Hardware failures can have mysterious faces - computer crashes, display anomalies or read/write errors when accessing your hard drive. Usually, what you do is install new drivers, then you look at adjusting settings within your operating system, you search BIOS for relevant options or go the whole nine yards and exchange components such as the main memory. But your computer just won’t run smoothly.

Not only operating systems or device drivers cause malfunctions of your system. Not even the latest hardware such as quad core processors and terabyte hard drives can prevent hardware failures. Hardware manufacturers typically define a certain lifetime for every component of your computer or laptop. This tends to be five years for hard drives, but other components may have longer life expectancies. Building blocks such as processors, memory, the motherboard or graphics cards usually keep up their work for much longer - if always operated and cooled properly. But no crystal ball can tell you the life expectancy you will get.

Electrolytic capacitors on numerous semiconductor products such as motherboards or graphics cards can oftentimes cause strange behavior of your computer if they fail. But what can you do if malfunctioning motherboard capacitors are the reason for trouble with your computer? During the product’s warranty period your first step typically is a visit at your retailer, where it should be replaced. In case you have to exchange your faulty motherboard with a new one, you may also need to get new main memory as well as a new processor. But there is a considerably less expensive solution if you don’t walk on two left feet: You can definitely exchange electrolytic capacitors yourself. We will show you how to revive your motherboard or graphics card with the right tools and for very little money.

Read More @ Fixing Your Motherboard for $15 | Tom’s Hardware