January Poll

[Computer Hope Admin]

For the month of January and the new year we thought it would be interesting to see how many of you have experienced hardware failure with your computer and what components you've had problems with. This is the first monthly poll Computer Hope has run that allows visitors to vote on more than one option, so feel free to check multiple options if you've experienced hardware failure with multiple devices.

It would also be interesting to hear some stories you have about your hardware failures. For example, a hard drive crash that caused you to loose all your data or have you had a motherboard go out and simply decide to purchase a new computer instead of replacing it.

All past monthly polls and results can also be found on the Computer Hope poll page.

[Computer Hope Admin]

I've had multiple hardware failures with different hardware including a modem and fans and heat sinks (not mentioned in the available options). I think my worst failure (and it always seems to be) was a hard drive failure because of the loss of important data even when I backup as often as possible and the need to reinstall everything again.

[Zylstra]

HD Memory PSU

I have had a HDD drive fail, it was 80MB... but, it didnt really have anything important on it. This computer was from the 80's, but the HDD was from the early 90's. IBM!

Also, I have had memory fail, (Hyundai, why have you failed me,) probably due to improper handling...

I have had a PSU fail as well, and still have failed to fix it. Gateway!

My custom made computer (brothers friend built it a long time ago) is my server, its PSU does not function properly. You have to let it sit and start up, it just sits there and moves back and forth, but, it gets going. My molex cable fan pulls enough air through the PSU and the rest of the case, its not like servers sit and overheat or anything.... (or do they...)

[soybean]

I've had very few hardware failures since I bought my first computer, a Commodore 64 back in the early 80's.  What I have experienced are:

• CD-ROM

• Case fan

• CPU fan (still ran but caused vibration)

• Processor (one that replaced a 486 processor and boosted the computer to a Pentium 133 MHz; it failed and I reverted back to a 486)

• Monitor (one that came with a Pentium computer I bought in 1995)

• Mouse (a PS/2 ball mouse; one of the directional sensors - either vertical or horizontal - became defective)

• PSU (not really a complete failure, but I determined it was the cause of some sporadic problem that was increasing in frequency)

I have never experienced a hard drive failure.

[Zylstra]

Now that I think about it, I have had a CD-ROM failure... it was a much older drive. It just doesn't spin up the disc anymore, it sits in my server still plugged in since it allows the HDD to boot, and I haven't bothered to figure a workaround yet, but, I know its completely possible.

[dairyman]

The CD-ROM failed on me for no reason at all, but I accidentally short circuit the power supply, because I plugged in the printer plug into what I thought was the printer port... It was actually for networking 

[Tripti]

As the age of my PC is only 1year and 5 months, there has not been any H/W faliure (touch wood) except that of CD-ROM. It didn't play the video or audio smoothly.
But as it was in warranty period I had no problem.

[ultimatum]

I had hardware failure with:

• Monitor
• Power Supply
• Video Card

[quaxo]

I've had a problem with most of those over the last 20 years.

CD-ROM/DVD failures: 3 (from age and use)
Hard drive failure: 1 (dead disk)
Memory: 2 (who knows why)
Monitor/Display: 2 (laptop screen after 7 years, CRT screen of unknown age)
Network card: 1
Power supply: 1
Sound card: 2 (one from electrical shock... oops)
Other drive: Floppy: 1

Fortunately, I've not had a problem with motherboards or processors on any of my systems, but I've come across them several times in other computers.

[kuszmania9999]

CRT Monitor....
I use the monitor for computer and playstation 2, so it's turn on for a long time.Sometimes i will stop when it blow
LOL...
Then have a new one, now this is my 5th monitors.

[Calum]

I've had many failures . . . an old CD drive, a blazingly fast HDD that got the click of death one fine sunny day, a monitor that shot sparks from the power socket, a power supply that took out the motherboard and video card, a keyboard and a mouse that died together, and some speakers which decided to make a very weird noise, then stop working.
Plus, a memory card reader that ate my phone's memory card (it's still in there), a laptop screen that cracked wide open, and a webcam that doesn't work at all.  Oh, and about 5 cameras and/or memory cards.
Tech products hate me.

[Sidewinder]

I have a HDD that has been reporting imminent failure and to backup my data immediately. This imminent failure has been going on for five years. I have been through multiple Syjets where the motors froze or the the disks got stuck. I've had no luck with tape drives, went through 4 before settling on a network external disk for backup.

All in all, I've been pretty lucky when it come to hardware.

 

[soybean]

I've had no luck with tape drives, went through 4 before settling on a network external disk for backup.

Ah, tape drives.  I forgot about that one.  I had a Sony tape drive that destroyed two tapes before I decided to abandon it; that drive had to be one of the worst products ever made by Sony.

[Zhaiphos]

The most bizzare thing I've had trouble with is the motherboard ..
It was simply an accident though because there was a crack in the motherboard itself that probably occured during fabrication
.. SUX to be me XD ^^

[Zylstra]

Now that I think about it... I have had an LCD Monitor stop working, it was the power inverter inside it... it burned out, and now, a dead monitor is sitting up in the closet at my dads

[homer]

my onboard SoundMax sound card died, their pieces of junk. also i had 2 maxtor harddrives die on me. one died within two weeks of using it, then its replacement died after about a month.

[quaxo]

My first drive was 40MB, that was a Maxtor. Added 80MB Maxtor. Replaced it with a 345MB Maxtor. Then a 1.2GB Seagate (which died). Seagate replaced it under warranty. Then a 4.6GB Seagate. Then 40GB Western Digital, 80GB WD, and 180GB WD.

I also have an external 250GB Maxtor.

That one Seagate is the only one that really died. The other ones were just too small over time or just got old. I've got a paper thin keychain flash drive that's bigger than most of those 

[Emiel]

My first hardware failure was a floppy drive. It was an assignment from school; I had to remove a broken floppy drive and replace it. It took me 5 days to complete the assignment.  The floppy drive wasn't working, the cables weren't connected properly, and more of that crap. I thought: man if I'm EVER going to complete this assignment, I'll throw a party. 

[ultimatum]

Hahahah, jokes!!! I never had to remove any computer parts in my school no matter what computer course you take. Lucky you!

[Zylstra]

I think I am the only one taking care of the computers at my school now, which is kind of upsetting...
I keep thinking I need to ask the tech guy for that dang Windows XP pre-settings applied customized disc...

[Sid]

Now that I think about it... I have had an LCD Monitor stop working, it was the power inverter inside it... it burned out, and now, a dead monitor is sitting up in the closet at my dads

I got one on ebay, and it worked fine until one day it kinda cut off and on a bit, then never displayed video again...I off loaded it at a friends house

[Zylstra]

Now that I think about it... I have had an LCD Monitor stop working, it was the power inverter inside it... it burned out, and now, a dead monitor is sitting up in the closet at my dads

I got one on ebay, and it worked fine until one day it kinda cut off and on a bit, then never displayed video again...I off loaded it at a friends house

I guess you can repair them yourself, but you need to find an inverter board (eBay!)
I thought about it, but I wasnt about to have it quit on me again.

[lilies34]

i've experienced lots of hardware problems in the most critical times like when i have projects to pass the next day or something.  it's really frustrating.
___________________
CRM software

[Kando]

I have had hard drives fail, just did a complete reinstall of my daughter's computer this past weekend. CD-roms have decided not to read or spin, floppy drives refuse to see that the floppy in them is already formated. LCD's have had their backlight burn out, had pixels die, CRTs that went all shades of only one color. Mice and keyboards untold have given up the ghost at the worst possible moments. Adapter plugs on laptops have had better things to do than move the charge from the plug to the battery. Motherboards, laptop and desktop, have blown in one way or another and are taking up space on my rack. Raid cards, video cards, modems, usb and firewire cards have stopped working.

I think that about covers my tales of woe.

[neljan]

I built my PC myself (with my bear hands haha) about a year ago now & after about 2 months my Seagate HD died. I lost everything, kids photo's the lot

I had the choice of returning it to either Seagate directly or the retailer, so I chose Seagate, but gave up halfway through the online process when I saw how I was requested to package it (joke). Anyway, I decide instead to return it to the retailer & about a week later I get my replacement. Then, about another week later, I got another one... from Seagate! RESULT!

Could say it's an advance on my next HD death...

[neljan]

I have had hard drives fail, just did a complete reinstall of my daughter's computer this past weekend. CD-roms have decided not to read or spin, floppy drives refuse to see that the floppy in them is already formated. LCD's have had their backlight burn out, had pixels die, CRTs that went all shades of only one color. Mice and keyboards untold have given up the ghost at the worst possible moments. Adapter plugs on laptops have had better things to do than move the charge from the plug to the battery. Motherboards, laptop and desktop, have blown in one way or another and are taking up space on my rack. Raid cards, video cards, modems, usb and firewire cards have stopped working.

I think that about covers my tales of woe.

I feel for you buddy...

[Sid]

5 days

 !!!

What else did you have to do?!

[DDRAMbo]

we have two pc's networked, with a large hdd in each. I use a sychronizer app (visa-versa pro, awesome) to make sure that important files are duped on both, and backup regularly. I've also partitioned the drives, and I make sure the important data, pictures, bookmarks, etc. is stored on a seperate partition from the OS. that's the only way to go because sometime, somehow, when you least expect it, you're GOING to have some kind of hardware meltdown. but the data on your hdd is the most important thing to be concerned about. I've always used Maxtor; only one failed after 3+ years of very heavy use. I don't consider that a true 'failure' though, but expected failure. a true failure would be after less than a year of use. I've heard so many horror stories from people with other brands that I don't think I would trust another brand. and why should I? 

[neljan]

I've also partitioned the drives, and I make sure the important data, pictures, bookmarks, etc. is stored on a seperate partition from the OS.

Great idea, I'm gonna look into doing this myself. I have 2 HD's so I might just see if there's a way of automatically copying certain files from HD (with the OS installed) to the other.

Thanks

[homer]

I built my PC myself (with my bear hands haha)

[file cleanup - saving space - attachment deleted by admin]

[neljan]

HAHAHA! 

Ok... 'bare' hands then!

[homer]

HAHAHA! 

Ok... 'bare' hands then!

 

[lau]

I have had a major problem with power supplies. Where I work there are a lot of power failures (load shedding) and I cant keep up. 
The up side is now I am a pro at changing PSU's!

[homer]

I have had a major problem with power supplies. Where I work there are a lot of power failures (load shedding) and I cant keep up. 
The up side is now I am a pro at changing PSU's!

you might want to purchase a UPS.

[Bones92]

I rebuild old 286's, 386's, and 486's as a hobby, and I've experienced just about every problem on that list. The two most spectacular was when a PSU went off like a bomb (no jokes, a couple of big capacitors exploded inside) and all the neighbours were asking about the noise for days, and when one HDD started pouring out smoke (and filled our whole shed with it )

[neljan]

Did you buy your computer in Iraq?

perhaps it was built by a 'PSU'icide bomber!

[quaxo]

The only time I've seen smoke come out of a machine...

A guy brought his computer into my shop years back. Well, apparently he had been tinkering around inside the system. When he reconnected the power to the floppy drive, he somehow managed to get the thing on crooked, so the the pins weren't in right. One of the power wires was feeding into a ground wire. Melted the plug, part of the floppy drive, and a portion of the wire... what a mess... and the smell... mmmmm

Luckily, the damage was limited to the drive itself and the wire.

[homer]

Did you buy your computer in Iraq?

perhaps it was built by a 'PSU'icide bomber!

kind of corny but i still laughed.

[neljan]

Corny? c'mon man! that's quality!!! 

[Bones92]

Lol 

Nah i bought it at a white elephant... someone probably had a grudge against me, as someone had written 'works' on it...

[shyambhan]

5 days

 !!!

What else did you have to do?!

[matnat]

Power supply would shut itself off. Found intermittent internal fan failure. Fixed with external fan wired to stock fan power wires. Ugly but effective enough to get a new one en route.

Memory failures. Multiple symptoms, would even pass memtest overnight. 2GIGS OCZ PC8500 overclocked using embedded SLI instructions to run at 1067 MHz. Tons of cooling, replaced with 2 Gigs Pony PC6500 @ 800MHz. Funny thing. The replacement OCZ memory would not run reliably either. Have had no real problems with my pony memory.

EVGA Nvidia 680i series Mobo. Poorly assembled motherboard, not enough heat sink in some spots, too much in others. Had to RMA the original mobo for numerous boot codes associated with the memory controller. This could have been the source of my memory problems but I think I had multiple defective parts as my pony memory wouldn't work in the other mobo, but works great in my "new" one.

Mouse and keyboard die all the time from all the Quake, Doom and UT , Farcry,Crysis ect, I punish them with.  Rollerball mice rule...NOT

Other. Bill gates has managed to design an OS that despite my best efforts I have to reload at least once a year to keep running as smoothly as one would expect given how much I paid for it. You did pay for yours..right?

[dairyman]

You did pay for yours..right?

Yep. I have a genuine copy of Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2.

[goodiestan2002]

 I have a laptop from Hyundai now with CD-rom failure. the devices that hold the CD (don't know how to call that) disengage from the CD-rom and make the disk inserted jammed the drive; i have to force the CD and the drive out, unfortunately both are not useable after that

and i have always burnt monitor in the past(when i still have a PC) as i open and shut off the monitor frequently. time is not the only factor, maybe i should also know about how many swithing cycles they can last.

i did experienced multiple failure on the same computer at the same time. power supply, monitor, modem, harddisk, mother board all gone (whole PC gone??!!). Dealer tell me that was done by lightning surge or power trip and they won't responsible for that, what the heck....

and recently (not really recently, just become more frequent recently), i have power shut down without prior warning during playing games and watch movie only; without knowing what failed; and i have post this question on others/others forum

computer  - it make our life easier or miserable?

[Zylstra]

February..

[jdb69]

The most recent hardware failure was sort of a mystery. First I was told it was the motherboard then I was told it was the power supply. As of this day still don't know which failed but it gave me the excuse to get a new computer, lol.