my geriatric Mac
Hard to believe, but it's been five years since I bought my current Mac, and those years are starting to tell. My computer, which has been a champion machine for me in general, has begun freezing up -- something that Macs in general, and this one in particular, simply aren't supposed to do. Once it freezes up, the only thing I can do is a hard reboot; this usually succeeds in restarting the machine, but the time until the next freeze gets progressively shorter, until eventually I just snarl something unprintable and have to leave the machine off for a while.
I've researched a bit, tweaked settings and applications a bit, and have some diagnostics yet to run, but my gut instinct at this point is that it's an overheating issue. The OS has been upgraded since the original purchase, and the fan in this model has a bit of a reputation for not coping well with increased demand on the drive and CPU. There are a few measures I can try, on the assumption that it's a heating problem: add an external fan, and install a utility that lets me ramp up the speed of the internal fan. But one thing I'm really wondering about, is the dust issue.
Our apartment manufactures dust. The wallpaper in the bedroom and the study is 20+ years old, and slowly disintegrating into a fine substance that gets everywhere; it reappears as quickly as we can remove it with swiffers and the vacuum cleaner. The study in particular, given its concentration of electronics and old books, represents a constant (losing) battle with the dust bunnies. After five years, I'm sure the Mac has ingested far more of the stuff than is healthy for it.
In the good old days, I would simply have cracked the case and blown out the dust. But, this model of Mac is more complicated to open up than I wish to mess with, given my current stressload and lack of funds to fix/replace if something goes horribly wrong in the process.
I've come across a suggestion to apply a vaccum device to the intake and exhaust vents, but am wondering if this represents a greater danger from static electricity than the dust warrants. Anyone have an opinion to share on the matter?
I've researched a bit, tweaked settings and applications a bit, and have some diagnostics yet to run, but my gut instinct at this point is that it's an overheating issue. The OS has been upgraded since the original purchase, and the fan in this model has a bit of a reputation for not coping well with increased demand on the drive and CPU. There are a few measures I can try, on the assumption that it's a heating problem: add an external fan, and install a utility that lets me ramp up the speed of the internal fan. But one thing I'm really wondering about, is the dust issue.
Our apartment manufactures dust. The wallpaper in the bedroom and the study is 20+ years old, and slowly disintegrating into a fine substance that gets everywhere; it reappears as quickly as we can remove it with swiffers and the vacuum cleaner. The study in particular, given its concentration of electronics and old books, represents a constant (losing) battle with the dust bunnies. After five years, I'm sure the Mac has ingested far more of the stuff than is healthy for it.
In the good old days, I would simply have cracked the case and blown out the dust. But, this model of Mac is more complicated to open up than I wish to mess with, given my current stressload and lack of funds to fix/replace if something goes horribly wrong in the process.
I've come across a suggestion to apply a vaccum device to the intake and exhaust vents, but am wondering if this represents a greater danger from static electricity than the dust warrants. Anyone have an opinion to share on the matter?