Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
ofslottedscrewdriversthatslipoffthescrewhead,scratching(anddamaging)themother-
board. I never allow slotted screws or a standard flat-bladed screwdriver anywhere near
the interior of my systems. You also can purchase tamperproof Torx drivers that can re-
move Torx screws with the tamper-resistant pin in the center of the screw. A tamperproof
Torx driver has a hole drilled in it to allow clearance for the pin. Torx drivers come in a
number of sizes, the most common being the T-10 and T-15.
Figure 20.3 A Torx driver and bit.
Tip
Somesystemmanufacturersnowusecasesthatsnaptogetherorusethumbscrews.Theseare
usually advertised as “no-tool” cases because you literally do not need any tools to remove
the cover and access the major assemblies.
To make an existing case “tool free,” you can replace the normal case screws with metal or
plastic thumbscrews. However, you still should use metal screws or thumbscrews to install
internal components, such as adapter cards, disk drives, power supplies, and the mother-
board, because the metal screws provide a ground point for these devices.
Although this basic set is useful, you should supplement it with some other basic tools,
including the following:
Electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection kit —These kits consist of a wrist strap
with a ground wire and a specially conductive mat with its own ground wire. You also
can get just the wrist strap or the antistatic mat separately. In areas or times of the sea-
sonwhenthere islowhumidity,static chargesaremuchmorelikely tobuildupasyou
move, increasing the need for ESD protection. A wrist strap is shown in Figure 20.4 .
Figure 20.4 A typical ESD wrist strap clipped to a nonpainted surface in the case chassis.
 
 
Search WWH ::




Custom Search