I'm not kidding when I say that I like to fix things. I love the idea that I - some rando Cartoonist with little to no actual training - can, in a pinch, crack open my laptop and poke around with a high degree of knowing what all does what. And in the case of making it work correctly, I know what to get and where to look to help me accomplish that goal.
Despite living at a time when that shouldn't be an amazing skill to have... here we are. o.O
Right now, I have two systems on my plate that work (to an extent) that I need to diagnose and hopefully fix. The Art Desk system is cutting out on me at random. My best guess is it's a heat thing. The only things I did to it when I got it was blow out the innards of the used office PC and swap out the front fan for something that didn't sound like screaming death.
What I Didn't do was re-apply thermal paste to the CPU. -.-
Something folks who might want to get into building/rebuilding/rehabbing older and/or used computers is cleaning the processor of any old thermal paste (or thermal grease if that's what you call it) and adding something fresher than what's on it.
My Art Desk system is "old". Probably about a decade or so? I'm not sure, honestly. What matters is, depending on how much abuse it took in its former life, it's a safe bet the stuff on the CPU isn't "Thermal Paste" anymore so much as it's "Cement that holds the Heat in". A good scrub and a little fresh paste and things should be back to abnormal.
The other system that needs help is my little Dell netbook. I have a feeling that I didn't install the tiny ribbon cable for the mousepad right and it just has a habit of cutting out. Unlike the Art Desk system, this is more of an inconvenience than anything else. Not a big fan of having to use keyboard shortcuts to reset the system so stuff functions again. -.-
Still! The fact that I can even do this is pretty great. The Art Desk system is an easier fix as it's parts that are still available. That Dell though... that's a picky little limited run business netbook that's hard to find Anything for nowadays. Once I can't do anything for it, it's a paperweight. To almost anyone else, both systems would be trashed. They'd be replaced with some newer ones that probably don't have the same chances these two have to repair them as that's how Tech seems to be leaning these days...
Anyhoo! I'm off to hopefully do another Drawlloween pic and maybe get in some stretches if I can swing it. I promise nothing but I'm going to Attempt to do my usual Poster Parody for Halloween. Probably not going to make it but Hey! It's always worth a shot.
Remember: Stay Safe. Wear a Mask if you need to. Get vaccinated if you can. Get a booster if you're already good on all that. And remember to keep your head up.
'Till next time! = )
*Poof*