Hidden Guns and Vermin: PC Refurbishing Nightmares

[Brian_R170]

About 15 years ago, I worked on a desktop computer onsite at a pet groomer's shop. It sat on the floor and was apparently frequently urinated on by the animals at the shop. One side, the back, and the bottom were covered with rust and rusted together. The inside was caked with pet hair and dust. The smell was horrible. I was able to clean out the hair and dirt and add the optical drive that I came to do, but I had to to it outside. Funny, I still get Christmas cards every year from the shop owner.

 

[g-unit1111]

OK so one time last year the former receptionist at my company asked me to pull the hard drives from her old computers, which I did, but these were some of the dirtiest and filthiest PCs I've ever seen. They were so bad that I had no choice but to document the evidence. Here's a couple of pictures that I took:

 

[The Paladin]

humm why is the case bent that way (blue line is the point to point corners and arrow obviously points to bend on case.

 

[g-unit1111]

humm why is the case bent that way (blue line is the point to point corners and arrow obviously points to bend on case.

So it was an old Acer desktop, I'm guessing around 2003 - 2004. It was not a tower either, it was a set top box. The case and all of the components inside were proprietary and a PITA to not only open but to actually locate the hard drives and pull them out I had to remove all of the cages surrounding the drives, which were located underneath the PSU. I remember having to do some bending and creative screw driving in order to remove them. Plus that picture was also taken at a bad angle.

 

[stdragon]

humm why is the case bent that way (blue line is the point to point corners and arrow obviously points to bend on case.

So it was an old Acer desktop, I'm guessing around 2003 - 2004. It was not a tower either, it was a set top box. The case and all of the components inside were proprietary and a PITA to not only open but to actually locate the hard drives and pull them out I had to remove all of the cages surrounding the drives, which were located underneath the PSU. I remember having to do some bending and creative screw driving in order to remove them. Plus that picture was also taken at a bad angle.

Back when Packard Bell still made Windows 95 boxes, they actually (honest to God) used pop rivets to secure the CDROM in the bay. Could have use screws, but nope, pop rivets were faster on the assembly-line.

You never removed the failed drive, rather, you just installed a new one in the empty bay below the failed one and move the cables over to it. Ghetto.

 

[g-unit1111]

humm why is the case bent that way (blue line is the point to point corners and arrow obviously points to bend on case.

So it was an old Acer desktop, I'm guessing around 2003 - 2004. It was not a tower either, it was a set top box. The case and all of the components inside were proprietary and a PITA to not only open but to actually locate the hard drives and pull them out I had to remove all of the cages surrounding the drives, which were located underneath the PSU. I remember having to do some bending and creative screw driving in order to remove them. Plus that picture was also taken at a bad angle.

Back when Packard Bell still made Windows 95 boxes, they actually (honest to God) used pop rivets to secure the CDROM in the bay. Could have use screws, but nope, pop rivets were faster on the assembly-line.

You never removed the failed drive, rather, you just installed a new one in the empty bay below the failed one and move the cables over to it. Ghetto.

I still have my brother's old Dell tower which no joke you have to press a button to open the case and the HD cage is enclosed through this clamshell mechanism. That is one of the more jankier tower designs I've ever seen. I want to say this one is from '03 - '04 as well.

I remember the pop rivets as well, I used to work on Gateways when they made desktop PCs that weren't towers. Gigantic PITA.

 

[Isaac in Duluth MN]

Um that's not rivets, there are sometimes mechanisms to hold a drive in instead of screws though!

 

[g-unit1111]

Um that's not rivets, there are sometimes mechanisms to hold a drive in instead of screws though!

I've seen some proprietary tower designs like that. Definitely nothing current. My Corsair 500R which I recently replaced has drive trays that are held by a clasping mechanism instead of screws.

 

[stdragon]

Um that's not rivets, there are sometimes mechanisms to hold a drive in instead of screws though!

With regards to the Packard Bell - I promise, they were pop rivets. Installing a CDROM drive with them is far easier than screws. You just place the rivet tool in place, squeeze the handle, and it's securely in place in less than a second.

They were aluminium, so one could easily drill them out with a home drill and cheap bit. Still, the process would be inconvenient. But then you'd have to be careful and vacuum out the shavings as they're conductive.

 

[shrapnel_indie]

Um that's not rivets, there are sometimes mechanisms to hold a drive in instead of screws though!

With regards to the Packard Bell - I promise, they were pop rivets. Installing a CDROM drive with them is far easier than screws. You just place the rivet tool in place, squeeze the handle, and it's securely in place in less than a second.

They were aluminium, so one could easily drill them out with a home drill and cheap bit. Still, the process would be inconvenient. But then you'd have to be careful and vacuum out the shavings as they're conductive.

Drilling out pop-rivets will leave more than shavings... There will be a small piece left inside the drive case, until you either open the case and remove it or manage to get it out the drive door.... if it has a drive tray... then again if its a bad unit (which is most likely...) that isn't going to be a concern.