Discussion That one time I had to clean a 12 year old pc

[Snarpkvartez]

So I have this really old desktop pc a Dell dimension e521 that originally ran Windows xp for many years from 2007 when my parents bought it to 2014 when Windows xp support ended.

I eventually started having issues with the pc being extremely noisy like that of a jet plane taking off or a busy server and it had a tendency to get hot after a while.

In 2019 12 years after the pc was bought I decided to open it up for the first time in 12 years since it came out of the factory and holy jesus was it dusty with huge dust bunnies all over the place and dust in every nook and cranny possible on the pc.

I realised I had to take the pc outside when cleaning it and once I had put it outside I sprayed it with some compressed air causing craploads of dustbunnies to fly all over the place as if it was a blizzard but with dust instead.

After getting all the dust out and plugging all the cables back I noticed it was almost completely dead silent except for a low frequency hum and that it had actually become noticeably more faster.

Fun fact this was actually the first time I actually opened up any type of personal computer but luckily I knew what each part did and where I had to put it back in.

That pc has since been used as an ubuntu media server with plex and it actually did this great even though it only has 1 or 2 gigs of ram.

 

[SamirD]

Haha, great story! I still have several Dells from that era that are still running. It takes next to nothing to max them out and add a little video card to speed them up. It's amazing how useful they still are. I think the biggest drawback is their power consumption as systems with similar capabilities now use next to nothing for power. But power is pretty cheap so they're still on and running. 😀

 

[hang-the-9]

Cleaning case/fans should be a standard procedure for computers, I go through mine every few months. Every laptop I work on first thing I do is check the fans and vents and open it up to clear things out. Keep things from getting too hot and as you found out the noise level often drops a lot.

 

[SamirD]

The only time I've seen dust bunnies like that is when it's been a decade or two. Or been in a really dirty environment.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Remember working on PC's from a metal shop once. They had cats that would roam in there and cuddle against their computers for warmth. You can imagine the amount of dust in those.

 

[SamirD]

Remember working on PC's from a metal shop once. They had cats that would roam in there and cuddle against their computers for warmth. You can imagine the amount of dust in those.

I would be surprised to find the fans even turning between the metal dust and cat hair. 😵

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Put it this way, one was put on the hood of my blue car, 2000 Ford Taurus I had at the time. Part of the hood turned grey.

 

[SamirD]

I bet the cases weren't beige either! 😵

 

[Snarpkvartez]

Cleaning case/fans should be a standard procedure for computers, I go through mine every few months. Every laptop I work on first thing I do is check the fans and vents and open it up to clear things out. Keep things from getting too hot and as you found out the noise level often drops a lot.

In my family I am the computer expert and I have aspbergers and I just so happen to have computers and technology as my main interest.

Also my dad is not exactly skilled when it comes to computers and I can imagine he would not have cleaned that pc even if he knew how dirty it was.

In total I have had 10 + years of experience working with pc's since I was a little boy.

I also more recently cleaned a laptop from 2014 that has been used fairly often and I also bought an external usb cooling fan when using it on flat surfaces such as a bed.