Keeping Your Computer Clean + Running Cool
Found this floating on the internet. Captured it & brought it here :P
Dust and especially particles of cigarette smoke can build up and corrode circuitry causing various problems such as computer lockups
Computer fans pull a lot of dust inside the chassis. If undisturbed, the dust can interfere with ventilation, eventually causing parts to fail.
1. Make sure you do this in a safe environment, and have everything at hand and you are confident taking your pc apart.
2. Get any supplies you might need: a can of compressed air is essential. I got a mini cleaning kit from maplins and it had a mini battery powered vacuum cleaner, cd+floppy disc cleaners, cleaning fluids, and an anti-static rag. Also get a dust mask if you're allergic to dust (i am, and didnt buy one and this half killed me lol)
3. Shut down the computer.
4. Leave the computer plugged into the surge suppressor (if you have one)
5. Disconnect all peripherals from the computer (except power lead as step 2, but turn power off)
6. Remove the computer cover (see your owner's manual for instructions).
7. Ground yourself to the computer with the anti-static wrist strap by putting the crocodile clip on the chassis.
8. Spray compressed air on the fan blades, from a distance of 8-12 inches, power supply chassis, drive chassis and circuit boards, generally anywhere that has dust, it will go everywhere!! but aim the can upwards!
9. Gently brush off dust that the forced air didn't dislodge and spray it again when its loose.
10. Brush any remaining dust out from the bottom of the chassis.
11. Spray the computer cleaning fluid onto an anti-static rag.
12. Wipe the inside and outside of the cover thoroughly.
13. Replace the cover and reconnect the peripherals.
14. Power up pc and check everything is ok, then if you have them, run the cd and floppy cleaning disks.
NOTES: Whatever you do, do not use a household vacuum (its safe on the outside, i did it on my vents, but never inside as there could be a risk of an ESD (electro-static discharge) and this is death to computer components. I used the mini battery operated vacuum to clean the inside of the case and used the brush to dislodge stuff but i still dont recommend going over and circuit boards with it.
Purchase high flow filters for your fans. These will help prevent dust from entering into the computer or from clogging your fans. Be sure to clean the filters once per month to ensure an ample supply of air. (i have these on order, they werent in stock, but are basically a piece of foam that goes in front of the fans)
The compressed air is fantastic for cleaning under your keyboards keys as well, turn it upside down and spray air in between the keys and see how much stuff comes out!!
Here are some pics to help:
Clogged Vents:
ventsbefore.jpg Photo by computerclean | Photobucket
Dirt Inside:
insidebefore.jpg Photo by computerclean | Photobucket
Other Dirt
before.jpg Photo by computerclean | Photobucket
Air Duster Spray
airduster.jpg Photo by computerclean | Photobucket
Clean Inside:
cleaninside2.jpg Photo by computerclean | Photobucket
after.jpg Photo by computerclean | Photobucket
All back in place:
backinplace.jpg Photo by computerclean | Photobucket
Sort of makes you realise how much dust gets in there doesnt it?? And that cant be good for it! The fans on this computer are noisy as hell when running on high, and they come on a lot earlier than they used to these days, but after cleaning, wow, not come on once! Even i didnt expect such a massive difference. This will be especially useful for people overclocking there CPU's and/or graphics cards, you really need to keep them cool!!!
*Note* I take no responsibility if you arse it up, but come on, its not difficult :P
