Opening your personal computer to clean up hardware or check some of the components can be dangerous to its health. Motherboards and components such as memory, video cards, sound cards, and hard drives all contain small Integrated Circuits which are very susceptible to Static Electricity. Static Electricity is the spark you see when you touch a doorknob after walking across the floor. The problem with static electricity is if you touch a component in your computer when your body is charged up then there is what is known as an Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) across the components. ESD causes pitting of the surfaces of the components which may not cause an immediate failure but can lead to failure in the long term and cost a lot of money in replacement costs. Below are some precautions to follow as well as tips to remember when working on your computer.
1. Unplug your computer when working on the inside or well known inside of central processing unit (CPU). You must unplug the power cord to ensure that there is no power to the motherboard.
2. Capacitors can still store electric charges for a short time from the when you turned off the power switch, so it is wise to make to wait a few minutes after pulling the plug before working on your PC.
3. Use a grounded wrist strap before handling computer components such as the video card, memory, hard disk, and etc. if you do not have one, touch both of your hands to a safely grounded object or to a metal object, such as the power supply case to prevent a discharge from your body to the component.
4. Try not to touch the chips, wires, capacitors or circuitry by holding circuit boards by the edges to avoid static discharge damage.
5. If you are going to remove components from the system, connect up an anti-static mat or use the bag the component came in to place them on and prevent static discharge. Also be aware the hard drive is heavy and can easily slip out of your hand and if dropped may very well not work again.
6. Some parts are labeled as "No Serviceable Components Inside" which is not a challenge but a warning because they contain high voltage components which could cause you to hurt yourself if touched. Not all parts of a computer are meant to be repaired such as the power supply. If you determine that a part labeled "No Serviceable Components Inside", then be smart and just replace it.
Failure to protect yourself can result to injury and also damage to your computer. The most common accident is loss of data caused by a hard drive crash. Remembering these simple things will help to protect you, your hardware, your software and your precious data. - 14915
1. Unplug your computer when working on the inside or well known inside of central processing unit (CPU). You must unplug the power cord to ensure that there is no power to the motherboard.
2. Capacitors can still store electric charges for a short time from the when you turned off the power switch, so it is wise to make to wait a few minutes after pulling the plug before working on your PC.
3. Use a grounded wrist strap before handling computer components such as the video card, memory, hard disk, and etc. if you do not have one, touch both of your hands to a safely grounded object or to a metal object, such as the power supply case to prevent a discharge from your body to the component.
4. Try not to touch the chips, wires, capacitors or circuitry by holding circuit boards by the edges to avoid static discharge damage.
5. If you are going to remove components from the system, connect up an anti-static mat or use the bag the component came in to place them on and prevent static discharge. Also be aware the hard drive is heavy and can easily slip out of your hand and if dropped may very well not work again.
6. Some parts are labeled as "No Serviceable Components Inside" which is not a challenge but a warning because they contain high voltage components which could cause you to hurt yourself if touched. Not all parts of a computer are meant to be repaired such as the power supply. If you determine that a part labeled "No Serviceable Components Inside", then be smart and just replace it.
Failure to protect yourself can result to injury and also damage to your computer. The most common accident is loss of data caused by a hard drive crash. Remembering these simple things will help to protect you, your hardware, your software and your precious data. - 14915
About the Author:
Before you buy or work on a computer make sure you check Kermil J. Fogarth's excellent free reports on Dealing with Computer Geeks, or Data Recovery Options
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