Oh man, the Clinton administration crumbs are the worst. I had a terminal board from 1992 that had what I'm pretty sure was a fossilized Cheeto dust pattern under the space bar. Here's something nobody brings up - check the plastic rivets on the backplate. All that soaking and scrubbing can actually make them brittle and snap off if you're not careful. Ask me how I found that out the hard way with a terminal Model M I was trying to restore. You might want to hit the whole assembly with compressed air BEFORE doing any wet cleaning, just to knock loose the really old stuff.

Did basically the same thing with a budget stain job on my basement floor. Mixed the sealer wrong and ended up with something that looked like a dog had been sick on the concrete. Wife said it gave the room character. I said it gave the room a reason to call a professional. Ended up paying a guy $450 to grind everything down and start fresh. Now I just nod politely when people talk about DIY projects and quietly keep the number of a good contractor in my phone.

Did the guy actually test the hard drive before putting it in or just swap parts and hope for the best?

Man that's the kind of find that sticks with you. I had a similar moment when an old timer at a gun show showed me his grandfather's fixed blade and talked about how they used to heat treat stuff back then. Totally changed how I look at my collection now.

Stop acting like one corrupted save file is the end of the world. Most people aren't running critical updates every single night, and your console isn't going to brick from one unexpected power cut. If you're that worried, just turn the strip off before you go to bed, it's really not a big deal.