I just wanted to post this to see if I had
a problem you would respond.

As an example; I'm afraid to open up the
computers and vacuum for fear something
may happen and I would need your help.

Thanks,
Robert

On 7/7/2023 8:51 PM, Robert in CA wrote:
> I just wanted to post this to see if I had
> a problem you would respond.
>
> As an example; I'm afraid to open up the
> computers and vacuum for fear something
> may happen and I would need your help.
>
> Thanks,
> Robert
>

AIOE is gone. Mixmin is gone. Netfront.net is gone (read-only).

I only have one server left, to reach this group.

Paul

On 11/07/2023 08:09, Paul wrote:
> On 7/7/2023 8:51 PM, Robert in CA wrote:
>> I just wanted to post this to see if I had
>> a problem you would respond.
>>
>> As an example; I'm afraid to open up the
>> computers and vacuum for fear something
>> may happen and I would need your help.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Robert
>>
>
> AIOE is gone. Mixmin is gone. Netfront.net is gone (read-only).
>
> I only have one server left, to reach this group.
>
>    Paul

Blocknews works just fine - and costs peanuts!

https://blocknews.net

Hello Paul,,

Thankfully, you responded!

I thought I would never hear from you again.
I did try Mixmin as you suggested awhile back
but couldn't get it to work but as you say it's
gone also. What about blocknews as suggested?

I don't have problems with the computers and I continue
to runs scans daily and do the mrimgs. (attached log) but
as I said I was afraid to open up the computers and vacuum
them with the mini-vacuum for fear something might happen
and I couldn't reach you for help.

https://postimg.cc/XGQhr8MY

So should I go ahead and do it?

Thanks,
Robert

Hello Paul,,

Thankfully, you responded!

I thought I would never hear from you again.
I did try Mixmin as you suggested awhile back
but couldn't get it to work but as you say it's
gone also. What about blocknews as suggested?

I don't have problems with the computers and I continue
to runs scans daily and do the mrimgs. (attached log) but
as I said I was afraid to open up the computers and vacuum
them with the mini-vacuum for fear something might happen
and I couldn't reach you for help.

https://postimg.cc/SjG1VqKY

So should I go ahead and do it?

Thanks,
Robert

On Tue, 11 Jul 2023 12:29:31 -0700 (PDT), Robert in CA
<magineer02@yahoo.com> wrote:

>
>Hello Paul,,
>
>Thankfully, you responded!
>
>I thought I would never hear from you again.
>I did try Mixmin as you suggested awhile back
>but couldn't get it to work but as you say it's
>gone also. What about blocknews as suggested?
>
>I don't have problems with the computers and I continue
>to runs scans daily and do the mrimgs. (attached log) but
>as I said I was afraid to open up the computers and vacuum
>them with the mini-vacuum for fear something might happen
>and I couldn't reach you for help.
>
>https://postimg.cc/SjG1VqKY
>
>So should I go ahead and do it?
>
>Thanks,
>Robert

Here's a page to read first.

https://superuser.com/questions/344811/safety-of-opening-a-psu

You can of course open the PSU, but you must observe some precautions.
First (obviously), unplug the unit. Leave it unplugged for 15 minutes
or so. In most PSUs there are bleeder resistors that will bleed down
the stored voltages inside over time BUT THERE ARE NO GUARANTEES!!

When you open the unit, understand that there are two hazards:

Stored high voltage (200V or so) on the "input" side of the unit.
Stored high currents (tens of amps) on the "output" side of the unit.

The high voltage represents an electrocution hazard. The high current
represents a burn hazard should something metal (such as your ring or
watchband) touch the wrong terminals.

If you just need to move/secure a loose wire, you should be able to do
that without touching any bare wires or terminals inside the box. If
necessary use an insulating stick (eg, a tongue depressor or
chopstick) to probe and move things around. Be wary of using something
like a pencil (the lead is conductive) or a ball-point pen (which has
a metal tip and often other metal parts). And, of course, screwdrivers
are almost always metal and a hazard inside.

Be sure to close the unit back up before you apply power again. It's
too easy to "jump ahead" and apply power with the unit open, then
"remember something" and reach inside the live unit without thinking.

Thanks for all the good advice and I appreciate it but I have opened
both computers many times but Paul understands my concern because
it seems when I do things I seem to get problems from nowhere. He's
helped me out many times in the past and designed my backup system
for me.

Thanks,
Robert

I know AIOE is gone because I saw your initial post
about it being down and never coming back. I tried
SeaMonkey recently just to check and you're right it's
down. Why is all this happening? What if this site goes
down as well ? How would we stay in touch in case I
needed help? or downloads,.. you know my history.

I may be naive but I thought there were lots of computer
forums like this where we could stay in touch?

As for blocknews I realized it's not feasible because I
would only use it for computer problems.

Thankfully, the computers are running well,...

Robert

On Tue, 11 Jul 2023 17:38:07 -0700 (PDT), Robert in CA
<magineer02@yahoo.com> wrote:

>I know AIOE is gone because I saw your initial post
>about it being down and never coming back. I tried
>SeaMonkey recently just to check and you're right it's
>down. Why is all this happening? What if this site goes
>down as well ? How would we stay in touch in case I
>needed help? or downloads,.. you know my history.
>
>I may be naive but I thought there were lots of computer
>forums like this where we could stay in touch?
>
>As for blocknews I realized it's not feasible because I
>would only use it for computer problems.
>
>
>Thankfully, the computers are running well,...
>
>Robert

I buy blocks of Usenet from sites which sell them.

I paid $25 for 90 gigabytes of Usenet usage some years back. I'm still
using it. They have well over 100,000 groups for access - reading and
posting, and that includes binary posts to music or pic groups, etc.

Paying a monthly fee is ridiculous for Usenet access.

I'm going to proceed and use my mini-vacuum
and do the 780 first then will do the 8500.

If I run into any problems I will let you know.

thanks,
Robert

On 7/11/2023 8:25 PM, Robert in CA wrote:
> Thanks for all the good advice and I appreciate it but I have opened
> both computers many times but Paul understands my concern because
> it seems when I do things I seem to get problems from nowhere. He's
> helped me out many times in the past and designed my backup system
> for me.
>
> Thanks,
> Robert
>

I don't think you're opening the PSU :-)
At least, I don't recollect you being
interested in what is inside there.

The rest of a computer case is low
voltage DC (ranging from -12V to +12V).

It's really hard to quantify the static discharge risk.

Static electricity can be created by both
sucking (vacuum) and blowing (Dust Off can).
The reason this is the case, is the dust,
when it travels over plastic surfaces,
does a bit of static charge transfer, and
that's how static electricity gets placed on
stuff.

An ESD vac hose, provides a 1 megohm conductive
path to ground, and this acts to slow the
discharge rate, if the hose touches plastic
which is charged.

Paul

On 7/12/2023 3:05 AM, Robert in CA wrote:
> I'm going to proceed and use my mini-vacuum
> and do the 780 first then will do the 8500.
>
> If I run into any problems I will let you know.
>
> thanks,
> Robert
>

If at some point I stop responding, then that would
be my last path to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general breaking...

Paul

Correct, I'm not opening the PSU, just cleaning the
inside of the case. Very carefully.

I did the 780 and I have to admit I was a little
disappointed in the mini-vacuum. It didn't have
much suction as I thought it would but it did a
OK job on the grilles and hard to reach areas.
I tried to not touch any surface except once to
use the brush attachment.

I did try and clean the fan blades and used my
paint brush and q-tips dipped in simple green to
remove the bigger dust pieces. I also cleaned the
back panel. After I was done I reconnected it and
powered it up to make sure all was well.

I will be extra careful with the 8500 tomorrow and
let you know how it goes.

I understand, but I sure would hate to loose contact.
You've helped me allot in the past! I hope you keep
responding, especially if I have a problem or need to
replace the PSU at some point with one of my spares.
Thankfully, we took care of the start button. That was
an elegant solution.

p.s. btw it has nothing to do with the computer but remember
my cassette deck with the hinged door that wouldn't open?
Well, I was messing around with it trying to set the time/tuner
etc and hit the sleep button by accident and it opened up! So
the 'Open' button must be faulty.

Many thanks for all your good help
Robert

I cleaned the 8500; it was pretty dirty and took some time but
the mini-vac did an excellent job cleaning it. I also did the back
panel with all the connections. Then reconnected it and powered
it up to see if all was well.

It started with no problems or issues and is pretty quiet and everything
is working normally.

I did have one question,. even if you loose your server that connects to
https://groups.google.com/g/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
could you not still check the site and post? That's what I've done since
AIOE and all the rest went down.

Why are they all folding? Does this have something to do with Twitter,
Facebook, MSM ? Who owned AIOE ?

Anyways, all is well and the computers seem to be OK

Many thanks,
Robert

Paul,

Please respond.

Thanks,
Robert