What solder mask is
Solder mask is a protective polymer coating applied to printed circuit boards that serves multiple purposes. Besides being an aid in the PCB manufacturing process, it also serves a reliability purpose.
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Remove a sticker from a laptop
Not everyone decorates their laptop with stickers. But what if you do, and you like those stickers and want to take them with you when you get a new laptop? Or what if you decide you don’t like one of those stickers and want to get rid of it without damaging the others? Or you want to get rid of the Intel or Windows stickers because you don’t want your laptop to look like a NASCAR racer. Here’s how to remove a sticker from a laptop.
Samsung QVO vs EVO
I saw a question come up the other day about two different Samsung drives. One of them is more expensive than the other, and that can certainly lead to questions, not to mention potential mistakes. So let’s talk about the difference between a Samsung QVO vs EVO.
Why circuit boards are green
Why are circuit boards green? It’s a matter of practicality. While circuit boards aren’t always green, green provides technical advantages. So that makes green the most common color for printed circuit boards, or PCBs.
Can you put a computer on carpet? Yes, with caveats
Can you put a computer on carpet? Yes you can, with caveats. But the biggest issue with putting your computer on carpet probably isn’t what you think.
Putting a computer on carpet is one of those weird questions I get, like putting a computer on its side. It’s one of those things that might have been a bad idea at one time, but doesn’t make much difference today.
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Why the hard drive is called C
The hard drive or solid state drive on your PC is called drive c, which implies the existence of a drive A and B. So what are drives A and B? What does the C drive stand for? Why is the hard drive called C?
Drive letters are a holdover from early microcomputers. The letters A and B went to floppy drives, so if you had a hard drive, it went to the earliest available drive letter, which was C.
Scroll lock on laptop
Scroll lock is an obscure key that has mostly outlived its usefulness. Size-constrained laptops often omit the key, layering it with some other key combination that you generate by pressing the FN key plus a second key that varies. Here’s how to get scroll lock on a laptop when your keyboard doesn’t have the key.
Usually to get scroll lock to toggle, use the FN key and a combination of a second key, often C, K, S, or even F12. You can also use the Windows on screen keyboard.
Floppy drive pinout
You probably came here looking for the standard 34 pin floppy drive pinout, as used on most PCs. However, the PC floppy drive pinout was derived from a standard created by shugart in the 1970s, and More than one version of that pinout exists today. So let’s talk about the common floppy drive pinout, and the variance that you might see in your retro adventures.
How to tell which PCI express slot I have
If you want to upgrade your PC, you need to make sure you have room to plug them in. Many upgrades, including GPUs, plug into PCI Express slots. Here’s how to tell which PCI Express slot you have, so you know your options.
You can identify your PCI Express cards visually (x1 slots are 1 inch long and x16 are 3.5 inches long), or using the command line from within Windows or Linux. The command line is more reliable and helps you identify an x4 or x8 slot with an x16 connector.
How to tell what motherboard you have
Your motherboard determines how much you can upgrade your PC. It also determines what upgrades will and won’t work in your PC. Here’s how to tell what motherboard you have, possibly without even opening your computer.
You can check which motherboard you have by running a WMI command in Windows, dmidecode in Linux, or looking for visual cues on the motherboard itself.