by Lee Mathews

Created on: May 29, 2008

When people are told to keep their computers clean, they're often lead to believe it's the operating system that needs to be cleaned up.

In truth, that's only part of the job.

The dirt on your keyboard? Annoying, yes, and it shouldn't be there, but it's not going to mess things up too much. Smudges on the screen? Unsightly, and easy to get rid of.

But what about the dust INSIDE your computer? This is a HUGE danger to any kind of computer: PC or Mac, desktop or laptop, dust is a KILLER.

Because all these systems keep a fairly constant flow of air through their chassis, it stands to reason that they pick up a lot of debris from the air they pull: dust, pet and human hair, tiny particles of food, you name it. If you've got a case with a window, it's easy for you to see just how dusty your computer can get.

Before you start cleaning, turn your computer off and unplug it. If it's a laptop, take the battery out. Just in case!

Your computer's main heatsink (a copper or aluminum block that sits right on the processor) and CPU fan (which is attached to the heatsink) don't operate well with ANY amount of dust. Even a fine coating can hurt their ability to dissipate heat by as much as 20% - and any extra heat in a computer is bad. Grab yourself an old, soft toothbrush and loosen some of the dust from the heatsink and fan, then use a can of compressed air to blow out the loose gunk. You may use up as much as half a can, but don't be stingy with it.

If you've got major dust bunnies in your case, use a plastic or rubber attachment on your vacuum and suck them out. Don't use the bare metal end, you're asking for trouble that way.

On a laptop, turn it over and look for vent holes on the bottom, back, and sides near the back. Blow a little air in and see if any dust comes out. If it does, keep blowing until the flow stops. If not, try a different open slot.

On to the surfaces! For most keyboard and screen cleaning, I just use a soft microfiber cloth and a little misting of water. Don't use caustic cleaners like vinegar or Windex on your screen - they will streak, sometimes permanently. Give your keyboard and mouse a good wipedown, and hit your keyboard with the canned air - that'll get a lot of the little garbage out from under the keys. Not all of it, but unless you pop the keys off you'll never get it all.

Now let's clean up your operating system!

For general tuneups, I recommend Ad-Aware and Ccleaner. They'll do a great, fast job of removing a lot of the garbage from your PC. You can

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