I've had some technical problems recently but I'm still blogging. I don't usually blog about tech stuff but I figured why not since my particular problem took a good part of last night. There may be a better solution, but if you ever have this problem you'll know where to go and you'll know that it doesn't hurt to try and do it yourself. My dad would have been proud of me.
A couple days ago my desktop computer, which runs Vista Home Premium, began to shut down all by itself after about 20 minutes running time--not a crash but a systematic shutdown. At first I thought it was a virus but on a hunch I took the cover off and discovered four years worth of dust accumulation. Most likely the problem was overheating, and the websites I found on the problem seemed to confirm it.
I got as much dirt out of it as possible using canned air until my hand was freezing, but it was still all gunked up. I unhooked everything and took the computer to the Best Buy near my home where I bought it in 2004. The Geek Squad guy was really helpful and took the computer out back and cleaned it with compressed air for $20. It looked close to new inside when he got through with it. In addition they ran a quick diagnostic at no charge to ascertain that the machine was virus free. Everything looked good except for some adware that my teenage son had installed.
When I got back home I did the most important piece of work of the night. I took a Phillips screwdriver and removed four screws from the heatsink and cleaned the CPU. It wasn't as bad as I expected. I removed the old silver thermal paste with a Q-Tip, paper towel, and some isopropyl alcohol. The Geek Squad fellow had sold me a new tube of thermal paste for $15 and told me how to apply it. After spreading a thin layer of paste on the CPU, I put the four screws back in and reassembled the housing. Just to make sure that the shut down wasn't caused by a system error I restored it to a month ago and updated the virus profiles. Now everything is running fine.
The counter manager at Best Buy told me that some motherboards will do a systematic shutdown to prevent thermal damage. I did get a chance to ask him if I recognized him from my baptism class but he said that he was a Baptist and the son of a minister. Still, it was good encounter.
Overall I may have saved up to $300 or better by doing it myself. While I never was good at working on cars, I've discovered that taking computers apart isn't as daunting. The hardware is basically just plugged in. Although I don't typically take the cover off my computer, I'm glad I did it last night. Also, the guy at Geek Squad deserve a big thanks.
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