Electrostatic discharge (ESD) occurs when two objects of different voltages come
into contact with each other. The human body is always gathering static electricity,
more than enough to damage a computer component. ESD is a silent killer. If you
were to touch a component without proper protection, the static electricity could
discharge from you to the component, most likely damaging it, but with no discernable
signs of damage. Worse yet, it is possible to discharge a small amount of voltage
to the device and damage it to the point where it works intermittently, making it
tough to troubleshoot. It only takes 30 volts or so to damage a component. On a dry
winter day, you could gather as much as 20,000 volts when walking across a carpeted
area! Ouch! There are several ways to equalize the electrical potentials, allowing you
to protect components from ESD:
■ Use an antistatic wrist strap— The most common kind is inexpensive and only
takes a moment to put on and connect to the chassis of the computer (an unpainted
portion of the frame inside the case). By using an antistatic wrist strap
you are constantly discharging to the case’s metal frame instead of to the components
that you handle. Of course, the chassis of the computer can only absorb
so much ESD, so consider another earth-bonding point to connect to or try to
implement as many other antistatic methods as possible. Most wrist straps come
equipped with a resistor (often 1 megaohm) that protects the user from shock
hazards when working with low-voltage components.
More advanced types of wrist straps are meant to connect to an actual ground; a
ground strip or the ground plug of a special dedicated AC outlet. These are
used in more sophisticated repair labs. Do not attempt to connect the alligator
clip of a basic wrist strap (purchased at an office store), to the ground plug of an
outlet in your home.

■ Touch the chassis of the computer— Do this to further discharge yourself before
handling any components. This is also a good habit to get into for those
times when an anti-static strap is not available.
■ Use an antistatic mat— Place the computer on top of the antistatic mat and
connect the alligator clip of the mat to the computer’s chassis in the same manner
that you did with the wrist strap. (Some people stand on the mat and connect
it to the computer.)
■ Use antistatic bags— Adapter cards, motherboards, and so on are normally
shipped in antistatic bags. Hold on to them! When installing or removing components,
keep them either inside or on top of the bag until you are ready to
work with them.
Remember: ESD need only happen once, and that $500 video card you are trying to
install is toast!