Simple Computer Cleaning for Non-Technical Computer Owners

In order to keep your computer healthy and pleasant to work on, your computer should get a bit of housekeeping. By taking proper care of your computer you can extend it's lifespan and keep it looking better.

Gather the supplies that you'll need before beginning. You'll need a soft cloth; an old tee shirt, cut into one foot squares, works nicely. Cotton swabs can be used for cleaning hard to reach places, but foam tipped swab, like a disposable eye shadow applicator, is preferable. A small, battery operated vacuum or special computer vacuum would be great. Water or rubbing alcohol will do the rest.

When you are going to clean your computer, turn it off. Never spray any cleaner on your computer or monitor: the moisture can get inside and damage your delicate machine. Follow the manufacturers directions on what to use to clean with, or moisten the cloth with water or rubbing alcohol. Other solvents may damage the casing. Cleaning with a cloth is preferable to a paper towel. Canned air is nice, but pricey. Use the other cleaning methods first, and only use the canned air for the hard to reach spots.

To clean your monitor, spray the cleaner or dampen a cloth with water, and wipe the screen. You may need to make a few passes; depending on how many times someone touches the screen and leaves nasty fingerprints behind. Ben gentle- rather than pressing hard, take a clean clothe and repeat. Be careful not to hit any of your knobs or controls.

The casing of the monitor can be vacuumed, to suck up dirt, dust and hair. Be sure to clean the dust from the holes in the monitor casing. After vacuuming, wipe down with a dampened cloth. Do not use a paper towel because it can scratch the screen. Be sure there are no papers left on the air vents, particularly on top of the monitor; blocking the vents can cause the monitor to overheat or even catch fire.

To clean your keyboard, disconnect the keyboard, and turn it upside down. If there are any loose keys, better to find them now instead of having them sucked into your vacuum. If you've been snacking at the computer, you'll see the evidence now! You can gently vacuum your keyboard. Next take a cloth. Moisten as above, and wipe down each of the keys. The little cans or air can be pretty pricey; if you clean more frequently, a vacuum should get our all the dust and debris for free. Now you'll be glad the computer is cleaned off and disconnected, because it won't beep and make other worrisome sounds. Wait until you are done cleaning all the parts to plug everything back in.

To clean your mouse, wipe all the surface areas off with your cloth and rubbing alcohol. If you have an old mouse with a ball inside, twist off the cover over the hole with the ball. Break a cotton swab in half and use the broken end to clean off the rollers inside. DO NOT use the broken side of a cotton swab anywhere in the inside of your computer.

The brains, the CPU, the box, whatever you want to call the main part of your computer comes next. This is where you need to be careful. Frankly, if you really don't know what you are doing her, your computer is better off if don't open the case! Vacuum and wipe away the dust, dirt and hair that you see. Remember- ONLY use a battery operated vacuum near the internal parts of the computer.

A vacuum can be used on the exterior of your computer to remove dust, hair and dirt, especially from openings that can allow dust to enter. Don't go near your computer with a vacuum if you've taken the cover off. Static electricity can damage your computer, so don't be cleaning while you are wearing sock and walking on a rug! This is repeated because it is so important that I don't want you to ignore it or to forget it.

Remember the floppy drive and or CD drives. Make sure to clean the area around the computer so that once you're done those dust bunnies don't just migrate up to your nice, clean computer.

If you are not very tech-savvy, mark each cable so you know exactly where it goes. Mae a piece of masking tape and write on each cable exactly where it was. Most computer cables are color coded, but not all. There may be 2 jacks that look the same, but it may matter which one you plug in to, since it may connect to a different internal part.

If you must venture inside, be careful! No static. No electric vacuum. Use a battery-powered device if you remove the case. Of course you'll need to disconnect all the cables first if you are cleaning the inside. Be gentle; blow away any dust that you see; no rubbing, no scrubbing. You should only wipe off the fan blades gently- don't use the canned air because it can cause the fan to spin to fast and damage it. Use a swab to hold the fan from spinning and gently wipe off dust and dirt. If you really feel the need to do more, consult the directions from your manufacturer regarding the correct way to clean the inside of your computer.

Once you are done and put the case back on, connect everything exactly as it was. Plug back in and restart. If there is anything wrong and you followed these directions to the letter, there is nothing you could have done to break your computer. If anything isn't starting or working (like your mouse doesn't work) it will devices mean it wasn't plugged back in correctly. Shut it down, unplug and replug everything and start it up again.

Physical cleaning won't make your computer faster, won't fix any problems, and won't change anything except make it a lot more pleasant to work on, and perhaps extend it's life.