The Importance of Dusting your Computer
Keeping your computer clean is a very important task that is typically over looked by many computer owners.
Computers and laptops have many little areas where dust and debris can start filling up inside of your computer unit.
As the dust accumulates, the heat rises inside of your computer, which can eventually cause overheating issues with fans, hard drives, motherboard and other computer hardware.
Once the heat is unable to disperse appropriately, it could lead to some costly hardware replacements.
This easy task, such as cleaning and dusting the inside of the computer can help prolong the life of your computer, and reduce the chances of hardware failure.
The dust inside of computer can vary in different units depending on the case style. If you have it on the floor, eat, drink or smoke around the machine you can get quite the build-up.
You should look at dusting your computer once or twice a year, which will ultimately save you time and money by preventing you from having to replace an expensive piece of hardware, or your whole computer.
To dust out your desktop computer (Attempt at own risk, these are guidlines only):
You can buy a can or two of compressed air (LM Computers sells this for around $10 per can)
Shut down your computer and unplug the unit and all cables connected (if you are unsure where they plug back in, it might be good to label them before you remove them from the unit)
Most desktop models have two screws in the back on the right side, you may need a flat-head, Philips or Torx screw driver to remove them.
Once removed, slide the side off the computer and you will reveal the inside of the computer.
You could also remove the front face-plate of the unit, which is typically held on by clips. (Take your time, don’t force them out, you could break them off)
Find a place that you don’t mind dust flying around (basement, old room, outside if the weather is nice)
Now you are ready to get started.
You will notice fans throughout the machine. Some are in the front and back, and one main one directly over the computer processor.
It is good practice to hold these fans in place with your hand, and spray the compressed air at the fans, and around the unit.
By holding the fans, you reduce the risk of having a bearing break due to the force of the air forcing the fans to spin.
Once the fans are dusted out, you may see loose dust laying around inside the machine and within the case. You can dust this out too.
Now your computer should be looking as good as new, and you can reassemble the unit and hook it back up. No sweat, right?
If you feel like you would be worried about causing an issue with the machine, we provide a computer dusting service in shop for only $15, which is a great investment for the lifetime of your system.
