift delete the original 'my document' which i just cut paste (kinda forget how it happen, i think because the the my document is just a redirection to a folder ). So there goes my files including assignment, reports,pic and etc. had to recover usinng program but not all files survived. __________________ Control Panel Settings & Options Edit Signature

28th Nov 2008, 07:46 AM	#7 (permalink)
Zenphic Super Active Join Date: 23 Apr 2006 Location: Quebec, Canada Posts: 1,072 Reputation: 467 Rep Power: 8	The dumbest mistake I ever made was trying to overclock my integrated video card. It was a ATI Xpress 200, and almost all the software I tried explicitly said that they did not support IGPs. I ignored and tried. Bluescreen then my Windows OS wouldn't boot anymore __________________ E2160 @ 2.6Ghz (1.15V) \| XFX 650i Ultra \| 2x1GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2-800 \| Gigabyte GeForce 6600 \| Hitachi Desktar T7K250 250GB \| CM Mystique 632 \| 2x Noctua NF-S12 800RPM \| CM RPP 550W

27th Nov 2008, 03:59 PM	#2 (permalink)
mikegas I'm a regular Join Date: 7 May 2008 Posts: 385 Reputation: 206 Rep Power: 3	You just have to start this thread .. porta from the other thread upgrade modem firmware via wireless from router... then got dc in the middle .. modem become a brick, then read instruction "MAKE SURE YOU HAVE DIRECT CONNECTION TO MODEM" PRICK!! ..

28th Nov 2008, 09:07 AM	#8 (permalink)
PsYkHoTiK "Little" Devil Join Date: 8 Apr 2004 Location: On the "throne" Posts: 14,389 Reputation: 4136 Rep Power: 60	It would have to be when I was diagnosing why my brother's PC had no output to the PC Speakers. I checked mute (ah ha! Bet you thought that would have been the reason right?) and no dice. Since it was an 'old' 2.1 set, I was just like yeah its probably busted. So ordered a new one online and when it arrived, as I was putting the new set in, I noticed the green plug was laying on the desk and not hooked up to the sound output... Though the funniest I ever heard was at Fry's. A customer was asking about an 9800 GTX and what did it mean that it had Physx. The initially 'pro' smug look on the sales rep suddenly turned into stupor as he didn't know what it meant and he said that this was a graphics card not a Physx card. All the while I was standing right beside with a grin... (it is a long running joke that MOST people at Fry's don't really know shit). Also just look at ANY newegg user review. Also a good source of humor. __________________ Intel SLAPL 4.3GHz @ 1.35v : 2x2GB OCZ Platinum DDR2 1066 : Asus P5K Premium : WD RE3 250GB x2 RAID 0 : 3ware 9650SE-2LP : G92 8800GTS 512mb 820MHz Core : XFi Platinum : Silverstone OP650 : Silverstone TJ-07 : Dtek FuZion CPU : Swiftech MCW60 : MCP655 : Thermochill PA120.3 w Scythe Ultra Kaze CPU-Z: SLAPL : SLA9U : FX-55 : DDR 600 : VX www.techarp.com PsYkHoTiK's Meanderings

28th Nov 2008, 09:27 AM	#9 (permalink)
Falcone Official Mascot Creator Join Date: 18 Dec 2002 Location: Kay El, Em Wai Posts: 3,209 Reputation: 1705 Rep Power: 27	The dumbest I did was this. I was trying to pull a hardisk master/slave jumper using a testpen, the thing is I forgot I left the power on at the computer, then there was a sparks coming out when I short circuit the pins, the screen went blank... Strangest thing is the hardisk survive the ordeal but I fried the board. __________________ I'm a noob, my photos sucks, but if you can live with that... http://www.pumpkinproject.com/ Flickr

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