Hi Ann,I had the same problem last night and found that things just needed a clean.The keyboard can be tricky but you will find that the tops of the keys lift off so that you don't have to squeeze between them. The standard cleaning kit is perfect, but be sure you get the type with the cleaning foam.While you are doing it, it wouldn't be a bad idea to clean the monitor, a layer of dirt can significantly reduce the visual clarity of the display.Don't open up the machine yourself, but if you can get an engineer to work on it, you will probably find a layer of dust inside. It does the computer no good at all, and the thermal insulation that it gives to the components is definitely bad. A small vacuum cleaner is used to suck up this dust layer.You probably know about the CHKDSK/F command, which deals with any lost cluster problems that you might have. But you probably didn't know that there is another command that you should use every now and then, CHKDSK/R. The hard disk rotates inside its sealed unit; internal lint from the filter builds up inside, and the filter gradually becomes clogged. The CHKDSK/R command makes the disk rotate counter-clockwise, so that this lint is pulled off the filter and ejected out of the small holes that you can see in the drive. Of course, to do this, you don't even need to remove the computer's cover. It's also worth doing this on floppy disks that have been in use for a long time, as the nap on the internal cleaning jackets needs fluffing up occasionally, in order to perform properly.There is also a command that you should use to refresh the character set on the monitor. You may have noticed that as time goes by, the characters on the screen start to appear slightly worn, rather like the old metal type faces did. You can refresh the character set that the PC uses, by downloading a copy from the BIOS, using the command MODE REFRESH (some versions of DOS or the Windows virtual DOS box do not have this useful facility).You have probably already fitted a new toner in your printer when the print quality demands it. But you might find that the print quality deteriorates faster than it used. To fix this problem, you need to make it easier for the PC to send bytes of printout to the printer, which you can do by applying a little Prafol Oil (available from Inmac or Misco or PC World, and make sure that it is genuine Prafol Oil, not some inferior substitute) to the printer cable. This lowers the resistance of the cable to transmitting characters, which means that the printer will be crisper. I've heard it said that it also speeds up the printer, but that's just an old wives tale.Your mouse should be cleaned occasionally. If you turn it over, you'll find a compartment that slides open to reveal a small rubber ball. Blow inside to clean out any dust, and wipe the ball over with a dry paper tissue to remove any dirt, before reassembling it. If you find that the ball is excessively worn, you should replace it. If you have a modem, that needs regular tuning up too, otherwise the internal contacts can become increasingly noisy, which shows up on your screen as square root characters and curly brackets. If you are seeing an excessive number of these characters, you should treat this as a warning from your modem. Unfortunately, it is a bit complicated to deal with.First, you have to prepare a text file that consists of square root signs (character 251, which you can generate by holding down the Alt key and pressing 2,5,1 on the numeric keypad) and { characters, alternately. Then you should upload this file to whatever online services you regularly use; doing this in effect purges the modem, and it will give you a better service in future. This procedure is called the Far I/O Poll, and you'll find it described in greater detail in your modem manual. In extreme cases, you could apply a little Prafol Oil to the modem cable, easing the passage of the bytes between the serial port and the modem. But you should be sparing in your application; too much Prafol Oil and you could clog up the tiny apertures inside the cable, which are only wide enough for one bit at a time to pass through (printer cables are more robust, since they are eight bits wider).If you are using logged on to the network there is another thing to think about but it's not as bad as it could be if we were using a thin-wire Ethernet Lan. You probably know that inside the cable there is a permanent standing wave, which is modulated by the interface cards to impose a signal on the cable. This continuous standing wave is reflected back into the cable by the end-pieces at each end, and a thin wire Ethernet cannot function without them. But the constant impact of the standing wave bouncing back and forth between the end-pieces gradually wears them down, and they should be replaced each year, to keep your Lan at peak performance. A touch of Prafol Oil on the endpieces is a good idea, because you can rely on the standing wave to pull it down the cable.You don't get this problem with Token Rings, of course, since a ring doesn't have ends. But you do get a different problem. There is only one token on the ring, you see, and it is used continuously to signal the usage of the Lan. The token gradually wears out, and the Tech Ref manual recommends replacing it once per year - again, Inmac or Misco will be able to provide new ones (IBM part number 3495837). It is important NOT to use Prafol Oil on the token; that would make it too slippery for the cards to capture it.Finally, the processor inside the machine needs to be cleaned out of any surplus bytes, otherwise the build-up over the year can cause a noticeable degradation in performance. Fortunately, all PC BIOSes have a built in routine for doing this essential maintenance. This is triggered by setting the time to 11:59:59 and the date to 04-01-2005 (US format, of course).FINALLY AND MOST IMPORTANT – THIS CLEANING SHOULD ONLY BE CARRIED OUT ON THE FIRST OF APRIL.
David Johnson ● 7452d