How Not To Install Computer Hardware

ssassen writes "Most computer hardware websites tell you how to get your computer hardware up and running properly and not RMA it after the first boot. Hardware Analysis takes a different approach and tells us exactly how NOT to install computer hardware. They document many of the pitfalls that'll sound familiar to many enthusiasts and have some great pictures of what could go horribly wrong during an upgrade. Very funny, and guaranteed to put a smile on your face!"

Comments

If it don't fit...

[ocelotbob]

Don't force it. I've fried a grand total of one item, an old Maxtor 120MB drive. Was plugging it into a new comp to pull some files off it, put the power connector in upside down, noticed it didn't fit, forced it on, turned the system on, watched a pretty blue spark shoot from one of the chips, and begin smoking. Doing a postmortem on the drive, I noticed that one of the chips had bubbled from my stupidity.

Fortunately, I had nothing that was irreplacable on the drive -- I was just plugging it in because it was faster than using a floppy -- but still, it taught me a valuable lesson, and is fortunately, the only piece of hardware I've ever broken on install. Course, since that time, I've developed the habit of double checking power cable connections; I don't like the smell of smoldering silicon in the morning.

Re:PS2 Mice

[zakezuke]

You wouldn't believe how many people don't realize you can fry a motherboard that way...

I have to pleed ignorance here, never knew you COULD fry a motherboard this way. In fact... I can't think of a hell of alot you can do to the ps/2 ports that would fry a motherboard. I'll tell ya why, cause the 5volt line has a fuse on it. I can't remember the rating, something like 2amp @ 120v or some such, a pretty damn massive fuse considering the typical load on those ports.

I can believe that you can do harm with a straight short, but i've seen motherboards survive coffee in the keyboard and my self i've shorted out a keyboard or two being foolish, and the motherboards in question only needed a replacement fuse.

Xtreme Hardware Shredding!

[frozenray]

A few gems from the German D.A.U. Alarm site:

• Uh, where's the processor die gone? Found it!
  
• Another fine example of distributed processing.
  
• If you buy a tube of (electrically conductive) Arctic Silver, be sure to use it all. At the very least, make sure the resistors around the CPU are shorted. Alternatively, spread it all around the CPU carrier, but make sure not a single drop touches the delicate CPU die.
  
• No, I never overclocked that PC! Really!
  
• To ensure optimal CPU cooling, use no less than two different types of conductive paste in addition to the supplied thermal pad.
  
• The manufacturers include the little lever on the CPU socket for esthetic purposes only - you can install the processor just fine without using it.
  
• Before installing a harddisk, be sure to throw it to the floor from at least 5 ft. in order to check if it can withstand the hardship of daily use in the system. When you insert the connectors, use lots of force and preferably a ballpeen hammer.
  
• Always misplacing the product key of your precious original software? No problem, just write it on the CD/DVD with a sharpie pen... (is anyone surprised that this is a Microsoft Works DVD and not a FreeBSD CD?)
  
• Last but not least, overclocking the graphics card requires unconventional cooling soloutions.
  
  (D.A.U is short for "Duemmster Anzunehmender User" - dumbest hypothetical user. By the way, their D.A.U. of the month galleries are also something to behold.)

Re:Way back in the day...

[AllUsernamesAreGone]

"Obvioulsy some people lack any trace of common sence, and need to be told every little thing."

Which assumes, of course, that they actually read them. My experience is that people will only look at documentation (printed or otherwise) when all other options - including helpdesks, support lines, friends, prayer and personal application to God or Godess of choice - have been exhausted. And then the read it incorrectly or misunderstand it and break it anyway.

My opinion is that companies that provide user obsequious documentation is preventing the correct course of evolution...

Almost eEverything is hot swappable...

[plover]

I used to have such luck. 22 years of PC building and rebuilding (and lots of work on non-PCs before that) and never damaged any hardware (except for a melted SCSI cable; boy, those ribbon cables don't last for many seconds when +5 VDC at one end connects to ground at the other end.) But my good-luck string ended earlier this year when I mistook "powered-down" for "switched-off" one too many times. I didn't even know I had done it until I received a small shock while swapping the AGP video card, (the back of my hand bumped a card in the PCI slot.) I think the system lasted about an onosecond after that.

I think my problem with hot-swapping AGP cards was the compact design of the connector. The traces are designed with two levels of contacts on each side of the card, but as the card is inserted or removed the outer set of traces is wiped past the upper set of contacts in the socket where they short out adjacent pins.

I definitely fried the mobo (which was an IWill that sucked anyway) and a 256MB DDR stick. The rest of the components including the CPU survived the experiment. But, after buying a new mobo, I just had to upgrade the CPU of course ... and heatsink and fan ... which drew more current from the power supply ... and why upgrade the CPU without adding more memory ... and what good was all that memory without faster video ... and a hard disk for the new games ... and since the new CPU, heatsink and fan didn't fit in the old case ...

Re:Everything is hot swappable...

[Sindri]

I found out the hard way the downside to having a very silent computer. I didnt realize it was running. Did you know sparcs fly if you hot swap a video card!

My current computer sounds like a jet at takeof so this will hopefully not be a problem any more.