# Dear God.. please tell me that didn't just fix my computer! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 9, 2000, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-god-please-tell-me-that-didnt-just-fix-my-computer/28643 "2000-08-09T00:45:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Whammo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8dc957/32.png) [@Whammo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whammo)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2000, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-god-please-tell-me-that-didnt-just-fix-my-computer/28643/1 "2000-08-09T00:45:38Z")
So for the past couple of weeks my computer has been locking up once in awhile. Freezing completely. Alt+Ctl+Del nothing! I have to restart it cold. It happened earlier and I gave it a swift kick. Guess what. Yup, unfrozen. It’s worked three times now. I think I need a new computer, or one with a kick-start. ---
**Author:** ![Danielinthewolvesden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Danielinthewolvesden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danielinthewolvesden)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2000, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-god-please-tell-me-that-didnt-just-fix-my-computer/28643/2 "2000-08-09T00:55:07Z")
Try this. Unplug the computer, and open it up. make sure all the connections are tight. Sounds like that is/was the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2000, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-god-please-tell-me-that-didnt-just-fix-my-computer/28643/3 "2000-08-09T00:55:19Z")
What part of it did you kick? ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2000, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-god-please-tell-me-that-didnt-just-fix-my-computer/28643/4 "2000-08-09T00:57:08Z")
Wow. My computer does that too, but only when I’m on the 'net. I’ll try that! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Whammo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8dc957/32.png) [@Whammo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whammo)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2000, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-god-please-tell-me-that-didnt-just-fix-my-computer/28643/5 "2000-08-09T01:08:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > \*\*What part of it did you kick? \*\* I gave it a swift kick in the mouse balls. …no really, in the front at the bottom… kinda angled up. ---
**Author:** ![Whammo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8dc957/32.png) [@Whammo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whammo)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2000, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-god-please-tell-me-that-didnt-just-fix-my-computer/28643/6 "2000-08-09T01:11:15Z")
Well Purse… the tech in me says “NEVER give your computer a hard jolt!” …The other part of me says, “next time use a hammer” ---
**Author:** ![pLt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/eb9ed0/32.png) [@pLt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pLt)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2000, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-god-please-tell-me-that-didnt-just-fix-my-computer/28643/7 "2000-08-09T01:13:05Z")
That didn’t just fix your computer 🙂 sorry - someone had to do it … ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2000, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-god-please-tell-me-that-didnt-just-fix-my-computer/28643/8 "2000-08-09T01:15:37Z")
Yep, it fixed it. It’s worked for me, too. Kicks are beautiful things… Zette ---
**Author:** ![Xploder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a183cd/32.png) [@Xploder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xploder)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2000, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-god-please-tell-me-that-didnt-just-fix-my-computer/28643/9 "2000-08-09T01:19:14Z")
/slight hijack Mine decided to freeze up after the pole behind my house was struck by lightning a week ago. The mouse also decided to spontaneously change from single click to double click. The monitor lost all reds…more to this list but who cares…solution? I ended up, after a whole damn WEEK, changing ONE memory chip, the modem and the mouse. For some reason it all works fine again. Scuse me while I beat my head on the wall for a while here. /end hijack ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2000, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-god-please-tell-me-that-didnt-just-fix-my-computer/28643/10 "2000-08-09T02:00:06Z")
Atari 520STs had an official maintenence procedure of holding the computer horizontally a foot above a flat surface and dropping it. It reseated the chips. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2000, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-god-please-tell-me-that-didnt-just-fix-my-computer/28643/11 "2000-08-09T02:05:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dropzone \* > \*\*Atari 520STs had an official maintenence procedure of holding the computer horizontally a foot above a flat surface and dropping it. It reseated the chips. \*\* The theater chain I worked for used to have a system like that. You’d call up tech support and they’d actually tell you to pick up the computer and drop it, lol. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Vega](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a9adbd/32.png) [@Lord\_Vega](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Vega)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2000, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-god-please-tell-me-that-didnt-just-fix-my-computer/28643/12 "2000-08-09T03:08:43Z")
Older hard drives made by IBM used to suffer from Stiction (A real term from IBM), and the fix was to lift the box a few inches and drop it to jar the heads loose from the platter. Worked like a champ! V. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2000, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-god-please-tell-me-that-didnt-just-fix-my-computer/28643/13 "2000-08-09T03:53:43Z")
> [@](#): > > The theater chain I worked for used to have a system like that. You’d call up tech support and they’d actually tell you to pick up the computer and drop it, lol. See? I don’t make up EVERYTHING I say! ---
**Author:** ![Kipper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Kipper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kipper)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2000, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-god-please-tell-me-that-didnt-just-fix-my-computer/28643/14 "2000-08-09T05:25:57Z")
I belive the technical term is percussive maintenance. ---
**Author:** ![Myrr21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Myrr21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrr21)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2000, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-god-please-tell-me-that-didnt-just-fix-my-computer/28643/15 "2000-08-09T05:30:22Z")
I have an old HP Laserjet printer; these things are buildt like a brick. When the paper jams, you just kick the SOB, and it starts right up… ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2000, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-god-please-tell-me-that-didnt-just-fix-my-computer/28643/16 "2000-08-09T17:14:18Z")
It’s caused by heat, which is caused by your fan not spinning. When you kick it, the fan gets going. It’s probably clogged with dirt. Get some compressed air & clean it. ---
**Author:** ![Landsknecht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@Landsknecht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Landsknecht)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2000, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-god-please-tell-me-that-didnt-just-fix-my-computer/28643/17 "2000-08-09T17:50:15Z")
I fixed an old laptop with a little percussive maintenance. I took out the hard drive and dropped it on the table a few times. Worked great after that. Seems the it just gets stuck every once in a while. Not to mention it’s pretty satisfying to abuse equipment like that sometimes. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SouthernStyle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@SouthernStyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SouthernStyle)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2000, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-god-please-tell-me-that-didnt-just-fix-my-computer/28643/18 "2000-08-09T18:06:52Z")
Most of you posters are too young to rememeber such things, but I recall one of the early mainframe computers that was comprised of entire racks of the same board & chipset. Often times the computer would weird out and diagnostic measures failed to reveal the source of the problem. At this point, the official maintenance procedure called for several bushel baskets. 😃 All the cards were pulled from the computer and placed in the baskets. The baskets were then shuffled and all the cards then reinserted. The problem card was invariably moved to a spot where the failed part was identifiable. Ok… So it’s not exactly a “grandma and grandpa were swinging on the porch” story. It’s still true. ---
**Author:** ![KimKatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ac91a4/32.png) [@KimKatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KimKatt)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2000, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-god-please-tell-me-that-didnt-just-fix-my-computer/28643/19 "2000-08-09T18:13:46Z")
Two suggestions were made here - that you either cleared the dust from the fan, or jiggled one of the cards enough to give it a better connection. It is most likely one of these. Open it up, check your connections, blow out all the dust, and you should be all set. If you don’t, it’ll probably start freezing up on you again. But, it is much more satisfying to give it a good swift kick.