Computer Maintenance and Safety Essay Example
Table of Contents
Pg 1 Safety
• Environmental Concerns
• Power Protection
• Dust, Static, and Heat issues
• Downloading unauthorized software
Pg Maintenance/Cleaning
• Tower
• Monitor/Display
• Keyboard
• Mouse
Pg Internal hardware installation
• Motherboard
• Power supply
• Processor
• Memory
• Hard Drives
Pg Basic principles for supporting I/O devices
Pg Multimedia and mass storage devices
• Installing a video card
• Installing a DVD drive
Safety
Environmental Concerns Environmental concerns that IT technicians and computer users face are numerous. These include heat, dust, magnetism, power supply problems, static electricity, human error, and viruses. This manual has information to assist computer users in performing basic maintenance to reduce the likelihood that these concerns will cause computer failures and to lessen the damage if they do. Environmental issues that PC users and technicians face on a daily basis can be minimized with just a little fore thought:
• Heat – By placing the PC in an area where it may receive proper ventilation is important. PC components generate heat. If the heat is not removed from the case, then component life and stability will be affected. Some ways to minimize the heat is to install fans in the PC case to remove excess heat. The ambient temperature of the area where the PC is located can be lowered through the use of Air conditioning.
• Dust – Dust is in the air. Frequent use of compressed air to remove the dust from the interior of the case, and from the ventilation holes in the PC case, will lessen the buildup of dust. Dust can also help the formation of static electricity in the PC.
• Magnetism – Magnetism around a computer is a hazard for the information stored in the PC. Information is stored in PC’s on hard disk drives. These drives store information in a way that can be corrupted or erased if a magnetic source is passed close by. The more powerful the magnetic source, the
Pg 1 Safety
• Environmental Concerns
• Power Protection
• Dust, Static, and Heat issues
• Downloading unauthorized software
Pg Maintenance/Cleaning
• Tower
• Monitor/Display
• Keyboard
• Mouse
Pg Internal hardware installation
• Motherboard
• Power supply
• Processor
• Memory
• Hard Drives
Pg Basic principles for supporting I/O devices
Pg Multimedia and mass storage devices
• Installing a video card
• Installing a DVD drive
Safety
Environmental Concerns Environmental concerns that IT technicians and computer users face are numerous. These include heat, dust, magnetism, power supply problems, static electricity, human error, and viruses. This manual has information to assist computer users in performing basic maintenance to reduce the likelihood that these concerns will cause computer failures and to lessen the damage if they do. Environmental issues that PC users and technicians face on a daily basis can be minimized with just a little fore thought:
• Heat – By placing the PC in an area where it may receive proper ventilation is important. PC components generate heat. If the heat is not removed from the case, then component life and stability will be affected. Some ways to minimize the heat is to install fans in the PC case to remove excess heat. The ambient temperature of the area where the PC is located can be lowered through the use of Air conditioning.
• Dust – Dust is in the air. Frequent use of compressed air to remove the dust from the interior of the case, and from the ventilation holes in the PC case, will lessen the buildup of dust. Dust can also help the formation of static electricity in the PC.
• Magnetism – Magnetism around a computer is a hazard for the information stored in the PC. Information is stored in PC’s on hard disk drives. These drives store information in a way that can be corrupted or erased if a magnetic source is passed close by. The more powerful the magnetic source, the