Best way to clean the dust in a computer?
 

Can I use the vacume cleaner to get the dust out of my computer? I opened it up to add a hard drive and noticed it is real dusty inside. My wife says use canned air but then the dust will just blow around.

Get yourself one of the vacuums for electronics at your local office supply store. Regular ones might cause issues with the electronics, and not just because of static electricity. Canned air just redistributes the dust.

Take the system outside. Open all panels. Get four cans of air. Blow with the first one until it freezes and loses strength. Then start with the second one...

Buy a new computer.

That should take care of it, temporarily at least.

That's what I've always done, though I've found one can to be sufficient. Why blow all that dust around inside your house? Take the whole thing outside and do it out there. That dust is nasty. Oh, and make sure it's not raining outside when you do this. :)

Static electric created by a vacuum is more a myth to promote canned air sales. If moving air created static electric damage, then canned air also creates that damage.

Best is to use a vacuum with a low airflow setting. Then critical jumpers or other important setting are not 1) sucked off (removed) and 2) those default setting lost.

Dust is not really a problem. Computers if properly designed work just fine in summer heat even with balls of dust. But dust problems become severe if using too many chassis fans. One chassis fan is more than sufficient for most every computer. Too many fans only create massive dust problems.

Dust is only a serious problem if it completely clogs narrow ducts in heatsinks. Even if half obstructed, dust is not a problem. But completely clogged ducts mean no airflow and no cooling. Maybe use a toothpick to loosen that packed dust. Then remove with a vacuum set to gentle airflow.

I ruined my first computer when I used a regular vacuum to suck the dust out of it. Worked fine before I did it. Never worked again afterward. No other info available. Draw your own conclusions from those facts.

Most vacuum cleaners have a rubber/plastic hose and a rubber plastic nozzle, with a metal tube in between. Static electricity will build up a charge on that metal pipe and can't bleed off because of the rubber/plastic. I've been zapped by that charge more than once. I would suppose that charge could zap a grounded PC part, but don't know if damage would result, or it would just travel the surface to find a ground.

What I meant about the vacuum (and tw, yes I said that static electricity was not the only issue) is that sometimes a high-powered regular vacuum will take more out than dust :). If you use something with less power designed to reach in small corners, you'll get more dust.

No one has properly answered this question.

Open your computer, and make a careful note of where the dust is. A digital camera is useful for this.
Carefully dig out the dust with tweezers. A needle is useful for hard-to-reach corners.
Lay the dust out on a smooth surface, and remove any bits of non-dust dirt you see.
Was each dust particle in warm soapy water, and allow them to dry in the sun.
Return each dust particle to the computer, consulting your notes and using the photos to guide you.
Now your computer is filled with nice clean dust!


Seriously, though, forget the computer and clean the dust out of the monitor's air-vent slots. Dust is flammable, electrical stuff gets warm, and airflow is your friend. Overheating computer monitors are a leading cause of fires in offices and (my information source) universities.
On second thoughts, this probably applies mostly to CRT monitors. Dunno about the fancy new-fangled ones.

You are not right. :lol:

New dust has little market value. However old dust may have low alpha particle content. A small niche market pays handsomely for dust if it is old enough.

* looks around house *

Well, that's MY retirement taken care of...

Take the system outside. Take off cover. Spray with garden hose till clean. Allow to air dry in the sun. Put cover on. Continue work.

... order shiny new laptop