2 replies to this topic

[eInfiniti]

I bought an HP desktop computer with an LG LCD monitor four years ago. It came with original Windows Vista Home Premium operating system. Over the last few months, I have noticed some problems once in a while. Sometimes, the images displayed would be completely scrambled and then the screen become dark. I would then have to force the computer to shut down by pressing the power button for several seconds. Then, the monitor died and I had to buy a new one. But, not long afterwards, the computer died also; i.e., only the power would come on and the fans would turn but nothing else.

When I opened the box and examined the inside of it, I found that a lot of dust had been collected in the box. The fan on top of the CPU had quite some amount of dust on it. When I looked through the fan from the top down, I could see some dust collected in the metal radiator sitting between the CPU and the fan. I got the sense that maybe the dust slowed down the cooling of the CPU and eventually let the CPU to overheat and die.

It's only 4 year old. I wonder if I had removed the dust from inside the box maybe once a year, would that have prevented the premature death of the computer?

[rpgsearcherz]

eInfiniti, on 23 October 2011 - 12:08 AM, said:

I bought an HP desktop computer with an LG LCD monitor four years ago. It came with original Windows Vista Home Premium operating system. Over the last few months, I have noticed some problems once in a while. Sometimes, the images displayed would be completely scrambled and then the screen become dark. I would then have to force the computer to shut down by pressing the power button for several seconds. Then, the monitor died and I had to buy a new one. But, not long afterwards, the computer died also; i.e., only the power would come on and the fans would turn but nothing else.

When I opened the box and examined the inside of it, I found that a lot of dust had been collected in the box. The fan on top of the CPU had quite some amount of dust on it. When I looked through the fan from the top down, I could see some dust collected in the metal radiator sitting between the CPU and the fan. I got the sense that maybe the dust slowed down the cooling of the CPU and eventually let the CPU to overheat and die.

It's only 4 year old. I wonder if I had removed the dust from inside the box maybe once a year, would that have prevented the premature death of the computer?

It definitely would have. The reason computers "die" is because of heat. Theoretically if all heat was dissipated there would be no wear-and-tear. The issue with the dust is that it creates more heat, which kills the computer faster by making it overheat. The best way to combat this is to clean out your case every couple weeks, or every month at the least.

[vasilevich]

4 years? When was the ladt time you reinstalled your operating system? Windiws operating systems are known for getting slower over time as viruses and unused softwares are collected and started at once, but if you speak of the image on screen it could be your video card is not well connected or gets too overheated. Try to see if its plugged correctly and is not too hot.