My computer is trash. It can't run anything is the graphics card is something from the stone age. It runs slow as it is, but my dad won't believe me. He only uses the computer to check his email to play bridge online, so he doesn't realize how shitty it actually is. So, is there a way to subtly break my computer over time? I can't just break it all at once or else my dad will blame it on me, saying that I downloaded some virus or something. I know it's a terrible thing to do, but I really need a new computer. >_>

Download some stuff so that you have low virtual memory... works every time

get a jab ya bum.

If your dad doesn't want to upgrade the computer... maybe it's because you don't HAVE the money to upgrade it?

Try And overheat your computer day after day so it frys the hardware.

We're Indian. We're rich. We're cheap.

What operating system are you running. Provide any other details about your computer so we might actually be able to, you know, help.

Find a script that freezes the computer for extended periods of time when certain websites are visited. Add his bridge websites and email to the blacklist.

Torrent a lot of shit.

Another idea: First you put a ton of programs into your startup folder so that your computer starts up ridiculously slowly. Then, you complain that your computer seems to be getting slower and slower and slower (the programs in startup is for evidence to show your dad). After some time of doing this, you can just unplug something within the computer so that the thing won't even turn on properly. A computer repair shop would be able to fix that quite easily, so if he takes it in for repairs after you complain I think you're pretty much out of luck.

Instead of unplugging something you could just break something......

... Seriously? You're giving someone advice to break a computer so they can force their parents to get a new one?


For shame, SEN.

That's why I said that it was terrible. But seriously, it's necessary. I'm running XP on a 37 gb HD, 1.2 gb RAM, 2.4 ghz processor, and a video card with 64 mbs memory with no shader support. I can't run anything new.

I typically tend to trust financial matters to the adults in the family, thanks. : /

My friend stuck his laptop in a microwave to get a new one out of the warranty.

I find it hard to believe that your family is rich and they haven't given you any money? When I graduated from high school I had ~$3k saved up. If you have $600, I made a nice build which will run SC2 and includes everything, including OS (but you'll need $700 before rebate).

To let you know how cheap my parents were: I didn't get an n64 until 2005, when I finally bought one myself. That was my first console.

Find dust from somewhere, pour into the power supply unit via the fan at the back (while it's turned off of course) and repeat until something starts burning.
Alternatively, assuming it's old enough, get the HD power cable and switch some wires, plug it back it, and turn it on while your parents are around. The HD will start popping and smoking (no really, I did it by accident once, it was epic)

Heh, if you want to fry the PSU, just flip the little switch from 120V to 230V.

If your computer can't run new games, why not get games with lower system requirements instead? Newer games might be flashier, but more advanced technology doesn't necessarily lead to better gameplay, and many older games have been abandoned by their publishers, making them effectively free.

Here might be a good place to start. And if, for some reason that I would no doubt find completely inexplicable, you can't find anything there, there are other sources of abandonware and freeware (which tends to have somewhat lower system requirements than commercial software of the same age) just a Google search away.

I'm sure that 90%+ of the people in the world would be overjoyed to have a computer like the one that you have described...and so could you, with a bit of creativity and willingness to think outside the box (or the store). Sure, maybe it can't run whatever the latest nerd-fad might be, but so too do newer computers often have trouble running older software, and I guarantee that you haven't explored even a quarter of the game software that falls within the appropriate age range for your hardware.

SC2 is new. That's what I want.

He has a 37 GB HD and 1.2 Gigs of RAM. I'm pretty sure you can get that much for $100 nowadays.

Hell, one of my old comps has a 75GB HD and 1 gig of ram. It sucks. And it's about 7 years old. The only thing it can run is starcraft. The thing had a hard time running Age of Mythology back in the day on lowest settings.

It seems like everyone wants a new comp for SC2. With a comp like that, It shouldnt take much to break it honestly.

For once, I agree with Cent. Don't turn on your parents. This is a line one should never cross for whatever reason. And ESPECIALLY not over a damn computer game. Come to your senses man, it's your family.

Listen to Foxwolf. Make the best out of your situation until you can afford a new computer yourself.

Screw that. You deserve a new computer and your parents are being cheap about the whole deal.