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Road Runner owes you an apology.
 technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

T e c h n o f i l e
Q&A: Overheating PCs, Road Runner problems, the Bill Gates/WordPerfect myth and more


July 16, 2006


By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2006, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2006, The Post-Standard

   Computers are the bane of us all. Here's my latest Q&A based on questions e-mailed to me lately.
   
   After my computer is on and in use for a while it gets louder and louder. It seems like the fan inside is working overtime to cool it off. Any ideas? -- M.Q., via verizon.net.
   PCs sometimes run hot because dust, dirt and animal hair -- cat lovers, you know what I'm talking about -- get drawn into the inside of the case and block the computer's cooling vents. Unplug everything (including the power cord) and open the case. Some just snap open; others have screws. Vacuum out the case very carefully. Be sure to put the case back on before running the computer. The closed case directs cooling air to the right areas.
   If that doesn't help, check all the fans inside the case. There will be one built into the brick-like power supply and there should be at least one other one. Get the part number of any fan that seems to have failed and get a new one online. (Use www.froogle.com to locate a seller.)
   (And, yes, this is work you can do yourself. All you need is a screwdriver. And, no, you don't need to clean out a sealed case such as the ones Apple uses for its iMacs and the ones used for all laptop computers. If one of them runs hot, take it back to the store.)
   
   Road Runner gave me a new cable modem but it won't stay connected. Sometimes it drops the connection after a few minutes. Road Runner says the cable to my house is good so the problem must be my Mac. What do you think? -- R.M., via Road Runner
   I think Road Runner owes you an apology. Your problem is not the computer. It can't be. Cable modems are not affected by what they are connected to. In fact, you can leave a cable modem unhooked from your computer and it should run just fine.
   You can test your cable modem by disconnecting it from the computer and leaving it on and connected to the incoming cable. If it's bad, or if the line is bad, it will lose the connection just as surely as it did when it was connected all the way to your computer.
   Take the cable modem back to the Road Runner office and get another one. (There's no charge for this.) If you still lose the connection, Road Runner needs to test -- and fix -- your line.
   
   You wrote recently that Microsoft Word "is the best program of its kind that money can buy." You need to try WordPerfect. In fact, Bill Gates, the head of Microsoft, stole everything from the WordPerfect folks to create Word. He secluded a bunch of his henchmen with all relevant word processing programs of the time and told them to copy them, then installed it in all his computers so that he would control the market. You must have been paid by Bill Gates to further promote his version. -- P.R.S., via AOL
   I must have mislaid the check that Bill sent. But arguing over word processors is like arguing over religion. The only rejoinder to letters like this is to point out that nothing like this ever happened.
   
   Hooray! I had a CD stuck in my drive for a month, and then I finally read your remarks on how to get it out. Thank you! Do you have any other tips? S.L., via verizon.net.
   The stuck-CD trick involves a straightened paper clip. You poke it in the tiny hole in the faceplate of the drive and the disk will slide out. As for other tips, I have plenty. Go to my Web site at www.technofileonline.com and use the search form. Type TIPS and press Enter or Return.
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