General Computer Thread

[Unicron]

So I have a rather random question, because I'm not sure if this is something new or just something I've generally never noticed before. We were out of town for a week and I left my laptop at home, and I haven't noticed any performance changes or problems. I did notice that the central part, where the keyboard meets the hinge, seems like it's really hot and I don't recall feeling that before. It could be because the house's climate control was reduced while we were away, but I'm not sure. Any thoughts or advice?

It could just be a normal thing I've generally never paid much attention to, but it would be nice to avoid any heat issues too.

 

[Amaris]

If it's your Macbook, and it's towards the back where the hinge and the keyboard meet, then it could be either your CPU or GPU getting really hot. The fans may not be drawing away enough of the heat. Perhaps make sure both of those are cleaned out and functioning properly.

 

[Unicron]

It seems better now, which is a relief. I try to keep dust out of there for the most part, and as mentioned I didn't see any operational problems. It was never hot enough to make the fan engage, it just seemed strange to me that it was very warm in that area. I also try not to feel too much like an old fogey.

 

[Santaman]

Laptops are bothersome when it comes to cleaning fans.. I have to use a vacuum cleaner on the exhaust while blowing out the dust on the intake where the fan is located, the thing else will remain clogged up..
As for why it was so hot hmm, could be that it was recharching the battery, since you left it for a week, and the VRM for the recharging circuit could be in that general area of the machine, add heat from the CPU and/or GPU and you could have an explanation why it was hot for a while.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

You should never put a vacuum anywhere near a computer due to the static electricity a vacuum creates.

Better to use forced air to blow any dust out.

 

[Dryson]

A question about PC's and Laptop's on Mars.

Would PCs and Laptops operate differently on Mars due to the gravity of Mars being less than Earth's gravity?

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

A question about PC's and Laptop's on Mars.

Would PCs and Laptops operate differently on Mars due to the gravity of Mars being less than Earth's gravity?

No.... They would function exactly the same.

 

[Santaman]

You should never put a vacuum anywhere near a computer due to the static electricity a vacuum creates.

Better to use forced air to blow any dust out.

Indeed not when you've got the casing open, you don't stick a vacuum cleaner inside a PC of course.
But using it on a exhaust vent on the outside of a laptop while blowing compressed air through the other side is okay and sometimes the only way to get it clear of dust besides opening up the machine.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Indeed not when you've got the casing open, you don't stick a vacuum cleaner inside a PC of course.
But using it on a exhaust vent on the outside of a laptop while blowing compressed air through the other side is okay and sometimes the only way to get it clear of dust besides opening up the machine.

I've just heard not to use a vacuum anywhere near a computer, on or off. Since the static charge can hang around, when you turn it on....zap.

Compressed air and some sort of filters are best. My last desktop case had front, rear and side fans. The front and side fans were the intake and "in" CPU fan. I put a sort of sticky nylon filter in front of these and changed them every so often.

If a computer was particularly dirty, I'd prefer to disassemble the thing and blow/brush the components off.

 

[Santaman]

As long the casing is closed nothing can really happen. Also with all those fans you've got an airflow through your computer which is not as strong as a vacuum cleaner but still would cause static electricity as well but that is never a problem, things get hairy when YOU are static and touch something without touching the casing to level out the differences in charge that can indeed ruin a component.
And I agree, if a machine is really dirty then I take it apart and clean it piece by piece, I usually don't use compressed air on fans since some don't have the best seals so you can blow rubble into the bearings, I brush them clean.
Also don't blow compressed air onto fans and make them spin, they'll work as a generator then and give juice to the headers on the mainboard which are not designed for that.

 

[Marc]

A question about PC's and Laptop's on Mars.

Would PCs and Laptops operate differently on Mars due to the gravity of Mars being less than Earth's gravity?

google is your friend.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Also using a vacuum on a motherboard, or any circuit board for that matter isn't a good idea as you rick sucking SMD components off the board

 

[publiusr]

You should never put a vacuum anywhere near a computer due to the static electricity a vacuum creates.

Better to use forced air to blow any dust out.

Dirty power from generators can be a problem.

Silent home power systems might be the death of many lineman who listen for them after power failures...

 

[Unicron]

"Oh no, they set up a roadblock which is just a sign with the entire 'Czech hedgehog' article printed on it."

"Who knew you could learn so much about sexual reproduction from looking at pictures on the Internet?"

 

[Santaman]

Good one.

 

[Unicron]

xkcd is so much fun.

 

[Santaman]

I also now and then read Userfriendly. http://www.userfriendly.org/

 

[Santaman]

Blaargh... SATA cables are problematic little things.. never ever had a PATA cable fail on me but the SATA cable used in my main desktop conked out, lots of palaver and errors, I do have a bunch of those lying around so after a little testing the thing is working again as it should, still not sure why the old one failed after a few months...

 

[trynda1701]

A question about my Fire tablet, 7 inch screen, 5th generation.

I think the battery might be on the way out. Are there any reliable sources for any brand new replacement batteries for this model still available? I've owned it nearly five and a half years, as a general browser device.

I'm in the UK. Is it cost effective to try and get a replacement battery? Or should I just get a new tablet?

 

[Santaman]

Personally I would not try to replace the battery, that thing is really old and its Android version obsolete.
Also, it being a tablet could mean the battery is glued into place which makes replacing the damn thing complicated and expensive.