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Which Screw Goes Where?
Anonymous Coward writes "I saw this link over at HardOCP. Finally, a definitive (well, they hedge a bit at the end) guide that explains
where to use each one of those little screws that come packed with new PC cases. All that and a 'test your knowledge' quiz in the bargain. Definitely bookmark-worthy."
They go where they fit and they don't go where they don't fit (unless you are in a hurry.)
If they can tell me where the one I always have left over is from, I'll be happy...
If it's Microsoft we're talking about, you always screw the little guy. ;)
Looks like their webserver is about to receive the biggest scew of all.
...I'll procrastinate tomorrow...
Comment removed based on user account deletion
This story will get more than 500 replies because it has the word "screw" in it and geeks are intrigued by experiences they haven't had yet!
Some years ago, SomethingAwful one-upped you. Slashdot linked to an article there, and ate up so much bandwidth that the admins redirected all accesses with slashdot referers to goatse.cx.
BTW, /.'d before there were a dozen comments.
Here's the recipe to simplify your life with computer case screws (no I'm not kidding):
- Go to your local computer hardware shop and beg them for a bag of screws. I say beg them, because they usually hold on to them like Ted Kennedy on a bottle of bourbon.
- Whenever you screw something in your case, use the biggest screw that'll fit. In the case of hard-disks, you'll have to use the right fit, with the flush head probably. With the cases' sheet-metal holes, and with most CDROM and diskette drives, if the screw is too big, just force it in real hard until it gives way.
- After a little while, and especially if you tinker in your case often, you'll notice that all the screws you need are the big ones. No need to remember what goes where. Voila!
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
Well put. For a more useful guide to the technological minefield that is building a PC from parts, I can recommend this very useful article.
CyberGuys sells both every type of screw conceivable and a bin with a screw assortment (just in case you need a particular kind).
It goes in your vaccuum cleaner, eventually.
At least, that's usually when I find all my leftover screws.
Vrrorooooooom*chikchikchikCLUNK*rooooooom
it's all in the wrist!
If you come over and clean my office, you can keep whatever you find. Sad but true. I'm sure there is easily 5000+/- scattered in every nook
and cranny of this place.
I'm in serious need of a visit from the "Obsessive Complusive Eye for the Geek Guy" folks.
PS. If you find my voltmeter, let me know.
The second one let the smoke out.
I seal the case with duct tape to keep the smoke in.
What?
CyberGuys (Small Hardware)
Probably cheaper to go troll the dumpsters, if you can find an old 286/386/486 being tossed you can probably scavange a dozen of each size. Anytime I toss an old system, I take the 15 minutes to strip it of any screws / connectors / etc.
The small screws (usually for mounting CD-ROMs to the side-brackets) are 4mm fine, the 6mm (6x32) screws are for the case / slot covers / hard drive mounting. Don't forget to either get small snack-pack rubbermaid containers (about 2" round, 1.5" deep) to hold the screws/bits, or those yellow plastic stopper tubes (1/2" x 5").
(I really don't understand the fuss about the issue at all... there's pretty much just the 2 types of screws, 4mm fine and 6x32.)
Wolde you bothe eate your cake, and have your cake?
1st: scoring an invite to Orkut and subsequently having almost all of the invitations I send out being rejected.
2nd: realising I'm still an INTJ personality type despite my best effort to change.
3rd: scoring 5/5 on the 'name the screw test'.
Things aren't looking up for me in the get-a-life-dept. are they?
-Brad
True story:
Since my sister lives several hundred miles away, I'm saved from most "family tech support issues". Her computer wasn't running so fast a couple of years back, so she decided to add more ram to it to speed things up. Her husband took it to his "MCSE Certified buddy at work" to get the job done. "MCSE Certified buddy at work" proceeded to drop a screwdriver onto the mobo when it was powered and fried it. He had the nerve to charge them for a new motherboard, but at least the ram got installed.
I was visiting a couple of months later when my sister mentioned that she couldn't get any sound when she tried to play a CD. Figuring I knew exactly what the deal was, I peered in through the back to, sure enough, see that "MCSE Certified buddy at work" hadn't reconnected the CD audio cable and it was just dangling there. I then grabbed a screwdriver to open the case to connect the cable. Seems "MCSE Certified buddy at work" lost the case screws, so "MCSE Certified buddy at work" POP-RIVETED THE GOD DAMN CASE SHUT.
Another half hour, a drill, and migraine later, she once again had CD audio working.
[insert witty 'certs don't mean jack' sig here]
...Rob
The American Dream isn't an SUV and a house in the suburbs; it's Don't Tread On Me.
Those who sacrifice security to condemn liberty deserve to repeat history or something. - Benjamin Santayana
About the floppy / CDROM / hard drive screws and why are they mixed. When I was working for Olivetti back in the early 80's, we saw some of the first 3-1/2 inch floppy drives from ALPS and Sony. Since these came from Japan, and Japan uses metric sizes, they designed them with metric screws. The original 5-1/4 floppy drives came from the USA from Shugart (the original designers). The first Winchester hard drives originally came from IBM, IIRC, and since IBM is a US company, they used #6 screws. When Shugart and others (mostly US companies) started to build 5 1/4 hard drives, which are the same size as the 5 1/4 floppy drives, they used the same screws and mounting pattern as the Shugart "standard." They also used the same power connector so things would connect together with a minimum of odd connectors. So when manufactures started to build 3 1/2 sized hard drives, they used the same screw as the 5 1/4 hard drives. CDROM drives first came from Japanese / European manufactures (IIRC - Sony / Phillips), so they used "proper" screws - metric, not the holdout, oddball USA, still using the now outdated English sizing. One note about CDROM screws - IIRC, Floppy screws and CDROM screws both come in the short M5 4mm length. It seems that some of the early CDROM drives could get ruined if long (greater that 4mm) were used. The electronics were packed right up to the edges, and one could short out things inside if one used long screws. This problem has gone away, since the shrinking of the electronics, and dumb people who used the long M5 (greater than 5mm length) screws ruined the drives.