Is it safe to run a computer without the heatsink mounted securely?

[ThatAngryGnome]

Okay, so my father was trying to clean his computer (without any supervision or help). He commit some cardinal sins like using a vacuum all over the motherboard, used a dripping wet towel on the fans, and didn't unscrew the heatsink from the socket trying to clean out its fan. In return, he ended up ripping the heatsink off its screws that were mounted. However, since that computer is basically his entire job, he needs to get the data back from its hard drive. I tried to take its hard drive out and put in my PC to extract the data but keep running into problems. Bottom line, I would like to mount the heatsink back on by some ghetto manner and try to run the system long enough to copy all the major files (ie family pictures, tax data, work files ect...) on to an external HDD. FYI the heatsink is similar to those Intel stock heatsinks with screws. I was thinking about running a thread/yarn through the heatsink and socket and tying it together. Is this possible? 

[Guest MinimalEffort]

If it makes good contact with the CPU it should be alright. Just make sure everything is well ventilated.

[Flight1sim]

why not take out the HDD and put it in another system  besides ur own? Find another pc or something? external usb adapter?

But sure, as long as you keep the system horizontal and have the heatsink make proper contact with the CPU it should be okay

[FuzzyYellow]

if you have enough pressure, yes. but it has to be perfect.

[W-L]

Okay, so my father was trying to clean his computer (without any supervision or help). He commit some cardinal sins like using a vacuum all over the motherboard, used a dripping wet towel on the fans, and didn't unscrew the heatsink from the socket trying to clean out its fan. In return, he ended up ripping the heatsink off its screws that were mounted. However, since that computer is basically his entire job, he needs to get the data back from its hard drive. I tried to take its hard drive out and put in my PC to extract the data but keep running into problems. Bottom line, I would like to mount the heatsink back on by some ghetto manner and try to run the system long enough to copy all the major files (ie family pictures, tax data, work files ect...) on to an external HDD. FYI the heatsink is similar to those Intel stock heatsinks with screws. I was thinking about running a thread/yarn through the heatsink and socket and tying it together. Is this possible? 

 

You can ghetto mount it with some zip ties temporarily it won't run the best but should be enough to grab the data. 

[Aniallation]

If Luke can strap AMD heatsinks onto Intel and vice versa using zip ties then I'm sure you could

[Yoinkerman]

Buy a new heatsink locally?

[Kyuubixchidori]

Just take the hard drive out? 

 

why not just buy a new heatsink? it sounds like you want to trash the whole system

[dalekphalm]

You can ghetto mount it with some zip ties temporarily it won't run the best but should be enough to grab the data. 

@ThatAngryGnome I agree with this. Zip Ties are a MUCH better idea then thread or yarn. The heat that a CPU heatsink puts out could very well start a fire, or otherwise snap the thread/yarn. Not only is it possible for there to be catastrophic failure, but it's also dangerous.

 

Zip ties, on the other hand, can handle the heat.

 

But in essence, as long as you can securely mount the heatsink and hold it in place, yes, it should work.

 

Also, what kind of problems are you running into by taking his HDD out and connecting it to your PC? That should be the easiest solution of all.

[ThatAngryGnome]

You can ghetto mount it with some zip ties temporarily it won't run the best but should be enough to grab the data. 

 

 

@ThatAngryGnome I agree with this. Zip Ties are a MUCH better idea then thread or yarn. The heat that a CPU heatsink puts out could very well start a fire, or otherwise snap the thread/yarn. Not only is it possible for there to be catastrophic failure, but it's also dangerous.

 

Zip ties, on the other hand, can handle the heat.

 

But in essence, as long as you can securely mount the heatsink and hold it in place, yes, it should work.

 

Also, what kind of problems are you running into by taking his HDD out and connecting it to your PC? That should be the easiest solution of all.

 

I tried zip ties, but they're too wide. The hole for the screws is literally not wide enough to thread yarn through comfortably. Zip ties doesn't seem to be a plausiable solution. 

 

Just take the hard drive out? 

 

why not just buy a new heatsink? it sounds like you want to trash the whole system

 

 

why not take out the HDD and put it in another system  besides ur own? Find another pc or something? external usb adapter?

But sure, as long as you keep the system horizontal and have the heatsink make proper contact with the CPU it should be okay

 

I took the HDD out and tried to use it in my PC, but I kept getting an error trying to access the C:/Users/XXX. Also, theres a lot of data that is dug in weird locations which I'm not sure I can get at using another PC. I'd be much more comfortable using the existing PC to do all my dirty work. The system is trashed anyways, so trying to thread the heatsink won't hurt anyone. 

[ThatAngryGnome]

If it makes good contact with the CPU it should be alright. Just make sure everything is well ventilated.

 

Thanks, I'll try it out and report back with pictures of the janky setup.

[Flight1sim]

 

 

 

 

I took the HDD out and tried to use it in my PC, but I kept getting an error trying to access the C:/Users/XXX. Also, theres a lot of data that is dug in weird locations which I'm not sure I can get at using another PC. I'd be much more comfortable using the existing PC to do all my dirty work. The system is trashed anyways, so trying to thread the heatsink won't hurt anyone. 

Change the drive letter so it won't conflict?

[dalekphalm]

I tried zip ties, but they're too wide. The hole for the screws is literally not wide enough to thread yarn through comfortably. Zip ties doesn't seem to be a plausiable solution. 

 

 

 

 

I took the HDD out and tried to use it in my PC, but I kept getting an error trying to access the C:/Users/XXX. Also, theres a lot of data that is dug in weird locations which I'm not sure I can get at using another PC. I'd be much more comfortable using the existing PC to do all my dirty work. The system is trashed anyways, so trying to thread the heatsink won't hurt anyone. 

You may need to take ownership of the User Folder (and all subfolders) before you can do much in there. See this:

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753659.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396

 

Change the drive letter so it won't conflict?

It wouldn't be the drive letter. Windows will automatically assign drive letters to new drives so there cannot be a conflict.

[ThatAngryGnome]

You may need to take ownership of the User Folder (and all subfolders) before you can do much in there. See this:

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753659.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396

 

It wouldn't be the drive letter. Windows will automatically assign drive letters to new drives so there cannot be a conflict.

I'll try the ownership method before anything. Thanks for linking it!