💡Thought Shares

c/computer-technicians

5

morgan.rose•6h ago

I bought a $150 thermal paste kit and it was a total joke

Saw this fancy kit online with five different pastes and a special spreader tool. Thought it would help with tricky laptop repastes. Used it on three different machines, a Dell, an HP, and an old Asus. The temps dropped maybe 2 degrees, same as the $8 tube I always use. Felt like a complete sucker. Has anyone else fallen for a 'pro' tool that did nothing?

11

the_claire•1d ago

Had to pick between a full Windows reinstall or chasing a weird driver issue on a gaming PC

Client's new build in Austin was getting random blue screens, error code 0x0000007E. I could either spend maybe 4 hours digging through logs and testing each driver, or just wipe and do a clean Windows 11 install in about an hour. I went with the clean install to save time, but of course, the same error popped up two days later when they reinstalled their RGB software. Should I have just stuck it out and done the driver hunt first?

31

the_elliot•1d ago

Serious question, has anyone else had a server rack just start beeping for no clear reason?

I was at a small office in Tacoma last week and their main rack started this low, steady beep. No lights on the UPS, no temp alerts on the panel, nothing. I finally traced it to a single failed fan in an old switch, but it took me 45 minutes of just listening and poking around. What's the weirdest 'phantom alarm' you've had to track down?

17

ray356•2d ago

A customer in Dallas said they fixed their own laptop with a YouTube video

I was at a coffee shop yesterday and heard a guy at the next table tell his friend he fixed his laptop's flickering screen himself. He said he found a 15 minute video on YouTube that showed how to reseat the display cable. He did it with a small screwdriver he already had. It made me think about how many simple repairs people might try on their own now. Have you seen an increase in customers bringing in machines after a failed DIY attempt?

3

tarabell•3d ago

Had a weird power issue on a customer's gaming PC in Tempe yesterday

The system would boot for about 10 seconds then die, and I was sure it was the PSU until I noticed the 24-pin connector wasn't fully clicked in on the motherboard. Pushed it in properly and it fired right up, saved me from ordering a new part. How often do you guys find the simplest fix after jumping to a more complex diagnosis?

16

karenh56•3d ago

Appreciation post: I finally switched from a magnetic tray to a silicone mat for screws

Honestly, I was dropping tiny motherboard screws all the time, but this $12 mat from the hardware store last month has saved me so much frustration. Anyone else have a small tool change that made a huge difference in your daily work?

8

reed.skyler•3d ago

My uncle told me to always replace both RAM sticks, even if only one tests bad

He ran a repair shop in Toledo for twenty years and swore by this rule. I had a laptop in last week with a single 8GB stick throwing errors in MemTest86. The other stick tested fine, but I followed his advice and swapped them both for a new 16GB kit. The customer called back two days later with the same blue screen error. Turns out the issue was a slightly corroded slot on the motherboard, not the RAM at all. I spent an extra $45 on parts I didn't need because I took old advice as gospel. Has anyone else run into a situation where a common 'rule of thumb' actually led you down the wrong path?

9

jade_jenkins•4d ago

Got a call to fix a server in a flooded basement last Thursday.

Water was ankle deep and the client expected a quick fix. Anyone ever had to walk away from a job like that?

3

holly_reed55•6d ago

Stopped by the old computer repair shop on Main Street and the whole front is a phone case kiosk now.

The owner said he closed up in 2020 because nobody brought in desktops for repair anymore, just disposable laptops. Has anyone else seen their local tech spots vanish?

13

blair_taylor32•7d ago

I thought thermal paste application didn't matter much until last week

I used to just put a pea-sized dot in the middle of the CPU and call it good, thinking the heatsink pressure would spread it fine. Then I had a client's gaming rig with a Ryzen 7 5800X that was hitting 95C under load, even after a repaste with my usual method. I watched a video from a tech channel that did a proper spread test with a dozen patterns and temps. I tried the 'X' method with Arctic MX-6, making sure to cover the whole IHS, and the temps dropped to 82C in the same stress test. The difference was just making sure the paste actually reached the edges of the chip. Has anyone else seen a big drop from switching up their paste technique?

26

piper_kim•9d ago

Rant: I used to skip the thermal paste step on laptop CPUs and it bit me hard last month

For years, I'd just reuse the old paste or skip it entirely on quick jobs, thinking it didn't matter much. Then a client brought in a gaming laptop from Seattle that kept overheating after I replaced the fan. I finally redid the job with fresh Arctic MX-4 paste, and the temps dropped by 20 degrees Celsius. Now I always use new paste, no exceptions. Anyone else have a simple step they used to skip that caused a major headache later?

10

vera_robinson36•11d ago

Finally got a stubborn old server to boot after three days of trying

Last week, a small law firm brought in a 2012 Dell PowerEdge that wouldn't post, just beeping at me. I spent hours swapping RAM, checking the PSU, and finally found a single bent pin on the CPU socket I'd missed twice. Has anyone else had a similar fix that felt impossible until the very last check?

8

jasonallen•11d ago

My mentor told me to always check the power supply first, even if the symptoms seem weird, and it saved me 2 hours on a 'dead' gaming PC yesterday.

The kid said it wouldn't boot and the lights flickered, so I was ready to dive into the motherboard, but I swapped in a spare Corsair 750W unit first and it fired right up, proving the old advice right again.

5

wesleyb20•11d ago

PSA: I thought those 'thermal paste spreader' tools were a total gimmick.

Always just used the pea method for years. Got a cheap kit with one included on a job last month in Tacoma. Figured I'd try it on a hot-running gaming rig. Spread was perfectly even, no air pockets. Temps dropped a solid 8 degrees Celsius under load. Now I keep one in my kit. Anyone else switch from the pea method to something else that actually worked?

22

mark_carr7•11d ago

I used to think a full Windows reinstall was the only fix for a slow machine.

After swapping a dying HDD for a $45 SSD in a client's 8 year old Dell, it booted in 20 seconds flat. Anyone have a go-to diagnostic tool for spotting a failing drive before it gets that bad?

7

karenh56•14d ago

Changed my mind about using canned air on a dusty server after a Tuesday in July

Had a client with a server that sounded like a jet engine. I grabbed the air can, but the dust was packed so thick it just blew it deeper into the heatsinks. My boss saw me and said, 'You're just moving the problem.' He handed me an anti-static brush and a small vacuum. Took me an extra 30 minutes, but the temps dropped 15 degrees. Anyone have a better method for a really caked-on layer?

21

blair_taylor32•16d ago

Had a client's backup drive fail right before a system migration in Austin

Their RAID 5 array had a second disk die during the copy, so I had to pull data from their cloud sync which took 16 hours. Anyone else run into a double disk failure during a critical move?

29

angela587•16d ago

Warning: Had a client's server room flood from a broken pipe above the ceiling

It was at a small law firm in Austin, and water started dripping right onto the main rack. I had to power everything down fast and move the critical hardware to a dry table. Has anyone else dealt with a surprise water leak in a client site?

2

violar35•16d ago

I was at the Goodwill in Tacoma yesterday and they had a whole bin of old IDE ribbon cables for a dollar each.

Just stood there for a minute looking at them. Felt like a museum piece. I haven't needed one in maybe 8 years, but I still remember the exact sound of plugging them in, that little click. Now everything's just these tiny SATA cables or M.2 slots you can't even see. It's cleaner, sure, but there was something about wrestling with that wide ribbon to get airflow. What's the oldest piece of tech you still keep in your kit just in case?

2

ellioth37•17d ago

Just had a batch of Kingston A400 SSDs start dropping like flies after 18 months in client machines.

I mean, we're talking about 7 drives across 3 different offices all failing within a week of each other, so maybe check your warranty status if you've deployed those recently.

31

ray356•18d ago

Unpopular opinion: I used to think a cheap thermal paste was fine until a $15 tube saved a gaming rig

Had a client's PC overheating after a rebuild, so I swapped the generic paste for some Arctic MX-6. Temps dropped 12 degrees Celsius under load and the fans finally quieted down. What's your go-to paste for tough thermal cases?

2

violaramirez•18d ago

Found a weird fix for a laptop that wouldn't boot past the BIOS screen

Had a client bring in a Dell Inspiron that just froze on the logo. I tried the usual stuff, clearing CMOS, checking RAM, even a fresh Windows install from a USB. Nothing worked. Out of ideas, I pulled the CMOS battery for a full 24 hours, not just a few minutes. Plugged it back in and the thing booted right up like nothing happened. Has anyone else had a stubborn BIOS issue that needed a really long battery pull?

2

piperbailey•19d ago

Pro tip: I finally stopped telling people to just 'run Windows Update' for every problem

For years, that was my go-to first step, but I saw a client in Austin last week who had a critical driver rollback fail because of a botched cumulative update. It bricked their machine for a full day while we sorted it. Now I check the update history and known issues on the Microsoft Tech Community site first. How do you guys handle the initial diagnostic step when a machine is acting up after an update?

9

lilyp37•20d ago

My backup drive gave out right before a big data recovery job

I was getting ready to pull files for a client in Boise when my trusty 4TB WD MyBook just stopped showing up. It happened yesterday afternoon, right after I plugged it in to check the image files. I swapped cables and tried a different computer, but no luck, so now I'm running recovery software overnight. Anyone have a go-to external drive they've used for years without issues?

8

ninar12•22d ago

Just realized I've been holding a thermal paste tube wrong for like 8 years

I was watching a new guy at the shop, and he squeezed the tube from the bottom like toothpaste. I was about to correct him, but then I saw how clean and even his application was. I've always squeezed from the middle and gotten those annoying air pockets. He looked at my tube and said, 'Dude, you're fighting it.' Mind blown. What's a basic thing you were doing wrong way longer than you should have?