Remember the days when a computer room used to be the sanctum of pure air and a dust-free zone? All carpeted and air-conditioned? Today you have your computer in your den and your laptop lying on the floor. Does that mean that your computer is susceptible to malfunctioning? Yes, it is! Although computers today are better-built, saves power and generates less heat, still no computer is immune to dust and dirt. It is thus of paramount importance that you keep your computer clean in order to ensure that it functions properly.



What will dust cause?

Dust will affect the most important part of your computer; the fan that keeps your central processing unit CPU cool. Dust lodges itself on the fan blades and clogs it resulting into excessive heat generation. The fan then fails to cool the CPU which may eventually completely stop the working of the computer. A partially functioning fan due to dust clogging will make your computer work harder with less output but a definitely higher electricity bill. So yes, you would want to stay off the dust!

So what are the precautions?

You can follow these steps in order to clean dust from the fan of your computer. Keep the computer in a dust-free environment. Avoid smoking in front of your computer. Nicotine and tar residue harm the computer. Try dusting it very regularly and use a CPU cover if need be. Also it is a good idea to keep your computer in a cold environment. Even if air-conditioning is not possible, try keeping it away from the sun, or near open windows. That being said, do not keep your computer in a closed area either. This may heat up the CPU and make it work harder.

A casual dusting of the keyboard, the monitor or cleaning up the mouse will also help in the long run. Remember dust accumulates in the mouse ball and makes the mouse interactivities quite difficult.

However even after you have taken all the precautions, dust will still accumulate on the fan. There is no alternative to regular cleaning.

So how do you clean the fan?

Open up the back of your CPU. Use a can of compressed air and an anti-static cloth to clean the dust. Hold the can vertically and spray air such that dust is not sprayed on other parts of the CPU and the circuits. Now use the anti-static cloth to clean off the dust.

Do not attempt to use a vacuum cleaner as that might cause static electricity and may also draw in any loose wiring. Adopt a liquid free dusting method and do not use any oil-based cleansing agent.

If you are not comfortable with cleaning it yourself then drop it at a service center. It generally does not cost a fortune. To keep your computer running in a good condition and to give it a longer life, keep dust off your computer. Do not ignore the maintenance of your computer, even in the busy life find out time to clean your computer.