*Does the happy dance*

[Rowan]

Every 3 months or so, you'd be well advised to pull all the components out and clean everything off with canned air. When you do it hold the fins of the cooling fans in place you you could burn out the bearings in them with the spray can.

I notice a lot of complaints about the power supplies. So, maybe in a year and 6 months you should replace it :p

[Josie]

Finally after 3 days of course due to the internet people not knowing what they were doing (or didn't care), I'm all set up. I know eMachines and Vista will be a hassle but at least I can fix one without spending another 500+ dollars.

[Mitera Nikkou]

I haven't done anything to clean mine in the two years that I've had it, though I've been considering taking a look inside since it's easy to see how fast things get dusty around here due to pet dander and the dust and pollen that's prevalent in my area. And I have no idea if there are a bunch of cockroach corpses in it or not. XD;;

I wonder if the power supply problem might have anything to do with how long people have their computers on. I know that some people prefer to have their computers on at all hours, in one capacity or another. I prefer to have my computer off when I won't be using it, which is when I sleep or the rare occasion when I leave the house. And I tend to turn my computer off in the event that it gets warm enough in the house for the fan to need to work harder. (You know, when I can actually hear the thing running.)

And I definitely have a surge protector. I won't hook anything up without one. I kind of suspect that the PS that died in the HP computer was due to the power surges when the air comes on, since the lights tend to dim/flicker when it does.

Josie:

You got Vista? I feel sorry for you. Is that $500+ going toward the hardware or the OS?

[Josie]

Hardware

EDIT!!!: I meant to say without...