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GemUltimate PC Repair

The Ultimate Way to repair your PC is to do it yourself.  Oh heck.  I'm not suggesting all of you need to become whiz bang technicians... that's what we pay geeks for.  But if you are looking for a way to be a LOT more comfortable with your computer so you won't freeze when a REAL emergency comes along, you need to meet Otis Cooper!

He was kind enough to send me a stack of his dvds to review a few weeks ago (Brave huh?).  They are wonderful!  I think what struck me the most was the way he took his time to explain everything, without insulting an inexperienced user's intelligence.  He speaks very slowly... Many techs don't.  I think many of you who want to "learn the language" of computers in a non-threatening way will enjoy the nice easy pace.

I had been listening to them for a few days when something serious happened to our newest rocket (a dual monitor, 3.6 Gb processor Dell with 3 Gb of memory... our "Dell from Hell").  It just refused to boot and had an odd beeping when I turned it on.  I ended up phoning tech support and after helping me troubleshoot it over the phone, the tech determined it to be a bad memory chip.  I didn't even hesitate to pull the tower from under the desk and slide the top off.  He helped me find the memory and I had to take each chip out (there are 4) and reseat them... Eventually we found the bad one and I ended up putting one good one back (they have to go in pairs), put the other two good ones aside, and received a replacement a few days later.

The funny thing is I automatically made sure I grounded myself before I began fiddling inside that new (very expensive) machine... mainly because of the way Otis emphasizes it in his videos.  Of course the tech told me to disconnect the power cord, but he neglected to mention the importance of being grounded.  I felt so much more comfortable because of those videos.  Otis made it less threatening.  Normally I would call for hubby any time the top needs to come off a machine.  I didn't this time, and I think I hurt his feelings inadvertently.  The problem was resolved and the top back on the machine before he even knew what was happening!  OOPS...

The rest of the story...  When the new replacement chip arrived, feeling pretty bad about stepping on my hardware guy's toes (the one I sleep with), I asked if he would put it back in for me.  He said, "No... but I would sure like to watch you do it!" 

Well... He did.  I did... and all is right with the world!

Thanks Otis!

 

 

 

 

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