How To: Disassemble the 2TB USB Samsung Story Station External Hard Drive - Photo Guide

There are many reasons you may want or need to take apart your Samsung Story drive; maybe the drive has failed and you wish to use the caddy for another disk, or maybe the caddy has failed and you intend to use the Samsung Spinpoint HDD inside in another caddy or PC – either way it may not seem at all obvious how to break the device down so I have prepared this guide.
Click images for larger view

#Acronym Buster – HDD

HDD stands for Hard Disk Drive which is the main storage medium in most computers (some computers use flash memory, and others may run the operating system from a CD or DVD).

Windows, programs (such as Office, iTunes etc) and files and documents (music, video, pictures and so forth) are all stored and retrieved from the HDD.

#Acronym Buster - RAM

The acronym RAM stands for Random Access Memory which is the most common computer memory which can be used by programs to perform necessary tasks while the computer is on; an integrated circuit memory chip allows information to be stored or accessed in any order and all storage locations are equally accessible.

Running programs (what you see on screen) are run from within RAM enabling them to perform faster.  Having more RAM is always highly beneficial and directly relates to the overall performance of the computer.

#Acronym Buster - VGA

The acronym VGA means Video Graphics Array and is a display system developed and introduced by IBM in 1987.

VGA has become a standard for graphical output to monitors from computer systems.

The VGA port on a computer can be identified my it’s rough ‘D’ shape and its 15 pin holes.  This is the ‘female’ part of the VGA connection into which plugs the ‘male’ cable, the plug of which carries the same ‘D’ shape and 15 pins.

Additionally the VGA port and plug are often coloured blue for easy identification.

#Acronym Buster – CPU

The CPU means Central Processing Unit is the part of a computer that interprets & carries out instructions provided by the software.  It tests & manipulates data & transfers information to & from other components, such as the RAM, HDD, monitor & keyboard.

The central processing units of personal computers are generally implemented on a single chip called a microprocessor.

The most common modern CPU’s are manufactured by Intel & AMD.

Important Questions To Ask A Computer Repair Service

As a computer repair business owner it is important to me to be able to give my customers clear guidance and advice regarding my services when they bring in a computer to be repaired.

This can sometimes be difficult as customers rarely ask the right questions, but often ask the wrong ones, or get emotional… both of which make it difficult for me to give the information I really need to get across.

This article is not designed to help my customers, rather it is designed to help all customers of all computer repair centres (especially in the UK) get the information they really need regarding both the repair centres services and the customers own computer.

”How much do you charge per hour?”
Asking the cost of a service seems like a question you’d be unlikely to forget, however customers rarely do.

Answer to expect: “We charge (£20 to £30) per hour”
Rates do vary, as do they ways in which a customer is charged, for example, at Evolve we have an hourly rate of £25 per hour, however certain jobs are capped at certain prices such as Virus Removal which is always set at £37.50, and performance optimisation is capped at £50.

between £20 and £30 per hour is average, too much higher and you’re likely to be ripped off, whereas too much lower and you can expect bad service or be charged for a great many more hours than the actual job took to complete.

“How Long will it take to fix”
Nobody want to receive a final bill for 10 hours at £25 per hour (£250) when a brand new PC can be had for just a little more.  It’s important as a customer to have at least a ball park figure for the repair cost before you leave your computer in the hands of the repair centre!

Answer to expect: “Usually this type of repair takes around (x or x) hours”
Having not yet inspected the computer and it’s faults it is difficult for the technician to give an accurate quote on the time a job will take, however an experienced technician will be able to give a rough estimate based on the time it has taken in the past to repair similar faults.  As a customer you should expect the answer to this question not to be accurate, however you final bill should not be exponentially higher.

It may be difficult as a customer for you to judge if this figure is fair or exaggerated.  Do not be afraid to ask around and get further estimates.

If the repair centre is not prepared to give you an estimate at all, do not do business with them.  You cannot be expected to enter into any agreement to have your computer repaired with no idea whatsoever of the likely final cost!

”Do you have a minimum charge?”
Not all repairs take several hours to complete.  There are a great many instances where a repair take only a few minutes.  If the fault your computer is suffering falls into the ‘quick-fix’ repair category you need to be aware of how you will be charged for it.

Answer to expect: “Yes. Our minimum workshop charge is one hour”
The greater majority of repair centres will charge a minimum of one hour labour to have a computer on the workshop’s repair bench.

Here at Evolve our minimum repair charge is £12.50 (half-hour) which includes the initial inspection cost, and the fix too if it can be carried out during the time.

“Should I expect any other charges in addition to the hourly rate?”
In a world where consumers are often charged hidden fees, the above is an astute question to ask, no matter if we’re talking computer or car repair (or any other services for that matter).

Answer to expect: “No.”
£25 per hour should be just that.  There should not be VAT to be added, there should not be a set-up cost, a feather duster charge or any other additional costs.

However, if your repair required a new item of hardware (parts) then you should expect to pay this.

“Do you guarantee your service?”
Here in the UK all physical repairs (hardware/parts) must be guaranteed for a minimum of 3 months, however software repairs do not.

Answer to expect “Yes.  3 months warranty on hardware repairs, and (x) days for software repairs”
Expect at least the minimum hardware warranty, if  less is quoted then do not do business!

Software repairs are different.  Quite often software is fixed, but the problem was caused in someway by the user.  For example, it is easy to accidentally delete a file crucial to the Windows start up process.  Deleting it may prevent the computer from starting up.
Once this is fixed the user may once again accidentally delete the same file.
In this scenario, is it fair to expect the repair centre to repair this same problem again (for free) under guarantee?

At Evolve we only offer software guarantee’s on Virus Removal.  Even then that is only when it is obvious that a reinfection has been caused by us missing something during the initial service.  If it is apparent the virus is new, then we charge for the time.

The answers to all of the above questions should apply in most cases, to most people and to most repairs and should be used as a guideline not only regarding computer repairs, but any kind of repairs – to cars, plumbing, building… anything.  You may think it common sense after reading this article, but quite often customers ask not one of the above questions, and instead ask lots of other questions instead!

(Images sourced through Google Image Search, please contact me if you are the owner of any of the images use and wish them to be removed)

Please feel free to discuss this article in the comments!

Using Ninite Makes Installing Your Favourite App’s Simple On A Windows Fresh Install Easy

Ninite.com provides a fantastic and simple method to install many of your favourite Windows applications on a fresh Windows installation.

Simply head on over to www.ninite.com and click on the items you wish to install (see image below)

When you have made your selections, click the green link “Get Installer” in the lower right hand side of the screen.

You will be led to a new page where your download should start automatically… if it does not, just click the link to start the download. (shown below)

 

Save the file somewhere you can easily find it, such as your Desktop.

Close the webpage, then run the downloaded the file.

Ninite will now proceed to download and install the programs as you specified, all without you having to click next, next, agree, next, next, finish over and over and over.  Another benefit?  No toolbars!

 

Ninite.com provides installations for Windows PC’s only, and is only for personal use.  For businesses there is the Ninite PRO version which offers many additional benefits.

Personal Security Spyware Removal Instructions

How to remove Personal Security virus/spyware from your Windows PC

Since returning to work after the new year, I have encountered over 30 Windows PC’s infected with the very same malware, known (un)popularly as Personal Security aka Personal Antivirus, Cyber Security and other such titles.
Personal Security is a rogue anti-spyware. This program is advertised through the use of Trojans that display fake security alerts on your computer.  These alerts will state that your computer is under attack or that malware has been detected running on your computer.  When you click on these alerts, Personal Security will be installed on your computer and automatically configured to run at Windows login.  While running it will ‘scan’ your computer and present you with a list of ‘infections’ that cannot be removed unless you purchase the program.  However these infections are all fake and are shown to scare you into purchasing the program.
I can not stress enough at this point that you should not purchase Personal Security!  If you have, inform your credit card company that you were mislead into paying for the product, and that the product is a scam.

While the Personal Security is running you may observe the following:

1. A window impersonating Windows Security Centre displaying that you should purchase Personal Antivirus . – DO NOT DO THIS(!)
2. A number of alerts stating that your computer security is compromised or that you have malware running on your computer.  Should you click on these alerts, Personal Security will be installed, or you will be brought to the purchase page for the program.
3. Your Internet Explorer browser will be hijacked and will display security alerts when browsing the web that prevent the page you browsed to being displayed.

These symptoms are being created by Personal Security to encourage you to purchase the product.

(The following guide was derived from an article published at BleepingComputer.com and adapted after following the guide myself and finding a slightly more effective method)

Please print these instructions as you are required to close all open windows later in the fix.

• Download MBAM (Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware) and RKILL and save to your desktop.
  MBAM (via Download.com)
  RKILL (via BleepingComputer.com)
• Once downloaded, shut down you PC
• Turn your PC on and immediately start pressing the F8 key on your keyboard until you are offered a selection screen.
• From this screen, select Safe Mode (with networking)
• Log in to Windows
• Double click the icon on you desktop name “rkill” a black window will open while RKILL shuts down all known processes associated with spyware.  None should be started due to running in Safe Mode, however this is a “just in case”er.
• Double click on the icon on your desktop named mbam-setup.exe to install Malwarebytes onto your computer.
• At the end of the installation process ensure you leave both the Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware checked.  Then click on the Finish button.

• MBAM will now automatically start and you will see a message stating that you should update the program before performing a scan.  As MBAM will automatically update itself after the install, you can press the OK button to close that box and you will now be at the main program window as shown below.

 

• On the Scanner tab, make sure the the Perform full scan option is selected and then click on the Scan button to start scanning your computer for Personal Security related files.
• MBAM will now start scanning your computer for malware. This process will usually take a long time, so I’d suggest you go and have a cup of tea or ten.  When MBAM is scanning it will look like the image below.

• When the scan is finished a message box will appear.  Click on the OK button to proceed.
• You will now be back at the main Scanner window. At this point you should click on the Show Results button.
• A window displaying all the malware that the program found will be displayed.
• You should now click on the Remove Selected button to remove all the listed malware.  MBAM will now delete all of the files and registry keys and add them to the programs quarantine.  When removing the files, MBAM may require a reboot in order to remove some of them.  If it displays a message stating that it needs to reboot, please allow it to do so.  Once your computer has rebooted, and you are logged in, please continue with the rest of the steps.
• When MBAM has finished removing the malware, it will open the scan log and display it in Notepad. Review the log as desired, and then close the Notepad window.
• At this point you might think that the job is done, however it is possible, and quite likely that there is still more to be found, so you should repeat the steps above (Safe Mode, RKILL and running a Malwarebytes scan) until Malwarebytes reports 0 (zero) infections.
• When Malwarebytes is no longer finding and removing infections, reboot your computer, this time as normal.
• Log in to your account as usual, then ensure your antivirus product is fully up to date.
• Once up to date, run RKILL again.
• Now run your chosen Antivirus scanner and clean/quarantine as required at he end of the scan.

NOTES

1. We have run the scans under Safe Mode because quite often a virus will not launch when running in this mode.
2. RKILL ends processes associated with known malware.  If the processes were left to run Malwarebytes might pick them up in a scan, but would unlikely be able to end and disinfect them, thus leaving the spyware on your computer.
3. Quite often the results of running a single antivirus, antispyware program is not enough to completely disinfect a Windows computer, so running another scan will help to ensure that your computer is completely malware free.
4. However, it is not advisable to install two antivirus products side by side, since one will recognise the other as a virus due to the signatures (aka updates) a antivirus program requires to recognise viral activity.

Have you any thoughts or findings regarding this guide that you would like to share? That’s what the comments are for!

The Dirty PC

I was recently called to a customer’s premises to take a look at their PC which reportedly “crashed a lot”.

Well, when I got their, I was told that the machine hadn’t been switched on for a few months, and upon tapping the power switch I found that the PC did not work at all.

I took the PC away to work on at home, and upon opening the side panel, I found out why this PC wasn’t working.

Here are the photo’s (in no particular order – click for larger image):

Can you spot the obvious problem?  For those of you who can not, this PC is dusty and dirty.

This is not really the fault of the customer, but more to the fault of the environment.  My customer is a hair salon, so it the atmosphere is a great deal of dust, but add to this some hairspray, water, high humidity and so forth it’s easy to see just why this PC became so clogged.

In my opinion the choice of case for this PC was wrong for the environment.  There are no filters of the fan vents, which on their own would have helped a great deal, but even better if they were removable so that the collected dust could have been much more easily removed.

My customer is now looking to buy a computerised till instead of a general PC for their tasks now, as the PC was overkill for their intended use anyway.  Good news for them – bad news for me (they won’t need me anymore!)

I could have killed my gaming PC!

Its been quite some time, a matter of several months in fact, since my gaming PC started having problems; it crashing to a blank screen whenever I played a 3D intensive game.

Not really the sort of problem you would expect from a PC running an Nvidia GTX280 graphics card!

I haven’t been too fussed about it though, since I haven’t had a great deal of time to spend on gaming lately, and as such I put it on my “things to investigate later” list.

Today I found the answer to the problem, here is how I went about investigating it.

Initially I thought, and secretly hoped the problem was down to the CPU, as I have a replacement part waiting to be fitted if need be, so I tested the CPU with Orthos which puts a 100% load on all the CPU cores.  If the CPU was on it’s way to the big bin in the sky, then Orthos would surely let me know.

After Running Orthos for a couple of hours, I determined that there was little wrong, so moved on to the next, and more likely culprit, the graphics card.

As previously mentioned, I have an Nvidia GTX280 installed in my PC, a pretty powerful graphics card, and it’s pretty new, having only purchased it a few months ago.

I tested it initially with rthdribl 1.2 which is a pretty intense program for testing any graphics card’s stability.  Sure enough, within 10 minutes the machine blank screened on me.

I had a little think about why it may be causing a problem.  My PC is cooled very well, with a 120mm fan pulling cool air from the front, while two more 120mm fan’s exhausted hot air from the rear and top.

To exclude temperature as the fault, I downloaded and installed Nvidia’s GPU monitoring application, Ntune.  I was very disappointed though when I read what the program had to say.

My GPU was running at a massive 105°C!!!  Why though?  I then read that the speed of the graphic card’s fan was running at just 145rpm.  How can that be possible?

I opened the case up and took a look, what I saw annoyed me.  It didn’t surprise me, or shock me.  It just annoyed me.  A single cable, from my memory card reader to the USB header of the motherboard, was touching the fan of the graphics card, preventing it from moving, therefore allowing the very expensive card to overheat.

I was annoyed because it was a fundamental, amateur error to make when putting the PC together, by not securing the cable it had been the cause of my computer crashing, and could have potentially cost me a great deal of money.  Oh well, you live and learn.

So, now that I have secured the cable, and ran some more tests, and played a few hours of Far Cry 2, I am happy the my PC is once again in good running order.

Ntune records the idle temperature of the card at 43°C, which is far more acceptable than the previous 105°C, and peaks at around 78°C after a couple of hours playing Far Cry 2.

I hope my mistake will help you if you are having similar problems, and to learn a little lesson – keep those cables tidy!!!!

How To: Disassemble a LaCie Little Disk – Photo Guide

While looking for a disassembly guide for the LaCie Little Disk 320GB so that I could use the SATA hard drive within to replace the faulty and failed hard drive in my Acer Aspire One netbook, I read many reports that it was very difficult and gave up trying to find a guide.

Instead I decided to look at it logically, and found it to be very simple.  Here is how to disassemble the LaCie Little Disk 320GB.

1.  Here is the LaCie Little Disk, its just a little bit scratched and there are a few fingerprints, but otherwise it is a very nice looking device.
2.  Remove the front cover and set it aside, now take a look at the what you see.  You will find a tiny notch just at the seam as indicated in the photo.
3.  I used a penknife for this, but any similar, flat bladed item will do, such as a credit card. Insert your chosen blade between the two housings just above the notch, be gentle.  Now, twist it slightly until you hear a pop like noise.  This is simply the glue separating from the two housings.
4.  Slide the blade along to the right until it stops, then give it another twist as before.  Once again you should hear the same pop.  Now, slide the blade back along to the left and do the same.
5.  Flip the drive over and repeat the process on the other side.  Once you have done this, you are ready to pull the drive free of the housing.  Give it a good, firm tug.
6.  I forgot to take a photo of the drive with this rubber band attached, but here it is set aside.  If you decide to reuse the caddy, perhaps with a smaller capacity drive, then make sure you take notice of where it is situated, you will need to put it back on.  [UPDATE – As you may read in the comments, not all LaCie Little Disk’s have this rubber band]
7.  You will need to remove these two screws to remove the SATA/USB converter PCB.

I replaced the 320GB drive in this caddy with a smaller 80GB drive from an old laptop.  When I put it all back together it worked fine.
And that is all there is to it, it’s really no more than a 10 minute job at most.  Of course, I have to say at this point that if your drive does not work after you have carried out these instructions then you must not hold me responsible, it’s your drive, your warranty and your responsibility!
Have you found this LaCie Little Disk disassembly guide useful?  Would you like to share it with others – just use the icons below?  Please leave your comments below.
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The Death of Two Acer Aspire One’s

Yesterday I was working away on my netbook, an Acer Aspire One when suddenly I heard the hard drive spin up to a volume I've not heard it at before, then as quickly as it happened, it spun down and then ‘clunked’.  The screen went blank and there was nothing happening at all.

I tried rebooting, but knew it would get nowhere, and it didn’t.

I decided to remove the hard drive and place it in an external USB caddy, so I set about taking the netbook apart, only 10 minute job, and placed the drive in the caddy as planned, but to no avail, the hard drive was dead.

I have had a LaCie Little Disk 320GB USB drive for a while, and decided that since the drive inside was a SATA model, as is in the Aspire One, I would replace the faulty one with that.

Extracting the disk from the caddy was pretty easy, despite several references online to it being very difficult, so I will post a guide on how to do that later on today (hopefully).

I replaced the faulty drive the the LaCie's disk and reinstalled Windows 7 and am pleased to say that I am writing this article on the Aspire One now.

However, a few hours later my fiancé, who also owns an Aspire One went to use hers, but it would not boot.

The power light comes on, the fan kicks in, but that is it.  I do not want to take her one apart to see if I can fix it, since hers (unlike mine) still carries it’s warranty – I voided the warranty on mine within a few hours of receiving it since I upgraded the RAM from the built-in 512MB to 1.5GB.

So Bethany’s AAO will have to be returned to Acer for repair.

However, on the plus side, I am happy to say that my own AAO is running nicely, and the additional 200GB of hard drive capacity will come in handy for sure!

Have you found this article useful?  Have you run in to similar problems with your Aspire One?  Do you have something else to share?  Please leave your comments below, and don’t forget to share this article on your favourite social networks – use the buttons below!

Transferring Files Over WiFi

In a previous article I describe how you could use Microsoft SyncToy 2.0 to backup and transfer your files to an external hard disk drive.

I use the same method to backup and synchronise files between my Acer Aspire One netbook and my gaming PC.

My iTunes Library and Music is synchronised so that both machines show the same play count, song ratings and playlists etc.

I synchronise my Outlook PST file also, which keeps contacts and appointments, as well as emails on both machines the same.

Certain other files and folders are kept the same so that items such as my past weblog post’s, created in Windows Live Writer are always available for reference or editing.

Any files I download on my Aspire One are backed up to my gaming PC’s Downloads folder, using the Contribute option in MS SyncToy, which means that my netbook's Downloads folder doesn’t get filled with everything from the gaming PC’s folder.

All in all it’s a pretty sweet deal.

However, sometimes things go wrong, as they did for me just the other day, but the trouble started in iTunes

I was sitting at my gaming PC, going through the contents of my iTunes library and making a few changes – things like artist names and filling in missing album artist information, nothing too taxing.  After I had finished I figured I ought to re-sync my iTunes library with my Aspire One so that the updated information would be the same on my netbook, and therefore my iPod too (which I have coupled up with my netbook only).

Upon doing so I realised that there were some 1722 tracks that required transferring from the gaming PC to the netbook, and given the distance between the netbook and the PC, and that they’re both on the network wirelessly the total time to transfer all the files was going to take upwards of 16 hours(!) which is a very long time to say the least.

So I had a little think and decided to use an external USB hard disk drive to copy the library from my PC and then transfer those files to my netbook, which I did.

However, for some unknown reason, after doing this there were still over 1000 operations that needed to be completed by SyncToy to bring everything up to date.

In the end I connected both my netbook and the PC to my network hub and synchronised the two that way, a process that took less than an hour.

What I have taken away from this experience is simple; the very next time I decide to update my iTunes library information, I shall have my netbook close at hand and synchronise the two every few minutes!

Do you have a similar experience you would like to share, or maybe you have another solution, such as alternative to Microsoft SyncToy,for transferring files between computers?  Leave you comments below!

Vista’s Defrag is SLOW… Let’s speed it up a little

It’s no secret among those who have upgraded from Windows XP to Vista that Defrag (the process of reorganising the file structure on a hard disk drive) has slowed down somewhat with Microsoft’s latest OS release (discounting Windows 7 – which has not yet officially launched at this time).

It operates on an almost continual basis, defragmenting the hard drive on a regular schedule, which can mean that at times your PC will run like an old, three-legged dog with broken ankles, in other words… very SLOWLY.

So how can you speed things up?  Easy, and all it requires is two little downloads, an installation and a file copy…

• Download Microsoft’s Contig.exe (this allows any NT4-based OS to defrag a drive via the command line)
• Download PowerDefragmenter 3.0 which provides a user-friendly frontend for Contig.exe
• Install PowerDefragmenter
• Copy Contig.exe to the install folder of PowerDefragmenter (i.e. C:\Program Files\PowerDefragmenter\)
• Run PowerDefragmenter
• You are given the option to run the defrag on a drive, folder or file – pick you option and click Next
• PowerDefragmenter will launch Contig.exe and run the option you chose.

Running PowerDefragmenter on an 80GB Vista boot drive completed in just 16 minutes and 23 seconds on a test machine, not bad eh?

This tip comes from CustomPC magazine, issue 63 – December 2008

The Trouble With BT… again! - UPDATED

I’ve discussed previously how bad service from BT seems to be in my opinion, and that is just one more entry in the catalogue of problems British Telecom has caused me in the past, not to mention the problems faced by others throughout the UK.

One of my customers who runs a takeaway business in town came to me with a problem he was having with his new broadband equipment; a BT Business Broadband Router.

He was trying to get it set up so that he could access the internet from his premises but had thus far been unsuccessful.  He called me in and I set to work.

I estimated over the phone that the work would take just 15 minutes or so, but I was grossly mistaken.

Setting up this particular piece of kit needed to be done by following a set up tutorial on the provided CD while inputting required information at various points, including the serial number of the router and ‘first-time login’ details.

The tutorial would not progress past the question “Is the Broadband light on the router showing steady green?”.  I to wouldn’t progress because I could not answer YES to the question, there was no steady green light, instead it flashed every time I reached that point in the set up routine.  Until that point it would show steady green quite happily.

I tried answering YES several times despite the issue, but after that point the set up routine looked for the internet connection and could not find it.

During troubleshooting I checked that all the connections were correct, that micro-filters were placed on all phone sockets and reset the router several times.  I ran the setup a few times.  Checked the connection via CMD (ipconfig /all, /release, /renew etc) and still the same result. 

I determined that the router hardware was most likely faulty and that my client should contact BT for further help.

At the end of the job, which took a little over an hour – 4 times longer than anticipated – I felt rather disappointed for both myself and my client.  It is on these occasions that I hate what I do, because I am left wondering if my inability to resolve the issue was truly down to faulty hardware, or my own incapability.  Hopefully my client will come back to me and let me know if he was able to resolve the issue with a replacement router from British Telecom, or if they could get him up and running over the phone.

UPDATE – 25th Febraury 2009

After speaking tonight with my customer it is now known that the BT Business Broadband Router was faulty, which was revealed after BT sent out a new replacement and the customer was online within just a few minutes.

Proactive PC Maintenance – How to look after a TFT monitor

Points to remember

• A TFT monitor is basically two very thin sheets of plastic with electronically sensitive crystals compressed between them. Therefore any any amount of pressure can damage the crystals.

• Never touch the screen of a TFT monitor unless it is absolutely necessary.

• A TFT monitor can draw moisture through capillary action into itself, as such you should never apply liquid directly to the screen.

• Any moisture absorbed through the screen is almost impossible to draw out. This could easily ruin the entire monitor.

How to clean a TFT

Always remember that a TFT monitor has a plastic screen, not glass. As such you should never use an ammonia or alcohol based cleaner as this will damage the screen.

What you will need...

• 2x Clean microfibre cloth's

• Distilled water (spring water is OK, but do not use tap water)

• White Vinegar

What to do...

• Turn off and unplug your TFT monitor from the mains.

• Apply a little of the distilled water to one of the microfibre cloths. You only need a small amount, enough to make the cloth damp, but not wet.

• Fold the cloth in half one way, the again in half the other way. This creates a manageable flat surface.

• Starting at the top left corner of the screen, gently wipe the cloth down then up, slow moving along the width of the screen. Remember, do not apply unnecessary pressure.

• Starting at the bottom right corner of the screen, gently wipe the cloth left to right, working your way up the monitor. Again, do not apply unnecessary pressure.

• If the screen is really dirty, and the above steps have not cleaned your TFT sufficiently you can add a little white vinegar to the water and repeat the above steps.

• Use the other clean and dry microfibre cloth to gently wipe the monitor dry using the same up/down, left/right action outlined above.

Commercial Cleaning Products

There are cleaning products available through retail outlets specifically designed to clean TFT monitors, however in my experience many of these are over-priced and non-effective. They are usually sold in small packets of 'wet wipe' style single use cloths. These tend to dry out soon after you initially open them, and end up being thrown away before their second use.

Some computer users buy anti-glare screen protectors. These do help prevent a TFT from becoming dirty, but tend to look ugly and reduce the vibrant of images on screen. They are also generally unsuitable for laptop users.

Preventing A Dirty TFT

Laptop screens tend to become dirty through contact with the keyboard when folded. The keys of the keyboard pick up oils from the users fingertips and transfer 'trace-lines' of the keys to the screen.

This can be avoided simply and cheaply by placing a sheet of plain A4 copy paper on top of the keyboard before closing the screen down.

Children seem to be attracted to TFT's like bee's to pollen, and can't resist poking the screen to see the patterns they can make. To avoid this, simply chop off the hands of any children who are likely to come into contact with your expensive TFT.

Do you have anything to say about this article? Did you find it helpful? Would you like to share your own tips? Just leave a comment below!

Proactive PC Maintenance – Cleaning Your Keyboard

Many times as an IT Technician I have come across some really dirty, disgusting computers.

However, the most unhygienic part of a computer system is the one you have the most contact with, the keyboard.

The dust that falls between the keys is for the most part dead skin cells from your fingers and hands. Your fingers and hands come into contact constantly with all kinds of dirt and germs so all of this is being passed onto your keyboard. Moreover, should anyone else be using the same keyboard then you are then sharing each others 'mess'.

However, despite this, many people rarely, if ever think about cleaning their keyboard. In this guide I will explain how to quickly, easily and effectively clean this dust and debris from your keyboard.

Be Prepared

Collect the following items:

• lint free cloth

• dry lint free cloth or duster

• suitable cleaning fluid such as isopropyl alcohol (IPA)

• cotton buds

• Can of compressed air

Here is what you need to do

1. Shut down your computer

2. Unplug your keyboard from your computer base unit

3. Flip the keyboard upside down and gently shake out any dust and debris.

4. With the keyboard still turned over, tap each key a couple of times to release and stuck debris and gently shake again

5. Using a can of compressed air, blow any debris from around, and if possible, under the keys

6. Dip a cotton bud in a little IPA (or similar) and use it to clean the sides of the keys

7. Dampen a lint free cloth with a little IPA and gently wipe over the surface of each key

8. When all this is done, wipe it over with a dry lint free cloth or duster.

9. Finished! Plug it all back in and enjoy your nice, clean keyboard.

Remember, this is a Proactive Guide, so this guide should be followed regularly to prevent reactive measures such as replacing a dirty keyboard with jammed keys!

Proactive PC Maintenance – Essential Tools

PC maintenance, as with any kind of maintenance requires a few essential tools.
In this article I'll be discussing which tools I consider to be most important and how to use them effectively.

Antistatic Wrist Strap
Computer components are easily destroyed by static electricity, since they are 'static sensitive'. An antistatic wrist strap usually consists of a band with a small metal plate that wraps around the users wrist at one end, and connects to an earth point at the other (a plug) and each end is connected by a wire.
Whenever you open the case you should always ensure that you are wearing an antistatic wrist strap as this can make the difference between fixing or frying components!

Philips Screwdriver

No PC user who wishes to carry out any kind of maintenance on his PC can really manage without the humble Philips screwdriver. This is used for all the screws usually found in a PC, such as those on the case panels, drives, motherboard and fans.




Small Torch
Although it's always best to work on your PC in a well lit area, this is not always possible. A small torch, such as a mini-maglite can make life a great deal easier when working on the inside of a computer case. Alternative's include the snake light, which is a clip on lamp that can be repositioned in many ways to direct light exactly where it's needed, although this can be an expensive option.





Paint Brush
A small, stiff bristled,
¼” paint brush with a long handle is great for cleaning out dust and debris from within a PC. Used effectively you can clean out the hardest to reach areas, such as within the heatsink fins, fan blades, corners of the case and on the motherboard.
When using a brush to clean out your PC, start at the top of the case, and work your way down towards the bottom. Then, tilt the case towards you and brush the dust etc. out of the case.
It is important to work slowly and carefully as you don't want to be heavy handed enough to damage any components such as capacitors on the motherboard.



Compressed Air
Compressed air comes in two forms, that from an aerosol can that can be purchased from a great deal of component retailers, or from a compressor which is a large machine that plugs in to the mains.
For most people the canned air type is the best and most accessible, since it is cheap and can be taken to the workspace rather than having to take the PC to the compressor.
Always read the cautionary instructions when working with canned air, since it is an aerosol and therefore can be potentially dangerous when used incorrectly.
Compressed air is great for cleaning dust from otherwise impossible to reach areas such as within the PSU.
Always blow dust away from you, and make sure that the dust has somewhere to go. You really don't want to get a mouthful of human and animal skin cells, smoke dust or animal hair in your mouth and eyes!



Another Computer
This I guess is not really an essential for most people, although personally I have many times found myself working on a PC (which is turned off) and desperately in need of an internet connection to look up some help files, or a user manual etc. If at all possible, another computer close by, such as a laptop or even a PDA can be a great time saver and help prevent masses of frustration.

And that's it!
There are some other bits and pieces that I always keep at hand when maintaining a PC. These are non essential items, but can come in handy.



Zip-Ties
These I use to secure cables, or to bind them together to keep them out of the way. This helps to create greater airflow through the case which in turn cools components more effectively thus pre longing their operating life.







Cable Wrap
I use the simple, cheap kind that you wind around cables. This is great stuff that helps to prevent cables being worn to the bare wire which can cause all sorts of problems.
You can also use it to bind many cables together that are running in the same direction, which leads to less mess inside the PC.





Side Cutters
A pair of plier-like side cutters are used to chop off the tail's from zip-ties and excess cable wrap, again this is not essential but helps maintain a tidy case.

Have you found this guide helpful? Do you have any other essential tools that you think I should have mentioned?
Please leave your comments below.