CastleCops® - Geek Tech: Simple Upgrades Gone Bad

Geek Tech: Simple Upgrades Gone Bad
It's supposed to be simple, so why does it go so wrong so often?
Tom Mainelli, PC World

It was supposed to be an easy upgrade.

Planning the first GeekTech column--where Alexandra Krasne and I talk about new technologies, hands-on upgrades, and other cool stuff--I decided I'd start off with something minor. I'd swap out my noisy CPU heat sink/fan combo for a quiet aftermarket unit: piece o' cake.

Right. Anybody who's ever spent time with their hands inside a PC case knows that as soon as you get cocky, even the simplest, most mundane upgrade can quickly turn into a multiday ordeal. So instead of a simple upgrade piece, I offer up this cautionary tale.

Humongous Heat Sink
When I built my current PC, quiet wasn't a consideration. Speed was key--as a journalist, I require Microsoft Word to run at optimal performance (I type really fast).

Many months later, with the rush of newfound PC power waning, the combined noise of a stock CPU fan, sound-card fan, three cheapo case fans, and two power supply fans started to grate on my last nerve. I knew that replacing the CPU fan wouldn't entirely solve the problem, but I figured it was a step in the right direction.

I picked Zalman's $42 CNPS7000A-Cu, a huge copper beast that has a built-in 92mm fan with speed control via an included voltage regulator. It is an impressive-looking piece of technology that efficiently cools your processor while insuring that your PC will never blow away in a gust of wind (it weighs more than 1.5 pounds).

Perusing the instructions--yes, I read instructions--it looked like installing the unit on an Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon 64 was a simple procedure. My Athlon XP, however, would require adding two weight-bearing clips to support this monster. To do this I would need to insert screws from the underside, which would require removing the motherboard from the chassis.

This is where the red lights and sirens go off in a normal person's head, but not in my upgrade-addled brain. Remove the motherboard of my perfectly functioning PC? Sure, no problem; and do you want fries with that?

The Mistakes Pile Up
Eager to get that bad boy into my PC, I committed mistake number one: I didn't safeguard my critical files. Confident this minor upgrade would go smoothly, I didn't bother to do a current backup of my hundreds of digital photos and thousands of MP3s. What makes this oversight worse: I have a second hard drive in the PC for this very task.

Mistake number two was close behind. Instead of moving the PC to my dining room table, where I would have adequate light and easy access to the case interior, I just flipped the chassis on its side under the desk of my carpeted home office. Sure, the light wasn't good, getting into the case was a squeeze, and the cats were nosing around, but I told myself, This won't take long.

Then I unplugged all the peripherals and the power supply and opened the case. Before making mistake number three, I paused briefly and considered pulling out that wrist strap contraption that dissipates electrical charges to protect sensitive items like a motherboard. Mine was in drawer a few feet away. Nah, I don't need that.

Now it was time to remove the existing heat sink and fan. The tricky thing about an Athlon XP processor is that the core is completely exposed: If you're not careful when dealing with the heat sink, you can crack the chip. With this in mind, I tried to push down on the latch securing my existing fan/sink to the processor with enough oomph to disengage the mechanism, but not so much as to destroy my processor. It might have gone better had I bothered to find a better tool for the job; instead, I just used the Philips head screwdriver I had handy (mistake number four).

So at this point, I was sprawled out halfway under my office desk, leaning over the poorly lit chassis with a screwdriver jammed into the sensitive inner workings of my not-even-backed-up PC.

Yes, I write about technology for a living.

After much struggling, I finally removed the original heat sink and fan. Then I unscrewed the motherboard and carefully pulled it from the case. After resting it on the chassis, I screwed in the clip supports. Then I carefully replaced the motherboard and screwed it back down--marveling at my genius at having avoided unplugging anything. I carefully installed the new heat sink and fan, using the included thermal compound. Then I plugged in the power supply and peripherals, and booted the PC.

Startup Woes
The unit POSTed fine, and up came a screen offering to start Windows in Safe Mode. That seemed reasonable. I clicked over to the Start in Normal Mode option and hit Enter.

Nothing.

I rebooted and tried again.

Nothing.

Then I rebooted and tried the Safe Mode option. After loading about a dozen generic drivers, the screen just stopped.

Nothing.

I even tried booting from the Windows CD, but the system hung.

After that, I repeated all of the on-screen options, again and again. I returned to the motherboard and checked all the connections, then tried rebooting again. I disconnected and reconnected everything and tried again. I repeated these steps over and over for hours.

Next I jumped on my notebook and searched Google for solutions. I consulted fellow PC World staffers as well as knowledgeable friends via instant message. They offered suggestions, and agreed that the situation was really bad.

Anybody who has ever botched an upgrade knows the feeling I was experiencing. It's a sick feeling in your stomach, accompanied by a dry mouth and racing thoughts about what you should have done differently. And you think about how wonderful life used to be, before you started this dumb upgrade.

Starting Over
I never figured out exactly where I went wrong, although I'm pretty sure I damaged my motherboard with that screwdriver. Three days later I purchased a replacement motherboard.

When I set up on the dining room table, with plenty of light, my wrist strap on, and all the right tools at my disposal, the rebuild went remarkably fast. I plugged in a spare 40GB hard drive, formatted it, and installed Windows XP, all so I could confirm that my precious files were still safe on my first hard drive. Then I did yet another full install of Windows on the original backup drive, and made my first drive the backup.

Oh, and I installed the Zalman. That thing sure is quiet--or at least it seems to be. I can't hear anything over all those other fans.

Speaking of loud fans ... now that the memories of this most recent debacle are fading, I'm starting to think about swapping out my power supply.

Have you ever had a simple upgrade go awry? Tell me about it and I'll try to share some of those stories in a future column.

Source: PCWorld


	2002-2008 � Computer Cops LLC dba CastleCops®. All rights reserved. Acceptable Use Policy. Use signifies your agreement. 83ppm 0.124s (0.006s) Making cybercriminals unhappy since 2002*