we have an open port in the front of tower with no cover so sometimes there seems to be a lot of air pollutents getting inside, should i take the whole thing apart and blow it out? and what is the ideal temp for the CPU to be running at? what are some of the best FREE anti spy, anti virus software prorams i should run til i get the new Norton?
129812
A computer can be in real trouble if dirty. From what it sounds like, you need to take off the cover, take it OUTSIDE and use a can or two of air on it. I have seen CPU heatsinks clogged solid, fires almost starting in Power Supplies and who knows what else from dirt build up. The freezing could be from overheating alone. Make sure the fans work. A CPU should not run over 55 or 60C.\nGet some masking tape to cover up the port and try to blow it out every few months.
531686
Hi there,\n\nInstead of all these "Mine is better than yours" answers that go on around here, I'll instead answer with the facts.\n\nYes, Norton IS a good PC security program.  It has been known to slow down people's PCs as it can be resource intensive, but if it's having no ill-effect on yours then I wouldn't worry.\n\nAlso, please ignore people who recommend AVG and Avast. Looking at current protection ratings, AVG scores a lowly 90% protection against all known viruses, whilst Avast comes in at 92%. This means they are letting through one in every ten viruses - pretty shocking. Norton on the other hand is protecting against something like 98.3% of all known viruses - a much better score.\n\nIf you would be interested in other Security products that are better than Norton, you should try either Prevx1, Kaspersky or F-Secure who all score over a 99% protection rating.
666401
Norton slow down the  performance of the PC. However you could try the steps in the link below to increase the performance of the PC.\n\nhttp://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/genericDocument?cc=us&docname=bph06569&lc=en&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN
546519
Depending on what kind of games you play especially if they are really graphic intense it will raise the temp in your pc even so with photo editing.  The type of programs use a lot of system resources.  As long as your cpu doesnt go over 50 to 55C it should be ok. As far as cleaning dust out of your pc it is a must b/c it doesn't allow your components to dissapate heat the way they should.  And as for the thermal grease(thermal interface material).  Some TIMs you can buy are non-conducive so if it leaks onto a component it will not damage it.  Try removing the old TIMs on your processor and heatsink.  Lap and polish both surfaces to make them smooth and then apply the new TIMs.  TIMs are fairly inexpensive (around10-15 dollars at radio shack)  And do a general search on lapping and polishing.  TIMs that manufacturers are usually pretty cheaply made and you can cool your processor quite a bit by doing this.  Check out www.computerpoweruser.com
460659
Look around on your mainboard's installation cd if your computer came with one, or go to the site for your mainboard.  They often have a utility for monitoring your cpu and case fan speeds, given in a choice of F or C.\n\nBut be aware that devices that you want to monitor for temps must have some kind of hardware attached to them that does the measuring - main boards come with this for cpu and one or more of the fans, but not for the other things you mention.
177471
Sounds like you bonked something opening it up and the power supply got messed up. I was trying to work on an old Gateway and the motherboard started to smoke :0, guess some computers weren't made to open up.
98638
I've tried several anti-viruses, because i wasn't happy at all with them. If I take it as an anti-virus than I would say Norton is the best, but in my opinion it sucks your memory and integrates itself everywhere. Then there is Bit-defender. I liked it, but the fact is it updates itself too often, and the bad thing about it is that it restarts itself. And this can be very annoying for 2 reasons: firstly during the restart you are unprotected (for about 2-3 secs), and secondly if it updates during a system scan, than the scan will stop; and this is very annoying when you have a big and full hard-drive which needs more time to be scanned. \nI'v also tried McAfee. It's firewall is pretty good, but it lacks on the virus part. Simply it did not find some of them.  The same thing is the problem with Nod32 or AVG. I now use a trial version of PC-Cillin, and for now it's OK. You could also try Kaspercy (I haven't tried it yet) but I heard it's pretty could. \nSo my answer is, that all anti-virus and firewall softwares are pretty good, and they can all protect the avarage user. \nI'll let you decide which one suites you the best. ;)
10114
I think there is some problem with your fan. I am using computer in bangladesh without AC and sometime in summer I run my computer for 3 to 4 hours without any problem. Consult with your vendor and if you are covered with warranty claim co change your CPU fan.
346828
Make sure that nothing is impeding the ability of your system to cool itself.  Putting the back of it just one inch from the wall is probably going to let it overheat quickly.  If you have software that lets you read the system's internal thermometers, you might want to check them.\n\nIf the computer is further than an inch away but still pretty close, try putting it at an angle to the wall, so the hot hair does not largely bounce back into the computer.\n\nSee if you have the latest drivers for your video card, and for MS-Windows.  Out of date drivers, especially graphics ones, can cause serious problems.  On MS-Windows, graphics is done right in the core - the "kernel" of the OS.\n\nThe problem with that is, flakey graphics drivers can pretty much crash your machine.  Do a lot of graphics, you increase the risk and decrease the time that it will take before this happens.\n\nCheck your installed version of DirectX versus the one required by the game(s).\n\nAnother possibility is that maybe you have the bad capacitors problem.\n\nIf you want to determine if it is a software vs. hardware/firmware problem, set up your PC to run Linux.  You can either install Linux in a "dual-boot" configuration, or you can get a Linux Live CD for some popular distribution (Ubuntu, Fedora, etc.)\n\nThen just run some Open/GL 3D graphics benchmarking utilities or games.  If it crashes after 10 minutes, that points to your graphics card itself, or its firmware.\n\nIf it continues to run then that points to something on the MS-Windows operating system (the OS, DirectX, or video device driver) being the problem.  If that is the case, then you might want to address those to make sure they are up-to-date.  Or, you could simply get lots of free, open source games on LInux and have fun there.\n\nWhen checking for up to date drivers, don't just rely on MS Windows Update.  Check the manufacturer's website.
287541
That might blow dust into your CPU.\n\nI do not think the performance of your computer is because of the fan. It is probably a coincidence.\n\nTry going into your task bar and see what else is running that might be slowing you down.
282048
some application that is running and then refuses to close down on its own when you shut your computer shuts down, if you want it to stop happening, run msconfig.exe and then uncheck it in the start up menu, if it doesnt start up it cant be forced to close down, if its some crap you need for your comp to run well then , kill yourself and blow up your computer at the same time cuz i dunno
580576
put it in a warmer room.....just kidding go to www.housecall.trendmicro.com and have it scan for virus's but before you do that. Go to My Computer and do a left mouse click on the C:&#92; drive (icon) select (find) and type in *.tmp...delete any files tha have the .tmp extension also empty out your trash.\nAlso check and see how much drive space you have,,may be getting low...\nhope this helps
443652
See if it's possible to close or cover the vent with something.  Some hardware stores have magnetic covers or screw in shields that redirect the airflow.  \n\nIf you have building maintenance, bring the problem up to them and/or your manager.  This will impact your health if more drastically if it continues.  You could even see about having management set & lock the thermostat control.\n\nYou could also ask that the AC be turned down or off in the morning and then turned on later as the heat of the day rises ... to save money for the company.\n\nYou could speak to him in a very direct fashion about it and try to come to a compromise.  You could also get to work early and set the thing then crazy glue it in place or remove the dial (but, I would talk to management before defacing company property).\n\nEvery time you come back to your desk, change the temp back.  \n\nKeep a sweater or pull over at work, don't bother carting it back & forth home.  Lastly, bring in a space heater - fight Ice with Fire.\n\nGood Luck!
265565
You might be spiking the CPU due to heat caused by dust build up in the computer. Take the cover off and clean the fans and blow the dust out with canned air. Leave the cover off and turn it on and see if it spikes. Make sure the CPU fans is running to keep it cool. If it doesn't spike put the cover back on and see what happens. If it spikes after the cover is on, then get better ventilation around the computer. If you or anyone using it smokes or it's located near the kitchen, you will need to use alcohol and a qtip and clean the surface of all the chips.\n\nIn none of that works, turn off all programs that run from startup. If this stops the spiking you will need to turn on each program one at a time to find the one that's causing the problem.\n\nTo get to the start up menu: START>RUN>type MSCONFIG and click OK>select the startup tab. Everything with a check is running from startup. You can either uncheck one at a time and restart to see if it was that program or uncheck all and then do one at atime that way. Remember you will have to restart after each one. This takes time.\n\nAfter all this, you do not need to run all the programs from startup. This will help it run faster and cooler by not running programs that are not needed to run all the time.
230291
50C is 112F. That's pretty warm for the interior of the box but not really too hot for the CPU itself. Install another fan at every possible location on the box. Two on the back is good plus one in the power supply. Make sure the air has some place to go, don't block the vent. Also make sure there are places on the front for air to get in. You want air going from front to back, quickly and a lot of it. Reposition the cables inside the unit to prevent air blockage.
70980
Ideally there are 3 fans in the computer: The SMPS (power supply) fan, the Chassis fan, the Processor fan.\nSome computers with some external AGP graphic cards have an additional fan on the card.\n\nAll the fans in the computer have to run (That is as silently as possible) in order to save the system from over-heating.\nThe SMPS fan has to run so that the power supply remains cool.\nThe Chassis fan has to run to keep the motherboard and other components cool.\nThe Processor fan has to run to keep the processor, which is very expensive, from melting.\n\nIf any of these is making a noise (if thats what you mean by run a lot) then check if there is something bocking its way. Or else, its time to change it.\n\nIf its a branded OEM computer (Dell, HP, Gateway, etc) get them to do it under warranty.\nFor all other systems, get a local tech to the job.\nYou can also do it yourself, if you can do a good job with a screw driver and a set of cables.\n\nHope thats what you were looking for.
286043
This may seem a bit obvious, but have you cleaned out all the dust and dirt inside of the power-supply? Or, have you ever done this...Although the outside will look clean, the inside looks like the inside of a vacuum cleaner...Use compressed air to clean out all the dust and dirt. (off the fans, memory, etc) This will help the computer get rid of heat much more efficiently...Because all the dust and dirt acts like a blanket and holds in all the heat...When the computer reaches critical temps then it will shutdown to save it from burning up...