Cleaning The Inside Of your Computer

In today’s busy lifestyle we often neglect our computers until there is a problem with them.  Like homes or cars, our computers require regular maintenance to prevent future problems.  Today, I will be talking about how you can clean the inside of your computer because over heating which is one of the most common causes of computer failure. By taking these steps you will give your computer a longer life span.  I recommend you do this at least once every 3 to 6 months and possible every 2 to 3 months if you  smoke or have pets.  laptops of course are different and should be cleaned by a professional.  It does require the laptop to be taken apart in most cases in order to remove all the dust that has built up. 

Things You Will Need:

1.      a Philips screw driver

2.      a can of compressed air

3.      a lint free cloth or even a Swiffer cleaning cloth for dust

Before you do anything, make sure you turn OFF your computer and unplug it. Next, using the Philips screw driver remove the 2 or 3 screws at the back of the computer holding the side panel on ( see figure 1-1 ) and put them in a safe place until you’re ready to put them back on.  You only need to remove the left hand side panel which is the one shown in Figure 1-2. When you have removed the screws pull back on the side panel (as shown in Figure 1-2) until it disconnects from the case then remove it and put it aside for now.   Please keep in mind that your computer may look different and may open up in a different way.  But these pictures are the most common type of computers found.

As you will notice from the first picture Figure 1-3 dust collects around the fans and other components very easily.  Figure 1-4 shows you the inside of the computer and the components you will need to pay special attention to remove any dust from.

Now take your can of compressed air and holding it no closer then 4 inches, clean out any dust on the inside that you can see.  CAUTION: when blowing dust from any of the fans make sure you stop the fan from moving by using a pencil or similar object against the fan blades to prevent it from moving. Next take the compressed air and blow out the back of the power supply from the inside and then from the outside of the computer case.  Next, blow out the dust from the CPU fan making sure to stop the fan from moving.  If you have a graphics card in your computer you will want to dust the fan on it as well.  You can now dust out the bays for the CD/DVD drives, the hard drive and the floppy drive if you have one.   After doing that you can dust off the motherboard, the memory chips and any other components that may be dusty.  One final dusting of the inside and you’re done.

On the outside (front and back)  of the computer case you can blow the dust out from around the USB ports, video port, mouse and keyboard ports, the CD/DVD drive, Floppy drive if you have one, and any other openings you may have.  Once you have cleaned everything to your satisfaction you can replace the side panel and plug everything back in then turn your computer on.  Your done. Its really not that hard and it does help to give your computer a longer life.  If you’re not comfortable doing this then by all means call someone in to clean your computer for you.

Contact Scott’s Computer Emporium at 519-802-2721

for a computer cleaning or other services

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