Computer Guy Recommendations?

[Ajarn]

Is there such a thing as a good one in CM?

I seriously doubt it...

I just got finished with another time waster. My computer crashed, and I couldn't enter Windows, so I called for a tech this AM. They said 1 pm.... 4 pm is when he shows (after 2 more phone calls)

Guy shows up, but with only a screwdriver....Not even a set of discs with drivers and programs in case of some damaged drivers or maybe a reinstall....

Turns my computer off and on for about 15 minutes, always coming up to the same error screen...... Is he thinking? He shows no sign exept for the brain activity need to repeat the same actions forever...

Then the screwdriver comes out. Looks around inside the case for a few minutes and then closes the box...

More turning on the computer.....same same, and the same...

"Pen Aray?"

"Mai Nae"

"Saum dai mai?"

"Kit waa, mai dai, krap"

Krap is right

And I am asked to pay 500 baht for the service because I don't want to send my computer to the shop( kiss my ass) . My com is waaay too open, sorry to say now. No way would I send my com with all my online banking passwords, as well as the little cookie file which allows me to auto-log onto my online stock trading board.... Of course, things will change after this..I've been enjoying a trouble free computer for more than a year, and I got waay too sloppy.

But, that still leaves me in this bind of not knowing a truly reliable Com Guy to help me, now, and afterwards...

Any recommendations would be appreciated. Especially someome who you've used more than once...

[meadish_sweetball]

I'll be very interested to hear of any recommendations as well.

[Lordfoul]

Well I can recommend myself, I am not sure if this Violates forum policy but oh well.

I have my own business here in Chiang Mai, I don't think I have done work for any Thaivisa members so most likely no one here will second my recommendation.Most of my time is currently occupied doing support for a Hollywood movie that is currently filming here, but I am willing to fit in anyone in need provided that they live in town (or close). Also I am not cheap Like a Thai, But I am very experienced .. and I have at least 2 Screwdrivers .

If you are interested or want a list of locals who can vouch for me please PM me.

/SM

[KevinN]

AJARN;;I bought a computer from COMPUTERLAND and used his techs, I am sure thats the name,it was an indian guy named JOHN,and his shop is in the big mall in central,,you go in past SIZZLER and go up one floor,get off the esculator and go right,when you get to the side facing the shops,bear left and continue on,there is,or was a DQ stand ,there and just keep bearing right to the next corner it is the shop there on your right. I have looked all thru my plunder and can't find the card I know I had with his phone number on it,,but I always had good luck and a fair price from him.

and you might try this guy,he bound to be better than a Thai Tach.and he in CM.

scott

E-mail Address(es):

[email protected]

[chanchao]

Windows doesnt boot:

1. If you can't fix it through safe mode (keep pressing F8 while booting) then

2. Put in the bootable installation CDROM in the drive and boot up and do a repair.

Also, if you're not running Windows XP then this is a good time to upgrade. :-)

I used to do computer fixing myself, but for basic stuff I just let Empower computer fix it. (Fa Ham road, before you get to the Super highway) They're cheaper than my time. I would NOT do this if I didn't have a good backup of everything. But they will get anything running again for 300 baht or so. :-)

Cheers,

Chanchao

[extreme]

on start up goto bios b4 u hit windows then reinstall from d drive ur windows disc, if ur disc is partitioned reinstall windows to ur partition then boot up from there and find out wot is wrong with ur c drive, its probably a virus but u can get all the updates to ur partitioned drive then use that to check ur c drive.

ps u will not need a screw driver to do this lol

[Ajarn]

on start up goto bios b4 u hit windows then reinstall from d drive ur windows disc, if ur disc is partitioned reinstall windows to ur partition then boot up from there and find out wot is wrong with ur c drive, its probably a virus but u can get all the updates to ur partitioned drive then use that to check ur c drive.

ps u will not need a screw driver to do this lol

Yes, I do want to install XP on drive D, rather than drive C as before. Drive D is not on the same harddrive as C. There are 5 harddrives, totaling 300 gigabytes.

When I tried to install XP on Drive D, it told me it couldn't read drive c, and I would need to reformat C before I could install XP on D...

This isn't really my forte'. ..

If someone could walk me through the process of installing on D and avoiding C all together, I'd be grateful.

Like, what do I need to change to bypass drive c, or change c to d, and vice versa..?

[Darknight]

i used to be in chiangmai Ajarn but not at the moment anymore

I'm a high end network consultant so i'm sure i can tackle your problem.

I just refrain of giving myself an ###### title even if i am one

Maybe i can talk you through it on msn messenger / yahoo one time.

Send me a pm with your contact adres if you have them then you can see when i'm online.

[extreme]

restart, then hit the delete and u r in bios

[Johpa]

Like, what command prompt to get into bios, and what do I need to change to bypass drive c, or change c to d, and vice versa..?

If you have to ask you really don't want to start mucking around in your BIOS. Try reinstalling Windows. If that fails call the guy with two screw drivers. In the meantime, try to find a DOS boot disk in case you need to start copying data files.

And when you do happen to encounter a computer guru-geek, bribe them endlessly to be your friend.

And if you want, next time I drive by the Microsoft campus I will stop and roll down my car window and spit yelling: "this is from Achaan in Chiang Mai."

[chanchao]

> In the meantime, try to find a DOS boot disk in case you

> need to start copying data files.

I tend to agree.. Especially as Ajarn said that the Windows XP installer *couldn't read drive C* ! That's generally bad news. Chances are you have a dead (or very sick) C drive on your hands.

I would suggest a two pronged approach :

1. You need to get up and running again.

2. You likely want to salvage as much as possible from your sick C drive.

To save some time, I'd actually go get the screwdriver and make whichever of your 4 remaining drives is the newest/biggest your new C drive. Have Windows XP installed on that one. This is a perfect job for any computer shop, like Empower, which they can do rather cheaply. Think 300 baht. And on the plus side, you're up and running again in a day.

Then for your sick C drive, I'd put it in another computer (as a D, E, whatever drive) and see if it can be revived from coma. This could be a separate job.. Depending on the value of the data on it you can decide how much effort/money you want to spend on that. Then again, it may be easier and some disk utility tool can bring it back in 10 seconds. With these things you never know in advance if it will take 10 seconds or 10 hours..

Good luck!

Cheers,

Chanchao

[Ajarn]

I would suggest a two pronged approach 

1.  You need to get up and running again.

2.  You likely want to salvage as much as possible from your sick C drive.

To save some time, I'd actually go get the screwdriver and make whichever of your 4 remaining drives is the newest/biggest your new C drive.  Have Windows XP installed on that one.  This is a perfect job for any computer shop, like Empower, which they can do rather cheaply. Think 300 baht.  And on the plus side, you're up and running again in a day.

Then for your sick C drive, I'd put it in another computer (as a D, E, whatever drive) and see if it can be revived from coma.  This could be a separate job.. Depending on the value of the data on it you can decide how much effort/money you want to spend on that.    Then again, it may be easier and some disk utility tool can bring it back in 10 seconds.  With these things you never know in advance if it will take 10 seconds or 10 hours..

Good luck!

Cheers,

Chanchao

You read my mind

I suspect that the problem might lie with the IDE controller, since I've had the same error messages on another machine...Sometimes it works fine, sometimes not...

My plan is to put drive c in another machine (not the one above) and see whether the data can be read. If it can, then I know to focus on the controller, or something else...

But this time, the screwdriver will hopefully be from Empower, and not another clueless idiot like the other guy- or me

Thanks for your your useful advice, chanchao

[Ajarn]

I just called them. Empower doesn't do housecalls unless you bought the computer from them...Nor would they suggest anyone else...

Back to the drawing board.

Any suggestions for someone who can do house calls would be appreciated. Taking my machine to a shop is not an option.

[lamphun]

Try this guy. His names Darrell England. He sorted my computer last year and was good with hardware and software. Apologies as I don't have his telephone number.

[email protected]

[MadFrankie]

on start up goto bios b4 u hit windows then reinstall from d drive ur windows disc, if ur disc is partitioned reinstall windows to ur partition then boot up from there and find out wot is wrong with ur c drive, its probably a virus but u can get all the updates to ur partitioned drive then use that to check ur c drive.

ps u will not need a screw driver to do this lol

Yes, I do want to install XP on drive D, rather than drive C as before. Drive D is not on the same harddrive as C. There are 5 harddrives, totaling 300 gigabytes.

When I tried to install XP on Drive D, it told me it couldn't read drive c, and I would need to reformat C before I could install XP on D...

This isn't really my forte'. ..

If someone could walk me through the process of installing on D and avoiding C all together, I'd be grateful.

Like, what do I need to change to bypass drive c, or change c to d, and vice versa..?

you will be able to get round that by editing the boot.ini

[chanchao]

> you will be able to get round that by editing the boot.ini

Yes.. but... with a faulty C drive and with C being assigned boot status in the BIOS, I'm not at all sure this would work. Like if C is really so screwed up that it doesn't boot at all, then this will be a no go.. Keep in mind that what you're editing in boot.ini is essentially that little menu you get when just turning on your computer where you may be asked to select what Operating System to boot in case you have several. This boot.ini is located on the boot drive, most likely C. So if C is dead, then even getting to boot.ini would be tough, never mind letting Windows start up using it.

I think if the disk is bad, it should come out and perhaps later be added as a drive F: G: H: whatever to see if it can be brought back to life.

Note that with several drives, one is assigned 'Master' status and will as such be reported to the computers most basic software, the BIOS. (=what you see when you just power up your computer, all the BS about drives and memory, BIOS stands for Bull In/Out Shit ). I haven't done this recently (like on very new hardware the last 2 years or so) so I'm not sure if this is still as important as it used to be, but most drives will have jumper settings to assign it either 'master' status (=first boot drive) or 'slave' (secondary drive). As you have at least two IDE ports, you can have two master-slave pairs, with the BIOS setup deciding which one to boot. This jumper thingy is a tiny plastic little miniature Legoland piece that you place over 2 of three pins, indicating 'master' or 'slave' setting. It may also be a conventional tiny little switch. You typically want the biggest/fastest/newest drive to be the Master.

When you've got that set up then make sure your CD ROM drive is bootable (again something you can set up in BIOS under 'boot sequence' where you can say "check floppy drive A first, then CDROM, then harddrive" Make sure that CDROM is in there somewhere before any harddisk, then you can pop in a Windows installation CD and then just go through the Windows installation. It's best if you have all kinds of hardware drivers for this, like for your video card, sound hardware, etc, etc. but you can do this later as well. (Though the screen will look like crap until you get the proper drivers. If you have a brand name computer then chances are all these drivers are on one nice and tidy little CDROM. )

Cheers,

Chanchao

Edited June 8, 2004 by chanchao