Questions tagged [maintenance]
139 questions
114
votes
19 answers
How do I physically prevent people from unplugging an Ethernet cable?
We have a crowded computer laboratory. We render free Ethernet ports for laptop users. But they don't carry their Ethernet cables with them, they unplug cable of a fixed desktop PC and plug it to their laptop. When their work is finished, they don't…
hkBattousai
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71
votes
10 answers
Restoring performance and estimating life of a used SSD drive?
My old 128 GB SSD drive is about a year and a half old now, and I've since upgraded to another drive.
I'd like to clean up my the old SSD to ...
restore its performance to near-new levels
rehabilitate it and generally give it a health check
How do…
Jeff Atwood
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70
votes
10 answers
Suck or blow? What's better for dust?
The guy at the local PC hardware store told me it's better to use a small hand-held leaf blower to blow dust out of your PC case than a hand-held vacuum cleaner. Why is this? I understand that fans might be damaged if they "spin too fast", but…
gillespieza
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59
votes
9 answers
Disable "automatic maintenance" in Windows 8
I'm running a few VMs, and suddenly I noticed my CPU fan was spinning louder than usual. I tracked it down to Windows 8 doing some "automatic maintenance":
How can I turn this completely off? I found a way to set the time, but not a way to turn it…
houbysoft
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49
votes
10 answers
Which malfunctions cause old computers to slow down and crash?
I've had a few computers of my own break after a few years of use, and I've seen computers owned by friends and family do the same thing. They either slow down (even running the original software they shipped with) or crash more often (kernel…
Mr. Jefferson
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25
votes
4 answers
SMART-Test never finishes
When running SMART-Tests using smartmontools, they NEVER finish. I always get "Interrupted (host reset.)" on various different systems and disks, including Debian in x86 and ARM, OS X on x64, with external and internal drives. Even when run in…
bot47
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23
votes
1 answer
Run htop over ssh via single command
I want to run htop over ssh - but launch it automatically on a keyboard-less system with a shell script. My first idea was
ssh [email protected] 'htop'
but:
Error opening terminal: unknown.
Is there any way to start htop remote without typing the…
wb7
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17
votes
5 answers
use rm to remove files and directories recursively
is it possible to use rm to remove files and directories matching a pattern recursively without using other commands?
user15586
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17
votes
12 answers
What kind of periodic maintenance should I carry out on HDD backup?
I have a bunch of directories backed up on an external HDD - not an SSD, a magnetic disk.
The backup is just onto a single disk (yes, I know, an extra HDD with a copy would be a good idea; but that's not the case right now). Also, there are no dual…
einpoklum
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14
votes
1 answer
How should I clean these faint yellow spots on my display?
It happened two days ago. I thought I had unknowingly used my laptop without sanitizing my hands, so I had sprayed the sanitizer on the keyboard. After that, I closed the left my laptop unused for hours.
When I opened up my laptop, I noticed these…
Utkarsh Verma
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12
votes
3 answers
How do I preserve an unused computer?
I have a netbook that I am not using but would like to preserve for posterity. What precautions do I need to take to ensure that the machine does not undergo any deterioration? The machine will remain switched off most of the time.
Agnel Kurian
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12
votes
2 answers
How do I safely remove keys from a keyboard?
I have a custom key I want to use on my new Deck keyboard, but I'm unclear how to safely remove existing keys from the keyboard without damaging them in the process.
Should I use a special tool? A regular tool? Or just pull on the key until it comes…
Jeff Atwood
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11
votes
4 answers
How does dust affect a computer?
It is generally known that dust makes computers slower, and that cleaning out the dust regularly can make your computer run better.
What I have not seen, is why this happens. From what I know dust doesn't stop electrons from getting from one side…
Eric Koslow
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10
votes
7 answers
How often should I dust the inside of my computer?
I would like to avoid frying my computer. I understand dust collects inside on the boards and the CPU cooling unit. How often should I open up the chassis and what process should I use to safely remove the dust?
Axxmasterr
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10
votes
1 answer
Tools to (privately) annotate/markup a website for maintenance
I've been tasked with updating a website. Rather than proofreading and updating each page (one at a time), I want to make a single pass over the entire website, marking graphics/images/videos that need to be rewritten, removed, or updated. I…
rob
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