Solved: CPU Temperature?? Dust??

The compressed air will not remove grease or smoke stains. In fact, only a new paint coat will cover the smoke stains.

You shouldn't really have your computer in a space where there is little air circulation.

Heat can and will damage components. However, it is most likely that all you have inside the base unit (correct term) is a lot of dust.

So, if you remove your computer from the kitchen, and take it to a space where the case can be taken apart then, use the compressed air. Becareful when you use the compressed air, because there are little connectors and or jumpers inisde that could be disconnected by high pressure air, so just use common sense and spray only things like fans and area's that you can see have nothing that can easily be moved.

Once you have blown the dust away that you can see, then get the vaccume and clean out the remainder that you cannot see.

Turn the visisble fans to see if they move smoothly or are stiff. If they are the latter, then they will either need repairing, or replacing. Replacing is better. To do this you need to buy the correct size fans, especially for the processor itself (cpu).

Please note......ONLY attempt the above procedure, if you are confident in your own ability. Always make any modifications to your computer with the power OFF. Never take it apart with it powered up. I know you know this, but there are quite a lot of people that do damage their systems by not powering it down to dismantle.

As for taking it apart, the case, if it is fairly modern, (last 2 years) should have 2 sides..really, only one side needs to be removed for the above work.

If it is a tower, or midi, ie it stands up, then if you look at the back of the computer, where all the cables are, the cover to the right, is the one that you need to remove, in most cases.

Well, I hope this has been of help to you.

Pictures are worth a thousand words.

The last picture "video-dust.jpg" causes ALOT of grief because your aswesome 3D video card can't breathe and locks up the video when that much dust is around the video card fan....

The other pictures are CPU dust examples...Post your picture, we want to SEE.... ;-)

WOW! Thanks to EVERYONE for all the help! I printed everything out... even the pictures!
To AcaCandy... Thanks for letting me know about the hot water thing... I was upstairs filling the bathtub... Boy, that was too close!
In all seriousness, I've checked every manual that came with my computer. NO WHERE does it tell me to take it apart and clean it! As for keeping it in the kitchen, I have no choice about it. I live in a tiny townhouse and space is limited. Would a small fan above or behind my CPU help?
I just ran out and bought 3 cans of Memorex Air Duster, Kensington Media Guardian CD Cleaner, 50 new CD's and a Memorex CD/DVD Laser Lens Cleaner. I can't seem to get the lens cleaner to work in my CD-RW Drive (E).
My question is this... does my computer only have one laser lens for both the CD-R (D) and the CD-RW drives?
I ran the cleaner disk through the CD-R (D) Drive and it supposedly cleaned the lens. When I put the disk in my E drive... it just keeps blinking.
Any ideas?
I have one other problem that just started yesterday. When I boot-up, right before my Desk Top appears, I get a quick message box that says something about "Unable to restart Integrator... Try rebooting and if that doesn't work seek technical assitance." It flashes off so fast, I can't really read the whole thing.
I only see it on start-up.
I hope my questions aren't too silly... I'm "older"... computers weren't even invented when I was in school. So, a lot of this stuff is Greek to me!!
THANKS AGAIN for being so helpful and kind!
babs

As long as the cd cleaner has been placed in the cdrw drive, it should still clean the lense. Each CD/DVD/CDR/CDRW drive will have their own independant lenses and lasers.

I do not know what the error message you have means, but you could run scandisk to determine if there are any errors on the hard drive. You can access scandisk by going into start/programs/accessories/system tools and choosing scandisk. under windows 98.

It may require you to be in safe mode when you run scandisk.

To get to safe mode, as the computer starts, press the F8 key, and a list of options should appear. You need to choose safe mode, and then the computer will go to safe mode. After the system has booted, you should see the words SAFE MODE in each corner of the screen. This is windows diagnostic state.. Where you can run defrag and scandisk and other inbuilt diagnostics.

Most manufactorers won't tell you how to take your system apart, because it isn't an every day done thing really. And you should only attempt it, if you are absoloutely sure of your own ability. Because, you could make the problems you have worse if you are not careful However, if you use common sense things should be ok.

If after you have taken the case side off, and removed all the dirt/dust, there is still some on the fans, you can use a soft brush to clean the blades.

Hi fellas!
I'm babs... the member that started this whole thing. I can tell by reading all your replies that you're ALL very knowledgeable about this stuff. Maybe the lot of you can help me before I commit suicide!
Three days ago I started having problems with my CD-RW Drive... and a few other things like slow loading, getting disconnected, etc. So I tried to download a Windows Update. I'm really stupid about these things so I was afraid to download all the updates that Windows "suggested". Anyway, my problems got 1000 times worse. I decided to update my virus protection. I downloaded Norton 2004 @ $39.95... ran it and cleared the problems found. My system is still not working. I have SPYBOT which I run often. I went to the Spybot site and found a link to this Tech Guy site. I first listed my CD-RW problem under Other Software. It was suggested that I get a laser lens cleaner CD. I did ($10), and no luck! I bought new disks and a disk cleaner too ($35). While reading a million threads, I thought my problem might be a dirty CPU... hense, this thread came about. I bought 3 cans of compressed air ($40) to clean my CPU... which I have not as yet done.
My question to all you Dirt Experts is this...
Could dirt be causing my problems with my CD-RW drive?
I have a Gateway Pentium III with Windows ME which is about 3 years old.
I've been using Adaptec Direct CD for almost a year without any problems.
Now, it will not even format a disk for me.
ANY IDEAS?
I ran that CD cleaner CD ... my computer read the info from my E drive okay.
I've uninstalled and installed the Adaptec Direct CD and the Adaptec Easy CD 3 times.
While browsing these threads, I saw an ad for FREE PC Bug Doctor. I clicked it and downloaded the scan. The Bug Doctor found 182 problems (That was the FREE part... finding them). To get my machine cleaned up, I had to pay $39.95. I figured that this site would only refer members to reputable sites so I paid it! Well, it cleaned up the 182 problems, but not the one I was having.
Now I'm up to about $140 spent trying to fix this CD-RW drive. I'm unemployed and broke. Is there anyone out there that is willing to help me through this? ALL THE WAY till it's fixed? I know I'm asking alot, but my situation is kind of desperate. All my pictures are on CD's... I'm selling my personal belongings on eBay to pay the bills, so I NEED THOSE PICTURES. Plus, I can't afford to buy more memory to be able to store them on my hard drive.
If your best advice is to unplug the damn thing and haul it up to COMP USA... that's what I'll do. I can't afford it, but I guess I can't afford not to either if no one out there can help.
I'm not stupid... I can learn! I just need instructions in simple terms that a "child" could understand. I'm GREAT ast following directions!
WELL, THAT's about it! ANY VOLUNTEERS?
babs