Don’t neglect your computer: The importance of cleaning it inside and out

(WECT) - Take a minute to give your computer a good clean on the outside and the inside.

Monday, Feb. 11 is National Clean Out Your Computer Day. When you clean your computer, it’s not just about dusting off your screen and wiping down the keyboard. It’s important to clean the hard drive, updating software, and getting rid of outdated programs.

Hardware

Cleaning your computer’s hardware makes the entire system run more smoothly and keep it running longer. Regular cleaning protects not only your investment, but the important data stored on it as well. Every few days or so, give the screen a good wipe and empty the crumbs out of the keyboard. Those simple tasks will reduce the risk of it breaking and overall help the computer work better.

You should also regularly clean the dust out of fan vents which can help prevent the computer from overheating and potentially breaking causing you to lose all of your valuable information stored on it. Joseph Sharp, co-owner of Lead Tech Service in Wilmington says cleaning the dust out of the vent fans is a fairly simple task.

“To actually clean the hardware, I would take it to any computer repair shop” says Sharp. “We all use something called a data vac and we blow out the machine. Usually it’s not a very expensive charge, but definitely if your fans are running really high, if it’s a loud computer, than you know it’s probably trying to push through dust.”

Sharp suggests you get this done at least once a year. He and his team at Lead Tech Services can clean your computer at a special price right now. Click here for details.

Software

Cleaning your computer’s software helps protect the data stored on it. Using antivirus software can ensure that hackers stay out of your system, but that software needs to be regularly updated. To keep your software clean and tidy you should:

• Delete unused programs
• backup your photos, videos, and any other important information
• perform maintenance tasks to make sure your computer can save files without accidentally corrupting them

“You can do things like updates and different things to the operating system and to software just to keep it running smooth” says Sharp. “Removing bloatware, transferring things to an external [hard drive]. There’s a lot of things you can do to speed up a machine.”

Sharp says Google Chrome is the best browser to use, but with an AbBlock extension.

Sharp says if you keep a computer well maintained, it can last at least ten years.

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