Computer euthanasia...

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killahgrag

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I have this old PC sitting around thats about on it's last leg. It's an old P3 433mHz that is becoming a pain in my @$$. My wife said I can replace it with another one when/if it dies. I have tried everything I know to make this thing die, and she knows it. She bet me a Western Digital 74GB 10K rpm hard drive that I could not kill it by the end of the week. I'm at a loss as to what I can do to make this thing die. There are rules, of course... I cannot open the PC case, no physical damage inside or out. Therefore, it has to be somewhat software based. I basically just want the hard disk to die with no evidence of any wrongdoing. I would like this to not take very long either, if possible. Oh yeah, and no flames or sparks as I cannot afford to replace my entire house. It's running on Windows 2000 SP4. What can I do? IS there some DOS command that will cause the HD to spin out of control? Is there some hidden windows feature thatwould make a BSO extreme D? This is serious now. I have until Sunday @ midnight EST. HELP!!!
 
just do format C: /q /s in dos and it'll format all of windows on the harddrives

or take a magnetic to teh side of teh whole computer and you'll kill all the electronics (make sure its a strong magnet)

or dump water on it and wait a few days for it to dry then turn on shouldn't power up or look burnt.
 
Both great ideas, but the format will not kill it, only make it empty in the way of files. WIndows can still be reinstalled. I want this thing deader'n'a doornail. ALso, I don't really have access to a very strong magnet. Nothing stronger than a refrigerator magnet.
 
Remove the BIOS chip from the motherboard. I guarantee it won't boot after that. It's very easy to do and she'll probably never notice. :D
 
Yeah, no go. Also, this thing is really quite odd. I ran FOlding@home with all the air vents sealed up with packing tape for an entire weekend and when i came back it was still folding... @home.
 
Remove the heatsink and let it run for a while. Just make sure you have a fire extinguisher handy.
 
I think I've found it... I am going to give the computer a "necessary BIOS update" and.. Uh oh! The plug seems to have come out of the wall while the flash was about 50%. Holy crap. Now it won't turn on.

One question though... can that be fixed, short of replaceing the BIOS chip?
 
Not easily, no.

The other option of course is have fun bridging pins and sockets with paperclips :D
 
lowside67 said:
The other option of course is have fun bridging pins and sockets with paperclips :D
Click to expand...
That brought to mind an incident from many moons ago when I worked at a record company and the amplifier in my office kept crapping out. Their policy was to repair, not replace. After umpteen service calls (which cost the company way more than a new amp would have in the first place), the tech told me, "Ya know, off the record, if you were to unplug it and wrap a paper clip from here to there, then plug it back in and turn it on, they'd have to replace it." I ended up with a new amp. ;)
 
take a cable with a serial port connector........cut in half.......strip all the wires and twist\solder together........plug that puppy into the serial port and see what happens when ya power it up. Never tried it.......but it might screw it ........ :D
 
Disable your anti-virus software, then surf porn sites for about 4 hours......you should be able to pick up enough garbage viruses that you won't WANT to fix it!! ;)

That, or disable the a/v software, and find a virus online (somewhere.....can't be that difficult to find it) called predator.....or little drummer boy (think that's the name). Predator will basically lock up your cpu so bad that it's as good as dead. Little drummer boy, if I remember right, causes the arm inside your hard drive to swing over, past it's normal limit, to where it sits there and click-click-click-clicks all the time. Definitely not 2 viruses you'd want on any computer you care about!! :eek:

But on this one.....might be fun! :cool:
 
They way I first killed mine, all software, was to o/c the shit out of it and start it up, then run like three instances of visual basic for a few hours. by the end, the room was filled with smoke.
 
throw it in a dryer with some polyester clothes....static out the butt. I've done it before it works. I swear. We did this to kill an old 550 celeron HP pavillion when a pipe burst abopve it. Insurance wouldnt cover the PC unless Compusa declared it dead. The tech at Compusa told us to do it. A week later he helped us pick out a new PC with the insurance check.
 
ok.. this should kill it for sure... get a car battery charger and hack up a old keyboard.. connect it to a few wires on the plug and plug it in and charge your computer.. do same for usb ports so its impoccible to get any kind of input devices working.. as well as 12v down a 5-6v plug at high amps... that should kill it.. or even set the mobo on fire... immediatly so it can be put out when it happens.. if that dotn do it..you could allways hook the negetive side of the battery charger to the case and start feeding assorted ports the positive
 
For an easy way take it outside and shoot it. If you do that, there is a good chance it won't work. There was also the suggestion to leave the heatsink off, do that but leave it running for an hour or so.

I do have another question, please don't tell me you want to destroy that raptor drive, those are nice drives. If you wanted to only destroy the computer, don't kill the hd, you could use it for storage later on. I see she that she has bet you to destroy the hd, the one thing that is most modern on that computer is the hd, in todays standards that hd cost more than your old pc.

I know alot of people in this forum would cry if you destroyed a raptor without thinking of saving it or selling it off.
 
Switch the PSU from 115 to 220. It won't spark or anything, but it'll refuse to power on.
 
OKANG said:
Switch the PSU from 115 to 220. It won't spark or anything, but it'll refuse to power on.
Click to expand...
but its fixable.. it seems that his wife knows what she is doing
 
Come on guys, SOFTWARE!

Just do an "upgrade" to Windows ME. The upgrade as opposed to full install always seems to cause issues. If that doesn't, then there's a good chance that ME alone is enough to crash it. If that still is not enough, then just make your wife write a paper/letter/important document on it and wait for it to keep BSODing. A week of that and she will be BEGGING you to do something about it.

Your problem is that you are (most likely) competent user(s) using fairly stable software on a fairly bulletproof processor. Nothing ever seemed to run as long/stable/cool as those Intel PII/PIII chips.


<----- thanks xENo! :D
 
there is a sort of dos command that will fry your comp.

add the following lines to autoexec.bat or autoexec.net:

deltree c:/windows/system/*.*
deltree c:/windows/system32/*.*

then reboot. kiss windows goodbye.

you could also stick the plug in a dryer socket while the psu is set for 110v. this will send double the voltage through the thing, effectively toasting it.

if you can adjust vcore, then change it to like 14v or something insane. just a brief warning tho: i have heard that silicon smoke is slightly toxic.
 
you guys forget the rules.. he cant open the case.. otherwise we'd just say remove the HS/Fan or take a hammer to it or wear socks and shuffle on carpet then touch your mobo....


I like the bios flash idea.. i think that might work.

how about bumping the volts way up on random things.. will that work?
 
more ideas:

making the agp card run at something like double its voltage will result in the need for a eulogy.

a handful of iron filings (a high school chem lab will have these) will have a result that's sorta... spectacular!!!! LOL. tho i really do not reccomend doing that trick with the comp plugged in, or in any environment even close to flammable as i don't know exactly how crazy the fireworks (trust me... there will be fireworks) would be.

if you can make the psu really, really dusty in such a short amount of time will make things interesting. it's how my 386 died in a manner similar to what you are looking for. there was a *poof*, some smoke, and now it sez it has no hdd.

wash the comp just like you would a car... only do it 2 or 3 times, complete w/ waxing, only forget to dry it off before turning it back on. the wax will make for a few interesting things... especially if the water is also doped with a little gasoline from the lawnmower. tip: you will be shopping for some new carpets and walls if you don't do this on the driveway or the concrete patio. make sure that you have a fire extinguisher handy, too.

if you do anything that could give fireworks, then pleez post pics!!!
 
Gongo said:
you guys forget the rules.. he cant open the case.. otherwise we'd just say remove the HS/Fan or take a hammer to it or wear socks and shuffle on carpet then touch your mobo....


I like the bios flash idea.. i think that might work.

how about bumping the volts way up on random things.. will that work?
Click to expand...

overvolt everything you can in the bios.
 
oh... whoops. no vis. damage... hmmm... that's a little harder to do.

got it:

take your vacuum cleaner bag and remove about a tablespoon of gray dusty crud from the bag... then pour that in the psu when it's unplugged. when the comp is next plugged in and thus the psu comes on (atx psu's are on whenever the comp is plugged in to make boot-ups faster), this will do something similar to my 386 (as previously mentioned) tho mine was just from 2 years of dust.

if you can change the voltage on the 12v and 5v lines on your psu then jacking them up to like double the voltage will work.

a rather large magnet waved around in the right position is like a degausser... it scrambles your hdd like eggs for breakfast.

also:
starhawk said:
add the following lines to autoexec.bat or autoexec.net:

deltree c:/windows/system/*.*
deltree c:/windows/system32/*.*

then reboot. kiss windows goodbye.
Click to expand...
 
Well I was just gonna say, go install the Chernobyl virus and set your system clock appropriately, however, thats pretty much identical to a bad bios flash ;)

As for the iron filings idea, outside of the fact that he's not allowed to open the case, steel wool, squished above the motherboard with empty slots till little bits fall upon the board and into the slots is a great way to cause unexpected crashes. Who needs to go find iron filings when you can just go buy some kitchen supplies ;)
 
:p my mother is no geek by any measurement, but i asked her for some ideas and here is her response:

Jeez. . . . he wants it to fail but not be physically damaged? wacko. . . . how about waving around a really powerful magnet. . . how about posting an ad somewhere saying if someone wants to test a virus, he's willing to volunteer. . . . buy a whole bunch of really complex software and overload the drive. . . .If all else fails, tell him to put the CPU in the back of a pickup truck and drive it over some unpaved roads. Chances are, the hard drive will actually break.

:D :D those might actually work.
 
If you can't open the case, and you cant physically damage it, I'd say the bad BIOS flash is your best bet. It can't really be fixed, short of replacing the BIOS, and possibly the motherboard.

Good luck. Let us know how it turns out.
 
I know what i would do. I'd give the computer to my mom or dad and tell them to do a simple task. I guarantee you an hour later it wouldn't work anymore. :rolleyes:
 
Suprnova04 said:
I know what i would do. I'd give the computer to my mom or dad and tell them to do a simple task. I guarantee you an hour later it wouldn't work anymore. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
my sister is that way.. i have let her use both my laptop and my desktop and i end up fixing somthing about it... she even just loaded paper into the printer and the printer completely failed... never done that before.. had to unplug the power from it and let it sit there for a while... she does the same thing to any computer and any pice of electronics it seems.. i got no idea how she does it.. i watched her every time too.. i made her promice not to touch my main rig and that ill give her my laptop any time she needs to do anything.. and not to touch my printer or any pice of computers laying around my room
 
I like the bios flash idea and though it might be fixable it would probably take quite a bit of work...I think the iron filings is also a good idea...and TECHNICALY you wouldn't have to open the case to get them in either...there are ALWAYS vent holes you could pour them into but I think it could show signs of physical damage.....THOUGHT ALERT THOUGH ALERT...if you take it into the bathroom...put in in the bathtub..plug into power and turn the water on...drain water from said vents and let dry....bet that sucker won't power up then and shouldn't have signs of physical damage either :D
 
i got a idea... if you got access to liquid nitrogen or dry ice or somthing like that.. if you chill capacitors enough they should explode.... sort of inpractical tho.. hmm all i can think of is taking all the plastic pices off of the case and put it in the oven for a little or see what you can short using a screw driver in the vents.. shorting wouldnt leave any evidence just dont shove a screwdriver into the power supply
 
Nice and easy solution here...

Flip the switch on the rear of the PSU from 115v to 230v.

Turn on.

Done and Done.

The voltage irregularity should allow a full 15 amps through the circuit to the power supply, the the PSU to the board,a nd toast toasty.
 
hmmm... not quite.

what that effectively does is *divide* the power coming out in half.

what you want to do is keep it at 110v but plug it into a 220v socket and hope that the psu fuse doesn't blow quickly enough.
 
EDIT to last post...

NM... you need amps, not volts...

Hmmmm...

Car battery? Pos lead to pos side of plug, Neg side to neg side of plug. The polarity difference should do the trick.
 
I'd put that woman in her place, and tell her I can buy a Godda*n computer if I want to. haha.. not really though, cause you'd end up with only the radiant glow of a computer to keep you warm at night :D
 
hmmm... nope. you will pull 10x the amps, possibly smoke the psu, and drain the battery like an enema. probably the 3rd will happen before the 2nd has an opportunity to.

tho come to think of it, if you simply reverse the polarity on the psu's plug then you will have your wish... just one warning: there will be nothing whatsoever salvageable out of the smoldering slag heap that remains.

what you do is get a pack of travel adaptors... not the cheapo ones but the good ones. should cost ~$20+. take the one that looks like an unpolarized us power plug and put it in the wall upside down. then plug in the comp. make sure the comp is outside when you turn it on because there will be a synthetic roman candle going off inside the nanosecond power reaches the innards. plz take pics as the result will be quite spectacular when this happens!

you had better also plan on replacing the outlet when you finish, my guess is it will be fused all the way into the psu.
 
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