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(Some previous months still online.) This month's PC Tips: 1 Summer Safeguards
Computers and their accessories are not designed to operate at temperatures above 90° F, humidities above 80%, or voltages below 105 VAC. Although your system will tolerate extreme conditions for brief periods, in the long run it will literally burn or short itself out. Here are some basic safeguards to prevent PC failure.
A short course in mouse maintenance
Mouse problems other than "stickiness" are symptoms of an intermittent cable, defective IC (there's one in the mouse), or, commonly, a bad microswitch (there's one for each button). Replacement is the cure in these cases. 1. PC Tips is a monthly column produced by Installations Plus+ for those of its clients who don't pretend to power user status.
2. Recently a client living in an area plagued by summer storms, had to replace his modem after it was damaged when lightning struck the above-ground telephone lines. We arranged for a new modem and a surge-protection outlet strip with power and phone-line protection. And then lightning struck again. Here's what the client says now: "Good save power bar! I'm happy to be on-line and not at the modem store right now, and I'm now a firm believer in these surge bars (and alcohol bars too, but hey!)." Also available online:
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Summer's heat, humidity and thunderstorms can spell disaster for unprotected PC systems.
When your pointing device gets balky, turn it over and remove the rubber ball. Next tap the mouse lightly against its pad to dislodge accumulated dust, hair and food particles, then blow out the ball housing (using canned air if you've got it). Before reassembling the mouse, clean the ball with rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol applied with a lint-free cloth or chamois.