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Clean Your Damn Computer!

i've seen it bad, but not this worst, he/she must have had their PC outside.
 
Chimay said:
My boss took it apart and found a human tooth (with partial roots) in the paper path. The look on the customer's face was priceless when we showed him it. LOL
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What the (&)#@?! What kind of meth addict just drops teeth out of their mouth in the middle of gaming and doesn't even notice. The mice and stuff is all gross but easily understood how it happens...but a tooth?! That's f'ing nasty.
 
That thing is clean compared to Dell 2400 I had last week, the whole bottom had abour 1" dust cat piss, rat feces, and the front Bezel had crap growing on the smoke covered dust.
 
Is that an Nvidia chipset I see? Possibly a Nforce 2? Fuck, I miss Sound Storm.
 
dr.kevin said:
needs to be pressure washed.

that should rinse right out.
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We own an apartment building that hadn't been cleaned out in 5 years (the tenants just kept subletting). Big mistake. I ended up having to pressure wash the kitchen, living room, and 2 bedrooms. Used a mixture of straight alcohol and anti-bacterial soap.
 
zkostik said:
Actually, vacuuming your computer is a really bad idea. They create static electricity as they suck up the dust and you're also more likely to knock off some components of the boards. Your best bet is getting an air compressor or at least some canned air.
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I said it last time a thread like this showed up and I'll say it again: leaf blower. :)
 
lol I have dozens of pics like that or worse.

My favorites though are the restaurant surveillance systems that are kept near or in the kitchen area..computers should not smell (and feel) like 2 year old french fries..
 
Chimay said:
I still think the worst had to be opening a customer computer who was a smoker (outside of case was dark yellow and had burns on the top where i guess they missed the ash tray) to find 2 dead and rotting mice inside. The funniest / grossest had to be when a customer came in with a Canon printer that wouldn't feed paper. My boss took it apart and found a human tooth (with partial roots) in the paper path. The look on the customer's face was priceless when we showed him it. LOL
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wat :eek:
 
vacuuming PC is the way to go at least for me. most of the time you will be vacuuming the filter anyway not the actual parts. And if you can close the windows, i think they bring in loads of dust. And food around the PC might not be a good idea, not sure, just dont leave your sandwich infront of the fans.
 
MavericK96 said:
We have one of these at work:

http://www.amazon.com/Metro-Vacuum-...ZOAW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1302625277&sr=8-3

Works WAY better than canned air, and is unlimited.
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Nice, I like this idea since cans of compressed air can be a PITA to use to reach many areas, and I always end up having to having to use a couple because the first gets cold and looses pressure before the job is done.

Does it work when turned sideways and/or unside down, and does it have smaller extension nozzles to get into tighter spaces?
 
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Never mind, I did some digging and reading on amazon and it answered all my questions and I think I'm going to order one when I get home tonight.
 
I'm proud to say that my rig gets a thorough cleaning every Sunday night. Cleaning other peoples computers has made me a bit... neurotic.
 
Looking at those photos, I see stuff like that all the time in dealing with home users. People get pissed off and wonder why their machine always shuts down or freezes. They always state how much the machine is a pos. When I open it up and show them it's completely clogged with dirt and cobwebs, they often shut up and walk away.

Another thing is bugs. Cockroaches love power supplies. I was supposed to fix a computer at Rent a center. When I asked them where is the computer, they told me it's in the freezer. When I asked why, they said it's full of roaches. I told them I wasn't going to touch that machine. I called Dell, and they voided the warranty right there due to infestation.

I see so many things in the field and have so many stories. One of the best is the lady who couldn't insert he floppy disks. When I opened the machine and removed the drive, there was a portion of a chicken wing in the drive. Of course it was in the ghetto, and the house was a complete pigpen. I have also found credit cards in floppy drives more than once. I guess the kids thought it was a card scanner for online shopping. lol.
 
Merc1138 said:
This isn't even that bad, take it outside with an air compressor and blow it out. If you want to see a horrible system, try something that's been sitting in an auto shop for 10 years full of exhaust, soot, oil, etc.
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I didn't have any of that, but I did have a leaf blower... so I stood about 10 feet away, and it really did its job.
 
Unfortunately, I have seen much worse in my experience. Worked on an old 386 box - yes, seriously, and it still functions just fine - with 4MB of RAM in it (huge old EDO sticks) and you'd think someone had just caked the gunk inside, similar to the machine this thread is all about but about 10x thicker.

Sad state of affairs. I ended up giving the owner a Dell Dimension P4 machine I wasn't using and set it up with XP for her. Talk about a new experience... ;)
 
I'm working on one now that has a nice dust carpet in it and the HSF is clogged with dust.
 
BTW we use an electric leaf blower to clean comps where I work. $35 for 5 years of "canned air". Noisier and you can't freeze a local passerby's back, but still not bad....
 
DarkStar_WNY said:
Nice, I like this idea since cans of compressed air can be a PITA to use to reach many areas, and I always end up having to having to use a couple because the first gets cold and looses pressure before the job is done.

Does it work when turned sideways and/or unside down, and does it have smaller extension nozzles to get into tighter spaces?
Click to expand...
Metro's Data Vac is amazing. I always tear down my systems when doing a through cleaning. It would take me most of the day and several cans of air to do mine and my wife's computers, this time was cut down to just under two hours using this duster. Anyway to answer your questions, yes it will blow from any angle that it's held in, also it does have several small nozzles including one that is long and flexible. The air this thing puts out will bury anything canned air can do and the intake has a filter on it so it's not blowing dirt. Here is a link to a review I did for my wife review blog. http://whatsthatbuzz.myweeklybeef.com/2011/03/metro-data-vac-eco-friendly-cost-and.html
 
Seen worse. Mom's computer fully of nicotine tar and dog hair. *shudders*. If you have an open area outdoors and an air compressor, go for it. I vac'd hers and blew a whole can of air at it and barely made a dent. The nicotine tar sticks to everything.

Her husband's laptop was crashing all the time too.... after totally taking it apart discovered the exhaust vent heatsink was completely blocked with tar. It was like wax. Had to use boiling water to dissolve it.
 
After reading about the Metro Vacuum air blower I think I have a Coleman portable air pump somewhere for inflating air mattresses. Probably about the same.
 
work on a computer that has been in a vet clinic for 10 years and never cleaned then come back.
386 that the case was full to the top and it was still chugging away.

The replacement computer lasted less than a year before giving up the ghost from overheating.
 
ImperfectLink said:
Yeah. If you're not haphazard about it, the vacuum just pulls most of the dust right off everything. Usually the buildup is on fans and filters so I'm not concerned about putting the nozzle right up to it. The rest can be handily blown off with the trusty air can.
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I use a vacuum-air can combo. I use the vacuum to suck up the loose stuff and the air can to blow dust from heatsink fins and off of the PCBs and walls and such. I then suck the now-loosened dust out of the air or off of the case floor with the vacuum.

Once a year I like to take the case outside and just blow the shit out of it though. I would really like to get a small, filtered air compressor to do that with. Just get it really dust free once a year like I'm about to sell the thing.
 
Smoke Gunk and Cat Hair is the worst i've ever seen. That is a pretty good accumulation of dirt and spidey webs.
 
Yep since i upgraded my PC too a sandybridge i have stopped smoking in my room haha, my old parts were covered in horrible brown dust especialy the CPU cooler. :D
 
butundo said:
Looking at those photos, I see stuff like that all the time in dealing with home users. People get pissed off and wonder why their machine always shuts down or freezes. They always state how much the machine is a pos. When I open it up and show them it's completely clogged with dirt and cobwebs, they often shut up and walk away.

Another thing is bugs. Cockroaches love power supplies. I was supposed to fix a computer at Rent a center. When I asked them where is the computer, they told me it's in the freezer. When I asked why, they said it's full of roaches. I told them I wasn't going to touch that machine. I called Dell, and they voided the warranty right there due to infestation.

I see so many things in the field and have so many stories. One of the best is the lady who couldn't insert he floppy disks. When I opened the machine and removed the drive, there was a portion of a chicken wing in the drive. Of course it was in the ghetto, and the house was a complete pigpen. I have also found credit cards in floppy drives more than once. I guess the kids thought it was a card scanner for online shopping. lol.
Click to expand...


im sorry but wtf? cobwebs? cockroaches? where do these people live? How does that stuff happen?
 
Burticus said:
After reading about the Metro Vacuum air blower I think I have a Coleman portable air pump somewhere for inflating air mattresses. Probably about the same.
Click to expand...

I never though about that but yeah, that might work. I have one of those laying around somewhere as well... hmmm... :cool:
 
Old toothbrush + my lungs. Cleans comps good. Also keeping your comp off the ground helps.
 
i clean it only when i change hardware or once every 8 months or something. i never saw that nasty shit inside.
 
I have a pressure regulator on my air compressor. Start out at 10psi... and to date no dust has been left behind after 100psi (this does not count smoker's PCs...)

Worst I've seen is roaches. Didnt even know they were there so I set the PC in the back of the car and brought it inside... took several months to finally kill off every last one of the F'ers who were in the building and car...
 
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