How to Clean And Maintain Your Computer

Cleaning your computer can keep it running smoothly – not to mention looking good – well into the future as well as prolong its life. Using the wrong products or missing important components can be dangerous, so follow our guidelines to keep your system sparkling.

Cleaning

Use lint-free, static-free cloths to clean the exterior of dust and debris. To remove stubborn stains, use a little rubbing alcohol on a slightly damp cloth.  Wipe down the monitor, keyboard and the case. Clean the bottom of the mouse and wipe down the mousepad. You can also use canned air to blow dust and dirt from between the keys. Use the air to clean out vents so that dust doesn’t cause the system to overheat.

If you’re comfortable opening the case, you can do a quick inside cleaning. Make sure you disconnect the power supply and touch the outside of the case to get rid of any built-up static or wear an anti-static wrist strap so that you don’t damage components. Use compressed air to blow the dust off the fans and use the wipes to remove dust inside the case, making sure not to touch the circuitry. You may want to change the CMOS battery (it looks like a watch battery) if it is more than five years old.

Maintenance

There are easy things you can do to clean up the programs and components of your computer to speed it up and keep it running smoothly.

1. Defragment. After a period of time, files become fragmented and spread throughout the hard drive and it takes the system time to put them together, which makes your computer run more slowly. Close all open programs and make sure the computer won’t be interrupted – losing power or shutting down during a defrag can seriously damage the system. Go to Start and then All Programs. Go to Accessories and then System Tools. Choose Disk Defragmentation and then Analyze. The system will run a quick analysis and see if you need to defragment. If you choose to run it, it may take over an hour to complete, so make sure you have time.
2. Run CHKDSK. This will check volumes for problems and scan the hard drive at the same time. Go to Start and then Run. In the box, type in: cmd and press Enter. In the box, type in chkdsk and press Enter.
3. Delete old files and programs. Deleting old files and programs can free up space and make startup and shutdown faster. Send them to the Recycle Bin, and then empty it as long as you are sure that you won’t need any of it again.
4. Clean the registry. The registry holds much of the information that keeps your computer running. Using a registry cleaner will remove any leftover components
5. Antivirus programs. Update and run your antimalware problems regularly to avoid viruses, Trojans and other system bad guys.
6. Backup data. As you clean, it is a good idea to back up photos, files and programs that you can’t afford to lose.

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