Working Inside A Computer Case

Working inside a computer case best guide. Don't throw out a hard drive that might have personal or corporate data on it unless you know the data can't be stolen off the drive.

To assure yourself there's no way someone is going to read from the drive, you can take a hammer and nail and punch the drive housing, forcing the nail straight through to the other side so that all drive disks are damaged.

To dispose of CDs, floppy disks, DVDs and other storage media, do similar damage, such as breaking a CD in half. In this article, you'll learn how to take a computer apart and put it back together.

When working inside a computer case, note that you can damage both the computer and yourself. Here are some important safety precautions that will help keep you and your equipment safe as you go through the process of taking it apart and putting it back together.

Important Steps To Take When Working Inside A computer Case

1. Make notes as you work so that you can backtrack later if necessary. (When you're first learning to take a computer apart, it's really easy to forget where everything fits when it's time to put it back together. Also, in troubleshooting, you want to avoid repeating or overlooking things to try.)
2. To stay organised and not lose small parts, keep screws and spacers orderly and in one place, such as a cup or tray.
3. Don't stack boards on top of each other: You could accidentally dislodge a chip this way.
4. When handling motherboards and expansion cards, don't touch the chips on the boards. Hold expansion cards by the edges. Don't touch any soldered components on a card, and don't touch chips or edge connectors unless it's absolutely necessary. All this helps prevent damage from static electricity.
5. To protect the chip, don't touch it with a magnetised screwdriver.
6. Don't use a graphite pencil to change DIP (dual inline package! switch settings, because graphite is a conductor of electricity, and the graphite can lodge in the switch.
7. In a workshop environment, after you have reassembled everything, have a very good your work before you put the cover back on and power up.
8. To protect both yourself and the equipment when working inside a computer, turn off the power, unplug the computer, and always use a ground bracelet.
9. Never ever touch the inside of a computer that is turned on.
10. Consider the monitor and the power supply to be "black boxes." Never remove the cover or put your hands inside this equipment unless you know about the hazards of charged capacitors and have been trained to deal with them.
11. Both the power supply and the monitor can hold a dangerous level of electricity even after you turn them off and disconnect them from a power source. The power supply and monitor contain enough power to kill you, even when they are unplugged.
12. When unpacking hardware or software, to help protect against static electricity, remove the packing tape and cell phone from the work area as soon as possible.
13. To protect against static electricity, keep components away from your hair and clothing.

See Also...

• Build your Own Custom PC Case
• Things to Consider When Making a PC Case