the next time i mess something up

[setoguro]

first i built my first computer 3 months ago. asus k7v with a 750 athlon i spend a lot of time looking and poking around and trashing things.

iv'e been reading about assembly. don't understand a thing buy why let that stop me. i pick up w32dasm unzip it to a file then run and disassemble hex workshop just want to look. great fun. close it all down then go on line. i don't make it very far i get this no dial tone message. i check everything no change same message. i go for a week trying different things but i'm just stomping around in the dark. so in the end i reformatted. so the point is i don't want to be stomping around in the dark anymore. what should i be reading to get the lights turned on. i want to be able to track these problems down and it will happen again i just can't help myself.

[rUzz]

Sounds like you should do a good back up using a CDR or something. If you keep exploring you will eventually learn what to mess with and what not to mess with.
If you want to read or get a good book I suggest this site: http://www.course.com
Fear not your PC. Once I installed 14 viruses on my PC just to see what would happen? (I reinstalled windows several times)That isn't something I would do every day but I can say I have done it. Don't stop exploring just be prepaired for the problems that come along with it.

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Stay alert, stay alive!

[Paleo Pete]

14 viruses??? One wasn't enough??? lol...

Check around at local bookstores, resale shops, and of course the ever present local library, and pick up every book you can get your hands on that says computers, windows, A+ or DOS and is more than a half inch thick...read them twice or more, and pick up cheap obsolete computers at resale shops and flea markets, garage sales etc and rebuild and tinker with them, swap parts, install every OS you can get your hands on, try to crash them, then try to fix them without reinstalling. Makes a great cheap learning medium.

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Soon as I come up with all the answers...they change the questions!!

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[setoguro]

Thanks for all the info. I like those links. I spend alot of time riding around on my bike trash picking old computers. The motherboards from the ones that get taken apart hang from my son ceiling like airplanes. So far we've found a 486 and 386 that still work (sort of). I think I'll have an other look at them. thanks again.

[bassman]

Petes my hero. You can also check with places like the Goodwill, Salvation Army,etc... That is where I am getting some stuff for free. If it not a full functioning fairly recent machine they don't want it. They have to pay to get rid of it, so they are happy to give them away when they can.

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I want to be like Pete

[Paleo Pete]

You're lucky, I have to buy them here, and the Goodwill and Salvation Army stores have both recently decided anything that says computer must be gold plated. A year ago I could get XT/AT machines, working or not, for under $5, often $1 per component. That's entire case with everything inside, $1; Monitor, $1 etc. Now they want $30-50 for a machine that's lower end Pentium that the manager told me didn't work, cover off and only half the parts still installed! Printer, no idea if it works or not, $30. I told the guy to stuff it.

I paid $1.89 for the HP Desk Jet 400 I'm using now at the same store 3 years ago with power supply and printer cable. For under $2 I didn't care if it worked or not, parts might come in handy. Turned out I only had to snap the ink cartridge in, it wasn't completely seated, and has worked perfect for over 3 years.

Also got a HP Laser Jet for a buck, worked great until the fuser finally died about 6 months ago. I know it printed at least 3,000 pages till then. Now they want $30-35 for a similar printer. And refused to let me find out if it worked. I know how to get a test page out of it without being hooked up to a computer.

And they chase me off every time I get within 30 feet of the dumpster...

Fortunately, they haven't decided books are all that great, but prices have gone up from a buck or less to $3 and more for computer related books. Found a DOS 6.22 manual a few months ago that said "For Distribution with a new Computer Only" on front cover, they wanted $5 for it! It was given to them free..I have 2 boxes full of books here that were all under $2, most from the same store. Game CD that's $10 at department stores right now...$15 at Goodwill right now, even the lady at the register said that was unacceptible, and told me I could get it cheaper at Wal Mart. I've emailed the Goodwill corp, 3 months ago, no reply...greed has taken over the Goodwill store here.

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If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you!
Note: Please post your questions on the forums, not in my email.

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