Working on Computers

Part of the Repairing and Upgrading Your Computer series

Cracking open a PC for the first time can be quite daunting, but there is really no need to worry. There is nothing inside that will harm you, aside from sharp edges and diabolical spot welding (fortunately much reduced in recent years with the increased Surface Mount of electrical components). There is nothing inside that you risk damaging, assuming you take the few simple precautions detailed in this section.

Some PCs—especially those from big-box stores—have tamper proof stickers that warn you that the warranty is void if they are broken. This is not so much to protect them from your eagerness as it is to ensure you have to go back to them and pay their prices for upgrades. We advise people to break these seals if they need to, perform their own upgrades, and fight them later if they have a problem that should be covered by the warranty.

We have never heard of a warranty service being refused because of a broken seal, but there is always a first time. If you have a sealed PC that is still under warranty, the decision is yours. Note that some internal components, such as hard drives, are a special case. Breaking the seal on a hard drive destroys it and will undoubtedly void the warranty. And, unless you are qualified to do so, never open a power supply unit or a CRT monitor, or even an LCD screen. Dangerous voltages await you inside.

These issues aside, feel free to open your PC and tinker with it as you see fit. Far from forbidding you from working on your own PC, most online computer vendors expect you to perform your own upgrades and repairs. In fact, most of them will try very hard to ask you to perform your own repairs under warranty in order to avoid sending a technician to do them for you. The rest of this section explains the fundamental principles you need to understand to get started with upgrading and repairing your PC.

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