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Vvellum
Stranger

Registered: 05/24/04
Posts: 10,920
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whats up with dust?
#5782691 - 06/23/06 01:00 AM (17 years, 7 months ago) |
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so, I needed to reboot my computer (installed kernel update). no big deal - just a simple reboot. I did it but my computer was frozen at the BIOS screen. The keyboard was unresponsive and I rebooted again holding the power button. Same thing - just a frozen BIOS screen - just like when you boot up - but nothing registering or starting up.
This happened once before. I had my computer in storage for a month or so and when I was moved into a new apartment, it would not boot up. When this happened, I simply opened the case to see if anything was unplugged or damaged. Everything looked fine except for dust all over the heatsink, power supply, fan, and case holes. After clearing the dust, the computer rebooted normally.
So, once again, I tried this after inspecting my machine. Lots of dust since I last opened it four months ago. I just blew out the dust and sure enough, the computer rebooted.
Good thing I randomly purchased a can of air at a computer store three years ago...a can that I never used, just sat in a box.
Whats the deal? Why does dust have this effect on computers?
Just curious.
I wonder how many people have taken in their computers for servicing or have simply chucked their computers because of this problem...
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Konnrade
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Re: whats up with dust? [Re: Vvellum]
#5782968 - 06/23/06 03:50 AM (17 years, 7 months ago) |
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come to think of it, that might have been why my family's old Packard Bell finally died.
Funny to think it may have succumbed to dust bunnies instead of it's own horrible construction
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Seuss
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Re: whats up with dust? [Re: Vvellum]
#5782980 - 06/23/06 04:07 AM (17 years, 7 months ago) |
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> Why does dust have this effect on computers?
Usually it is a heat issue. When dust coats the components inside the computer, it acts as a heat insulator. It also tends to clog up fans, causing them to slow or stop.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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Ythan
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Re: whats up with dust? [Re: Vvellum]
#5783091 - 06/23/06 06:29 AM (17 years, 7 months ago) |
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A dryer sheet over the fan intake works wonders, just don't forget to change it regularly. Or you can go the professional route.
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Vvellum
Stranger

Registered: 05/24/04
Posts: 10,920
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Re: whats up with dust? [Re: Seuss]
#5783368 - 06/23/06 10:15 AM (17 years, 7 months ago) |
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that makes sense. I was thinking that perhaps it would have been some sort of electrical interference or something more complex, but heat & lack of fan is more likely the culprit. place your bets on the simple answer, I guess.
ythan: I should have known dryer-sheets could be used for more than just dormroom blowtubes
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HagbardCeline
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Re: whats up with dust? [Re: Vvellum]
#5785459 - 06/23/06 11:34 PM (17 years, 7 months ago) |
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Thank you confirming this. Now I don't feel like such an idiot. I'm not convinced it's a heat issue though. In both instances I've ran into it, it was seen on computers which were completely cold.
I even made a thread about this last October.
Quote:
HagbardCeline said: If you're ever having problems with your computer that you can't fix, check and make sure you don't have any dust built up on the motherboard!
I have been battling my computer for the last 6 months. It crashes, freezes, and loses stuff for no reason and it was sooooo slow.
One time my brother brought me his computer cause it wouldn't boot and it turned out to be nothing other than dust built up on the motherboard. So I thougth I would give it a try on mine. It didn't help - at first.
I was just about to reinstall everything and I was looking inside and saw a few places where my little vacuum attachment wouldn't fit still had a little dust build up. I decided I would try again to get it clean and went ahead and took it all down, removed all boards and cables and cleaned it thoroughly.
Runs like a champ again. No freezing, crashing, hardware conflicts and everything is close to instantaneous. Really after I got to looking at it, there was only a space probably 1/2 squared under the CPU that had thick enough dust to effect it the way it did, but that was enough to cause all of my problems.
Keep em' clean!
http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat...rue#Post4850523
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Vvellum
Stranger

Registered: 05/24/04
Posts: 10,920
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hmm interesting.
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