A Guide To Cleaning Ur PC Inside-Out

Cleaning ur PC is essential today. Got ur new hardware and Windows? Happy with the power and features? LLet a month past and ull start seeing all the dust it got on it.So how do u get rid of it? This thread is aimed at healthily cleaning ur PC while getting it back in one piece.

When and when u shud clean? Well it maybe once in a month or two. It could be boring and IT WILL TAKE TIME but its essential.

Why Do It? Well dust tends o kill the ellegence of ur PC and more if it stays stationary, it may cause malfunctioning in fans and other components.

What things to use for the job? The things i tend to use is a cloth(dry and smooth) and a blower(hot or cold air dont matter.) And u need to have a brush (tooth or painting one) handy for small places. And as usuall all the stuff to open ur cabinet.

How to do it? Well the main part. Gentally start by unplugging ur wires(remeber them i u still havent to as to where to plug them!)Open the cabinet and be sure to place on it on sturdy table-top or something. Use ur wares or directly open if u have thumb screws. Gently clean the panels inside and out with the cloth and blow air afterwards. Use the brush for small places. keep the panels in a clean place so all ur work dosent go in vain. Well now moving inside, first clean the base of the inside with the cloth and use brushes again for small places between connectors and stuuf. Clean each fin of each fan with the brush in one hand while using the other to hold the fan steady. did it? Now moving to components. Take the HDD first. Its minimal effort to clean it as its a considerably large component. Use the cloth and brush as for now.Than take the optical drives. Now it needs care as u MAY damage it. Only use gentle brush strokes and be sure to get each crevass(hehe). Moving to ur GPU(if u have a dedicated. Its farely easy, dont use the cloth as to ensure safety. use long vertical strokes on the PCB and be sure to clean between each heatsink stick. Use the fan method on the GPU's fan. CPU is not as easy to clean as they have a big fan. Dont get frustated. Call another person if u like. Dont use the blower as that will just move the fan(actually,try it as its fun to see) use the cloth on the non-occupied parts of the mobo. Be careful while cleaning the RAM. its delicate. U need to plug it out. refer the manual of ur mobo to learn how to unplug it. Just use brush strokes and cloth on the heat-sink. Than blow it with the blower and plug it again. Give each compnent some blowing using the blower. Fit the case as it was and keep it there. We'll clean the wires. Its common sense. Use the brush(Its the best tool aint it?) to do it. U may use cloth for big connectors. No need to use the blower. Keep them aside and YES BE SURE TO CLEAN THAT PART OF THE DESK. Moving on to the monitor. If u have a LCD than its hassale free. Just use the cloth and give it a finishing touch with the blower. If its a CRT than duh! Work again Use the cloth to wipe the screen. Go gentelly all over the body with strokes from the cloth. Use the brush for areas near the stand as they tend to have samll places which are a hot-spot for dust(This point applies to LCDs too). Speakers are fairly easy. Woofers are mainly flat and the sattelites dont have much small places. The cloth will take care of it. Ah! the good old keyboard is a pain. U will have to use the brush to clean the space around each key. YES ALL 4 SIDES OF EACH KEY. but that is if u want a clean keyboard, otherwise just use the cloth and blower. Mouse is easy.

So now? Now? Now enjoy healthy computing. Not only it will give ur system more life, but will also save u from disease.

Caution - Dont do if u have a dust allergy. Just ask for help than. AND take care of ur components. They are expensive and delicate.

This shud be done at a regular time interval although it could be boring and very tiresome. BUT IT does not mean u make it a hobby and keep on doing it everyday but i know no one will do it

Hope u got sumthing from this thread and it will help

Happy Computing friends

[ring_wraith]

Nice, but consider changing it to a list, and adding some pictures.

^^I will try my best.

[ico]

Thanx for the Tutorial Paranj.....

Whats the approximate price of a blower BTW?? My friend needs one.....

[ax3]

nice tut ..... bt images would have done wonders ......

@gagandeep, any blower will work. A hair blower too!

@ax3, m trying best to upload pics.

[Cool G5]

I would like to add :

1) Don't use the hair blower for too long, the heat may damage the components. Use the vaccum pump is great alternative to hair blower. You can get a Vaccum Pump in any computer store for Rs.100.

2) Open the pc in adequate lighting in your room. I prefer to open it on the floor.

3) Use Ear swabs .. the one to clean our ears, to clean the keys on your keyboard. It doesn an excellent job than brush.

4) Use Pencil Eraser to clean the ram stripes. Do it gently, don't apply too much force.

5) Use a linth free cloth to clean the components.

BTW nice guide paranj

[mastermunj]

Good job buddy!!

please put some pics and links to make it more understandable..

i just hate reading looooong texts.. haha... picture attracts me

[victor_rambo]

Nice one! Thanks!

[Xccentricity]

Nice tut dude, almost got out a kilo of dust form my PC especially from the PSU and CPU Fan .

[blueshift]

For cleaning the keyboard thoroughly, I remove all the keys and wipe each key and the board. Any other way??

btw nice guide paranj.

[Rahim]

nice guide. Just wondering of outsourcing this job to my kaamwaali

[fun2sh]

nice TUTORIAL!
can any1 Plz post tut to clean laptops?

[Tech.Masti]

^^ laptop cleaning.... To do it you have to broke seal i think.....

[aminsagar123]

buy a USB vaccum + LCD Cleaning Kit

Originally Posted by fun2sh

nice TUTORIAL!
can any1 Plz post tut to clean laptops?

[bikdel]

Actually bro u forgot 1 important thing.
First u hav to get rid of any static electricity that has been built up in ur body, that can cause serious. U know how to do that i suppose? U just hav to touch the cabinet while its earthed, or better still, wear a grounding strap while handling electricals.
Thats it.

Signing off; Bikalpa Paudel

^^my friend notified it to me but forgot to post so guys take care of the static electricity.

THANKS A LOT bikdel

[stylecraze]

Originally Posted by Cool G5

I would like to add :

1) Don't use the hair blower for too long, the heat may damage the components. Use the vaccum pump is great alternative to hair blower. You can get a Vaccum Pump in any computer store for Rs.100.

2) Open the pc in adequate lighting in your room. I prefer to open it on the floor.

3) Use Ear swabs .. the one to clean our ears, to clean the keys on your keyboard. It doesn an excellent job than brush.

4) Use Pencil Eraser to clean the ram stripes. Do it gently, don't apply too much force.

5) Use a linth free cloth to clean the components.

BTW nice guide paranj

Thx buddy, short nd point-wise

[VarDOS]

Nice Tutorial But Can You Add Some Pictures

[johnjjx]

Usb vaccuum is waste. Instead use hand blower 15rs. Tht does gud job. Cleanin psu, cpu hsf n gpu hsf is worst.
Wud like to add y it is important to clean. During monsoon dust may mixup with moisture n tht can badly damage ur pc parts. Gud guide.

Guys i may add pics but everyones PC s different and so would be cabinet design and all

[channabasanna]

Very nice tutorial.......................................... .

Really helpful in how to clean the PC..

[topgear]

very useful tutorial ( though with some pictures it will be awesome ) - thinking about cleaning my pc

^^sure and if u face probs. ask me

i m PhD

[hell_024]

Gr8 tutorial

[rhitwick]

blower or vacuum cleaner??
what to use?
blower blows the dust and vacuum cleaner sucks it?? So..........
I was planning to buy a vacuum cleaner.........now bit hesitating b/w blower and it??
Any guidance??

[pushkaraj]

Nice tut.

@Rhitwick, imho the blower works better than the vacuum cleaner. The vacuum cleaner is of low power and hence a bit inefficient in removing all the dust.

[Cool Joe]

This is a great tut.
I actually enjoy opening up my cabinet and tinkering with the components. So it isn't much of a boring job for me.

[The Incredible]

i once heard of using two fans in the cabinet - one for intake and another for outflow with the intake one having a filter for dust. do such things exist ?? and are they really effective ?? cos i dun keep my pc in an room with ac, in fact the room is somewhat open so my cabinet catches dust in not more than 20-25 days. any tips ??

[Cool Joe]

^^Of course, they exist. Since your PC is in an ACed room, you don't really need it.