Clean it..!

For this week I thought I'd give you guys and girls some cleaning tips. I'm sure you clean just about everything in your house from bookshelves to window sills. Yet there is one item in your midst that you use as often as the kitchen stove but for some odd reason you never thought of cleaning it. I'm talking about your computer and physically cleaning it. The fans revving up faster and more often is a dead giveaway that it's getting clogged A few weeks back a friend of mine wanted me to fix is computer after Vista went blank and wouldn't come on. I reinstalled another system on it...a Linux of course, but I told him I would have to clean the inside of his computer. This particular computer had been purchased a few years back and was sitting on the floor next to his desk. Before the Vista blowout, the fans inside were coming on all the time, making a not so pleasant racket. Well, when I opened his computer he was shocked to see how much dust it had accumulated in that short a period of time. After the procedure the computer ran as silently as if it had just left the store. This is an all too common problem and can be detrimental to your computer's performance. So in the hope that this helps a bit. here's the way to a clean box.
Just keep in mind that if for some reason you turn your computer into an over sized paperweight after attempting this, my lawyers, Dewey, Screwem and Howe say that I can deny all responsibility.

Housing interior

For this example I'll use my trusty IBM. This is what you'll need...compressed air in a can, cotton swabs, a straw and an ordinary vacuum cleaner. Unplugging the computer would be a great idea for starters...Duh'..! Opening the case is pretty straight forward on most computers (mine has a latch) but you might need to unscrew the side panel from the back to get access. Refer to your owners manual or get it off the Net. Once the panel is removed you can start cleaning. The compressed air will disperse most of the dust and using the cotton swab you can dislodge a little more. Just be extremely careful not to accidentally pull any wires and slightly touching the exposed metal of the box with a finger before starting will eliminate any unwanted static. The areas you have to look for are the power supply fan, any other utility fan, the heat sink and it's attached fan.

Heat sink with fan removed

The heat sink is the usual culprit and may require that you remove the fan to really clean it out if the compressed air fails to do so. For my friend's computer, the fan was clipped on to the heat sink so it was easy to remove. Mine had four little screws to fasten it. I used an ordinary vacuum cleaner to suck the dirt out but it's safer to attach a drinking straw with masking tape to to the nozzle and gently run it across the fins of the heat sink. Reattach the fan, close the box and you're done.

Heat sink

For the more adventurous types, once the heat sink fan is off, it's not a big deal to remove the heat sink itself not only to clean it properly but also to change the heat paste (every 4 years or so ) between the CPU (central processing unit) and the heat sink. This inexpensive paste is paramount to the heat exchange and if left to dry can lead to serious damage.

CPU is revealed after heat sink removal

For those of you who have laptops...you're shit out of luck...just kidding.
I wouldn't attempt to open it if I were you. I did it once for a friend and it took me four hours to get access to what I wanted and two to put it back together. The straw and vacuum trick will work a little.
Just be careful not to push it in the heat vent in the back. Laptops are notorious for sucking up dust ( my friend's laptop had felt like compressed dust blocking the ventilation) so you might want to take it to a dealer to get it cleaned especially if you find it getting hotter than usual.

Keeping your computer well ventilated and raised off the floor will help to keep it clean and run smoothly.

Footnote: Additional tips.
Always back up your important stuff. Nothing is for ever and this goes for computer components. Uncheck the ''RESTART AFTER A POWER FAILURE'' box in your power management controls. Spikes in the power when it comes back on can do serious and sometimes irreparable damage to your computer.