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Moogs
Hates the Infotainment
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: NSA Archives
 
2004-07-24, 21:57

DMB: thank you.


Vinney: for a new member you've got some balls (and also a short in the part of your brain that makes judgement calls). I almost stopped reading your post at "performing hardware upgrades on your computer isn't something you're supposed to be doing."

Talk about one of the most ignorant things anyone here has ever read. You are aware of course, that there is a multi-billion dollar market out there which has as its sole purpose to sell computer components to individuals and companies who upgrade and manufacture computers, right?

But seriously, let me do you the service of responding to each of your points so you don't feel cheated. I hate to cheat people out of a good response....


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This is by far one of the worst rants I have ever seen.
You obviously don't read too many rants then. I provided several legitimate reasons for my anger / dismay, none of which were questioned by anyone else as being unreasonable. I think DMB's picture pretty much says it all....


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Look, performing hardware upgrades on your computer isn't something you're supposed to be doing.
Based on what? Dozens of huge mail-order retailers which, as a percentage of inventory, probably make 60% of their living off of upgrade components of varying types? Or maybe all the available RAM slots, PCI slots and hard drive brackets which are specifically DESIGNED to allow the computer to be upgraded, so it can maintain its value over time? All of which are used as MARKETING POINTS in product literature and advertisements?

Or maybe, you're just referring to the manuals that come with nearly every computer, describing to the user how they can safely UPGRADE their machine? Maybe you saw a chapter in the manual that indicates who is supposed to upgrade a hard drive and who isn't?


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Its not something Dell plans for when designing their PCs, and its not something they're going to support.
Yes they do annnd... yes they do.

The fact that there are empty drive brackets, spare power cables, RAM slots - all of which are used as selling points - tells me they DO plan for it, regardless of WHO might do the upgrading.

Also, have you visited Dell's Knowledgebase lately?? I have. Seems they support MANY hardware upgrade tasks and questions. Funny that, it seems I've done more homework than you, even though you've clearly got it all figured out. At any rate, I have NO DESIRE for Dell to tell me how to get it done (did you see me complain about not getting support somewhere?)If you bothered to read the background, I've been upgrading computer hardware and software for both platforms for about 12 years now.

I may not be MS certified or Dell-recommended, but I've done PLENTY of hardware installs on both platforms, OK?


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My friend has a 2000 Porsche and the engine compartment is completely inaccessable. The only things you can get to without taking it to a shop are the oil/coolant/windshield fluid. Are you going to say Porsche makes crappy cars because its easier to change the belts on a Daewoo
Uh, no. [Before I get to the shortsighted car example, I'm curious: do you think it's good policy to join a forum, immediately patronize a member of that forum whom you know nothing about, and expect to be treated well?]

Are you going to tell me repairing the AC, or transmission or fuel injection system in a Porsche (which are obscured intentionally), and installing an IDE device into a spare drive bay are even REMOTELY analogous? Are you going to further argue that because your friend's Porsche warranty may be voided if he screws around with a highly complicated engine, that I might also void the warranty of most computers by installing an IDE drive? Or maybe you're going to tell me that Dell purposefully obfuscates their computer designs so that only Dell-certified technicians understand how to upgrade them?

Nah, I think it's just shitty industrial design and component layout. And to be clear, my beef is both with Dell's crappy design and with XP's ridiculous inability to recognize an installed, functioning drive, even though the Device Manager recognizes it. Not to mention the bullshit BIOS / CMOS routine, which upon further investigation is apparently common with these types of tasks.

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With that said, its still a piece of cake to install a new hard drive.
No shit? Really? Cuz you know, I'm pretty sure that's the reason I agreed to do it the first place. Because I'd done it a few dozen times before on a variety of machines and never had any nightmares like this one?


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Hint #1 - master and slave configurations as well as *gasp* IDE cables are a part of all hard drives, whether they run Windows, Unix, or Mac OS. I would think someone that has as much experience as you would know about cable select by now.
NO WAY MAN! There is NO FUCKING WAY that master and slave configurations and IDE cables are a part of all hard drives. That's just craziness. Next you're going to tell me that DVD drives are "Opt-e-cal" drives and not hard drives!

Did it ever occur to you that I wasn't ripping on IDE technology or IDE cables but THE WAY THEY WERE IMPROPERLY INSTALLED at the factory? Or that I couldn't SEE if the OEM drive was jumpered to Cable Select because it was buried in a heap of metal plating? Of course it didn't; you chose not to read that part but judged me as having an intellect of a child anyway. Note: not being able to SEE the jumper setting is subtley different from not knowing the PURPOSE of the jumper setting.

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Hint $2 - RTFM! (Read the fvcking manual) - new hard drives come with CDs. You're supposed to put the CD in first, which will prepare the drive. Then you start Windows and its there! Complicated concept, I know.
Hmm. You know, I could've swore that earlier in this thread - in the first post in fact (you know, the one you obviously didn't bother to read all the way through) - that I DID RTFM(!) at various points. Here's the thing: the manual in question made no mention of OEM drive settings re: Cable Select.

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Honestly, you're damn lucky you didn't fry the drive with all the random messing you did. If you can't take your time and know what you're doing before you do it, you shouldn't be working on anything more complicated than a toaster.
Random messing? I didn't do ANYTHING that was random. I didn't say I tried to solder the drive onto the motherboard anywhere, did I? Did I say I tried to mount the drive into the bracket with tinfoil on my hands? Did I say I searched high and low for that pesky IDE cable because, gosh, I didn't know what it looked like / what it was for?

THE "MESSING" WAS REQUIRED TO EVEN GET AT THE BRACKET... PER DELL'S MANUAL.


Next time, think before you type OK. And seriously, welcome to the forum... just be careful who you decide to randomly (!) rip on when joining a new forum.


...into the light of a dark black night.

Last edited by Moogs : 2004-07-25 at 01:06.
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