Step 8: The Last!Congratulations - Now Test things

Congratulations, you are almost finished.
The only thing left is to test the computer, to do a full "burn-in." 
A "burn-in"  means that you will need to keep it running and powered on for about 48 hours straight, doing various things... even if it is only a screen saver or a self running demo program while you are away or sleeping. 
In the old days (cough, 80's & 90's), I wrote a little DOS batch file that would loop, and I'd run it for at least 8 hours each day, even on Windows based computers. It kept the CPU, basic video, memory, and disk drives running, which will generally stop or produce errors on the system if any of these parts are not working right or good. Because of that burn-in phase, I had less than a 1% problem rate on systems that were delivered to customers, simply because of the burn-in tests I did on each system I sold.
Times have changed, DOS is tougher for new people to 'get to,' but there are still stress testing and burn-in tools out there. Check out 6 Best Free Stress Testing Programs for your PC
Stress Testing is very basic, and generally real easy to run. It creates an infinite loop, stopped only by holding down the Ctrl (Control) key and pressing C, or the escape key... or something that is more program specific.
The best way to test your computer is to use it. Run every program, play every game you normally plan to use. Make sure that everything is working properly, including the internet!
If the monitor is brand new, there might be a slight odor (kind of like melting plastic). The smell should be gone in 4 to 12 hours, this is less common with the LCD & LED wide screen digital monitors. This is normal and nothing to be concerned about. Just make sure there is plenty of ventilation. If there is ever actual smoke, then you have a problem. Check the Basic Trouble Shooting  section for more details.
Running the programs, using your computer is the only way that you will truly be able to determine the computer is behaving the way it should. Historically, in my experience, the probability of failure after that initial power on, where everything appears to be working correctly is less than 5% within the first 48 hours. After those first 48 hours of stressful use, it's less than 1%. Ultimately, the stress tests will give you piece of mind... and find most problems before they become serious problems down the road.

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