A little off topic about how you could spare yourself some trouble,time and $....
Have you ever had trouble with your pc getting too hot...fan is always running on high,making that annoying sound or worse..it's crashing?
Well,before you throw it out of the window or let your anger out by hitting it with a axe...calm down..
Here is a little tutorial you could try before running to the repairshop and dump money on the table or using the axe solution.
I will not cover any software related issues with Windows, DOS or the like as that would go to far.
Now everything that has electric components will get hot when you plug it in. Thats the law of Ohm U=IxR (U=voltage, I=current in A, R=resistance in Ohm).This fact will develop heat in every cicurit that has a current to it. I'll not make a science lesson out of it..there are plenty of stuff on the net.
So your pc will get hot. In order to loose the heat there are build in cooling systems to prevent any overheat damage to it's components.
A cooling element with a fan attached is the most common system used to get rid of this unwanted heat.
Now nomatter how clean your place is,there will always be some dust around that get sucked in by the fan of your pc, causing the cooling element to clog up.
Over time this will cause the cooling to loose efficency. Your pc gets hot...it gets slow and eventually it crashes because the build in safety in the CPU shuts it down before it commits suicide.
Before this problem occurs you can do a cleaning of the cooling system.
Personal i do it twice a year due to my pc tower stands on the floor and naturally it is exposed to a lot of dust down there.(And..NO..i am not living in a dump
).I attached some pictures for a better understanding of the process.
1 Take of the cover of your pc
2 locate the fan and cooling
3 Disconnect the powersupply for the fan
4 Unmount the fan and cooling (usually attached to the motherboard with 4 screws/clamps)
5 Seperate the fan from the element
You should now have a filty piece of cooling element in your hand
...is that so dirty..?? YES it is.Take i to the kitchen sink and clean it with normal dishwashing. Tip: if it is from a laptop the fan (witch you already have unmounted) is inside the element to save space.
You will probably not be able to clean inside the element with a brush. Pour some boiling water thru it to get the shit inside out.
boiling water?? Yes, it would not damage anything as the element is made out of metal, usually cast aluminium.Now let it dry. If you are impatient use a hairdryer to blast off the remaining water.
Now that you already have opened the cabinet, use a small brush and your vacuumcleaner to get rid of the dust in there..... carefully of course!'
6 Assemble the element with the fan
IMPORTANT!
The CPU is clamped/connected to the cooling element, between the element and the surface of the CPU there is a heat conducting paste witch HAS to be there for thermal conduction! You will have to apply new paste before attaching it to the CPU core.You can get this in any electronic/hardware store, just ask for heatsink paste or thermal grease. Picture 3 shows the old pase on the CPU to be removed, picture 1 new paste to be put on the element (thin layer).
The only thing left is to assemble the cabinet and you're done!
Picture below is from my pc i just cleaned an hour ago...and,yes it works as i use it right now..
What to do with the money you saved? Donate some to the HD (i will after holiday) or...invest in stuff for your still...
Danespirit