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Modern science has not yet found a way to keep the air dust-free. That means with time, dust will accumulate inside your computer. Will this dust affect its performance over the long run? Yes. That’s why it’s important to learn how to clean PCs and other devices.
How To Clean Your PC Or Mac Computer (3 Easy Steps)
Here are some tips that apply to PCs but can also be applied to laptops, tablets, smartphones, and other devices. And, it’s easier than you might think.
1. Turn Off The Power
Before you dive into the innards of your PC, make sure you’ve turned off the power first. You can do this usually via a power switch on the back of your PC, as well as by shutting off your surge protector or simply unplugging your PC’s power chord. Once that’s done, keep in mind that certain parts of your PC will still hold a charge (such as the power source) – so be careful and don’t go sticking your fingers where they don’t need to be. In fact, you shouldn’t need to touch anything to clean your PC of dust.
2. Open Up Your Computer For Cleaning
There’s a couple of things to remember before you dive in and clean your PC.
First, many prebuilt PC’s have a manufacturer’s warranty (for the PC as a whole, not the individual parts) that will be voided if you open it. Then again, since most PC’s advertise their expandability, this seems kind of silly – since you can’t expand your PC (add parts to it) without opening it. Nevertheless, it’s something to keep in mind – especially if there’s a sticker advertising that fact taped over your PC’s opening mechanism.
In most cases, you can open your PC by simply unscrewing a screw or two. In some cases, the cover will simply slide off. Other PC cases will have a lever. The process of opening your PC for cleaning varies by manufacturer, although if you mess with it enough you should be able to figure it out.
3. Vacuum Your PC
There’s plenty of people, including PC builders, that advocate the use of compressed air. While compressed air or gas can be quite effective in helping clean your PC, it can also be detrimental. The problem with compressed air is that you are blowing air in, as opposed to sucking air out. This means a lot of the time you’re just rearranging the dust in your PC. The best way to clean a PC is to get a PC vacuum, such as one of our recommendations below. By using a vacuum, you will be sucking the dust out of your case, and you’ll keep your PC operating at peak performance for a longer time.
Healthier And More Eco-Friendly Solution
Another advantage of using a vacuum to clean your PC is that you are helping the environment by trapping and removing harmful pollutants before they escape into the atmosphere. With blowers, you are simply blowing dust into the air, letting it escape and causing potential health issues at the same time.
Best For Business Use: Metro Vacuum MDV-1BA DataVac Pro
For a larger office environment, you can get the Metro Vacuum MDV-1BA DataVac Pro. The Metro Vacuum picks up dangerous toner spills from laser printers and copiers and is 99.9% efficient on particles to .3 microns. You can use on mainframes, laser printers, copiers, fax machines, disc drives, calculators, electronic typewriters, automatic teller machines, and more.
Best For Personal Use: The Sin Shine Compressed Air Electric Air Duster 3.0
The Sin Shine Compressed Air 3.0- Multi-Use Electric Air Duster helps you access the nooks and crannies of your PC, letting you remove dust from otherwise inaccessible places. You can also use it on other office and PC equipment, including your keyboard, printers, disk drives, etc. It operates on 15 volts of cleaning power, which is four times what you get with inefficient battery-operated vacuums.
Video: Dusting In Action
It’s satisfying to see how powerful the vacuum is in blowing out dust from this PC.
The Problem With PC Dust
One of the main issues with dust collecting within your PC is that it will cause components to overheat, thereby reducing their lifespan. For example, if you never clean your CPU fan, it will get weighed down and clogged by dust particles, which will cause your CPU and motherboard temperature to increase. The lower you keep the temperatures on your CPU, motherboard, graphics card, etc. – the longer they will last.
Nothing Lasts Forever: Best Cloud Backup Providers
But nothing lasts forever, which is why it’s a great idea to have your important data backed up online. Our experts review the top online backup providers with features, pricing, pros, cons, real user feedback and more.
Get your PC cleaned? Which vacuum did you decide on? Let us know in the comments!
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