c/computer-technicians

24

drew690•1d ago

Shoutout to the customer who made me realize I was using thermal paste wrong for 5 years

I had this guy bring in a custom PC for a simple CPU swap last month. He watched me put the paste on and just goes "you know you're supposed to spread it thin, right?" I always did the pea method like everyone online said. Turns out I was using way too much and it was actually hurting my temps by about 8-10 degrees on average. Checked my own rig after that and sure enough, paste was oozing over the edges. Anyone else have a basic step they got backwards for way longer than they'd like to admit?

3

felix824•5d ago

Saw a stat that 90% of data breaches come from phishing, not hacked servers

I used to think most breaches were from people cracking passwords or exploiting bugs, but a report from Verizon's 2024 DBIR changed my mind. Have you shifted your security advice to clients based on that kind of data?

13

james_singh7•5d ago

Pro tip: switched from canned air to a datavac blower for dusting towers last year

I used to go through like 3 cans of compressed air a day on big jobs but after dropping $70 on that electric blower I can clean a whole server rack in 10 minutes flat, has anyone else made the switch or do you stick with canned air?

15

benc53•6d ago

The $10 cable tie trick that saved me a whole rewire job

I was troubleshooting a server rack last month and kept getting intermittent network drops. Spent like 3 hours swapping out cables and cards, nothing worked. Then I noticed one bundle of ethernet cables was pinched tight against a metal edge. Grabbed a pack of velcro cable ties from my bag for $8, rerouted the bundle with a little slack, and boom no more drops. Has anyone else had a weird physical cable issue that looked like a hardware failure?

7

the_piper•6d ago

The old timer who swore by compressed air to clean fans was onto something

Back when I started fixing computers in 2010, a retired IBM guy named Frank told me to always blow out PC fans with compressed air in short bursts, not long sprays. I figured he was just being fussy (you know, old habits). But after I ruined a fan bearing by holding the nozzle down for 10 seconds straight (it started grinding a week later), I realized he was right. Short bursts keep the motor from spinning too fast and burning out. Has anyone else learned a trick the hard way from ignoring an experienced tech?

12

parker_park8•6d ago

Appreciation post for the guy who showed me why thermal paste matters

A customer brought in a prebuilt last Tuesday that was thermal throttling at idle, and after I pulled the cooler off I found the paste was applied like someone was frosting a cake with a butter knife - has anyone else seen factory builds with paste that looks more like a design choice than a functional application?

18

drew965•7d ago

Just hit my 1,000th ransomware removal this morning

I was cleaning out my ticket logs from the last 4 years and the number popped up. 1,000 ransomware jobs done. That's about one every 35 hours if you do the math. Most of them were from people clicking fake shipping links or opening sketchy invoice attachments. Has anyone else tracked their numbers and been surprised by what adds up?

11

masonbell•7d ago

That office building in Phoenix with the moldy server room

I got called out to a law firm in Phoenix last month for a server that kept crashing. Walked into the server room and the AC had been broken for three days. Temp was reading 98 degrees and the humidity was so bad there was condensation on the ceiling tiles. Pulled the side panel off the main server and found corrosion starting on the motherboard. The IT guy was just rebooting it every time it failed, never checked the environment. I told the office manager they needed to get a portable AC unit in there that day or that server was toast. That job made me start carrying a temp/humidity sensor in my bag. Now I check every server room before I touch anything. Anyone else run into situations where the physical environment was the real problem, not the hardware?

-4

hugo825•7d ago

That Tuesday where every computer had the same weird DNS issue

It was just a regular day last spring, but I showed up to work and three different clients had their internet going in and out. One was a small law office downtown, another was a dental clinic, and the third was a real estate agent working from home. All of them said their browsers kept timing out but other apps worked fine. I checked their DNS settings and every single one had a rogue entry pointing to some weird IP address from a malware extension in Chrome. Took me four hours to clean all three machines and reset their routers. What was the strangest batch of identical issues you ever walked into?

10

margaret99•9d ago

Found a fix for a weird network drop that stumped me for weeks

I had this one office client where their computers would lose internet for 2-3 seconds every 45 minutes on the dot. Drove me crazy swapping cables and drivers. Turned out it was a bad power supply on their main switch that sagged voltage just enough to reset the network chip. After I swapped that switch out, it's been solid for about 3 months now. Has anyone else run into a weird intermittent issue that ended up being a power problem?

1

the_xena•10d ago

Can we talk about liquid cooling loops for gaming PCs...

I always thought custom water loops were overkill and a waste of money, but after my buddy's rig ran 10 degrees cooler under load for 3 years straight, I'm starting to doubt myself. For those of you who've made the switch, was the maintenance headache worth it or do you regret it?

28

thomas275•10d ago

Just figured out thermal paste application matters way more than I thought

Just figured out thermal paste application matters way more than I thought. Last week I rebuilt a friend's old gaming PC and figured I'd just slap some thermal paste on like I always do, a pea-sized drop in the middle. The CPU was hitting 90 degrees under load right away, which seemed weird. So I cleaned it off, watched a few videos, and tried the spread method with a plastic card this time, making sure it was thin and even across the whole chip. Temps dropped to 70 degrees after that, which is a huge difference for such a small change. I've been building computers for like 5 years and never bothered with the technique, just assumed it all worked the same. Anyone else have a similar experience where a tiny habit change made a big difference in your builds?

10

nancy524•12d ago

Hot take: the old CRT monitors we used to haul were way easier to fix than these new flat panels

Last month I was working on a Dell monitor from 2022, had to take the whole back panel off just to check a capacitor. Three years ago I could swap a flyback transformer on a 19-inch CRT in under 10 minutes. Anybody else miss how simple the old gear was to troubleshoot?

28

alicew68•15d ago

Noticed a big shift in how clients treat small shop repairs vs big box stores

Over the last year I've seen more people bringing in old laptops for simple fixes like a new battery or fan replacement instead of just tossing them. I swear about 8 out of 10 jobs I did this month were stuff they used to send to Best Buy or just throw away. Is anyone else seeing more of this frugal mindset or is it just my area?

14

wrenh65•15d ago

Picked up a bad habit from a rushed job at a dental office last Tuesday

I was swapping out a dead power supply on their server and got sloppy with cable routing since they were breathing down my neck about being fast. Now I keep finding myself skipping zip ties on other jobs just to save 5 minutes. Anyone else pick up shortcuts they regret from a stressful site?

17

danielhenderson•16d ago

TIL thermal paste quantity debate has two very different camps

Old school guy at a shop in Tucson told me to apply a pea-sized dot, but I watched a video from a big YouTuber saying spread it thin with a card. Which camp are you in and has anyone actually seen a temp difference from either method?

24

david_rivera4•16d ago

Found a $3 fix for a cracked laptop hinge that actually worked

My 5 year old Dell laptop hinge cracked right down the middle last month. I looked up replacement parts and they wanted $40 plus shipping. Someone on another forum mentioned using Sugru, that moldable glue stuff. I picked up a pack at Target for $3.50 and shaped it around the hinge joint. It's been holding solid for 3 weeks now. Has anyone else used weird glue or putty as a temporary repair?.

18

vera_murphy•18d ago

Power supply gave out on a client's Dell Optiplex 7050 yesterday

Was swapping drives and it just went dead. No pop, no smell, but the power light on the mobo blinked once and died. Tried a different PSU from my parts bin and it fired right up. Anyone run into these Dell OEM units failing after 3-4 years?

12

the_dylan•18d ago

A client told me my cable management was 'too pretty' and now I changed how I route everything

Last month a guy at a small office in Denver said my ziptie job looked nice but made it impossible to swap drives. He was right. I stopped using so many ties and now I just use velcro straps and leave some slack. Has anyone else had to unlearn the whole 'make it look perfect' thing?

19

logan205•19d ago

Watched a new kid try to fix a PSU by just blowing on it

Been doing this for about 8 years now and I keep seeing people treat power supplies like they're NES cartridges. Had a guy last week at my shop in Cleveland bring in a computer that wouldn't turn on. He said he blew into the fan vents and tried jiggling the cables. I showed him how to test the PSU with a multimeter and found the 5V rail was dead. The PSU was only 3 years old but it was a cheap one. Has anyone else noticed this trend of people thinking dusting off parts fixes everything?

27

the_logan•19d ago

Spotted a server rack at a coffee shop in Austin that made me stop and stare

I was grabbing a latte downtown last week and noticed their network closet door was cracked open. Inside was this ancient HP ProLiant server with cables spilling everywhere like a spaghetti monster attacked it. I actually mentioned it to the barista and she said it runs their whole POS system and they haven't touched it since 2019. I offered to clean up the cable mess for a free drink and they took me up on it. Has anyone else stumbled on a setup in the wild that made you cringe?

22

xenagarcia•20d ago

Walked into a client's office and saw their server rack... three months later it was a completely different setup

Their cable management went from a rat's nest of tangled ethernet cords to a pristine bundle job after i swapped their cheap patch cables for some decent shielded ones.

20

rodriguez.diana•20d ago

Overheard a guy at Micro Center say thermal paste is a myth

Was grabbing a new SSD at Micro Center last Tuesday and some dude in the aisle told his friend that thermal paste is just a scam by the big companies to sell more tubes. I had to bite my tongue so hard I almost choked. He was building a gaming rig with a Ryzen 7 and said he'd just use nothing. Has anyone else run into customers or randos with wild theories like that and did you try to correct them?

6

norag66•21d ago

Spent $180 on a thermal imaging camera for finding hot spots in server racks

Picked up one of those cheap phone attachment thermal cameras last month after I kept chasing ghost overheating issues in a small business server closet. Turns out the AC vent was pointing right at the switch but missing the UPS completely. Found the problem in about 3 minutes after spending like 2 hours guessing before. Has anyone else used one of these for network gear or am I just late to the party?

8

carr.gavin•24d ago

Stuck a live SATA cable into a powered PSU - fried 3 drives instantly

I was swapping drives in a server rack at a small office near Denver last Tuesday. Got in a hurry, didn't double check which cable was already live, and shoved a SATA power connector right into a drive that was still getting juice. Three WD Reds popped and smelled like burnt plastic before I could yank the cord. Cost me about $450 in replacements and a whole afternoon restoring from backups. Has anyone else built a quick pre-check habit to stop this from happening again?