Why Percussive Maintenance is a BAD Idea

We’re all familiar with the old, cliched joke where someone needs to give their technology a good smack in order for it to work right—and by some miracle, it works. The thing is, it isn’t a miracle, and can sometimes be effective. Having said that, this is not a strategy that we would recommend.

Let’s go over why not.

Repair-via-Violence is Sometimes Referred to as Percussive Maintenance

Seriously, that’s the high-falutin’ term for just smacking your technology around to make it work. According to Techopedia, the definition is as follows:

“In IT, percussive maintenance is the art of shaking, banging or pounding on something, in order to make it work. Experts generally define percussive maintenance as the use of rough impact on physical hardware to solve some type of malfunction.”

I’m confident that you’ve observed some evidence of this working in your own life, even if it was as simple as slapping the television remote against your palm a few times. So, if it works, why not do it in the office?

Because It Can Break Your Business’ Technology, That’s Why

Here’s the thing about percussive maintenance—the reason it sometimes works is that an issue can be the result of a loose connection, and the impact could manage to reposition the internal components. However, it could just as easily (and frankly, it’s more likely to) damage your device further.

It really should come as no surprise that we’d take this stance—and we aren’t alone in the IT world in this. It sincerely is just a matter of statistics. Comparatively, what’s the chance of fixing a problem versus the chance of making it worse, making no difference, or messing something else up, too? Too high. It’s part of the reason that your heart stops whenever you fumble your phone: you know that it’s far more likely that it breaks it than makes it better.

So, despite the (unfortunately) indisputable fact that percussive maintenance sometimes works, it is not something that we recommend. If anything, leave the computer-smacking to the professionals!

Also, for the record, blowing on old video game cartridges or computer disks isn’t a remedy either (the moisture in your breath can corrode the copper connectors and cause long term damage). But we digress.

With Managed Services, You’ll Have a Better Option than Just Hitting Your Device

We can help you troubleshoot your technology and resolve the issues present, whether they’re the result of a software issue, computer virus, or yes, a hardware issue. Reach out to us and ask about our remote monitoring and management services by calling 607.433.2200.