Safety Precautions

Summary: This article provides information about basic safety precautions that users must take before you access the internals of a computer or electrical equipment. Find information about how to protect against electrostatic discharge (ESD), prevent electrostatic damage to the components, and safety precautions when lifting electronic equipment.

Protection Against Electrostatic Discharge (ESD)

Original products that have the CE marking are designed and tested for immunity to international Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) standards. While these products have been designed and determined to be compliant with standard levels for ESD, there may be situations, such as low humidity levels, that can exacerbate ESD event occurrence.

Electrostatic discharge (ESD) events can harm electronic components inside your computer. Under certain conditions, ESD may build up on your body or an object, such as a peripheral, and then discharge into another object, such as your computer. To prevent ESD damage, you should discharge static electricity from your body before you interact with any of your computer’s internal electronic components, such as a memory module.

You can protect against ESD and discharge static electricity from your body by touching a metal grounded object (such as an unpainted metal surface on your computer’s I/O panel) before you interact with anything electronic. When connecting a peripheral (including handheld digital assistants) to your computer, you should always ground both yourself and the peripheral before connecting it to the computer. In addition, as you work inside the computer, periodically touch a metal-grounded object to remove any static charge your body may have accumulated.

You can also take the following steps to prevent damage from electrostatic discharge:

• When unpacking a static-sensitive component from its shipping carton, do not remove the component from the antistatic packing material until you are ready to install the component. Just before unwrapping the antistatic package, be sure to discharge static electricity from your body.
• When transporting a sensitive component, first place it in an antistatic container or packaging.
• Handle all electrostatic sensitive components in a static-safe area. If possible, use antistatic floor pads and work bench pads.

General safety guidelines

Use the following safety guidelines to protect your computer from potential damage and to ensure your personal safety. Unless otherwise noted, each procedure included in this document assumes that you have read the safety information that shipped with your computer.

1. Place the equipment on a hard, level surface. Leave a 10.2 cm (4 in) minimum of clearance on all vented sides of the computer to permit the airflow required for proper ventilation. Restricting airflow can damage the computer or cause a fire.
2. Do not stack equipment or place equipment so close together that it is subject to re-circulated or preheated air.
3. Ensure that nothing rests on your equipment’s cables and that the cables are not located where they can be stepped on or tripped over.
4. Ensure that all cables are connected to the appropriate connectors. Some connectors have a similar appearance and may be easily confused (for example, do not plug a telephone cable into the network connector).
5. Do not place your device in a closed-in wall unit, or on a soft, fabric surface such as a bed, sofa, carpet, or a rug.
6. Keep your device away from radiators and heat sources.
7. Keep your equipment away from extremely hot or cold temperatures to ensure that it is used within the specified operating range.
8. Do not push any objects into the air vents or openings of your equipment. Doing so can cause fire or electric shock by shorting out interior components.
9. Do not use your equipment in a wet environment, for example, near a bath tub, sink, or swimming pool or in a wet basement.
10. Do not use AC powered equipment during an electrical storm. Battery powered devices may be used if all cables have been disconnected.
11. Do not spill food or liquids on your equipment.
12. Before you clean your equipment, disconnect it from the electrical outlet. Clean your device with a soft cloth dampened with water. Do not use liquids or aerosol cleaners, which may contain flammable substances.
13. Clean the laptop LCD screen or monitor display with a soft, clean cloth and water. Apply the water to the cloth, then stroke the cloth across the display in one direction, moving from the top of the display to the bottom. Remove moisture from the display quickly and keep the display dry. Long-term exposure to moisture can damage the display. Do not use a commercial window cleaner to clean your display.

Before working inside your computer

1. To help avoid the potential hazard of electric shock, do not connect or disconnect any cables or perform maintenance or reconfiguration of your equipment during an electrical storm.
2. Save and close all open files and exit all open applications.
3. Shut down your computer. Click Start > Power > Shut down.
4. Disconnect your computer and all attached devices from their electrical outlets.
5. Disconnect all attached network devices and peripherals, such as keyboard, mouse, and monitor from your computer.
6. Remove any media card and optical disc from your computer, if applicable.

After working inside your computer