Upgrading & Fixing Laptops DUMmIES

No smoking, please ............................................................................

Smoke is bad for you, your coworkers, your family, and your laptop. Smoke

carries contaminants, dust, and sticky stuff that can clog filters on the cool-

ing system and breathing holes on internal drives. (If you have any doubt

about this, find someone who does indulge and ask him or her to exhale a

lung full of smoke through a clean handkerchief.) So, don’t smoke in and

around your laptop and don’t use your machine in a smoky bar or office.

Taking care of the environment ........................................................

Dirty and dusty environments might include workshops, basements, dorm

rooms, and your kid’s bedroom.

Keeping a steady hand.......................................................................

Don’t drop, shake, vibrate, or otherwise do anything to dislodge the innards

or misalign the moving parts. This is bad anytime, and this is really bad if it

happens when the machine is running. It could cause the hard drive read/

write head to bounce onto and damage the spinning disk beneath.

Being careful out there ......................................................................

Avoid packing your laptop in luggage that you will not carry onboard an air-

plane yourself. If you don’t know why, just peek out the window of the plane

as ramp workers load or unload baggage — most are tossed onto a moving

belt or into a cart. And bags can get wet in the process and suffer extremes of

temperature while in flight.

Keeping the exits clear ......................................................................

Don’t block the laptop’s air vents, but do occasionally gently vacuum out any

dust caught on the exterior filter or screen. Don’t run the laptop while it’s inside

its carrying case, because its padding and sides block the flow of air.

Maintaining your cool ........................................................................

Pay attention to the indoor or outdoor temperature. Cold below about 40°F

can reduce battery life, make plastic parts brittle, and damage the LCD. Heat

318 Part VI: The Part of Tens