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To your definitive resource for all computer related needs. We are here to help.
To your definitive resource for all computer related needs. We are here to help.
Have you ever taken a look around the back of your computer? Struggling, pulling on the keyboard and mouse cable to get that extra inch of cable, and room to type or click comfortably can cause a lot of issues with the connectors on your peripherals. Even in a world or wireless devices, we still cannot escape wires and keeping them in clean untangled working order is something you rarely have to do more than once, but it’s something most people never did in the first place. Even I am guilty of this, and I spend the a good chunk of this past weekend cleaning up the cables of my computer and rerunning power lines, and wire tying everything all together nice.
The key here is that when you have enough length and you can move peripherals around quickly and easily without having to yank on their cables you save a lot of wear and tear on their connectors. In some extreme cases, especially with USB since they connect so tight you can actually damage the computers motherboard by pulling around too much on the cable to buy yourself that extra 3 inches where in most cases it’s just a little tangled up behind everything.
The key is to have everything clean, free of tangles and free moving, at least in that case you know you have maxed out whatever length you may have and if you have to buy a cable extender its way cheaper than having to replace a motherboard, or one of your peripherals. When snaking everything through today’s fancy corner desks and such sometimes you don’t really have a choice but to get all the cables intertwined but when possible use wire ties to separate them, in my case I am a cheapskate and use twisty ties for garbage bags, odds are you have some just lying around anyway.
I realize this sounds a bit extreme but the key is to first unhook everything. Turn the computer off, and disconnect everything, nowadays, everything is color coated, and don’t worry about USB devices, it doesn’t matter which slot you plug them back into. Untangle everything, use your cable ties, buy extensions if you need them and get everything how you like it. This is also a good opportunity to grab that canned air, and clean out the inside of your computer, as well as keyboard and mouse. The great thing is once you reset everything up your devices should have all the slack they need, and everything will be exactly where you want it. Cables should not be tight, if they are suck it up and buy some extensions. Always err on the side of slack, better to have it and not need it then need it and not have it.
I hope you found this useful, once you do your computer knock out that mess hiding behind your TV, you’ll be happy you did, just make sure you label everything to make it easy on yourself.