-
-
-
-
laptop fan aren’t as loud as they should be
I have to say I have never heard anyone complain that their fans were not loud enough! LOL
But I understand what you mean. What bothers me is the “rattle sound”. That typically indicates motor bearings are worn. It also means they will, sooner or later, seize. Not good. And unfortunately, no amount of cleaning will fix worn bearings. The rattling noise may get louder, but the current noise may be the only warning you get. So a new fan should be a priority.
This assumes it really is the fan motor and not a hard drive motor. If you can see the fan, a “gentle” “momentary” touch on the fan’s center hub with your finger or wooden glue/Popsicle stick will temporarily change the rotation speed. If it is that fan making the noise, the pitch or sound of the rattle will change as the rotation speed slows and then returns to normal speed. If you don’t hear any change in the sound, then it is likely a different fan, or the hard drive motor (if not a SSD). Either way, I would make sure you have a current backup of your data.
I also recommend the use of a hardware monitor to keep track of your temps. Core Temp is the one I use and recommend.
Bill (AFE7Ret)
Freedom isn't free!1 user thanked author for this post.
-
-
It is better to vacuum the dust rather than blow it with can air.
Better? Maybe. Easier? Perhaps. The best way? No!
I’ve been a certified air traffic control radio communications equipment technician since 1973. The only time we use a vacuum is when it is pouring down rain outside.
If you must clean (regardless method used) starting with the computer unplugged from the wall is a must. The non-conductive paper towel tube is a great idea. But in my experience, there’s a better way to use a vacuum.
Wrap your hand around the nozzle end and extend a pointed finger out past the nozzle. This becomes your reverse lightning rod. Plant that extended finger on to bare metal of the case interior first, as you reach in with the nozzle. This immediately discharges any static in your body, putting you and the computer “at the same potential” – a very good thing. And just as importantly, maintaining contact with the computer’s “common ground” prevents further build-up of static caused by the air and dust particles zipping past and banging into the nozzle end, knocking off free electrons from the “valence” (outer) shell of the molecules.
As you move the nozzle around, quickly re-plant that extended finger first onto a ground point. This can include a mounting screw on the motherboard too, if bare metal of the case is out of reach. You can also touch bare metal with your free hand to help control static build up in your body.
Use a soft “natural” (not synthetic) bristle dust or paint brush to gently coax stubborn dust towards the nozzle.
Anti-static wrist straps on the nozzle holding hand work as long as it is “clean” (super important), and in excellent condition, and properly grounded to case ground. However, do note it takes very little time or usage before dead skin, skin oils, sweat, and other contaminates degrade the efficient conductivity of these wrist straps. Plus, I find the grounding wire gets in my way, and the alligator clip can easily come off. I don’t use them when cleaning electronics.
The BEST way to clean the interior of electronics, including computers, however, is by taking it outside and blasting it with a properly equipped and filtered air compressor and with a nozzle designed for accurate, easy to control, pin-point blasting.
There are precautions. The compressing process WILL create condensation inside the tank. This condensation collects on the walls of the tank, then runs down to the bottom. If allowed to build up, nasty, rusty water particles can be spewed onto your electronics – never good. So periodic draining is required and all air compressors have a petcock valve on the bottom of the tank for this purpose.
Keeping the pool of nasty stuff drained does not ensure a clean blast of compressed air. So ALWAYS – as in EVERY SINGLE TIME – use a inline moisture and particulate filter when cleaning electronics (or air-brush painting birthday cakes or faces).
I prefer upright compressors to keep any condensation further away, down at the bottom. More frequent draining may be required if a horizontal tank is used. Refer to your owner’s manual for its routine maintenance pratices.
90PSI is perfect for electronics but if concerned that is too much, just pull back the nozzle a couple inches and/or ease up the pressure with the nozzle’s trigger adjust – if so equipped.
Last, never see how fast you can make a fan spin – you can easily exceed design limits and damage the bearings (I use wooden glue/Popsicle sticks to hold the blades stationary).
For the exterior, Endust for Electronics on a soft, microfiber cloth works great. Using dusting gas or the air compressor for the ports and vents will get the rest.
If you must use dusting gas, be aware these cans do NOT contain air! Instead, they use a refrigerant chemical, often difluoroethane or a similar gas. These can be extremely hazardous if inhaled. In extreme cases, it can damage the central nervous system, or even be fatal. So use in a well ventilated area or better yet, outside. Note in some jurisdictions, these are controlled substances and sold in a controlled manner, similar to how cans of spray paint are sold to [hopefully] dissuade abuse through “huffing”.
If you want to avoid, or at least greatly minimize the need for cleaning the interior of your computer, always use a good case that has removable, washable air filters. Then configure your case cooling with very slight positive or “over” pressure. That is, where you have slightly more air being drawn in by the case fans than being exhausted out. And insure these fans are mounted behind those air filters. A “slight” over pressure ensures air is only pulled in through the filtered vents and not through every other port and crack. Too much pressure can actually hinder the desired “flow” of cool air through the case by causing turbulence and buffered zones where the air stagnates and heat can build up.
IMO, every home owner should have a air compressor. The first time you wake up to a flat tire on your car, you will be glad you had it. However, if not practical, consider getting a Metro DataVac ESD Safe Electric Duster – Model ED-500 ESD. Despite its name it is not a vacuum. So using it outdoors is still advisable. But more importantly, it is specifically designed to use around ESD sensitive devices like CPUs, RAM, and other high-density ICs.
Bill (AFE7Ret)
Freedom isn't free!1 user thanked author for this post.
-
On the TV news last night the lady was at work and her security system showed the bad guys first knocking on the door and with no answer went to back of house and stole literally everything. She said they got her TV, PC, and tax returns with social security numbers. Nothing is safe anymore.
I don’t know about “anymore”. Home burglaries have been going on since Man moved first moved into caves. I have even heard of fake movers who pulled up to a house in a moving van and literally took everything in the house. Porch bandits abound, especially at this time of year even with Ring camera door bells. In fact, even Ring camera door bells are being stolen.
I note you left off the rest of my comment in your quote – where I said, sure they could steal the PC too, but that would be harder.
The fact is, laptops are stolen at a much much greater rate than PCs. Most are stolen right out of people’s own places of work and classrooms. But many are stolen out of hotel rooms, from their vehicles, or after the owners turn their backs for 1 second at airports and coffee shops.
Please don’t try to justify security in any way, shape or form as a reason to buy a laptop over a PC. There just aren’t any scenarios where “physical security” with a small mobile device like a laptop computer is better than that of a PC. You can come close to equality if you follow the precautions noted in this article, Laptop and Mobile Device Theft Awareness. But a bulky PC with multiple cables attached will always be harder to steal, and therefore less attractive to the “snatch and grab” thief.
There certainly are many legitimate reasons to buy a laptop instead of a PC. Security is just not one of them.
In either and any event, however, it just illustrates the point to always keep at least one “off-site” backup of your data – with a copy at a trusted friends, or relatives, bank vault, or in the cloud or all of the above.
Bill (AFE7Ret)
Freedom isn't free!1 user thanked author for this post.
-
Yes, badguys like to steal laptops, but typically it is for drug money or quick cash. That is, they want the hardware, not the data. If someone really wants your data, they typically are targeting you specifically – and if that is the case, you have bigger problems deal with.
That said, if you are worried someone is going to break into your home and steal your laptop, you should consider a PC instead. Sure they could steal that, but it is harder to tear apart a PC setup and lug a PC case out of the home than it is to just tuck a laptop under their arm and run.
It is also much more likely a bad guy will just hack your bank’s network and steal your data from there, along with the 10s of 1000s of other customers’ data. Why waste their time on just one customer?
More likely is your house will burn down, flood, or get blown away by hurricane or tornado. Mother Nature could care less about your “secret place” and will quickly take that out too.
Also more likely is someone will attempt to hack into your home network – perhaps from across the country, or the whizkid next door or an adjacent apartment trying to access your wifi network. Or perhaps it will be a bad guy sitting in his car down the street pointing a directional antenna out his window at your house. Like that won’t get noticed?
Your strategy is good. Your choice of storage media is not. Flash drives are cheap (in every sense of the word). Keeping an “off-site” copy of your data is most commendable. 🙂 I also keep a copy in my bank safe deposit box, but mine is on a hard drive I regularly swap with another hard I have at the house.
Flash drives depend on USB and USB reliability is inconsistent, at best. Flash drives can easily be lost or stolen too. They can be stepped on, dropped in the toilet, or even zapped by ESD while pulling them out or your pocket. Flash drives are great for taking a copy of a file from home to work and back. But for backups? Nope.
As far as your bank account information, if a bad guy breaks into your house, what’s to keep them from stealing your checkbook? Or rifling through your file cabinet to get that information?
Aren’t you using a password manager for all your passwords? For sure, then they are totally encrypted so even with your account number, they cannot get in to your accounts. And don’t forget about TFA (two-factor authentication).
I recommend you rethink your strategy to use a more reliable storage media.
It is advised to separate the OS (on C) from the data (on D).
I agree with Paul. I have not seen any one advise that – at least not for security reasons. I have seen it recommended many times to conserve space on smaller boot drives. And it is often recommended to improve performance – at least with hard drive based systems. But I do not see any advantage in terms of security or for the protection against corruption.
I had not thought of this but since I have 2 drives that make sense to back up the C SSD to the D HDD in case the SSD crashes. Is that the same as an Image or Clone as PKCano mentioned in the post “Help on Backing UP”? Is that the same as Windows Create Restore Point?
Restore point is totally different. You can google that. As far as being an image or clone, it all depends on the size of your secondary disk, how big the image file will be, and your own needs.
For me, I don’t really care [too much!] if my operating system or my installed programs get destroyed. I can always reinstall Windows, Office and my other apps. And being retired, time is not really a factor. None of my computers are “mission essential” any more. So it is all about my personal data – which is much more valuable to me than all my hardware. That is all my personal and business tax records, photos, emails, documents, my password safe database, etc. Those are the data files I want multiple backup copies of – just in case. And so those are the only ones I need space on my secondary and backup drives for. And all that takes up much less space than all my data plus my OS plus all my installed programs.
Anyway, again, your backup strategy is fine. But not your use of flash drives. That media is just not robust enough.
And while I personally am not a fan of using “the cloud” out of fear it will be hacked, this is easily thwarted by encrypting the data first. Remember, bad guys are lazy opportunists. Unless they are targeting you specifically because they know there is something very valuable, they are not going to waste their time on you if they encounter any resistance. They will quickly move on to the easier pickings of the low-hanging fruit.
Bill (AFE7Ret)
Freedom isn't free!1 user thanked author for this post.
-
In your case, the D drive is not really used. But if you wanted to, you could. Since it is a good idea to leave a nice chunk of free space on drives for operating “housekeeping” chores (like defragging for hard drives, or wear leveling for SSDs), you can save family photos, or install applications like Word on your D drive. Or even backup your C drive to D.
When you save a file, you typically are provided a prompt to select the save location. Then is when you can change drives.
When you install a new program, when you select the Custom install option (which you should ALWAYS do so you can opt out of any extras you don’t want foisted on your computer) you can select the D drive.
Selecting these drive options should be exactly the same way you select your flash drive. And speaking of flash drives – they really are for temporary storage. Instead of (or in addition to) saving to the flash drive, I recommend saving that “other stuff” to your D drive.
BTW, while there is a spindle in a hard drive, a hard drive is called a “spinner” drive not spindle drive – because the platters inside spin – typically at 5400 or 7200RPM.
Bill (AFE7Ret)
Freedom isn't free!1 user thanked author for this post.
-
-
-
-
-
-
Author
