Static Electricity, the Silent Computer Killer              

Computer not booting, power light come on, fans are whirring the monitor on/off light turns from green to orange and signal not found appears and yet the computer fails to respond!

The chances are you have a build up of static electricity.

All of us are familiar with walking across a rug, reaching out to touch a doorknob, and getting zapped by a charge of static electricity, what's technically known as electrostatic discharge, or ESD. For most of us, it's annoying; for some, dangerous (fireworks and explosive makers have to take special precautions to avoid static sparks); and for the sensitive electronics inside a PC, static can be a computer-killer.

A little background: Static electricity is much more common than you might think, and most of it is created by a process called triboelectrification, when two materials touch (your fingers and your PC keyboard, for example) and then move apart or rub. Electrons are exchanged, and one object becomes electrically positive; the other electrically negative. When you touch another object with an opposite charge, or a ground (neutral charge), electrons flow.

Every time you plug a device into any computer system, static electricity can easily be transferred from any external device like the following examples.

Digital cameras, I pods, Mobile phones, mice, keyboards, flash memory sticks, external hard drives, speakers, network cables and the list goes on and on, basically if you need to plug it in, it can potentially cause damage.

Low humidity in the computers environment helps the computer to build up static electricity.  Central heating in homes is a major contributor of low humidity in the winter months as is air conditioning in the summer months.

The average person can carry up to 25,000 volts of static charge at any given time. This sounds like a lot, but because the current level is low, you usually won't notice it. Just because you touched the dog's nose and he didn't yelp, it doesn't mean you are safe from ESD.

Special care needs to be taken when working inside the computer system, to isolate static discharge. Wrist bands can be purchased that will give you a ground point, to discharge static as it builds up while working on the insides of a computer system. Anti static mats can be purchased to stand the computer on and any tools that you are using. Just putting your screwdriver down onto a worktop can cause static build up, which is then passed into the computer system.

To help keep static to a minimum, keep the computer off any carpets and rugs, always tell the computer that you are removing a USB device before pulling it out, keep the computer out of the cold and maintain humidity (Humidifiers are appropriate for this where there’s a lot of computers). Never work inside the computer without shielding yourself first. Please note: warranties will be voided by most companies if side panels removed on computer system. Keep it safe and let the experts fit your hardware devices, cheaper than buying a new computer at the end of the day.