Haven't been around much lately because of the usual work-related crap and the usual stuff the universe throws at me...including yet another computer disaster.

My current computer, which I've had for something like six or seven months, died on me a little over a week ago. One day it was working perfectly (I seem to be one of the half-dozen people in the world who has no problems with Vista), then the next, it wouldn't even boot. It got as far as the boot screen and just stayed there no matter how long I waited. Several times, I let it go for over twenty minutes before giving up, shutting it down manually, and trying again. The first time this happened, I finally got it to boot after five or six attempts, but then it crashed less than a minute after it finished booting.

The next day, I never got it to boot. Day after that, after several attempts, it finally started up, but froze again and wouldn't start anymore.

Well, long story short, this kept repeating until, finally, I couldn't get the goddamned thing to boot after a dozen attempts. I gave up and decided to use the recovery discs which, fortunately, I made shortly after I bought the computer. (By the way, before I forget to mention it again, the warranty was voided when I opened the case to install a new graphics card not long after I bought the thing, so I was well and truly fucked.)

The recovery process gave me a chance to use the system restore first, but three times in a row the restore failed for "unspecified reasons," whatever the hell that means. I was left with no choice but to do a full recovery, which involved reformatting the hard drive and setting everything back to the way it was when the computer came out of the factory.

I've spent the past week or so re-installing the software I was using, changing various settings back to the way I had them before, etc. Fortunately, I learned a long time ago to keep all my writing, photos, and other important files on an external hard drive (plus backed up on DVDs). But still...

Oh, but it gets even better.  Even after reformatting the hard drive and setting everything back to point zero, I'm still having problems with it. It still crashes, and sometimes it still won't boot--and when that happens, it doesn't even get to the boot screen, it freezes when the Compaq logo comes up before the boot screen--and sometimes it crashes while shutting down and I have to power it off manually.

So, basically, I have no idea how long this thing will last before I have to do another system recovery. And it's only a matter of time before even that won't work anymore.  See, I've been down this road before. Last time it was an HP computer...the same shit happened over and over, and finally, even the restore discs wouldn't work anymore. And now this one, a Compaq (which, if I'm not mistaken, is actually an HP product), is showing the exact same symptoms...only it's happening a hell of a lot sooner this time. (And a previous Compaq I had a decade or so ago was also a piece of shit, though it didn't go tits-up on me quite as fast...)

So, lesson learned. I'll never buy an HP or Compaq again. Their computers are shit.

So...I'm left with two choices. Blow another $500 or more on a new computer, or...build one from scratch. Since I'm trying to save money (and have been failing miserably for the last several months, having to take money out of the savings account instead of putting more in), I'd really rather not spend that much money all at once. Building a new system, buying the parts one by one and putting them together over the next few months, will cost more in the long run, but it'll be a lot easier, financially, to pay out smaller chunks of money each month instead of a whopping amount all at once.

I've been kind of wanting to try building my own computer for a while, anyway, so I guess this gives me an excuse to get started. I've been wanting a computer that won't be outdated in a couple years, and this way, I can make it the way I want it. And I mean, a big enough hard drive, fast enough processor, and enough RAM to keep up with software system requirements for at least the next five years. Also, I don't want another one that might snuff it six months from now.

I was waiting until I got my paycheck, then today I got started by buying a case. I found one on Amazon for $40 a while back, and it's a good thing I got paid when I did, because by today there was only one left. It's probably not the best possible case, but it's good enough and the price was right. One thing I really like about it is the fucking enormous fan it's got in one side--almost ten inches. @_@ Anyway, this is the one I ordered....

It comes with a 550-watt power supply, but I'm looking for something with a little more punch, just in case I ever need the extra power someday. Better to have more than you need than to need more than you have. So I've got my eyes on a 750-watt and a 1000-watt PSU...

The next part I'll probably get, though, is the motherboard. The one that's top on my shopping list is an Asus M4N78 Pro. I'm looking for one that has a high maximum RAM limit, and this one maxes out at 16GB. The one at the link isn't the one I'm planning to get, though; the one I've set my eyes on is a bundle--the motherboard plus a quad-core processor. I've found other boards that max out at 25 gigs, but they didn't include the CPU. The price on the bundle is lower than I'd pay for both parts individually...and not only that, but after doing some research, I realized that it's too easy to bork the processor or motherboard or both when installing the CPU. Especially given how my luck works--everything I attempt ends up being a long string of fuck-ups and setbacks until I finally get to the end...when it doesn't fall apart so severely that there's no way to continue. So I figured I'd get a board with the CPU already factory-installed. <_<

But anyway...yeah. 16 gigs. :D I figured I'd start out with 8, then add another 8 later on. That should keep me ahead of games' recommended system requirements for a good, long while.

As for the hard drive...it's gotta be at least one terabyte. I'm keeping an eye on one that's reasonably priced, so hopefully it'll still be available by the time I'm ready for it.

And since I already have a 24-inch, 1080p monitor (got a hell of a sweet deal on it a while back), I figured I might as well get a Blu-Ray drive at some point, but that'll be later on down the road.

Anyway...I've got a whole shopping list of parts for this thing--heat sink, fan, memory-card reader, etc.--that I'll be picking up over the next few months. I'm hoping the whole project doesn't implode on me like the brake job on my car did...but if nothing else, it should be an educational experience. It'd be good to have a better understanding of how the parts fit together, how they work, etc. Should come in handy if I need to do any serious repairs on either my current computer (if it lasts long enough for me to finish the project) or the one I'm building.

Eh. Had other stuff I wanted to talk about, but it's getting late. Gotta see if I can catch up on a few other things while I can still keep my eyes open....