Couple of days ago a Senior Technocrat visited my office to give live demonstration of an innovative product. He was using his Laptop for that purpose. Initially I could not concentrate just because that laptop was very dirty especially the screen. I was wondering how one could carry such a dirty machine to his customer for demonstration of a product costing INR 2.2 million. Machine was also very slow. I stopped him after five minutes and brought two pieces of cloth one dry and one wet. Got it cleaned. Switched on and ran Disk Cleanup and removed unwanted files occupying 250 MB space. Ran Disk Defragmenter and that took quite long time. I was very interested to know about the product so took pain to clean it otherwise I would have told him to quit.
Friends, are you like that Technocrat? If yes, please read the rest of the review or else skip. Let me share my way to clean and maintain my computers. It is better to switch off the PC during cleaning.
CPU: The Heart
Avoid performing a bypass surgery if like me not born to perform that kind of job.
A dry cloth is good enough to clean CPU. Damp cloth may be useful to remove stubborn impressions.
Use dust cover when not in use but do not forget to remove it when in use. Always place it in well-ventilated place. Closed cabinet without adequate ventilation may damage the CPU due to heat.
Monitor
I do not recommend opening the monitor for people like me who are not hardware engineers. Monitor circuitry is quite complicated and delicate so it is better to engage a skilled person. Only job left for me is to carryout external cleaning that to with a dry cloth. Front of the monitor may be cleaned by damp cloth to remove fingerprints or any other impression particularly on the screen. Never use excess water because any seepage of water inside the monitor will spoil the circuitry and may cause short circuit. Never try to use any solvent like Alcohol or nail polish remover.
Use dust cover when it is not in use. Do not forget to remove the cover when it is in use. Proper ventilation is essential at the rear of the monitor.
Keyboard
Easiest way to do it is to make it upside down and shake gently. Use a dry cloth.
Best way to clean it is to use a small vacuum cleaner. Vacuum cleaner can clean the small gapes below the knobs / buttons. Damp cloth may be used to remove stubborn impressions.
One of my IS Staff uses empty perfume tin can with spray nozzle. Air inside the bottle is good enough to clean the keyboard. This is a very useful tool for Smokers Keyboard.
Mouse
Cleaning a mouse is simple. On the bottom of the mouse, lightly press and rotate the plastic ring that holds the ball. Follow the direction shown to loosen the ring and ball comes out the moment you remove the plastic ring. The ball can be clean with a damp cloth or warm water and leave it to dry. There may be lot of dirt in the cavity of the mouse where the ball rotates. One should use only a cloth to clean the dirt. Never try to use any solvent like Alcohol or nail polish remover. Most important is to use a clean mouse pad. Fibers from cloth or paper may create problem
CD ROM or CD-RW or DVD
In case of an external device, regular cleaning by a dry cloth is more than enough. One should not use strong detergents and sprays for cleaning. Keeping the door clean is good enough for internal device.
Tray should be clean and free from any foreign particle. One may use suitable duster to keep the tray clean. Foreign particles on the tray will spoil the CD. A metallic foreign particle may create havoc. It may fall inside the writer through the center hole and may cause electric short circuit. So, do not use something like paper clips to take out the CD.
Laser - This is the most expensive part of the device. To keep it clean, use reliable lens cleaner of reputed companies.
Laser radiates radio frequency energy. Laser beam is hazardous to health so we have to ensure that there is no leakage of beams especially the door. Such radiation will even disturb radio / television reception. This can be very easily detected by switching on / off the CD Writer(external). It is better to consult a knowledgeable person in such case.
Printer
According to me printer is one of the rarely used accessories in case of a Home PC. Therefore, it is better to have a dust cover.
This also must be free of dust. Never try to lubricate the shaft carrying the Ink Cartridge. Try to keep it clean with a dry cloth.
Always use suitable paper for better life of your printer. Do not store paper on the tray for a very long time. Damp and dirty paper may get stuck and jam the printer. Alignment of cartridge is essential to get right quality printing, so one should use the software supplied with the printer. Check the expiry date when buying a cartridge.
Sound system : - Use only dry cloth for cleaning.
Modem and telephone connection
For modem, clean with the help of a dry cloth is more than enough.
To have proper telephone connection is very important for all the addicts of MS. Performance of a modem depends a lot on telephone connection but poor consumers of BSNL or MTNL have very little choice. Only option left to us is to have proper cable from the adaptor to modem and a good adaptor.
UPS:- According to me, we should use UPS(uninterrupted power supply) in Indian condition to protect our PC. Sudden power tripping may corrupt software as well as damage hardware. Normal dust mopping and proper electrical connection with proper earthing is all that is required.
Before selecting a UPS, it is important to know maximum power consumption of your PC and the whole system. During power shutdown see to it that battery is not completely discharged due to excess usage-time of computer.
To improve performance use Disk Cleanup & Defragmenter. Norton Utility is very useful if you are using Win 98. Unfortunately, I could not get a NU version for XP.
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If I have missed something, please mention that in comment section for the benefit of members and me. Have a nice time.