I've fixed several machines with a simple can of air, everything form overheating to dead CD ROMS. Sam. Rick Meyerhoff wrote: > You have not really described what steps that you have taken to > diagnose the problems of the machine. You said that it does not boot > from CD. Have you opened it up and blown out the dust? I resurrected a > "dead" machine this way and was a hero/genius. Have you installed a > good CD drive and tried to boot? Have you re-seated: cables, CPU, RAM? > > If you really want to save money then IMHO find out exactly what is > wrong and just fix that. Maybe you've already done that but just not > posted your investigation. > > Bryan Zimmer wrote: > >> Unfortunately people are not rational about computers. They are like >> members of the family. As a result, people bang the around, put food >> near them, curse them out, love them to death, care for them poorly >> but innocently. No wonder there is so much work for those of us who >> make a living from these types of people! >> >> My friend, I don"t want to give her real name, which is Cindy, so I >> will call her Samantha. Anyhow, Sam had a relationship going with her >> computer that was wholesome and innocent in most ways that I could >> tell, except the other family members would burn questionable CDs and >> in general treat it according to somewhat lower standards than did >> Samantha. >> >> Samantha's computer was an XP, probably with a Pentium III, 265 Megs >> RAM, and a hard drive that must have been 60 megabytes. I didn't >> study the ROM-BIOS setup screen that closely, but you get the idea, a >> machine about 3 years old, maybe a little more. >> >> It was used so well, or should I say so frequently that eventually it >> started breaking down, and in the end, lost its operating system at a >> very crucial moment. Microsoft now DESTROYS any machine that doesn't >> have a pre-purchased license. I wouldn't dream of putting an untested >> OS on my equipment, but they have the policy, and they won. Until I >> sue them. >> >> Anyway, sorry to bore you with this, my main reason for writing was >> that I am looking for a similar machine for about $300 dollars. Not >> more, hopefully less. Hers would have brought considerably less at >> Computer Renaissance, the CD drive had stopped working. >> >> OK,. now after all hat, is it even conceivable to buy a PIII computer >> for $300? I have the RAM, I have a few components, only the tower is >> necessary. And if the CD drive works, I bet that would be worth a >> little more than 300. I don't know if I'm fooling myself, but >> recently I bought as Pentium IV with 1 GIG memory and a 160 G hard >> drive, plus a few extras. For about $800. After rebates. For real. >> >> So let me know if there are any nibbles of interest out there. I have >> an open mind and a very slim wallet. The prices I reluctantly listed >> above are regrettably all I have to work with. If it's not enough, >> maybe we could buy parts of your working system. Who knows. She is >> clear on wanting XP home edition. Like I said, she could probably be >> converted to Linux if Linux runs AOL. I know Netscape has made >> something of a comeback on Linux boxes. Not Mesilla, but commercial >> Netscape 7.2, probably complete with AIM. >> >> Let me know, >> >> BAZ >> baz at winternet dot com >> >> >> >> >> BAZ >> ------- >> Bryan Zimmer >> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Scot Jenkins" <scot at thinkunix.net> >> To: "TCLUG Mailing List" <tclug-list at mn-linux.org> >> Sent: Saturday, October 02, 2004 12:44 AM >> Subject: Re: [TCLUG] Computer donations >> >> >>> Bryan Zimmer wrote: >>> >>>> I know of at least one person who is in need of a computer. Her >>>> motherboard >>>> was fried and now the computer is of no use at all except for >>>> certain parts >>>> (memory, hard drive, the sort of thing). It does not boot and has >>>> no CD-ROM >>>> drive to boot from. >>>> >>>> I truly need to find something for her. She is not only a friend >>>> but sees me >>>> as being able to "fix" most computer problems. I told her I couldn't >>>> resurrect from the dead, but she still thinks I can produce a working >>>> computer. I considered putting in a new motherboard, but the fact >>>> was that >>>> the computer was beginning to enter its "twilight months". It was >>>> starting >>>> to be one thing after another. Not worth the cost of repairs, many >>>> of which >>>> were done as a favor to a friend. >>>> >>>> If anyone has, or know of a computer capable of running Windows XP (or >>>> possibly she will resort to Linux...can Linux run AOL?), I would >>>> appreciate >>>> it. >>> >>> >>> >>> What exactly does your friend do with a computer? If she's just using >>> the internet over dialup (email, web browsing), and the occassional >>> MSWord doc, she can probably get by with lower end hardware. >>> >>> I have an older P166 with 128 MB RAM that runs win2k respectibly. I >>> was >>> pretty surprised. I don't want to start a flame war, but on this same >>> hardware IE6 is much faster for surfing then the latest Mozilla under >>> Linux. Don't get me wrong, Linux as an OS is faster, but Mozilla is >>> just a slow pig compared to IE on this old dog. >>> >>> My point is that there's plenty of old hardware (usually available for >>> little or no cost), that still has plenty of usable life left in it. >>> Why not put it to good use? Do most people really need a 2 or 3 Ghz >>> processor with 128 or 256 MB of RAM on their video card just to write a >>> word doc or check email? >>> -- >>> scot >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota >>> Help beta test TCLUG's potential new home: http://plone.mn-linux.org >>> Got pictures for TCLUG? Beta test http://plone.mn-linux.org/gallery >>> tclug-list at mn-linux.org >>> https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list >>> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota >> Help beta test TCLUG's potential new home: http://plone.mn-linux.org >> Got pictures for TCLUG? Beta test http://plone.mn-linux.org/gallery >> tclug-list at mn-linux.org >> https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list >> >> > _______________________________________________ TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota Help beta test TCLUG's potential new home: http://plone.mn-linux.org Got pictures for TCLUG? Beta test http://plone.mn-linux.org/gallery tclug-list at mn-linux.org https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list