It is a known fact that dust is one of your computer’s worst enemies. Less known than that is the fact that dust will help bring in another archenemy: overheat.

An accumulation of dust in your computer’s internals and vents will create an isolating coat that will hinder the computer cooling down by the normal airflow provided by its fan(s). A blocked vent will of course only compound the felony. Now that summer is coming once again, it behooves all of us to make sure the computer stays cool. And eliminating its dust plays a key role in it.

There are 3 main ways this can be accomplished. The first one is by using canned air or an air compressor. The second one is a soft brush and a vacuum. The third one and least frequent, total tear down and clean of individual components. Probably a combination of  the first and second one yields the best results.

Only tips on what to avoid while doing this are:

1) Make sure you don’t carry static so that accidentally touching an internal component fries part of your computer. Before touching any internal computer part, touch your computer case to discharge any static. If you’re a purist, there is an anti-static wrist strap you can use.

2) Make sure when blowing air, whether canned or from a compressor, that there is no humidity being blown into the computer as well.

Whether you do this yourself or you have somebody do it for you, it’s extremely beneficial to the optimum operating condition of your computer.