Tag: Laptop

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Cleaning Your Computer: Inside and Out

 
Ready for some spring cleaning? Cleaning your computer is a good way of making sure everything runs smoothly. You want to make sure you don’t damage your computer when you do this. Here are some tips to help you tidy up your system.

Outside

Canned Air

Dust, dirt, and crumbs are inevitable. All you need is a can of air (You can find this at your local office store).

You’ll want to spray the air on all fans and vents on your laptop or desktop to get rid of any dust that could be blocking the airways that are essential for cooling your system.

Your keyboard can also get crumbs and dirt stuck under the keys. Using canned air helps keep your keys safe from breaking.

Alcohol

Germs spread all over your computer. Using a little bit of rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab can help sanitize your system. Make sure the swab is not dripping wet and that you do not use it on any internal components because it can cause damage to your computer.

Use your damp cotton swab on your mouse, keyboard, and any other plastic part of your system to help keep it clean.

Screen Cleaner

Your screen or monitor may have some random spots on it. Screens can be very delicate and require certain solutions for cleaning them. If you use something else to clean it, you could get a streaky finish or worse permanently damage your screen.

LCD screen cleaners can be found at your local office store as well, and they usually come with a cloth that is safe for your screen and won’t scratch it.

Inside

Uninstall Programs

After a while programs that you don’t need or use anymore pile up. You may also have programs that you don’t remember installing. This can seriously slow down your system. Going to your list of programs and uninstalling the programs you don’t use anymore can really improve your system’s performance.

Run Scans

Scans get rid of all of the junk that keeps your computer slow. Doing regular scans can help keep your system fast AND safe.

We recommend using:

AVG Anti-Virus
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
AdwCleaner Anti-Adware

Organize Files

You may feel overwhelmed by this step, but creating folders and organizing where your files should go can help you stay productive. Deleting files that you don’t need anymore can help your system run smoother. Make sure to only be moving, editing, and deleting files like documents, pictures, and music.

NEVER OPEN UP YOUR SYSTEM, OR CHANGE ANYTHING YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!

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How to Donate or Recycle Your Computer

 
If you have upgraded your computer and you want to donate or recycle your system there are a few precautions you should take to keep your data safe.
 

Backup

Before you do anything a backup may be needed. If you know that you have data that is important to you then backups should be done regularly.

There are physical backups like on a flash drive or external hard drive. These backups can be scheduled to done regularly with backup software, whether it’s your operating system’s program or a third party program.

You could also use cloud backups which saves your data to the internet. You can use programs like Dropbox or Google Drive.

Operating System Reinstall

If you are donating the computer and want to have it functioning for the next person, then a reinstall is what you need to do. Depending on what operating system you are running there are a few methods to wiping your system.

Most computers come with an operating system reinstall disc that can be used when you need a fresh install.

If you don’t have one then you may have a recovery partition already on your system that you can use. The options should be available in your boot options.

Remove Hard Drive

If you do not need the computer working and you just want to keep your data from getting stolen, taking out your hard drive is the best option.

Most computers have the hard drive readily accessible. On a desktop you most likely need to remove the side panel to find your hard drive. Unplug, and unscrew or slide it out.

On a laptop it may be a little more tricky. On the bottom of your laptop you may see a small panel with a symbol of a disc. If you can open that panel you can easily unplug your hard drive. If you have no panels you may need to open up your whole laptop, so you might need to request some extra help at that point.

 

Your data can be very sensitive and important. You should never give your system away or throw it away before you know that there is no data that can be accessed.