This could will happen to you at some point.  Perhaps you won’t get the jet engine hard drive like I did last night, but there are many variations: the blank screen, the system freezing every 10 minutes (ironically due to overheating), USB ports failing, rather important keys like the letter “a” just refusing to work… The list of possible hardware faults is endless.  So if it’s inevitable, what can you do to be prepared?  Although there’s probably no way to prepare you for everything, here is a list of things that I recommend.

From day zero

I don’t know about you, but when I bought my last computer, the part of the experience that almost ruined everything was trying to get the salesman to leave me alone with that stupid service plan.  However, if you’re wondering if the expensive service plan is worth it (and have a few minutes) read this article.  

The short answer is this – you should consider your options carefully at purchase time.  We often reject these plans like car rental insurance, assuming (correctly – read this) that companies profit largely from these extra packages.  However, this doesn’t mean the package is worthless – it just means they are incented to sell it to you.  If you go the length of the contract without a problem, you might lose your dough.  However, one problem will normally pay the year’s cost. 

Even with a service plan: Backup your stuff!!!  Read this previous article for details, but this should be a given.  If Mozy and Carbonite aren’t for you, try Dropbox and this previous post.

Regularly there after

Your car gets a tune up every X miles.  Your bike gets a chain oiled every 6 months.  Why wouldn’t your computer get the same every month?  Especially when you CAN SCHEDULE THIS STUFF TO RUN WITHOUT YOU.  Seriously people, don’t be lazy.  You can setup a basic PC maintenance program in a matter of minutes.  If you’ve had your machine for a while, take a look at this guide for the overhaul manual. 

When trouble strikes – know a few resources

Before you decide to delve into ANY computer repair adventure, consider this – Ignoring resulting hardware purchases, is the following true?

  {Time to find the source of the problem}
X {What you consider your time is worth}    <   {100 bucks}

Your time is probably worth more than 10 bucks an hour (consider this fun calculator if you don’t trust me) and consider that a rather simple problem for a professional might take you 10 hours.  I’ve done a little research and for around 100 dollars, you can get most problems diagnosed and sometimes even repaired.  I’m not an economics guy, but even I can see that most of the time – it’s just not worth it.  For a list of people who might be able to help, go to the bottom of this post.

Disclaimer over – If after the above, you still want to tackle your hardware demons, here are some ideas:

Write down the details of your error and search using normal English – A search for hard drive over exertion may sound technical but retrieves only 106,000 articles (mostly about health).  On the other hand, “noisy hard drive” results in 17,600,000 hits and most of them (that I had the patience to review) were relevant.

Take forum posts with a gigantic grain of salt – If you can log in a post, that means that any ninny can log in and answer.  Treat forums more as a way to review the terminology involved (you might learn the right terms for a better search) and to hear the horror stories to understand the gravity of your situation.   Once you’ve done this, step up your game without the help of crowdsourcing…

Consider these flow charts– A pro will know these from experience, but you may need to print them out and go step by step.  WARNING – these are not simple.  If you’re uncomfortable with terms like hard drive cycling, then this is not for you.

Use the knowledge that came with your machine – If it’s an XP machine, then you can use this article from Microsoft as a starting point.  If you’re running a PC, this is a good list of how to guides.  If you’re running a Mac, try simply going to the Mac Support site.

Know when to call it quits – services like Geek Squad and Gurus2Go will be able to diagnose problems much more quickly than you will.  Accept that, move on and if necessary, give them a call.  Knowing when to call it quits will probably be the most cost-effective thing you can do.

That’s about it.  I know I’m a little light on the Mac resources.  I’d love to provide more but I simply don’t have the links.  Shoutout anything important that I’ve missed in the comments.

~ab