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Computer Tips: How to keep dust out of your PC

Have you ever had a PC that started making strange whining noises? Even if you've investigated the cause of the noises, which can often sound pretty serious when you hear them, you may not realise the reason for them. The chances are they're caused by a cooling fan with dust in its bearing.

Fans are one of the few components in a PC which have unsealed moving parts. By their nature, they have to be open to the air to suck heat out of the machine and push cool air in. As a result, they're extremely susceptible to all the airborne particles that make up household dust.

External Interference That Can Interfere With Data Transmission

Written by Julianus Yu

One hindrance to transmitting data at high speed is the possibility that the signals traveling through the cable will be acted upon by some outside force. Though the designer of any cable, whether it’s twisted pair or coaxial, attempts to compensate for this, external forces are beyond the cable designer’s control.

All electrical devices, including cables with data flowing through them, generate electromagnetic interference (EMI). Devices and cables that use much electricity can generate EMI that can interfere with data transmission. You may notice this if you live near a TV or radio antenna and you own a cordless phone. Consequently, cables should be placed in areas away from these devices.

Some common sources of EMI in a typical office environment include the following:

Motors
Heating and air-conditioning equipment
Fluorescent lights
Laser printers
Elevators
Electrical wiring
Televisions
Some medical equipment

When running cabling in a building, do so a few feet away from these devices. Never install data cabling in the same conduit as electrical wiring. In some cases, even certain types of businesses and environments have high levels of interference, including airports, hospitals, military installations, and power plants. If you install cabling in such an environment, consider using cables that are properly shielded, or use fiber optic cable.