PC Heat Management
Some of you may have, unfortunately, experienced this on your older system that have been working fine for a long time. One day, it just randomly locks up, requiring a hard reboot. You hit the reset button, and things go smoothly for another few hours (or even days), then it locks up again. The system “hangs” become more frequent over time. You may be having heat management issues due to, yes, dust in your chassis and parts.
What you’re experiencing might be a computer allergy. At least, that’s what we used to call it in the shop I worked in. Computers, it seems, are allergic to dust.
Dust buildup, or even constant use, can lead to heat-related, or thermal, failures. You should take a good look at the computer, inside and out, and eliminate any and all dust you find.
If your computer’s case has dust covers over its fans, unplug the PC and use a Shop-Vac to clean them. You can also use the Vac, assisted by a can of compressed air, to suck all the dust out of the inside of the case. Use the air to blast the dust free, and hold the nozzle of the Vac close to the tip of the air can’s blaster. Be careful not to get the Vac nozzle too close to the PC’s internals, as you might accidentally suck up a jumper or, if the Vac isn’t grounded, cause a discharge of static and blow a chip.
With your can of air, pay special attention to fans on the graphics card, the CPU cooler, and the chipset (if any). If air alone can’t clean the parts, you might have to remove them and flush them clean with an aerosol can of electronics cleaner (available at most self-respecting electronics stores).
If you do remove the CPU cooler, take care to clean all of the thermal compound from the top of the CPU and the contact plate of the cooler. Apply a new glob of thermal compound to the top of the CPU and spread it around evenly before replacing the cooler.
If that solves your lockups, you’re all set.
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POSTED IN: Advanced, Diagnostics, Hardware
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