A PC clean is an part of your IT policies if you want your equipment to be reliable.
Spring Cleaning
Lots of people give their homes a good spring clean, getting rid of dust that has built up and helping everyone breathe easier, and this also works for computers. Dust in your house (and computer) is primarily made of fabric fibres, skin and other wholesome ingredients. It will go anywhere the wind blows or air moves and it settles on surfaces. Dust is a very effective thermal insulator, and while your ornaments might not care, your computer chips rely on staying cool to operate properly.
Is your computer slow?
Hot and noisy?
It’s time to clean.
However this PC may be beyond a clean! For this you need your backup.
Cooking your computer
Ye olde computers of yore were more vulnerable and could suffer catastrophic failure through overheating. Thankfully modern computers have limits and safeguards built into the system so failure like this is very rare. CPUs and GPUs now use advanced throttling techniques for speed and power draw to control the temperature, which enables more performance to be squeezed out when you need it, whilst also protecting it from going too far. However, a hot computer is not a happy computer, as degradation can still occur at high temperatures for some components and many things will be less stable. It will also use more power as it tries to cool down.
PC Clean
So if you want a quieter, cooler and overall calmer computer, see if you can clean out some dust. Desktop PCs are simple to open and clean, but laptops can be trickier. Most people are fearful of taking apart their expensive things, but you can usually use compressed air and/or vacuum to remove a lot of build-up around the intakes and vents.
My Top Tip
The best solution is prevention – no computers on the carpet, the bed or your lap. This does not mean you never need a PC clean, it just means it will be easier when you do it.
Just one more thing – smokers beware as smoke (and probably vape), accelerate the build-up of dust and dirt in your devices.
Need help?
Of course – give us a ring. I will send Martin or Michael round with a 1cm brush, a can of compressed air, a broom and rubber gloves for a PC clean!
Ben Parker – byline and other articles
p.s. I also have an article on Smart Thinking Solutions this week:
BitLocker for Cyber Security
Photo by Pixabay
