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Guide to Physical Computer Maintenence
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Posted by: OTS Staff
<font color="FFFFCC"><b>GUIDE TO PHYSICAL COMPUTER MAINTENANCE</b></font>
<font size="1">- written by <b>Paul Olinger, Jr</b> (Ion Silverbolt) - November 16, 2000</font>
<font color="#FFFFFF"><b>Introduction</b></font>
Good care of your computer goes beyond just a routine scandisk and defrag. Besides various software and driver problems a user may have to deal with, many physical conditions can affect how a PC operates. With proper care however, you can not only extend the life of your computer, but prevent possible problems down the road.
Many things can have an effect on a PC. This guide will focus on physical problems and solutions as well as preventive maintenance. Things that can effect how your PC operates are:- <a href=#a title="Deals with Climate issues that may effect the operation of your PC">Climate</a>
- <a href=#b title="Heat related problems, prevention, and solutions">Heat</a>
- <a href=#c title="Important tips on protecting your PC from Surges, Power Outages, and other power related problems">Power fluctuations, surges, and brownouts</a>
- <A href=#d title="Tips on Identifying potentially dangerous situations where Static Electricity may be a problem and how to deal with it">Static electricity</a>
- <a href=#e title="Identifying Potential problems from Radio and Electro-magnetic frequency interference">EMF and RF Frequency Interference</a>
<font color="#FFFFFF"><b><a name=a>Climate</b></font>
Various climate conditions inside and outide the PC can cause problems. A PC that operates in an environment that is warm will be prone to overheating more than a PC in a colder one. A cold, dry climate however has an increase of potential problems with static electricity. Extra care should be taken in that climate when handling PC hardware. As long as you are aware of what climate your PC is operating under, you can avoid problems.
Temperature changes can vary a lot with a PC. The best conditions would be to keep the PC at a constant temperature that is cool. For this reson, it's best to leave a PC running all the time. Going from cold to hot to cold again is stressful on computer equipment. All the expanding and contracting can wear the hardware down. Also, when you first turn a PC on, the power spike from turning on the PC is stressful on the system. Keep in mind however that these stresses may take years before any problems could arise from them. (Probably long after you would upgrade unless you never upgrade). PC hardware can be pretty durable. Especially older systems where micronization isn't as small as it is today.
<font color="#FFFFFF"><b><a name=b>Heat</b></font>
Heat related problems are probably the biggest concern and problem todays systems face. High-end processors and video cards can crank out heat as effective as a portable space heater. However with some common sense and planning, you can keep heating problems a distant memory.
The best way to tackle heat problems is to create a better cooling environment. If you have an air conditioned room, that's always best for the PC. Most importantly though, you need good airflow going into your case. Unfortunately a lot of Brand name PC's use their own case designs and aren't the best at removing heat. Another thing to be aware of is to not put the back of your case too close to the wall. This may prevent good airflow which your case needs.
The best way to tell if your PC is suffering from overheating is to check temperatures. Some boards have temperature readings in BIOS information. If you suffer from lock-ups and have temperature readings in your BIOS, then check it right after a lock-up and see what temperatures are. If you're above 140°F for your processor, I recommend better cooling. Older processors are more heat tolorant. It was not uncommon for a K6 233 to run around 170°F and still be stable. However todays micronization in processors make them less heat tolorent.
Overheating problems elsewhere can be harder to detect. The best way to tell if you have heat problems is to use a thermistor. There are other ways to tell though. If you tend to lockup a lot only on warm days or whenever you're running hardware stressing games like Diablo 2, that's a sign you may be overheating. Here's some steps to help troubleshoot possible heat problems:- Take your case lid off your computer and run with the lid off. If your case has poor airflow like many do, this might help identify overheating problems because everything will be getting better cooling.
- Remove dust from your PC. The insides of your PC can collect a lot of dust over time. I highly recommend for everyone to remove dust at least every 3 months. Dust can act as a layer of insolation which can contribute to componants overheating. A can of air which can be baught in the computer section in any store does this job nicely.
If you discover heat is your problem, better cooling is in order. The best solution to this in my opinion is to get another case fan. Some have the option of adding another standard case fan like the one the power supply uses. Others don't. A nice investment is a case fan that fits in any avalable slot in the back of your PC.
If your case stays cooler, so do all the rest of your componants. Even if you don't suffer from overheating, extra cooling can still prolong the life of computer components.
Other ways of cooling would be to possibly get another heatsink for your processor. Heatsinks included in brand name PC's are usually of poor quality and definately out of the question if you're overclocking anything. Some places have fans for video cards for sale. Video card overheating is harder to detect. Usually problems won't occur until you're playing a 3D intensive game for about 20 minutes. If you only lockup in 3D games after so long of time, it could be the video card overheating.
Almost any device in a PC can overheat. And as components age, they tend to become less heat tolorent. The extra case fan is the best solution since everything gets better cooling.
<font color="#FFFFFF"><b><a name=c>Power Fluctuations, Surges, and Brownouts</b></font>
Power loss and surges are the types of problems that can bring chills down the spines of computer users everywhere. There are however effective steps you can take to minimize the risks involved with such problems.
The absolute best protection you can get and I believe they are worth every penny is to invest in an Uninterruptable Power Supply(UPS). They can range from anywhere between 70$ to over 1000$ . Fortunately for us, the 70$ models are usually enough for a home PC.
UPS's not only protect against power surges, they also give your PC power if the power goes out completely. Usually the power available will only last for 5 minutes from the UPS but this gives the user plenty of time to save documents and shut the PC down properly. Sofware included with the UPS may even do these functions for you and shut the PC off after a specified amount of time. Newer versions of Windows have built-in options for UPS's as well.
A surge protector should be considered manditory if a user can't afford a UPS. It's even a good idea to have both. I recommend one that also protects surges through RJ-11(Phone jacks) and RJ-45 (LAN cables) jacks for modem and DSL users. There are also surge protectors that accept coaxial cables for Cable Modem users. In a nutshell, any outside cable that goes into your PC should have somekind of surge protection.
If neither can be obtained, there are still ways to be safer. One is to shut down the PC whenever a Storm is moving in when the risk of power outages and surges are at their highest. Another option is to disable write behind caching for your hard drive(s). This will lower the chance of data corruption in case of a power outages. This however will hurt performance a lot, but it will improve data integrity.
Another electrical problem although rare may be old wiring. If you get a variety of weird computer lock-ups and problems, it could be your wall outlet is not supplying the correct voltage due to age or improper setup. A multimeter is useful for such testing but it's best to leave this job to someone more qualified if you're not up on your knowledge of electrictronics. Motherboard monitoring software may detect fluctuations in voltage as well. IF you go below your specified voltage settings at times, it could be your wiring or a bad power supply.
<font color="#FFFFFF"><b><a name=d>Static Electricity</b></font>
Static Electricity as a PC problem can be easily overlooked. Almost every PC enthusiast rarely if ever uses an anti-static wrist wrap or properly grounds themself. There are however additional causes for concern besides handling PC hardware.
I'm sure many of you are familiar with the ole shock your buddy routine after wiping your feet on a wool carpet. However such electrical discharges are extremely fatal to PC hardware. As noted in the Climate section, Cool and dry places increase the risk of Static electricity, but can still happen anytime.
Static electricity is probably the number one cause of shipped items being Dead on Arrival. Whenever you touch ANY PC hardware, you should never touch any circuits or chips if at all possible. The best protection is to attach your anti-static wrist wrap to your PC case before working on it and installing hardware. At the least, don't touch any circuits. Always try only to touch the edge of various memory modules and PC cards.
Static electricity damage doesn't always cause hardware failure. A component that gets zapped may not fail until days after or might behave erratically and eventually fail later. Also, it only takes a tiny little 30 volt surge to damage computer components. A zap you won't even feel or see.
To make matters worse on the DOA front, some PC vendors ship their computer hardware with styrafoam packaging material. Styrafoam is notorious for holding vast amounts of static electricity. That's why those stupid styrafoam peanuts tend to stick to you. If your PC equipment gets shipped with this type of packaging material. Do not let any of it touch the hardware. That's all it would take to bury the nail in the coffin of your new hardware.
Another outside source of static electricity are vacuum cleaners. You should NEVER operate a vacuum near a PC. They tend to hold a strong static charge from all the rubbing on the carpet and sucking. Move the PC before operating a vacuum in the area.
The Belkin battery operated PC Vacuum is an excellent way to clean dust inside and outside your PC. It even has a handy brush head which is handy for cleaning dust off heatsinks and fans.
<font color="#FFFFFF"><b><a name=e>EMF and RF Interference</b></font>
Radio Frequencies(RF's)and Electro-Magnetic Frequencies(EMF's) can cause various disruptions to a computer. Anything from data corruption to monitor anomolies can occur.
EMF's can be found just about everywhere there are cables and appliances. Stereo Speakers are a big carrier of EMF's which is why multimedia speakers are magnetically shielded. Still, you should try to keep your speakers a respectible distance away from your computer hardware.
The worst thing EMF's probably can do is interfere with magnetic media such as hard drives and floppy disks.. Great care should be taken not to allow such devices near the computer. Especially if your case lid is off. The lid helps shield a lot of the EMF's, and RF's from affecting the PC.
EMF's will usually cause your monitor to behave erratically and display funny colors. This may seem permanant. What has happened is the EMF radiation has changed the polarity of electrons within your monitor screen(Roughly). Almost all monitors have a Degauz button in their outer features which will help restore the screen back to normal. If you have an old monitor however, you'll need a service technician to use a degauzing wand on the monitor.
Big EMF Emitters:
- Magnets
- Stereo Speakers
- Unshielded Wires.
- Hair Dryers (Probably not a problem unless your wife dries her hair at the computer.)
RF's also can have an affect on a PC. RF's from even within the PC can cause problems. Static, crackling sound, and video distortions can all be caused by somekind of RF interference.
An example of RF would be the new UDMA 66 and 100 standard. For these speeds to work, they had to use a new 40 pin 80 wire cable. The extra 40 wires aren't actually wires at all. They are spacers designed to keep RF interference at bay to support the faster transfer speeds. Data corruption would occur if not for the spacers.
RF's usually are not a problem. However, there are still things to be aware of. Any communication or trnasmitting device should be kept away from the PC. Examples are:
- Cellular and Cordless Phones
- Walkie Talkies and HAMM Radios
- Pagers and Beepers
<font color="#FFFFFF"><b>Final Words</b></font>
All in all, PC maintenence on the physical front isn't all that difficult. As they say in GI-Joe, knowing is half the battle.
If anyone has any questions or comments, or wishes to add input to this guide, please post your thoughts in our forums. Users will be credited at the end of this guide as a service to the Open Tech Support community.
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