6/28/2006 - Wednesday
Hooray! My computer is working again! A few days ago, my motherboard decided to stop working. I’m not exactly sure what went wrong, but my computer wouldn’t even load the BIOS, so I knew the problem was probably hardware related and wasn’t going to fix itself. (You know, like windows does when you reboot). (Lol, you can tell I’m sooo computer savvy…yeah right, hehe).
So anyway, Kevin and I replaced the motherboard in my computer tonight. Even though I’ve never done it before, it was pretty easy. The new motherboard is essentially the same as the old one (I ordered it that way intentionally), so the job was as simple as unplugging everything from the old board, and plugging it into the same spots on the new one. This has to be done carefully, of course, as it’s pretty easy in a few spots to get confused as to which wires go to which exact spots. However, Kevin took copious notes and pictures before we started, and we both took a good look inside my computer before taking it all apart. Besides, there are different types of plugs for most of the various components, so its pretty obvious how most of the major pieces fit together. Plus, the board comes with a diagram that tells you where everything goes (hard drives plug in here, power plugs in there, USB ports go here, etc etc.). The hardware portion of the job only took about an hour, and was really straightforward. I am most definitely NOT a “computer” person, and I had no trouble figuring out how to replace the motherboard. The only part I would not have figured out without Kevin happened after we tried to boot up my computer with the new motherboard. I have two hard drives, and the default drive is actually not the drive with the operating system on it. So Kevin had to go into the BIOS and tell it to boot from the other drive. Now that Kevin has shown me how to do it, its easy to understand, but I doubt I could have figured that out on my own.
In any case, my computer is happy again, yea! I really need to throw in some praise for Newegg.com, as they are the other part of this success story. Newegg is awesome, if you didn’t already know. I ordered the new board Monday night, and it arrived today. Plus, newegg always has the best prices, and the reviews are excellent. For computer parts and other common electronics, newegg is by far the best place to go. (No, they are not paying me to advertise for them:)
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NEWEGG :-) ... :-)