Well, it’s Valentine’s Day again, and that means it’s time to show some love. Not sure who your real Valentine is this year? Think about who you want to spend your time with during the day; who makes you laugh and keeps you company throughout your week? Think about who makes you want to learn new things and who is always there for you with the big life choices. It’s okay, we love our computers too. So, show your computer some love with some general maintenance and cleaning to keep your relationship long lasting.
Remember the first time you two met? It was magical and you knew it was love at first sight. You had many great experiences together, holding tons of memories for you and with you, performing well at the job. At that moment, you wished all great things could last until the end of time.
We’ve all cleaned our monitors and dusted our keyboards, but how many of you consider cleaning the inside of your computer? While it might not seem like an important task, it can help ensure its longevity, and save you money in the long run.
Ignoring this kind of maintenance could lead to problems down the road, like overall computer failure. Dust particles can wreak havoc on your machine, frying some of the most important processing units. Whether you have a laptop or desktop; lint and dust can clog the fans and cooling vents, which could cause it to overheat. Once a machine overheats, the internal components have a higher chance of failing. Cleaning your computer regularly can increase performance and extend the life of your machine.
How to properly clean the inside of your computer:
• Check manufacturer’s warranty information; be sure that taking apart the computer will not void the warranty.
• Ensure your computer is turned off and disconnect from the power source.
• For desktops, usually there are two or more small knobs/screws/buttons that hold the side panels onto the tower, press or turn to remove them.
• For laptops, turn the computer upside down, remove the battery (if not already done so), remove the panel that is affixed with screws. Most laptops have vents grouped together for easy cleaning.
• Once you have access to the inner workings of the computer, try to touch as little as possible. Look for dust bunnies and debris, take tweezers and carefully remove from the computer.
• Blow compressed air throughout and around the components and along the bottom of the case, keeping the nozzle about 5 inches away from the machine. Be sure to blow air around the power supply as well as the fan.
• Remember, when blowing the debris; try to blow away at an angle and not further into the crevices.
• Be delicate with the fans, putting too much pressure on the fans could result in a crack in the blade or damage in the bearings.
• It’s advised to use short bursts of air rather than long steady streams. Holding the fans with the tweezers will also ensure a safe cleaning.
• If there are floppy disk drives, CD drives or other ports – blow a little air into them, slowly as you did before.
• Once you have fully inspected and cleaned the inside, take a damp cloth to the inner sides of the panels prior to replacing.
And just like that, you’ve just increased the life span of your computer. In that moment, you realized that it was not difficult to love your computer again. Now maybe you should give your computer a nice “card” to celebrate the special day.
Give us a call at 1-800-566-4786 or contact us about how we can help maintain, replace or recycle your fleet of computers and servers. Our team of engineers and experienced sales staff can help you to meet all of the IT goals of your organization.