Lets see whats in here.....

[Jafo]

A friend of mine dove into his computer for the first time in a very long time to see what kind of cpu he has because he is thinking about upgrading his MB that supports PCI-E and the current cpu plus memory. After opening the case (the easy part) he begins to try and get the heatsink/fan off the cpu. After a few minutes (of pulling) he was able to get the heatsink off but when he look down at the cpu, there wasn't one. A moment of panic set in until he looked at his hand and realised the cpu was attached to the heatsink. At this point another panic set in, which was that he bent the pins of the cpu and started bending them back into place while at the same time praying that he didn't break them. Once he fixed all the pins and check the cpu out to see what type cpu he has he was able to put everything back together. Now he's just hoping something doesn't start messing up down the road soon.

When I was told this story I couldn't help but laugh and thought I'd share this with you guys.

[simple_inhibition]

haha ive had that happen to myself before. darn near crapped my pants because it was my brand new A64 3700. but i learned an important lesson:listen to the arctic silver instructions and only place a small bead in the middle and not spread it all over the entire IHS....

[Hitman]

Tell him next time, after he undoes the retention clips, he should rotate the HSF slightly left and right to separate the HSF from the top of the CPU.

[Jokerswild]

I've done that before. Amazed me that it still worked afterwards. Tell your friend mine lasted a couple more years after I did it.

[polobunny]

Happens often with the OEM paste they put on there. Makes like a cement bond between the IHS and the HS. Mostly happens on Pentium 4 socket 478 though.
But yeah, if/when you remove your heatsink, at least pull it straight out. Not one side then the other, just incase the CPU is sticked under there. :P

[Quakindude]

It really helps if you try to remove the HSF right after you shut down from a CPU intensive chore. The TIM will be at its most pliable and readily separated state then.

[Computer-Ed]

When straightening the pins a credit card works really well, it just fits down the rows.