Yikes--Power, Captain
Saturday, October 27, 2007
So I apologize if this is a bit technical, but there is something to learn for all of us, perhaps.
I have this fairly substantial computer that I use for whatever Windows programming that I need to do. Over the years, various components have been replaced, and I am not sure if any original part remains. So that does pose an interesting question—when does it become a new computer?
Recently, it had a fan fail and the rising temperature caused, eventually, the motherboard, where the CPU and memory are, to fail. The replacement of the board turned out to be a multi-day event, as the system would not immediately start and I had to reinstall all of the software, an arduous and complex task.
So today when the fan in the power supply started the howling noise, I decided to be quite proactive about it and replace it immediately. I opened the power supply itself to see if the fan could just be replaced, but it was soldered in.
To be on the safe side, I took the power supply with me to the little computer store I sometimes get parts from to be sure that I was getting the correct one, and to be sure that I would get the right size of replacement fan.
Well, I got home and the connector to the motherboard was the wrong size on the new power supply. So I went ahead with the replacement of the fan in the old power supply, setting aside the new one to deal with later.
As I reassembled the parts, I noticed that a connector to the biggest disk in the system was loose from the disk, and I couldn't somehow put it back in. I got my handy gooseneck lamp and my magnifying glass, (which for some reason seems to be getting more use) and couldn't really tell what was wrong.
So I endeavored to take out the disk drive to get a better look. All the disk drives in this particular machine are mounted in a cage that is itself bolted to the inside of the computer case. However, to get to the bolts for the cage, one must remove the front panel. In order to remove the front panel, one must remove the top of the case, which is bolted at the back of the case, and remove both of sides of the case.
So I removed the disk, and discovered that the reason that the connector wouldn't go into its assigned place on the disk drive was that a little tab on the drive itself had broken off. This holds the connector firmly in place.
Now it is clear that I am in a bit of trouble. Several important files are there and have not been backed up recently.
I set the project aside for tomorrow, and plan to use super-glue to attach the cable, and once all the files are safely backed up, replace the drive.
So the lesson is that regardless of how small the repair, it is Wise To Back Up Your Important Files Before Changing Anything.