Arceles Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Burned a native Parallel port from a compaq 5253 while programming in C with it (Kids... never plug a DC motor without proper isolation to it), plus deleting 50gb of data, the former was never fixed while the other was fortunately fully recovered. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1103037-what-are-your-worst-computing-mistakes/page/4/#findComment-595145759 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dot Matrix Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 I installed Windows XP. NEVER85 1 Share Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1103037-what-are-your-worst-computing-mistakes/page/4/#findComment-595145777 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambiance Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 deltree /y'd the wrong directory which happened to be all my music. Using DOS for so long sometimes you just type with muscular memory instead of thinking. Went through those three stages mentioned before. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1103037-what-are-your-worst-computing-mistakes/page/4/#findComment-595145779 Share on other sites More sharing options...
John S. Veteran Posted September 4, 2012 Veteran Share Posted September 4, 2012 Worst mistake? Bought an IBM 486 over a Macintosh Classic in 1990. I thought at the time the IBM would be more useful since it had both a 3.5 and a 5.25 floppy drive. :laugh: Took me a dozen years to realize my mistake and finally switch to a Mac. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1103037-what-are-your-worst-computing-mistakes/page/4/#findComment-595145781 Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomastmc Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 On the first box I built from scratch, I screwed the board down directly to the case, without studs, tight. It powered up and then back down like turning on a light and the bulb goes out. I RMA'd it... defective. Recently had a problem in a server box after a 17 hour day. When wrapping it up I plugged back in the 24-Pin connector, not noticing that the 4-Pin part that snapped onto the 20-Pin main piece wasn't snapped on anymore, and powered it up. I've seen many threads that argue whether or not a 24-Pin is necessary or a 20-Pin on 24 is possible, but this fried the board. Maybe it's just my luck. Around 10 years ago or so when they started putting a lock at the end of the AGP port a Gigabyte board snagged the end of a card so that it was at a slight angle into the slot... fried the board's AGP port rendering it useless. I've killed many OS installations while experimenting. That used to be a really bad day, before I heard of Ghost. Acronis is great. Of course, like many, many, many others, I've corrupted a partition in one way or another several times and lost all my data. But that hasn't happened since 2006 :D Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1103037-what-are-your-worst-computing-mistakes/page/4/#findComment-595145817 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LiquidCrystalMeth Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 I installed Windows XP. Do you have belittle every OS other than your precious Windows 8 which you bang on about like a Nazi Yes Windows XP was a mistake, thats why it is still installed on a couple of million PC's *sigh* Time to lift the needle onto a new track mate Hum 1 Share Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1103037-what-are-your-worst-computing-mistakes/page/4/#findComment-595146027 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam14160 Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Do you have belittle every OS other than your precious Windows 8 which you bang on about like a Nazi Yes Windows XP was a mistake, thats why it is still installed on a couple of million PC's *sigh* Time to lift the needle onto a new track mate He was cracking a funny. . .why so serious. . . :) Dot Matrix 1 Share Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1103037-what-are-your-worst-computing-mistakes/page/4/#findComment-595146133 Share on other sites More sharing options...
...w.K... Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Refuse to pay a little more for better spec then regret. $200 more for lighter weight laptop. $80 more for bigger size monitor. $50 more for better MB. $80 more for a better casing. thomastmc 1 Share Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1103037-what-are-your-worst-computing-mistakes/page/4/#findComment-595146171 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick H. Supervisor Posted September 4, 2012 Supervisor Share Posted September 4, 2012 I've sat here for 5 minutes trying to think of a costly error, and I can honestly hold my hands up and say that I don't think I've made one. Don't get me wrong, I've made small mistakes, but nothing that has cost me or a company any time or money. Maybe dropping a hard drive once. Either I'm super clever with computers or I'm not pushing myself hard enough to screw up. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1103037-what-are-your-worst-computing-mistakes/page/4/#findComment-595146183 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manarift Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Deleting my entire back up hard drive by mistake without even realizing it till later Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1103037-what-are-your-worst-computing-mistakes/page/4/#findComment-595146205 Share on other sites More sharing options...
abysal Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 I got ****ed off while working on my old d620, and slammed my fist into the palm rest = dead head drive. I got ****ed off while working on an hp laptop and slammed my fist into the palm rest = dead hard drive. Luckily 100 to 320 GB 2.5" drives were cheap at the time, but I think I've learned my lesson, twice. I also occasionally delete photos from a memory card without copying them first = get out the old and trusted sector/file recovery software. Oh Almost for got the best one: Bought 4 IBM Death Star 20 GB hard drives and setup 2 Raid 0 Arrays; several months later both died and I lost all data. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1103037-what-are-your-worst-computing-mistakes/page/4/#findComment-595146215 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haggis Veteran Posted September 4, 2012 Veteran Share Posted September 4, 2012 Nothing Major that i can think of I backed up all my wifes photos onto my external drive and formatted her computer then deleted them off my drive withouth putting them on disk for her lol she was raging Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1103037-what-are-your-worst-computing-mistakes/page/4/#findComment-595146227 Share on other sites More sharing options...
neo1911 Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 None as I remember. I am always very careful. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1103037-what-are-your-worst-computing-mistakes/page/4/#findComment-595146229 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LiquidCrystalMeth Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 I got ****ed off while working on my old d620, and slammed my fist into the palm rest = dead head drive. I got ****ed off while working on an hp laptop and slammed my fist into the palm rest = dead hard drive. Luckily 100 to 320 GB 2.5" drives were cheap at the time, but I think I've learned my lesson, twice. I also occasionally delete photos from a memory card without copying them first = get out the old and trusted sector/file recovery software. Oh Almost for got the best one: Bought 4 IBM Death Star 20 GB hard drives and setup 2 Raid 0 Arrays; several months later both died and I lost all data. + Sympathy for being a former Death Star owner Hmm DeathStar, the only way to ensure reliability was to not apply power to one. That you RAIDed them ...bonus infinity sympathy points Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1103037-what-are-your-worst-computing-mistakes/page/4/#findComment-595146233 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teebor Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Accidentally connected the audio line in jack on my BBC to a mains power lead as didn't realise it was live and in a bundle of wires that I shoved out of the way It was fixable though, they don't make them like they used to Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1103037-what-are-your-worst-computing-mistakes/page/4/#findComment-595146253 Share on other sites More sharing options...
The King of GnG Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 This one, thus far. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1103037-what-are-your-worst-computing-mistakes/page/4/#findComment-595146255 Share on other sites More sharing options...
abysal Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 + Sympathy for being a former Death Star owner Hmm DeathStar, the only way to ensure reliability was to not apply power to one. That you RAIDed them ...bonus infinity sympathy points Yeah it sucked. A few years later I received a class action suit letter, I was eligible for a measly $12 or so (if I remember correctly) provided I could offer proof of purchase. I think only the lawyers made out on that one :/ I've also avoided Raid 0 until recently. And after the Death Star incident I've been religious about backups in multiple places. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1103037-what-are-your-worst-computing-mistakes/page/4/#findComment-595146257 Share on other sites More sharing options...
mps69 Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Back in the day when I really didn?t know what I was doing, not I that I know much more now. In a moment of drunken stupidity, tried install a dual boot XP and Ubuntu, thinking it was simple. In my mind "what can go wrong". Without backing anything up I proceed to format the complete drive. I lost years? worth of music, documents and pictures. To say it was a very sobering experience is an understatement. Moral of the story if your drunk stay away from your PC. :D CG-88, MarkusDarkus and Charisma 3 Share Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1103037-what-are-your-worst-computing-mistakes/page/4/#findComment-595146267 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zodiarck Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 1 - Format my PC (Pentium III 800 Mhz) without having a OS for re-instaling 2 - A year ago, at work a error occurred at the production machine, so i had to replace some of the data , by accident i erased 1 Bill ... a great day to work ... i had to ask other teams of the company for "remains" of the data , but the problem was solved at the end of the day 3- last week i upgraded my PCI card .. when i got home to retrieve my old one i forgot that besides the screw , all boards have a plastic "thing" to hold the PCI card , short story , my board does not have one anymore :rofl: , and when i was installing the new one , it didn't fit on the chassis , so i had to remove all components from that chassis to my old one Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1103037-what-are-your-worst-computing-mistakes/page/4/#findComment-595146295 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Montage Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Using MS-DOS 6.2 DriveSpace! It borked my entire computer! Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1103037-what-are-your-worst-computing-mistakes/page/4/#findComment-595146317 Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooky560 Veteran Posted September 4, 2012 Veteran Share Posted September 4, 2012 Upgrading my OS, and deleting my data partition instead of the boot partition (d'oh!) I've always kept my data on a network since then MarkusDarkus 1 Share Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1103037-what-are-your-worst-computing-mistakes/page/4/#findComment-595146325 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Detection Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Upgrading my OS, and deleting my data partition instead of the boot partition (d'oh!) I've always kept my data on a network since then Rename the partitions / drives ;) Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1103037-what-are-your-worst-computing-mistakes/page/4/#findComment-595146393 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jose_49 Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Guys, guys, guys, come on... No saving constantly is the most disastrous thing all of us have gone through :p Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1103037-what-are-your-worst-computing-mistakes/page/4/#findComment-595147209 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Warwagon MVC Posted September 4, 2012 MVC Share Posted September 4, 2012 Wiped a hard drive for a customer. The son brought it in, and said wipe it and clean it, so i did, the mother came in to pick it up and asked where her 3000 pics were. :( Did you tell her "Oh sorry, but it will be ok we we will just restore from your backup!" :laugh: Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1103037-what-are-your-worst-computing-mistakes/page/4/#findComment-595147215 Share on other sites More sharing options...
djdanster Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 I removed RAM from a powered on machine and it came up with a blue and white checkerboard on the screen. It killed the RAM instantly. I didn't exactly intend to remove it from that machine... I just happened to be fixing an identical PC next to the powered on one and I didn't look to see where the leads were going.... Chromate 1 Share Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1103037-what-are-your-worst-computing-mistakes/page/4/#findComment-595147229 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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