Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Worst. Episo...er Day.Ever

Over the weekend my computer took a header for one brief hour. I thought at first it was a failing hard drive, but as it turns out that's not quite the case.
Monday, as I was getting ready for work, it takes another header. It's not the hard driver, per se, it's the whole thing is overheating. It happened at possibly the worst time it could happen, just before work.
While I frantically tried to cool the damn thing off, my shift started. I then tried to get my old computer to work. Big Mistake.
Well, first of all, this is an XP system, designed about 5 years ago and it was pretty obsolete even then, but it was cheap. It served its purpose then.
I haven't used it much since I got the new computer. So what does it do when I first plug it in? It tried to update. About 6 months worth of updates. Plus I can't even try to use it until Java updates. So I let it update. Tick. Tock.
So it finishes updating and I try to log into my work systems. More updates. Then I forgot my user ID to get into the systems, and had to briefly reconnect my old/new computer to see if I can get it. I can't even get the thing to boot up. Tick. Tock. I tried to put a spare power supply in it, thinking that might help. Well the spare didn't work. Tik. Tok.
So I put the old computer back on, and ask my supervisor for help getting my user ID. It is now written down rather than just being on my computer.
I start to slowly log into my systems, and just when I'm ready to log into the phone, I discover that the program that logs me into the phone is denying me access because of some Java issue. T. T.
I can't use the old computer, but maybe the new computer has cooled down sufficiently to work. I throw the working power supply on the thing and pray.
YES! It worked!
And it lasted the rest of the shift, half of what I was scheduled.
The idea is it appears the system heats up to a point where it's unusable. The solution, albeit temporary, is to let the system stay off for the 2-3 hours before work starts. That way everything's cooled down, and hopefully will last the entire shift.
If not, it will be a piss poor week. And I'll have to get a replacement computer, or whatever component is failing, I'm still not sure which it is. Either way, I'm not a happy camper. I think I'll start by getting one replacement fan. We'll see if that works, if not, it goes back.
I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.

No comments:

Post a Comment