Iceland volcanic ash and my PC

[David McNally]

On Mon, Apr 19, 2010 at 5:09 AM, axel <uraliin.asti at btinternet.com> wrote:
> Greetings!
>
> I run a Dell Inspiron 1501 with Ubuntu 8.04. and I live in London where
> the air pollution is so bad you dont need to smoke to be a candidate for
> all kind of breathing problems.
>
> About a year ago I had a Dell Service Tech replace the Dell PC fans ,
> filters and a few other bits and pieces : due to the fact that the PC
> was crashing due to high Temperature.
> His recommendation was to blow high pressure purified air into fan
> intakes.
>
> Further reading on the subject , I found the opposite opinion :that was
> the last thing you should do, as it blows all the dust inwards...past
> the filters and into the system.
> i.e. in other words the remedy lies in using a vacuum cleaner and point
> it at the fan intakes.
>
> Now with all this ash coming my way...
>
> I would appreciate your thoughts on the subject,
> Cheers,
> Axel.
>
>
> --
> ubuntu-users mailing list
> ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com
> Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users
>

Hi! I don't really have much experience with this, but in my
experience the best thing to do if dust gets in your computer is to
just open the hardware, and shoot purified air into it with the
machine open. That's probably better than shooting the dust into the
computer.

However, the ash from the Icelandic volcano probably isn't going to
mess with the computer that much. The ash is at very high altitudes,
and probably won't really affect you much at all. If you are nervous
about getting ash inside your computer, then don't take the computer
outdoors until the ash passes. If you do have to take it outside, put
it in a messenger bag or briefcase or something that will cover it
from the ash. I don't know if you usually use your computer outdoors,
but you probably don't want to try it (the weather won't be that nice
anyway).

But really, the ash is so high up, you probably won't need to worry
about it. It most likely won't really affect you that much (unless
you're planning to travel on an airplane, in which case you're
screwed). And as Nils said, even if this could hurt your computer,
your own health is probably more important.

David

-- 
David McNally
david3333333 at gmail.com
Linux Kernel 2.6.31-17-generic