Nice read about unseating ram and taking it to local repair shops.

thedenverchannel

This indeed is widespread and disturbing Ray. Being a certified computer person myself, it just bothers the crap out of me how something so simple can be missed by even the mediocre tech savvy person. I learned the old school way of troubleshooting - KISS (keep it simple stupid). My wife brings home computers for me all the time for me to fix, and I find the problem everytime, of course I maintain 3 domains with over 50 servers and over 2000 workstations

Pretty impressive Ace, that's a lot of PCs. I can only imagine the tech calls you get. I'm more of a backyard mechanic, picking up things as I go. My three boys keep me on my toes by maintaining their comps. And friend and neighbors too. But your right about it being widespread, I fixed a co-workers PC that he had taken to 2 shops, and it was just software. Amazing....

at least there prices they found were in the ballpark.
its 30 bucks here for minor repairs in shop most everyware.

Indeed the prices are on par, but the diagnosis is negligent, and out right wrong. The fist order of business in computer repair (or any electronics) is clean it, and reseat all the cards.