Just ran across this link by accident. Makes me want to break out the compressed air. It is unbelievable how dirty some people let their PC’s get. Filthy PCs: The X-rated circus of horrors • The Register
I get lazy sometimes when it comes to cleaning my machines, but this is an eye-opener. Time to get out the spray can.
That is certainly very bad, but not the worst I have ever seen.
Many moons ago, around 1999, I was called to a post office near where I worked in Austin because the HVAC automation system had stopped working. The system was alleged to be one of ours, but I never even knew they had a control system there. When I went in and told them who I was, I was told the system was in the attic. Wow I thought, what a place of honor it has. I went up the stairs, it was a little more than you have at home, but the light still had a pull string on it. Low and behold, I found an original IBM PC sitting on a desk. It was very warm to the touch. I turned it off, surveyed the cables and pulled the cover. What I saw I could not believe, but you could no longer see any components on the motherboard, just a pile of dust a couple of inches think. I was amazed it had not burned up. I took it outside and blew out the dirt which was considerable. I went to the office and created two new 5.25" floppy disks as I had no copies like that with me. After cleaning and two new disks, it booted right up and allowed me to create a new database. I actually went back two years later and replaced the front end as the DOS it used was not Y2K ready.
As best as I can tell, that IBM PC computer ran for at least 15 years and never died.
Thank You,
I just opened my case and it looks fine. There is however some dust.
But some of the pictures made me puke. So naughty really. uhhh…
I clean mine pretty regularly. Just cleaned my parents’ computer, though, and it was nasty! Also gave their heatsink a nice new round of thermal grease.
WARNING, do not open that link just after lunch/dinner.
Now I am eatting a cake. It is disgusting. Fortunatelly because I am mad with cleaning all my computer machines are clean.
#2 looks strangely familiar to me.
Before I retired I had occasion to open several thousand well used PCs, and I can tell you that I’ve seen far worse that any of those (ex. maybe Stamos’ photo, yech). Generally I found that the dirtyest ones had been left sitting on the floor, and the worst of those were the ones left sitting on carpet.
The very worst case I ever saw was a business that ground and polished Granite slabs for custom counter tops. In that situation I had to establish a protocol that required each PC be taken outdoors BEFORE being opened and blown out with a compressed air line. In the winter, when the buildings were closed up, that had to be done every month. (I often wondered about the employees lungs) I never had to worry about the protocol being followed once the employees realized that the PC that was most prone to overheating was the one that processed the payroll checks;).
Tip: If you have to locate your PC on the floor you can dramatically reduce the amount of dust that’ll get sucked in by simply raising it a couple of inches or so off the floor. If there’s nothing else around to use put a couple of old books under it. You’d be amazed how much less dust you’l find next time you do a cleaning.