Replacing my PC due to Trojans - software questions?

-TangleFoot-

Is poking around inside a formerly live PSU really a good idea? I was under the impression it took quite a while for the internal charge to dissipate.

Donnie

Muppet81 wrote: »

Fortunatley, I do have them. It is just XP which I do not have as I don't recall getting it with my Packard bell PC.

Don't panic about XP. You already have a licence and you are not changing the machine, so all you need is a disc.
Just make a note of the version and licence key.

thirascule

-TangleFoot- wrote: »

Is poking around inside a formerly live PSU really a good idea? I was under the impression it took quite a while for the internal charge to dissipate.

I didn't say that at all? I said work around all openings with a bristled paintbrush, now to my knowledge bristles are not conductive.

And yes, you know very well that the insides of a recently powered up psu is a dangerous place, don't be coy now.

p.s. I have added hopefully enough to clarify my intent/instruction.

-TangleFoot-

thirascule wrote: »

to my knowledge bristles are not conductive.

Depends what the bristles are made from. Horse hair, for example, is carbon-based.

A canister of compressed air is usually best for this sort of thing.

thirascule

Don't want to hijack the thread or get into a war of words, but horse hair is not conductive despite being carbon based. Here.

I would have mentioned canned air but as luck has it, I am in need of such a thing myself right now and from looking at most ones available, they appear not to be air as in the one you link to. It is as far as I can tell in most cases, a can full of cfc free propellant. Which is normally flammable these days, others which mention being Non-Flammable do not mention exactly what you might be spraying into your house. I feel reluctant to advocate a product I won't buy myself.

Hence the quick fix of a fast dust removal and if it works, replace the psu as no matter what cleanup you use, dust will still be trapped in the psu and probably kill the psu sooner or later.

Strider590

This is kinda like buying a new car because the ashtray is full

daily_2

If you are worried about your data, and operating system, get it imaged asap, using the free tools linked to earlier (post 3), and some blank DVD's/CD's or external hard disk. Then if it does fail, you don't need the operating system disc to recover everything.


Acronis reliability beyond reproach is something people here may disagree with:

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=65

not as good as it used to be.

Maxblast (earlier version of Acronis) is ok, and free if you have a seagate or maxtor hd.

-TangleFoot-

thirascule wrote: »

It is as far as I can tell in most cases, a can full of cfc free propellant. Which is normally flammable...

A CFC-free propellant is obviously one without such compounds in it. Either way, it's still air; unspecified gas(es) in a sealed container. As long as there's no moisture in it, it's probably okay.

Remember, oxygen is flammable too.

thirascule

No, oxygen is not flammable. Fuel burns, oxygen supports combustion, it is the oxidant. As for cfc's, being of a certain age, I still think of propellants as cfc's whereas they were phased out years ago in favour of hfc's which were discovered to be very potent greenhouse gasses and are in turn being phased out in favour of volatile hydrocarbons like propane, n-butane and isobutane. Dimethyl ether (DME) and methyl ethyl ether. Most are either highly flammable or toxic or both. So I'd say use outdoors if your going to use it a lot.

However, coming back to the point, I don't think that it will help the psu fan long term, it will clean probably better than the paintbrush but it will still die somewhere down the line now it is making this kind of noise. Plus, I'm only guessing it's the psu fan, could be something else.

Now can we let it lie?

aliEnRIK

If Oxygen WAS flammable the earth wouldnt exist as it does