[Hidden-tech] How old is too old for a computer?

[Jim Ussailis]

Hard drives, actually all drives, and power supplies have mechanical 
parts like motors and "lead screws." These parts have bearings, just like 
the wheel bearings in a car. Bearings fail.

You can save the power supply by taking a vacuum to the fan area every so 
often. Dust build-up causes the fan to not be abnle to cool itself. Dust 
build up also hurst cooling of the power supply, which is what the fan is 
for in the first place.

Another good idea is to vac the fan on the processor. 

Hard drive failure is another matter. I find that shutting the computer 
off when not in use helps a lot. There is no good reason to leave it on, 
it just wastes energy.

I also find a higher failure rate in CD rom drives. Generally the 
accuracy of the lead screw, which is what moves the read (or read/wrire) 
head degrades. Fortunately, these drives don't run while the computer is 
on, only hwen they are being used.


Jim Ussailis

jim at nationalwireless.com



On Tue, 31 May 2005, Mark Bucciarelli wrote:

>    ** Be a Good Dobee and help the group
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> 
> jill logan wrote:
> 
> > also ....how old is too old for your computer hard drive?
> 
> 
> After three years, count your blessings and make sure you have a good 
> backup process you follow.
> 
> I try upgrade my computers are infrequently as possible.  (They have a 
> huge negative environmental impact.)  The only things that go bad are 
> the components with moving parts--mainly hard drives and power supplies.
> 
> m
> 
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