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t8rs

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If you play a .wav file and your speakers are not on, does it make a sound?


But seriously, folks... I received an offer in the mail from the place I bought my desktop. They would inspect and clean various components and replace the fan (if necessary) at no charge. However, there are several reasons I don't want to take my comp to them (sensitive info on hard drive, use it for business so can't go w/o it for more than a day, their sales staff pissed me off royally).

I've usually replaced my comp every 3 yrs simply due to lack of processing power, unstable OS, peripheral compatibility and the like, so I've never worried about maintenance. However, I'm guessing the one I have now will probably last at least a couple of more years beyond that so I'm wondering how crucial their recommended maintenance is and if there's anything I can do myself.
 

Papi Chulo

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by a can of compressed air, to blow out dust.. plus it feels cool when you use it on your balls. Check fans, perform disk maintenance regularly.
 

tboy

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t8rs said:
If you play a .wav file and your speakers are not on, does it make a sound?
Actually no, the speakers make the sound, not the wav file This goes along with the old "if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound"?

That is a resounding yes, as it demonstrates the principal that actions occur all the time without witnesses.

As for your PC question, you can perform the regular maintenance and don't need to take it in. I would hazard a guess that this is a marketing ploy to get you back in the store so they can sell you more stuff....
 

t8rs

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tboy said:
Actually no, the speakers make the sound, not the wav file This goes along with the old "if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound"?

That is a resounding yes, as it demonstrates the principal that actions occur all the time without witnesses.
Okay, rezident smartass, what is the sound of one hand clapping?


tboy said:
I would hazard a guess that this is a marketing ploy to get you back in the store so they can sell you more stuff....
You're probably right, but they'll never see another penny from me. When I ordered my comp, I wanted them to install a dvd rewriter and an upgraded video card. I asked the salesman what the speed of the rewriter was. He had to go check and came back to tell me it was 8x. When I got it home, I checked the specs on it but not for that reason. I discovered it was only 4x. Also, the video card was a lower model than what I asked and paid for (I wouldn't even have known but it didn't have the dvi port I insisted on).

They replaced the video card with no problem but refused to do anything about the rewriter. I asked for an 8x or nothing. They threw every line at me, including "all sales final". The manager even said to me that it's 8x read speed. That was downright insulting. In the end they gave me a break on a memory upgrade which I was planning to get anyways, just not with them. Three years pass and I'm still pissed. BTW, it was an MDG store so I figured they would have been okay to deal with. Rant over.
 

likes_escorts

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Clean it yourself

t8rs said:
But seriously, folks... I received an offer in the mail from the place I bought my desktop. They would inspect and clean various components and replace the fan (if necessary) at no charge.
Just blow it out with compressed air if you are worried about it overheating.
 

Anynym

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Dec 28, 2005
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t8rs said:
BTW, it was an MDG store so I figured they would have been okay to deal with. Rant over.
I've been warned off that particular vendor by many people.

As for cleaning, the compressed air should be fine - just make sure you pull the power cord out first (after shutting down the machine). Or you can disconnect all the cables and try your vaccuum near the fan. If you feel adventurous, you can disconnect all the cables, let it cool down, open the case, and carefully blow at accumulated dust and spider webs (no power tools).

But I wouldn't bother, personally, unless your environment is dustier than average: the components most likely to be affected by the added heat (e.g. the cpu) aren't likely to be where the dust accumulates.
 

thewheelman

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Anynym said:
...and try your vaccuum near the fan. ...the components most likely to be affected by the added heat (e.g. the cpu) aren't likely to be where the dust accumulates.

Whoa !!! bad advice !!!

Never use a vacuum near a computer ! Static charges build up in vacuums and will fry your IC chips so fast you won't know what hit it. Even static discharges that are so small you can't detect them, will fry your PC.

Also, dust accumulates in the heat sink fins under the CPU fan. This is the most critical location to clear out dust in the PC. But, if you move the heatsink in any way, you must remove it, clean off the dried gunk from the top of the CPU and the corresponding side of the heatsink, and reapply new gunk before replacing.

Gunk = di-electric grease, which is used to promote heat transfer from the CPU to the heatsink. Get it at any computer store. Without it, your CPU will overheat in 30 secs and be shut down by the BIOS, if you're lucky.
 

ron3221

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MDG should definitely be avoided. 2 yrs ago a friend of my dad's who isin't very familiar with computers bought a system from them which worked fine for a few days. The system suddenly started to crash frequently, after I checked it I discovered the hard drive had several faulty sectors. The sales invoice clearly stated the system contains a western digital hard drive, but in fact it had a Samsung drive which I believe was refurbished and not brand new. When I went with him back to the store to complain and get the drive replaced they gave us a big hassle, like it was somehow our fault and not theirs. MDG did replace it but had to be prodded into doing it. Not a company I would ever want to deal with.
 

mulletman66

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One way to avoid all these hassles is to buy from Newegg.com and build it yourself. Its super easy. All you need to be able to do is read a schematic. The have a manual with the motherboard that pretty much takes you through step by step. You can save lots of money, and get what you want without someone pulling a bait and switch.
 

t8rs

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thewheelman said:
Whoa !!! bad advice !!!

Never use a vacuum near a computer ! Static charges build up in vacuums and will fry your IC chips so fast you won't know what hit it. Even static discharges that are so small you can't detect them, will fry your PC.
What if you use central vac? I wonder if the danger of static charges is still present as the motor is nowhere near the suction head. I've actually done that in the past without any problems.
 

thewheelman

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t8rs said:
What if you use central vac? I wonder if the danger of static charges is still present as the motor is nowhere near the suction head. I've actually done that in the past without any problems.
Static is built up from the dust passing through the hose, so not a good idea. Of course it was a bigger deal when memory cards and CPU's cost much more than today prices.
 

Anynym

Just a bit to the right
Dec 28, 2005
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It probably isn't worth my bother to point out that I said NO POWER TOOLS anywhere near the inside of the computer. No vaccuum anywhere near there.

But if you're getting dust accumulating on the cpu fan that you have to clean that out by doing anything more than blowing at it, there's something seriously wrong with the air in your house.
 

mrcheeks

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Where does one buy cans of compressed air from?
 

jwmorrice

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Jun 30, 2003
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In the laboratory.
tboy said:
This goes along with the old "if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound"?

That is a resounding yes, as it demonstrates the principal that actions occur all the time without witnesses.
If one defines "sound" as a distinctively human interpretation of a physical event, then the answer is obviously 'no'.

jwm
 

tboy

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jwmorrice said:
If one defines "sound" as a distinctively human interpretation of a physical event, then the answer is obviously 'no'.

jwm
Well, you trying out for your honorary vagina? Cuz that so sounds like something a chick would say!

Sure, if you throw out all conventional scientific principals then anything is possible. Hell, I just got home from a job site in my flying truck!
 
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jwmorrice

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In the laboratory.
tboy said:
Well, you trying out for your honorary vagina? Cuz that so sounds like something a chick would say!

Sure, if you through out all conventional scientific principals then anything is possible. Hell, I just got home from a job site in my flying truck!
Pray tell, what scientific principle have I thrown out?

jwm
 

tboy

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jwmorrice said:
Pray tell, what scientific principle have I thrown out?

jwm

The gist of your statement is the fact that someone has to bear witness to an event for it to actually occur. Things happen all the time that we (humans) don't witness. That doesn't mean they don't occur.

In addition, the word "sound" it isn't an interpretation, it is a description. No matter whether it was called grok, brack, or gobbledegook, the sound waves still occur. In fact, one could argue that other creatures "heard" the result therefore bearing witness to the event.

Here is one definition:

mechanical vibrations transmitted through an elastic medium, traveling in air at a speed of approximately 1087 ft. (331 m) per second at sea level.

At no time does it quantify that these vibrations must be received by a human in order to exist.
 

jwmorrice

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In the laboratory.
tboy said:
The gist of your statement is the fact that someone has to bear witness to an event for it to actually occur. .
No, it isn't. :p
You might want to think a bit more about what I actually wrote.

jwm
 

jwmorrice

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Jun 30, 2003
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In the laboratory.
On reflection, I think my last post was a rather prickish, condescending one.

The answer to the question "if a tree falls in the forest, etc." comes down to how we interpret the word "sound". Do we take "sound" to mean the bare physical event of sound waves resulting from the falling tree or do we take it to mean the distinctively human way in which those sound waves are received as a human perception. The former will occur with or without a human presence but obviously not the latter. Reality is not congruent with perception.

jwm
 
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