1. CIT 1100

2. In this chapter you will learn how to:  Care for the external parts of the computer  Describe methods for keeping the inside of the case problem-free  Explain how to keep data inside the hard drive safe

3. Secure the electrical connections  The power supply inside the case takes electricity from the wall socket and transforms it into electricity the computer uses  Although power supplies can connect directly into a wall socket, some people use a surge suppressor (surge protector) to make sure the computer is protected from electrical surges  A Surge suppressors ensure only proper power makes it to the computer

4. Use a vacuum cleaner or soft cloth to clean the case, mouse, and keyboard, never use a vacuum cleaner inside the case unless it is an anti-static device  Dirty keyboards can be cleaned in a standard dish washer on the second shelf with no soap. Be certain the keyboard is completely dry before using it  Standard glass cleaner should never be used on a typical LCD screen. Chemicals in the cleaner can ruin the screen  Monitor cleaners are available for use with LCD screens

5. With removable media, such as CD-R and DVD discs, you need to take care not to scratch, crack, or warp the media when cleaning  Use a soft damp cloth, and wipe from the inside edge to the outside edge with a straight movement  If A CD or DVD appears to be having problems properly reading or writing to the media the drive should be cleaned

6. Commercially available devices are available to properly maintain CDs/DVD media as well as drives  If the drive optics gets dirty it can cause drives to completely fail, lens cleaners can be inserted into a drive and will clean the drive automatically  CD/DVD media with excessive scratches can be resurfaced with disk repair devices

7. Most computer component manufacturers have adopted the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive to make their products more environmentally friendly by regulating the use of toxic substances, such as lead, mercury, and cadmium  Older CRT monitors have been replaced by LCD monitors to reduce the amount of lead used in manufacturing  Always follow proper recycling guidelines when disposing old electronics components

8. Care must be taken to ensure dust and debris doesn’t build up inside the computer case  Components can become quickly coated with dust causing heat to build up inside the system  Heat build up shortens component life more than any other environmental problem  Fans should be cleaned periodically

9. Inside the case, you have three basic options for cleaning:  You can blow the dust out use a product called compressed air  You can pull it out using an anti-static vacuum  Scrub it out using Anti-Static Brushes

10. Missing filler plates can lead to system overheating since normal airflow through the PC is interrupted

11. Electrostatic discharge (ESD) can permanently damage or destroy computer components inside the case  ESD is the transfer of static electricity from you to something you touch  The average person cannot feel the effect of static electricity unless its 2500 volts or more  Electronic components can be damaged by as little as 30 Volts

12. Static electricity can be easily dissipated by grounding the device, this give the build up of electrons a place to discharge Antistatic Wrist Straps worn while working on a computer protects the sensitive devices from static electricity

13. Windows includes several tools that helps to properly maintain your data, enabling you to quickly remove unused files, compress files to save disk space, and make backups for safekeeping Disk Cleanup should be run periodically to remove unneeded files from the drive

14. Disk Cleanup To launch Disk Cleanup - Start  All Programs  Accessories  System Tools You can select things to delete, such as Downloaded Program Files or Temporary files, empty the Recycle Bin or get rid of setup files. You can select things to delete, such as Downloaded Program Files or Temporary files, empty the Recycle Bin or get rid of setup files.

15. To conserve space on systems with a small hard drives, you can maximize the available space on the drive by compressing it  This process, usually called disk compression, can make data on a drive occupy less space, though it comes at a price  Compressed data has to be uncompressed for the computer to use it  In practice, a compressed drive can hold more data but the overall computing process is slower

16. Disk Backup – “There are only two kinds of computer users: Those who have lost data and those who will lose data.“  Important Data should always be backed up  Windows Backup program will allow you to create full copies of hard drives  You can run the program by going to the Control Panel and clicking the Backup your computer link in the Category view

17. Control Panel