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Kill my computer.

It's possible your parents really don't have the money for a new PC, after all there is a recession going on (and probably will be for the next year.) Purposely destroying your computer is stupid, you may be left with NO computer. I'm just waiting to find out how many fellow employees will be furloughed next month, and if I will be one of them (I think I am safe, however.) Even though, I can't justify any extra spending right now until I know for sure I will still be employed next year.

Once you are on your own, you can buy any computer you can afford, and upgrade when you want, but for now you are going to have to justify spending money on a new computer to your parents, which is very hard in the current economy.
 
if I were your parent, I would not automatically reward you with a new computer if your desktop breaks. Instead, like another post said above, I'd just make you share time on my laptop. There's nothing that a high school student needs on a computer that can't be done in school's computer labs in an hour or two.
However, a reasonable parent would offer a plan to let you save some money (through your own work of course) to buy the new computer. Who knows he/she may even be willing to match your contribution to the plan.

Fraud is no way to earn the trust of your parents. If no honest solution can be worked out with your parents, I'd rather suck it up and wait until you finally have a compelling reason to get a new computer (i.e. summer before you enter college).
 
I hope that after breaking your computer, your parents buy you a netbook.
 
Since it is a desktop, why not remove the processor and/or remove the main power supply cable from the motherboard? That would be a non-destructive way of making it not work just long enough for your purposes. If your plan does not work out and they don't get you a new computer, say what you'll need to repair it. Then go to a computer shop and buy a few cheap things before going to refit the processor/plug in the cable.
 
I'm not much older than you, but I'm a parent to a 4 year old daughter, who is pretty crafty at getting her own way.

Let me tell you, the moment anything happens to that computer of yours, your parents will instantly know it's your fault. You may think you're crafty now, but they've known you since you were a baby, they know how your mind works.

As mentioned above, the most likely outcome is that they will make you go without a computer and use school computers (possibly not even allow you to use your mums) until you've saved enough to buy yourself a new computer.

They probably won't let you touch your college money either. Your best best, is to discuss and agree with your parents that you will get a part-time job and use the money from that to save up for a new computer.

I'm pretty sure most parents will agree to that. You worked for that money, it's yours. There's plenty of small jobs around, and $50-100 saved per week will get you a refurb apple laptop in 10-15 weeks tops.

If you're in any way techie, you know an old computer, even one like yours is still pretty useful. Don't kill it - reuse it.

Suggestions:

1. As said above, get a backup external. NOW. They're dirt cheap. At the moment you are risking losing all your work and papers any second. Moving some files onto it will release some space. Get a 160gb or 250gb or even a 1TB backup. Or you could use the new drive as a primary internal, and use the 80GB drive as a secondary storage drive.

2. As said above, get new fans / clean the fans you have. This will help with the noise. If you buy new fans, get bigger ones maybe - they will spin more slowly.

3. Max out the RAM. 512MB is nothing. You can probably get 1 or 2 GB into it for a few dollars. It'll make a world of difference.

4. Reinstall XP. This is where the backup drive will help. Clearing out 8 years of cruft will give your computer new life. Once reinstalled, avoid adding new programs, and turn off as many graphics options as possible. Maybe stick to XP, Office, Firefox / Chrome, a video viewer, and allow nothing else to be installed.

5 (optional) Look at getting a new faster processor, but it's unlikely to be worth it.

6. (optional) look for a better graphics card on ebay or something, but it may be difficult to figure out which ones are compatible.

If you are low on money, I would get a smallish backup drive, upgrade the RAM, clean the fans, and reinstall XP.

That'll give your PC a good few more years while you look for a job and save up for a new one.
 
pour pee all over it and blame a pet...

But seriously, one way you could get a mac for cheap is to look into a hackintosh... without anyone attacking me over the EULA just give it a thought... if you know anything about building a computer its a cheap way to get a fully functioning mac, can be done for under $400... you could use your current monitor and tower.. just use all new interior components with parts from a place like microcenter... there are boatloads of websites and youtube videos that can help you with this...

so tell your parents you want to keep it as cheap as possible by building yourself a new computer...
 
If you have a soldering iron, you can jump some pins on the ATX 20/24 pin connector on the mobo. That will surely fry it :D What I have found to be fun, is taking a 12V line from the PSU and fitting it to USB, 3.5MM audio, you name it, and blowing every port on the computer :D Did that to a few school computers and they couldnt figure out what was wrong. A quick and effective way to kill it, is to (safety first, im not responsible if you burn down the house) unplug the computer from the wall, flip the voltage switch and plug it back in. It will instantly fry it. And with that, you can say that its old and dangerous and Hello green, safe and efficiant mac!
 
nullx86 said:
If you have a soldering iron, you can jump some pins on the ATX 20/24 pin connector on the mobo. That will surely fry it :D What I have found to be fun, is taking a 12V line from the PSU and fitting it to USB, 3.5MM audio, you name it, and blowing every port on the computer :D Did that to a few school computers and they couldnt figure out what was wrong.
Click to expand...

And an all-time new low has been set.
 
1) Being a kid is about learning the value of money. Think about how much money it would cost to replace your desktop, even with the cheapest box you could find in Best Buy. You're probably going to recycle your monitor, keyboard and mouse, so you don't have to worry about that cost -- but this is still a lot of money. When you grow up a little, you'll be able to afford your own computer. Destroying that computer now makes you an ungrateful baby and more than a little dishonest.
2) When I was growing up, all my money went into a savings account. Even my inheritance ($9k) from my grandmother. I skimped and saved, pinched pennies, just so I could have a better college, get a good computer and make the money last long enough to take a few girls out. When the time came (1994), I studied all the computers in great detail and ended up spending just shy of $2000 for a 486/66, when most of my friends got Pentium 60s or 66s for $500+ more than I spent (one got a 90 for a cool 3 grand). I had enough money saved for a long time of fun, and enough to take quite a few girls out. But my parents cleaned that account out to pay for tuition. All my agony and hard work... still paid for what I needed, not necessarily what I wanted and certainly not what I expected.
3) Microwave on high for 2-4 seconds. Buckets of water, bending a pin, removing the heat sink, all are easy to see, and the sabotage will be obvious. Remove the CPU, drop it in the microwave for just long enough to hear it get to full power and leave it there for a second or two, then take it out and put it back. Should be invisible, and even one wire near the wavelength of the microwave should antenna enough energy to start blowing transistors.
 
Well....

nullx86 said:
If you have a soldering iron, you can jump some pins on the ATX 20/24 pin connector on the mobo. That will surely fry it :D What I have found to be fun, is taking a 12V line from the PSU and fitting it to USB, 3.5MM audio, you name it, and blowing every port on the computer :D Did that to a few school computers and they couldnt figure out what was wrong.
Click to expand...

You are an A$$...

nullx86 said:
A quick and effective way to kill it, is to (safety first, im not responsible if you burn down the house) unplug the computer from the wall, flip the voltage switch and plug it back in. It will instantly fry it. And with that, you can say that its old and dangerous and Hello green, safe and efficiant mac!
Click to expand...

Flipping the voltage switch will most certainly not "fry it" It won't harm it at all actually. It just won't come on.
 
thebeans said:
Flipping the voltage switch will most certainly not "fry it" It won't harm it at all actually. It just won't come on.
Click to expand...

It will fry the PSU. And you will have a nice light show with a blue flame, some smoke and the great bruned electronics smell. A friend of mine did this once (changing the voltage from 230V->110V), but not on purpose, he was talking and fiddling around with a pen around the voltage switch and BOOM - as Steve says. :rolleyes:
 
gorjan said:
It will fry the PSU. And you will have a nice light show with a blue flame, some smoke and the great bruned electronics smell. A friend of mine did this once (changing the voltage from 230V->110V), but not on purpose, he was talking and fiddling around with a pen around the voltage switch and BOOM - as Steve says. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Changing the switch that way likely will fry it, but going the other way, it just won't turn on.
 
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