On Friday, my computer started freezing every 4 seconds. Trying to find the
problem led to the most dizzying hardware bug hunt of my life: before the weekend
was over I had replaced the mouse, keyboard, removed the video card, sound card,
network card, disconnected the printer, removed the DVD drive, CD-ROM and floppy,
installed new IDE cables, removed the WACOM art pad, all USB devices, replaced
graphics card and monitor, reformatted the C drive and installed 2 different operating
systems 7 times on 3 hard drives. All to no avail. The computer was still freezing
every 4 seconds. Finally, I bought and installed a new motherboard which solved
the problem.
No system administrator
There are many of us today doing professional web development on our home computers
and I can imagine our number is increasing, as there are nice advantages to this
kind of freelancing: good pay, freedom and plenty of work. One disadvantage of
being a freelance web developer, however, is that you don’t have a system
administrator to maintain your hardware, and with home networks, scanners, digital
cameras, videocams, art pens, and music keyboards all becoming more common, necessary
and affordable, maintaining this massive mix of hardware is becoming an issue
for freelancers who have never had to deal with hardware issues before, especially
when unexpected problems hit.
No more experts
I have owned various computers since 1984 and have gone through many computer
crises and crashes throughout the years, but this last crash was different: for
the first time I felt that there were no experts. In the 1980s, a computer was
more like a toaster: it had a specific number of known parts. If you had a problem
with it, you called the experts at the computer store, answered a couple questions
and they told you what was wrong. Today, a computer is a technological mixed breed
of over 15 different components each made by a different company within the last
year and each having a certain propensity to conflict with others. After listing
off my components and software I had installed, the computer store workers simply
told me, “It could be anything, you’ll have to bring it in.”
No time to bring it in
When I asked how long it would take for the computer store to look at it, they
said “Depending on the problem it could be 4 days or 2 weeks. We might have
to order a part.” I can’t imagine not having a computer for even 4 days:
no web development, no e-mails, no address book, no Internet. As computers take
over more functions (telephone?) and become the storage place for almost all of
our information, the more we will rely on them and the more we cannot do without
them for even a short time, especially web developers.
Prepare for dependence
Web developers are by the nature of their work dependent on their computers.
If you are a freelance web developer who works out of your home, do not make the
mistake of thinking that the hardware you work on will always be there for you.
Hard drives crash, chips wear out, coffee spills, and new components and software
cause conflicts. Here are some tips for you to ensure that in the event of hardware
problems, you will be back up able to work as quickly as possible:
Buy locally and get an exchange warranty
For a freelance web developer, one of the most important aspects of buying
a computer is that you get a warranty which allows you to get broken parts replaced
in a day. I advise web developers to buy their computer at a computer store in
their neighborhood that has a good warranty program, even if it costs a bit more.
Then if your graphic card goes out, for example, you take it to the store, they
give you a new one, and you take it home. (You could save money and build your
own PC by ordering the parts, but then if your graphic card goes out, you have
to send it in to the manufacturer and wait weeks for a new or repaired one to
be sent back to you).
Get a second computer and network it
If your computer is malfunctioning and you have another one in the house, you
can replace parts of the first computer with parts of the second computer one
by one until you find the part causing the problem. Without a second computer
that you can take apart, it is difficult to determine which part is causing the
problem.
Once you get a second computer, spend the extra $50 on two ethernet cards and
a 10-meter cable, and network your computers. This is not as difficult as it sounds,
especially if you have a good manual and Windows 98 or Windows ME. Then, when
you need to replace or format a hard drive, or install a new operating system
on your hard drive, it is easy to backup gigabytes of data over the network onto
your second computer and afterward copy the files back. Without a network, copying
gigabytes of information can be difficult, time-consuming or even impossible.
Save and protect those driver CDs and disks
Every component you buy (hard drive, CD-ROM, graphics card) comes with either
a CD or a little diskette which contains important drivers specifically for that
component. Do not lose these! These CDs and diskettes are worth gold when you
have hardware troubles, and they are difficult to replace. Save these CDs and
diskettes, label them properly and keep them in a safe, dry, cool place where
you can find them easily in the future.
Keep a computer journal
For each computer you own, buy a three-ring binder and record everything you
install or remove from the computer, record every error message that pops up and
everything that doesn’t work. Each computer has a diffrent constellation
of components and hence will react differently to new hardware and software. Record
what works on each particular computer and use it as a manual for the future.
Take a hardware class
My wife and I took a weekend "Hardware 101" course at the local university
last year before we bought our new computer. I couldn’t believe how much
had changed in computers since the early 90s (AGB cards, slot 1 CPUs, ATX boards,
ATA/66 IDE controllers). This class gave me the confidence to choose, buy, install
and remove various cards, memory chips and hard drives. I recommend freelance
web developers to find a cheap hardware course in your area and catch up with
the vocabulary and concepts so you can buy, install and remove various cards and
hard drives with confidence.
Experiment when you have time, don’t when you don’t
Knowing how to deal with hardware problems largely comes from experience working
with your own specific computer. When you don’t have any open projects, I
suggest you practice backing up your data, perhaps buying a new hard drive, formatting
it, installing a new operating system and reinstalling everything. This process
is not impossible especially when you have time to ask others questions and work
through problems. However, if you have many projects open, do not touch your computer’s
hardware or add anything to it. There are too many things that might go wrong
which could involve you in days of chasing some buggy conflict when you should
be finishing projects. Only experiment when you have time.
Be prepared
As my head was pressed in the dust under my desk last week face-to-face with
those green cards full of microchips and wires, I learned not to take hardware
for granted. If you are a freelance web developer, you need to be able to maintain
your own hardware, so that when trouble strikes, you can be back programming within
hours, not days or weeks.
