I INADVERTANTLY left the CPU cooling fan off the
processor in my PC while putting in a new HD (it was a bit
too big with fan in). I forgot to put it back on, and
powered it back on. It was on for about 3 minutes, then
pop, the computer shut off. The case was open, and I
could feel that then processor's fins were too hot to
touch. I haven't been able to power up since. Help!
What, if any, items are destroyed (whole motehrboard,
etc)? Are any of them recoverable? Should I scrap the
whole thing, and go buy a Dell, or buy the now needed
components? Thanks...

DPS wrote:

> I INADVERTANTLY left the CPU cooling fan off the
> processor in my PC while putting in a new HD (it was a bit
> too big with fan in). I forgot to put it back on, and
> powered it back on. It was on for about 3 minutes, then
> pop, the computer shut off. The case was open, and I
> could feel that then processor's fins were too hot to
> touch. I haven't been able to power up since. Help!
> What, if any, items are destroyed (whole motehrboard,
> etc)? Are any of them recoverable? Should I scrap the
> whole thing, and go buy a Dell, or buy the now needed
> components? Thanks...

Modern processors will shut themselves off to prevent
damage from overheating - but you said nothing about
your system.

If you let it cool off, properly reinstalled the
heatsink/fan, and then it still failed to power up
then you probably do have an older processor and you
almost definitely fried it. Everything else should
still be OK.

Forget about Dell unless you are buying for your business.
Dell provides absolutely horrendous service for home users.

Thanks for the reply. Evidently, the board and processor
are ok, but the power supply was blown. I swapped another
power supply in there, and I now boot up. Now of course,
I'm struggling with finding all the darn drivers for all
my hardware so I can actualy USE my computer. Thank you
though!
>-----Original Message-----
>DPS wrote:
>
>> I INADVERTANTLY left the CPU cooling fan off the
>> processor in my PC while putting in a new HD (it was a
bit
>> too big with fan in). I forgot to put it back on, and
>> powered it back on. It was on for about 3 minutes,
then
>> pop, the computer shut off. The case was open, and I
>> could feel that then processor's fins were too hot to
>> touch. I haven't been able to power up since. Help!
>> What, if any, items are destroyed (whole motehrboard,
>> etc)? Are any of them recoverable? Should I scrap the
>> whole thing, and go buy a Dell, or buy the now needed
>> components? Thanks...
>
>Modern processors will shut themselves off to prevent
>damage from overheating - but you said nothing about
>your system.
>
>If you let it cool off, properly reinstalled the
>heatsink/fan, and then it still failed to power up
>then you probably do have an older processor and you
>almost definitely fried it. Everything else should
>still be OK.
>
>Forget about Dell unless you are buying for your business.
>Dell provides absolutely horrendous service for home
users.
>.
>

funny how Dell gets that reputation, Ive heard from a person who was about
to work for them, or did, that their service trained people by certifying
them first, if they didnt know stuff? just pretend.

one guy couldnt make a board fit into a laptop, so he just set it on the
motherboard and closed it up, the keyboard had a hump in the middle, the
thing didnt work, but they, the service group, gets paid anyway.

Dell, from what Ive heard, is a logistics company that happens to sell
computers. as long as statisticians are running the show, this poor service
will not stop, its a numbers game, and the consumer loses.

some power supplies need to be reset by disconnecting power, turning it on,
off then trying again. some supplies have a small GMA fuse you can change
inside, but its a shock hazard, new ones are cheaper than what it costs to
fix them


> Forget about Dell unless you are buying for your business.
> Dell provides absolutely horrendous service for home users.

this computer wrote:

> funny how Dell gets that reputation, Ive heard from a person who was about
> to work for them, or did, that their service trained people by certifying
> them first, if they didnt know stuff? just pretend.
>
> one guy couldnt make a board fit into a laptop, so he just set it on the
> motherboard and closed it up, the keyboard had a hump in the middle, the
> thing didnt work, but they, the service group, gets paid anyway.
>
> Dell, from what Ive heard, is a logistics company that happens to sell
> computers. as long as statisticians are running the show, this poor service
> will not stop, its a numbers game, and the consumer loses.
>
> some power supplies need to be reset by disconnecting power, turning it on,
> off then trying again. some supplies have a small GMA fuse you can change
> inside, but its a shock hazard, new ones are cheaper than what it costs to
> fix them
>
>
>
>>Forget about Dell unless you are buying for your business.
>>Dell provides absolutely horrendous service for home users.
>

I've dealt with a few unfortunate Dell owners.

The worst Dell service nightmare I've personally come
across: someone who bought a Dell for her son and
it arrived with NO HARD DRIVE.

The poor woman had no idea why the computer wouldn't
work so a friend of mine referred her to me. I did
the obvious - the BIOS didn't detect a hard drive so
I opened the case expecting to see a cable that had
come loose during shipping. What I did see was that
there was NO HARD DRIVE and no IDE cable for one
either. I told her to call Dell about it and even
with what I already knew about Dell's crappy service
I figured she would have a hard drive sent to her
within a couple of weeks. I went home and forgot
all about her.

After 3 weeks of dealing with moronic Dell service
reps on the phone she came to me again. She was
literally in tears. Those idiots kept telling her
that they couldn't go onto the next step of resolving
her hard drive problems until she had reformatted her
hard drive and reinstalled Windows. Didn't matter how
many times she told them that there was NO HARD DRIVE.

I spent two days trying to get hold of someone with a
brain at Dell and finally gave up and told her to talk
to a lawyer. The lawyer sent Dell a letter and she
was immediately refunded the money and Dell arranged
for someone to pick up the computer from her home.