25 - Update

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After another day getting backache and breathing ozone, I have:

* One computer that won't switch on at all. I don't know why.

* One computer that switches off every ten or fifteen minutes - unless I take all the RAM chips out. I don't know why

* One computer that would work perfectly if it's power supply wasn't in the one that works.

* One computer made from bits of the other three that (so far) works perfectly, if slowly. I don't know why.

In addition:

* One spare video card that causes any computer to crash.

* One spare power supply that won't work at all.

* One spare power supply that works for ten minutes at a time.

* One spare CD drive the ejects every time it's supposed to read. And five others I haven't tried yet.

* Three hard drives that either won't read or crash intermittently.

* A big pile of screws.

* A bigger pile of cables.

* A headache.

On a rough calculation, if mother and me were charging the going rate for all the work we've done, it would come to at least GBP1000. Plus maybe GBP500 for software. Plus GBP25 for a new DVD drive. Oh, and GBP1 for a CMOS battery.

It would cost GBP120 for a computer five times as fast with four times the RAM and ten times the hard disc space. It would also be a lot more reliable.

Anyway, it's now nearly five in the morning, I've spent the equivalent of one working week on this, and I never ever want to do it again.

At least until I get a new computer.

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