Well, it seems as if I've found my home with this thread. Now grab some food, because this might take a while .

My first computer travesty was simple, a 7 year old Compaq had a manufacturing error that caused an air pocket in the HD. The reader heads touched the disks and turned them to dust. Luckily, I had a fairly recent backup stored.
Secondly, my first experience with malware. ugh. A 6 year old Compaq with a Windows 98 OS. I left for camp for a few weeks and forgot to tell anyone that the AV software came due for a re-subscription during that time. When I came home, it took me about 3 days of work to clean the system out (I could re-format...again, lazy backups meant I would've lost data if I had). Hijack this, Spybot S&D and Adaware became good friends (Just as an extra layer past the Norton AV/Firewall software). Thanks to an hour of phone time with Microsoft Tech Support and those programs, the computer still lives today.
Lastly, my latest adventure. I'm no computer whiz and I'll be the first to admit that. So when I say I was poking around in the BIOS as well as in the DOS level Admin section of my computer, that should be a clue as to what was going to happen next. heh, oopsie .

On an off note, I have an apple powerbook 180 (back when mac was still called apple), and though it doesn't have some of the newer inventions such as Firewire/USB ports, DVD RW drives and CD RW drives...ok and it doesn't have Internet Capability either...or a color monitor...and it's 7.5 lb battery (1/2 of what a modern laptop weighs) only lasts a few hours...but , it runs Word version 1 and Excel version 1.2 and has started up every time without fail. A testament to properly made computers.

-Michael "not allowed near computers" Greenley, Team 341