Computer help please.

[Bill HH]

My PC has just about had it, windows seven is corrupted, it overheats and the fan is running constantly. So I have been looking for a new one. My old one is an HP pavilion and I was looking for something similar.

I popped into staples and they have several but they are tiny little things, more like an xbox. the assistant assured me they will do everything a tower PC will. In PC world they have the normal ones and lots of em.

So my question is really are these mini towers as good? I like the idea of saving space but have doubts. The spec seems high on them 6gig Ram and two tetra whatsits of hard drive etc.

[Hazel at the Hill]

I'm not a techie, Bill, but for what it's worth, whenever I have opened up my tower, it has a heck of a lot of empty space in there.

Remember that computer evolution is on a par to that of fruit flies - it would not surprise me if your new computer does all that your old computer does and yet is now the size of a wrist watch.

[Kristen]

it overheats and the fan is running constantly

May not be a solution to the other issues, but it might be overheating because it is full of dust. Take the lid off and hover out all the dust perhaps?

It might even have some "sponge" filters and just cleaning those out might fix the heating / fan-running issues.

We had two old & decrepid American fridges here that the previous owner left behind. We fancied them, so they stayed ... after a month or two out of curiosity I stuck an electric-usage meter on them and they were running at £250 p.a. ... EACH we then commented that we had never heard the fans go off ... a Hoover round the back, clean out the filters and ... quiet bliss returned to the kitchen!

[Hazel at the Hill]

May not be a solution to the other issues, but it might be overheating because it is full of dust. Take the lid off and hover out all the dust perhaps?

I was told never EVER to do this as the chances of the hoover generating a spark which would then blow your motherboard were catastrophically high!!!

Now going to google this!

[Hazel at the Hill]

Go it:

It’s bad to clean the inside of your computer with a vacuum cleaner because vacuuming creates a large static build up that could (and most likely will) discharge into the sensitive electronics inside your computer case.


from Ask How-To Geek: Why You Should Never Vacuum Your PC, Converting Books for the Kindle, and Controlling Multiple Computers with One Keyboard


You are supposed to take the pc outside and blow all the dust out with a compressed air can.

[arpoet]

I have always vacuumed my tower to get rid of the dust. Its about 8 years old now and still works, but its very slow so I don't use it much.
I got a 17inch Sony laptop two and a half years ago and it beat the tower into the ground.

[Kristen]

Go it:

It’s bad to clean the inside of your computer with a vacuum cleaner because vacuuming creates a large static build up that could (and most likely will) discharge into the sensitive electronics inside your computer case.

You are supposed to take the pc outside and blow all the dust out with a compressed air can.

Interesting, but seems like remote odds to me. I agree that blowing it is better, but I didn't suggest that coz of the mess it makes - outside would improve things, but if its coated in dust I think you are still likely to be coughing and spluttering after doing the deed !!

[Hazel at the Hill]

Interesting, but seems like remote odds to me.

I don't know - as I say, I'm not a techie. But if the alternative to *possibly* blowing your pc up is buying a can of compressed air (or going outside and huff-puffing until I am blue in the face!!), then that's the route for me.

[Kristen]

or going outside and huff-puffing until I am blue in the face!!), then that's the route for me.

Don't forget to upload the Selfie

[noviceveggrower]

I asked my other half and he says if you get a new computer it all depends on what you need it for and what programs you need on it.
We use to have a tower but when that died on us we got a lap top and its been great.
I would avoid Staples and go to somewhere like PC World or Currys. They have all the techno people and a greater range of towers etc for you to look at.
If you can get the canned compressed air you could give your computer a quick blast to see if it shifts any dust or muck from your tower. I use to work in a cash office and had loads of computer gear and that's what we use to use. You'd be amazed at the muck that comes out.
Hope this helps.

[Greenleaves]

I only use a tablet now days, does everything my pc or laptop ever did. I never used the cd drive so dont miss it

[Potstubsdustbins]

Cheapest canned air I know off is Regin Premier 500ml from your local plumbers merchant. its something we use all the time on the job so I always have a can on my desk.

[Bill HH]

Thank you all, I don't want to go the lap top route because I have a very large monitor which I love, I also destroy keyboard quite regularly and one for a pc is just £20.I do de dust mine quite often, I have even removed the aluminium heat sink and cleaned out the fins etc. Thing is I just cant see how something the size of sky box can be as good as a larger pc. Just the transformer alone in mine is a big chunk of wound wires, that's got be more substantial than whatever is in a small computer.

If it was just the fan running all the time I could live with it but the windows seven keeps throwing up corrupt files and now refuses to install any updates. I am in a quandary.

[Bigmallly]

Can you not try a different OS Bill?

[skeggijon]

the newer processors don't use so much power, so doesn't need as big a power supply unit. How much were you wanting to spend? I'm presuming you don't need something for high power graphics super gaming - though I could be wrong of course.