Without a conscientious effort to properly maintain these older computers, your company could be faced with the unenviable task of investing in new technology. So, to keep those older computers running like new, here's a list of ways your support staff and users can extend the life of any PC.
Support staff tips
A PC's longevity begins with the support staff. These basic tips should be distributed to every support pro on staff.
1. Use antistatic straps to keep you grounded
Static discharge is deadly to computer components, especially RAM. Even though the damage from static discharge is not visible and the part appears to work correctly when installed, damage may have been done that will show up in the form of intermittent problems or all-out failure. To avoid such issues, support pros should ground themselves when handling computer parts.
Antistatic straps cost only a few dollars and can be purchased at any electronics or computer-repair store.
2. Buy quality surge suppressors to protect computers
Left unchecked, a power surge could permanently damage a computer, monitor, printer, and other peripherals. You can tell if a power strip has surge suppression because it will also include outlets for a telephone, which are used to protect a modem. APC makes excellent surge suppressors, and the company also provides a lifetime guarantee to replace a system should the surge-suppressor device fail.
3. Protect computers during thunderstorms
Guaranteed protection from a surge suppressor will not cover lost data stored on the system. The ultimate protection for a computer during a thunderstorm is to simply unplug the surge suppressor from the wall outlet.
4. Keep the computer case intact
When support installs a new internal component, make sure to save the spacer that you just removed so that you can cover the slot again. When engineers design computer cases, they also design the airflow in the system. Removing a spacer will disrupt that carefully designed airflow and cause the heat inside the case to rise, damaging sensitive computer parts.
5. Check internal fans for dust
Keeping cool air flowing over the components of the computer can be a challenging task, especially with so many heat-generating devices, such as high-end CPUs and video adapters. To ensure components are kept cool, many vendors include fans on their boards or CPUs to assist in the cooling process. However, as dirt and dust accumulate inside the computer case, these specialised fans become clogged, preventing them from working as well as they should. If you find that the fans have excess dust on the blades, use a can of compressed air to blow the dust off. Replace malfunctioning fans as soon as possible to keep expensive components cool.
6. Keep the power-supply fan clean
The power-supply fan draws cool air from outside the computer into the case to keep the components cool. As a result, dust and debris can clog the air vents of the power supply and eventually prevent the fan from working. This can result in a faulty power supply or cause a system to overheat and damage the components.
Check the outside of the power supply every two months, and use a can of compressed air to remove any dust or dirt that has accumulated on the vents. You should also open the case and use the compressed air to blow out the internal vents of the power supply. Look behind the system as well to make sure nothing is impeding the airflow around the case. There should be at least two inches of space around the sides and back.
7. Keep the keyboard free of debris
To help prevent a buildup inside a keyboard, use a can of compressed air to blow out the dust and debris. Although keyboards are inexpensive these days, you don't want users wasting valuable support time with faulty keyboards.
8. Clean the keys on the keyboard
Along the same lines as the previous tip, you should clean the keyboard keys with an alcohol wipe or cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol.
9. Clean monitors
Clean the monitor screen with a nonabrasive glass cleaning solution. Be sure to spray the solution onto the rag and not directly onto the monitor to prevent any liquid from getting inside the high-voltage monitor.
In addition to cleaning the screen, you should also wipe the monitor case off every month to prevent dust buildup from impeding the airflow of the vents on the monitor. Also, ensure that nothing is covering the vents of the monitor, because poor airflow can cause your monitor to overheat and fail.
10. Keep mice clean
To keep the mouse and mouse-ball clean, you need a can of compressed air and some alcohol wipes. Once a month, remove the mouse ball from the mouse and clean it with the alcohol wipes. Then use the compressed air to remove any dirt and debris that may have found its way into the mouse.
11. Clean the inside of computers
Over time, the components inside a computer can become covered with dust. This dust can cause problems with the contacts on the motherboard and its peripherals. Take the cover off the system every three months and use a can of compressed air to blow the dust off of everything inside.
12. Keep CDs clean to prevent the drive from getting dirty
Working from the inside of the disk to the outside using circular motions, you should be able to remove all but the most stubborn problems in a few seconds. If you need to use some liquid to help remove the debris, use only a little warm water. Never use any type of solvent on the disk because you run the risk of causing permanent damage to the data stored on it.
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Useless and pointless article, heres why;
1) Static straps. What use are they when the average helpdesk guy doesnt know the diff between posidrive and phillips head
2) Surge protectors. How many desktops in the average corporate site?
3) And who is going to give up part of their weekend to go into the office and unplug all computers if a storm develops?
4) Only the newer cases (Lian-Li etc) are designed with airflow in mind. Older systems you are better off removing all covers.
5) Dust on fans. Always happens, always will. The main thing you have to worry about is the fan motor bearings going bung. Nothing will stop this.
6) Power supply fans. Havent felt the back of your PC lately have you? The PSU fan blow hot air OUT. Thermal dynamics and all that. Ever wondered why the PSU was at the top of the machine if its supposed top be drawing in cool air?? Clean the vents on the PSU rather than cleaning the fan.
7) Keyboards. Havent you noticed the large amounts of people who eat at their desks? Its not dust, but food/drink scraps that cause the problem.
8) See above. Not to mention cleaning agents like alcohol tend to remove the lettering from keyboards, which confuses lots of users.
9) Monitors. Again, users. How many of them run their fingers across the monitor top show people things on thge screen. Cleaning would be a daily occurance.
10) Mice. Users use their mousemats as coasters. Sticky drink residue and crumbs are the major culprits.
11) Cleaning PC's. Once again, how many PC's in a corp environment? How amny staff would be required just to keep up with the 3 monthly cleaning?
12) You dont know a lot about CD's either do you?
Never ever use circular motions whilst cleaning a cd, this will cause read errors. Work from inside out, in straight lines, like the spokes on a wheel. Metho does not damage disks, is better than water, and the data is stored on the underside of the layer you phyically write on. This is the side you must not scratch.
13) CD-Rom open close button. Easy to say, hard to do. Bit hard to push the button on the drive when its mounted in a tower, under the desk, and the button is concealed by the drive tray itself.
Try passing this on to the manufacturers.
14) Power cycling. I agree with you but with one exception. What if they are at work when a storm comes into their home area? Do you want them to leave their computer switched on to save the PSU, or have it switched off for when a storm comes in? Not to mention that power cycling is the nly way to get rid of a lot of pesky windows problems. Warm boots dont work.
15) Shutting down windows. Dont know a lot about hardware or software do you? If you did then you would know that Win9x, Win2K and XP all hook into the ATX PSU. Hitting the power button will shut down windows prior to power off (default config for windows). NT4 is an exception.
16) Scandisk. Should only be run weekly if you power off before shutting down (see above) or if you have serious disk errors. Otherwise, once every 3-4 weeks is sufficient.
17) Defrag is only needed when you have been doing a lot of reading/writing/deleting/modifying. If you have only been playing games, surfing the net, or writing your resume, then every 3-4 weeks after a scandisk is all you need.
18) Anti-virus may be essential, but common sense is vital. If you were walking along the street, and a stranger handed you a pill, would you take it? Then why would you open an attachment from someone you dont know?
19) Firewalls are good, but correct configuration is even better.
20) What would cause someone to suspect they were being hacked? Slow network responses? Gee, Windows can do that. Missing files? Windows again. Loss of hard drive space? Windows bloat.
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What a shame that this article was intended for corporations, yet only contains ideas for Joe the home user.