I just got my Lenovo quad fixed and plugged back in so I will be able to see what a difference that computer will make to the points I complete. I hope to get back in the 125K points a day range. There was a lot of dust inside the box and that could result in enough heat to cause problems with the motherboard -- I will need to make sure I set a schedule for cleaning the boxes.

I use the big air compressor in the garage all the time. Just be careful to stop all fans with your fingers or with a straightened out paper clip while you are blowing on them (block them before you blow on them). They will over-spin if you don't. Also be very careful with little bitty fans. You can tear off blades if you are not careful. A final caution, watch for jumpers and do not blow them away. I have done this on literally hundreds of computers and only had a problem with one. -- that was a tiny fan on a video heatsync...and by the way small size does not mean small price

Was it the power supply?

MyOnlineTeam Daily Statistics for 02/01 - Active Members

Active team members report
==========================

                                                     Current          Points
Active member name            Rank      Change       Points        This Period
=========================     =====     ======     ===========     ===========
RT                                1          0     514,179,503         236,790
judson Somerville MD              2          0     210,812,361         226,046
GeraldRube                        3          0     204,587,910         107,831
Coingames                         4          0     105,107,959             835
xroule                            5          0      78,012,619         104,528
brown chris                       6          0      70,091,312          63,396
NiceMedTexMD                      7          0      58,720,299          17,496
parmesian                         8          0      52,811,676          45,361
dkt                               9          0      49,725,659          86,992
Vuj                              10          0      35,456,824          24,963
keithhenry                       11          0      32,783,288          17,439
darth_vader                      12          0      24,926,552          40,681
Fanie                            13          0      20,030,217           6,673
nl59056                          14          0      19,869,306           6,887
smcclarigan                      15          0      17,049,092          12,903
Tomwp                            16          0      16,705,546          31,989
lawrencehardin                   17          0      16,638,841          12,385
pramodp                          18          0      15,962,451             507
PohSoon                          19          0      13,449,448           9,632
largethunder                     20          0      10,206,672          22,415
Jonathon Wright                  21          0       7,454,384           6,948
SteelDragon                      22          0       7,073,083           6,539
Mechanical                       23          0       5,191,258           2,326
johng                            24          0       4,791,617               0
Bravehart                        25          0       3,937,456          11,171
jpenning                         26          0       3,722,545          25,669
Lanscader                        27          0       3,043,597          12,307
doright                          28          0       2,921,380          27,339
elpe                             29          0       1,996,689               0
CCH                              30          0       1,539,324               0
pauldarleen                      31          0       1,383,984           7,594
cht!                             32          0       1,185,494           5,297
Hintsala                         33          0       1,004,050           1,330
sz2000                           34          0         582,552             971
Harry de Swart                   35          0         432,658               0
sm217144                         36          0         136,506               0

Note: Active members are those who earned points in the prior 30 days.

Top Twenty active members returning points today:
01: RT - 236,790 points
02: judson Somerville MD - 226,046 points
03: GeraldRube - 107,831 points
04: xroule - 104,528 points
05: dkt - 86,992 points
06: brown chris - 63,396 points
07: parmesian - 45,361 points
08: darth_vader - 40,681 points
09: Tomwp - 31,989 points
10: doright - 27,339 points
11: jpenning - 25,669 points
12: Vuj - 24,963 points
13: largethunder - 22,415 points
14: NiceMedTexMD - 17,496 points
15: keithhenry - 17,439 points
16: smcclarigan - 12,903 points
17: lawrencehardin - 12,385 points
18: Lanscader - 12,307 points
19: Bravehart - 11,171 points
20: PohSoon - 9,632 points

Total points returned today: 1,183,240
Active members returning points today: 31
Average points per member active today: 38,169.0323

I know I thought the compressed air I bought seemed rather pricey for the amount of air provided (it worked out to about fifty cents per ounce of air). I think a lot of what anyone hears about getting dust out of a machine is geared to protecting the computer illiterate from themselves. You are dealing with electronics after all and there can be very little space between things. A bit of moisture or such could easily make for an undesired connection. Shorts are not usually a good thing when electronics are involved. Now, from my own experience, it's not open heart surgery either. With my laptop, the fan is on the corner with vents on two sides. Many times, I've just puckered up and blown in one side and watched dust come out the other. The fan seems to be the main site of dust with my laptop. Yes, it is better to shut it down and open it up (lift up or remove the keyboard) and give it a nice thorough cleaning. I've seen dusty looking residue on the fan blades even after cleaning with the compressed air. I chose to use the long flexible end of the small brush originally meant for cleaning an old razor. I could use it to very lightly (and carefully) brush off the individual fan blades. Fan blades always seem to be plastic so I presume them to have about the fragility of a piece of eggshell when cleaning. I've never tried using a vacuum cleaner brush though I do like the idea of using a vacuum cleaner. Blowing out dust with compressed air is a good thing but you want to make sure it doesn't settle back down on the machine. Using a vacuum to suck up the dust the compressed air blows out seems like a smart idea. I think with enough dust, it's possible for that by itself to short out electronics so that's probably part of the main reason behind the push to use compressed air. It's free of any kind of moisture and has enough force to dislodge the dust. I don't think a vacuum cleaner by itself would dislodge the dust effectively. The risk of using one of the cleaner's brush attachments is the size of the bristles and the stiffness. I guess it's possible for that to break a connection or component, especially on a machine with some age on it. With the compressed air, there's no physical contact with any part of the computer and if the force of the air is enough to break something, it's bound to have been something that a very light bump would have broken soon enough. Basically, if you can open up a computer where you can get to the innards without breaking something, you can probably clean the dust out without a mishap. Avoid physical contact as much as possible with the computer when removing dust. If you try cleaning off the fan blades, be very gentle. It's like anything else you do with a computer, if you've never done it before, it can make you hesitant. Take it slow and cautious the first time.