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BOOT CAMP 011
ROUTINE MAINTENANCE
In addition to processing words and crunching numbers your
desktop computer does a pretty good impression of a vacuum cleaner and rubbish
bin. Cooling fans inside the power supply module, and attached to the main
processor chip, suck air in through and around the disc-drives, loudspeaker
grilles and gaps in the cabinet. After just a few weeks use everything inside
the case is coated with a thin layer of dust particles and airborne
contaminants. It gets everywhere and could eventually cause your PC to operate
erratically, or worse!
Dust and pollutants can interfere with the pickup heads and
other moving parts inside the floppy disc and CD-ROM drives. Intermittent
contacts may develop on switches, plugs, sockets, expansion cards plugged into
the motherboard, even the microchips can be affected. The biggest accumulation
of dust is in and around the main cooling fan and in extreme cases it can cause
the power supply to fail by blocking the path of cooling air to critical
components.
The keyboard uses gravity to collect your detritus. A
noxious mixture, made up of biscuit crumbs, cigarette ash (even if you don’t
smoke), nail clippings, hairs, tea and coffee spillage finds its way past the
keys and into the inside of the keyboard case. The keys themselves also suffer
a build up of sticky surface grime made up of skin oil, sweat, makeup and other
substances. Most PC users seem to favour leaving it, until it gets full up, the
keys stop moving or it starts to smell…
Then there’s the mouse. They’re especially good at keeping
the mouse pad clean, Hoovering up crumbs, dirt and liquid spills. Debris is
transferred from the ball underneath onto the rollers that move optical or
mechanical switches. After a while pointer movement becomes jerky, or stops
altogether.
It’s worth mucking out your system at least once a year,
more often if you work in a particularly dusty or smoky atmosphere, or if you
regularly eat lunch at your desk.
There’s really only one way to clean out the system unit,
and that’s to take off the lid, but remember to disconnect it from the mains
before you reach for the screwdriver, and dissipate any static charges that may
have built up on your body, by touching the case metalwork. Don’t be tempted to
suck out the dust using the hose on your vacuum cleaner, that’s just asking for
trouble as you might dislodge cables, plugs or expansion cards. Instead, get
hold of a can of compressed air -- the sort used to clean cameras -- and blow
the dust out of the case. They are also better at getting into nooks and
crannies. Most of them have extension tubes, so you can also blast dust out of
the power supply and off of the cooling fan blades. Don’t poke the tube inside
the disc drive slot you could damage the delicate innards; use proper
disc-drive cleaning kits, available from your local computer store or branches
of Tandy.
Before you put the lid back on you can do a spot of
preventative maintenance. If your machine has been in regular use for more than
a couple of years it may become prone to a condition known as ‘chip creep’,
which can lead to intermittency or failure. As the motherboard heats up and
cools down it flexes slightly, slowly pushing microchips out of their sockets.
Identify the socket-mounted chips and apply gentle finger pressure to re-seat
them.
It’s no good trying to shake the dirt out of your keyboard;
it just gets trapped underneath the keys. The only solution is to take it
apart, but make sure the PC is switched off. Designs vary but most keyboards
are held together by half a dozen (or more), crosshead screws on the underside.
Once removed the top and bottom halves should come apart. You may have to prise
some small lugs with the tip of a screwdriver but if it doesn’t separate easily
don’t force it! Tip out all of the loose dirt and using a new soft paintbrush
remove all the crud from underneath the keys. A soft cloth dampened with water
and a drop of washing up liquid will remove the grime coating the keys and
exterior surfaces of the case. Dry it off and reassemble, making sure there are
no wires trapped between the case sections.
The best way to clean your mouse is to take it apart. If you
don’t fancy tinkering around inside it’s still worth removing and cleaning the
ball, but only when the PC is switched off. The ball is usually held in place
by the ring surrounding it. It should drop off when turned a few degrees. Give
the ball a wipe over and blow into the hole, to shift any loose dust. Most mice
are held together by one or two crosshead screws on the base. Separate the two
halves and clean it out using the paintbrush. Handle with care as the rotary
sensors may only be clipped lightly into place and could fall out if the
circuit board is turned upside down. Check the condition of the rollers that
come into contact with the ball. If there’s a coating of gunge it can be
scraped off with a matchstick.
If you’re feeling diligent then sort out the rats-nest of
cables on the back of your PC. Untangle the leads, unplugging them one at a
time if necessary and making sure the retaining screws on the large multi-pin
connectors are tightened up. Plugs working loose cause a lot of problems.
Finally the monitor, do not on any account it apart, this is
a no-go area; very high voltages are present, that remain even when it is
switched off! Use the can of compressed air to blow dust out of the ventilation
slots on the top, bottom and sides. Make sure they’re not covered as this could
lead to overheating. Keep the screen clean using purpose-designed anti-static
foam cleaner or wipes. Remember that a clean PC is a happy PC!
JARGON FILTER
CHIP SOCKETS
Most of the microchips used in a PC are soldered directly to
the circuit boards but some, including the main processor and some memory
components are mounted in sockets, so they can be easily replaced or upgraded
EXPANSION CARDS
Most PCs contain a set of small circuit boards, plugged into
the main motherboard for controlling the video output, processing sounds or
communicating with the outside world (modems and network cards)
MOTHERBOARD
The main printed circuit board inside a PC, containing the
main processor chip (486, Pentium etc.), memory chips (RAM), all the other
circuits needed to control the disc drives, keyboard etc, and communicate with
plug-in expansion cards
POWER SUPPLY MODULE
The power supply module converts mains electricity into a
low voltage DC, needed by the motherboard and disc drives. It’s normally housed
inside a metal box, fitted with a cooling fan, attached to the back of the case
or system unit
TOP TIP
You can make your life a lot easier by putting Windows
utilities and frequently used programs onto the Start menu. The most useful
ones are Windows Explorer, My Computer, Control Panel and CD Player. Start with
My Computer and hold on the desktop icon and drag it onto the Start button.
Next, open Explorer and double click on the Windows 95 folder, to open it up.
Follow the same procedure, by clicking and holding on the CD Player, Explorer
and Control Panel icons or folders and dragging them to the Start Button.
For other the routine is the same, open the folder, find the
icon and move it on to the Start button. If you make a mistake and choose the
wrong icon or folder, or you want to remove something from the Start Menu,
click on Start, then Settings, Taskbar and choose the Start Menu Programs tab.
Select the Remove button and scroll through the directory tree until you find
the offending item. Highlight it and click the remove button.
If your Start menu becomes overcrowded and icons disappear,
check the ‘Show small icons in Start Menu’ box on the Taskbar Options dialogue
box.
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