c/computer-technicians

Remember when you had to boot from a stack of floppies to image a drive?

Now I just use a Ventoy USB stick and it's done in 20 minutes. What's the fastest imaging method you guys are using these days?

TIL from a data recovery webinar that 40% of SSD failures are due to controller issues, not the NAND flash itself.

I found this out during a free online training session from a data recovery lab in Austin last month, and it's made me much more careful about diagnosing drive issues before declaring the data totally gone.

Changed my mind about using canned air for cleaning PCs

I used to blast everything with it, but after a laptop fan seized from moisture last month, I switched to a $40 electric duster. The difference in control and no liquid risk is huge. Anyone else make the switch and notice less component stress?

A customer in Omaha told me my cable management looked like a 'rat's nest'

They were right, I was rushing through builds and just stuffing everything behind the panel. Now I spend an extra 15 minutes per unit using velcro straps and routing channels. What's your go-to method for making internal wiring look clean for clients?

I was cleaning every PC with canned air for years... then a client's machine died

I was servicing a gaming rig for a regular client in Springfield, and after my usual clean-out with canned air, the system wouldn't boot. The motherboard was fried. I traced it back to a tiny, wet blob of dust I'd blown from a heatsink right onto a power connector... it must have been slightly damp. That was six months ago. Now I always use a small brush first to loosen things, and only use the air from a safe distance. Has anyone else had a component fail right after a routine cleaning?

I bought a $200 'professional' thermal paste kit that performed worse than the $8 tube I keep in my bag.

After testing it on three different CPUs, the expensive paste consistently ran 3-5 degrees Celsius hotter under load, so I'm sticking with the cheap stuff from now on.

Talking to my neighbor made me change how I handle old drives

My neighbor, a retired history teacher, asked me last week if wiping a drive is like erasing a chalkboard or burning a book. He said 'the words might be gone, but the ghost of the story stays in the wood.' That got me thinking about residual data. I used to just do a quick format for personal devices, but now I run a full three-pass overwrite for anything with sensitive info. What's your go-to method for making sure data is really gone?

Changed my mind about checking the simple stuff first

I spent 4 hours on a laptop that wouldn't power on, only to find the AC adapter brick was unplugged from the wall. I was so sure it was a bad DC jack. Anyone else ever get tunnel vision on a repair?

Just found out how many people still think restarting a computer is a myth

I was helping my aunt with her laptop yesterday, and she insisted on just closing programs instead of restarting. I showed her the uptime in Task Manager, it was 17 days. She said, "But the screen goes black, that's the same thing." I had to explain the whole kernel reload process. Has anyone else had to prove that a restart actually does something?

DAE remember using a boot floppy for every single Windows 98 repair?

I was cleaning out my old toolbox and found a stack of them, which got me thinking about how I used to rely on those for everything from virus scans to partitioning. Now I just keep a Ventoy USB with like 10 different ISOs, which is way faster and covers way more situations. What's the one old-school tool or method you were glad to finally stop carrying around?

Had a motherboard short out on a simple RAM upgrade job yesterday

I was just swapping out some old DDR3 for a client's home office PC, nothing fancy. Had the power off, used my anti-static strap, the whole routine. The moment I clicked the new stick into place, there was a tiny pop and a whiff of that awful burnt electronics smell. The board was completely dead, no lights, no fans, nothing. It was an older ASUS model, but still, I've done this exact job maybe a hundred times without a hitch. I checked everything twice, and the only thing I can figure is maybe a tiny bit of conductive dust was in the slot or something. Now I'm out a board and have to explain the delay to the client. Has anyone else had a simple upgrade just blow up on them out of nowhere? What do you even tell the customer when it's not really your fault but it happened on your bench?

A job at a small town library taught me to always check the power strip first

Tried that trick with the hairdryer on a swollen laptop battery

Saw it on a forum and was sure it was a bad idea, but after a stuck battery in a 3 year old Dell wouldn't budge, I gave it 30 seconds of low heat and it popped right out. Anyone got a safer method they use for that specific issue?

PSA: My shop's average repair ticket was $75 last year, now it's $120.

The jump happened after we started using a new diagnostic tool that catches more issues upfront. Anyone else seen a price shift after changing their process?

Unpopular opinion: A client in Austin insisted I replace his entire motherboard over a $5 fan, and I still think about it.

He argued that 'new parts mean new life' for his 3 year old gaming rig, refusing to even let me just swap the cooler, which made me question how we talk about repairs versus replacements with people.

Tried a new thermal paste method on a gaming rig and the temps dropped 15 degrees

I used the pea method on a Ryzen 7 for years, but last month I switched to the spread method with a plastic card on a similar build. The spread gave way better contact and the CPU now idles at 35C instead of 50C. Which paste method do you guys think is best for modern chips?

Had a client bring in a laptop that was so full of dust it sounded like a jet engine.

This was last Tuesday. The guy said it kept shutting off when he tried to play a game. I opened it up and the heat sink was completely blocked, like a solid gray blanket. I've seen bad ones, but this was the worst in maybe three years. I used my Datavac electric duster to clear it out, but some of the gunk was caked on and needed a soft brush. After a clean and new thermal paste, the temps dropped by 30 degrees Celsius. The guy was shocked it was that simple. He thought he needed a whole new system. Anyone else run into a dust bunny that could qualify as a pet recently?

Had to choose between a full Windows reinstall or a repair install for a stubborn boot loop

A client's machine in Springfield was stuck in a boot loop after a botched update, and I had to decide between a clean install or a Windows 10 repair install. I went with the repair install, which kept their files and settings, and it fixed the corrupted system files in about 45 minutes. It saved us a ton of time compared to backing up data and reinstalling everything from scratch. Has anyone else had a repair install fail on them, forcing the full reinstall anyway?

A client's 'simple' data recovery turned into a ransomware nightmare

Last week, a regular customer in Springfield brought me a desktop that wouldn't boot. He said, 'Just get my photos back, I don't care about the rest.' The drive was encrypted with a .lockbit extension, a clear sign. I isolated it immediately on my offline bench. The timeline was scary; the ransom note said the countdown started three days prior when he clicked a fake invoice email. I explained we couldn't just 'recover' the data without potentially paying criminals, which I refuse to do. He hadn't had a backup since 2021. Now we're trying file carving tools on the encrypted drive, but it's a long shot. Has anyone else had a client bring in an already-infected system, and how do you handle that first conversation about the likely total loss?

Had a client's laptop that would randomly shut down after 15 minutes for months

Finally traced it to a tiny crack in the motherboard near the CPU socket that only showed up after the whole thing got warm. Reflowing the solder with a hot air station fixed it for good. Has anyone else had a similar intermittent fault that was a real pain to find?

Just compared two ways to clean a laptop fan and one was way faster

Had a gaming laptop in the shop with bad overheating. I used compressed air first, but the temps only dropped a little. Then I took the whole heatsink assembly out and used a soft brush with some isopropyl alcohol on the fins. The dust was packed in there like clay. After that, the idle temp went from 70C down to 45C. What's your go-to method for a really clogged fan you can't just blow out?

Vent: My uncle swore by the 'percussive maintenance' method for old hard drives

He told me, 'Just give it a good whack on the side, it always works.' This was for a client's 2012 desktop that wouldn't boot, making a clicking sound. I was desperate, so I tried it. Gave the case a firm tap right where the drive was. For about ten seconds, it spun up and I thought he was a genius. Then it made a horrible grinding noise and died completely. Had to tell the client their family photos were likely gone. I felt so dumb for listening to that advice. Has anyone else had a 'fix it with violence' tip backfire spectacularly?

I was cleaning a dusty laptop fan with compressed air for years until a friend showed me the right way.

He held the fan blades still with a toothpick while blasting it, which stopped the motor from spinning backwards and potentially generating current that could damage the board, something I never considered.

Had a client last week who insisted on using a cheap power supply from a no-name brand

Three years ago, I would have just installed it to make them happy. Last month, I saw a system fry because of a similar unit. This time in Tampa, I told them it was a bad idea and showed them a Corsair unit for $80. They got mad and said I was upselling. Has anyone else had to argue with a client over a part that you know will cause problems?

Appreciation post: A customer in Tampa taught me a trick with a paperclip

I was fixing a desktop that wouldn't boot, and the guy watched me for a minute before handing me a paperclip. He said, "My dad was a tech, he always used these to short the CMOS pins, it's easier than hunting for a jumper." I've kept one in my kit ever since. What's your go-to simple tool for a quick fix?