We generally think of Spring when it comes to cleaning, but winter is rapidly approaching (here in California we have already had our first winter storm delivering 18" of snow in the higher elevations) so now would be a good time for one final cleaning of your computer while you can take it outside. Dusting down shelves, TVs, etc is common place. Computers should be no exception. Many people do in fact clean their computer towers, their monitors, wipe down their keyboards and so on. However, more than just the usual dusting of the outside of a PC, it is important to clean the inside of a computer as well.
You might think that a computer tower is all enclosed and doesn’t need cleaning inside, but that is far from the reality. Computers are actually dust magnets! One only has to open up a computer tower that hasn’t been cleaned in a few months or so to see how much dust they actually gather. And dust and computers don’t get along at all.
Dust and dirt clog all important fans inside the computer as well as settle over the different chips and components inside. Smoking around computers is also bad, as the smoke and tar build up inside. What this does is cause a lot of heat. Clogged fans can’t spin and cool off the different components. Heat also can’t escape from computing chips that have layers of dust over them.
When a computer overheats, then problems start. Different parts, such as the video card or the main processor, can stop working if they get too hot. The whole motherboard could also fail. At that point it starts to get costly for repairs.
Sometimes you can get some warning that a PC is overheating because it will often cause the system to restart itself. Usually when you first turn on your computer, it will work fine, but after fifteen or so you may find it starts acting up and then restarts itself. This is when the PC has heated up to beyond the normal operating temperature and isn’t able to stay cool enough to keep running.
So how does one keep the inside of a computer clean? Well you can’t just go get your dusting spray and wipe it off. The spray will likely damage your PC and you won’t be able to easily wipe dust out from inside various fans and components. The way to clean the inside of your computer is to use a can of compressed air. Yes, that’s right, air in a can! You can actually purchase compressed air from many stores. They usually come with a long nozzle to attach, and you spray it over the various parts in the computer and blow the dust out of there. Be warned though if you suffer dust allergies, the dust may blow up into your face, especially if it hasn’t been cleaned in a while. It is also important to make sure the computer is turned off when doing this!
The pictures may look extreme to some of you especially those of you who perform regular maintance of your systems, however I have seen this and actually worse on some systems I have had to work on because they failed and the owners had no idea what happened. When they eventually see inside their cases their eyes get big and they have this shocked look on their face and want to know how that happened.
When it come to cleaning you system vents, fans, heat sinks, peripheral components your assistant should be an inexpensive can of air.
