In this article we will discuss about how to clean the video card and the expansion cards. All the tiles on the board can be removed using the same process presented earlier, which was also related to how to clean a computer.
The first operation is removing the screw that secures the metal blade (on the side of the plate containing the sockets) of the metal frame of the board. A second operation is valid only for the video card. It is secured by a locking device called “AGP retainer” which is actually a plastic clamp positioned over a “hook”, located at the bottom of the video board. The result is in that the video board is locked by an AGP slot so that it does not get out of the slot with ease. The clip is usually white and has a small “handle” that you must press towards the outside of the board (not down) to release the blocked portion. When the clip reached the horizontal position (from the original vertical position), you can go to the next operation.
A third operation applies only to cards that have a connection cable and this cable is disconnected. For example, the network card has a small cable that is plugged in WOL (Wake on LAN) from the board. You have to get the small connector and pull it up and the cable will be disconnected easily.
The fourth operation is the removal of the plate from the slot and the grasping with both hands of the portion of the plate containing no electronic components.You might need to slightly force the card before you can fully get it out.
The drives are screwed in some bays, a structure of the metal casing behind the front panel. You need to loosen and remove the mounting of the screws, taking care not to lose them from your hand. They usually have some support slots which allow the units to fall when all screws are removed. There are also cases in which they do not have these slots, and so it is best to support with one hand the unit which is unscrewed, so that it cannot fall.
The hard drive and floppy disk drive must be pulled out of their pockets into the inside of the casing. If you do not know much of computers, this is shown to remember (or write down) somewhere on the computer back. The information presents which were the chambers in which the units were installed for subsequent refitting.
The base of the motherboard is fixed by screws to one of the several portions of the carcass. You need to loosen the screws and then lift the board and put one hand in a sheltered spot. The board is not fixed directly onto the frame and the screws actually enter some metal pieces called partitions, which are all also fixed by some screws. When replacing or cleaning the board, you must remember to check if these partitions are screwed into the housing, and if some are partially unscrewed. You may think that some are screwed and still they may be not and their little pieces may get you into trouble.
