Tag: power button

My Desktop Computer Blew Up

On By Michel McDonaldIn ComputerLeave a comment

I never thought this would ever happen to me but the power supply in my desktop computer blew up today.  The last couple of times I had it turned on, it shut off without any warning.  When I had my previous computer that would happen while I was playing EverQuest but it would reboot.  I was told that was a memory issue so I assumed this time it could either be memory or power supply but I wasn’t sure.

My computer has been off all day yesterday and today and I figured today I would look in the back and see if the light was on for the internet wire and it was turned on so I started thinking, if the power supply was bad then why is there power going to that light?  So I flipped the switch off then on then off then on again and the light was still on.  I pushed the power button and the computer turned on.

I was playing Lord of the Rings Online for at least 2 hours and all of a sudden it just made a popping sound, the computer screen went black and my brain went into panic mode.  I pushed my chair out of the way, fell to the floor and rushed to unplug the power cable.

Now, I have a bad back and I’m overweight which means I don’t get around too easily.  It takes a lot for me to get back up off the floor but I was up instantly.  It must have been adrenaline that got me back up on my feet.  I mean, I’m not that fat, I’m only 100lbs overweight but still, it is hard for me to get back up.

I called Darrin to tell him not to worry about getting me a new power supply then like 10 minutes later this happens so I called him back saying never mind, I do need a power supply.  He mentioned that it might have blown out the motherboard which I had already been thinking about but didn’t want to admit it because that’s how much more money?  About, what $150-$200?  As it is the power supply is $45.

Ok so if it’s also the motherboard then who knows what else might have been affected that was plugged into the motherboard like the memory, video card, cpu, heck even the hard drive and dvd burner.  This could have fried my entire computer.  Or maybe not, we’ll have to find out when I get a new power supply.

I have a Win XP laptop but the screen doesn’t work but even if it did I don’t have enough hard drive space for Lord of the Rings Online and it doesn’t work with my monitor.  So for now I have my CR-48 to keep me in touch with the world via email, websites, Twitter, Facebook and my blog.  Thanks once again Google.

If I get a new power supply and it works but my computer doesn’t come on then I will know it’s because I fried the motherboard.  If so then I will be screwed.  I will have to get a new computer if that is the case.  It’s not going to be easy to save the money for a new computer, that’s why I’m still using an old computer.  It’s funny I say old because I built it in 2007.  Holy crap!  Technology sure doesn’t last very long does it?

Update: Good news, when Darrin came home from work yesterday, he picked me up at the house and we went and got a new power supply, actually a better power supply with 2 fans on it.  We asked about the motherboard and the guy said that the power supplies have a safety built in so that if something happens to it and it surges like it did then it won’t fry the motherboard or anything that is plugged into the power supply like the dvd burner, floppy disc drive and hard drive.  So all is good.

My Nook Observations and Irritations

On By Michel McDonaldIn Books, eBook, Gadgets, Nook, Products I LikeLeave a comment

I finally did it! I finally bought a Barnes & Noble Nook last night. It didn’t take me very long to figure out how it works but here are my observations and irritations.

I bought the first Sookie Stackhouse novel and at first I was put off by the fact that swiping the touchscreen wasn’t working but I finally got it to work and now it works all the time. Sometimes I accidentally brush my finger on it and it turns the page lol. Oops.

I was reading this morning and my dog came to me to pick her up so I sat the Nook down on my desk and when I went to pick it up again I couldn’t turn the page. It was frozen. And that happened to me a few times last night but I didn’t understand why.

My observation from that irritation is that instead of setting it down, I’m gonna have to turn it off with that metal power button on the top and watch it go into screen saver mode then lay it down. When I pick it back up it I have to push the power button again.

I was playing with the Sudoku game last night and having fun actually but sometimes if I pushed the arrow button on the touchscreen on the left side it goes to the menu and I’m forced to start a new game or go into the menu. I think that if I just go into the menu then go back to the game it might continue but that wasn’t the case for me. And when the nook shut down completely when I turned it back on, it erased my game completely forcing me to start over. HOW IRRITATING!

I probably won’t be playing it that often because of that very reason.

It seems to freeze on me a lot and at first I started to think that I may have gotten a defective one but what are the odds that I would get a defective one? I always seem to think that an electronic is defective so I return it for another and it shows the same sign of defectiveness. I don’t want to have to go all that way back to B&N just to suffer the same pains especially if that’s normal for the Nook.

When you are in your B&N library you can choose to see the little covers on the bottom to choose a book to read or you can just push the arrows up or down to choose a book. Although it’s faster to choose from the book covers. However, when you have put your own books in the Nook via the USB cable, you don’t get that option. There are no little book covers. I kind of figured that it wouldn’t show them but that’s fine, I don’t care.

I do like being able to highlight a word or type out a note but unfortunately when you go to highlight things, if it’s down at the bottom you have to push that bottom arrow and it can take forever. That’s one thing that impressed me with the Sony that you could use the stylus to tap on the word but unfortunately the touchscreen makes it hard to read books. Typing is a bit of a chore too because my fingers are so fat that I can’t even see if the letter lit up or not when I press it so I’m constantly having to look up at the e-ink to make sure I pressed it lol. I definitely need a stylus.

I also bought the King James version of the Holy Bible because you never know when you’re gonna need it. Unfortunately, navigation is a biotch. When you go to a book it shows links for all the chapters. If you want chapter 1 then perfect, it’s on that same page but if you want chapter 21 then you gotta push the arrow button twenty million times to get all the way down to 21. Ok so twenty million is an exaggeration but you know what I mean.

Once you finally get to your chapter you just have to turn the page to the verse you want.  That’s a good time to bookmark it for when you are at church and you are supposed to turn to that page.  You can just wake up the Nook and go to your bookmarks.

Highlighting is kind of a bitch if you are highlighting something at the bottom of the page because as with finding the bible chapter you have to press the arrow button many times to get to it before you can start selecting the text.  When you do go to select the text you can highlight it and you have the choice of writing a note or just hitting submit.

Unfortunately, and this is an irritation, you can’t look up your highlighted notes from the beginning of the book.  The only way you will be able to find that note is by making a bookmark.  The Nook for PC software allows you to find all your notes.  I don’t know about the Nook software for other devices such as iPhone, iPad, blackberry etc.

Despite my irritations, I’m glad that I bought it because now I can enjoy reading books that I would otherwise have to read on my computer monitor which is not very comfortable on my eyes or my back.