Intermittent. The one word no computer person wants to hear is intermittent. Ever have a computer doing different things at different times for no apparent reason? There really is no such thing as an intermittent problem. What it really means is that the real cause hasn’t been found yet and may be hard to find.
One source of intermittent problems sometimes overlooked is heat. If your computer’s processor gets too hot, it will begin having “intermittent” problems. Hours can be spent trying to solve a problem with virus scanners, defragging hard drives and the likes and the real problem is heat. Even experienced computer geeks (like me) have spent hours chasing a problem before finally cracking the computer case and seeing the problem.
The usual problem with heat is dirt. Your computer runs all day long and sometimes all night as well. While it’s running, it has fans that are supposed to be cooling your CPU. These fans draw outside air in to cool your computer and along with this outside air they pull in dirt and lint and the like. About every 6 months, perform the following preventative maintenance and heating problems due to dirt will be avoided. It’s a good idea to follow this preventative maintenance even if you are not having problems.
Make sure the computer’s warranty will not be voided if you open up the computer case. Inquire about this first and let your computer vendor know you are simply wanting to use compressed air to blow out the dirt and they should be pleased with this since it will save them warranty calls.
Unplug the computer from electricity. If you live in a dry area, touch some metal object other than your computer to make sure you do not have static.
Looking at the back of the computer, you will see which side your monitor, keyboard, mouse and bus devices are plugged in. The panel farthest from these devices has 2 to 3 screws. Remove the screws and slide the panel away from the front of the computer.
Be prepared for the dust inside. Even computers as new as 6 months old may be loaded with dust. Hold a can of compressed air upright (never upside down where moisture comes out) and spray everything in your computer. Especially spray areas that have fans. Try to remove as much dirt as possible with the canned air.
Put the panel on by aligning tabs on panel with holes on case. Slide the panel forward and the reattach the screws.
Plug the computer back in and you are good to go.
At one school district I work at, the first year we had lots of intermittent problems and lots of equipment failures. The first summer I was there, we cleaned every computer and our maintenance needs dropped by about half the next year and the intermittent problems almost stopped entirely.
Until next week,
Mike
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment