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Jimmy

There's an unsightly smudge on my monitor

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Prepare yourself for the most random help thread ever.

A very tiny bug that I have yet been unable to identify somehow managed to get underneath the transparent pane on my laptop monitor. I didn't see this at first and tried to get rid of it by flicking it away. Failing that, I killed it by pressing my fist against the screen. It is now stuck solidly underneath my monitor's "screen", and pretty much right in the center of it. No amount of scratching or pressing will free it.

Great.

There's a similar problem with the window panes in this room - condensation gets on the inside of the windows, making it a chore and a half to see out of them.

But really, this stupid bug that wedged itself into my monitor and is now firmly stuck there is really starting to become a distraction. Any, er... tips? :(

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None really, unless you're willing to at least partially disassemble your monitor. If you're lucky, with some disassembly (enough to put some distance between the plastic sheet and the real LCD panel beneath it) and some gentle taps, it may fall off to a place that doesn't bother you as much, or even entirely off the screen area.

However, it will have probably left stains on both surfaces it came in contact with, and the internal LCD may even have suffered some minor damage from the pressing, so you can only really clean it thoroughly with a full disassembly.

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Wow, that sucks. Just take apart your monitor. Or buy a new monitor. Or you could be lazy and just leave it there.

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Heh, your computer has a bug, literally.

If I were you I'd take it to a computer repair shop. Perhaps the techs can take it apart and clean the insect out.

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You can also let it there. With the heat of the screen, it should decay quite quickly. Remains should go away by scratching & pressing when it's done. If not, then it'll then be time to disassemble the monitor :/

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Bucket said:

Did you post this on /g/? They yold you not to squish it, dumbass.

Ha, no. :P

Thanks everyone. :)

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myk said:

Heh, your computer has a bug, literally.
{SNIP}


That's how the term came to be.

For those that may not know (and those who do will likely add or correct where needed), the term came to be, simply because a moth flew into one of the Uni-Vac computers, and shorted a tube in the memory circuit, currupting 1 bit of data, important enough to cause the machine to malfunction.

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Heh, I had the same thing happen to me before. Except it was on a Gameboy Advance, not a monitor. Anyway, the way to get it out of there is just taking apart the monitor yourself, or taking it to a PC shop.

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Corrected that one for everybody:

Georgef551 Captain Obvious said:


That's how the term came to be.

For those that may not know (and those who do will likely add or correct where needed), the term came to be, simply because a moth flew into one of the Uni-Vac computers, and shorted a tube in the memory circuit, currupting 1 bit of data, important enough to cause the machine to malfunction.

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Actually, this is how it came to be:

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Maes,
Not everybody knows that. It would not have been the $1M question in Millionaire, if it were common knowledge.

NERD! NERD! NERD! (Heh, heh, heh. :D)

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No, REoL is full of shit. His facts are about as good a Fox News. That term was around long before computers existed. The story he's referring to predated UNIVAC computers by a few years too. The computer with the moth in it predated computers built from tubes.

I offer this this as the beginnings of some evidence.

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GreyGhost said:


Hehe, still predates all-electronic-computer designs (except for ENIAC). The moth was more a mechanical failure than electronic. Heh, 40s computers were weird.

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This is something I've been getting a few calls at work about lately.

Get a plastic bag (without any holes, ideally one of those big black trash bags you can get), put the monitor in it, then get a vacuum cleaner and stick the nozzle in the bag's opening. Use tape or something to attach the nozzle to the bag, and suck all the air out; hopefully the remains of the bug will be sucked up along with it.

It's worth a try, I've heard about good results from this method.

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Wow. Who would've thought something that basic could be the answer to something like that?
Amazing how simple solutions can work sometimes....

(Like the 8-cent X-Box 360 "Ring of Death" permanent removal trick)

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This method assumes that the bug is dry and loose as much as any particle of dust or sand.

However, if it was squashed and glued to the plastic screen and is still "fresh" enough, this method won't make it budge a single mm.

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