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Upgrade101 - Part 2 - System Maintenance and more

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Copyright © Myles White, 1999

Preparation and cautions (READ THIS FIRST)

• Cleaning up your system
• Cleaning up your mouse
• Buying components (general tips)
• Questions?

We have three tasks to accomplish in this part of our series on installing components and maintaining your PC. First, we're going to talk about keeping it clean (and why). This is a difficulty-level 2 assignment (requires opening the case). Then we're going to tackle an easy one, cleaning the part that needs it most often - your system's mouse. It's a level 1 chore (no opening the case - anyone can do it).

Finally, we're going to talk about hardware components in a more general sense, to provide you with some basic shopping guidelines, including things you'll want to do before, during, and after you purchase any new hardware device. As with last week's opener, you'll want to clip and save this for reference later.

Cleanup time

Tools required: screwdriver, vacuum cleaner. Cost: $14.95 for a small computer vacuum; otherwise zero (unless you have no vacuum cleaner at all).

Computers hate heat. While no one expects you to run your PC in a refrigerated environment, anything you can do to relieve the heat buildup inside your system's case will result in components that perform better and last longer.

In today's PC's, it's not unusual to find several fans. There's one in the power supply {Rob: if you didn't run the picture of the exposed innards of the case - with labels - this might be a good time}. If you have a newer system with a Pentium-class or later processor, there will likely be a fan - attached to the top of the processor or to the side if it's a Pentium II or III cartridge - or a large heat-sink with several metal fins designed to carry heat away from it. You may also have another fan built into the case, designed to blow additional air across the motherboard and processor.

Over time, the inside of your computer will resemble the field of dust bunnies under your bed. Unless you live in a hermetically sealed environment, the air the fans move is full of dust, pollen, mites, and other things we don't want to discuss if you're near dinner time. It's worse if someone in the area is a smoker. The fans have primitive grille covers but about all they filter out are junior's fingers or inquisitive cat noses.

All that built up junk provides a really efficient insulator to keep your computer's internal parts nice and toasty, with the potential result of shorter component life.

Refer to the preparation notes about opening the case, making notes about cables, and protecting your system from static electricity. Once you have the case cover off, use either a small vacuum cleaner designed for the purpose (Radio Shack and others sell them), or the brush attachment for a home vacuum. Gently clean out the fan grilles and run the vacuum lightly over the motherboard and into any nooks and crannies you can reach.

Note, however, that at least one reader wrote after this piece first appeared to claim that these small vacuums, as well as the nylon brushes attached to vacuum cleaners, can often generate static electricity on their own. He recommended using a can of compressed air to blow the system clear. Take the warning for what it's worth – but I've never encountered a problem using either tool.

This is not a critical enough task to require removing circuit boards, memory modules, hard drives and the like. Just get to the things you can reach.

If substantial portions of the motherboard are exposed, however, you can do one other thing while you're here. The heating and cooling that takes place when the system is running and not running causes parts to expand and contract. Normally this isn't a problem but, over an extended period of time, it may cause components to work loose if they are attached to sockets on the motherboard by pressure (instead of soldered).

Make sure you've dumped static, then gently, with your fingertips, press down on any flat chips you can see (leave things like round or disc-shaped resistors and capacitors, which stick up, alone). Again, this is not a critical maintenance procedure unless you've been getting intermittent problems that appear to show up only after the system has been warmed up for a while. Then it's one last thing to try before taking it into the shop to see the cyberdoctor.

Last, but not least, run the vacuum around the drive bays - particularly around and about your CD- or DVD-ROM drive. All of these disc drives have a small hole in the front to allow you, with the aid of something small and blunt such as a straightened paperclip, to release the disc tray without it being powered up. Gently run the vacuum under the tray.

Dirty Mickey

Tools required: cotton swabs, top of a plastic pen, possibly some volatile liquid such as isopropyl alcohol or methyl hydrate. Cost: zero.

Real mice love crumbs and other things we sometimes drop around us. Computer mice don't. However, even if you're a neat-freak, they'll still pick up dust out of the air. You know it's time to clean your mouse when the cursor on your screen stops moving the way you want. It may appear to stick, refusing to move from side to side or from top to bottom.

What's happening here is that the rollers inside the mouse cavity have accumulated built-up grunge and the mouse ball isn't making contact with them properly any more.

Power your computer down for this next bit, or at least keep in mind that if you don't, you're going to press some buttons as well as moving the cursor at random while working on the mouse. Interesting things happen to any open applications as a result.

	Turn your mouse over on its back and hold it in the palm of your hand. If its little legs kick in the air and it lashes its tail, you've misunderstood what we're doing here. On the belly of a computer mouse, you'll see a ball surrounded by a locking ring. The ring may have arrows on it, but generally, you place two fingers from your other hand into the indentations and turn it counter clockwise to release it. When the ring has turned as far as it will go, turn the mouse over. The ball and ring should simply drop into your hand.
	Inside the body cavity, you'll see part of a circuit board. Forget it. Around the sides of the cavity, however, are usually three rollers. Depending on the make and age of your mouse, they may be made of metal, rubber, plastic, or some combination. They may be long cylinders or thin like a wheel viewed edge on (or both). Whatever their shape or composition, you should see the grunge buildup on the middle of each one.
Try using a dry cotton swab to remove the grunge (not leaving any wisps of cotton behind). If there's some persistent grime, you may want to try one or both of the following. Use a volatile liquid (one that evapourates quickly). I've mentioned isopropyl alcohol and methyl hydrate. You may also be able to find something suitable at your local computer store. What you do <italic>not<italic> want to use are water, acetone-based cleaners (such as nail polish remover), or petroleum-based cleaners (such as paint thinner or gasoline). Aside from the noxious fumes and danger of explosion, acetone and petroleum products can dissolve (well, at least damage) the parts you're trying to clean. Whatever you use, the trick here is to put <italic>very<italic> little on the cotton swab, then gently repeat the cleaning. Use a dry swab to remove any excess.
	Sometimes the grunge is really persistent. In this case, you may have to scrape at it to get it loosened. Don't use a knife, please; you don't want to scratch the rollers. Instead, I've found that the top of a "BIC"-type pen works wonders. It's sharp enough to do the job without being hard enough to mar the plastic parts.
Last, but not least, have a look at the ball. Even if you don't see any muck, it's not a bad idea to rub it clean with something like a (clean) tea-towel or other lint-free cloth (talcum-impregnated facial or other tissue isn't on the list). Button Mickey back up. It's performance should have improved. Note: if there's no response at all, check where the mouse is connected to the back of the computer. Sometimes, cats and other rug-denizens love to pull plugs out.
	Don't try this at home; you're likely to break the mouse irretrievably. To help you avoid this, here's a picture of what one of the little devils looks like when it's been dissected. If you're squeamish, perhaps it wouldn't do to look too closely (honest, it didn't feel a thing – it was already dead when I started).

Buy Guy

We're going to have to cover this topic sooner or later, so how about early in the process? There are several things you want to keep in mind when buying any hardware component for your computer.

1) What you already have will usually determine what will work. If you don't tell the vendor what else you have in your computer - including at least its model and brand, but preferably detailing motherboard, processor, chipset, operating system and details about other components - then it's your fault if you get it home and it doesn't work. However, if you have given these details and had the retailer write an assurance that it will work on your invoice, you have a legitimate complaint.

2) All other things being equal, when choosing among two apparently similar brands and models of component, take the one that has the best customer support. You want both a tech support phone number and a tech support home page on the Internet. You may need tech support if there's a question that arises during installation or if the product appears to have broken. You'll also likely need it the next time your operating system (such as Windows) changes.

3) Some components are less expensive than others and it is not an accident. They may use inferior parts or, in a range of performance characteristics, they may be at the bottom. They may not work and play well with other components. They may have dubious origin. They may be factory rejects that somehow found their way onto the market. Or (see (2) above), the company may not provide any after-sales support.

4) The first thing you do after bringing a new component home is to get on the Internet and head for the company's home page to see if there have been any software driver updates for the device (of course this is a moot point if it doesn't use any software drivers, but there are very few components, such as memory, that don't). Even if the part is brand new, there may have been bug fixes or enhancements made since the product left the factory. Some graphics controller manufacturers, for example, are jokingly called, "driver of the month clubs."

5) Always keep the original packaging (in case you have to take - or send - it back) and any documentation and software for the device. You can probably toss the packaging after the part has been trouble-free for its warranty period. But you keep the documentation and any original software disks or CDs, in a safe place, until shortly after Hell freezes over.

Questions? E-mail troubleshooter@computerwriter.com for questions directly related to this series. Components for this series are provided by Grey-Tech Computers, Inc., Markham, Ontario www.greytech.com.

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Part 3, Adding Memory