5 Quick and Easy Steps to Spring Clean your PC

Spring has sprung and along with your other spring cleaning chores add these five computer cleaning techniques to keep your computer clean, cool, and happy.

1. Desktops: Unplug all of your cables (label them if necessary) and take the tower outside. Open up the side (usually thumb screws or a latch on the back of the computer) and blow the dust out of the system with a can of compressed air. I recommend starting from the top and moving towards the bottom making sweeping motions from side to side. Pay particular attention to the vents on the case so your computer breathes well. Don't over spray the fans as you might cause some damage to them by causing them to spin at too high a speed. You might have to repeat this a few times until hardly any dust is no longer evident coming out of the computer.
2. Mice:  If you are still using a mouse with a ball underneath it (turn it over and look at it), go to your nearest office super store, electronics store, even department stores like WalMart or Target and spend $10-20 on an Optical mouse. Optical mice never get lint stuck in them and make it hard to move the mouse around.
3. Flat Panel monitors:  Use a soft, cotton cloth dampened with just a little water and gently wipe your screen from side to side (gentle because the screen is not made of glass and can be damaged if you press to hard), then use the rag to wipe the back and base of your system. CRT users can use the same technique, but don't have to be as careful about pushing on the glass of the monitor.
4. Keyboard:  Unhook it from your computer (if it's wired), then hold it upside down outside and use your compressed air can to blow out the crevices between all the keys.
5. Printer:  You can use your compressed air to blow the dust from the inside of your printer, but like the comptuer, be careful about being too aggressive. You can also take that lightly dampened rag and dust off the outside and paper tray of your printer.

Performing this kind of computer cleaning can keep your computer from over heating and allow it to perform at its maximum capacity. Remember, also, that computer equipment likes to breathe, so please don't leave your computer powered on and stuck under a desk or in a compartment where air flow is minimal. 

Now that your computer is nice and shiny, put off cleaning those windows until the fall! 

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