PC Cleanup

[John K Jordan]

Sounds like I should send you a spare generator instead!

The Internet connection (ONT and router/Mesh AP) are on UPS. Priorities, my friend. But the sump pump here at the new house doesn't have backup and that meant about 5" of water in the basement. Any longer outage and the HVAC system would have been at risk. I truly miss the generator right now...as Professor Dr. SWMBO mentioned to our younger daughter last night who is still living at the old property, "It was really nice having power during a power outage". Indeed.

Yea, a lot of the HP and Dell and other brand systems aimed at consumers come with a lot of "stuff" on them...the third parties apparently pay decent money for that...and the OEM setup for Windows incorporates the "bloat" install, too, for unwary buyers of Windows machines. I take a "just say no" approach during setup. I feel zero need for anything third party other than the browser of choice...Windows firewall and AV is just fine, IMHO.

[Jim Becker]

We'll have a whole house generator here at some point, John...'have to deal with selling the old property first and then make some other decisions. We're missing that big-time here, while darling daughter is enjoying the benefits at the old place with that 15 second changeover.

[Curt Harms]

the screws holding the SSD in place are very tiny and easy to lose....I had one flip onto the floor and I had to look very carefully to find it.

I've gone through that recently. Yes that screw is small. I used a couple tricks. One was to stick a 1/2" magnet on the screw driver shaft. That induces some magnetism in the screw driver bit. Installing an NvME drive in a tower case that wasn't enough. After dropping that tiny screw a few times I cut a scrap of paper about 1/2" X 2". Made a hole near one end with a straightened paper clip, stuck the screw through said hole. Now I had a handle to hold that tiny short screw. Once the screw started I just pulled the paper out and tightened the screw. You can buy those screws on Ebay & Amazon, I bought a few to keep on hand.

[John K Jordan]

I've gone through that recently. Yes that screw is small. I used a couple tricks. One was to stick a 1/2" magnet on the screw driver shaft. That induces some magnetism in the screw driver bit. Installing an NvME drive in a tower case that wasn't enough. After dropping that tiny screw a few times I cut a scrap of paper about 1/2" X 2". Made a hole near one end with a straightened paper clip, stuck the screw through said hole. Now I had a handle to hold that tiny short screw. Once the screw started I just pulled the paper out and tightened the screw. You can buy those screws on Ebay & Amazon, I bought a few to keep on hand.

Wiping a strong magnet on the shaft, moving from a couple of inches from the end and continuing until the magnet is off the end, will magnetize most screwdrivers. There are tools for magnetizing/demagnetizing, have one but never use it: https://smile.amazon.com/Delcast-Mag.../dp/B00PBCDRN4

If all else fails, soften a spec of beeswax between your fingers and press it onto the top of the screw.

JKJ