Today a good customer of ours came in with a computer problem; her computer was no longer powering on.
We checked it out using our free diagnostics. A few days later we contacted her with some strange news; the machine had both a defective motherboard and a hard drive with bad sectors. It is likely that the hard drive was beginning to fail and then a surge killed the motherboard.
98% of the machines we get in have 1 issue; this machine had 2. When we called her with news of the diagnosis and mentioned that it was strange, she informed us that the Glenridge neighborhood in Cary has issues with brief power outages, or blackouts.
When a drive is spinning and the power cuts out, it can, on occasion, cause the drive’s read arm to touch down onto the disc which is spinning at 7,200 RPMS.
Power fluctuations wreak havoc on power supplies, motherboards, and other electronic devices as well.
This unit was a Dell desktop which uses proprietary parts. A machine custom built by a local computer dealer will use “standard” parts. Proprietary parts are not necessarily bad, but when it comes time to replace them you must find the exact replacement part. Proprietary parts are almost always more expensive than standard parts.
Our proposed solution
We proposed to her a new computer. We are selling these neat little cube machines. They run cool and are very reliable as they use good parts. Also, the hard drive is solid state, meaning it does not spin. Fewer moving parts equals lower temperatures, less power consumption, improved reliability and performance. We will link to her new computer build from this article when the machine is built.
We also recommended a good battery backup / surge protector. A surge protector with a battery built in will keep your computer running flawlessly even during brownouts and blackouts. (A brownout is when your lights dim and electricity is not as powerful as it should be but the power does not shut off all the way, although ensitive electronics such as LCD TVs and computers will power off.)
Finally, the last thing she needed was a tier 1 data recovery.
If you live in Cary NC and have a computer problem please feel free to drop in during normal business hours or call us today.