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Adam? ... is there a reason your laptop is in the fridge? (2006)

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Re: Adam? ... is there a reason your laptop is in the fridge? (2006)

#21

Post by haolez »

I've done this once. I got a laptop from a new company that was really shitty, but I had hopes that running Gentoo with some nasty CFLAGS would make it usable. However, the thing would heat a lot when compiling the base system and would crash in the middle of the installation.

Fair enough! I put it in the fridge and ran the installation from there. It concluded without issues and the laptop was MUCH faster than with a "normal" Linux distro. (I don't think this kind of big performance difference holds up on modern machines though).

Re: Adam? ... is there a reason your laptop is in the fridge? (2006)

#24

Post by Scene_Cast2 »

haolez wrote: post #21

I've done this once. I got a laptop from a new company that was really shitty, but I had hopes that running Gentoo with some nasty CFLAGS would make it usable. However, the thing would heat a lot when compiling the base system and would crash in the middle of the installation. Fair enough! I put it in the fridge and ran the installation from there. It concluded without issues and the laptop was MUCH faster than with…

Did condensation not pose a problem? Not just immediate shorts, but perhaps corrosion and the laptop dying earlier than expected.

Re: Adam? ... is there a reason your laptop is in the fridge? (2006)

#25

Post by naet »

When my laptop was getting extremely overheated during certain intensive computation (not necessary having drive issues) I used to grab a bag of frozen peas from the freezer, put an extra ziplock around it to prevent moisture, and pop it under my computer. Worked like a charm to bring the temp down and get through the crunch.

Re: Adam? ... is there a reason your laptop is in the fridge? (2006)

#26

Post by simmo9000 »

davesmylie wrote: post #7

Never seen this done to a whole laptop, but it wasn't an uncommon last ditch method for pulling files off a dying HDD back in the days of spinning platters. Preferably in a zip lock vacuum bag and left over night. This is a 17 year old article, but I'm a little skeptical that 10 minutes in the fridge whilst still in the laptop would have made much difference. Probably the forced reboot did just as much. On the other…

10 mins does sound a little quick?

I can say from experiencing, 20 mins in the freezer for a bare 3.5 or 2.5 HDD would give about 5 mins of "quick, find important stuff" time...

>_last ditch method for pulling files off a dying HDD_ Before pulling it apart and and putting the platters in an identical donor drive. (Dam IBM DEATHSTAR drives back in the day!)

Re: Adam? ... is there a reason your laptop is in the fridge? (2006)

#29

Post by KennyBlanken »

itsthecourier wrote: post #2

Why does this happen?

It doesn't; the whole thing is an urban legend. Goes like this:

Try copying files, fails. Try copying files, fails. Try copying files, fails.

Put laptop / drive in fridge. Try copying files, fails. Works.

"Hey, putting it in the fridge worked!"

Nope..it worked because they kept trying. People who comment on things like components shrinking don't understand how hard drives work.

Re: Adam? ... is there a reason your laptop is in the fridge? (2006)

#30

Post by samplatt »

simmo9000 wrote: post #26
davesmylie wrote: post #7

Never seen this done to a whole laptop, but it wasn't an uncommon last ditch method for pulling files off a dying HDD back in the days of spinning platters. Preferably in a zip lock vacuum bag and left over night. This is a 17 year old article, but I'm a little skeptical that 10 minutes in the fridge whilst still in the laptop would have made much difference. Probably the forced reboot did just as much. On the other…

10 mins does sound a little quick? I can say from experiencing, 20 mins in the freezer for a bare 3.5 or 2.5 HDD would give about 5 mins of "quick, find important stuff" time... >_last ditch method for pulling files off a dying HDD_ Before pulling it apart and and putting the platters in an identical donor drive. (Dam IBM DEATHSTAR drives back in the day!)

>I can say from experiencing, 20 mins in the freezer for a bare 3.5 or 2.5 HDD would give about 5 mins of "quick, find important stuff" time...

Well that's just pulled up a few traumas I'd forgot I'd buried. Gawd, that repeated "race against time" of that 5 minutes when it's working. Knowing that every time you do the freezer/recover cycle, it's closer to straight-up never working again.

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