I just took my pc apart and vacuumed the poor plugged up thing yesterday. It was unreal. Where does all that dust come from? That's what I want to know. And I installed my new graphics card.  I forgot I had to plug in my desktop to it. It came back to me but, it's those little things that can drive one nuts isn't it?  I also got 2tb of extended hard drive to go with my Acronis.    Yes Doc. No more worries. I was thinking of you when I was setting it up.   You'd be proud. 

I hope that you gave it a blow job rather than a suck.   Reason being, sucking with a vacuum cleaner can cause static electricity [high speed dust particles traveling up the pipe] that can damage components.   Blowing out the dust is much better for your machine... still cleans it, but without harmful static.

Something I found useful when blowing out dust with a vaccy, is the tube from an old ballpoint pen and a bit of tape.  By inserting the pen tube into the narrow skirting board attachment and taping off the remainder of the opening, I can force the air flow into a more powerful jet that cleans more efficiently.

I had no idea. I will do that starkers.    No more sucking. I actually was thinking of getting one of those cans. I do my own upgrades and such to my pc. My first pc was my learning tool. So far, no shocks. I am careful. But how bad can it be?

You ought to check if it's the laptop or the battery... HP issued a recall/replacement about that topic a few years ago if I remember correctly...

Doesn't actually have to generate a 'shock'. The static electricity will destroy a RAM stick quite efficiently. When working inside a computer you should always have a grounding wrist band attached to you and the case... and the computer unplugged, and the battery (laptop) disconnected.

Ooooh, really. Had no idea of that either. Destroy a RAM stick. That sounds real bad. I was under the impression if I kept one hand one the inside of my computer I was grounded.....   Myth or fact?    {it was written in my graphics card instructions}

Some people say that having psychiatric problems means you don't have both feet on the ground... but I reckon if you have both feet touching the floor you're grounded.

Donning a pair of those thigh high rubber boots that fishermen wear might help... especially if you've had a plumbing mishap.

I suppose keeping just one foot on the floor would men you're partially grounded, but if that were me I'd take the extra precaution of wearing a pair of rubber surgical gloves, t' be shure, t' be shure.

Seriously, as Doc advises, the safest was to avoid static damage to your PC is to wear an anti-static wristband.  In other words, I wouldn't take what it said on your graphics card packaging as being gospel if I were you.

Damn!

Thanks starkers.

I don't have fishermen's boots, would fish net stockings work?

My laptop has been getting pretty hot lately (I actually have three blisters on my leg where it rested). I'm afraid the fan has gone out, but sometimes I can still feel air coming out as always. It may be choked with dust. So how do I blow clean a laptop? 

I took several components out of the underneath of my laptop so I could get at everything. Very delicate operation. Then used compressed air and cleaned out everything..............The result was a 20 degree drop in running temps............Wow!!! what a difference. I had to be careful putting it back together. 

Dunno, to be honest.  Maybe I'd have a better idea if you posted a photo of self wearing said stockings.

Also, and I'm not sure if this would help with static or not... but.... um.... do you have any kinky rubber underwear to go with said stockings?

No, not rubber......

leather.

I have some cycling nicks with a real chamois insert...

....yes, I know...close but not close enough....

Hmmm, just the thing with fishnets  While probably not as effective for grounding purposes, leather underwear is certainly more attractive that the rubber stuff.  Frankly I never understood the rubber fetish thing - people getting aroused by scuba divers and the like - and I could never really come to terms with the smell of the stuff, either.  So yeah, if I was a panty sniffer... and note that I said IF, so I'm not admitting anything here... as I yet again digress, but I'd definitely prefer the leather ones over rubber.

This Old Crab lets his die......buys a new one every other year. What can I say? I don't get any headaches for it.