Page 12 - June 2023 News On 7

Dr. Jim's Computer Repair
Jim Sanders TECH TALK

It is that time of month again. As always, I like to hit on issues or problems that have come through the door at Dr. Jim’s Computer Repair.
Over the last month there has been hard drives coming to the end of their lives (drives that are either slowing down or have a physical
problem). Those are fairly easy solutions. Replace the drive or upgrade the computer. In most cases replacing the hard drive is still much
cheaper than replacing the computer. The other issue I am seeing is overheating issues that damage the main board in the computer. In
this case it’s time to replace the computer all together. As for your data that is on the hard drive, that is still for the most part still safe and
retrievable. The most alarming issue that came in was an overheating laptop that had been placed on a bed for hours on end. The laptop
was fortunately the only loss in this situation. Laptops on beds have caused fires, so please do not ever do this. Get yourself a laptop stand if
you are prone to using your laptop in bed, this way it can cool properly and you limit your risks. One other oddity that came in was a laptop
that sustained heat damage as well but this time it was caused by Sulphur, the house it was in has Sulphur issues in the water and emits a
very strong odor in the air. The Sulphur actually attached the copper components in the laptop, eating away the cooling system in the
laptop causing an overheating issue that damaged the main board. This took a couple of years but it is the first time I had seen a chemical
reaction like that.
Take care of your electronics and get the most like out of them. With the Sulphur issue there is not a lot one can do about that but the
other we have full control. As always when in doubt you can always ask.
Until next time.
Jim @ Dr. Jim’s Computer Repair located at 392 Front St, Downtown Belleville.