A lot of people have asked what they need to do to maintain a clean computer free of dust, debris, etc. Here’s a few things you can do. Do not smoke near your computer. Do not let your pets rub against your computer. Think of a computer as a gigantic electrostatic air cleaner. It takes dirty room air and sucks it in the front. All the yuck that gets sucked in attaches itself to all the static charged elements in the computer. And what blows out the back? Clean, hot air. Quite honestly, very few computers that I need to open for repair have dirt issues. Those that have had problems, their owners are well aware! Here’s what you do. Turn off the computer and unplug the power cord. Take a vacuum and gently suck the dust and debris out from the fan holes in the front of the computer. For those more daring, you can take the cover off of the CPU and suck inside, but be extremely careful. Use a hose with a plastic tip as not to damage the PC. Another thing you can do is to flip over the keyboard so that you have it elevated over the desk (you could do this over a trash bin but over the desk is more effective at demonstrating the stuff that can be revealed). Gently tap the back of the keyboard and see all the stuff that will land in front of you. Pretty disgusting! Before or after the tapping, gently vacuum the keyboard as well. You can buy a keyboard vacuum at any office supply store, or use your Eureka but gently. You can also buy compressed air. I typically use that more for entertaining the kids however. Hold it upright and puff air at them. Hold it upside down and point it at a solid surface and make ice crystals!
