DCN Services: technologeneral
General Technical Musing from the Staff at Dyess Computer & Networking Services, LLC.
03/27/17
The answer to that is, “of course not,” unless you just finished cleaning it, and you know you didn’t. 
Welcome to the first part of a series on the physical cleaning of your computer equipment. I like the 5 W’s, but I like to go through them backwards, so today we will look at why you should spend time and money to clean up that computer or piece of equipment that “has worked just fine since I bought it.” I am sure that your vehicle could also run a good long time on the original oil and air filters, and you might not notice any difference until it died, but someone who knew what to look for would notice. So, why should we clean our computer equipment?
Welcome to the first part of a series on the physical cleaning of your computer equipment. I like the 5 W’s, but I like to go through them backwards, so today we will look at why you should spend time and money to clean up that computer or piece of equipment that “has worked just fine since I bought it.” I am sure that your vehicle could also run a good long time on the original oil and air filters, and you might not notice any difference until it died, but someone who knew what to look for would notice. So, why should we clean our computer equipment?
Cleaning your desktop or laptop accomplishes a few things:
1. To start with the obvious, it makes them look better (read newer). Dust and gunk (like from spilled drinks) makes everything look old, even if it is brand new.
2. It promotes air flow. Unless you have a fancy water/oil/dry-ice-cooled gaming rig, your computer is cooled by a few heatsinks to draw out heat and some fans to disperse the heat. Clogged heatsink or no air flow means no cooling, and overheated parts will soon be dead parts.
3. Reduces wear and tear. Dust and other foreign particles may feel soft and smooth to us, and some of them are, but they will still eat into or bog down moving parts. These particles are the reason your CD/DVD drive stops opening, and the reason that nice cooling fan you bought with the LEDs stops turning. Dust is also the reason those CD/DVD drives start having problems reading media.
4. We also should not forget the effect our love of drinks (you pick the type) has on our computers. Spills, and oil transferred from our skin, can lead to sticky annoying keyboards, corrosion, build up of bacteria, and most dangerous, short circuits (no, not Johnny Five) (If you didn’t get that, don’t worry, nobody else does either).
5. Finally, it is also a fire hazard. (really?) No, but it is important for all of these other reasons. (note: Not saying it isn’t possible, just that it isn’t likely. So, rather than stress about the machine catching fire, have a fire alarm/smoke detector and a fire extinguisher…and clean out the computer).
1. To start with the obvious, it makes them look better (read newer). Dust and gunk (like from spilled drinks) makes everything look old, even if it is brand new.
2. It promotes air flow. Unless you have a fancy water/oil/dry-ice-cooled gaming rig, your computer is cooled by a few heatsinks to draw out heat and some fans to disperse the heat. Clogged heatsink or no air flow means no cooling, and overheated parts will soon be dead parts.
3. Reduces wear and tear. Dust and other foreign particles may feel soft and smooth to us, and some of them are, but they will still eat into or bog down moving parts. These particles are the reason your CD/DVD drive stops opening, and the reason that nice cooling fan you bought with the LEDs stops turning. Dust is also the reason those CD/DVD drives start having problems reading media.
4. We also should not forget the effect our love of drinks (you pick the type) has on our computers. Spills, and oil transferred from our skin, can lead to sticky annoying keyboards, corrosion, build up of bacteria, and most dangerous, short circuits (no, not Johnny Five) (If you didn’t get that, don’t worry, nobody else does either).
5. Finally, it is also a fire hazard. (really?) No, but it is important for all of these other reasons. (note: Not saying it isn’t possible, just that it isn’t likely. So, rather than stress about the machine catching fire, have a fire alarm/smoke detector and a fire extinguisher…and clean out the computer).
There you have it. 5(ish) reasons to clean your computer equipment. Next time we will discuss where you should clean that equipment. I know that sounds weird, but it matters. Any question you have on this or other topics just send us a message, or post in the comments. Have a great day!