BOOT CAMP 424 (14/05/06)

Spring Clean and Upgrade part 1

Remember that shiny new PC that used to boot up in less than minute, never crashed and always did what it was told? It’s still there, sitting in front of you, but now you probably have time to go and make a cup of tea between switching it on and it being ready to use. It’s starting to looking a bit grubby too, and inside the case… Well, let’s not think about that just yet.

Over the next few episodes of Boot Camp we’ll show you how to revive and breath new life into a tired PC. You would be surprised at how much a difference a little time and effort plus a few simple upgrades can make. It might even persuade you to put off buying a new machine for another year.

Computers are like cars and apart from looking smarter, clean ones are nicer to drive and seem to go a bit quicker, so let’s make a start with the outside. Arm yourself with a soft cleaning cloth and a spray bottle of general purpose cleaner; the orangey ones do a really good job on computer grime. You will also need a soft brush and an ‘air duster’; these are cans of compressed gas for blowing dust, they’re available from stationery suppliers for around £5.00.

Before you start unplug everything. Don’t worry, it’s almost impossible to put PC plugs back into the wrong sockets but if you are worried or have more than one USB device plugged into your PC make a simple drawing showing where each plug goes, or take a picture of the rear of your PC with your camera phone or digital camera.

The keyboard is as good a place as any to start so turn it upside down over a sheet of newspaper and shake out the crumbs and paperclips. Depending how messy you are quite a lot of detritus will probably remain inside. The best way to get it all out is to dismantle the keyboard. It’s not difficult but there are often a lot of screws holding it together, so keep them safe in a pot. Brush out the case or use the air duster to blast it clean, wipe over the keycaps and case parts then reassemble.

Old rollerball mice are incredibly efficent desktop hoovers and the rollers inside quickly become coated with a nasty gunge that makes pointer movement erratic. Remove the ball by turning the retaining clip on the base and de-crud the rollers with a toothpick. Better still get an ‘optical’ mouse then all you have to do is give the underside an occasional wipe over.  

Printers usually only need a quick wipe with a cleaning cloth. They can get quite dusty inside, thoug, but don’t be tempted touse the air duster, a high pressure blast of air anywhere near the ink cartridges can get very messy indeed! Blow gently or use a soft brish to remove as much of it as you can.

Now for the monitor. Make sure the ventilation slots on the top and sides are clear with a few good puffs from your air duster. CRT monitors generate a lot of heat and if cooling air can’t circulate it can overheat. The high voltages in CRT monitors attatact dust so finish off with a wipe over with an anti-static cleaning cloth. Use a good quality glass cleaner or screen wipe to clean the screen and finish by cleaning the case.

Lastly we come to the system unit. The cooling fans on the processor chip and inside the power supply dray air into the case and along with it dust, smoke and a host of airborne contaminents. If allowed to remain they will eventually reduce the ability of the fans to circultate air, leading to reduced performance, shortened component life and eventually failure, so don’t skip this step if you haven’t mucked out your PC for a year or more.

It might be a good idea to do this outside in the open air. You need to remove the top or side panel to gain access to the motherboard. Some PCs have a simple latch or thumbscrew holding the lid in place; if it’s not obvious how to open it up refer to the manual. Once opened touch nothing, unless you know what you are doing (see Top Tip). Use the air duster to clear it out, being careful not to get too close to surfaces and components. Start with the area around the CPU cooling fan and finned heat sink then work your way progressively outwards, to the expansion cards, hard disc and CD/DVD drives, ventilation slots and gaps between panels. Finish off with the ventilation slots on the rear of the metal-cased power supply, blowing the dust out through the fan grille.

Reassemble the case and give it a wipe over. Before you plug everything back in wipe all of the cables and a quick puff of air in the plugs and sockets will help to ensure a good electrical contact. Avoid creating another rat’s nest by using cable ties or spiral ‘tidies’ to keep everything neat and tidy.

Finally switch on and assumning everything is working properly treat the CD/DVD drive to a session with a good quality drive cleaning kit. Now doesn’t that look (and smell) better?

NEXT WEEK - Spring Clean and Upgrade part 2

JARGON FILTER

CPU

Central Processor Unit - the main microprocessor chip in a PC

CRT

Cathode Ray Tube – older and bulkier type of video monitor screen

OPTICAL MOUSE

Type of mouse that uses a optical sensor, rather than a rolling ball, to detect movement

TOP TIP

Assuming that you know your way around the inside of your PC then whilst the lid is off take the opportunity to ‘reseat’ your drive cables, expansion cards and memory modules. Removing and replacing plugs and connectors will remove the oxide film that can form on electrical contacts and reduce the chances of ‘contact creep’. The constantly cycling temperatures inside the case causes components to expand and contract, which can result in plugs and sockets working loose. For a complete archive of past Boot Camp top tips visit: www.rickmaybury.com

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© R. Maybury 2006, 1005