Ground Report

Tip to clean your computer hardware

Computer, unlike other electric or electronic devices, is not maintenance free. In quite the opposite, it needs periodically hard ware clean up. This will not only give your computer top performance, it will also prevent many unforeseen computer break down,

The obvious reason is, after we use the computer for 6 – 12 months depending on the environment, it will have a thick layer of dust sitting on. This happens even we position our computer in a clean room. The computer parts in my own bed room always collect the cotton fiber from the bed sheet, blanket, and pajamas.

It would, therefore, be advisable to give your computer a clean up once every 6 months or so. But before we do it, we must do some preparation. First, get a piece of paper, a pen, screw driver, eraser, brush and a small can of spray that clean the metal parts of the electronic circuit.

When we are ready, unplug the computer completely and take only the case out to a well ventilated area. Open the case and take note of what you will be doing below (This is important to help you put back the parts later after cleaning):

1. Unplug all the devices from the power supply. These include hard disk, floppy disk, DVD Rom, CPU fan, and the main power supply plug from the main board.  
2. Take the main board battery off.
3. Unscrew all the attached cards like Monitor, LAN, Modem, USB, Sound, CCTV, if there is any (the newer main mother board now has most of these collectively assembled on the main board) and pull them out carefully.
4. Use the brush to brush off dust on all computer parts.
5. Erase the bronze color stripe part of the cards. Rub them hard until shiny.
6. Spray clean the main board, IC or chip spikes, and the needle like metal parts of the hard disk, floppy disk and DVD ROM.
7. Spray also all the metal parts that protrude out from the main board at the back of the computer case. (Do not wipe with paper or cloth if you over spray as it may cause damage to it. Just let it dry off).
8. Put back all the cards and screw tight.
9. Plug back all power supply lines.
10. Insert back main board battery.
11. Close the case and take to join back to the monitor, keyboard and mouse.

Few words of caution

1. Please make sure you write down the details when you unplug or unscrew

    anything. You will need them when you put things back.

2. Do it gently and patiently. Do not force your way through in any step.

3. You know how to reset your CMOS-BIOS after you put back the main board

    battery. (You may bypass steps 2 & 10 if you do not. But be careful not to

    spray right on the battery to prevent short circuit)

This will restore your computer hardware back to its original new look when you first bought it. Performance will drastically improve too comparing when before the cleaning was done. It will enhance further with some adjustment to the software. I will discuss software tuning in my other “Article Tips” computer series.